The 2017 NFL Supplemental Draft is today, and no one cares

The 2017 NFL supplemental draft is taking place today, at 1. p.m. ET to be precise. And ehm....no one really cares.

Every year, the NFL holds a supplemental draft for college players who lose out on playing college football after the NFL draft ends--folks who get suspended, mostly. Usually, there are one or two interesting players in these drafts. Terrelle Pryor entered the NFL this way, for instance, as did Josh Gordon to somewhat less successful results.

The supplemental draft works with a bidding system, kind of. The draft order is semi-randomized, with the first ten picks randomly distributed over the first ten teams in the original 2017 NFL draft order (before any trades), the second ten picks over the second ten teams, and the final twelve picks over the twelve 2016/17 playoff teams.

The supplemental draft then proceeds round by round, with teams saying whether they want to give up their 2018 draft pick in the equivalent round for a player. If multiple teams bid a pick on the same player in the same round, the aforementioned draft order determines who wins.

In other words: if a team wants a player, they’ll have to give up a 2018 draft pick to grab him. And that’s unlikely this year.

This year, only two players are eligible: Georgia Military defensive lineman Tavares Bingham and Western New Mexico running back Marques Rodgers. Both of them lost their college eligibility due to academic issues, per Chase Goodbread, and both are small school players who likely wouldn’t have been drafted in the regular draft, let alone the supplemental one.

Bingham is almost certain to go undrafted. He didn’t play in 2016 at all after he transferred from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College having exhausted his junior college eligibility already, and couldn’t get into a four-year college due to academic issues this year. He really only has his 6’4”, 290 lbs. size going for him. He’ll likely get a tryout invite for some team’s training camp.

Rodgers might get drafted in the seventh round, if a team really likes him. He was academically ineligible last year, but did put up 1,283 yards and 10 touchdowns on 217 carries in 2015, while also catching 61 passes for 638 yards and four touchdowns. That’s some pretty good production and versatility, though it did come at a small school. He’s more likely to sign with a team after the draft than to be drafted.

Anyway, we’ll know more after 1 p.m. ET today, when the draft starts. Don’t expect the Bucs to use a pick on anyone.