Interesting fact about Dolphins draft class

[Philly Fin Fan]

I read an interesting fact about the players just drafted-
All but one of them were team captains this last season for their respective teams.

Reshad Jones was the only one who wasn't a captain, because Georgia doesn't select
season long captains (just individual game ones).

I know this really doesn't mean squat, but it is interesting. It also shows the Fins should have some leaders from this draft.

[Sunstroke]

I like that...it should make for some good character to go with (what I believe to be) the outstanding talent level of this draft group.

[bsfins]

Cool stat, I liked the one they mentioned during the draft,The Dolphins have drafted atleast 1 O-Lineman the last 44 years....

[fyo]

The best players on a team are often voted team captain.

Only the best players on a team are likely to be drafted.

...

[Spider-Dan]

I second fyo's statement.

[Sunstroke]

^^^ To the pissing-upon-cheerios delegation... I'd wager that less than 25% of the players who got drafted into the NFL this year have that distinction. I'd want someone else to do the legwork on the stats (I just don't care enough to spend the time researching it), but my wager would be on "under 25%" for sure.

So, again, nice to see all the good character/high talent guys Miami brought in. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to pour a fresh bowl of cheerios. This bowl smells funny...

[Fau Teixeira]

i saw that kiper gave the dolphins a very low draft grade

it just confirms that a - predicting the future is hard and b - kiper blows

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I'd wager that less than 25% of the players who got drafted into the NFL this year have that distinction.

I would take that wager and take the over. 

As for it meaning a lot about character....Pacman Jones was a captain in college.  As FYO said the best players are voted team capt.  the best players go on to the NFL. 

[Sunstroke]

I might take the over if we were going first round only, but for the entire draft class? I think you're out of your mind...

[Spider-Dan]

I might take the over if we were going first round only, but for the entire draft class? I think you're out of your mind...

What do you think the average (or even the median) number of draftees per college team is?
Do you think that the captain of a team is likely to be drafted before his teammates?

In fact, let's run a little experiment.  Let's look at the 10 BCS bowl teams (which are ostensibly the best teams in the nation) and see how they did.  Now, I don't have data for team captains, but if we go with the (fairly reasonable) presumption that the best player on a team gets drafted and that the best player on the team is a captain (one on each side of the ball) then what do we get?  Here's the number of players that were drafted for the BCS bowl teams:

Ohio State 0O 4D
Oregon 1O 2D
Florida 4O 5D
Cincinnati 2O 1D
Boise State 0O 1D
TCU 1O 2D
Iowa 3O 3D
GT 2O 2D
Alabama 1O 6D
Texas 2O 6D

That 48 draftees, and 18 captains (one per side of the ball), for a 37.5% captaincy rate...  among the BCS bowl teams.  I imagine that rate will SKYROCKET when you look at all the teams that only sent 1-3 players to the NFL.

[Sunstroke]

What do you think the average (or even the median) number of draftees per college team is?
Do you think that the captain of a team is likely to be drafted before his teammates?

I think team captains are more often the high character guys, rather than the star athletes, so I think that the number of non-captains who were drafted is significantly higher than what some are assuming. Add in that not all team captains are seniors, and most underclassmen from the smaller schools go back to school, pile in the relatively small number of players who are actually captains, and I am pretty comfortable in my position.

Want to change my mind? Show me the numbers. If not, all I am hearing are other people's assumptions.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I think team captains are more often the high character guys, rather than the star athletes, so I think that the number of non-captains who were drafted is significantly higher than what some are assuming. Add in that not all team captains are seniors, and most underclassmen from the smaller schools go back to school, pile in the relatively small number of players who are actually captains, and I am pretty comfortable in my position.

Want to change my mind? Show me the numbers. If not, all I am hearing are other people's assumptions.

All you are providing is your assumptions! 

Which seems to contradict everyone else's experience, that in fact on most teams, the team capts are the best players, biggest player makers not the player with the greatest "character". 

[Sunstroke]

All you are providing is your assumptions! 

Which seems to contradict everyone else's experience...

Wasn't aware you were made the spokesman for everyone else's experience...pretty sure I'd have gotten a memo on that.

[Phishfan]

What do you think the average (or even the median) number of draftees per college team is?
Do you think that the captain of a team is likely to be drafted before his teammates?

In fact, let's run a little experiment.  Let's look at the 10 BCS bowl teams (which are ostensibly the best teams in the nation) and see how they did.  Now, I don't have data for team captains, but if we go with the (fairly reasonable) presumption that the best player on a team gets drafted and that the best player on the team is a captain (one on each side of the ball) then what do we get?  Here's the number of players that were drafted for the BCS bowl teams:

Ohio State 0O 4D
Oregon 1O 2D
Florida 4O 5D
Cincinnati 2O 1D
Boise State 0O 1D
TCU 1O 2D
Iowa 3O 3D
GT 2O 2D
Alabama 1O 6D
Texas 2O 6D

That 48 draftees, and 18 captains (one per side of the ball), for a 37.5% captaincy rate...  among the BCS bowl teams.  I imagine that rate will SKYROCKET when you look at all the teams that only sent 1-3 players to the NFL.

This is completely unreliable if you are trying to make any point at all. You have to go and see who those team captains were or else this is useless.

[fyo]

Want to change my mind? Show me the numbers. If not, all I am hearing are other people's assumptions.

Not entirely sure why the proof of burden is on the logical argument, but whatever

I was going to test the thesis by going through Spider-Dan's list, but (as pointed out elsewhere) it's not necessarily indicative of the overall picture. It also turns out that's it's a PITA to check. I did the first three:

Ohio State named 3 team captains for the 2009 season and all 3 were drafted (in addition to 1 non-team-captain). (source)

Oregon named 4 team captains of which 2 declared for the draft. 1 was drafted, 1 wasn't -- out of 3 Ducks drafted. (source)

Florida named 5 team captain, all of whom declared as far as I could tell. Two of those were drafted (out of 9 Gators picked in the draft). WR Ryan Stamper was injured prior to the draft and was not selected. Has now signed with the Lions. Return specialist Brandon James went undrafted and has been picked up by the Colts. WR Joey Sorrentino was undrafted and hasn't caught on anywhere AFAIK. (source)

Since I'm not sure what, if anything, this tells us about the overall picture, let's instead examine some other team and see how many team captains they drafted. Let's go with the Raiders first, since they're not exactly known for being a "moral leadership" team...

Raiders 2010 Draft:
Rolando McLain, LB, Alabama, TEAM CAPTAIN (source)
LaMarr Houston, DT, Texas, TEAM CAPTAIN (source)
Edwin Veldheer, T, Hillsdale, TEAM CAPTAIN (source)
Bruce Campbell, T, Maryland, (negative)
Jacoby Ford, WR, Clemson, (negative)
Walter McFadden, DB, Auburn, TEAM CAPTAIN vs Georgia (source)
Travis Goethel, LB, Arizona State, (negative)
Jeremy Ware, DB, Michigan State, (negative)
Steven Brown, DB, Michigan, TEAM CAPTAIN (source)

5 of 9. Not too shabby for the RAIDERS...

Several stories around the web note that the 5 of 6 picks by the Chiefs were team captains.

Based on this small sample, I'm still of the opinion that 7 of 8 isn't all that spectacular. Not saying it's not "above average", but if a team like the RAIDERS has > 50% team captains amongst its picks...

I'd wager that less than 25% of the players who got drafted into the NFL this year have that distinction.

That particular wager isn't looking too hot.