Random NFL "Realigned" Idea

[Benihana]

Clearly I have too much time on my hands, but I was thinking this morning - what if the NFL reformed the way teams acquire talent to more of a geographic picking similar to the old NBA?

The way it could work is this: each team is assigned to 1-2 universities (usually public) in its state. Every year, they get to select one player coming out of their assigned universities. Everyone else is released into a draft similar to how they currently do it. Schools that are unassigned and/or don't have an NFL team in their state (ie Alabama, Auburn, Oregon, S.Carolina, W.Virginia) have all their players released to the draft.

I don't think it would do all that much to upset the current competitive balance (unless players started changing their school selection patterns as a result) and it would add yet another layer of "hometown" interest in the players. It would be like a mini-farm system for the NFL. If you were from New Orleans, you could pay even closer attention to LSU football because they were your future pipeline for talent.

The only teams I see currently being at a disadvantage in this format would be whichever NY team doesn't get Rutgers, Minnesota, and maybe Buffalo. For everyone else, it could make things interesting (although in the current format Miami, Jacksonville, Dallas, Detroit, and San Diego might have a slight advantage).

Here's how I envision it, complete with 3 current players that you'd see on each team:

Arizona Cardinals Arizona & Arizona St QB Foles TE Gronkowski LB Briggs
Atlanta Falcons Georgia QB Stafford WR Green DT Atkins
Baltimore Ravens Maryland WR T.Smith WR Heyward-Bey TE V.Davis
Buffalo Bills Syracuse WR M.Williams DE Freeney
Carolina Panthers UNC WR G.Little DE J.Peppers DE Q.Coples
Chicago Bears Illinois RB Mendenhall WR B.Lloyd WR A.Benn
Cincinnati Bengals UC & Miami QB Roethlisberger DE Barwin LB T.Cole
Cleveland Browns Ohio St QB Pryor RB B.Wells LB Laurinitis
Dallas Cowboys Texas RB Charles LB Orakpo S E.Thomas
Denver Broncos Colorado TE J.Dressen OT N.Solder K M.Crosby
Detroit Lions Michigan QB Brady OT J.Long CB Hall
Green Bay Packers Wisconsin QB R.Wilson TE O.Daniels DE J.Watt
Houston Texans Texas Tech & TCU QB Dalton WR Welker WR Crabtree
Indianapolis Colts Indiana & Purdue QB Brees TE Keller DE Avril
Jacksonville Jaguars Florida QB Tebow WR Harvin TE Hernandez
Kansas City Chiefs Kansas & Kansas St QB Freeman WR J.Nelson CB Talib
Miami Dolphins UMiami RB Gore WR A.Johnson S Reed
Minnesota Vikings Minnesota WR E.Decker
New England Patriots Boston College QB Ryan DE Kiwanuka DT Raji
New Orleans Saints LSU RB Ridley WR Bowe CB Peterson
New York Giants Rutgers RB Rice WR Britt CB D.McCourty
New York Jets ?
Oakland Raiders Cal-Berkeley & Fresno St QB Rodgers WR D.Jackson TE T.Gonzalez
Philadelphia Eagles Penn St LB Bownman LB Posluszny OT L.Brown
Pittsburgh Steelers Pitt RB L.McCoy WR Fitzgerald CB Revis
Saint Louis Rams Mizzou QB Gabbert DE J.Smith LB A.Smith
San Diego Chargers USC QB Palmer RB R.Bush LB Matthews
San Francisco 49ers Stanford QB Luck RB Gerhart OG DeCastro
Seattle Seahawks Washington & Wash St. QB Locker WR B.Gibson CB Trufant
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Florida St QB Ponder WR Boldin CB Cromartie
Tennessee Titans Tennessee QB Manning RB A.Foster S Berry
Washington Redskins Virginia QB Schaub TE H.Miller OT D.Ferguson

[Wonderful Monds]

Why though?

[Hypnotoad]

Geographical stuff: interesting. But ultimately it seems to be about limiting players' earning potential and professional opportunities, something that won't (and shouldn't) fly.

[Assembly Hall]

Interesting concept.......The Colts get Notre Dame right?

