When I first moved back to Star Valley from Laramie I decided to have what I called a Draft Party. It was really just an excuse to eat lots of tailgating food, shun vegetables and hang out with family and friends while trying to scratch our football itch in the middle of the football desert.

That was 22 years ago.

Now a lot of the same guys who are still coming to the party are gray, bald and trying to work their diet for the week leading up to Thursday so that they don’t wind up in the emergency room.

Also in that time? The NFL has gotten more powerful by leaps and bounds. It used to be that if you won a giant Powerball jackpot, you might see polls saying what professional sports team you would like to buy with the winnings. That’s not an option anymore. Teams don’t sell for hundreds of millions anymore. They sell in the multiple billions. Players make more than owners used to, and owners make more than most countries do. Yet the draft is a perfect example of how Americans can’t get enough. What was once a few dozen executives chain-smoking in a convention room of a Holiday Inn with some typewriters and football phones is a three-day national party. The city that hosts the draft gets hundreds of thousands of visitors as fans pull on their jerseys, paint their faces and head out.

So, this year, I wish you and your team good luck and I hope you find some kind of well-prepared pork product on your plate that doesn’t spike your body chemistry in a bad way.

My how things have changed even if some things haven’t.

Here’s a look at a few of the players in the SVI footprint who may hear their names called this weekend.

Wyoming Cowboys – 

Frank Crum (OL): If you missed it, I had the chance to talk to Frank “The Tank” Crum last week on SVI Radio as part of First Bank of Wyoming Sports Friday. He talked about his experience in the NFL Draft Combine and getting ready for the past six years to have a shot at this weekend. I think like many other Cowboys in the past decade, Frank will outperform his draft evaluation which right now has him as a sixth rounder.

Easton Gibbs (LB): He stated early on that he would be skipping his senior season for a chance at the draft. He had a very good season, but personally I feel he lacked the big players of his predecessors, Logan Wilson and Chad Muma, playing for the Bengals and Jaguars respectively. I’d be a bit surprised to hear his name, but I’ll be pulling for him to make a squad and get on the field.

Treyton Welch (TE): Welch has the NFL size and is athletic but again I’d be surprised to hear his name called. But can he get on a team? Sure he could. Jacob Hollister and Austin Fort are two UW tight ends who weren’t drafted who played in the league in the past half-dozen years.

BYU Cougars – 

Kingsley Suamataia (OL): Players typically don’t leave after their sophomore year unless they have some inkling of their draft status. In this game, Suamataia has experience at Oregon before coming to Provo and he is projected in the second to third round range.

Ryan Rehkow (P): Not a lot of punters are drafted, but Rehkow could be one of them with a sixth round projection. At 6’ 4” and 235 pounds, he was credited with punts of over 60 yards in seven different games this past season.

Utah State Aggies – 

Hale Motu’apuaka (DT): In the land of giants, Motu’apuaka is a mere 6’ 1” 290 pounds. According to NFL.com he is likely to go undrafted but could be a priority free agent for someone.

Utah Utes – 

Cole Bishop (S): One need only look at the Utah draft prospects list to see why they have been a factor as a conference champion more often than not in the past decade. While this year’s crop doesn’t have the flash of last season, Bishop is projected as a third rounder who is expected to start at some point in his career.

Sataoa Laumea (G): Projected as a fourth rounder, Laumea is likely to be another of a long line of Utah starters in the trenches at some point in his career.