Basically players are rated on a tiered system. The video below gives you a good idea of how it works - jump to the 11 minute mark to see how it works. If you watch it for a while, you'll see why teams can make what seem to be head scratching picks. The general rule is you almost never drop a tier to pick a player because of perceived need or position, unless the lower tiered player is just a tad behind the upper tiered player. That's why you always hear the phrase "that's the way our board fell."
Link:
google horizontal draft boards if you want more info.
This is pretty much the exact type of format every NFL team uses and here is as good an explanation as any:
After teams set their VERTICAL draft board (positions), they prepare their HORIZONTAL draft board (best players regardless of position) with each team establishing a Top 150 overall board based on grades, which means the “150” board can range anywhere from 120-200 players depending on how the grades fall in each of the 32 draft rooms.
THIS IS THE LIST THEY DRAFT FROM. Because each team’s board differs due to scheme and how they perceive players in the draft, all a team needs is 150 or so players on their own board to complete their 7 rounds of picks.
So if you want to put in the time of setting up a board, just use the PFF top 150 rankings and adjust as you see fit. This is how a group of us draftniks used to do it back in the day. Back then though, we had to use pretty much every publication/book out there to make our own rankings. A lot easier now with just using the net... though it sure was fun sitting around a table over a few beers on a Saturday arguing for 8-10 hours to set it up in a consensus manner.
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