Gettin' drafty up in here

 By now, loyal Blobophile(s) know my position on the NFL Draft. I think it's great theater and well worth the forty-umpteen hours of primetime programming it will take up tomorrow night.

Psych! Of course I don't think that.

No, I think it's such must-avoid TV I'll watch old reruns of the Andy Griffith Show rather than tune in to see if the Lions, with the seventh pick, take an offensive lineman from Bemidji State. Give me Ernest T. Bass all day over that -- and not just because Ernest T. frequently makes more sense than Mel Kiper Jr.

That said, it's fascinating to see how the NFL Draft has evolved from Yay! We Got Tony Dorsett/John Elway/Eric Dickerson! to Oh, God, Please Don't Let Us Screw Up And Take Ryan Leaf Instead Of Peyton Manning. Which has led to the hilarious festival of second-guessing and over-analysis that the NFL Draft today has become.

And the most hilarious thing about it is the more teams learn about a prospective draft pick, the less they seem to know.

After all, 20 years after Leaf-over-Manning, the Bears took Mitch Trubisky over Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. How did nine teams pass on Mahomes, for heaven's sake?  How did the Cleveland Browns not pass on Johnny Manziel?

Sure seemed a lot easier, and less of a gamble, back when the Cowboys took Emmitt Smith just because My God, have you seen the man PLAY? Less overthinking meant less second-guessing, it seems to me. And less second-guessing meant less talking oneself out of an Emmitt Smith.

Which brings us to your 2020 Heisman Trophy winner, wide receiver DeVonta Smith from Alabama.

By all rights he ought to be the first wideout taken, because My God, have you seen the man PLAY? But some mock drafts have him going anywhere from 10th to 16th, behind two other receivers (one of whom is Smith's Alabama teammate Jaylen Waddle). And why is that?

Because DeVonta Smith is kind of shrimpish at 6-foot and 166 pounds.

This seems to matter more than it should to some folks, and certainly more than it did when Dan Marino was throwing all those home run balls to Mark Dufer (5-9, 185) and Mark Clayton (5-9, 177). Lots of people passed over both of them; Duper went in the second round and Clayton in the eighth, which doesn't even exist anymore.  Couple years later, what do you suppose all those people were saying?

"Geez. How'd we miss those guys?"

"Wait, we coulda had Duper AND Clayton?"

"Wait, we traded up to take Trubisky instead of Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes??"

Oops, sorry. That was the Bears in 2019 or so.

Or someone a couple years from now, after passing on DeVonta Smith.