Draft Changes

There are 82 days before the 2010 NFL Draft. There’s a twist in this year’s draft that we all need to pay attention to, however. The 2010 draft will have a new format. The first round of the draft will take place in primetime on Thursday, April 22 at 7 pm. Followed by the second and third round on Friday at 6:30 pm. And the draft will finish off with the fourth thru seventh rounds on Saturday morning at 10.
Martin Mayhew, the Detroit Lions General Manager, believes that this format change could lead to many draft day trades. “I think they will be longer days. I think the teams that have the benefit of picking first the next morning will be in a good situation. You look at your board, you start to ask yourself how important Player A is, if you could just get Player A. ... I think you’ll see a lot of trading of those rounds,’’ Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said.

Martin Mayhew might be on to something. This draft is top heavy, which means that many of the outstanding players at most positions will probably go within the first two rounds. Most believe that 11 to 13 defensive linemen could go in the first round alone. If you are a team like the Lions who need defensive help, you just might think about trading a pick or a veteran player to get a player in a position you need if you don’t see one worth taking on your draft board.

Having an entire day before the second round, will lead to many GM’s or player personal persons picking up the phones to other GM’s and talking trade. Pay attention to this development.