For this project I used the nflreadpy library to find the snap counts for every player on the NFC East teams at each position. I multiplied their share of the snaps by their respective draft pick number and draft round to find a weighted average draft pick/round for each position. In this analysis I represented undrafted free agents with draft numbers of 260 and draft rounds of 8 to ensure they are included in the data and affecting the averages.

Take the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback room as an example. Dak Prescott was selected with the 135th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2016 draft and played in roughly 96% of offensive snaps in 2025. Joe Milton III was selected with the 193rd overall pick in the sixth round of the 2024 draft and played in roughly 4% of offensive snaps this season. Therefore, (135)(0.96) + (193)(0.04) = approximately 137.32, which is the weighted pick number for this position for the Dallas Cowboys. The weighted round is (4)(0.96) + (6)(0.04) = roughly 4.08. Since the third quarterback Will Grier did not play any snaps this season he is not taken into account.

Some interesting aspects of this data include that each team apart from the Cowboys are heavily dependent on first round talent at quarterback, while the Cowboys stand alone with a fourth round weighted average (thanks to Dak). The Cowboys also have the earliest average draft pick for their defensive line while their defensive backs are the latest average draft pick, indicating that the defensive front was perhaps prioritized during the draft process. The Commanders have the latest average draft pick for the running back position, indicating a reliance on later round or undrafted players there.

Is there anything else y'all see that you find interesting here? Or any questions or clarifications I can provide regarding the data or my process? From here I'm planning on augmenting this data with performance statistics to evaluate how well each position did.

Weighted Average Draft Picks for Each Position (NFC East Edition)