Is the NFL Draft Over Yet?

The NFL Draft has become on of the most dragged out events in sports, and I personally think it takes up way too much time to get something done as simple as drafting players.

While drafting the future players for your football team is important it shouldn't be something that takes three days to actually complete. When you compare them to the other three major sports, it just doesn't make sense why seven rounds take three days to compete.

In the MLB they also take three days to complete their draft, but the main difference between those two is the MLB has an additional 20 rounds, totaling 27. The NHL has the same amount of rounds as the NFL in their draft and they finish it in one night as does the NBA who only has two rounds.

The NFL Draft has to get away from their current three day draft and try to get this done in one day. For teams to only make about seven picks during one day isn't really asking much. In order for them to do this I think they should cut down on the minutes it takes for each team to make their picks.

Realistic Changes in Draft Times:
1st Round - 5 minutes (currently 10)
2nd-3rd Round - 4 minutes (currently 7)
3rd-7th Round - 3 minutes (currently 5)

By changing those times to the ones I've come up with you are basically cutting the entire draft time almost in half. If you were to do this on a Sunday and promote it just like any other NFL game that happens on a Sunday, I think it would be just as successful. The NFL would be giving their fans another Sunday of the NFL season to really enjoy it like they do all season long.

The 2013 NFL Draft

When I look at this year's NFL Draft there are three names that I keep hearing everyday when I turn on SportsCenter or any other sports program. These three names are players that to be honest, I don't even think are deserving of being a first round pick.

Manti Te'o
Wow! He was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy last season and was considered to be the best defensive player in all of collegiate sports. Then the BCS Championship happened. Then Lennay Kukua happened. Then the NFL Combine happened.

Te'o went from being one of the best players in college to becoming the laughing stock. He was atrocious during the BCS Championship game against Alabama and for most of it you couldn't even find him on the field. Alabama's offense ate up Notre Dame's defense and turned Te'o invisible.

The Kekua debacle is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard of. How does a guy of his magnitude manage to have a fake girlfriend. He's the best player on the most notorious college football team in the country and he had a girlfriend that he had never met. How any person could fall for a hoax like this just shows that they aren't that smart of a person and are very naive.

On top of everything that had happened for Te'o he then followed it with his poor combine showing. When I heard how slow his time was I began to wonder even more if he would be able to keep up with players in the NFL. I've heard the comparisons to Tedy Bruschi and how neither of them were the greatest athletes on the field, but I just don't think Te'o will be worth it. At best I think he's a late second rounder and that's if you really need an inside linebacker. Hoping to God that the New York Giants do not draft him.

Matt Barkley
Well he went from being the frontrunner for the Heisman to not even being in the consideration by the end of the year. As quarterback of USC they went from being number one at the beginning of the year to not even being ranked at the end of season. His stock plummeted more and more after each start and now isn't even in the consideration for most ESPN analysts' top three quarterbacks. 

Barkley's late season injury didn't help him either as a couple of possible wins late in the year and a good performance at the Senior Bowl could have helped him improve his stock. Coming into this draft he could be taken early in the first to even late in the second and to be honest I don't see him as a starting quarterback in the NFL.

If you look at each of the former USC quarterbacks to come to the NFL in recent years you have Carson Palmers, Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez who all came in as early first round picks and none of them have turned out to be really great quarterbacks in the league. Palmer has done alright, but he's never become the QB he was supposed to be. In all honesty I would stay away from Barkley at all costs.

Geno Smith
Big Geno is apparently the best quarterback in this year's NFL Draft. That's like say Nick's Pizza is the best pizza in New Britain. It's just not something worth getting excited over. After hearing so much about him as of late, I've also heard a lot of things that make me skeptical about him. 

Most of the passes he was completing at West Virginia were screens and dump passes. While he does have a good arm he was playing with some very good weapons including Tavon Austin who is ranked even higher according to ESPN's big board (Austin is 12 while Smith is 29).

In my opinion he's probably the best quarterback to choose in this NFL draft. I don't think he's worth a first round choice as I don't see any of the quarterbacks in this draft as possible  starting QB's 10 years from now. None of these guys are franchise guys, but some of them could be quality back-ups whenever a team needs to go to someone.

The Rest of the Draft
When looking at the big board of the best possible players in the draft, you have to go outside the top 10 before you find any offensive weapons. For quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends the best guys available are #12 Tavon Austin at wide receiver and #13 Tyler Eifert at tight end.

This is definitely a year where teams will be trying to trade down as there isn't much that is worth drafting right away at the top of the board. The smart NFL teams will be able to move down a few spots and still get the player they want as others will make stupid moves to move up in a draft where there is plenty of decent talent, but nothing that really makes you say WOW.

If you enjoy watching your favorite team drafting offensive and defensive lineman in the top 10 than this is definitely the draft for you. I'm not really impressed with many offensive players in this draft and don't feel the need to watch three days of this so this will probably be the last time I even talk about it. 

New York Giants
Right now I'm just praying that the Giants don't select Te'o or any quarterback to possibly back up Eli. Their real needs are improving their defense as they could possibly use an inside and outside linebacker and some defensive back help. After looking at the big board the one guy I'm hoping falls to us at 19 is Alec Ogletree. The Giants need linebacking help and he is a guy that could step in and start next year. I'd also like to see them go after a receiver in the fourth or fifth round as they manage to always pick up someone good late.