Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this “mock draft” thing for the NFL, and let me tell you, it’s been a wild ride. Basically, it’s like playing fantasy football, but instead of picking a team for the season, you’re trying to guess who each team will pick in the actual NFL draft.
First, I started by just jumping in. There are a bunch of websites out there that let you do this, and they all have their own little quirks. I picked one that looked pretty straightforward and got going. You get to play the general manager for all 32 teams, or just your favorite one, which is cool.
Then I started making my picks. It’s not as easy as it sounds! You gotta think about what each team needs. Like, does the team need a new quarterback? Are they good on defense but need some help on offense? I spent a bunch of time looking up player rankings and team needs – it’s a lot to keep track of.
I also tried to factor in potential trades. In the real draft, teams are always trading picks to move up or down the draft board. The website I used had some “advanced trade logic” that was supposed to make it more realistic. So I tried a few mock trades, moving my favorite team, the Titans, up a few spots to grab a player I really liked.
- First, I made a list of all the teams and what I thought they needed.
- Next, I started looking at player rankings to see who the best players were at each position.
- Then, I started the mock draft and made my picks, trying to balance team needs with player value.
- Finally, I looked at the results and saw how well I did. Not great, to be honest!
My Results
I ran through a few of these mock drafts, and let me tell you, my results were all over the place. Sometimes I felt like a genius, other times I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. It was a total mixed bag! It looks like predicting the future is kind of a hard thing to do.
I even read somewhere that some guy named Cam Skattebo was supposed to be, like, the eighth-best running back in the draft. Eighth! So, even the “experts” are just guessing, it seems like.
Anyway, it was a fun way to kill some time and learn a bit more about the upcoming NFL draft. I’ll definitely be doing more of these mock drafts before the real thing in April. Maybe one of these days, I’ll actually get one right! It’s a fun thing to do with your friends, just talking football and seeing who can come up with the best draft strategy, even if it’s all just make-believe.