I think several teams would be at a disadvantage just due to the states. New York has three pro teams..........but yet NE football is terrible. Throw New England into that mix and what do you got for college challenged region?

Certain teams just come from bad football areas. Minnesota and Green Bay for example.

But I like the concept, but when the NBA did it, they didnt have 32 teams.

[chicoruiz]

The NBA did something very similar a few decades ago, which is how the Cincinnati Royals ended up with Oscar Robertson (UC), Wayne Embry (Miami of Ohio) and Jerry Lucas (Ohio State). In the long run they found it created more problems than it was worth.

[WVRed]

Originally Posted by Assembly Hall

Interesting concept.......The Colts get Notre Dame right?

I think several teams would be at a disadvantage just due to the states. New York has three pro teams..........but yet NE football is terrible. Throw New England into that mix and what do you got for college challenged region?

Certain teams just come from bad football areas. Minnesota and Green Bay for example.

But I like the concept, but when the NBA did it, they didnt have 32 teams.

Here is where I see the problem for that, a kid coming out of high school who scouts would be salivating over could literally pick and choose which NFL team he wants to play for.

If that kid has an ego the size of Manhattan, he will be at Syracuse or Rutgers for three years and then off to the Jets or Giants. If its a kid on the west coast: Cal, Stanford, UCLA, and USC would dominate the talent pool and if LA ever gets a pro team, the latter two would be the top schools.

OTOH, schools like Ohio State and Michigan would be cheapened as it would mean top prospects would play for the Bengals, Browns, and Lions.

Ultimately, it would favor the bigger cities and the draft would be meaningless.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by WVRed

Here is where I see the problem for that, a kid coming out of high school who scouts would be salivating over could literally pick and choose which NFL team he wants to play for.

If that kid has an ego the size of Manhattan, he will be at Syracuse or Rutgers for three years and then off to the Jets or Giants. If its a kid on the west coast: Cal, Stanford, UCLA, and USC would dominate the talent pool and if LA ever gets a pro team, the latter two would be the top schools.

OTOH, schools like Ohio State and Michigan would be cheapened as it would mean top prospects would play for the Bengals, Browns, and Lions.

Ultimately, it would favor the bigger cities and the draft would be meaningless.

Or look at the flipside. How do you determine which teams get which colleges? For example, Columbus is actually closer to Cincinnati than it is to Cleveland. The better college football programs in Ohio are all located toward the southwestern part of the state. I'm sure the Bengals would take issue with the Browns getting dibs on Ohio State players considering how much better the Buckeyes are compared to the rest of the programs in the state. Even if you declare the Buckeyes a dual territory team, I'm sure the Browns would cry foul at Cincinnati having UC and Miami as their additional teams while Cleveland gets Kent State and Akron, whose programs have been terrible more often than not.

Another issue would be potential fan unhappiness. I'm sure Bengals fans who are Buckeyes fans won't be happy seeing the Browns get the first choice of Buckeyes stars year after year.

The only way you could have a "homegrown" talent program in the NFL is to promote a kind of academy program similar to what the MLS has. Basically, teams have a youth academy where they identify young talent in high school and college and invite them to participate in the academy during their schools' offseason. Then, each season teams can sign a certain number of players from their academy to "homegrown" contracts. Of course the problem with doing something like that for football is that players run the risk of injury and exhaustion. Soccer is more of an endurance sport, so more play is beneficial. Football is played by exerting maximum effort in short bursts with periods of rest in between, so I don't know that year round play would be beneficial.

[Tuff Nut]

No way KC takes Talib......replace him with Aldon Smith, and SUPER BOWL.

[15fan]

I'd rather see a system that rewards teams that succeed.

Win the Super Bowl, get the #1 pick in the next draft.

Finish 0-16? You ain't trying. Back of the line & pick last.

[JaxRed]

PS - Terrible idea 15.

I think one of the challenging leagues did this. USFL, WFL. I'm going to Google. I had no idea the NBA tried it.

OK, here's the best I could find on the USFL version of the Territorial Draft

http://www.usfl.info/1983territorial.html

They WAY overdid it.


Here's a link for the NBA Version

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_territorial_pick


Good info Chico