NFL Draft 2009

On April 25th, the National Football League hosts it's annual college draft. Over two hundred of the finest college athletes from around America will be up for grabs as professional American Football teams search for the next generation of superstars.

The whole event is a carnival, a two day festival with all the melodrama and ceremony you expect from American sport.

The build-up is a key part of the draft experience, with teams visiting various college "Pro Days", where prospective draftees show their skills in a variety of drills. This, coupled with interviews and "private workouts", give the teams ample opportunity to pick ther right player.

The team who finished last season with the worst record - Detroit Lions - will get the first pick in the first round of the draft. After they make their pick, the team with the second worst record - this year it's St. Louis - will choose their player to sign, and so on until all 32 teams have had a chance to pick.

That concludes the first round out of seven. Now you begin to understand why it needs jazzing up. Essentially, it is the same thing we all used to do when picking teams for playground football or tag rugby, only on a much grander scale.

There is a whole industry that centres around the selection of draft picks. The system is a bit more complicated than just picking the best player who is left.

Most teams who have the first pick will go for a "playmaker", someone who is going to be a focal point for their team. Eight out of the last ten Number One picks have been Quarterbacks, but for many teams, the need is in the less glamourous positions along the offensive line.

With this in mind, Detroit will probably Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has long been predicted as the first pick. There are a couple of offensive linemen - Jason Smith and Eugene Monroe - who are good enough to be Number One, but the Lions are now likely to go with a Franchise Quarterback in Stafford.

There are some freakish athletes in this years crop. BJ Raji, a defensive tackle from Boston College, can run the 40-yard dash (a staple of the Pro Day) in 5.23 seconds, despite weighing in at nearly 340 lbs. Brian Orakpo, a pass rushing defensive end, is built like a Greek god and tackles like a sledgehammer. These are not gentlemen who you would like on top of your prize quarterback!

The draft is, all told, an entertaining experience. Once it is out of the way, the NFL cools down for the summer training camps. But for now, interest in the draft is red hot.

Live Media UK's Top 5 Draft Picks

1. Detroit Lions - Matthew Stafford (QB)
2. St Louis Rams - Jason Smith (OT)
3. Kansas City Cheifs - Brian Orakpo (DE)
4. Seattle Seahawks - Eugene Monroe (OT)
5. Cincinnati Bengals - Aaron Curry (OLB/DE)

By Tom Snee, Live Media UK