A Muted Kickoff to a Creeping Draft Frenzy

And thus more exciting to me. But I get your point. I used to be not as enthralled as others about the draft. Even last year. I got sucked in big-time this year. Very exciting prospects in this draft, different to me than other years. The underwhelming free agency probably also has something to do with it.

because I doubt the best current Seahawks that have any future with us will be a significant factor in our future. Even Curry, who I’m still high on. The same of course could be true for who we pick, but the guys I knew I could count on, and anticipate building around, in the past, I can’t anymore. This draft is exciting because it could give me something to be excited about again.

Simply because there’s nothing else going on in football, except free agency, which rolls in such sporadic waves. I don’t much care for any sport that’s not football, so here I am, sucked in again. I can’t wait for it to be over, to learn about who we got, and for training camp start. Actually, I can’t wait for preseason to start. Or wait, regular season.

It’s somewhat humorous though, these draft experts who spend months updating and predicting, to have it all come down to a couple of days, and then only to be wrong 99 percent of the time.

After your previous post.

I’m a huge football fan, I can watch good college football (and the Huskies and Beavers :P) but I can watch “bad” NFL teams. As fans of good college football you are seeing people you have seen more of then say baseball prospects (who most people never see.) It is a whole 5 months until the NFL season begins. I think the love of the draft is that it is the half way point and then it drops off from there, until the end of camp. For those of us living in the NW the weather is too good to really worry about much else. Also all the mocks are like bracketology for people who are just football fans, it doesn’t have to be correct, but it is fun to see where you got it right.

Never watching ESPN and avoiding the NFL and ESPN websites helps. It only takes 10 minutes to find out the top prospects in college, and that never changes over the next 3 months where people argue on positioning. So I just don’t read any of it, because honestly it’s mostly crap. I’m getting to the point where I’m ready to just ignore the draft altogether and just wait to find out who we get. It’s not like me knowing all the potential people we can draft is going to somehow influence the team.

We are thirsty, and it tastes good. Who cares if it’s not good for you?

Perhaps all I really root for anymore in the draft are lots of picks. Makes the odds better. Other than that, its an fucking crapshoot.

Ruskell’s tendencies made it so I didn’t have to go to a bunch of different sites and gurus to know what to expect. Not knowing what the Q/PM are trying to do with the team has kind of robbed me of being able to make my own opinions and expectations.

but I’ve always thought those draft grades writers and analysts give out the day after the draft are asinine.

Especially this season, where we have a new HC and GM. Trying to understand more about prospects is only one part of it. Keeping up with transactions is something I’ve done since the tiny four or five sentences on the back of the old sports page. How teams are shaping up, how teams are handling their rosters and depth with varying levels of contention or perceived contention in their sights.

And, of course the guessing game – who do you or I think a team likes enough to draft? How do you or I think those teams, including ours, will prioritize their draft needs or boards? How will the incoming rookies affect various team’s depth charts? Eventually, a meld of perception and reality will result at the draft’s end, after the dust settles, and tide me over until the new perception is reshaped by the players and teams’ performances on the field.

Which teams parlay their off-season into wins? Accounting for the new players on the field, their performance, and what teams did to secure those players can be reflected upon throughout the season.

Since Baseball is won with a checkbook and the NBA is hardly watchable outside of the Blazers and some playoff times, Football is ever more important – including the off-season. Thankfully, MMA has eclipsed the corrupt sport of Boxing and adds a sport in addition to football that gives me the excitement and entertainment I seek.

The draft and all the pre-draft stuff allows me to learn. Fortunately, I’ve learned to screen out a lot of it (ESPN, that means you to start with, though Sando’s blog may contain a link that might be useful on occasion).

Fortunately, I have a loving family to spend time with. As a result, I’ve given up Saturday football in favor of Thursday night NFL, Sunday NFL, Monday NFL. At least the draft and some of the surrounding info is available to try and learn from where and when I can. I can no longer rely on my own college game-watching to inform myself. Thankfully, I can pick and choose what information I read or use to form my own ideas and delve deeper, as desired. I love this time of year. It’s exciting and a great time for learning certain aspects about football, teams, and players. I hope to learn our team’s vision, identity, and plans.

It’s hard enough predicting games the day before they happen. This is because the average player in the NFL is actually an excellent player and can, “on any given Sunday”, play up to the standards of a “star”. Also because of the short time span of growth in the NFL, a player who used to be a late round pick and is forced to start, or is playing lots because lack of depth, etc, can turn into a great player. The NFL is a casino game. But who doesn’t like Casino games with other peoples money?

Is tied up in Curry and Force. The rest will go to whomever we draft to play safety.

Watch it with no commericals, breaks, or commentary. Just zoom through and stop on each pick and the initial commentary. Other than that – watch 3 days worth of draft in a few hours.

drawn to the pre-draft media coverage anyway like a fly to shit.

The fully televised mock ‘slave trade’ of the combine. The professional draft analyst weenies — Kiper, McShay et al — with their ridiculous mock drafts every 3 days for months. If I was wrong in my job as often as they are I would have been fired years ago.

Most of all, I am repulsed by the suspicion that the media drives the actual draft more than anyone would like to admit. Rams fans have been told enough that Sam Bradford is the only player who can bring hope and salvation to St Louis to the point that the Rams front office is now beholden to this player regardless of whether they might rather take Suh.

If I was a GM I’d have a poster on my wall that said “Mario Williams, Never Forget”. The mass media raked Hou over the coals for selecting Williams over Reggie Bush. Today, there are 32 teams that would rather have Mario Williams.

Anwyay, despite all this, I will watch the first round of the draft on TV with some buddies and will probably look at half-a-dozen silly mock drafts between now and Thurs night.

Not the media circle-jerk portion so much as the player story lines, and finding new talent to root for. This new three day Draft-a-thon is ridiculous though. Really NFL, Thursday is Round 1 only? I got shit to do, I got bills to pay.

I don’t want to like the draft, but I do. I can’t stop myself. Yes I’m weak.

Kill