The NFL has found a way to turn most of its events into events. When it comes to the supplemental draft, the NFL hasn’t bothered to try.
And for good reason. There’s nothing exciting about it. With rare exceptions, the supplemental draft consists of only a handful of players, none of whom have any national name recognition.
Also, it unfolds not with a slow walk to a podium but via e-mail, with teams submitting a list of players they’d like to pick and the round in which they want to pick them. The players are awarded based on a priority ranking driven largely by the manner in which the team’s finished in the prior season.
The only intrigue comes if a team ranking low in the process really wants a guy. If so, the team will need to go a round higher than the consensus that emerges (if a reliable one emerges at all) in the days before the process commences.
The stakes remain high. Any team that uses a pick in the supplemental draft gives up their pick in the same round in the following year’s full-blown draft.
Last year, the Redskins used a third-round pick to get Kentucky defensive tackle Jeremy Jarmon, who was the only player drafted. As a rookie, he appeared in 11 games and started one for the Redskins. (Curiously, he has yet to complain publicly about the team’s switch to a 3-4 defense.)
This year, the players in the pool are BYU running back Harvey Unga, Illinois defensive tackle Josh Price-Brent, Northwestern State running back Quentin Castille, and Truman State fullback/H-back Vanness Emokpae. Former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli considered entering the process, but he has opted instead to transfer to another school for his final year of eligibility.
Unga and Price-Brent are regarded as the most likely to be picked. Either way, we’ll know later today.
Try not to bite your nails over it, LeBron.