It’s certainly a long way from the first such gathering in a downtown Philadelphia hotel in 1936, but times change and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell believes the NFL draft must change as well.
So the league will take a leap into offseason prime-time TV tonight to open a new three-day draft format. Tonight will feature only the first round, with rounds 2-3 coming Friday night — also in prime time — and the remainder of the seven-round draft to be completed Saturday.
“It is about finding new ways to expand upon what you are doing and to find new ways for fans to engage with football,” Goodell said. “We’ve seen the tremendous growth of the draft and popularity over the last several years. We think this is another way to do that. . . . It’s another step in trying to innovate and trying to create greater opportunities for people to engage with our game. We think it is going to be a nice change and a positive change with our fans.”
And it continues a trend in the growth of the league’s draft from offseason afterthought just two decades ago to an all-consuming event with months of buildup.
From a football perspective it also gives teams two nights during the draft to reset their draft boards and consider moves.
And draft picks high in the second round — the Broncos have two in the second round’s upper half — could be coveted items as teams have a night after the opening round to consider players who were not chosen Thursday, but still have first-round grades.
“Instead of rolling into the second round as we did last year, we’ll have a lot of time on our hands, as will everyone else, to sit there and look and say . . . ‘I can’t believe that so-and-so is still on the board right now.’ There’s probably going to be a couple of those players for each team,” Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said.
Footnote.
Broncos long snapper Lonie Paxton is hosting a draft party and bowling bash from 4:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Brunswick Zone in Lone Tree. Money raised will support Active Force Foundation, for adaptive sports equipment for programs and camps for disabled athletes and wounded soldiers. Call 303-792-2695 for more information.
