Draft Thoughts

I'll throw out more complete thoughts on the drafts that I liked as well as one that I found a little funky in a later Flicker, likely tomorrow. You'd expect teams that draft early would select terrific players and as a result bring home a terrific draft. It rarely works that way and that is why some teams always draft early. The strong teams draft late and always seem to draft well. They remain strong. At a quick glance, I really liked what the Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers and New York Giants in this draft. I always hope that the Packers revert to the thinking that prompted them to draft Justin Harrell in the first round. Unfortunately, they don't seem too interested in making me happy.

First of all, I'm still not a fan of the three day prime time draft. With my work and me being in the Pacific time zone, it's difficult/impossible to get home in time to catch the proceedings live. The East coast is screwed too often with sports on TV to adjust things. So, it's only fair that the West coast suffers in this case. Roger Goodell and the NFL seem to think that every single football fan loves this setup. I don't see it changing anytime soon.

That ridiculous droid razr commercial should never have made it on the air. It was horrible once but after the one thousandth appearance I was screaming. My goodness, that was some piece of advertising. Who makes these things?

Maybe all the trades at the top of the first round hacked things up but the NFL Network's coverage was about three steps behind. There were occasions when there was a gridlock of picks made while they were playing around on the stage. I just think that it was a mistake to have the graphic at the bottom of the screen saying that the picks were in well before they were ready to announce them. In past years the coverage handled the interviews and camera time without a noticeable impact on the draft coverage. I wouldn't mind a return to that.

I loved seeing the former NFL players announcing their former team's picks in the second round. It was great to those players again. It was even better to see that so many are in such fantastic shape. Even players whose playing days were about fifty years ago, like Gary Collins and Roger Wherli, looked terrific. It was especially cool to see former Cal players Wesley Walker and Ken Harvey. From the 50-yard line, I saw Walker catch a touchdown pass from Joe Roth in 1975. That was a beautiful day in Berkeley and it was beautiful to see Walker again.

I was a little surprised by what seemed to be a lot of players selected from Nevada. It's likely a coincidence more so than a connection but I can't help but wonder if Colin Kaepernick brought more attention to the school. He got a lot of attention last year and as a result so did the school.

I was puzzled and amused when little Presbyterian College was on Cal's football schedule last year. I'd never heard of the Prebyterian College Blue Hose. Thankfully, Cal walked away with a win. I walked away amazed by a cornerback named Justin Bethel. I'm glad that the NFL noticed him too. The Arizona Cardinals selected an impressive football player when they took Bethel in the sixth round.

I love listening to Mike Mayock and Charles Davis talk about the draft and football. I'd love to hang out with them. Those two alone made it easy to put ESPN to sleep a few years ago. I enjoy the analysis of Michael Lombardi and Charley Casserly as well. Their actual experience in NFL front offices brings automatic respect. Casserly, in particular, is entertaining even if it's in an often goofy way. Rich Eisen is excellent as host. He can be a bit goofy as well. His rapport with players, past and present, as well as NFL decision makers is easily his best asset. It doesn't take much to maintain my interest in the draft but the NFL Network does a great job. Far better than ESPN ever did. Brian Billick, however, is a boob.

The anticipation for the draft is so great that it's often hard to see it end. Now, it's time to put it all together. Between now and September the teams are made. It's so wonderful to have OTAs and Mini-camps again. The lockout crapped on everything last year. I'm so glad that mess is in the past. Never again.