Wastin' away on Draft Day

OK, so maybe it was a boring weekend. I say this only because the highlight of my Sunday came late in the day after 6:00pm when my biggest excitement was wondering who was going to be "Mr. Irrelevant". That's right boys and girls, I watched the NFL Draft all weekend.

My love of college football (and really most college sport) is no secret (unless of course you have not been reading my blog before in which case you have no idea what I'm talking about). So I have always enjoyed watching the first couple rounds of the draft of Day one to see when players I know will be drafted and who the Patriots pick. But on Sunday, I found myself sitting around with nothing to do and nothing really worth watching on TV so I put on the rest of the draft and it really was an enjoyable day.

As the rounds continued late in the day I found myself wondering if perhaps my attachment to BC players has gotten a tad high as I found myself getting increasingly angered whenever a team would take a cornerback who was not Dejuan Tribble (he was finally taken in round 6 by the San Diego Chargers) or a safety instead of Jamie Silva (not drafted) or a linebacker instead of Jo-Lonn Dunbar (not drafted). I must have called Old Man Pike a half a dozen times, "How could they choose him instead of Tribble?? Tribble ranked higher on Scouts, Inc.!!" (No need to say it, geeky, I know).

I was loving every Mel Kiper argument with Todd McShay (and they had a great one...I don't think they like each other much). And my favorite moment every year, when they replay Kiper ripping into the Indianapolis Colts for passing on Trent Dilfer to draft Marshall Faulk and the guy from Indy immediately after ripping into Kiper (in case you missed it, Dilfer was never anything but an also-ran QB in the NFL even if he did win a Super Bowl with the Ravens, but Faulk ended up being one of the most complete running backs to ever play the game). After which Chris Berman makes the obligatory joke about Mel's hair over the years. I wonder if Mel ever considers jumping out of his seat and slapping Berman around with his large bound draft analysis book screaming, "It's not funny anymore!! Stop using the same joke every year!!" Then again, I guess Berman has made his career on rehashing the same jokes.

One of the most interesting pieces of the draft is when one of the guys that ESPN is tracking with video footage ends up not getting picked early. Last year, the painful wait for Brady Quinn almost made me want to reach into the TV and just give the guy a hug. This year it was Chad Henne & Brian Brohm. As those kids waited and waited, ESPN kept cutting back to them. To Brohm's credit he at least seemed to be having a good time while he was watching the draft. He seemed to have rented some room and was having a party. Henne on the other hand looked bored and annoyed with the whole process. He didn't even seem excited when he was actually drafted while Brohm was at least smiling.

Henne may be in one of the best situations of the first 4 taken. Matt Ryan has the unenviable task of trying to right a ship with more holes than the Titanic in Atlanta. There will be little patience from the fan base for Ryan to learn and grow into his role. The best thing that could happen to him would be for Joey Harrington to have a career year and keep the starting role so Matt can learn. Joe Flacco has to fight it out with Kyle Boller for a job that no one has been effective at since the team moved to Baltimore. Brohm will probably not start this year unless Rodgers really screws up as I think Green Bay needs to give him the chance to prove he can run the team since they look him so high in the draft a few years ago. Henne, is behind John Beck (who Parcells has been less than thrilled with) and Josh McCown who has yet to prove he can be a #1 guy. Henne could step right in and start now. Four years at Michigan should have him prepped for this moment. It should be interesting.

For Matt Ryan, I truly hope that he does not start this year. The best QB's seem to be the ones who sit first in this day and age to learn the pro game. Brady, Romo, Rivers, Hasselbeck. These guys all got quality time on the bench before stepping in to be the man. It's a rare talent that can step right in and be successful. For every Peyton Manning, there are many Tim Couch's who are put in too early and it ruins them. Even Manning & Carson Palmer who started right away had their worst years has rookies.

This is why I love the draft. Listening to these guys getting called is all a gamble to see if they can live up to the hype. There is a Tony Mandrich (1st round bust) in every draft. But there is also a Tom Brady (6th round Superstar). Let the fun begin.