The 2014 NFL Draft: One Man’s Opinion

Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

I love the draft, I don’t know why I love the draft, I just do.

I am not sure what it is. On the whole it is kind of boring. Now don’t get me wrong the excitement of waiting to see my 2014 Kansas City Chiefs draft the next player to, hopefully, be a star, is great. But at the same time it is kind of boring. I think that last year was probably the most excited I have been for a draft pick. Come on Number One overall? Awesome, well not the year, the year sucked, but number one?! I will take that.

The spectacle is amazing as well. You see hopefully players getting all dressed up hoping to have their name called so they can walk onto that stage shake “The Commish’s” hand, get a sweet new hat and their very first NFL jersey. It’s awesome, it truly is. Hey ever notice how they are decked out in bling? I am pretty sure some of those guys are wearing watched worth more than my car, which is not saying much, 98 Neon.

This past year has been exciting, to see the Chiefs go from worst to a playoff berth has been impressive. But at the same time I recognize that they have needs at key positions. Being apart of the best NFL fan site, Arrowhead Addict, we, as the writers, have been talking draft for months now. We share our thoughts on picks , who we think has the potential to fit in with head coach Andy Reid and his system. It is truly something to read about and to think about as we get closer.

Now that that the draft is a mere two days away, excitement is only more amplified as we find out if our picks and the hundreds of mock drafts we have been doing are right. We are literally hyped for May 8th.

That is something I wanted to take a moment and talk about here, air my problems and my thoughts on draft hype.

I get draft hype. In the sense that hype can be good. It can have a positive effect on players as they await what’s next. By far the two biggest names that have the most hype, to me at least, are quarterback Johnny Manziel and defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. Both of these players are good, there is no denying that. But the constant endless debates have gotten a little old.

Clowney is a beast, that hit on Michigan running back ridiculous. Are you kidding me? He is big, he is fast and he has such potential that, if the Chiefs were number one again, you bet your last dollar they should take him. He has a great upside potential and has the ability to be the catalyst a team needs from day one. But the hype associated with him can be a bad thing. There is so much hype surrounding him that if this young man comes up flat, it will be one of the biggest bust since Ryan Leaf, sorry Chargers.

Manziel as well has been over hyped. Personally I can agree that he has a unique skill set that could translate to the NFL in a good way. On the other hand of that situation his “skill set” could lead to a short career with one good hit from a huge 275 linebacker when he is out there doing his Fran Tarkenton impersonation. Then again I could be wrong.

Draft hype this day and age has gotten out of hand. I know it is the job of analysts to sit down and break it down for players. You have the NFL Network’s path to the draft ESPN has got John Gruden’s QB Camp. We are so over saturated with draft hype that I feel it is starting to loose its meaning. You see draft hype should be a way for players to create a buzz around them. It should be ways for them gain some footing on the conversation. But what it turns out to be year after year is a few players get all the glory while lesser known players get overlooked.

Now I know that coaches and GM’s do not over look those players. Heck it is their job to know what they are looking for and who fits their needs and so on and so forth. What I mean is that the media has created such a draft hype hole that really good players with potential may not get covered as a Clowney or a Manziel, and that is the problem.

When it comes to draft hype it could mean that a player is so good that you have nothing further to do than sit back and just marvel at the skills this player has, and hope that he falls to your team. However I think that draft hype can be bad. You can have all the coverage in the world but if you fail and don’t succeed you are labeled that the rest of your career.

Would I like a Clowney or a Manziel on my team? Duh! But I tend to root for the unknown. The player from the D2 school in northern-not-the-SEC-land. I would rather take a risk on a player who may not have all the hype than the player everyone keeps talking about. Which brings me back around full circle saying that I love the draft. Do I think that the hype has gotten bigger than the hype? Well yes I do, does not mean I don’t enjoy it, that I don’t understand it. I just think that is has gotten to be such a over talked about thing that in some ways it takes away from the draft. It becomes less about the 200 more or less players hoping for a future, and more about the top 20 players who have the most upside. We have taken an event that is designed to highlight an entire group of young men and made it less about the player and more about the event.

So now I ask you the reader, what do you think? Am I completely wrong on this aspect? I can take the criticism, and I would like to see some good debate going on about this topic. So Addicts you know what to do debate away in the comments.

Go Chiefs!