20 years of 8

[Middleguard]

Here are the #8 picks from the last 20 years:
1998 Greg Ellis DE
1999 David Boston WR
2000 Plaxico Burris WR
2001 David Terrell WR
2002 Roy Williams DB
2003 Jordan Gross T
2004 DeAngelo Hall DB
2005 Antrel Rolle DB
2006 Donte Whitner DB
2007 Jamaal Anderson DE
2008 Derrick Harvey DE
2009 Eugene Monroe T
2010 Rolando McClain LB
2011 Jake Locker QB
2012 Ryan Tannehill QB
2013 Tavon Austin WR
2014 Justin Gilbert DB
2015 Vic Beasley OLB
2016 Jack Conklin T
2017 Christian McCaffrey RB

Not exactly awe-inspiring. The most successful are probably Jordan Gross and Plaxico Burris; while the biggest flops are Justin Gilbert and (our own) David Terrell. Recent picks who are still playing, like Ryan Tannehill, Vic Beasley, Jack Conklin, and Christian McCaffrey might someday raise the #8 average.

As it stands though, the #8 pick is a rut because not only does the #7 pick fare much better, but the #9 pick does as well. (In fact the #9 pick exceeds the #7 pick , but that's due to Brian Urlacher. If he's subtracted the #9 is less than #7, but still substantially higher than # 8.)

Factoring in the #7 and #9 picks to help determine what we might expect this year at #8, I find that the average AV = 47 and the DrAV = 36. #8 picks average slightly over 8 years in the league. The best examples of such a player are Santonio Holmes WR (9 yrs, 47 AV, 35 DrAV) and Roman Harper DB (11 yrs, 48 AV, 37 DrAV).
Other examples of approximately 47 AV all had much less than 36 DrAV (but, of course, that value depends primarily on a teams inclination and ability to re-sign their draft picks):
Jeremy Zuttah G (9 yrs, 47 AV 28 DrAV)
Samson Satele C (8 yrs, 48 AV, 23 DrAV)
Kamerion Wimbley DE (9yrs, 46 AV, 26 DrAV)
Manny Larson DE (10 yrs, 47 AV, 22 DrAV)

I could only find 2 years where the #8 pick was involved in a trade, both (began at least) pre-draft.
In 2007 The Texans gave up their #8 pick, pre-draft, as part of the package in which they obtained Schaub from the Falcons.
In 2016 the #8 pick was a hot potato, going pre-draft from the Dolphins to the Eagles in a package for players. Then, also pre-draft, from the Eagles to the Browns in the package for the Brown's #2 (which turned into Wentz). And finally, in the only draft day trade of #8 I could find in the last 20 years, down to the Texans who moved up for Conklin.

[Decatur Staley]

We should trade our #8 for SF #9... Maybe we'd have to throw in a 6th rounder to sweeten the pot.

Get 'er done Pace.

[Boris13c]

We should trade our #8 for SF #9... Maybe we'd have to throw in a 6th rounder to sweeten the pot.

Get 'er done Pace.

???

so give up an extra pick to trade down 1 spot?

[Nanky]

We should trade our #8 for SF #9... Maybe we'd have to throw in a 6th rounder to sweeten the pot.

Get 'er done Pace.

???

so give up an extra pick to trade down 1 spot?

It was a joke, because historically a better player is drafted at #9 vs #8 . . . sarcasm