Draft to be moved to May - per Schefter.

Snohomie":vcqgixvm said:

But, for the non-draftniks, is the dead season (May and June) really better than draft season? IMO right now is the worst time in the NFL because nothing really is going on. The less we have of that, the better.

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It's not that I like it, but at least I don't have to brainstorm draft content everyday during the post-draft offseason. That last month before the draft is always my least liked part of the year, personally. Everything that's worth talking about has been covered by then and there are extremely few fresh leads for stories or ideas. Plus writing fatigue really starts to set in by then.

I'd make the analogy of a practice or workout where you run out of gas 60% in but are forced to continue. You do it, but it's not very enjoyable. And the more you enjoy writing, the more people enjoy reading it, so I consider that to be pretty important.

Obviously they didn't consider bloggers when making this change. Just saying that from a blogger's perspective I'm not a fan.

Is the real reason for this the desire or an 18 and 2 season or a 16 and 2 with expanded playoffs season? Goodell knows they have an issue with charging full price for 4 preseason games (of which you probably only need 3 at the maximum).

Either way I hate it the draft season is about twice as long as it needs to be already. Making it this long just about guarantees paralysis analysis for the teams.

No the real reason for this, is that Radio City Music Hall has a schedule conflict and I believe it runs for the next 4 years. So the NFL is mulling options. I have no insight into what the league requires as far as facilities goes. I don't know if they are considering moving the draft venue or not. Would be cool to have the draft hosted in the city that wins the SB.

I don't believe this has anything to do with the thought of altering the season/postseason schedules.

kearly":pl9ijscg said:

I think the toughest pre-draft month is the last one. Teams have done their thing in FA, the combine is over, most pro-days are over, and teams suddenly stop talking to reporters almost completely until the final days before the draft. Granted, it's all lies at the very end anyway, but that cone of silence over that last month really sucks if you have to cover the draft every day on a blog. Now it's going to be almost three times as long. Can't say I'm looking forward to next year's draft season, as a writer or a reader.

I do anticipate that next year's combine will be perhaps the most intense ever, as it will be the first combine to take place after free agency (that I know of). That will be neat to watch. After that though, zzz....

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Draft boards are pretty much set up after the combine. This just gives you more time to find out where guys are predicted to fall. Should make your job easier really. More credible information will be leaked and all you have to do is fallow a police blotter of upcoming draft picks and see who continues to fall. Frankly, the more time these kids are out of school and have more time to get in trouble is better for teams.

I'm a huge draftnik, its a year round thing for me. That said, I hate pushing the draft to May. Heading into the last month of the draft the topics on prospects gets repetitive, even on the NFL network the talk of the prospects is highly repetitive. I enjoy posting mock drafts, which I start posting during the college football season, but there comes a point were mocks become a little stale. Also, IMO a lot of the top prospects get over-evaluated and lot of small school players get over-hyped in the last month heading into the draft.

I just hope the NFL Network channel does a better job of talking about mid-round prospects and doing mocks that go further than just the teams picking in the top-10 or just doing 1st round mock drafts. I would like to see the NFL Network channel have more former scouts to cover the mid-round prospects and really put more resources into player evaluation if the NFL is going to push back the draft.

If anything the draft should be before free agency, so teams could fill the voids on their roster that they did not address in the draft.

Scottemojo":2ogyvf0u said:

Attyla the Hawk":2ogyvf0u said:

I really don't like that they're moving it to Mother's Day weekend. Wife is going to win that one.

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It is Mother's Day, not Wife Day. Man up.

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Exactly. Note the part where its called Mothers Day, not Mothers Weekend. The draft finishes up on Saturday, shouldn't be a conflict with Mothers Day plans (Sunday).