No matter what anyone says about the relative talent of the picks, there will, in fact, be 32 of them in the first round of the NFL Draft Thursday night.
But not even half that amount deserve the designation, according to one decision-maker.
An unnamed general manager told Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com this was the “worst draft in past 10 years or longer.”
“When we look back at this draft in five or 10 years,” he said, “we might view it as one of the worst we’ve seen in some time.”
That personnel man didn’t want to risk the wrath of the league (the same league which tried to plug all the leaks during the legal tampering period) by diminishing the value of the television product, at least with his name attached.
But he did say there were 13 to 15 players with “true” first-round grades, compared to 20 to 23 last year.
Of course, it’s also in the best interest of the guys who pick the players to downplay the talent available.
That way when they draft a bad one, it’s not so much their fault.