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The Low-Down on the NFL Draft

The 2007 NFL draft offers teams the opportunity to improve themselves. It also offers diehard fans a chance to get a little but of a football fix during the football off season.

The NFL draft is when teams take turns selecting players who are going from playing college football to playing pro football. As long as no trades have been made, teams select according to how they did the previous season – the worst team picks first and the Super Bowl winner picks last. The draft lasts for 7 rounds – 3 rounds on the first day and 4 rounds on the second day.

This year the draft will be help on April 28th and 29th. As usual, it will be held in New York City. Undoubtedly fans will show-up at the draft with their favorite team’s football jersey on. Some fans may even choose to wear the college football jersey of a player they want their team to select.

However, teams don’t always select the player their fans want. One famous incident happened back in 1999.

The Philadelphia Eagles held the #2 overall selection that year. Many Philly fans went to the draft wearing Ricky Williams jerseys. Williams was a running back out of Texas. He was the one the Eagles fans wanted their team to select.

The Eagles selected the Syracuse University quarterback Donovan McNabb.

When McNabb was selected the Eagles fans booed loudly. They screamed in anger. They hated the pick.

Now, some 8 years later, Williams has been in and out of the NFL due to drug problems and Donovan McNabb is one of the top quarterbacks in the league. McNabb’s #5 jersey is one of the most popular selling jerseys in the NFL.

So it seems the fans don’t always know what’s best for their teams but that doesn’t stop them from rooting for particular players.

This year the best players are supposedly: Calvin Johnson, WR from Georgia Tech, Joe Thomas, OT from Wisconsin, JaMarcus Russell, QB from LSU, Adrian Petersen, RB from Oklahoma, and Brady Quinn, QB from Notre Dame.

Players are evaluated all season by NFL scouts who go to games and watch weeks worth of game film. Then the players are further evaluated at the NFL Combine in February.

During the NFL Combine players are asked to complete a 40 yard dash, bench presses, a vertical jump, a 3 cone drill, and a 20 yard shuffle run. Those are just a few of the drills players are asked to complete under the watchful eye of scouts, coaches, and NFL owners. Players are also measured, weighed, and interviewed.
Who will be the #1 pick this year is still yet to be determined. That player is guaranteed to be under a great deal of pressure to perform well on the field. No doubt fans will also flock to the stores to buy his game football jersey.

Whether or not the #1 pick or any of the other players will turn into great NFL players remains to be seen. Only time will tell.