The progressive popularity of the NFL Draft has reached overwhelming status in terms of coverage and hilarity.  No longer is it booked on ESPN2 for a late afternoon slot that hardly anybody will watch.  Instead, it’s a day chalked full of Mel Kiper yelling into a camera, Chris Berman making awful jokes, Keyshawn Johnson getting dressed in the dark, and hours upon hours of seemingly useless information about players who may or may not pan out.  Thus I’d like to share with you a few things that stuck out in my mind as I watched the endless coverage of yesterdays draft.

I can’t write this without mentioning the atrocity that was Keyshawn Johnson’s wardrobe.  I felt like I was staring at one of those 3-D eye trick books that you buy in the Scholastic catalogs when you’re in third grade.  Johnson’s shirt looked more like a picnic table cover than a dress shirt.  I felt like I should have brought brisket or potato salad to put on his lap as he bantered back and forth with Steve Young about whether the Cardinals should take a running back or corner back.  Speaking of…

The tension on-air yesterday was as high as I’d seen since Sean Salisbury called John Clayton a crypt keeper.  Ron Jaworski and Kirk Herbstreit had an argument escalate to shouting before Mike Tirico had to interrupt with a stupid comment about settling it off-air and the tension between Young and Keyshawn seemed to build with every disagreement.  It was like each got a sense of superiority over the other in correctly predicting what the pick was going to be.  Case in point: the Cardinals pick when Meshawn and Young went back and forth until the pick was submitted.  The feud culminated with Young getting a 2nd grade-esque blow in at the end by shouting “running back!” right before Goodell read the card.

How anti-climatic was the first overall selection?  I’m in favor of not allowing these guys to sign until after draft day for suspense sakes.  I did enjoy the scattered boo’s even though I struggled to find the logic behind booing a team that went 1-15 last season.

Watching Chad Henne suffer through the first two rounds was comical.  Not Brady Quinn comical, but funny nonetheless.

Winner of the draft?  Kansas City.  Fat ass Glenn Dorsey fell right into their laps at the 5th pick and Brandon Albert was a gift at 15.  Brandon Flowers was a nice second round pick and a guy who was predicted as one of the top corners, a first round talent.

I’m all for Todd McShay and Mel Kiper to bare-knuckle box each other.  Here’s the caviat; they need to fight over whether or not Brian Brohm is a better talent than Joe Flacco.

Enough already with the cameras stationed at the draft picks houses please.  How worn and trite is it watching Brandon Albert stare into space for two minutes while Kiper spouts off at his ability to transition from guard to tackle.  You have to know that halfway through the shot, Albert realizes he’s on TV and plays it off like he’s the bad ass that you thought he was.  When is something funny going to happen in one of these shots?  Give me a stupid face or an 8 year old running through the shot wearing a Spiderman costume.

It’s the second day and, as of right now, I’m as employed in the NFL as Andre Woodson is.  Feelin’ good about that.

Finally, the Jets success on draft day was somewhat of a let down.  I rank Jets fans booing their picks right up there with Phillies fans throwing batteries at JD Drew….a necessity.

Any “suspense” regarding the first overall draft selection can be put to rest after the Dolphins announced today that they’ve agreed to terms with Michigan offensive lineman Jake Long on a $58 million deal over the next five years. Kaiser Parcells, known for his unwillingness to put up with attitude as well as his desire to build within, opted for Long over other studs such as Virginia defensive end Chris Long, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, and Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan.

Before I get too wrapped up in a rant, I should clarify that I believe Jake Long will be a great offensive lineman. He’s too physically sound to struggle with the move to the NFL and considering he won’t be holding out of camp (which always pisses me off and I never understand) Long will be able to adjust to the Dolphins offense in both mini camp and training camp. If not Long, then who would I have taken in the draft? Darren McFadden.

Set aside McFadden’s personal problems; it’s become too much of a fad to immediately downgrade athletes because of their past and not give them an opportunity to redeem themselves. McFadden has 4.3 speed you can’t teach. He has instincts you can’t explain. He has the explosion and knack for a big play that reminds me of greats such as LaDainian Tomlinson and Barry Sanders. He would immediately make John Beck a better quarterback and the mere fact that he is on the field at any given time requires a defense to adjust to him. He’s a home run hitter, a slam dunk. He is the best athlete in the draft and there isn’t a question about it.

So what about Ronnie Brown? Well, Brown has had issues of his own the past few years. He has yet to play all 16 games in his career, playing just 7 last year and 13 the year before. Durability is an issue with Brown and McFadden would be a perfect fit to spell Brown in the backfield a la Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush.

There isn’t a better left tackle in the draft than Jake Long but, with Miami also holding the first pick in the second round and New England fore fitting their first rounder, the Dolphins essentially have two first round picks. Great offensive lineman don’t just come from the first round. Great running backs, however, do.

Best of luck to Miami in the rest of the draft. Lets just hope for Miami’s sake that Jake Long isn’t the next Robert Gallery and Darren McFadden isn’t the next LaDainian Tomlinson.