A perspective on the draft process and mocks

[JorokasXII]

So I was reading an article on B/R called "Manti Te'o may be a punch line , but What does the game tape say?" By Michael Schottey and it had a few paragraphs near the beginning about the draft process and mocks that I thought were dead on. Anyway, I thought I'd post them for you guys to see. I think there's a lot of people that post comments on mock draft sites that would benefit from reading this. Enjoy!

"First, let's take a second to talk about the draft process.

It's easy to bash someone like Mel Kiper who is more visible than any other draft expert (and not just because you can see his hair from space). NFL personnel guys don't love Kiper, but they respect him because he puts his opinions out there. Scouts can hop from job to job and no one really knows who they've missed on. Kiper has to deal with scores of fans who forget his successes and save his mistakes on Youtube.

So, rather than just scream "Kiper is wrong!" like I'm sure many have, it's worthwhile to talk about what mocks are.

First, the idea that mocks predict what a team will do is laughable at best. Anything outside of the top few picks is a complete crap shoot and the first trade will immediately deep-six any mock's accuracy on draft day. Want to start predicting trades? You might as well play the lottery because the odds are better.

Some draft media peg their mock draft accuracy as a sign of their expertise. Frankly, that's the intellectual equivalent of falling out of your chair, landing in an athletic-looking stance and claiming you're a ninja.

Real draft expertise is found in player grades holding up over time. Call a guy an all-time great and he flops? That's a ding against your record. Call a guy a top pick and two teams decide they have more pressing needs and that's just incorrect educated guessing. Because guess what, when teams set up their draft boards, all of them are just as wrong on what the first round will actually look like as media is. "

If anyone's interested in reading the full article, here's the link: http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1527625-manti-teo-may-be-a-media-punchline-but-what-does-the-game-tape-say

[tydontlie]

Its easier to just write a book lol jk