The NFL Draft brings all emotions to the fore, especially for fan bases of those teams that have – how can we put this kindly? – been somewhat wasteful with their recruitment opportunities over recent years. If you’re a Kansas City Chiefs supporter, with the memory of landing Patrick Mahomes with the 10th pick in 2017 still flowing fresh through the psyche, Thursday and all it brings probably doesn’t generate too much trepidation. However, for followers of the Chicago Bears and other franchises that have whiffed and wobbled the past few times they’ve been on the clock, things likely feel much more pressurized. And if you’re a neutral (is anyone truly neutral when it comes to the NFL?), the opportunity to potentially witness history being made makes this draft every bit a ‘must see.’ Just like the long-and-not-so-long suffering fans, thehosting crew of the FOX Sports Draft Watch Partywill also come to Thursday night’s drama with widely varying viewpoints. As he holds court over a team set to parse and debate each of the first-round selections over the course of several hours on Thursday night, Trey Wingo – who has covered the draft for the past 18 years but will be making his debut for FOX – is ready to embrace how this will be a draft like no other. “Last year’s draft was very different in its execution,” Wingo told me, via telephone. “But the run-up, the evaluation part where teams did all their homework, didn’t change. There was a combine, most pro days were unaffected, there was a full college season. “This time will be the complete opposite. The draft will look a lot more normal, but the build-up has been totally thrown askew. Some players played six games, some 13 games or some none at all. There was no combine. It is fascinating and it gives the teams even more to think about.” Wingo settled into a familiar routine once again; once the Super Bowl was over his thoughts turned immediately to free agency and the draft, spending his time continually talking to people in the know, evaluating players, speaking with front office staff, seeking to decipher as much information as possible. “It is a weird dynamic,” he added. “The players are doing all they can to make themselves seem as valuable as possible so they can be drafted higher and make more money. For the teams, though, they are all about maximizing the value of what they are getting, essentially seeing the picks as commodities that they have to get the most out of.” Wingo will be joined in the studio by T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Jordan Palmer, Geoff Schwartz, RJ Young and Jason McIntyre, and will interview former No. 1 picks Eli Manning and Michael Vick during the stream. For Houshmandzadeh, thinking back to his own draft experience will be unavoidable as the selections tick by from Cleveland. Coming out of Oregon State in 2001, Houshmandzadeh was expected to be taken no later than the third round, but eventually fell all the way to the seventh, going to the Cincinnati Bengals with the 204th selection. It was a slight that fueled his motivation throughout his career, but one that, he says, will never be forgotten. “How can I put it … it was, er, disappointing,” Houshmandzadeh chuckled this week. “I saw a lot of guys go ahead of me that I, and they, knew weren’t better than me. It was disheartening. Honestly, it made me angry. But it actually motivated me. “People say I overachieved, but that’s not right. I was just evaluated wrong. That is what we will see again, some guys evaluated too high, others too low. That’s part of what I like about the draft, that whole evaluation process and all the levels to it. But I sympathize with those guys that drop, because it’s hard.” It will be a draft that has more in common with what we were formerly used to, but is still greatly altered. The 2020 edition was so widely consumed because there was nothing else happening at the time and it provided all kinds of unique looks, including, yep, Roger Goodell’s basement. Bill Belichick’s dog made an appearance and we got to see plenty of diverse decors from the homes of key team personnel. This time there will be fans in attendance and some festivities allowed on the Cleveland waterfront, but a reminder the world has not yet returned to normal will still pervade. There certainly won’t be anything particularly normal about the top of the board, with the near-guarantee of quarterbacks being taken with the opening three picks and perhaps an unprecedented 1-2-3-4 run, if the Atlanta Falcons seek to either trade down or secure Matt Ryan’s long-term replacement. For Palmer, the draft is all about the QBs, with him having become an acclaimed guru in training and preparing players at the position. He has worked extensively with presumptive No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence and will be casting a close eye over proceedings, as Zach Wilson seems sure to land with the New York Jets at two and then the San Francisco 49ers’ trade-up slot at No. 3 comes into play. One thing the analysts can agree on – no one is buying the narrative that San Francisco would be happy with any one of several different QBs, namely Mac Jones, Justin Fields or Trey Lance. “They know who they were looking at when they made that trade,” Wingo said. “Or else they wouldn’t have made it,” added Houshmandzadeh. Lawrence’s status as the standout of this draft is the least dramatic piece to it all. For more than a year he has been locked into this spot, yet that shouldn’t diminish the magnitude of what he accomplished at Clemson and the reality that he’s arguably the most highly-rated QB prospect to come out of college since Andrew Luck in 2012. Lawrence feels like a can’t miss prospect until we reflect and remember that there’s no such thing, which is why all the emotions of draft night should be held in a state of temporary suspension. There will be celebrations and devastation felt by various groups of fans over the course of the weekend. That’s all fine, and all part of the fun, but just remember that this is a guessing – and second-guessing – game. A great draft pick is only great … when, and if, he becomes great. The draft is one of the most highly-anticipated occasions on the NFL calendar, but in many ways, it’s just the start of the wait. Here’s what others have said … Kevin Clark, The Ringer: “This is the draft of chaos, marrying two wildly intriguing things: a bunch of quarterbacks who might go in the top 10, and a real lack of information due to a college football season and a pre-draft process severely impacted by COVID-19. … What adds to the intrigue of this draft is that there is less information about these prospects than there has been in years. Truncated college schedules, top prospects who opted out of their seasons, a canceled combine, and a lack of private workouts, among other factors, have made evaluations harder. For some teams, this is a big deal, while others are taking it in stride. The 2021 draft is stacked with players at the most overanalyzed position and teams have less criteria to actually analyze them.” Arnie Stapleton, The Associated Press: “About the only certainty in the confounding 2021 NFL draft is Trevor Lawrence going to the Jaguars with the first overall pick. Beyond that, it’s really anybody’s guess following the most unorthodox of run-ups to the league’s annual parade of prospects. COVID-19 opt-outs and shortened or shelved seasons in the fall were followed by the combine cancellation and the elimination of in-person interviews this spring because of the pandemic. … All of this should result in a wild weekend of buildup for the 2021 season, when the NFL hopes sellouts replace opt-outs and normalcy returns in sports and society alike. … Risk-takers might find gems this year, but the temptation will be to load up on 2022 picks when the pool of prospects will be much deeper — and, the hope is, better vetted.” Dan Pompei, The Athletic: “Teams that select quarterbacks high in the NFL Draft always have to embrace risk the way rock climbers do. This year, they are more like free soloists. It appears to be a dangerous year to be playing the quarterback game in the draft because there is less agreement on the top prospects than usual. That has been the case from team to team, and that has been the case within many draft rooms, where, as one front-office person said, ‘We’re all over the board on these guys.’” |
