Draft capital and spending against the cap should be in harmony. When a team signs a free agent, the contact value is benchmarked against positional value. The same should be true when drafting – especially for 1st round picks.

Bengals picking QB Joe Burrow #1 overall is a perfect usage of draft capital: best player available at a premium position. The 33rd pick should follow the same rule albeit net existing long-term investments (LT Williams, IDL Reader). EDGE, WR, CB should be the targets.

IOL is best solved via free agency. It ranks lower overall and there’s minimal spread between a Top 5 player vs a Top 15 player.

Very interesting to see LB so close to LT. I would guess the shift to base nickel is a big reason why: only 2 on the field, responsible for coverage/blitzing/tackling. Drafting franchise LBs early has arguably the same value as a LT.

Among Top 15 RB there are 3 rookie contracts included. Drafting a RB in the top 10 is bad business (Barkley #2, Fournette #4). You could argue McCaffrey #8 is a WR disguised as a RB which changes things completely.