NFL’s Final Four: How They Were Built

There are three familiar groups and one interloper in the NFL’s Final Four this year.

But there is a familiar theme to how they got there. In all four cases, they built their teams through the draft. Some relied more on the annual selection meeting more than others, but more than half of each team’s starters at the end of the season and into the playoffs came via the NFL Draft.

And at least three of these teams have been doing it that way for years. The Philadelphia Eagles made the playoffs for the seventh time in this decade and it’s their fifth appearance in the NFC Championship Game. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens have found a spot in the tournament six times each. The Steelers are in the fourth AFC title game this decade and it’s No. 1 for the Ravens.

The interlopers are the Arizona Cardinals, who made the playoffs for the first time this decade and haven’t been in a championship game since 1948, when they were based in Chicago.

Here’s a look at how these teams were built.

First, let’s start with a look at their rosters and how those players got there. First number in each cell is total, second number is regular starters on offense and defense:

 

Baltimore has been very good in the first round for the last decade, with eight players taken No. 1 still on their roster and all of them starting. That’s a pretty impressive record. The last Ravens first-round choice who is not in their starting lineup is RB Jamal Lewis. He might still be there had he not run into trouble with the law, that included prison time.

Pittsburgh has been very good at finding players outside the premium rounds. They have six starts who are from the fourth round or lower. Add three college free agents who rose to the starting ranks and that’s one-third of their starting groups coming from low visibility-low dollar entrances into the league.

Overall, Philadelphia has been the best drafting team from the top rounds, to the bottom. The Eagles still have 29 draft choices on the roster, including 19 from the premium rounds and 10 from the later rounds.

The most active of the four teams in the free agency market has been the Arizona Cardinals. Part of the reason for that can be traced to their having only four of their recent No. 1 picks in the starting lineup. Top picks not playing or no longer with the team include QB Matt Leinart (2006), WR Bryant Johnson (2003), DT Wendell Bryant (2002), T Leonard Davis (2001) and RB Thomas Jones (2000). Only Leinart is still with the Cardinals.

The team that got the most out of the trade market was Baltimore, as the Ravens picked up starters in RB Willis McGahee and CB Fabian Washington, both former first-round choices. They gave up two thirds and a seventh for McGahee and a fourth-round choice for Washington.

The Final Four club with the most home-grown talent is Pittsburgh with 25 draft choices and 11 college free agents. That’s 36 of 53 spots, or 68 percent of their roster and 82 percent of its starting lineup.