The NFL Draft starts later today, Matthew Stafford QB out of Georgia has already agreed to a contract with the Detroit Lions ($41.7 million guaranteed). He will be the first overall pick, and we will see how all the dominoes fall. But the week leading up to the NFL Draft really annoys me, and I am not the only person with this point of view. The primary reason the week of the draft is annoying, and even the coverage of the draft is the media coverage of the entire process. It all starts at the NFL combine where all the college players go each year to be analyzed, poked, and prodded by NFL scouts so they can compile data on them. Combines themselves are not annoying (I participated in a few during my playing days), but everything is micro analyzed dealing with the combine and players who are projected to go high in the draft. For example Wide Receiver Michael Crabtree out of Texas Tech did not run the 40 yard dash because he has a stress fracture in his foot, but there were reports coming out seemingly every about how he might run, or how temas are dropping Crabtree on their board because he isn’t running the 40. So you mean to tell me an entire 3 or 4 year college career with supporting game film is erased because a guy won’t run a 40 yard sprint?

If that isn’t bad enough the week before the draft it gets even worse. First let’s frame what the draft is all about, 32 teams drafting players that will help them win a super bowl with the worst teams picking first since they need the most help. Most of the time these players don’t contribute for at least 1 – 2 years, you very rarely have a drafted player produce significantly in the year they are drafted. So all of this scrutiny and hype is meaningless for the most part, I know fans get excited to see who their teams are going to pick, but Detroit was 0 – 16 last year and the selection of Stafford is not going to translate into an immediate turn around from the worst record in NFL history. To start the week of everyone comes out with their “mock” draft lists, and then they change them seemingly every hour as they supposedly get inside information. Just about every sports site you check each mock draft board is different, and then on the radio you hear all of the sports analysts talking about why a guys draft stock is moving up or down. This year Mark Sanchez Quarterback out of USC is the red hot player everyone wants this season, when he first declared he was going to make himself eligible for the draft everyone talked about how he wasn’t ready to play in the NFL. Now he is the hottest player on the board that everyone wants, then remember Michael Crabtree his stock is dropping because the rumor is he is a diva. Let’s take the picture of Brady Quinn on the cover of this magazine from draft week 2007, as you can see the caption says is he the next franchise Quarterback? Well Brady Quinn has played in less than 6 games in his NFL career and has ridden the pine most of his first two seasons, to top it off he got injured after he was named the starter last season. Then the coach that drafted him is no longer the head coach, so why ask a question that won’t be answered for 4 or 5 years?

I understand that the media has to sell magazines, or have people read their articles so they can get paid from companies wanting to advertise. But there are much better ways of covering the draft, and I think the shock value is used entirely too much. At the end of the day all these guys will be drafted and make a whole lot more money than most average Americans. The draft itself is long and boring outside of seeing who your team drafts, I do like watching the first few hours of the draft if I have absolutely nothing to do, but it’s a bunch of talking sports heads speculating on what might happen, and a guy walking out saying who was selected. There are a lot of highlight packages put together for each player that can be enjoyable to watch, but after the first hour or so the novelty kind of wears off. I am a big football fan, and anything that will bring more fans and attention to the sport is great, but I don’t think hype and making everything dramatic. It’s a contact sport where people get hurt all of the time, and the fact that they make such a big deal out of an injury in the media is ridiculous. All the teams in the NFL know how injuries affect players and the ramifications, they don’t need talking heads on the air making fans things a small injury is something major. I am not telling you to avoid watching the draft, just simply avoid getting caught up in the hype and hysteria that comes with draft week.