Re-picking Round 1 of the 2016 NFL draft

Before we can fully embrace the frenzy of the lead-up to the 2017 NFL draft, we must learn from the successes and failures of last year’s draft, which delivered several instant superstars and sparked a wealth of debate up and down the seven rounds of selections. The basis of this end-of-season thought experiment: If we ran back the first round today and gave each team the chance to confirm or change their picks with 2017 and beyond in mind, would they stand pat or snatch up a different prospect? What follows is the latest 2016 NFL re-draft, our search for answers to that question and others that are still at least two more years away. (For simplicity’s sake, the late-round picks of every team’s rookie class are kept intact, except for the prospects stolen in this new first round do-over, to properly assess each team’s needs at the time of their pick.) —Eric Single