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The 2010 season will be the leagues third under the Flex Rule lineup policy which was originally passed by the owners at the Pre-Draft meeting of 2006 (with the rule officially set to begin during the 2008 season). At last years draft a record high of 4 WR's were selected in the First Round, while an all-time record low 3 RB's were taken in the First Round. Whether or not this will be a continuing trend or if it has any connection to the Flex Rule are questions that may not become evident right away. The first year of the Flex Rule (2008) provide to have little effect on the impact of draft RB's versus WR's as 7 RB's were taken in the First Round compared to just 1 WR. The value of WR's on a roster does seem to be more of a focal point despite the fact that RB flex scoring has been higher then WR flex scoring and more teams have used a RB flex overall in each of the past two seasons. Two of the past three drafts started with a WR taken first overall (Michael Crabtree in 2009 and Calvin Johnson in 2007), while in the leagues twelve years prior to that only on WR was taken #1 overall (Larry Fitzgerald in 2004). Is last years draft an indication that teams will start using more WR's in the Flex and will this years draft continue in that direction? We shall find out next week when the league holds it's 16th Annual Draft.

THE HISTORY OF FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS

QBs (34 total, 6 taken #1)
1995	Steve Young (#1); Dan Marino (2); Drew Bledsoe (3); John Elway (6); Warren Moon (8); Troy Aikman (10)
1996	Jeff George (2)
1997	Brad Johnson (1)
1998	Ryan Leaf (1); Peyton Manning (9)
1999	Brett Favre (1); Tim Couch (10)
2000	Kurt Warner (1); Brad Johnson (3)
2001	Aaron Brooks (1); Matt Hasselbeck (6); Drew Brees (10)
2002	David Carr (2); Joey Harrington (5)
2003	Byron Leftwich (8); Carson Palmer (9); Rex Grossman (10)
2004	Eli Manning (5); Philip Rivers (7)
2005	Alex Smith (8)
2006	Matt Leinart (2); Jay Cutler (9)
2007	Brady Quinn (4); JaMarcus Russell (6)
2008	Matt Ryan (3); Joe Flacco (4)
2009	Matthew Stafford (2); Mark Sanchez (7); Josh Freeman (10)

RBs (73 total, 6 taken #1)
1995	Emmitt Smith (4); Marshall Faulk (5)
1996	Emmitt Smith (1); Curtis Martin (4); Ricky Watters (5); Barry Sanders (6); Marshall Faulk (7); Rashaan Salam (9)
1997	Gary Brown (3); Troy Davis (4); Antowain Smith (5); Warrick Dunn (6); Corey Dillon (7); Byron Hanspard (8); Tiki Barber (9); Greg Hill (10)
1998	Curtis Enis (2); Fred Taylor (3); Robert Edwards (5); Robert Holcome (6); Fred Lane (7)
1999	Ricky Williams (2); Edgerin James (3); Ricky Watters (5); Skip Hicks (8); Cecil Collins (9)
2000	Jamal Lewis (5); Ron Dayne (7); Emmitt Smith (8); Thomas Jones (9); Shaun Alexander (10)
2001	Ladanian Tomlinson (2); Michael Bennett (4); Olandis Gary (7); Travis Henry (8); Kevan Barlow (9)
2002	William Green (1); DeShaun Foster (3); Clinton Portis (8); Jonathan Wells (10)
2003	Larry Johnson (1): Willis McGahee (3); Correll Buckhalter (4); Justin Fargas (6); Onterrio Smith (7)
2004	Steven Jackson (2); Kevin Jones (4); Julius Jones (9); Chris Perry (10)
2005	Carnell Williams (1); Ronnie Brown (2); JJ Arrington (3); Cedric Benson (4); Eric Shelton (9)
2006	Reggie Bush (1); Laurence Maroney (3); DeAngelo Williams (4); Joseph Addai (5); LenDale White (6)
2007	Marshawn Lynch (2); Adrian Peterson (3); Tony Hunt (9); Brandon Jackson (10)
2008	Darren McFadden (1); Jonathan Stewart (2); Rashard Mendenhall (6); Matt Forte (7); Chris Johnson (8); Kevin Smith (9); Ray Rice (10)
2009	LeSean McCoy (3); Knowshon Moreno (4); Beanie Wells (6)

WRs (36 total, 3 taken #1)
1995	Jerry Rice (7)
1996	Herman Moore (3); Chris Carter (8); Robert Brooks (10)
1997	Riedel Anthony (2)
1998	Randy Moss (4); Kevin Dyson (8); Terrance Mathis (10)
1999	Joey Galloway (4); David Boston (6)
2000	Marvin Harrison (2); Jimmy Smith (4); Peter Warrick (6)
2001	David Terrell (3); Koren Robinson (5)
2002	Donte Stallworth (6); Antonio Bryant (9)
2003	Charles Rogers (2); Andre Johnson (5)
2004	Larry Fitzgerald (1); Roy Williams (6); Reggie Williams (8)
2005	Braylon Edwards (5); Troy Williamson (6); Mike Williams (7)
2006	Chad Jackson (7); Santonio Holmes (8); Greg Jennings (10)
2007	Calvin Johnson (1); Anthony Gonzalez (5); Robert Meachem (8)
2008	Limas Sweed (5)
2009	Michael Crabtree (1); Percy Harvin (5); Jeremy Maclin (8); Hakeem Nicks (9)

TEs (7 total, 0 taken #1)
1995	Ben Coates (9)
1996	none
1997	none
1998	none
1999	Ben Coates (7)
2000	none
2001	none
2002	Eric Johnson (4); Jeremy Shockey (7)
2003	none
2004	Kellen Winslow (3)
2005	Heath Miller (10)
2006	none
2007	Greg Olsen (7)
2008	none
2009	none