The NFL Draft has just taken place for 2010 and, as always, it has produced some interesting results. The ‘Draft’ is the annual event in which the 32 NFL teams have the opportunity to select newly eligible college football players. Some of the basics of the rules require that all players have finished high school for two and a half years or more and that they must have at least 3 years of college experience.
As for how the actual draft works, the order that NFL teams get to pick is essentially the reverse of the order in which they finished the previous season. Thus, the worst performing teams get the first chance to draft players and the best performing teams pick last. There are a few exceptions, for example Super Bowl contenders finish right at the bottom of the list and get the last pick. New NFL teams get the first pick. The rules are not that simple, but they give the basic idea.
The event itself is quite big and this year it was bigger than ever. For the first time, the event was in prime time and spanned 3 days, making it almost a miniseries. It used to take place during the day over a weekend, but with interest in the sport constantly growing and the drama of the Draft, it was decided to make the most of it by giving it a prime time slot in the evening and extending it to 3 days. .
So who are the presumed winners and losers of the 2010 NFL Draft? Well, of course, only time will tell which of the new guys work and which don’t. There will undoubtedly be some who fall short of expectations and others who massively exceed what is expected of them. However, some highlights appear to be that Oklahoma State wide opener Dez Bryant was acquired by the Dallas Cowboys, Notre Dame center Jimmy Clausen went to the Carolina Panthers in just the second round of the draft, and the New York Giants took Jason Pierre. -Paul, defensive end from South Florida.
The Oakland Raiders also did pretty well with their first-round pick, Rolando McClain, as well as Lamarr Houston, who appears to be a promising defensive tackle. The Seattle Seahawks also had a good draft, managing to secure power running back LenDale White from Tennessee and fairly fast running back Leon Washington from the Jets. Let’s see how these undoubted talents perform during the upcoming season and beyond.