NFL Shortens 1st 2 Rounds of Draft

[BallHawk]

PHILADELPHIA -- The NFL on Tuesday cut from 15 minutes to 10 the time between picks in the first round of its draft after a 2007 record round of 6 hours and 8 minutes.

It also moved the starting time of the draft from noon ET to 3 p.m. and limited the first day to two rounds instead of three.

"We believe this will make for a more streamlined and efficient draft," commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement issued during the league owners meetings.

The change also applied to the second round, which will go from 10 minutes to seven between choices for next year's draft, which will be held April 26-27 at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

In recent years, teams have often used most of the 15 minutes in the first round, entertaining trade offers or making them.

The time between picks will stay at five minutes for the last five rounds, which will take place on Sunday. That session will start at 10 a.m. instead of 11. Both draft days will be televised by ESPN and the NFL Network.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3075663

[Partial]

Hooray! That means I can work in the morning and then go home and enjoy the draft.

[BallHawk]

A lot of people had called for this move because 15 minutes was just too long. I like this move.

I'm not sure about taking the 3rd round out of the first day. The 3rd round is just as important as the 2nd and taking it out of the first day seems a bit strange to me.

[mraynrand]

I was hoping they'd change it to 2 minutes between first round picks, 1 minute between second round picks and 30 seconds between the rest. These guys spend 3 months solid making a draft board - just go off the board, make any trades quickly and get it over with. Two thirds of your picks are gonna suck anyway.

[The Leaper]

The 3rd round is just as important as the 2nd and taking it out of the first day seems a bit strange to me.

I like the move. It gives the teams a chance to re-evaluate their draft board after 60 guys are taken off and they have positively addressed some of their own needs in the first 2 rounds. Currently, the 3rd round gets a little rushed IMO because it is at the end of a long first day.

It also gives a little more glamour to day 2...which typically is ignored by all but rabid fans until after its completion.

[Carolina_Packer]

My wife will be ecstatic.

Do any of you have significant others who look at you like you have two heads because you want to watch the NFL draft, and you want to study up on the players before the draft? It is funny that it's taken on the life that it has. Draft parties, wall-to-wall coverage. My wife says, it's almost like a big game the way people tune in.

I think it's just exciting for the players who get drafted. It's intrigue for the fans who want to see the talent that is being added to their team and to other teams. If you follow college ball, it's fun to see the players you watched get picked, and it's also fun to see guy from Bethune-Cookman that you've never heard of get drafted and to have Mel break them down. Perhaps we are living vicariously through their experience. Don't you wish there was a draft for your chosen profession?

With the 6th pick in the 2007 Information Technology Draft, IBM selects, Raghib Mujibur, Data Analyst from the DeVry University. And the IBM fans in NY roundly boo the pick...

[cheesner]

I wish they would have made the first pick 1 minute and the 2nd pick 5 mins. Then 10 mins for the rest of the first rd.

Think about it. The top team knows 3 mos. in advance that they have the top pick. Do they really need 10 mins to decide when the draft opens?

As far as the 2nd pick, they have to choose 2 guys in case the first guy is gone. That should not require them to take 10 mins. If they are surprised by the 1st pick and don't know what to do, I say there are some serious problems in that front office. (ahddhhhemm vikings andhhahdhm)

They could easily have any trade contingencies worked out days prior to the draft.

I wish they would keep 3rd rd on day 1. Not sure why they had to move that. It changes everything now when we talk about day 1 picks.

[Partial]

NFL Draft is ridiculously popular. And I love it. It's one of the most fun times of the year. It is just as fun speculating as it is to watch your predictions fall or come true.

[Carolina_Packer]

They could also just give each team a block of time to be used for the entire draft, so if you turn your pick in right away, great, no time comes off your total. If you need extra time to get a deal done, you can use it.

[cheesner]

They could also just give each team a block of time to be used for the entire draft, so if you turn your pick in right away, great, no time comes off your total. If you need extra time to get a deal done, you can use it.

Thats weird. I just told my buddy this idea about 5 mins ago. If your location was Las Vegas, I would suspect you were Steve.

[4and12to12and4]

They could also just give each team a block of time to be used for the entire draft, so if you turn your pick in right away, great, no time comes off your total. If you need extra time to get a deal done, you can use it.

You know what, that would be a great idea!! Most teams would save most of their time for the 4th round and later because it gets harder to know project who's gonna be left before the draft starts at that point, and that's when teams should be able to spend more time. It's backwards now, giving more time in the earlier rounds. Someone should write this idea to the Commish.

[The Leaper]

So what happens if you run out of time? Do you forfeit picks? Do teams with remaining time get to bid for the pick?

Intriguing...but this isn't a contest to see who can get done the fastest. The draft is the basic building block of each NFL franchise. I think making corny timekeeping a part of the process is a bit much. Clearly, the length of last year's draft was ridiculous. The current adjustments should help make things less strenuous on team officials and fans alike.

[Lurker64]

So what happens if you run out of time? Do you forfeit picks? Do teams with remaining time get to bid for the pick?

If you run out of time the team picking after you can jump in and submit a pick before you're able to, and get priority on a player. Then you have until the end of their time to submit a pick, I believe. This happened to the Vikings the year they took McKinnie, I believe.

I like that the first two rounds are shorter, but I don't like moving the third round and I don't like making the draft start later in the day.

[Guiness]

I'm surprised they moved the 3rd round out. The first 2 rounds will be so much shorter that even with the 3rd round in there it would be pretty a lot quicker.

[RashanGary]

This is a great move. The draft is way too drawn out.