Sports Fans Looking Forward to the NFL Draft

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the NFL draft will be held April 23-25, albeit in a slightly different manner.

Over the last several years the Draft has been held in various cities, including Philadelphia in 2017 when an estimated 250,000 attended the three-day event.

Obviously with the CDC’s recommendation not to hold any event with a gathering of 10 or more people, the draft will be drastically different.

Yet, the teams will still be selecting the players and that is good news for sports fans.

There have been some pundits that have urged the NFL to postpone the draft.

Our question is why?

At a time when the public is hurting from the coronavirus, the NFL is the one professional sports league that has given fans something to look forward to.

The NFL didn’t cancel its free agent period and thus so many sports fans got to follow free agency, briefly giving them a diversion from the depressing news of the pandemic.

The same is the case with the draft.

The NFL Draft is usually a popular event, so much so that last year it was televised by ABC, ESPN and by the NFL Network.

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People question how can sports fans sit in their homes and just watch players’ names get selected. Yet it is more than that. The draft is a shaping of a team, and the NFL is so popular that there are plenty of diehard fans that want to know what direction their team will take.

There are often trades made, which add to the intrigue. It is great reality television and with no live sports going on, interest should be sky high for the draft.

Eagles fans will no doubt be looking at the draft with great interest.

The Eagles spent most of free agency shoring up the defense, highlighted by the trade with Detroit for cornerback Darius Slay and the signing of Pittsburgh Steelers free agent defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. ESPN reported the contact for Hargrave was three years for $39 million, with $26 million guaranteed.

The NFL Network and other outlets reported that Slay, who was signed for this season, agreed to a three-year extension for $50 million.

Both are supposed to help the Eagles immeasurably. Slay is considered one of, if not the best corners in the NFL and Hargrave is a defensive tackle who is much more than a run stuffer. He should greatly help the Eagles interior pass rush.

There were other defensive moves the Eagles made. Now the Eagles will focus on the offense, specifically wide receiver in the draft.

In the next few weeks we will write about some of the offensive players that the Eagles could be looking for, specially at receiver. There will be plenty of interest in what the Eagles and the other 31 NFL teams will be doing.

The NFL draft will be the only game in town, and a much needed one at that.

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Author: Marc Narducci