The NFL Draft: We Know Nothing
One of the greatest quotes I've ever heard comes from Academy Award winning screenwriter and novelist William Goldman, who famously said of Hollywood, "No one knows anything." You can apply that to most things in life.
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The staff here at The 'Pent love NFL Draft talk as much as anyone. Google "mock NFL drafts 2011" and you'll see dozens, if not hundreds, of mocked up first, second, and sometimes entire drafts. This is an enjoyable past time for football fans following the Super Bowl and prior to the actual selections in April. But seriously, we know nothing about who's going to be a good football player and who is going to be a big bust.
Want proof? Look at our own New England Patriots. The best team in football last year (regardless of who won the playoff one and done tournament) had a starting backfield made up of a sixth rounder and two undrafted free agents. The teams in the NFL put as much work into who they take in the later rounds as who is selected in the first round, the sexy picks.
So don't fret if the Pats don't take whomever you have your heart set on come draft day. They know what they're doing. We don't.
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Further: One of the main components of the NFL labor negotiations is an attempt at a rookie wage scale, so that teams actually WANT to pick in the top ten. As it stands now most clubs would rather have multiple selection in the later stages of the first and in the second rounds than take a chance on sinking $50m into the next Ryan Leaf or Akili Smith. We here are not sure how the rookies are allowed to demand such outrageous salaries if they are lucky enough to be picked early on, but any rational study of recent drafts shows that teams drafting in the top ten get saddled with expensive busts more than they get value for their money. Example: Detriot Lions (the Clippers of the league) are always in the top ten. The Pats haven't had an early pick since, if memory serves, Richard Seymour, and they hit that one out of the park.
================
The staff here at The 'Pent love NFL Draft talk as much as anyone. Google "mock NFL drafts 2011" and you'll see dozens, if not hundreds, of mocked up first, second, and sometimes entire drafts. This is an enjoyable past time for football fans following the Super Bowl and prior to the actual selections in April. But seriously, we know nothing about who's going to be a good football player and who is going to be a big bust.
Want proof? Look at our own New England Patriots. The best team in football last year (regardless of who won the playoff one and done tournament) had a starting backfield made up of a sixth rounder and two undrafted free agents. The teams in the NFL put as much work into who they take in the later rounds as who is selected in the first round, the sexy picks.
So don't fret if the Pats don't take whomever you have your heart set on come draft day. They know what they're doing. We don't.
=================
Further: One of the main components of the NFL labor negotiations is an attempt at a rookie wage scale, so that teams actually WANT to pick in the top ten. As it stands now most clubs would rather have multiple selection in the later stages of the first and in the second rounds than take a chance on sinking $50m into the next Ryan Leaf or Akili Smith. We here are not sure how the rookies are allowed to demand such outrageous salaries if they are lucky enough to be picked early on, but any rational study of recent drafts shows that teams drafting in the top ten get saddled with expensive busts more than they get value for their money. Example: Detriot Lions (the Clippers of the league) are always in the top ten. The Pats haven't had an early pick since, if memory serves, Richard Seymour, and they hit that one out of the park.
posted by joe sweeney at 4:01 PM
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