NFL draft
Latest
NFL hopefuls are adding AI video analysis to their arsenal
More than 130 football players have been training under the watchful eye of the athletic performande development company EXOS in Arizona, all in hopes of landing a first-round NFL draft pick. As it turns out, though, the eyes they’ve been working in front of aren’t exclusively human. Intel today said that EXOS’s latest batch of NFL hopefuls have been training in front of video cameras that — with the help of the company’s 3D athlete tracking system — should give players and staff a finer sense of their “body mechanics or trouble spots.”
Madden 15 cover vote starts, rookies packed into Ultimate Team
EA Sports kicked off its cover athlete vote for Madden NFL 15 during the first round of the NFL Draft last night, and is slated to end after four rounds of voting on June 6. The vote features just 16 candidates this year instead of the standard 32, which is an even more rapid decrease from Madden 25's two brackets of 64 football players. The first round's eight match-ups can be found after the break. The developers at EA Tiburon also celebrated the first round of the NFL Draft by inserting each of the first round's 32 draftees into Madden Ultimate Team card packs in Madden 25, starting today. It makes for a fine opportunity to check out the digital versions of each recruit without having to wait to play as them in Madden 15, which is due to arrive August 26 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Just don't trust Madden to predict which rookies will be picked by teams in the draft, it won't go well.
Madden misses Drafting 101 with 6% of NFL picks
Our grand experiment with Madden NFL 25 this week, in which we simulated the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft using Electronic Arts' popular football game, ended as the NFL finished round one last night. In all, EA's Madden 25 only managed to place two athletes on their correct teams: Cornerback Justin Gilbert with the Cleveland Browns [#8] and defensive tackle Aaron Donald with the St. Louis Rams [#13], making for a lackluster success rate of six percent. Good job, good effort, Madden! The game did manage to place players of correct relative positions with five teams in the first round, as Minnesota drafted a quarterback, San Francisco took a defensive back and Pittsburgh selected a linebacker last night as well. Yet EA's Madden 25 wasn't able to account for the eight trades that took place last night, in which Cleveland traded back from the fourth pick to the eighth spot, which is where they chose Gilbert, later selecting quarterback Johnny Manziel [#22].
Madden 25 vs. Reality: Predicting the 2014 NFL Draft
The NFL Draft is a special event in sports culture where college football players wear fancy suits, find out which team they get to start their professional careers with and (hopefully) have the chance to hug NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in front of an auditorium filled with people. The months between the final piece of confetti falling at the Super Bowl in February to the first overall selection being announced is riddled with speculation from draft analysts, mostly in the form of "mock drafts." EA's Madden NFL series has its own franchise-building career mode, which includes a pretty nifty drafting system. We decided to put it through its paces to create our own mock draft to predict the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, which begins tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on the NFL Network. There are a few caveats to our experiment, which might be expected to those familiar with Electronic Arts' popular brand of football. Madden NFL 25 allows players to import a draft class from NCAA Football 14 for use in Connected Franchise mode, but given that NCAA 14 doesn't feature real-life athletes, we improvised by using custom Madden and NCAA rosters from the Operation Sports forums and Madden 25's in-game roster-sharing section. We ran this experiment four times using versions of the draft class mostly in line with what the experts are expecting to happen tomorrow, with players like Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel and South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney hovering near the top of the pecking order every time, then compiled the results to create Madden's own mock draft. With all of that out of the way, let the drafting begin. With the first pick in the Joystiq Madden NFL Mock Draft, the Houston Texans select...
Must See HDTV (April 23rd - 29th)
NFL Draft The NFL has finally realized the reality TV potential of its big night, and moved the process of making several young players millionaires to prime time. While Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III are cemented as the top two picks ,there's plenty of drama left for the rest of the first round and those that follow. Whether you're watching to see what your favorite team does or where a player you watched in college goes, it's just the start of the offseason festivities for football fans. We've preferred the NFL Network's coverage to ESPN's in recent years, we'll see who wins the day in 2012. (April 26th, 8PM, ESPN & NFL Network) NBA Playoffs This weekend the NBA Playoffs get underway and ABC has the opening games. We'll have to wait a little longer to know who will be playing who in each matchup, but until then, you can see the Bobcats try to avoid breaking a record for futility Thursday night on TNT. NHL Playoffs One word: Unpredictable. Most of the top teams are already out after round one, but that's just life in the NHL Playoffs. The chase for the Stanley Cup continues this week, but your guess is as good as ours when it comes to who has the edge. Many games are still TBD on the schedule, so keep your eyes peeled to find out when and where they'll be playing.
