Schools in Pittsburgh shifted to remote learning from April 22-24 as the NFL draft overtook the city. An event once held behind closed doors and deemed not worthy of television coverage is now cause for a city of 300,000 to pause its regular activities and enter a football-induced hiatus. The NFL has worked hard to keep fans engaged in the offseason, promoting events like the schedule release and draft combine into major media moments, despite their limited importance to the sport. But in today’s football-obsessed world, this is the type of irregular attention that the wealthiest sports league on earth has earned.
The NFL draft is a rare moment in football where players, typically concealed by padding and helmets, get the opportunity to shine as individuals. Players who are usually tied to the performance of the teammates around them will find the chance for recognition and financial reward based solely on their own accomplishments.
Draft prospects are a “pure play” — they exist at a rare moment, unmoored from the consequences of their college team and also unencumbered by the unavoidable failures they will be held responsible for in the NFL. Prospects are judged on the qualities that exist only in isolated scenarios, detached from the increasingly complex nature of professional football, possessing the bizarre qualities of untapped potential and short development timelines, which only exist within professional sports.
This year’s draft features star quarterback Fernando Mendoza of Indiana University, who led the perpetual-underdog Hoosiers to their first-ever college football championship alongside head coach Curt Cignetti. Mendoza is praised for his accuracy and composure, and has been compared to fellow unassuming-yet-energetic quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Kirk Cousins.
Mendoza is expected to go No. 1 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders, who are in dire need of a leader on offense. The Raiders desperately need help at the quarterback position after last year’s Geno Smith fiasco, which saw the journeyman progressively turn in worse performances as the season progressed.
Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese is favored to go second overall to the New York Jets. Reese headlines four Ohio State standouts, including linebacker Sonny Styles, wide receiver Carnell Tate and safety Caleb Downs. The four are expected to go within the top 10, a testament to the strength of the school’s ability to develop top draft talent.
The College Football Playoff runner-up University of Miami can expect to see edge Rueben Bain Jr. and tackle Francis Mauigoa also picked at the top of the draft. Representing the backfield is the explosive running back Jeremiyah Love, from the University of Notre Dame. Love will present the latest test to the running back market, which disappointed in last year’s draft when Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty — who went to the aforementioned Raiders — only managed 3.7 yards per attempt in a disappointing rookie season.
As the draft’s top talent makes its way to Pittsburgh for the first round of the draft, their minds may be elsewhere, thinking of whichever city may be their future home, or, specifically, hoping to avoid a phone call from East Rutherford, whose Jets and Giants collectively hold four of the top 16 picks in this year’s draft.
