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There are too many people already analyzing the 2012 NFL draft, so I won’t go into too many details. I just have 3 observations.

1. The NFL did a great job marketing the draft this year.
   I don’t remember caring much about the draft in prior years. In fact, most of the time I couldn’t tell you which weekend the draft was. But this year I knew.

   Maybe it was the switch to prime time. Maybe it was the breaking up of the draft over 3 days. Whatever it was, it worked. I paid attention.

   Or maybe it was the fact that the Red Wings were out of the playoffs. My sports focus did not have a particular target, so it settled on the NFL draft.

2. The Lions’ 2nd-round choice reveals careful planning.
   A lot of people are either criticizing the Detroit Lions’ 2nd-round pick of Ryan Broyles or they are simply scratching their heads at it.

   I have an explanation. Whether it is the actual reason the Lions went with him has yet to be determined.

   The Lions know one of their draft picks will get injured, so they are getting the injury out of the way.

   Think about the Lions’ draft picks over the last couple years:
   – Mikel Leshoure – missed his entire rookie season last year
   – Matthew Stafford – missed several games due to injury in his first two seasons

   With that kind of record, the Lions should assume that their draft picks will be injured at some point. Better to get the injury out of the way by drafting players who are currently injured. Maybe they’ll be ready to play at the start of the season, or maybe they’ll have to miss a few games. Either way, the Lions are ahead of the game.

3. The grades are generous.
   I read a review of the draft, and that review gave each team a letter grade on its draft performance. Most teams got As and Bs. Some got Cs, and only 2 got Ds (Seattle and Jacksonville).

   At first I thought “Wait a minute – the draft isn’t a zero-sum game. There are only so many good picks, so not every team can be above the curve.” But then I thought that every team can be above the curve, because each team has different needs.

   In the end, I suppose I agree with Coach Schwartz: “Is your draft grade a tiebreaker for the playoffs next year? When it is, let me know, and I’ll worry about what our draft grade is.”

The only problem now is waiting for football season to start.

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