Monday open thread: Do you watch every day of the NFL Draft?

NFL Draft Week is upon us!

Months of scouting, speculating, and debating are behind us, and we are on the homestretch. The 2023 NFL Draft presents an exciting time for all football fans, but Detroit Lions fans in particular have a lot to look forward to.

With the Lions slated to have two first-round selections, it opens the opportunity not only to add talented players, but even a trade. Day 1 is the most-watched day of the draft, for this is when many of the draft’s future stars are picked. There’s the allure of seeing where each top-billed prospect lands. There’s the shock when a surprise player is chosen well before most expected. There’s the puzzling nature of watching a big-name prospect slide down the draft for known or unknown reasons. The first round is certainly filled with drama—though the run time of the event keeps growing and growing.

However, the remaining days are not without excitement either.

Day 2 of the draft—Rounds 2 and 3—presents an interesting opportunity for teams and fans alike. For one, this could be the stopping place for one of those aforementioned slides—a first round prospect will forever have a chip on their shoulder by falling into Day 2. You can also see future starters selected on this day, either due to them playing a lower-value position (running back, linebacker) or merely flying under the radar. The first round may be where most stars are picked, but the second and third rounds are where solid depth is built.

Often overshadowed is the last day of the draft, during which Rounds 4 through 7 are jumbled together for an absolute marathon of football. From a volume perspective, this is where teams typically draft a majority of their players—if you are looking for new names, this is the day for it. Day 3 can be a mixed bag. For one, many of the players selected are unknowns to casual fans—and occasionally diehard fans too. The rapid-fire nature of this day is also tough to swallow for fans and writers alike, for little time is available for analysis. On the other hand, there are plenty of feel-good stories during the later rounds, stories that are only amplified if a player goes on to achieve success. You need look no further than Malcolm Rodriguez and James Houston, two Lions 2022 sixth-rounders that exploded onto the scene last season.

Come next week, many young players will have achieved their dreams of being drafted into the NFL. Will you be one to watch their dreams become reality?

Today’s Question of the Day is:

Do you watch every day of the NFL Draft?

My answer: As someone covering the Detroit Lions, my answer is obviously yes, so instead, I’ll give you my answer from before I started writing.

I always loved playing the video game Madden NFL, and one of my favorite aspects was franchise mode and the draft. There’s just something exciting about trying to find key building blocks for your NFL team; it’s a very chess-like mentality.

Even before I started following the Lions in depth, I heavily paid attention to all three days of the draft. I love seeing which prospects end up where, and it’s always fun to revisit previous draft classes to see what became of each prospect. Did a prospect I liked pan out? Was there some unknown gem chosen on later days? As a Canadian, I also liked seeing the occasional Canadian university pop up in the later rounds of the draft (Akiem Hicks, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif to name a few).

In particular, I enjoy the third day of the NFL Draft. The unknown names are actually part of the appeal for me, as I like seeing and learning about players I had never heard of before. When you hear that name called, you instantly feel incentivized to dive into their scouting reports and film—because of the sheer number of prospects in a given draft class, it makes it hard to pick which players you learn about. Using Houston as an example, I went from knowing little about him besides his position to falling in love with his profile on and off the field. That’s what the NFL Draft can do.

Your turn.