Well, the day has come – 2014 Football cards have hit the market, and for now, they are going to be a great barometer of what is going to be happening after a vast decrease in 2013. Leaf has been first to market for a few years now, and each year I have gotten more and more on board with what Brian Gray is doing with his sets. All on card, few redemptions, and some really nice designs.

Here are some big hits already up:

2014 Leaf Metal Draft Johnny Manziel Auto Red Refractor /5

2014 Leaf Metal Draft Johnny Manziel Auto Purple Refractor /25

2014 Leaf Metal Draft Blake Bortles Green Refractor Auto /10

2014 Leaf Metal Draft Teddy Bridgewater Green Refractor Auto /10

2014 Leaf Metal Draft Jadeveon Clowney Blue Refractor Auto

Although I think the Leaf Stars and the State Pride cards are horribly ugly, the rest of the set continues to be very well designed. You can tell Brian is taking more and more liberties with retouching the cards, leaving more of the uniform visible, despite not having a license to show logos. I think this year’s design is SIGNIFICANTLY better than 2013, and on par with 2012's banner year.

As for the cards themselves, it has become abundantly obvious in the last few months that Johnny Manziel will be the top guy. Not only is he a Heisman winner, but he is a polarizing figure that people love to hate, or just love. This fame leads to hobby value, and with speculation that he could go in the top 5, his cards are even hotter than ever.

The other players like Jadeveon Clowney, Teddy Bridgewater, and company arent necessarily on Manziel’s level, but they are already selling above where we saw 2013 start off. Its a deep class, especially on the QB and WR crop, which is ALWAYS a good thing.

Here is the thing. Despite the fact that it isnt a diluted checklist like some of the other pre-draft products are, these cards will only be hot for a VERY short time. The SECOND the first post-draft product hits the market, these will lose half their value. Based on that factor alone, the 100 dollar price tag is going to be tough to stomach. If you want to get your hands on these cards, it will be best to wait for the other products to come out. 2014 Bowman Football will likely be the first licensed product of the year, and that is coming off a HUGE year in 2013.

I really like this product in February, especially with all the hard signed autographs. The cards look great for the most part, and the Chrome stock is always a favorite.