Over the years I have learned that I can actually enjoy the NFL draft without angst, anxiety or anger. Its been a process but one I have enjoyed the last few years. I no longer get upset about who they picked and why and screaming at my TV. So here are my tips to enjoy the NFL Draft.
1) Understanding " the draft board "
Number one rule. Mel Kiper doesnt have a draft board. Neither does Todd McShay, Daniel Jeremiah or anyone else. They have lists of players from top to bottom they rank. Thats not a draft board and thats not how teams tend to rank players.
From what I understand and what I have read teams and in particular assign grades to players (very much like Sy'56 ) assigns grades. They they have players in rows and ranks.
So you might have one player in the top row.. Like a Trevor Lawrence. He might be in a row by himself say if he has a grade of 90. Then in the NEXT row you might have several players lumped together with 85s.. and so on and so on.
So you could have several players a team likes grouped together and would be happy with any of them. Some might carry more weight based need and position. Teams dont rank 1-50.
So basically the GIANTS draft board is their own. Based on how THEY grade players by traits, position, talent. projection, need etc etc.
Its a fallacy to say.. " this player wasnt that high on ANYONE's draft board.. one because no one knows. Teams to share draft boards and media people dont know a teams draft board.
2) The " this player is rising up the draft boards "... As I understand it as it was said by one prominent draft person
( I think it was Daniel Jeremiah ). what that really means is that media people are getting more accurate up to date information than they previously had& gt; Its not that the player is " RISING ", its that the information is more convergent and correct. They are getting more information on player visits, who is meeting with who, which GMs and coaches were seen @ pro days etc etc..
3) Its lying season.. this one we should all know. Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear this time of year.
4) A draft isnt just about the upcoming year. Its about the subsequent years. Who could be a free agent in the next season or two. Who hasnt panned out the way they thought they would from previous drafts? A draft is never about what they just need NOW.. but what they can use down the line as well.
5) Try to understand WHY your team made the decision they did. Why did they draft player X or Y. How does that player fit their scheme. Also not just how they will use THAT player but how that player affects the OTHERS around him. Football is a team sport. How does that choice mesh with and potentially improve the team?
6)Try and learn more about the VARIOUS targets your team might be interested in. This helps to understand the " WHY " mentioned above as well.
7) You don't know more than the teams do. You just don't. Accept it. Your a fan. You can criticize, complain, complement. That's your right as a fan. But you don't know as much as the teams do.
8) Once that player is picked.. he is a member of your team. root for them to have as MUCH success as possible. because that only helps the team
9) The " TRADE DOWN " Mantra. Two things need to happen.. When Teams look to trade down, from what I have understood there usually are several players within an area that they like, so they feel that they can trade down and still acquire a player and extra picks.
Teams dont just trade down to just acquire picks. Fans tend to want to treat the draft like a raffle and think the more tickets you have, the more chances to win.. Its also more chances to miss as well. Teams spend too much money on draft research to just start gambling with picks.
So they will look to trade down, if they feel they can still acquire certain players in an area.
AND someone has to WANT to trade up. and thats also the key. Who wants to trade up? Whats it going to cost.. How FAR is the other team willing to trade down.. whats the compensation? All these things are a factor.
10) Lastly.. ENJOY IT !!!! it happens ONCE a year. !!!!
I stopped “throwing my remote” years ago. I’ll sit back enjoy it and root for whoever we pick.
The problem with the modern Internet age is that people assume that because they have watched a player- usually relying on the TV game feed, which inconsistently shifts between places on the field- that they can tell what a player will do with a different team in a different scheme.
In addition, fans hear what I call "confirming bias"- a number of talking heads that have NOTHING to do with how teams develop their draft board or what the team has targeted as a need who tell fans who MUST be the teams' pick at that spot. Fans then get so emotionally invested in the pick that they cannot accept their team going another way and are CONVINCED that they KNOW something their team doesn't- when in fact, it is quite the reverse.
Further- all this "I watched game tape on player X" is a bunch of baloney. You have NO idea of what the play call (offensively or defensively) was- you have NO idea what their assignment was and whether they did what they were supposed to do. You also have NO idea of whether the player they engaged in on a COLLEGE field is of NFL caliber. Further, you cannot extrapolate what a COLLEGE player does to an NFL player because the NFL player will be coached up and likely better than what they were in college.
The team is looking for how much development is left and the ability to take in and apply coaching. What you see NOW is not what you will see in 5-6 months from now.
I guess its human psychology to think you know better than everyone else, but when it comes to the draft and player evaluation. For those of you who fall into the above, I do NOT and I DO NOT want to hear you blather on with a complete lack of self-awareness from February until June.
The amount of stupid from last draft was the worst I've ever seen. People absolutely killed the Giants with a straight face because they didn't draft Biadsz in the 3rd and 4th rounds...like it was pure negligance.
Mind you, most of these people never watched an NCAA game in their lives and formed opinions based on a few articles the week before the draft. It's insufferable.
The draft is a crapshoot and nobody will know for a few years whether they drafted well or not. So sit back, watch it, share your opinions, and realize that your opinion is neither better or worse than anyone else’s here (unless you are Sy, because his opinion is more well informed).
TL; DR - Stop taking everyone else’s opinion so seriously. They are just as clueless as you are.
There is no “BPA.” There will be some number of players the Giants rank the same or nearly the same at almost every pick. The are BPAs, plural. It means nothing to say pick the BPA because there generally isn’t just one.
