It is one of the most anticipated nights of the year, begging the question: What took the NFL so long to move it to prime time?

The NFL draft begins in all of its glory Thursday night. ESPN and the NFL Network will be on an endless clock.

Happy Mel Kiper Jr. day to all.

Here’s some coverage of the coverage to get you ready:

Richard Deitsch at SI.com has an interesting piece examining the behind the scenes at the draft. He writes:

At the NFL Network, Yook said six staffers are involved in finding footage and  double that who work to create graphics packages. “It starts with individual  footage of 150 players by the Senior Bowl and by the time we get to the combine,  I want that number to be as close to 300 as possible,” Yook said. “The goal this  year by the draft was to have footage on about 500 players and 1,800 total video  clips, and I think we will hit that.”

Deitsch also has a story saying broadcast cameras will no longer show first-round draftees on the phone with their teams before being selected. Good move. From the story:

“The league, the NFL Network and ESPN have recognized that it has probably  tilted too far in taking some of the suspense out of the draft,” said ESPN  senior NFL producer Seth Markman, who is overseeing his first draft for the  network. “Part of the problem in this world of instant news and social media is  that you can’t hold the news. But I think we do need to find a way to find a way to bring back some of the suspense of the commissioner making the announcement.”

Fang’s Bites has the details of NFL Network’s coverage with its lineup. He has the complete 2,155-word release. He writes:

NFL Network showing it can throw just about anyone and anybody on its Draft coverage this week, is doing exactly just that. Headlined by Rich Eisen, Mike Mayock, Steve Mariucci, Marshall Faulk, Charles Davis, Michael Irvin, Michael Lombardi, Jason LaCanfora, Deion Sanders and Melissa Stark.

And Ken has all the info for ESPN’s coverage. The net was a bit more restrained with its release at 1,915 words.

Anthony Olivieri has had enough. He has overdosed on the draft talk. He writes in LostLetterman.com:

A source familiar with the situation told me that the NFL draft is one day away.

Thank God.

I can’t read another thing about the torque on Ryan Tannehill’s release, Robert Griffin III’s ceiling or what countless people think of Morris Claiborne’s elite ball skills. Yeah, the phrase is bad enough.

Did you know that Andrew Luck is really smart? He might even be the next Peyton Manning.

Sorry, that’s not the case for me, Andrew. I can’t wait for tomorrow night.