Allright guys, thanks for jumping on the idea and offering to participate. Like just about everything on here, it's more fun when more participate so I'm glad we've got a healthy number of folks eager to join in. There's still a few teams left as you will see, and if you didn't see the initial post for whatever reason and would like to be a part of this, just let us know in this comments thread and we'll make it happen (there's a number of us with multiple teams, so obviously we'll share).
Anyway, first, a recap of which team we're each responsible for:
#1) Miami Dolphins (steelerark)
#2) St. Louis Rams (WolfpackSteelersFan)
#3) Atlanta Falcons (WolfpackSteelersFan)
#4) Oakland Raiders (maryrose)
#5) Kansas City Chiefs (nerves of steel )
#6) New York Jets (SteelerMike)
#7) New England Patriots ( bereadawg )
#8) Baltimore Ravens (Blitzburgh)
#9) Cincinnati Bengals (BadMaafala)
#10) New Orleans Saints (Blitzburgh)
#11) Buffalo Bills (belvalle55 )
#12) Denver Broncos (Tshaff)
#13) Carolina Panthers (maryrose)
#14) Chicago Bears (Chicago Steeler)
#15) Detroit Lions (Rommain El 82)
#16) Arizona Cardinals (bereadawg )
#17) Minnesota Vikings (LiveinDCbutsteelerfanbyheart
#18) Houston Texans (steeler lifer)
#19) Philadelphia Eagles (BadMaafala)
#20) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (smashmouthsteel)
#21) Washington Redskins (frankrmineo)
#22) Dallas Cowboys (Terry)
#23) Pittsburgh Steelers (steeler lifer)
#24) Tennessee Titans (cgolden)
#25) Seattle Seahawks (vherub)
#26) Jacknsonville Jaguars (schnifin)
#27) San Diego Chargers (TheMostViolentTeam)
#28) Dallas Cowboys (Terry)
#29) San Francisco 49ers (cgolden)
#30) Green Bay Packers (Chicago Steeler)
#31) New York Giants (RickVa)
UPDATE 1:00 EST: ALL TEAMS HAVE BEEN SELECTED. Thanks guys.
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Ok, this is a lot to keep track of for me but I know for certain that at minimum, the Browns do not have a 1st Round choice. I do not believe that they have a 2nd or 3rd Round choice either, so there is no need to have somebody 'draft' for them (as we will only go through 2 or 3 rounds tops).
As you can see, there are still several teams without a representative. Feel free to jump on in if you haven't done so (Hines Field, santhome, smashmouthsteel, manchesterheights, et. al?). If you've been reading the site for awhile but rarely or never have commented, this would be a great time to join in (accounts are free, take 10 seconds literally to create). If need be, those of us participating will fill out the final teams.
To be debated: Should we allow trades?
My inclination is to say no. Things could get awfully confusing awfully fast, but if y'all want to give it a whirl, I'm all for it. Please leave your thoughts in the comment section and we'll make a decision in the immediate future about that.
When: Draft begins either Thursday April 3rd or Monday April 7th, depending on what suggestions are made in the comment thread of this post.
Here are the issues we face as a group. Obviously if you have a player in mind, but he is taken right in front of you, you are all of a sudden forced to make an adjustment on the fly. This, of course, is how the draft works in the NFL. Teams must develop contingency plans for many scenarios. For us however, there's this little problem called employment or school that most likely is going to stand in the way at some point for some of us. So, what do we do? I'm hesitant to set firm time deadlines because if something arises at work, I don't want people to have to forfeit their participation.
One options is doing two a day for 15 or 16 days and doing just one round. That might be a little less fun but it would ensure that everyone has the appropriate time to make a solid selection as well as a short write up about their choice. It would also allow for emergencies to rightfully take place with our respective jobs or obligations.
The other option is to try to do 5 per day. For many of us I know that wouldnt be a problem. But for others, I can see it being a stretch to find time to check the site regularly enough to see what selections are made in front of them then adjust accordingly.
Here's what I suggest: I think we should try to roll out the first 5 picks by Friday then have picks 6-10 out by the end of the day/evening on Monday . History has proven that folks tend to stop by the site a bit more on Mondays, and that would give us all ample time from now until next Monday to get things done. If we cranked out the first 10, we could go a bit slower with the remainder of the first round as things get a bit more tricky. I think it's only important that we make some intial parameters to get things started, then adjust as we see fit throughout the remainder of the month.
If you have other suggestions, please use this thread to do so ASAP.
Making your selection: Please email me at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com to make your selection. As soon as I receive it, I will post it. You need not know HTML to make it look all fancy, but please spend a second editing it so that it's in decent shape. If you would like to include a picture, you can find them at Flickr, Google Images, Yahoo Images, Photobucket, wherever. Please send me the link to the pic you would like posted and I'll upload it to the site, format it, etc. If you are interested in some analysis about the pick, go for it. If you're short on time and need to just get it to me, that's fine too. We'll either post the selection as is or I might be able to throw a line or two in there about the player upon your request. When/if we get to Rounds 2 and 3, no analysis about your selection will be necessary. At that point, I think we should just bang them out, though a line or two about the player and the team's need is of course always welcome.
Important: If something arises and you can not participate, PLEASE let me and/or the group know either via email or in a relevant thread. Things come up. This is just for fun and things will run far smoother if you just inform the group rather than just disappear. No hard feelings, no nothing. Just let us know so we can adjust.