And so thankfully the day that brings a merciful end to Mel Kiper’s airtime, and the virus outbreak of mock drafts arrives at last. Perhaps we should call it the Matt Ryan guess-a-thon as apparently despite approximately 17 teams being in love with him, said player has been projected anywhere between the 3rd and 23rd selection – we will see. I’ve not sat through an entire first round of a draft for some time and I’d forgotten what an endurance test it is for the fan, especially given our pick is well into the shindig at number 20.

Fist up is the Jake Long the suspense killing pick, having been confirmed about 72 hours ago – spoilsport that Bill Parcells. This being a prelude to a mini Long-a-thon with Howie’s lad following as the next pick, a player I’m sure Monte Kiffin would love to have in our squad, and who I would have picked first if I was The Dolphins GM.

Speaking of love it transpires Gaines Adams will be chasing after Matt Ryan for the next few years, who is after all the apple of the Falcons eye, a logical pick but one that comes with a ton of pressure given the Michael Vick cloud that hangs over them. Oh well, only another 16 picks until we are up. Wonder what Lito Sheppard is up to?

A quick cut to the Raiders table reveals a group that looks like a luncheon club meeting at an old folks home; good job they are picking 4th as they’d all be asleep by the end of round 1. Thankfully they go for speed and character issues – a prerequisite for being a Raider player over their history. You can hear the groan of around 50,000 Jets fans as their dream pick disappears to the west coast.

Strangely all the Jets faithful actually cheer their first going pick – the beer for sale at Radio City must be going down well. That point marked the best 6 players straight off the board, with no supposed reaches at the top.

Finally some trades do liven things up, maybe they even kept the Raiders table awake? First The Cheats trade backwards, as subsequently do The Ravens electing to either garner extra picks, or save money on the cap depending on how you look at it. NFL Network coverage is as usual a little over the top, with only Marshall Faulk deigning not to put every pick on a Hall of Fame pedestal of hype before the guy has played a down in the NFL. I would note I find Mike Mayock a good analyst and a lot less condescending than Hairgel Mel.

Ten picks in and all the Cornerbacks and Wide Receivers remained on the board, a real plus for the Bucs given these are our key areas of need, and the draft panned out quite well for us at that point. Meanwhile the time for me to boo repeatedly at the tv (Jets fan style) arrived at 16.27 ET when The Twits selection came along; their pick of Johnathan Stewart gives me a new guy to instantly dislike.

Interesting interview with Bill Belichick during the first round too; the cynic in me thinks he volunteered for this segment to try to repair his fractured reputation, rather than of any great favour to the media. But his pained expression makes it look like he’s been tied to the chair, probably with his contraband tapes of other peoples signals just to teach him a lesson.

Meanwhile nearly 2 hours into the draft and my beverage intake, and bathroom visits began rising in unison, due to the nerves as the Bucs pick approached.  After what seems an age our turn comes and we have our pick of either the CB Monte craves, or any WR as all are still on the board – rangy Kansas CB AqibTalib is our man leacing some of the analysts slightly aghast, not a Davin Joseph level of surprise but still not the guy they anticipated - good size, speed and “excellent skill set” says Mike Mayock – whatever the hell that means. Time will tell if the Mr Talib can play or not but he fills a need, fits our system and highlights how much our supposed love for USF’s Mike Jenkins was a smokescreen. More importantly I think he’s one of the few players we haven’t been predicted to select in this spot which tells you all you need to know about the accuracy of the mock draft phenomenon.

Surely a WR must follow for us in the 2nd round though or I fear we have completely forgotten the position exists. Unless the Bucs know something about Antonio Bryant that they are keeping from us, its now the direst of dire needs.

Finally after 31 picks and an outlandish 8 trades, the Giants to a close to the new “swift” format first round after 3 and a half hours. My relief is tangible given the time difference over here, and over exposure to Deion Sanders which has left me somewhat dazed and detached from the real world I’m about to return to.

With eight offensive lineman going off the board, most since 1996 and some probably panic picks, we learn that OL is the in-vogue pivotal position in the NFL conscience. Add in the aforementioned trades as well and it certainly wasn’t without incident; I pray that I wake up tomorrow with a brand new WR courtesy of Mr Gruden and Mr Allen in round 2.