More than any other sport, the NFL has successfully transformed its non-game activities into events. There is no bigger musical showcase than the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Fantasy Football has been turned into a thriving industry. Even the NFL schedule was announced in prime time.
But no non-game event gets more sports coverage than the NFL Draft. Sports blogs and newspapers spend the days before the draft updating their mock draft. The combine scores (which is now broadcast live) are analyzed and reanalyzed. Mock drafts are filled out and updated. ESPN hires two analysts, Mel Kiper and Todd McShay solely to cover the draft. In fact, the only thing more overstated than the actual NFL Draft is complaining about how much coverage there is about the NFL Draft.
So I won't complain. I'll make a simple suggestion: Have Mel Kiper and Todd McShay make picks. Use the model of a fantasy football league and give them a pick in each round, and have them pick their "squad." Then, watch how their guys perform down the line and match them up against the very general manager's they analyze.
- It makes them accountable - The same way we can look back and grade a GM's draft, we can look back and grade the experts.
- It can answer whether these guys are truly experts - As the old saying goes, those who can, draft; Those who can't, draft analyze. This gives Kiper and McShay the opportunity to prove their mettle.
- It ratchets up the competition between them - ESPN and sports blogs that follow it obviously love the tension between its on air analysts. Let their draft records speak for themselves.
Beyond just backing up their analysts' credentials, ESPN and sports fans could have fun with this. They could hire an ex-NFL GM to grade McShay and Kiper (the ubiquitous Mike Lombardi might enjoy that.) And the fans could follow along. After all, this fits right into the teeth of the fantasy football culture. In fact, ESPN could simply adapt their fantasy football draft capabilities to the NFL draft and give fans capabilities to make alternate selections for their teams.
So much of fantasy football is about being a General Manager and so much of blogging is about getting your own opinions out there. I can't imagine a more fruitful place in the sports world for those desires to meet than the moment when actual team building is occurring, the NFL Draft. Let Kiper and McShay defend their credibility and let fans try and match up against them.
ESPN, if you want to answer your draft critics and expand the way fans interact with your draft coverage, it's simple -- Have Mel Kiper and Todd McShay make picks.