NFL Draft 2013: Why This Year's Class Is Deeper Than Perceived

In a matter of hours, the 2013 NFL draft will officially commence and 32 franchises will be changed forever. The next generation of stars and role players will be brought in, as teams look for their next franchise cornerstones.

Contrary to popular belief, this year's draft class is much deeper in that regard than the general public believes.

According to Mike Freeman of CBS Sports, an anonymous general manager believes that this is a tremendously weak draft class. In fact, said GM likened this class to nothing that he'd seen in at least 10 years.

Freeman confirms that numerous team personnel share that belief, to some extent.

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"When we look back at this draft in five or 10 years," said the team executive, "we might view it as one of the worst we've seen in some time."

What I'm hearing repeatedly from some team personnel men, as the draft gets closer and the honesty increases, is that this draft is subpar. Extremely subpar.

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No one knows football quite as well as those involved in the day-to-day activities—but are they wrong?

Quite simply, yes they are. Very, very wrong.

This year's draft class is not going to produce as many first-year superstars as 2012, when the likes of Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson emerged. With that being said, the lack of star quarterbacks should not mar the quality of the draft, altogether.

It may not be glamorous, but the pieces are in place for a historically strong draft at the dirty job positions.

Protecting and Rushing the Quarterback

They may not make the headlines, but offensive and defensive linemen are, arguably, the most important piece of a team's makeup. While the quarterback has dominated this generation and the running back appears to be making a comeback, there's one thing we cannot deny.

It's the offensive linemen who protect those players and the defensive linemen who wrestle them down. Those two groups have the ability to make the skill players' effectiveness virtually irrelevant.

It just so happens that this year's draft class is especially strong in both regards.

As it presently stands, three offensive linemen could go in the Top Five with Luke Joeckel of Texas A&M, Eric Fisher of Central Michigan and Lane Johnson out of Oklahoma. In that same breath, at least two defensive linemen are in the running for that same distinction.

All in all, Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN Insider has a combined 11 linemen going in the Top 14, including Dion Jordan of Oregon and Barkevious Mingo of LSU, who project as 3-4 pass rushers.

In an era in which throwing the football is as predominant a form of offense as ever, it's imperative that teams improve both of their lines. Not only must they protect their prized possession, but they must also be able to apply pressure to the opposing quarterback.

This year's draft class provides numerous opportunities to land promising prospects in that regard.

This isn't what the Madden 14 fans want to hear, but the truth of the matter is, these players are of similar importance to a quarterback. They will be the players who decide which plays do and do not get off, and that is of the greatest value.

You could be seeing numerous offensive and defensive anchors going off of the board this year, all of whom could be setting up on the offensive and defensive lines.

Low-Risk Skill Players

More times than not, teams are looking for elite skill players that can be found in the early first round. From standout running backs such as Trent Richardson of the Cleveland Browns to wide receivers like Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions, everyone wants the next superstar.

With that being said, there should be solace found in the fact that this year's skill players are late first-rounders at the earliest. In other words, you can gamble on a potential franchise skill player without using a first-round draft choice.

That is a valuable piece of knowledge.

If a team is to reach on a player that they believe is skilled enough to warrant their selection, that's simply a matter of individual evaluation. There are offensive skill players that have earned the must-see label, which actually helps the quality of this class.

Reputations are now irrelevant and pure evaluation is the only tool necessary.

While some might scoff at the lack of big names, for every Calvin Johnson has been a Charles Rogers. Instead of purely unbiased study of game film, we're often left looking for the good in their game film because of reputations.

This time around, it's pure, unbiased studying of players who could be better than we'd previously believed.

Defensive Backfield

For all of the hype surrounding the offensive and defensive linemen in this year's draft class, there's an undeniable presence of quality defensive backs. From Top 10 prospects such as Dee Milliner out of Alabama to safety Kenny Vaccaro of Texas, there's a quality crop at the top of the draft.

It doesn't get much worse as you move down the draft boards.

Players such as D.J. Hayden out of Houston, Xavier Rhodes out of Florida State and Desmond Trufant out of Washington have all become potential first-round draft choices at cornerback. Robert Alford of Southeast Louisiana joins them in that regard, thus rounding out a quality crop of future starters.

At safety, the likes of Vaccaro, Jonathan Cyprien of Florida International, Eric Reid of LSU and Matt Elam of Florida could go in the first round, as well.

With this wide variety of defensive backs in the first round, it proves just how deep this class is of defensive backs. For a league that lives and dies by their ability to throw the ball, that alone makes this a deep class worth appreciating.

Even without elite quarterback prospects, the 2013 NFL draft will provide nothing short of quality players across the board.