The NFL Draft is one of the most exciting times for a football fan and marks the start of a brand new season. The draft is consistently one of the most watched and talked about events in sports with this year’s draft having an average viewership of 7.5 million across all three days and 13.6 million in the all-important first round, according to ESPN. However, with its popularity, it also accumulates a lot of criticism from fans and critics. While the draft has positive aspects, there are also many faults with it as well.
One of the best parts of the NFL draft is that it is the primary method for college players to be recruited into the NFL. The draft gives fans the spectacle of witnessing the future of their favorite teams and provides a great opportunity for players to start their professional football careers. It is a big moment for these players to get drafted, an accomplishment that showcases their talent and how far they’ve made it.
There are downfalls with the actual watching experience, however. Particularly in the first round, it takes about 10-15 minutes in between each pick. This means that for a large amount of time viewers are sitting there watching people talk about the players rather than seeing what they are anticipating. I understand that teams need time to make their pick, but why do managers need 15 minutes to decide on who they want? Anticipated top picks have already been identified through college stats and team needs.
Additionally, there are a lot of pitfalls when it comes to the drafting process. Many teams put so much faith in a rookie to save their team, and that weight on one player’s shoulders can be too much. In some cases, the expectations are so heavy that the players perform poorly and become “busts,” where a player had high expectations but didn’t meet them. This isn’t always the player’s fault, though; often, it’s the fault of the management trying to put the team’s fate on a rookie’s back while providing little support to them.
Rookie contracts are a major problem as well because the rookies basically have no say in how much they are valued. The rookie wage scale limits rookie compensation and duration which prevents players from negotiating contracts freely and leads to getting underpaid. The minimum for each rookie is $840,000 for 2025 but the higher a player gets drafted, the more they earn. The rookies can’t negotiate what they earn, whenever they are drafted it decides how much they get paid.
On Draft Day there is usually a lot of pressure and drama that could cause teams to make bad decisions and focus on the popularity of a player rather than what will help the team succeed. Many teams have made this mistake, and since they never learn from their mistakes, I’m sure there will be some this year.
From this year’s draft, Quarterback Shaduer Sanders out of Colorado was a projected first-round pick but was selected in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns. I believe the Browns felt pressured to pick him, because when he was drafted, the Browns staff didn’t look very happy. This was because a lot of teams saw him falling down in the draft, so they didn’t pick him since they thought something was wrong with him. They could have also felt pressure from his dad, Deion Sanders, who happens to be one of the best defensive players of all time and is in the Hall of Fame. Sanders was his son’s coach in college, and teams didn’t want to deal with him and his big ego, despite the legacy he carries.
As one can see, this year’s draft was fun as always, but there were some issues with it. The picks can’t really be evaluated yet as to how they will help their team or if they will become busts, but some picks were better than others. For example, the Eagles with their selection of Linebacker Jihaad Campbell from Alabama with the 31st pick. He was projected to be a top 12 pick, but he fell to the Eagles and they got the steal of the draft. Being the steal of the draft means that they were drafted lower than they should have.
The draft this year had its flaws like the years past, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t entertaining. The problems will never change, because as long as people are watching, nothing is going to change. It was a fun draft nonetheless and I can’t wait for the start of the new season.
