by Alexandre Olbrecht, Jeremy Rosen, and Aaron Schatz
As the NFL draft has evolved from a behind-closed-doors meeting at the Philadelphia Ritz-Carlton Hotel in 1936 to the made-for-TV, three-day extravaganza it is today, teams have consistently attempted to select the best player for their needs, accounting for both his talent and positional value. Over time, the consensus of which position is most important has shifted heavily toward quarterbacks because modern statistical analysis has shown that quarterbacks have by far the largest impact on team wins and losses.
Before 2006, evaluating quarterback prospects was mainly limited to game film, combine performance, and miscellaneous events such as pre-draft interviews.