National Football League

Was the first round of the NFL Draft boring?

Published May. 1, 2015 1:04 p.m. ET

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By Brad Gagnon

That was the most boring first round of a draft I’ve ever experienced.

No big surprises, no big slides. The guy who was supposed to go first overall did, the guy who was widely expected to be picked second was. Those were the draft’s biggest names — both quarterbacks from high-profile schools — but neither Jameis Winston nor Marcus Mariota were in attendance.

There were trade rumors involving Chip Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles. Apparently, big-time players were potential bargaining chips. Nothing happened.

The Cleveland Browns were candidates to move up as well, but they too stayed put with both of their first-round picks.

Adrian Peterson was supposedly a candidate to be traded, but he didn’t move. Nor did Bruce Irvin, who was rumored to be a trade candidate if the Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons so chose. Nada.

In fact, almost nobody moved. One year after five first-round trades went down, only two deals were struck Thursday night. One was a simple swap between teams picking 15th and 17th and the other involved Denver and Detroit swapping spots in the bottom 10. Nothing in the top 14. It marked the first time in modern NFL history (post-1970 merger) that none of the top 12 picks were traded.

None of that is ideal for the NFL, because the draft is the biggest annual event in sports that doesn’t actually involve sports being played. It’s entertainment, it’s a reality show. And on Thursday night, very few entertaining developments took place.

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