The NFL draft is one of the most important times of the year for NFL football teams. Sure you think it is the Super Bowl but that would be a mistake. The NFL draft is held every year in the early spring usually around the end of April. It is usually in the worlds most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, in New York City the home of the NFL headquarters
NFL Football Teams Draft Picks :
The NFL draft consist of seven rounds which should be 7 draft picks for each team but it usually doesn't work out that way. The NFL has a tendency of giving away what they call compensation draft picks to teams that were hit the hardest by free agency that year.
If the NFL is in an expansion year the new team would receive the first pick overall and a few compensation draft picks to put them on an even keel with the other NFL teams. Usually the Heisman Trophy winner is taken within the first few picks of the draft since he is considered the best college football player in the country.
When the football player is drafted he puts on the NFL team's football jersey for picture taking. This will be his first picture he has taken as a pro football player.
NFL Draft Format
The NFL draft usually works like this. The team that has the worst record the year before gets to select the first NFL draft pick. The NFL team that has the second worst record picks number two and so on all the way to the super bowl champs picking last. This keeps the NFL football teams on an even balance with each other so no NFL team could build a dynasty like the New York Yankees have done in baseball.
NFL Draft Day Trades
This could change though because that NFL team might have traded their first draft pick the year before in a trade with another NFL team not knowing they would be drafting first this coming year.
Each team then selects a college player that they either think is the best player in the crop or a player that fits their need for a position on their team. Maybe they lost a football player to free agency or maybe a football player retired. Either way they select the player that best suits the NFL team.
Sometimes there is another team that wants to draft the next best player or they have their eyes set on someone they would like to pick and they trade up to get that pick in the draft. Sometimes it even comes down to the top NFL team trading the first pick because of the NFL salary cap where they couldn't afford to pay the money to the top pick in the draft.
This is a common thing at the NFL draft because the first player usually does not fit the NFL team that gets the first pick. For instance back in the 2001 draft the San Diego Chargers had the rights to the first pick and the best available player at that time was a quarterback named Michael Vick. The San Diego Chargers didn't need a quarterback as they had drafted a young one the year before so they traded the pick to the Atlanta Falcons. The Atlanta Falcons gave up their #1 pick and a few other players and draft picks and they ended up with the first overall pick.
One of the most surprising draft day trades happened in 2004 NFL draft where the San Diego Chargers had the first Pick once again and selected a quarterback named Eli Manning who was expected to go high in the draft but then they traded him to the New York Giants after the Giants selected a quarterback named Phillip Rivers. Here is where it got complicated , Eli Manning told the San Diego Chargers that he would not play for them so he ended up being traded to the Giants. They player actually chose the team he would rather play for in this case.
Like I said the NFL draft can be a crazy thing. Reading about the NFL mock drafts that people make up online is fun too. Most of the time they are so wrong. The best is Mel Kiper Jr. on ESPN. If you are a football fan and can make it to the draft they actually let you in to watch it live. It is a great place to hang out with fellow NFL fans. I hope this has helped you in figuring out the NFL draft.
The latest draft had the Houston Texans signing an unexpected player Mario Williams instead of the Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush that they were expected to pick. You just never know what will happen during the draft.
http://www.sports-gift.com/nfl-draft.htm
NFL Football Teams Draft Picks :
The NFL draft consist of seven rounds which should be 7 draft picks for each team but it usually doesn't work out that way. The NFL has a tendency of giving away what they call compensation draft picks to teams that were hit the hardest by free agency that year.
If the NFL is in an expansion year the new team would receive the first pick overall and a few compensation draft picks to put them on an even keel with the other NFL teams. Usually the Heisman Trophy winner is taken within the first few picks of the draft since he is considered the best college football player in the country.
When the football player is drafted he puts on the NFL team's football jersey for picture taking. This will be his first picture he has taken as a pro football player.
NFL Draft Format
The NFL draft usually works like this. The team that has the worst record the year before gets to select the first NFL draft pick. The NFL team that has the second worst record picks number two and so on all the way to the super bowl champs picking last. This keeps the NFL football teams on an even balance with each other so no NFL team could build a dynasty like the New York Yankees have done in baseball.
NFL Draft Day Trades
This could change though because that NFL team might have traded their first draft pick the year before in a trade with another NFL team not knowing they would be drafting first this coming year.
Each team then selects a college player that they either think is the best player in the crop or a player that fits their need for a position on their team. Maybe they lost a football player to free agency or maybe a football player retired. Either way they select the player that best suits the NFL team.
Sometimes there is another team that wants to draft the next best player or they have their eyes set on someone they would like to pick and they trade up to get that pick in the draft. Sometimes it even comes down to the top NFL team trading the first pick because of the NFL salary cap where they couldn't afford to pay the money to the top pick in the draft.
This is a common thing at the NFL draft because the first player usually does not fit the NFL team that gets the first pick. For instance back in the 2001 draft the San Diego Chargers had the rights to the first pick and the best available player at that time was a quarterback named Michael Vick. The San Diego Chargers didn't need a quarterback as they had drafted a young one the year before so they traded the pick to the Atlanta Falcons. The Atlanta Falcons gave up their #1 pick and a few other players and draft picks and they ended up with the first overall pick.
One of the most surprising draft day trades happened in 2004 NFL draft where the San Diego Chargers had the first Pick once again and selected a quarterback named Eli Manning who was expected to go high in the draft but then they traded him to the New York Giants after the Giants selected a quarterback named Phillip Rivers. Here is where it got complicated , Eli Manning told the San Diego Chargers that he would not play for them so he ended up being traded to the Giants. They player actually chose the team he would rather play for in this case.
Like I said the NFL draft can be a crazy thing. Reading about the NFL mock drafts that people make up online is fun too. Most of the time they are so wrong. The best is Mel Kiper Jr. on ESPN. If you are a football fan and can make it to the draft they actually let you in to watch it live. It is a great place to hang out with fellow NFL fans. I hope this has helped you in figuring out the NFL draft.
The latest draft had the Houston Texans signing an unexpected player Mario Williams instead of the Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush that they were expected to pick. You just never know what will happen during the draft.
http://www.sports-gift.com/nfl-draft.htm
