I’ll admit – I was skeptical, even down right venomous about the NFL’s draft format. I hated it. I thought, “How stupid is it to turn the draft into a Thursday night prime time special? For the love of Pete Rozelle, this isn’t “Dancing with the Stars.”

But I was wrong – the new format actually works.

An hour into the draft last night, teams were already picking in the middle of the first round. Normally an hour into the draft, the first six or seven picks haven’t even been announced yet. In previous years, I have often felt like I had just got done running a marathon after the first round, instead of witnessing an exciting event. But this year has changed much of that.

While the new format doesn’t come without its flaws (how was it to be a Bears, Panthers or Vikings fan last night and not see one pick?), it’s hard to argue that it isn’t better for the causal fan. (Or even the diehard draft fan, for that matter.) The selections were made faster, the trades were more exciting and the coverage was tighter. (I don’t need to hear 10 different former athletes or coaches talk about players that they clearly know nothing about, when Todd McShay, Mel Kiper and Mike Mayock are more than enough.)

The nice thing about all of this (which is something I hated when the new format was announced) is that there is still a lot of action remaining for true NFL draft fans. It’s exciting knowing that there are two more rounds tonight and four more on Saturday. It’s fun getting caught up in a new batch of rumors and allowing the hype of the second round build up. If you’re a draft nut like myself, think of another time when the second and third round was more exciting than this year.

My only gripe is that our great troops don’t have the opportunity to watch the draft without having to wake up in the middle of the night. I know at least one diehard draft fan that got up at 1:30 a.m. yesterday morning just to see what his Lions would do at No. 2. Maybe next year he can watch the draft with us again from the comforts of his own couch. (Best of luck Jon – we thank you for all that you do.)

Photo from fOTOGLIF

In no other year has the No. 33 pick held so much value than it does in the 2010 NFL Draft. That’s because general managers will have nearly 24 hours to think about how the player they covet is still on the board and there for the taking.

In the NFL’s new draft format, the second round will take place tonight at 6:30PM ET. Normally, the first and second rounds are back-to-back, leaving teams little time to wheel and deal at the top of the second round. But thanks to the lapse in between the first two rounds, the Rams have probably been fielding calls for the past two days about the No. 33 overall pick.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Bills and Browns have contacted the Rams about trading up to the top spot in the second round. Buffalo has its eyes set on Jimmy Clausen, while Cleveland wants Colt McCoy. Both teams are probably desperate, seeing as how they want to get ahead of Kansas City at No. 36. That’s great news for St. Louis, which can leverage their pick, pit the Browns and Bills against each other and not fall back too far in the second round. (Cleveland has the No. 38 pick, while Buffalo has No. 41.)

Of course, if the Rams don’t trade the pick, they’ll have some pressure on their shoulders to nab an eventual starter. After all, somebody wants that pick and if St. Louis doesn’t parlay it into extra selections, then it better land a damn good player.

Update: The Cleveland Plain Dealer disputes the report that the Browns have contacted the Rams about the No. 33 pick.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Imagine you’re USC safety Taylor Mays on Thursday night, sitting patiently by the phone waiting for a team to call to tell you that you’re headed to the NFL.

But the phone never rings. Then you watch as two safeties (Eric Berry and Earl Thomas) are selected in the top 15, one of which (Thomas) by your former coach at USC, Pete Carroll.

Granted, Thomas was a better prospect than Mays and would have gone ahead of him in most scenarios. Plus, had Seattle taken Mays at 14 it would have been viewed as a major reach. But it nevertheless must be unsettling that the man that scouted Mays at SC decided to go with a Longhorn when it came time to address his needs in the secondary.

A year ago, Mays was considered a top-10 prospect. But scouts knocked him for not making big plays last season and then flat out ignored the fact that he ran a sub-4.4 40 at the Combine. He’s tough as nails, durable and has a ton of experience versus elite completion.

So what’s the problem then?

The problem is that teams don’t know whether or not he’s a safety or a linebacker. He’s brutal in coverage, doesn’t play the ball well and takes bad angles. Those aren’t exactly great qualities to have in a safety – even a strong safety that would likely play close to the line of scrimmage. Plus, he’s not the most reliable tackler, so even as a linebacker he has some major question marks as well.

That said, Mays is an all-around solid football player and as previously mentioned, he was once viewed as a top 10 pick. He knows how to play the game and if he gets in the right system (Chicago, Minnesota, San Francisco, Cleveland), then he might wind up being a steal in the second round. (Although the Bears would have to trade up for him or hope he falls to the third because they don’t have a second rounder.)

Photo from fOTOGLIF

The buzz heading into Round 2 of the NFL draft seems to be centered around the Chiefs possibly moving up to take Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis will spend tonight trying to convince the rest of Kansas City’s staff to take his former QB when the draft resumes at 6:30PM ET.

This news might be surprising to some, seeing as how the Chiefs committed a six-year, $63 million contract to Matt Cassel last season. But the feeling in Kansas City is that 2010 will be a make or break season for the 27-year-old Cassel, who struggled running Todd Haley’s offense last year.

Weis had a fair amount of success (at least statistically) with Clausen at Notre Dame, as the QB racked up 3,722 yards, 28 touchdowns and just four interceptions last season. If anything, Clausen could provide insurance in case Cassel struggles again.

The problem, however, is that GM Scott Pioli has already stated that the Chiefs aren’t in the market for a quarterback. And when the team is on the clock in the second round, it’ll be Pioli and not Weis that makes the final decision. Plus, let’s not forget that it was Pioli that orchestrated the trade to acquire Cassel from New England, so he’s going to give the former Patriot every opportunity to succeed before throwing another quarterback into the mix.

Schefter is always reliable with his information, so we’ll see what transpires tonight when Kansas City is on the clock.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

That’ll do it – the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft is in the books. All in all, even the most die-hard draft fans would have to admit that the move to prime time was a success. The action was quicker, the coverage was tighter and the event was interesting throughout. I was skeptical about the new format at first, but I admit tonight was entertaining.

Below is a recap of the first round, including head-scratching moves, valuable picks and more. I also preview the second round by listing my top 5 players that are still available.

Head-Scratcher: Broncos trade three picks for Tim Tebow.
Tebow fans will certainly criticize me for this, but this was the worst draft-day trade I’ve seen in recent memory. Inexcusably, the Broncos parted with a second, a third and a fourth round selection to trade up to the 25th overall pick to take Tebow, who may or may not wind up being a quarterback at the next level. He’s the ultimate developmental project, so hopefully Denver is willing to wait three-plus years while he works on his throwing motion, his footwork and his release. And here’s the thing: if he doesn’t become a quarterback, then how bad does this trade wind up looking? Let’s say he becomes an H-back or is only used in the Wildcat, then the Broncos just traded three picks for a role player. Think about that for a second. There’s a good chance that Denver was afraid of someone else taking Tebow before they had the chance to select him in the second round. (Buffalo was apparently trying to move up as well.) But three picks in exchange for one of the biggest risks in the draft? Don’t get me wrong – Tebow is a pure football player, a winner and a worker. There’s something about him that makes you want to throw conventional wisdom out the window and predict success for him. But I can’t justify what the Broncos gave up here. It just doesn’t make sense.

Read the rest of this entry »