Last kid picked

NFL columnist Don Banks writes:

“It had been since 1974 since no cornerbacks were taken in the opening 25 picks of a draft.”

If you use the same word twice in one sentence, you might want to replace or eliminate one of them.

Some possible alternatives:

• The simple but somewhat awkward approach: “It had been since 1974 that no cornerbacks were taken in the opening 25 picks of a draft.”

• Maybe smoother: “Not since 1974 had we seen a draft with no cornerbacks among the opening 25 picks.”

• Simplest, smoothest, most straightforward statement of truth: “This year’s cornerbacks were a lame lot. Geez, nobody wanted any of ’em.”