Thursday night is the NFL draft, usually one of the biggest days of the off-season for football fans. But this year isn't shaping up like those of the recent past.

Just last year, for example, two franchise quarterbacks—Andrew Luck, drafted by the Colts, and Robert Griffin III, by the Redskins—were taken with picks No. 1 and 2 overall. In 2013, the top-ranked candidates are a couple of offensive tackles most fans have never even heard of.

Mel Kiper and Scouts Inc., two of the more prominent draft forecasters, both predict that the Chiefs will take Luke Joeckel, an offensive tackle from Texas A&M, with the first pick. It's a bit harder to charge up your fan base by taking a lineman as opposed to someone who plays a glamour position, like quarterback or wide receiver.

Then again, just because this year's class doesn't have the name recognition of years' past doesn't mean the players won't end up being just as good, or having just as big an impact. The TV ratings for the draft might be down, but we'll only truly know the results when the 2013 rookie class hits the field next fall.

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