NFL Mobile apps bring the draft to you live tonight on iPhone, iPad and Android
The first round of the 2011 NFL Draft kicks off around 8 p.m. at Radio City Music Hall but if you're not one of the players collecting racks on racks of cash (assuming there is a 2011 season of course) you can still get live updates via the NFL's apps for iOS and Android devices. The NFL GameCenter apps that have been kicking around for iPhone/iPod touch and Android phones have been updated for the 2011 season in Lite (free) and Premium ($1.99) forms, and should be able to ply on the go users with live updates and information on each pick. The couch companion intended iPad app (pictured above, no Honeycomb love this go-round) is making its NFL Draft debut and adds on to the smaller format versions by including live NFL.com video streams both from within the auditorium and from the studio, video highlights and interactive features. Check out the screens for a better look at the UI or just click the source links below to download the free app of your choice -- you'll have to find the apps for tomorrow morning's Royal Wedding on your own.
ESPN prepping its first HD NFL draft coverage
Sure, ESPN's been taking advantage of widescreen to cover the NFL Draft, but it's still a bit surprising that the 2009 Draft Weekend is the first one ready for HDTV, getting beaten to the punch by the WNBA. Check out the picture above for a quick comparison of the 2008 screen (bottom) to the new 2009 compression format (top), shot in HD and better able to take advantage of the 16x9 frame. Also new for '09? If you haven't noticed already, Todd McShay's gone all CNN on us with a "perceptive pixel touch screen" to swipe around player stats and draft possibilities, along with 21 remote cameras following potential draftees on both days. Check the gallery for bigger versions, then resume your 5th mock draft of the day, unfortunately for us, it probably won't include the Detroit Lions doing the smart thing and picking an offensive lineman first.
ON Networks' Draftguys TV / Play Value come to TVTonic in HD
Good news for folks hankering to get a load of ON Networks' Draftguys TV (in HD) without forking out for an Apple TV -- the channel, alongside Play Value, has just launched on TVTonic. For those unaware, the aforementioned website provides free online TV, some of which is shown in high-definition. Thanks to another recent partnership between it and GTtv, Invisible Walls has also joined the fray, though it's currently being beamed in lowly SD. Ready to dive in? Scoot on over to its website and take a look. %Gallery-19743%
Draftguys TV gives an HD look at NFL Draft via Apple TV
For those that simply can't get enough NFL Draft coverage, ON Networks just launched a new show, filmed entirely in HD for distribution via the internet, Draftguys TV. With a new episode coming every day until April 15, viewers can expect an even more in depth and personal look at many of the potential draftees this year. Anyone can get it for free on the website or via iTunes, but the HD version is currently available only on Apple TV. Check out an episode featuring former LSU cornerback Chevis Jackson (SEC=speed) embedded after the break.
HDTV Listings for April 29, 2006
What we're watching: Most programming tonight is on hold for the ongoing and unfortunately-SD NFL Draft (the Lions didn't take a wide receiver!?!?!?!?) but later on the NBA Playoffs continue with Denver looking to even up their series at two games apiece with the Clippers.Also tonight on Cinemax is the always-excellent in HD Ocean's Twelve, or you can go with the special effects-laden Pearl Harbor.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
HDTV Listings for April 21, 2006
What we're watching: The best thing on tonight is probably Sportscenter's NFL Draft preview show. Check out the HD highlights from Reggie, Vince, Matt and all the rest while hoping your team doesn't draft the next Ryan Leaf. As a Lions fan, the draft is usually the only happy time of the season and it's all downhill afterwards.Otherwise, there is always Assault on Precinct 13 on HBO, while NBC takes the night off of HD to show the Miss America Pageant (and why isn't that in HD?). Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
