Draft For Tomorrow, Not Today

The most important thing to remember is to draft for what your team needs—not what it needs today, but what it will need next year and in the years after.

If you're stressed about who's going to start at right guard, taking a guard in the first round solves that problem, but you may have passed on the eventual replacement for your aging wide receiver, left tackle or cover cornerback.

You'll spend a lot more time trying to replace a playmaker at a premium position when you have a crying need than to "fill a hole" during a rebuilding year.

TAKE ONE IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE

The first step is to evaluate the quarterback position. No player on the roster can do more to elevate the players around him and is harder to "hide" with a great supporting cast.

It's easy enough when you have one of the top few picks and there's an obvious stud waiting for you. Don't overthink this. Thoroughly work the prospect out, but if there's a Peyton Manning there to be taken, take him. He'll make you look smart for the next 10 years.

Rush the Passer

The nature of the game is changing. What was once trench warfare has become more like aerial dogfighting. The old bromides about "it all starts up front" are still true, but not in the same way.

Instead of line play being about dominating the line of scrimmage as a powerful, cohesive group, it's become a numbers game: the game of who can protect the passer (or rush the passer) with the fewest linemen.

You need as many players who can win their one-on-one battles—through any combination of power, speed and technique—as you can get. This frees up linebackers and safeties to cover instead of blitz.

As defenses evolve, though, teams are taking players who can get to the quarterback first and worrying about putting them wherever they can do the most damage second.

Protect the Passer

You need players who can protect the passer from defenses bristling with edge-rushers. The more dominant your offensive linemen are in pass protection, the fewer tight ends and backs are needed to stay in and chip and the more weapons you give that quarterback you took. The old thinking used to be that you needed a monster, do-it-all left tackle who could erase the other team's pass-rusher. You'll need to target linemen who can move and use their hands at all positions.

A savvy scouting staff can identify players in the third, fourth and fifth rounds with the potential to become stalwarts.

Find Playmakers

Leaders, "effort" players and "high-motor guys" are all important parts of building a cohesive team. When your best players are also your hardest workers, your team is incredibly blessed.

You want to find skill players who scare the other team and make them adjust their game. Once you get out of the top round or two, you won't find players who have that kind of ability unless they also have holes in their game. That's OK.

"One-dimensional" used to be a curse when scouts used it to describe a player. With the way players are rotated, packaged and situated now, if a player does one thing at an elite level and it's something your team needs, you can draft him just to do that!

Don't Pass Up Great Value

It's important to get the right players for your team, but don't be so obsessed with need and fit that you pass up a great prospect for a decent one.

When a prospect you weren't expecting to be there for you is indeed there, respect your scouting and draft board. 

Rebuilding through the draft isn't easy, but at least you've got the perfect blueprint.