I'll Have A Draft!

The morning after: When draft daydreams give way to reality
Joe Posnanski/SI.com

Well, here we are after the first round of the NFL draft... and it's pretty happy out there. I think this is part of what makes the NFL draft so popular; there are many more winners than losers. At least for now. In every NFL town across America, coaches and GMs are doing their annual "I can't believe he was still there" dance. You know, that's when the coaches rant on and on about how amazed they were that whoever they picked -- Russell Okung or Dez Bryant or whoever -- was miraculously still on the board when their turn came up. They simply cannot believe their good fortune. This happens every year, of course, and I have always wished that coaches and GMs would continue the thought to completion:

"I cannot believe that I.M. Formidable was there when we were picking. No, I mean it. It is beyond belief. It has become clear to us here that every other team is run by idiots. I mean, some of the guys picked before I.M., frankly, we wouldn't have picked them out of a tryout camp. Apparently the rest of the league is scouting by looking at the back of football cards or something because this guy is so clearly awesome, and we're picking, what, 23rd? I'm serious, we had two guys faint in the draft room they were so shocked he was still there. We had to pull out the smelling salts, again. I mean it's not even fair how much smarter we are than every other team. To summarize: We rule."

For the most part, fans and media types also tend to be happy with the first round of the draft. Here in Kansas City, for instance, the Chiefs took a safety, Eric Berry, with the fifth overall pick. Taking a safety with the fifth pick seems a bit like using one of your three genie wishes to get sensible shoes. But Berry is by all accounts a model player and young man, a hard hitter with good grades, a speed burner with good sense -- the comp that comes up again and again is Baltimore's classy future Hall of Famer Ed Reed -- and the majority of people around here, including my good friends at the Kansas City Star, seem to love the choice.

But, then, a quick scan of local newspapers shows that they seem thrilled just about everywhere. They're excited in Dallas with the choice of Dez Bryant, and they're dancing in the streets in Detroit over destroyer Ndamukong Suh AND running back Jahvid Best (don't forget the Motor City!). Seattle's new braintrust is getting "two thumbs up" for their choice of Russell Okung. A fan is shouting "We did it, we got what we needed!" in Green Bay after drafting Bryan Bulaga. Even a controversial pick like Tim Tebow has Woody Paige in Denver singing: "Tim Tremendous may be high risk, but he will be a mile-high reward."

Read the rest of this column here.

I thought this was a great column about unrealistic expectations concerning the NFL Draft. If time has taught us anything its that half of the guys we saw get drafted in the first round Thursday nite are not going to make much of an impact (if any) in the NFL. But NFL fans almost universally applaud their team's first round selection. Even I'm not too upset about the player my team chose. While I think the selection of C.J. Spiller to play a position that was already pretty well assessed was a buffonish move, its not condemnation of Spiller himself. I think he could turn out to be a very useful third down back (ala Reggie Bush or Darren Sproles) but not taking an offensive tackle with the #9 pick, where there were still several available was just plain stupid.

The other selections don't have obvious answers. Was Dez Bryant a smart selection for the Cowboys given the questions about his work ethic? Maybe. Was Tim Tebow a reach at #25, especially for a team with two serviceable QBs? Probably, but it may not be a stupid move. The point is everyone can claim their pick was smart now. Its how they look in five years that matters. But the one guy who certainly looks stupid right now is Detroit coach Jim Schwartz. Sure, he may have got the closest thing to a lock in Ndamukong Suh, but he basically admitted to getting his jollies off on Jahvid Best highlight videos.

Schwartz said:

"Some people watch adult videos on their computer. I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That's what gets me aroused."

Other draft highlights include the NJ Jets/Giants faithful chanting "She Said No!" (an obvious nod to Ben Roethlisberger) during the Steelers first round selection. You can faintly hear it at the start of the video below. The Steelers pick also gave us a vision of a family that maybe stays too close, the Pounceys. Watch the twin brothers smooch at the :46 second mark.



Take it easy guys. Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love. Not Pittsburgh.