How Good is Ryan Grigson at Drafting Pro Bowl Players?

The 2015 NFL Draft is quickly approaching, and that's one of the biggest times of the year for general managers.  As teams try to address needs and build toward the future by hitting on their picks, it becomes a time where the league's best talent evaluators can really shine.

A few days ago, NFL.com's Mike Huguenin looked at the GMs who are the best at finding Pro Bowl players in the Draft.  He ranked the top ten in the league, but there was a tie for tenth place: the Colts' Ryan Grigson tied with the Ravens' Ozzie Newsome.

Here's what he wrote about Grigson:

Grigson has had 9.09 percent of his draftees (two players) make it to a Pro Bowl. That's a relatively good hit rate so far; it helps when an executive's initial first-round pick is a no-brainer: Andrew Luck.

With Grigson, the sample size isn't huge, as he's made just 22 draft selections in his three years as the Colts' GM.  Two of those players have made the Pro Bowl, however: quarterback Andrew Luck has been a Pro Bowler in each of his first three seasons, while wide receiver T.Y. Hilton was a Pro Bowler in 2014.

That 2012 Draft class was without a doubt spectacular, as Grigson landed Luck, Hilton, Dwayne Allen, Coby Fleener, Vick Ballard, and Josh Chapman, but in 2013 he took a major step back with his drafting.  His first round pick, Bjoern Werner, has the makings of a bust, and Hugh Thornton hasn't done well either while Khaled Holmes hasn't gotten much of a chance.  His 2014 Draft was a very solid class (not counting the Trent Richardson trade), as he brought in Jack Mewhort, Donte Moncrief, and Jonathan Newsome.  Simply put, Grigson has had his fair share of hits and misses, and it's still hard to determine just how good of a drafter he actually is.  As Huguenin notes, Grigson has done well drafting Pro Bowlers and actually ranks in the top-ten in the league in that area, but that doesn't tell the whole story.  What is certain, however, is that the 2015 Draft will give us a much better idea of just how good Grigson is at drafting, as the Colts have a full slate of picks (nine total).  Hopefully, he finds a couple of other Pro Bowlers in this class as well.