Yes, America, you are ready for some football–even in April.
100,000 attended in person last Thursday night and nearly 46 million more watched on TV. The attraction? It was Round 1 of the NFL Draft.
Courtesy: Forbes.com
The much-anticipated draft was covered simultaneously by multiple TV networks and had the highest TV ratings since 2014. And those numbers don’t begin to include fan interest leading up to Thursday night.
The NFL Draft–a formalized version of baseball’s Hot Stove League–had NFL Draft fans buzzing for weeks. How much? A Google search of “2018 NFL mock draft” yielded nearly one million hits.
Yes, America, football is our game—despite safety concerns and many other issues that capture headlines.
Fans can’t get enough of football, even in April.
But, truth be told–with almost 300 players to be selected–only the most intense of football fans know who’s who. First-round picks, like Vita Vea (pick #12, Tampa) and Frank Ragnow (pick #20, Detroit)—good players both and significant, for sure–are known mainly to their drafting teams and fans. Most of the rest of us don’t know who they are.
We do know the big stars, though, players like Saquon Barkley (Penn State) Sam Darnold (USC). The downside for those players is that “worst picks first,” meaning that top-line players go to NFL also-rans. This year that meant the Colts, Broncos, Giants (Barkley’s new team), Jets (Darnold’s new team) and, of course, the Browns.
OU’s Baker Mayfield (photo, USAToday)
Ah, the Browns! For years, Cleveland has had a bushel-load of chances to get better—15 first-round picks since 2010. But Cleveland hasn’t gotten better; it just gets more first-round picks.
That happened again Thursday night. The Browns took Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield as the draft’s first selection overall and, then, followed up that surprising pick by taking Ohio State defensive back Denzel Ward at #4.
Mayfield!? Will he be a Johnny Manziel redux? Time will tell, but his selection reinforces an NFL tendency, namely, to pick QBs high in the draft. Five were taken last Thursday night—Mayfield, Darnold, Wyoming’s Josh Allen (Bills), UCLA’s Josh Rosen (Cardinals), and Louisville’s Lamar Jackson (Ravens).
Rosen is the most intriguing of the lot, largely because of his mouth. “There were nine mistakes ahead of me,” he declared after being picked #10. As for Jackson, his style of play harkens back to Washington’s losing gamble on RGIII.
Courtesy: M.L. Baer-USAToday, Locker Talk Sports
Let’s not forget, though, that the best QB of this era—the Patriots’ Tom Brady—wasn’t a first-round pick. Heck, not even close! Brady went in the 6th Round, #199, in 2000. This year, and probably hoping for lightning in a bottle, Tennessee chose Luke Falk, QB, Washington State, at–you guessed it–#199.
And talking about the Patriots—and let’s throw in the Eagles, too—nary a word was said about those two titans of the NFL. The Pats had eight picks, but five were late round selections (Rounds 5-7, picks #157-225). Philadelphia took only five players, none in the first round. Its first pick–at #49–was tight end Dallas Goedert, from South Dakota State.
For sure, pro football careers—players, general managers, and coaches—were likely made and broken by picks made last weekend. For fans, it’s just plain fun with plenty to discuss, before and after.
Yes, America, you really are ready for some football–even if it’s only April.
