Now that the NFL Draft is over...

Like an oasis in the middle of the Sahara, the NFL Draft serves as a shimmering, fleeting beacon of football in an otherwise barren wasteland.  In what can only be described as a sure sign of the apocalypse, the NFL Draft has become a marquis sports entertainment event.  Some of the talking heads on ESPN even commented that the Draft's second day gets better ratings than most ESPN baseball and NBA telecasts.  Unbelievable.

So now that the draft is over, I have some thoughts.  Some are original, some I can't claim as my own but thought that they were interesting.  First, Charlie Casserly (former GM of the Washington Redskins) was on the John Riggins Show and said that after 4 years, only 30% if the players drafted in this year's draft would be starters on NFL teams.  He broke down the rounds like this: 75% of first-rounders, 50% of second-rounders, 30% of third-rounders, 25% of fifth-rounders and 10% of sixth and seventh-rounders.

Second, I always get a chuckle out of the draft grades.  I think folks like Mel Kiper Jr should grade drafts after the 4-year period that Casserly references.  I bet there are some "A's" out there now that would've graded much lower on draft day...and vice versa.  My beef with draft experts is that there is absolutely no way of knowing which college players are going to be successful at the next level, regardless of their performances in college.  Yes, there are exceptions.  Peyton Manning was probably as close to a sure thing when he was drafted as John Elway was when he was picked by Baltimore in 1983.  But, for every Manning there is a Ryan Leaf.  For every Anthony Munoz, there is a Tony Mandarich.  And for every Adrian Peterson there is a (gasp) Ki-jana Carter.  Yes, I know that Carter's injury in the first preseason game he played effectively ended any shot he had at being a feature back.  But, Cincinnati doesn't get a compensatory pick just because he got hurt.  

When I watch Sunday/Monday Night Football, I always find it fascinating to hear where these guys that are playing at the highest level went to college. (As a side note, I am sick of the high school/elementary school crap that some of these guys spout off...just my peeve.)  Next time, pay attention to all of the Central State's, Tennessee-Chattanooga's, and Appalachian State's that are in the lineup.  I don't have numbers to back this up, but I would venture to guess that for every player that comes from a school you'd equate to a tradtional football powerhouse, there is probably one that comes from a school that most of us PSU fans would chalk up as an automatic win if we were to schedule them.

The bottom line is that when it comes to judging collegiate talent, there is no template or formula.  What I like to see are the Kurt Warner's and Brian Westbrook's of the league succeed even more than the latest strong safety from "the U."

Just my two cents.