Football is back, albeit briefly

The NFL season has been put to bed for more than two months now and football-crazed fans like myself are absolutely famished and are in need of some relief.

Luckily, that big, juicy football-flavored steak is on the menu for dinner tomorrow as the 2015 NFL Draft gets rolling in Chicago.

See, to me, the NFL Draft is always one of the best weekends of the year. The timing is impeccable. It’s right in between that point where professional baseball has already gotten boring and the drama of the NBA Playoffs is at a bit of a lull.

It’s at a time where we’re starved for football and would do or watch anything NFL-related to make our lives feel whole once more.

Sure, 99.9 percent of all of the TV coverage of the draft is just grown men sitting at a table and talking about football for hours and hours on-end. But at this point in the offseason, we’ll take anything we can get, which makes the draft a hit.

This year’s NFL Draft is as dramatic as any in recent memory as a lot of storylines crowd the action that will be going on at the podium throughout the three-day event.

Florida State quarterback and former Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston will be the No. 1 pick. With that selection, he will be the quarterback of the future for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, barring some sort of colossal change in plans.

But of course, changes in plans and colossal mishaps aren’t new to Winston, who was a trainwreck off the field at Florida State – hence the drama and risk facing the Bucs. While in college, Winston allegedly committed a rape (charges were never filed criminally; a civil suit is pending), definitely shouted obscene gestures on video at the campus student union and was twice accused of stealing. That’s hardly the resume you’d like a star NFL quarterback to have.

On the field, Winston is a star with a giant bright smile and a right arm that is a laser beam – the kind of player that should fit in the pass-happy NFL game where quarterbacks are king.

Because we’re a forgiving society and because the world of sports doesn’t particularly care about someone’s personality if he/she can perform on the field, Winston will go No. 1. The circus that follows will be interested to see unfold in between the hashes in Tampa Bay.

Winston and his baggage aside, the real drama of the NFL Draft will begin with the No. 2 pick. That’s when the Marcus Mariota Sweepstakes will officially begin.

Assuming that Winston goes No. 1 in the draft, there’s a 99.9 percent chance that Mariota will go

No. 2. But what is far from certain is the team that will pull the trigger and make the pick for the Oregon quarterback and reining Heisman Trophy winner.

The Titans own the No. 2 pick, and it doesn’t take Einstein to see that the Titans could use help at the quarterback position – a spot that has plagued the team since Steve McNair left the team 10 years ago.

But it’s also pretty highly publicized that Tennessee isn’t necessarily sold on Mariota as ‘The Guy’, which has caused the team to aggressively shop the pick to other teams.

The New York Jets may be the team with the best odds at Mariota, as they own the best collection of assets to ship to the Titans in a trade for Mariota.

But the always-churning rumor mill says that the Philadelphia Eagles are also hot on Mariota’s trail – even if it means having to lose Sam Bradford to make it happen. Of course, the hook in all of this is the fact that the Eagles head coach is Chip Kelly – the same guy who recruited Mariota to Oregon and started his collegiate career on the right foot.

Heck, there’s also the long-standing rumor that Tennessee might trade the pick to the San Diego Chargers in exchange for proven veteran quarterback Philip Rivers, who is a free agent at the end of next season.

The whole Titans/Mariota situation will provide the most drama in the entire first day of the draft. I think we’ll see a deal get done, but I’m not sure that it’ll all happen on draft night. What we may see is Tennessee pick Mariota and use him as a bargaining chip throughout the offseason leading into training camp.

And that now brings us to the New Orleans Saints.

After dumping almost all of its name players throughout the offseason, the Saints enter the draft with a ton of picks, and thus, a ton of options for the weekend.

With the No. 13 and No. 31 picks in the first round of the draft, New Orleans could bring two top-flight players into its organization via the draft. Or if the team has someone that it really, really covets, they could use its flexibility to trade up or down to maneuver however needed.

My bet is on the Saints making a trade. I think that they’ll pick a playmaker at No. 13 and then trade up from No. 31 to get a guy who can help the defense.

But with nine picks and a ton of wiggle room, there’s no doubt that the Saints are a team to look to this coming weekend.

Which, of course, is a source of happiness to all.

We’ve been without the NFL for long enough. Gah, I can’t wait to talk about some football.

MY MAY WEATHER/PACQUIAO PICK

It’d be downright irresponsible for me to leave this column without giving our readers my pick for the Superfight this weekend between Floyd May weather and Manny Pacquiao.

So I’ll take all of the drama out of the discussion and just say up-front that I like Floyd in a big way on Saturday night.

Floyd May weather is the best defensive fighter of our lifetime. Manny Pacquiao will try and push the action, yes.

But Floyd May weather will be able to defend himself against Manny’s handspeed and he’ll counter with blows of his own.

Five years ago, Manny Pacquiao had the punching power to knock everyone out. But now he doesn’t. In his last fight, outclassed bozo Chris Algieri lasted 12 rounds. Manny pummeled him, yes. But Algieri avoided the knockout.

On Saturday, I think the first five or six rounds will be fairly even with Manny’s activity stealing a few rounds on the judge’s scorecards.

But once Floyd gets his timing down, it’s all over but the crying. He’ll dominate the late rounds and score an easy decision win.

Football is back, albeit briefly