What positions do NFL teams really value? (Running Backs?)

I really didn't know what the result was going to be until i looked at the #'s. I was surprised with what i found.

.

I found this interesting. It’s the franchise tag $ amounts that a team has to spend on a salary cap player. The franchise tag $ is basically taken from amounts that teams spent on the top players at those positions. So in theory, the higher the franchise tag $, the higher a team values a position. No offense to the 99%’ers out there, but it’s a capitalist market and a team is going to pay for what it values most.

.

POSITION...2011 VALUES

QB...$14.4 mil

CB...$13.5 mil

DE...$13.0 mil

DT...$12.5 mil

WR...$11.4 mil

OL...$10.1 mil

LB...$10.1 mil

RB...$9.6 mil

S...$8.8 mil

TE...$7.3 mil

.

POSITION...2012 VALUES...% CHANGE (from 2011)

QB...$16.1...+12%

CB...$10.6...-18%

DE...$10.6...-21%

WR...$9.4...-7%

OL...$9.4...-18%

LB...$8.8...-13%

DT...$7.9...-37%

RB...$7.7...-20%

S...$6.2...-30%

TE...$5.4...-26%

.

First off, it’s no surprise that QB is first. Every good team has a great QB (Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Manning, etc...). Not only is QB the highest position, but from 2011 to 2012 it was the ONLY position to increase in value. It should be noted that there was a slight adjustment in the calculation of the franchise tag values from 2011 to 2012, but the general rule of thumb still applies that the higher $ means that teams value that position more, since they pay more for it.

.

Cornerback and Defensive End are the 2nd and 3rd most important positions, according to teams based on what they are willing to pay. With the league shifting to a passing league, it makes sense that a guy who can cover the receivers, and a guy who can get to the QB before the receivers can get open, would be viewed as quite important.

.

DT took a big drop from 4th to 7th, with the biggest overall drop of 37%. While there may be several factors for this, my initial guess is that with the more successful teams throwing a lot more than in the past, the big run-stuffing DT’s are in as high demand as they used to be.

.

WR jumped from 5th to 4th and had the second best change (only behind QB) from 2011 to 2012.

I was surprised to see Wide Receiver listed this high – ahead of O-Line and Running Back.

.

O-Line and Linebacker are next on the list.

.

Running Back is way down at 8th place on the list. I was surprised to see that RB’s were so low, and will get paid 19% less than WR’s in 2012 (franchise tag value). But with the recent de-emphasis on stud running backs, and de-emphasis on running the ball in general, it would make sense that this low value that teams place on Running Backs aligns with what they are doing on the field.

.

Safety is 9th out of 10. As Bengals’ fans, we’ve seen 2 of the best safeties in the NFL every year in Reed & Polamalu, but generally the league isn’t as enamored with the position. The Bengals have never been big on the safety position, usually letting their better safeties walk instead of re-signing them.

.

Way down at the bottom is TE, which isn’t a total surprise. While some teams like to heavily use TE’s as a check-down option, or TD targets, other teams are replacing that position with shiftier receivers, and with less running, don’t require a 6th blocker. But I’m guessing that FB, K, P are all lower than TE, but I’d be surprised if many teams used a franchise tag on one of those positions (maybe K).