Who are these guys? and Why should I care?

I love the NFL, watch as many games as I can every Sunday and Monday. I love college football even more, watch more of it than just about anyone I know. Yet somehow the NFL Draft Weekend is like a night out with co-workers. An event you can get really hyped for that always seems to fall flat. And I realized this weekend the blame for that falls on the coverage of both the draft and college football itself.

ESPN added a four hour pre-draft special to compensate for the change in time from 12 noon to 4pm. What they did with that time was some human interest stories and a rundown of NFL teams needs. After each pick Mel Kiper runs down each picks talents and the reasons why he slipped to where he did, then their NFL commentators would discuss the NFL team needs again and if they made the right pick to address them. This year they wasted thousands of dollars on a CNN-like "Smart Board" so Michael Smith could drag names and discuss each teams draft with a broad brush. A neat effect but I couldn't figure out the point as opposed to just reading a CG.

What most college football fans want to know is why the players at the top are there. To them Matthew Stafford was an underachieving Georgia Quarterback who choked against Alabama, almost threw away the Capital One Bowl, and held up an empty keg before a summer concert. A lot of them may have never heard of Aaron Curry. What makes Stafford and Curry better NFL prospects than players like Chase Daniel and Rey Maulauga who were better known in college. I feel ESPN and NFL Network assume us to know this when it would be very interesting to have explained.

Also, how do I go through an entire college football season barely ever seeing Jason Smith or Aaron Curry? If they are can't miss NFL prospects wouldn't NFL fans want to see more Baylor and Wake Forest games for this reason? Furthermore, since most big time college football games have at least one or two NFL prospects in them, wouldn't it be wise to showcase these players to let fans know who the future of the NFL is?

Also, wouldn't it be smart to keep fans interested by keeping a record of a "Best Player Picked" graphic at each selection. Wouldn't Rams fans be more interested in their 6th round pick at 196 if they knew that Terrell Davis was once taken with that pick?

I should enjoy the NFL Draft a lot more than I do, and if ESPN can refresh its coverage I could enjoy it more.