The NFL draft is upon us, and I am beyond excited to see how everything shakes out. With the Vikings at the top of the first round after the worst season in franchise history, there has been a lot of speculation over their pick. Aside from my own personal homerism, I think that this could be one of the deepest and most polished offensive drafts since 2006, which means that for hobby enthusiasts, this could be the year to get back into the swing of things.

Andrew Luck has been widely regarded as the best NFL quarterback prospect since John Elway back in 1983-84, and I am of the crowd that the more hype behind him the better. Robert Griffin III is also a huge talent and should go number two, which means like Young and Leinart in 2006, wax and value is going to be higher due to them.

When you add in Justin Blackmon, Ryan Tannehill and Trent Richardson, there is a large probability that there could be in upwards of 5 to 6 guys that could end up being 100 dollar autographs when the first NFL licensed cards come out. Because there are always guys like Mike Wallace and Mike Williams who have great rookie seasons, even though pre-draft value is minimal.

Personally, I am preparing my bank account for a long year of buying wax, and I dont think its a bad thing that the hype is high. Although I am never going to be investing in cards on the secondary market from non-viking players, this is a legitimate situation that would drive me to buy more packs. If it does that for me, I can only imagine what it will do for the average collector. Once Luck’s cards start breaking two bills a piece for his first autographs, you know that there will be a line at the local shop every wednesday for new products.

I also have to give a huge compliment to both Topps and Panini for going another direction with pre-premiere products, pushing them back to get rookies in NFL uniforms instead of their airbrushed college uniforms. This will make the products that much better, and for a strict NFL collector like myself, I almost always avoid anything that doesnt have current uniforms, or uses the combine jerseys.

After this weekend we will finally know which team each rookie will play for, which for many rookies, will mean higher value. It should also mean that the rookie premiere will be set shortly after, and the true beginning of the NFL card season can start.