I wanted to take a moment to present the raw data about trades involving the 6th overall pick. And I am going to list the years where the pick wasn’t traded, so we can get a feel for that as well. I am not making a point here. I am just presenting the data for each person to review. I am also going to list off the players chosen to get a feel for the types and positions of the players involved. But I am not going to try to track multiple trades, so I will name the player that was taken at the spot the #6 pick got traded to and not follow the pick if the team moved back up or down again. For example the Eagles moved from 6 to 12 and then back up to 10. I am going to list off who was picked at 12, where they originally traded back to.
2022 - not traded (OT Ikem Okwonu)
2021 - Traded DOWN to 12 for a current 4th and a future 1st. WR Jaylen Waddle was taken at 6 while LB Micah Parsons was taken at 12. The future 1st ended up being OG Kenyon Greene.
2020 - not traded (QB Justin Herbert)
2019 - not traded (QB Daniel Jones)
2018 - Traded UP to 3 and it cost them 2 current 2nd rounders and 1 future 2nd rounder. OL Quentin Nelson was taken at 6 while QB Sam Darnold was taken at 3. The current 2nd rounders ended up being OG Braden Smith and TE Dallas Goedert. The future 2nd rounder ended up being CB Rock Ya-Sin.
2017 - not traded (S Jamal Adams)
2016 - not traded (OT Ronnie Stanley)
2015 - not traded (DT Leonard Williams)
2014 - not traded (OT Jake Matthews)
2013 - not traded (LB Barkevious Mingo)
2012 - Traded UP to 2 and it cost them a current 2nd round pick and 2 future 1st round picks. CB Morris Claiborne was taken at 6 while QB Robert Griffin III was taken at 2. The current 2nd rounder ended up being CB Janoris Jenkins and the future 1st rounders ended up being CB Desmond Trufant and OT Greg Robinson.
2011 - Traded DOWN to 26 for a current 2nd rounder, a current 4th, a future 1st and a future 4th. WR Julio Jones was taken at 6 and WR Jon Baldwin was taken at 26. The current 2nd rounder ended up being WR Greg Little and the future 1st rounder ended up being QB Brandon Weeden.
2010 - not traded (OT Russell Okung)
2009 - not traded (OT Andre Smith)
2008 - not traded (DE Vernon Gholston)
2007 - not traded (S Laron Landry)
2006 - not traded (TE Vernon Davis)
2005 - not traded (CB Pacman Jones)
2004 - Traded DOWN to 7 for a current 2nd rounder. TE Kellen Winslow was taken at 6 and WR Roy Williams was taken at 7. The current 2nd rounder ended up being LB Teddy Lehman.
2003 - Traded DOWN for 2 current 1st round picks at 17 and 18. DT Johnathan Sullivan was taken at 6 while WR Bryant Johnson and DE Calvin Pace were taken at 17 and 18.
2002 - Traded DOWN to 8 for a current 3rd rounder and a future 6th. DT Ryan Sims was taken at 6 while S Roy Williams was taken at 8. The 3rd rounder ended up being CB Derek Ross.
2001 - not traded (DT Richard Seymour)
2000 - not traded (DT Corey Simon)
1999 - not traded (WR Torry Holt)
1998 - not traded (DE Grant Wistrom)
1997 - Traded UP to 1 and it cost them a current 3rd, current 4th and current 7th (you read that correctly). OT Walter Jones was taken at 6 while OT Orlando Pace was taken at 1. The current 3rd ended up being OG Dan Neil.
1996 - not traded* (RB Lawrence Phillips)
1995 - not traded (DE Kevin Carter)
1994 - not traded (QB Trent Dilfer)
The 6th pick was traded DOWN from 5 times while being traded UP from 3 times. Teams who traded up to 6 were looking to get 2 WRs, 2 DTs and 1 TE. Teams with the 6th pick who traded up higher did so to get 2 QBs and 1 OT. Noone has traded up to 6 to get a QB in this data set.
The players who are ultimately chosen at the 6th overall pick are overwhelmingly offensive and defensive lineman. Defensive lineman lead the way with (8) selections. Offensive line was next with (7) selections. After that was defensive backs with (4) selections. Then it was QB and WR tied with (3) selections each. TE had (2) selections while LB and RB each only had (1) selection.
The Rams had a 5 year stretch where they had the 6th overall pick 5 straight times. They stayed put to take Torry Holt, Grant Wistrom, Kevin Carter and Lawrence Phillips while trading up once to get Orlando Pace.
Its actually a little worse than that. Had he traded down and took Walter Jones, that is one thing. But he didn’t. He traded the pick again for a 4th rounder to move down from 6 to 8. He drafted LB James Farrior, who most people will remember from his Steelers days and not the team that gave up Orlando Pace and Walter Jones to draft him (Jets).
There is a reason why they boo their picks every year.
With the possibility that Chark gets a huge contract, I’ve been thinking that 6 might be a good spot for a wide receiver.
We’ll see in a couple of weeks, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a wide receiver put up combine numbers that reveal an elite prospect. We’ll see, but if that happens, I wonder if Brad decides to let Chark walk, possibly get a comp pick next year, and pick a wr at 6.
The 1999 Rams added Holt to the Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce (who had severe hamstring injuries for a couple of years) to make one of the best offenses of all time.
The Dolphins did something similar by pairing their sixth pick wide receiver Waddle with Tyreek Hill last year. That offense was rolling when they had a competent qb.
Lining up Jamo with another great athlete outside and St. Brown in the slot would make a really dangerous offense. The Lions probably get more bang for their buck that way than drafting a rb, like Bijan Robinson who would only average ONE yard per carry more than Swaggy. That’s maybe 12-15 yards per game.
Holmes failing.