NFL Draft: Are You As Excited As I Am?

This is one time of year that I look forward to every year.  While I do miss the traditional Saturday and Sunday format of the NFL Draft, I still LOVE watching it.  It is that time of year that we all get to play armchair GM.  We get to rejoice or moan at the picks our favorite NFL team make.  We get to evaluate the picks that other teams make, especially those teams in the division of our favorite team.  We get to speculate at which team made a solid pick, who will be a bust, who was a reach, and who was a steal.  We get to scratch our heads about why some picks are made and just plain laugh at others.

Let’s face it, the draft is often times a crap shoot.  You can measure how tall a guys is, how much he ways, how fast he runs the 40 yard dash, how many times he can rep 225 lbs on the bench press, and the level of competition he played against.  One thing you can’t really measure is heart and circumstance.  Will he get hurt?  Will his head get too big?  What is the state of the franchise he is going to?  Is he a fit for the system.  Will the coaching staff use him right?

How good would Alex Smith be now if he hadn’t had a new offense and offensive coordinator every year?  Would Emmitt Smith be the legend he is if he had been drafted by the Jets that year and Blair Thomas got drafted by the Cowboys?  Did Ryan Leaf have enough talent to be considered in the class of Peyton Manning the year they came out?  How did 32 NFL teams repeatedly miss on Arian Foster and Fred Jackson over 7 rounds?  Why wasn’t Rod Smith drafted?  There are some many variables and so many what ifs that go into these things including the environment the player is being drafted into and the system.

This year, as with years past, will present many questions.  Is Andrew Luck really a can’t miss prospect?  He is, after all, going to a completely depleted team.  RG3 is going to have better weapons around him straight out the gate and a Super Bowl winning coach.  Is Trent Richardson really the next Adrian Peterson or is it just hype?  I think that Doug Martin will be the better pro back.  He has more wiggle than the stiff Richardson.  Who is the better corner Morris Claiborne or Janoris Jenkins?  In my opinion the answer is Jenkins.  He provides great run support and is a better at man press coverage, a skill that is needed as more teams put an emphasis on the passing game.

One thing is for sure, only time will answer these questions.  Let the speculation, rejoicing, and heartache begin.