It’s easy to mock the mock drafts. Too many experts do them and fans can seriously question their newsworthiness. Some critics believe mock drafts have zero value, depending on the author. Fans grumble at times there are too many mock drafts.
Mock drafts are just sports opinions, plain and simple. They’re not the Pentagon Papers. They are potential guidelines to what might happen in next week’s NFL Draft.
And, they are fun. And, as I’ve come to grudgingly understand over the years, readers apparently love them. Fans want to know who their team will select and maybe mock drafts give them a heads up. Whether the fans agree or not.
Why NFL (and Arizona Cardinals) fans love reading mock drafts
My view about mock drafts changed over my journalism career. I once thought too many resources were spent on reporting about college kids who likely wouldn’t be drafted by your team anyway.
When I was the Philadelphia Daily News executive sports editor, I pored over daily analytics about what stories were being read and for how long. I wanted to see what stories connected with readers. Consistently, the most-read stories on our website were about an upcoming NFL Draft — especially when we published a mock draft.
Feature story about Phillies second baseman Chase Utley? Yeah, it was highly read. Feature story about some largely unknown nose tackle from Tulane who might be an Eagles target? Clicks and engagement went through the roof.
The Tulane story wasn’t an isolated case. The numbers didn’t lie. When we wrote a draft story of any kind, or published a mock draft, readers couldn’t get enough.
When I would look back at our annual clicks and engagement, the NFL Draft was nearly always at the top.
“Amazing,” I said to myself incredulously.
Of course, in Philly, the Eagles always are a huge story — even before winning multiple Super Bowls. But readers would spend their valuable time dissecting our entire 32-team mock drafts.
Readers would hammer me with emails about how dumb our selections were. They would suggest who the Eagles would draft or should draft. And who the top-5 selections actually would be on draft night.
Best lesson I learned: Readers love mock drafts and any news about the draft. They can’t get enough.
Mock drafts about the Cardinals show variety
Mock drafts for Arizona Cardinals are uncertain. Will the Cardinals take a wide receiver to pair with Marvin Harrison Jr. with the No. 16 overall pick? Texas’ Matthew Golden was mocked to the Cardinals by some. What about beefing up that offensive line with Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr.?
Cardinals offseason talk focused on improving the defense. Mock drafts concur, but with different players going at No. 16.
Will the Cardinals pull a surprise on draft night? A trade down? An ESPN analyst thinks so.
One thing is certain: No matter what the Cardinals do, some mock draft will have (maybe) nailed it.
Mock drafts have become a cottage industry
Many fans are at-home, pretend general managers themselves, or they have strong opinions about the real ones. NFL fandom once meant watching the games and reading the newspaper the next day.
Not anymore. Now, fans are intensely engaged with the NFL year round. Fans know the college kids coming up and they know who their favorite teams need to draft. They form opinions about obscure college players who their team *must* draft.
Fans know the arm lengths of linemen, and the 40 times of wide receivers.
Yikes.
Everyone has an opinion, so mock drafts are target-rich for dissent. Plus, there are few consequences for being wrong in a mock draft. Everyone can have fun. Everyone can second-guess their general manager’s draft choices.
Mock drafts often lead to a wide range of opinions about players. Look at Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. I’ve seen him going No. 2 to the Browns and I’ve seen him falling into the second round.
Such speculation — disguised as expertise — simply adds to the temptation of checking out a mock draft. Let’s click and see who’s going where. Let’s see how bad this mock draft is.
Shedeur Sanders? How about going No. 9 to the Saints. I’m reasonably both sure and unsure about that.