OPTIMIST/PESSIMIST - THE NFL DRAFT

by Zac, Throwing Into Traffic

OPTMIST/PESSIMIST will take a look at the NFL through both sides of the glass: The one that is pleasantly half full and the one that is bitterly empty. Today, we look at the NFL Draft.

OPTIMIST:
Free agency has taken both baseball and basketball and turned them into exercises in buying championships. In the NFL, however, the draft is when teams are made or broken, and it’s why the NFL is the premiere league in American professional sports. There’s something to be said for the fact that the NFL instills in its teams and fans the value of homegrown talent as opposed to the quick search for easy fixes. It’s the reason why the Randy Moss renaissance in New England felt wrong, and the reason why Eli Manning and Michael Strahan winning one for the Giants felt like the proper finish to the season.

So yeah, I’m ok with the hype. I will sit in front of my TV for 48 hours and attentively listen to the insight of Keyshawn Johnson (what’s the over/under on how many times he compares a receiver to himself?). I will analyze the most minute details about a 22 year old kid and use it as justification for his worth as a human being. Did Vernon Gholston not switch hands when he cut his food? He’s a locker room cancer. Is Matt Ryan sitting up straight? Franchise player material. Is it all a little crazy, especially considering that many of these guys won’t see significant time next season? Sure, but it’s no more self deception than any true fan enjoys during the season. And anything that captures even a little bit of that “in season” vibe during the offseason is worth supporting.

PESSIMIST:
Sure, I love the NFL draft. I mean, what’s not to love about a system that lacks the basic structure to limit the incredible risk that the league’s worst teams are taking when they use their high draft pick? Could we really live in a world where JaMarcus Russell didn’t get paid almost $70 million to skirt the thin line between “fat guy” and “coronary risk”? Combine that with the incompetence of most NFL GMs when it comes to the first round (yes, Matt Millen, DeSean Jackson is the missing piece of the puzzle), and the draft is pretty much pure comedy throughout.

In reality, it’s indicative of all of the league’s biggest problems. It’s mired in backwards traditions (Jimmy Johnson’s draft chart has kept so many teams from taking a chance on a potentially great trade that at this point it’s tarnishing his legacy). The league’s flawed relationship with the players’ union is at the forefront (Why on earth isn’t there a cap on rookie salaries? I’m pretty sure that Reggie Bush was given control of the levees in his contract.) On top of all of that, the odds of one of these guys turning a team around next year are slim to none, thanks to the league’s consistent reluctance to give rookie’s responsibility, even when they’ve ready, willing, and able to perform (it took about 4 weeks for Brad Childress to figure out that maybe, just maybe, they should give Purple Jesus the ball, even if it meant cutting down on Tavaris Jackson’s throws). In the end, the draft is all show, but very little substance, and certainly not worth the kind of devotion you see every single year.