Winston To Bucs, Mariota To “The Who” On NFL Draft Day

by

11159973_10155614954215294_8486269736063279367_nIt’s NFL Draft Day, and for fans of NFL Football like myself, this is like being a kid in a candy store. What you see in the photo is my view of NFL Draft Town from my room at the Congress Plaza Hotel – the perfect example of what happens when you ask for a room with a view to the Lake. Score, baby!

Today marks Zennie62Media’s (formerly called SBS NFL Business Blog) 10th year of coverage of the NFL Draft, and over that 10 years, I’m proud to note that my company has set a number of social media firsts, but rather than list them here (because I want to talk about The NFL Draft), I’ll just thank the National Football League for their help and friendship. Now, this is what I’ve learned about the NFL Draft over the years:

1. The selection of players from college to the NFL is, at best, an educated guess, and a 15 year old can get it right as much as an 65 year old can. The more analysis you do, the more likely you are to come up wrong. And those media types called NFL Draft experts are generally the ones who come up with egg on their faces. Consider the number of so-called NFL Draft experts who said a player like Blaine Gabbert was going to be a pro-bowl level quarterback, and how those same people trashed Cam Newton and one person (you know who if you follow this) even went so far as to question his heart and desire. Wow. And that leads to number two…

2. Race and racism play a big, but declining, role in NFL Draft player evaluation and selection. It used to be that black players at quarterback were routinely downgraded, but the emergence of talents like Vince Young in 2006, and the rise in the number of African American players who reflected a more mainstream level of education and interests has changed all of that. I’ll just frankly state that the new generation of black student athlete is a joy to be around: they’re as smart as they are athletic, and some older white male NFL Draft evaluators are intimidated by them – some have quickly adjusted to them.

3. The media plays a lot of games with news to achieve an NFL Draft outcome, and that has escalated as more talented black quarterbacks have emerged. It seems every time there’s a great black QB, someone in the media from ESPN or NFL Network has to try to ruin them and reduce their NFL Draft stock. That was true with Cam Newton, then Teddy Bridgewater, and now Jameis Winston. In Jameis’ case, the Florida State Quarterback came into our focus two years ago, and played so well he was considered the chosen one. Then, a really bogus claim of sexual assault popped up, fueled by a Florida alum who said the so-called victim Erica Kinsman never went after “black boys”, and some in the media just could not let go of the desire to punish him, even though he was found to be innocent. It’s that which has caused the rise of Marcus Mariota, and in spite of a crappy pro day performance. Marcus has become, and against his wishes, the “Anti-Jameis”.

Now, there’s a move to seemingly force the Tennessee Titans to draft Marcus number two, and that after it became clear the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were going to draft Winston with the first pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. The reality is that the Titans have two second-year quarterbacks on their roster, Zack Mettenberger and Alex Tanney, and a great veteran in Charlie Whitehurst. They don’t need to change their offense for one guy in Mariota, and he’s not so good they can take a bet on his growth – they’re already growing two QBs.

But, like I said, race plays a declining role in all of this – reducing, but still there. The truth is, Mariota will drop, and to who is the real question. I’m betting either the Falcons or the Rams will get him, or the Eagles will move up, or just watch him fall to them.

Stay tuned.

Leave a Comment