About #9 I think for teams that draft BPA a key to trading down is how the player you have rated highest that is available at your pick fits into your team.
For example: Mack Jones is the highest rated player when it's your turn to pick and you have him rated significantly higher than the next group. You have a QB in Jones that you believe in and bringing in another 1st Rnd QB could create more problems. In trading back you maintain the value of the 11 pick and stay true to drafting BPA. Plus if he is rated so much higher on your board he probably is on someone else's as well.
I stopped “throwing my remote” years ago. I’ll sit back enjoy it and root for whoever we pick.
Definitely #7 is the most important - too many know it alls on every board - this guy sucks, this guy is better, yea right.
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and one I think many gloss over or outright forget.
I stopped “throwing my remote” years ago. I’ll sit back enjoy it and root for whoever we pick.
Definitely #7 is the most important - too many know it alls on every board - this guy sucks, this guy is better, yea right.
Also #9
1001
And let’s give it it’s own special bump to reiterate the point
“7) You don't know more than the teams do. You just don't. Accept it. Your a fan. You can criticize, complain, complement. That's your right as a fan. But you don't know as much as the teams do.”
This is true and this is why people need to keep perspective that a highlights don't include the negative plays and don't show the holes in a players' game. That said, some guys highlights stand out more than others, it does give us a look at the player, and it's all we have to go on besides trying to watch every game played, which is impossible. For a guy that doesn't watch a whole lot of college ball these highlight videos are gold, but I did learn over the years that anyone can put together a tape that makes them look like the real deal.
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least favorite part of draft day is fans shouting how moronic the team is with their 6th-round draft pick.
The amount of stupid from last draft was the worst I've ever seen. People absolutely killed the Giants with a straight face because they didn't draft Biadsz in the 3rd and 4th rounds...like it was pure negligance.
Mind you, most of these people never watched an NCAA game in their lives and formed opinions based on a few articles the week before the draft. It's insufferable.
This brings up another important one - and thank you for calling out the Biadasz fiasco fron last year! That is:
- Not only does the team have a better read on the draftees than you do, but they also have a much better read on the players currently under contract! Last year, while most of us were clamoring for a Center, the Giants felt good about Gates - and it turns out they were right.
As we enter the draft this year, I’m proactively keeping an open mind about the interior OL - perhaps they do feel like they have something among Slade / Murphy, or feel strongly that Hernandez will bounce back or that Lemieux will fully settle. They know this situation infinitely more intimately than I do.
All that being said, questioning the team’s wisdom is certainly fair - it’s just that they may not perceive the same holes as outsiders do
My least favorite is the lemmings blindly loving every Giants pick in real time when the organization hasn’t put a quality draft together top to bottom in 13 years.
"7) You don't know more than the teams do. You just don't. Accept it. Your a fan. You can criticize, complain, complement. That's your right as a fan. But you don't know as much as the teams do."
; )
Don't get enamored with a single player for the Giants first pick. It is unlikely that will be the player they select and you will be disappointed in whoever they do pick as a result.
The only thing that can accurately be rated the next day is the predictors of when players were drafted and the way individual teams went. This has the inherently correct assumptions that the team professionals know more.
Things are backwards to me.
I guess its because I havent seen anything egregious yet, like Cedric Jones, Thomas Lewis or Derek Brown. But since 2000 when I REALLY started following draft prospects, Ive enjoyed it always. Even Eli Apple. Lol.
See #9
We probably need to seriously stay away from BBI on draft days.
Don't get enamored with a single player for the Giants first pick. It is unlikely that will be the player they select and you will be disappointed in whoever they do pick as a result.
#12
Some fans put a lot of effort into understanding and evaluating the draft. If the team passes on a player they wanted, let them rant, it s what they do.
I don’t think your solid points will dissuade them.
Facts !!!
Some fans put a lot of effort into understanding and evaluating the draft. If the team passes on a player they wanted, let them rant, it s what they do.
I don’t think your solid points will dissuade them.
7) You don't know more than the teams do. You just don't. Accept it. Your a fan. You can criticize, complain, complement. That's your right as a fan. But you don't know as much as the teams do.
Plus, I read Sy’s reports and about 34 mock draft threads. I also skimmed articles by Top Men like Mel Kiper Jr., and his hair is full bodied AND slicked back so even though he’s not been to a practice, seen the current roster, or built an NFL roster, he’s an expert! I know because he has done so many mock drafts each year that he predicted every player to go to every team at least once. And all the other experts pretty much agree, and there’s no way they would “herd” to have consensus so they’re not out on a limb, that would be unethical!
Plus, I played high school football where we ran the Delaware Wing T in the 80s, so I’m well versed in the subtleties of the mechanics for each position in football at the highest levels. But I also skimmed pro day results, and know the massive impact .00045 Sec. in the 12 cone drill can have in the NFL. Not to mention the insanity of drafting a guy whose arms are 33 3/4” long not 33 7/8”.
Did I mention my almost 40 min. of player produced highlights on YouTube? Did you even HEAR the heavy metal and hip hop music behind the highlights? Did you see that some plays were repeated in slo-mo? That’s slow motion! You think that’s easy to do? Any my drinking throughout them only heightened my insights.
In short, my experience puts me in position to be highly critical of not just the Giants, but all teams, scouts, players, and the football industrial complex. When I throw my remote, I put it on the numbers!
Yeah, but there are seven Goddamned rounds, buddy!