Mark WiedmerYipppeeeeeee! It's over. The second or third most overblown television event in American sports - behind national signing day (for college football) and whether you like the ESPYs - blessedly came to an end around 6:47 Saturday evening, the NFL draft finally over some 46 hours and 37 torturous minutes after it began Thursday night.
In other news, Donald Trump's hair hasn't moved in 46 days and 37 hours (Most non-Trump supporters might count that as 47 days and 13 hours), and the Atlanta Braves are lobbying for all their remaining 139 games to be postponed due to weather in much the same way Saturday's contest against the Cubs at Wrigley Field was canceled.
But the draft wasn't canceled. It just finally came to its 253rd and last pick, which became Mr. Irrelevant 41, who was previously known as Southern Miss cornerback Kalan Reed before our Tennessee Titans apparently overlooked his 4.6 speed in the 40.
That also meant 253 football players were chosen ahead of all eligible Tennessee Vols and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs, though the hunch from this corner is that that stat is far more likely to be used against the Big Brother Vols than UTC in future recruiting.
But that doesn't mean on some level these past three days haven't been fairly important to the relatively long-term futures of our readership's two favorite teams: the Atlanta Falcons and Titans.
This draft was especially significant to the Titans, since their massive wheeling and dealing delivered them five picks in the first three rounds. Those picks eventually showed great versatility and apparent wisdom, beginning with the Music City brain trust's selection of two offensive linemen in first-round pick Jack Conklin and sixth-rounder Sebastian Tretola, which they desperately need if they expect to run the ball better and keep second-year quarterback Marcus Mariota from running for his life nearly every snap.
They also wisely chose Alabama running back Derrick Henry, who not only won the Heisman Trophy but helped lead the Crimson Tide to something like their 843rd national championship. Henry is favorably compared to former Titans running back Eddie George, and if he can put up the kind of numbers George did during his nine-year career - 10,441 total rushing yards, 68 TDs and four years of 1,300 or more rushing yards - the Titans made a tremendous choice in Henry.
Nor did they stop with offense. They selected defensive players with three of their first five picks and three of their final four. And much as they had on offense - selecting Conklin from Michigan State, Tretola from Arkansas and Henry from Bama - they also embraced physical college programs on defense, what with Clemson linebacker Kevin Dodd becoming Tennessee's first pick of the second round and Penn State nose tackle Austin Johnson the team's second pick of that round.
Three quotes to sum up the direction the Titans want to go, especially on offense:
From ESPN analyst and the dream coach of Tennessee's Big Orange Nation, Jon Gruden - "(Conklin) is the No. 1 offensive lineman, hands down, in this draft. He can play left tackle, right tackle; he can play guard. If you like nastiness and finishing and people who can thump you, you like Conklin."
Obviously Conklin agrees, the 6-foot-6, 308-pounder describing his style of play as "I'm a mauler. I want guys to remember they played against me."
But Tretola, who stands 6-4 and 320, sounds just as tough.
"I am mean," the sixth-rounder said. "I am nasty. I am trying - and I don't want this to sound bad - but I am trying to make you not want to play me anymore."
Having just missed the playoffs last season, the Falcons look closer to playing a postseason game than the Titans. And befitting head coach Dan Quinn's previous job as Seahawks defensive coordinator, they do seem committed to further improving a defense that struggled with running backs and tight ends, allowing nine TD passes to tight ends last season.
So Quinn reached out to Florida safety Keanu Neal in the first round, then followed that with two other defenders among Atlanta's top four picks.
"Tight ends and (running) backs, the strong safety, that's primarily where we feature him," Quinn told the media after the opening round. "And when we play those kinds of downs, we have to play really tight, aggressive coverage."
Asked whether he'd compare Neal to Seahawks strong safety Kam Chancellor, one of the best in the business, Quinn replied: "I won't say (that) - that's a hard guy to compare to, to live up to that standard. But what I can tell you is that on the field, this is an aggressive player. And I love that style."
The style fans love most is a winning style, however it's achieved.
Judging on hype only, both the Titans and Falcons seem to have improved their chances of winning by their draft selections.
Now the trick is to do better than Trump and the Braves are expected to do when summer turns to fall, and the cold, hard numbers may strongly favor someone else.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com