So the NFL draft is almost here, this year it will take place on April the 26th in New York. Thousands of college hopefuls will be hoping to be picked up by NFL teams, but with only 256 picks in the draft in total only the elite are selected. I will do my best to break down what the draft is for those of you who don't know and then in the coming days and weeks I will be updating about certain prospects and I might even have an attempt at creating a first round mock draft so hope you enjoy!
The NFL draft is an annual event and part of the off season, please see previous blog for the season structure. All 32 teams take part and it is where they select eligible college football players. This is the number one source of recruitment for players to the NFL. The teams are placed in a draft order dependant on their winning record form the previous season and if they managed to reach the play off's.
The team with the worst record gets the first pick and the Super bowl Champions get the last. Once the order has been determined it is then the same for each round thereafter. The NFL draft consists of seven rounds.
Draft picks are often used in trades between teams to acquire players already in the NFL, this can also alter the Draft order. Teams may also try to trade during the draft in order to get a better position in the Draft so they can get a specific player they want. A good example of this has happened this year, the St Louis Rams had the second worst record last year and were allocated the 2nd pick in the draft overall. The Washington Redskins wanted that pick to draft a QB and have swapped first round picks in the 2012 draft along with a second round pick in 2012, including their first round pick in 2013 and also 2014.
The idea behind designing the draft order in this way is to increase the competitive balance between teams. Theoretically the worst team from 2011 should acquire the best player coming out of college in 2012 instantly improving there team, however it is not always a guaranteed success and that is why a whole scouting process occurs in order to analyse draft prospects and college players are tested at the NFL combine so see how they shape up. Draft prospects and colleges also hold Pro Days where they can showcase themselves on a more personal level. Depending on how players do in the combine and pro days can determine where they are drafted.
This years draft order for the first round is as follows:
The NFL draft has become such a big part of the off season that it is now televised at prime time in America and is shown over three days. The first round is on day 1, day two see's the 2nd and 3rd round take place and day 3 rounds 4-7 are completed. The final pick in the draft is number 256. The payer chosen with this pick is known as 'Mr Irrelevant' and is given a Jersey with that title as a joke, after all he is still now an NFL player.
The NFL draft also gives NFL analysts the chance to try and guess what teams will do by looking at a teams needs and wants to predict how the draft will go these are known as Mock drafts and I will give you my attempt closer to the draft.
I hope you enjoyed this blog and you learnt a little something. Don't forget to answer my question at the top of the page if you haven't already and leave a comment about anything draft related. who do you want your team to draft? who will the Colts pick first? let me know and thanks for reading.
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