[The Canadian Content]

From ESPN:

The NFL on Tuesday cut from 15 minutes to 10 the time between picks in the first round of its draft after a 2007 record round of 6 hours and 8 minutes.

It also moved the starting time of the draft from noon ET to 3 p.m. and limited the first day to two rounds instead of three.

It's about fucking time. It's always pissed me off that every team in the first round took their full 15 minutes to pick. I get that it's tougher later in the round, but when it takes 45 minutes to get through the first three teams, something's wrong. Of course, everyone's still going to take the full time, but at least it's shorter.

[Lucky]

And they moved the start time up 3 hours so the 1st round will actually end LATER than it normally does.

5 min x 30 picks = 150 min.

Shave 2 and a half hours off, move it up 3 hours. HA!

[DevSop]

They actually moved it back 3 hours Lucky. It's started at noon the last few years. It's going to start at three now, so the round should actually end later in the day then it used to I think.. First round should be over around 8, it used to end around 7.

I love the 10 minute per pick, I'm completely baffled by a 3pm start time though. I wish they went back to the 10am they used to have. The first round would be over by 3 or 4, Second round done by 8 and you could fight at the bar all night about who your team drafted.

[Lucky]

Yeah, that's what I mean. "Moved back/up." For some reason I always say the opposite of what I mean when I use those terms.

Point is, the 1st round is shorter and more manageable but its STILL 3 and a half fucking hours and will end in primetime. And now the bulk of it is going to happen during dinner time. And if you want to watch the 2nd round you're going to get a later start time then you did last year so you're still fucked.

Now I won't even bother trying to catch what crappy pick the Jets grab because I'll be too busy having dinner or having a life. Gone are the days when I may consider just hankering down early for the draft. But NFL fans will watch whatever crap the NFL airs.

[OpTard]

i don't know if you guys are accounting for this, but in addition to shortening the time, they're also removing round 3 from day 1.

i'm not gonna do any of the math my self but with the 5 minutes taken off each pick, AND a round being removed from the day, will it still end later with the 3 o'clock start?

[DevSop]

I misunderstood your post anyway Lucky. I thought you were excited for the changes. And technically if every team takes the full 10 minutes, it's still a 5 hour draft.

[Lucky]

Yeah, the 1st Round still has a max of 5 hours so could end at 8. As opposed to the "record length" last year which apparently ended at 6:08.

2nd Round goes from 10 mins to 7 so that's a max of 270 minutes. So 4 1/2 hours. So in theory the 2nd Rd ends at 12:30 AM EST and the day ends.

If last year's 1st Round ended at 6:08 then the 2nd round had a max of 5 hours and theoretically could have gone till 11:08 PM EST. So the 1st 2 rounds will theoretically go later this year then they did last year. The absence of the 3rd Round will be the difference there as that would have been another 2 1/2 hours (in theory).

The Sunday is 5 rounds of 5 minutes instead of 4. They pushed it BACK an hour but they added 2 1/2 hours.

So in theory the NFL managed to make Saturday end later and Sunday go longer. They did shorten up the 1st Round to a manageable 5 hours, but they made sure that it airs during dinner time on a Saturday thus making the early/mid parts of the round less convenient for most.

[National Champion Chris Cole]

The chnage they need to implement is that the first team PICKS at 3 rather then goes on the clock at 3. Why the fuck do they need 10-15 minutes to pick when they've had two months to decide what to do. The event should start with a bang. The commish should go up to the podium right at the start and announce the first pick. 9 times out of 10 we know who it is anyway.

[The Canadian Content]

Good call Mkid.

One thing that doesn't make sense to me is that the time for each pick gets shorter as the draft progresses. It seems to me that every team should be able to pick instantly in the first round (barring trades), and the second round should be only marginally harder to pick. Once the talent pool starts to deplete, it should get progressively harder to pick, so teams should be given more time as it moves along.

Also, with shorter pick times, they'd improve their ratings. I know that last year, I watched the first couple of picks, then walked away because Cincy was picking something like 18th, and I knew they wouldn't be up for another 3 hours.

[National Champion Chris Cole]

I don't really like basketball but I watched the entire draft this year because the time between was so short that it kept my interest. Having 5-6 Florida guys waiting to be drafted was much easier to swallow in that format that it usually is in football. In football I just don't bother and got o a website on Monday to find where all my players went.