2014 NFL Supplemental Draft Preview
May 8, 2014; New York, NY, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell begins the draft and puts the Houston Texans on the clock at the start of the 2014 NFL draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
With the 2014 NFL Draft long gone and training camp fast approaching, NFL squads are doing all they can to try and improve and tweak their teams before 2014 starts. One of the ways that they can do so is through the 2014 NFL Supplemental draft.
For those of you not familiar with what the supplemental draft, don’t worry. The players involved are those who find themselves in the most special of circumstances. According to Bleacher Report’s Jesse Reed, “Any player who is ineligible for the principal draft, but who becomes eligible after such draft and prior to the beginning of the League’s next regular season, is not eligible to be signed as a free agent but is eligible for a supplemental selection procedure conducted by the Commissioner.”
This year there will be four players in the supplemental draft which I will preview and analyze below. They range from New Mexico WR Chase Clayton, North Carolina LB Darius Lipford, Virginia-Lynchburg DT Lakendrick Ross & Southern Methodist RB Traylon Shead. Now while many may think that the format for the Supplemental Draft is the same as the NFL Draft, they are mistaken.
As reported by Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith and Bleacher Report’s Mike Chiari, the format for the Supplemental Draft is different from the regular NFL Draft. They reported that, “the 10 worst teams are guaranteed to be among the top 10 picks with the Houston Texans standing the best chance. Houston will have 32 chances to draw the first pick and each of the next nine worst teams will have one less chance in descending order. The second group of 10 teams will feature those who didn’t make the playoffs, but were not among the bottom 10. Finally, the third group of teams will contain the 12 franchises that reached the postseason. Once the order is set, a seven-round draft will commence with teams having the option to either pick a player or pass. If they do make a selection, then they will forfeit the corresponding pick in the 2015 NFL draft.”
With that said, it should definitely be interesting to see where these four players land during the draft (even if they do get drafted). In seasons past most players in the supplemental go undrafted, however we have seen some exciting players come out of the Supplemental Draft. Such players include none other than WR Josh Gordon (Baylor University), WR Cris Carter (Ohio State University), QB Bernie Cosar (University of Miami (FL)), WR Rob Moore (Syracuse University), LB Brian Bosworth (University of Oklahoma) and QB Terrelle Pryor (Ohio State University). Although most of these players in the 2014 Supplemental Draft probably won’t have the careers of these other players, they still must be taken seriously like every other college prospect out there. After all, it is often those players you never hear about that end up making the most difference.
In this article, I will be previewing all four players in this year’s draft, seeing where their strengths and weaknesses are and where they could possibly be going.
The draft is set to take place on July 10 at 1 p.m. EST, according to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport and should be something to watch for.