It's been three full seasons since those chosen in the 2014 NFL Draft heard their names called, a substantial enough length of time to further assess the class.
Here is a re-do of that draft, replacing actual selections with the class' most valuable players to date, per Pro-Football-Reference.com's Career Approximate Value (CarAV).
AV is explained by Doug Drinen here.
| No. | TEAM | PLAYER (AV) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston | Jadeveon Clowney, DE (19) |
| 2 | St. Louis | Greg Robinson, OT (16) |
| 3 | Jacksonville | Blake Bortles, QB (28) |
| 4 | Buffalo | Sammy Watkins, WR (21) |
| 5 | Oakland | Khalil Mack, LB (36) |
| 6 | Atlanta | Jake Matthews, OT (27) |
| 7 | Tampa Bay | Mike Evans, WR (26) |
| 8 | Cleveland | Justin Gilbert, CB (4) |
| 9 | Minnesota | Anthony Barr, LB (23) |
| 10 | Detroit | Eric Ebron, TE (12) |
| 11 | Tennessee | Taylor Lewan, OT (19) |
| 12 | NY Giants | Odell Beckham, WR (32) |
| 13 | St. Louis | Aaron Donald, DT (44) |
| 14 | Chicago | Kyle Fuller, CB (11) |
| 15 | Pittsburgh | Ryan Shazier, LB (15) |
| 16 | Dallas | Zack Martin, OG (34) |
| 17 | Baltimore | C.J. Mosley, LB (34) |
| 18 | NY Jets | Calvin Pryor, S (14) |
| 19 | Miami | Ja'wuan James, OT (19) |
| 20 | New Orleans | Brandin Cooks, WR (23) |
| 21 | Green Bay | Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S (18) |
| 22 | Cleveland | Johnny Manziel, QB (5) |
| 23 | Kansas City | Dee Ford, LB (11) |
| 24 | Cincinnati | Darqueze Dennard, CB (4) |
| 25 | San Diego | Jason Verrett, CB (12) |
| 26 | Philadelphia | Marcus Smith, LB (2) |
| 27 | Arizona | Deone Bucannon, S (15) |
| 28 | Carolina | Kelvin Benjamin, WR (16) |
| 29 | New England | Dominique Easley, DT (6) |
| 30 | San Francisco | Jimmie Ward, CB (8) |
| 31 | Denver | Bradley Roby, CB (8) |
| 32 | Minnesota | Teddy Bridgewater, QB (22) |
| No. | TEAM | PLAYER (AV) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston | Aaron Donald, DT (44) |
| 2 | St. Louis | Khalil Mack, LB (36) |
| 3 | Jacksonville | Zack Martin, OG (34) |
| 4 | Buffalo | C.J. Mosley, LB (34) |
| 5 | Oakland | Odell Beckham, WR (32) |
| 6 | Atlanta | Derek Carr, QB (29) |
| 7 | Tampa Bay | Devona Freeman, RB (29) |
| 8 | Cleveland | Blake Bortles, QB (28) |
| 9 | Minnesota | Jake Matthews, OT (27) |
| 10 | Detroit | Mike Evans, WR (26) |
| 11 | Tennessee | Jarvis Landry, WR (24) |
| 12 | NY Giants | Justin Britt, OL (24) |
| 13 | St. Louis | Anthony Barr, LB (23) |
| 14 | Chicago | Brandin Cooks, WR (23) |
| 15 | Pittsburgh | Preston Brown, LB (23) |
| 16 | Dallas | Teddy Bridgewater, QB (22) |
| 17 | Baltimore | Sammy Watkins, WR (21) |
| 18 | NY Jets | Jack Mewhort, OT (21) |
| 19 | Miami | Russell Bodine, C (21) |
| 20 | New Orleans | Telvin Smith, LB (21) |
| 21 | Green Bay | Weston Richburg, C (20) |
| 22 | Cleveland | Jeremy Hill, RB (20) |
| 23 | Kansas City | Trai Turner, OG (20) |
| 24 | Cincinnati | Avery Williamson, LB (20) |
| 25 | San Diego | Corey Linsley, C (20) |
| 26 | Philadelphia | Jadeveon Clowney, DE (19) |
| 27 | Arizona | Taylor Lewan, OT (19) |
| 28 | Carolina | Ja'Wuan James, OT (19) |
| 29 | New England | Jordan Matthews, WR (19) |
| 30 | San Francisco | Allen Robinson, WR (19) |
| 31 | Denver | Morgan Moses, OT (19) |
| 32 | Minnesota | Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S (18) |
Clowney's AV is greatly impacted by injuries and he played like a No. 1 overall pick this past season. But would the Texans swap out the edge rusher for the best defensive tackle in the NFL in Aaron Donald?
The Rams might want a do-over on Robinson and Kahlil Mack would look awfully good next to Alec Ogletree on the Rams defense, although in this scenario there may be no Donald in front of them. But both Houston and the Rams have to consider Carr (originally No. 36 overall) using all this awesome hindsight we're equipped with here.
Would Jacksonville, knowing what they know now, take the top-end guard over the QB? Maybe. Might they prefer an inside linebacker in Mosley? Buffalo probably would prefer to make a swap of Watkins (injury) for Martin or Mosley.
In this re-draft Oakland ends up with Beckham suggesting the following year they don't jump for Amari Cooper. The Raiders are the one team in the Top 5 that wouldn't like to reconsider their original choice (Mack).
Atlanta, with Matt Ryan in the fold, don't take Carr at No. 6. This could be where Freeman fits, a player the Falcons selected at No. 103 overall. They did do well enough with Matthews who grades out just two spots lower.
If available, Tampa probably still pulls the trigger on Evans at No. 7 and while looking back the Vikings may benefit more from Matthews than Barr, it's difficult to suggest it was the wrong choice, even with Barr missing time due to injury.
Would Dallas take Bridgewater at 16?
Cleveland is assigned re-drafts Bortles and Hill rather than Gilbert and Manziel — certainly an upgrade. Green Bay doesn't need to switch centers from Linsley to Richburg but they took Linsley in Round 5, the lowest selection that projects to Round 1 three years later.
Philly gets the steal of the entire draft with Clowney at 26, that's how steep the AV hit is on the defensive end thanks to the time he missed due to injury. He's played just 31 of a possible 48 games, fewer than any other re-draft selection except Bridgewater's 29.
