NFL Draft will be different

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

If you love the National Football League, then it's pretty fair to think you also enjoy the draft.

What players are your favorite team going to draft? Are they going to trade out of their first-round slot to move up or down? Who are they targeting? 

The draft buzz starts months before the actual draft, and every year the draft seems to be getting bigger and bigger.

So the NFL went to its instant replay and came up with a new rule change: the NFL Draft, starting in 2010, will be spread out to three days instead of two.

I think the big difference is that ONLY the first round will be on the first day -- on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. It's all about ratings obviously, and the draft will be in a prime-time slot, so it seems like a no-brainer for the NFL to take advantage of its popularity. It will be televised on ESPN and the NFL Network.

It's not like the borderline fan will sit through almost 3 1/2 hours of a first round, but the diehards will and currently do it.

Under the new rule, the second day of the draft will be for the second and third round, and Day 3 is for the fourth through the seventh round (I'm willing to bet there won't be too many viewers on the final day).

Currently the draft is on Saturday and Sunday, so farewell to the NFL Draft parties around the country that start early on Saturday and last throughout the early evening. It looks like a new plan will have to be a Thirsty Thursday, just like the old college days. But if you have to work on Friday, it might not be a great idea unless you take a sick day.

My question is after the first round, will you tune it and watch the entire Day 2 and Day 3, or check back in periodically to see who your team selected?

I think it's a great format for the first round and puts even more of a emphasis on the top players in the draft and actually might pull in more viewers, even the so-so fan who just might develop into a diehard after watching all the hoopla. But I'm not so sure three days of a draft, which can be boring at times with all the experts chiming in on every topic under the sun, is the best idea. 

I consider myself a diehard NFL fan, but I'm not even going to sit through three days of the draft. Yes, it's boring at times. I think it's a little overkill, but the first round should be an extravaganza and even Day 2 with the second and third round will be outstanding since the majority of these picks need to help your team out if you're going to be any good. 

Do you like the new format?