The NFL Gets It Right (and Then Gets It Wrong)

The NFL Draft has changed drastically in the last year.  The date of the Draft is in flux and it will no longer be in New York City.  Either Chicago or Los Angeles will host the 2015 NFL Draft.  These changes are cosmetic.  Another announced change will have a lasting impact on the NFL.

 

The procedure for underclassmen to declare for the Draft has been considerably and quietly overhauled.  Previously, an underclassman could request a draft grade evaluation from the NFL.  This evaluation would cover the first three rounds.  Now prospects will be informed if they are slotted in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft.  This is an intelligent response to the 98 underclassmen that entered the 2014 Draft.  Many watched their stock plummet and 37 of those players went undrafted.  Louis Nix III went from a consensus mid first round grade to the third round.  Fortunately, Nix found a home in Houston but his inexplicable fall illustrates the vagaries of the drafting process.

Any step that limits the number of athletes who ill-advisedly forego their education for the NFL dream is a positive step.  Leaving college to be plunged into the uncertain depths of rookie free agency rarely pays off as well for the player as an additional season on campus.  Of course, the NFL benefits from this as well.  Unprepared prospects staying in school enriches the depth of the next draft class.  A win-win for the NCAA and NFL is also a winning proposition for the players and the fans, at least in this instance.

Unfortunately, there is a second component of the new procedure.  The NFL will now only grade five underclassmen per school.  This translates into players at talent-laden schools, such as LSU, who had six underclassmen declare in 2014, not receiving any guidance as to their draft stock.  Everyone, aside from the average twenty year old, knows that the average twenty year old does not have the optimal decision making process.  Asking an underclassman who has emptied himself physically, mentally, and emotionally to press pause and return to school with his NFL dream in sight is counter intuitive.  Deprived of an official evaluation players will listen to agents and friends for advice.

           The two round advisement is good but limiting the number of athletes who have access to that information is self-defeating.  Men who have watched their families struggle in order to support them are desperate to return the favor.  It is no rarity for a draftee to announce that his first NFL paycheck will pay family bills, buy mom a new house, or move his family to a better neighborhood.  Restricting information may lead to more gambling among underclassmen despite the best intentions of the NFL.