FLIPPING THE DRAFT

Dear National Football League (NFL) ,

Consider this my formal request to flip the ordering of the draft from hereon out. Now, before I get into the whys, of which there are plenty, let me start by saying I understand the aim of the current system. We want it to be interesting for everyone. We want it to be cyclical so fanbases remain interested and feel their team is relevant. We want the best players to raise the level of the worst teams and make them competitive. It is a solid idea. A jolly good one, if you will. But it is, like a lot of great ideas, one which works better on paper than it does in reality.

The reason?

Well, the main one is that your messiahs, your saviors, your promised one that is going to deliver the (insert city name and respective mascot) from the jaws of humiliation is actually a 22 year old boy that has never ran an NFL offense in his life, let alone stood across from somewhere in the vicinity of 300 lbs of rippling man flesh while doing it.

The result?

A conveyor belt of bruised, battered and belittled lambs who are fed to the slaughter of misinformed fanbases. I can list a lot of names here, but I won’t, of men who later in their careers have found success once they have matured, learnt and developed. And yes, there is an argument to be made that had the Kansas City Chiefs had the number one overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft (I typed that in the Commissioner’s voice in case you couldn’t tell…complete with a chorus of boos) they may have taken Marvin Harrison Jr. in an effort to win now, and not stashed Caleb Williams on their roster, allowing him to be mentored by Patrick Mahomes, but he also wouldn’t have fallen all the way to Chicago, or Carolina as it would have been in a sans trade world.

But Aaron, Caleb Williams is a superstar and should be on that stage. Do we really want to take that away?

Caleb Williams is a big name for sure. And is he getting better with each week that passes? 100%. But could he be learning from the sideline right now? Absolutely. Let me remind you of someone that was a big name a few years ago too – Zach Wilson. Now, I do not know that if Zach Wilson had gone to a team with a proven starter, and sat, and learnt, whether he could/would be any better. Maybe the kid just stunk and wasn’t cut out for life in the NFL. But I can say with a fairly high level of confidence that he wouldn’t have been thrown to the wolves of the New York/Jersey media expected to elevate a franchise that has failed to takeoff (see what I did there) since Sexy Rexy left town – if he ever did, as I am sure that’s an NYC backdrop in his studio.

But let’s look a little deeper shall we. What are the immediate effects?

Well for one, you promote a more stable environment for young players entering the league. If you flip last year’s draft order, and dangle Caleb Williams or Jayden Daniels in front of the 10 teams that would pick first, who takes the bait? Maybe Dallas? And Dak doesn’t get his big deal? Well, what happens then? He becomes a free agent and gets snapped up by the Bears. And goes in to a team with weapons, but also with the knowledge of how to manage situations and a locker room. Look what Andy Dalton did in his first start in Carolina. If they don’t take Bryce Young last year and subject him to the battering that they did, but pick up a savvy veteran free agent instead, maybe they aren’t the dumpster fire that they have become of late.

And I will, sadly use that as an argument here. If the current system works, explain Carolina. Explain the Jets. The Giants of late. These teams aren’t turning it around. They develop cultures of going all in. Of firing head coaches because things aren’t better in two years. Of benching guys that are later successful elsewhere. And of losing.

Does the new system fix that? Not overnight, but I think it helps. It encourages slow building over time by adding the right pieces. Not the shiny toy that is dangled in front of the desperate child.

Furthermore, it makes every snap, of every week interesting. I do not care if your team is 1-16 with 12 seconds left in the 4th quarter. That win could take you from 32, to 31. It will never not shock me to hear a fanbase or media team suggest that their team should pack it in and “tank”. Even typing it is tough. You are a professional sports league and you should encourage winning at all costs, not reward someone for pulling their starters 10 weeks in with a new Quarterback.

So, flip the draft. Let your best teams be the best teams. Encourage your worst teams to do better. I haven’t even mentioned how Brady was taken 199 and has won 6 Super Bowls, Purdy was taken 262 and has been to one, or how Jordan Love was taken at 26, sat behind Aaron Rodgers for years and now looks a much better play because of it.

?