I fucking love the NFL draft. Because of the intrigue, drama and wheeling/dealing, the event has become a spectacle. Unlike many other spectacles, this is one that i watch almost beginning to end. The major challenge with watching the draft and being a collector at the same time, is that I automatically think of hobby implications every time anyone is drafted. Here are some of my reactions seeing what happened last night.

THE ENTIRE FUCKING FOOTBALL CARD COLLECTING POPULATION – WINNER

Everyone celebrate! I said Celebrate dammit! There were 5 QBs taken during the first round, and hot damn that is like Christmas in April. The hobby loves QBs because they tend to be the only part of the collective in Football that has any type of career longevity. Running Backs and WRs have become disposable, and though we see the hype with Saquon Barkley, his hype is only as good as his age. Sometimes you have an exception like Adrian Peterson or Ladanian Tomlinson, but for the most part, all the RBs drafted in 2007 and 2008 save Beast Mode are gone. He already retired once. QBs are the currency by which we live our collecting lives, and seeing this being the year of the QB is a feast of riches I am desperately looking forward to.

Baker Mayfield – Winner and Loser

Other than Barkley, the former Heisman winner is the top rookie in the class in terms of value. His celebrity only adds to the fact that he went number 1 overall, and its crazy to think that this is the way it all worked out. For months leading up to the draft, Mayfield wasnt even slated in the first round in some mocks, and that is just the beginning. Somehow, the Browns thought he was worth shooting for the moon, and the rest will have to wait for October. Aside from my feelings on Mayfield, going number 1 is a great thing for the hobby. Its always good for the most popular players to go 1 and 2, which is exactly what happened. The reason I said this was a loser for Mayfield fans is that Cleveland is a graveyard of terrible decisions. Its not good that he is going to Cleveland, and though they were making some moves over the offseason, its still fucking Cleveland. At least he recreated the famous Favre pic, which was a completely awesome move. I love that, for sure.

Since going #1, his cards have spiked significantly. No one was really expecting the pick until that night:

2018 Contenders Draft Baker Mayfield Cracked Ice Auto /23

2018 Leaf Metal Baker Mayfield Blue Refractor Auto /50

2018 Score Baker Mayfield Green Auto /6

Saquon Barkley – Winner

Great player, going to a good but not great team that was destroyed by injury last year. He will have a lot of weapons around him, and that means he will see a lot of production he maybe wouldnt normally get. The only issue is that we saw the type of production out of Kamara and Fournette, among others, and the hobby doesnt really seem to reward it. Barkley could be different, but odds are that he wont be. Lets just enjoy the value while we can.

Josh Allen – Loser

I wasnt high on Allen to begin with, for many reasons. Seeing that he dropped from being the potential top pick to ending up at 7, isnt good. Diggers uncovered some pretty damaging tweets from when he was in high school day of the draft, and it may have impacted which teams were willing to bank the next few years on his integrity. Allen in Buffalo has a good team around him, one that made the playoffs last year. Im curious how this works out, because of all the QBs drafted yesterday, he has a lot of potential to be a bust.

Joe Flacco – Loser

When the Ravens traded back up into the 32nd pick, Flacco had to be squirming like he just threw five picks in a playoff game. Lamar Jackson may not be the top rated prospect ever drafted, but this was a clear signal that Flacco’s time in Baltimore is just about over. Think Alex Smith in KC last year, and look what happened. I like the pick, as it is almost no risk for the Ravens. His contract will be tiny, you have Jackson for 5 years under control, and if he flames out, it wasnt like you spent a ton to get him.

Calvin Ridley – Winner

Getting drafted to play along side Julio and Matt Ryan in Atlanta? Holy shit, good for him. Alabama players always have a lot of collectors following them around, but this could end up being one of the better picks of last night. Traditionally, WRs just never have very much value in the hobby, but I wont be shocked if Ridley has a great start to his career just because of his talent and new team dynamic.

Patriots Collectors – TBD

Really thought they were going to take the heir apparent to Brady. Instead they drafted Sony Michel, who should automatically drop 25% in value across the hobby. Belichick doesnt use RBs like the rest of the league, and as a result, already reduced value for RBs should be doubly so for Michel. He will either get a ton of touches or too sporadic of a production line to maintain any true collecting hype. That being said, with Mason Rudolph and Kyle Lauletta still on the board, they may use one of their day 2 picks to shore up the position and groom a guy similar to what happened with new hobby darling Jimmy Garoppolo. If they do draft a QB tonight, look for that value to skyrocket. Collectors like to expect lightning to strike twice with Pats backup QBs, even though for every Jimmy Garoppolo, there is a Ryan Mallett to match.

The later rounds tend to be where shit goes down and goes down with a crazy amount of fun, so keep an eye out for guys like Derrius Guice, Nick Chubb, Courtland Sutton and the rest of the QB class to come off the board. This is going to be awesome, and I cant wait to see how it plays out.