In the four major professional North American sports leagues, the road to building a perennial contender goes through the draft.
We’ve seen it happen many times before in the NFL: a great draft class can either propel a franchise into becoming a Super Bowl contender. Atlanta’s class in 2008, centered around QB Matt Ryan with the third overall pick, and which also featured Pro Bowlers and long term rotation pieces set the stage for that long winning seasons streak, and those 13-3 seasons. That success was culminated with a trip to the 2012 NFC Championship Game.
However, a poor draft class can destroy a team’s chances at success for years to come.