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McAllister: Mock drafts like
opinions; everybody has one
04/17/2002
It doesn't matter. If there's an NFL mock draft on the Internet,
Todd Indre probably has seen it. He evaluates draft projections like NASA
scientists evaluate trips into space. A funny thing, though. Indre, a staff member for a Cleveland
Browns fan site called
BerniesInsiders.com, doesn't create his
own mock draft. Instead, he takes what he considers as the best 40 mock drafts
on the Internet and cross references each first-round pick to produce a mock
draft average for every selection. His compilation list is known as the
"Mock Draft Muncher" – and it's just another way to predict how
this weekend's NFL draft will play out. "It's fun to see all the different drafts," Indre
said. "But as a true barometer? Who knows? It's such a crapshoot." Even so, that hasn't stopped the proliferation of mock drafts
the past few weeks. Almost every sports- and NFL-related Web site has one. Most project only the first round. Others offer two or three
rounds. A few daring (re: foolhardy) sites even predict the entire seven
rounds. For instance,
TheHuddleReport.com is pretty sure the
expansion Houston Texans will take Tulane punter Casey Roussel with the 261st
pick. "I guess you could call it gutsy," Indre said of the
seven-round mock drafts. "But it's also useless, in my opinion." About the only Web site not producing a mock draft is the one
you'd most expect to –
NFL.com. Being the official site of the league precludes team-by-team
predictions. So Gil Brandt, the former Cowboys personnel director and
one-time draft guru, offers a list broken up by three groups of players, any
of whom fall into a specific range on the draft board. He based his
evaluations on his contacts around the league and from attending the scouting
combines and private workouts held for draft prospects. "I'm not sure how you formulate a [player-by-player]
list," Brandt said. "In a lot of cases, they've never seen the
players work out. ... I'd like to think I'm a little bit wired in." Brandt does put stock into two mock drafts – the one produced by
Buchsbaum (found at
ProFootballWeekly.com), and the other by Dallas
Morning News NFL writer Rick Gosselin (found at DallasNews.com). And he
appreciates what all those Internet mock drafts have done for the league. "It's good for football," said Brandt, who'll offer
immediate draft analysis on NFL.com this weekend. "It creates a lot of
interest for people who might not be able to coach, but they can be the
general manager." Mike McAllister is a reporter for DallasNews.com |
