As of right now, the NFL is going forward with their annual draft, later this month, starting on April 23rd.

There has been a lot of criticism toward the league, because of the current situation going on throughout the world with COVID-19, and normally we are a critic of the NFL’s business model, which basically is, we will do anything we want because we are the NFL, but in this case, we believe people need the draft.

If you are a sports fan, you need a diversion from the daily news featuring the number of cases being diagnosed, and the cancellations going on throughout sports.

Please, don’t take this as being careless about the virus.  People should be doing whatever they can to slow the spread of it, and our thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who has been affected by the virus or has family affected as well.

But sports fans need something to look forward to, and next up on the agenda is the draft.

We did find the complaints from different teams about not having personal workout days for prospects quite laughable.

Those things are basically a media event anyway.

It wasn’t that long ago that the decisions made on a player were made based on what they did on the college playing field only.  We know this may be shocking to some people, but prior to 1982, there wasn’t even an NFL Draft Combine.

How could those scouts tell who were good players without having linemen do a “cone drill” or a standing broad jump?  And before you say, they made mistakes prior to this, look at the last four or five years of first round picks, there are still plenty of errors, which fans of the Browns are well aware of.

The college pro days might even be worse.  We loved when a quarterback had his showcase and the reporters would note he completed 60 of 64 passes.  Wow!  Of course there is no defensive players on the field.

We think we could go in the backyard and complete that kind of percentage to our sons with no one guarding them.  The point is a good college passer should be completing those throws, it most certainly isn’t news.

One story we always like to point out is that of Chris Spielman, Massillon product and an All American middle linebacker at Ohio State.  If you watched the Buckeyes play that in 1987, you saw Spielman make tackle after tackle.

He was the best defensive player on the team, and in most games, on the field.

However, one of his defensive teammates, Eric Kumerow, was picked in the first round of the NFL Draft in 1988, while Spielman went to the Lions in the second round.

Why?  Because Kumerow had the “measurables”, Spielman just made plays.

There are many other stories like that too.  Guys who made an impact on the field, but didn’t workout well.

In 1985, the first two wide receivers picked were Al Toon (Jets) and Eddie Brown (Bengals).  The next WR chosen was a player named Jerry Rice, probably the greatest wide receiver ever.

It was said that Rice’s 40 yard dash time was the reason the other two players were taken ahead of him, and he also played at a small school, Mississippi Valley State.

Maybe Rice didn’t time well, but not many people ever caught him from behind either.

The biggest thing to come from this year’s draft might be that overthinking will be minimized.  And that might also be the best thing.

MW