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Report: NFL considering shortening amount of time between draft picks

The PFW spin

Report: NFL considering shortening amount of time between draft picks


May 17, 2007


PFW asks associate editor Mike Wilkening for his take on NFL topics of interest.

Goodell expected to recommend shorter time frame to make draft selections.....

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the league’s competition committee are considering shortening the amount of time allotted to make draft picks, according to ESPN.com. Goodell is expected to suggest the idea to league owners at the NFL’s spring meeting next week in Nashville. According to the ESPN report, the competition committee is expected to recommend time limits of 10 minutes for first-round picks, seven minutes for second-round picks and five minutes for picks in Rounds Three through Seven. Teams currently have 15 minutes for each first-round selection, 10 minutes for a second-round selection and five minutes for each pick in the five remaining rounds.

The first round of the 2007 draft clocked in at a record six hours, eight minutes. The first day took a record 11 hours, four minutes.

PFW: Do you like this idea?

Wilkening: Not really. I don’t see how making the draft faster will make it better. This isn’t like the NBA draft, where there are fewer prospects to analyze and far fewer roster spots to fill. Fifteen minutes seems to be a reasonable amount of time between picks when teams are making multimillion-dollar decisions. More time between picks can only help trade discussions … and if you’re asking what fans really want out of the draft, it’s entertainment, and trades are the ultimate entertainment on Draft Day.

The league is said to be contemplating moving part of the draft to prime time on Friday night; in that scenario, shortening the first round would be a must. But I have qualms with that idea, too. Why move the draft from where it stands on the sports calendar? In my opinion, it’s positioned perfectly. The NBA playoffs are just starting; baseball is only in its first month; nothing’s happening a week before the Kentucky Derby. Only the NFL could build something so big in April’s final days and have it dominate the sporting discussion in the United States.

Why change a good thing? And why speed up a good thing — an event we analyze, analyze and analyze some more from January through April? Part of the NFL draft’s charm, I think, is the time invested in it. The NFL isn’t interested in charm, of course — it’s interested in more viewers, more advertising revenue, a bigger stage for what was once a cult favorite.

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And I respectfully disagree! You will still have the SAME viewership, the same tv coverage slotted time, and the same Crazed fans watching both at the draft and at home,..as well as the various parties that are now held. Lets just shorten the first round to 12 mins. per pick. You can't tell me the teams don't know what they are doing to the point that they need the extra three mins. to figure it out. I can see if you need to discuss trades, but that should all be done already.

Bill (Draftnik)
 

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