Its here! Its here! The draft is tomorrow, and I cannot tell you guys how excited I am about what is going to be happening over the course of the next few days. I absolutely love this time of year, as usually there is a definite lack of NFL stuff going down, and when the draft happens, all of that changes. With the lockout and labor situation in full force, the draft takes center stage even more so, especially with Judge Roberts’ ruling impact on the night’s events.

This is one year where I am extra excited because its likely that Vikings will draft an impact player from the top prospects that are available, thus giving me someone to collect exclusively over the course of the 2011 card season. In 2007, obviously I had a very busy year, as I did in 2009, but if the Vikings end up taking a quarterback like Jake Locker or someone similar, it should be another expensive year. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good thing.

Here is my list of things to watch for tomorrow night, as it relates to the hobby.

The Plethora of Available QBs

Cam Newton is obviously the crown jewel of this draft class, even though I am pretty much convinced that he is going to be a bust. If he ends up going number 1, remember who he is going to have to play against, with Atlanta, New Orleans and even Tampa showing up on the same field twice per year each. He has very few options to throw to, especially with Steve Smith likely on his way out of Charlotte. This means its Williams and Newton carrying the offense, and we saw what the results were last year. Also, after seeing him interview all over the place, its quite apparent to me that he isnt the sharpest knife in the drawer. That’s a bad thing. If he falls, he wont get past Arizona, who will most likely end up with Gabbert eventually. Gabbert should be more successful just from having Fitzgerald and Breaston to throw to, and that should help out his card values eventually to. Remember, without a team to drive value, production is more important, and I don’t think Newton will have either one. Gabbert should.

Outside of Gabbert and Newton, there is a possibility of up to 5 other QBs going in the first round. Im sure the card companies are salivating over this situation, as a QB driven class with tons of potential production is definitely good for business. I would see Locker ending up in Tennessee, Washington or Minnesota, which is good, bad and good for his values in the hobby. If Locker ends up in purple, expect his cards to blow up over night. Vikings fans are rabid like that. If Dalton, Mallett, Kaepernick and Ponder all somehow go that direction too, it could be a feeding frenzy on some of the cards that were released earlier this year.

Final Destinations of AJ Green, Julio Jones and Mark Ingram

When you move past the 15 DLs that could go in round one and the 7 QBs, there isnt much more room for the other top prospects in the draft. Mark Ingram and the two WRs that everyone is high on should also be a secondary focus of the night, as they are definitely ones that have potential to drive production in the hobby products for 2011. I am hoping that eventually, we will have the NFL going strong and past the labor situation, and the products wont suffer. If Green, Ingram and Jones all have huge freshman years in the league, this draft class could be the most successful in a long, long time when it comes to products.

Bust Potential of Top Picks

As there is every year, more than a handful of players have high bust potential both in terms of their production as a player and their potential value as a collection focus. Guys like Newton, Fairley, Bowers, and Ingram have all been graded as high bust potential, and this is a BAAAAD situaiton when their autos are some of the most valuable in the class. Outside of these guys, there are 7 high value quarterbacks that usually succeed at a 50% clip, something that doesn’t bode well for long term value potential.

The Lockout in Relation to Production

This labor situation sucks. No one wins in the end, even if someone does end up being the victor, and the card companies and fans alike would like nothing more than this whole thing to go away. There is high probabililty that the lockout could infringe on OTA and camps for the top draft picks, meaning they wont get the same ramp up that normal classes get. Judge Nelson was very aware of this situation in her ruling, and for a guy like Newton who needs every bit of time he can get, she is correct that this could derail his season and/or career. Rookies need the off season schedule to learn, and without that process in place, the class could be lost.

Overall, I don’t care what happens tomorrow as long as I can sit with my bowl of popcorn and have a good time. This may be the last football related activity we see for a while, and I hopefully wont have to miss a minute of it.

Just for kicks here is my Top 15:

1. Cam Newton – CAR
2. Marcell Dareus – DEN
3. Von Miller – BUF
4. AJ Green – CIN
5. Blaine Gabbert – ARI
6. Julio Jones – CLE
7. Patrick Peterson – SF
8. JJ Watt – TEN
9. Tyron Smith – DAL
10. Robert Quinn – WAS
11. Prince Amukamara – HOU
12. Jake Locker – MIN
13. Cameron Jordan – DET
14. Nick Fairley- STL
15. Aldon Smith – MIA

What do you think?