No question Joel Buchsbaum was the best. I carried around his draft books throughout college and would be studying them during class, plus on campus while watching the world go by. Buchsbaum had the great dependable lines like "Looks like Tarzan...plays like Jane" plus the terms like bubble butt. Somehow they give Mayock credit for bubble butt when Buchsbaum was using it in print four decades earlier.
Buchsbaum was awesome during the late '70s before the draft was televised. The monthly postseason issues were loaded with draft emphasis. The final pre draft issue was massive and every bit as anticipated as the draft guide itself because it was published later and included late rumors and some ratings changes. Every issue of Pro Football Weekly during the season would have a scouting report article from Buchsbaum, regarding games of the prior week plus whispered scouting nuggets from around the nation. I really disagree that nobody knew anything about Tulsa in that era. Heck, using that example alone I could rattle off many Tulsa players like Steve August, the guy Seattle took in the infamous Tony Dorsett trade with the Cowboys. There is no question I was better informed then than now. When the Dolphins drafted Eric Laakso from Tulane I knew all about him. Likewise Gerald Small from San Jose State. And so forth. You might not see every player but the capsule summaries were so valuable and typically accurate that in many cases it was superior to watching them yourself. I am a huge believer in relying on experts. Joel Buchsbaum was the Steve Jobs of the NFL draft. I'll allow my opinion to be his opinion, with only occasional departure. I'd save VHS tapes of the Senior Bowl and other college all star games to review prior to draft day. That's how the names connected to the players. I'd read all about them for months then go back and see if the video matched my perspective of them via summaries.
Sporting News featured several issues in a row with focus on specific positions. That's what made them stand out. Everyone looked forward to their ratings because they would differ a bit from Buchsbaum and conventional wisdom. There were other sources as well. I'd buy 4-6 scouting books every year, spending over $100 which was a chunk in that era. Let's see, there was the Drugstore List by Jerry Jones (not the same Jerry Jones). That work wasn't as detailed as Buchsbaum but extremely well respected in league circles. Ourlad's came along, plus several others. A few were short lived. They saw the interest level exploding and would have a small ad in Sporting News, touting their new draft guide.
Kiper's blue book broke new ground by being the first to rate the subsequent draft classes. He'd have a listing in back of the best freshman, sophomores and juniors. Kiper would list dozens more prospects at every position than Buchsbaum did. Once it got into the later rounds Kiper's book would still be including everyone while Buchsbaum's Pro Football Weekly guide wouldn't have some names at all, even in small print without summary.
Joel Buchsbaum was a Jewish guy from New York with a raspy voice. Not television friendly at all. That's why Kiper got the gig above Buchsbaum. ESPN in the early years did include a brief interview with Buchsbaum during the draft coverage. It went as expected. Buchsbaum would rattle it off a hundred miles per hour: "Okay, here's the way it went down. Buffalo thought about Jones and fielded several calls but decided to go with Smith due to superior 40 speed...."
Wow, I really miss those days. Buchsbaum was the first one who correctly identified that age was vital for a prospect, that you wanted to go with younger guys who had demonstrated it early. In his early books he would reference age. Then he started including the birthdate for every player at the top of each capsule summary. I had basically all of them memorized, to the point I was actually taking it too far. When my friends and I at USC would debate players prior to the draft I'd be pointing out that one of them was 6 or 9 months younger.
I have no idea how we went from Joel Buchsbaum understanding the value of prodigy status more than 40 years ago to the point it is still being debated today.
Ourlad's Draft Guide is still being published, BTW. I think it is $32 for a print edition. This was going to be the first year since the mid 1970s that I was going to be without a draft book. But I think this thread inspired me to keep the streak going. Ordered. Now I just hope it arrives in time...
pressboxonline.com
dolphinswire.usatoday.com
