Saturday Lunch Swing Around SBNation: Mocking The Draft

by James Brady on Mar 20, 2010 12:00 PM PDT in SB Nation Blogs

Hello there folks, I'm coming back to you at my normal time of Saturday lunch now that Fooch has stopped banishing me to Sunday.So SBNation sits at 248 blogs and is two away (possibly one, you'll see what I mean) from that magical 250, and what a glorious 250 it will be! Nothing special will happen or anything, I will just stop ranting about it. Like I've been known to say, it's 248 blogs, and 248 communities not unlike our own here, and there is definitely something for everyone outside of little ol' Niners Nation.

Last week I took a look at Fear The Fin, our resident Sharks blog populated by Plank n' the gang and the weeks before I covered our golf blog, Waggle Room, and a pretty cool blog about history called Inhistoric. All very good blogs, and I'm continuing the trend with another good one today. (In my opinion at least)

Today I'm talking a bit about Mocking The Draft, a blog that features everything you need to know about the NFL draft, college prospects, teams which are targeting said prospects and yes, you guessed it, mock drafts. To learn more about this rather timely profiling, read on and make the jump.

Editor: Mocking Dan

Mocking the Draft has been around at least for a few years, and has always been a source of interest in the football offseason. What better way to spend the half a year of offseason than to speculate on the upcoming half a year of on-season? There isn't a better way, I tell you! That's where MTD comes in.

The timing of this profile is spot on, they're going through profiles of team needs, profiles of each division, profiles of college players--there is so much to read. The best thing I've come to find about Mocking The Draft is that the coverage and opinions on college prospects are actually decent to good whereas all the professionals we read about and watch on TV... are not so good. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to lock McShay and Kiper in a room for a week just to see who eats who, and then let the other one starve. Was that too gruesome? I'm getting sidetracked.

The point is there is excellent coverage. You can find stuff on several college prospects, and they have sections devoted to each division in football. They've taken a look at the 49ers team needs and they've taken a look at their recent draft history. They do these pretty crazy seven round mocks over there, which is a feat on its own. Have you ever tried to make a mock outside of three rounds?

So if you want a good read and all you need to know about the draft and college prospects (outside of the excellent coverage you can find here, that is) head over to Mocking The Draft, there isn't a better time to do so as the draft they've been mocking approaches. Enjoy your lunch, I'm out!

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Comments

sorry to hijack

but can someone direct me to the link where I can find legit Jahvid Best drafting discussion? By Niner fans that is…

"He's so fast, he can turn off the lights and be in bed before it gets dark!" -- Lee Corso on Jahvid Best in NCAA 10.

by dirt on Mar 20, 2010 12:32 PM PDT reply actions

Here ya go...

http://www.ninersnation.com/2010/2/1/1287674/100-in-100-jahvid-best-21-of-100#comments

I have also done several other player profiles on here:
http://www.ninersnation.com/section/100-in-100-2010

There’s a piece in there about Syd’Quan Thompson too if you’re a Cal fan. I still have not done Alualu.. so keep an eye out for that one as well.

"If you're not first, you're last" -Reese Bobby.

by Drew Kerr on Mar 20, 2010 12:45 PM PDT up reply actions

thank you so much

pretty new here and all…

"He's so fast, he can turn off the lights and be in bed before it gets dark!" -- Lee Corso on Jahvid Best in NCAA 10.

by dirt on Mar 20, 2010 12:53 PM PDT reply actions

Be sure to use the reply function below posts.

Not nitpicking or anything, just pointing it out to you in the future. It’s extremely helpful when posts get up to 500+ comments, you see? And if you’re new: welcome to Niners Nation!

And then God created Saturn.. And he liked it, so he put a ring on it.

by James Brady on Mar 20, 2010 1:08 PM PDT up reply actions

Mocking the Draft is great...good place for draft junkies (like me!)

by TexansDC on Mar 20, 2010 1:01 PM PDT reply actions

I don't know about that.

Every mock draft on that site has us taking Joe Haden and Trent Williams. Not a lot of originality there.

I survived the David Carr Press Conference Thread 3/06/2010
Credit to iaalexeeff
Against Mock Drafts with the Niners taking Joe Haden since 2009.
Eat Shitake!

by Hoopers Judge on Mar 20, 2010 3:01 PM PDT up reply actions

...? Originality isn't really what a mock draft is for, is it?

The Niners would take those picks in a heartbeat.

And then God created Saturn.. And he liked it, so he put a ring on it.

by James Brady on Mar 20, 2010 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions

How do you know?

Too many freaks, not enough circuses.

by Drew Kerr on Mar 20, 2010 3:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Because that's my gut feeling, obviously.

The point is that originality isn’t what you look for in a mock draft. Maiocco had some original picks and his latest mock was just awful. You don’t say that their mocks are bad because they go with sensible picks.

And then God created Saturn.. And he liked it, so he put a ring on it.

by James Brady on Mar 20, 2010 3:51 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah but mock drafts continually change and that includes the experts. I don’t think keeping the same picks is necessarily the right move in a lot of scenarios. If they are keeping the same guys where they are week in and week out with no regard to free agency, then obviously that comment was warranted. And that’s not just speaking in terms of the 49ers picks.

My gut feeling tells me that those two selections are very unsensible, so you see, it’s possible for more than one person to have a different opinion and that’s what makes things interesting. Not the same stuff each week. Just because they have Williams and Haden on their boards doesn’t equal that the 49ers will pick them, or even have either on their boards for that matter.

We as outsiders (including the experts), don’t really have any idea who teams will have on their boards going in to the draft. There is one factor in that teams will be interviewing certain players, but I have heard nothing on this site through your nugget articles, or the 49ers official website in regards to them interviewing either Haden or Williams. So it’s repetitive speculation over there if that is indeed what they’re doing. I do know that the 49ers have interviewed C.J. Spiller however. But even though they interviewed him, doesnt mean he’ll be the pick, so I understand that as well. It’s really a crap shoot at this point but it is fairly boring if it’s recycled info each week based on speculation.

I get your point about originality but everything is a “what if” scenario at this point, so why not make it realistic but change it once in a blue moon?

Too many freaks, not enough circuses.

by Drew Kerr on Mar 20, 2010 4:21 PM PDT up reply actions

This mock

(At least the PFW one) doesn’t appear to have changed since I first saw it about three weeks ago. It may be somewhat original, but not very realistic:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;ylt=AhwKp6Ic.wqTURrN3fYEA1DubYF?slug=ys-headtoheadmock031810&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

My question is, what rock has Nolan Nawrocki been hiding under?

by Mangoman on Mar 20, 2010 4:56 PM PDT up reply actions

They think that's who the 49ers will pick.

It’s not unoriginal.

And then God created Saturn.. And he liked it, so he put a ring on it.

by James Brady on Mar 20, 2010 5:07 PM PDT up reply actions

Typically the experts do about 3-4 mock drafts and they change from mock to mock; even the more familiar draft specific websites change them. Change is inevitable with free agent singings. The pendulum swings one way or another and players move up and down the ladder of the draft boards because of that factor.

Too many freaks, not enough circuses.

by Drew Kerr on Mar 20, 2010 5:16 PM PDT up reply actions

Yep, and Haden moved down other people's draft boards..

…to fall to 13. And the 49ers made no free agent moves to help them. Their needs remain the same. I don’t know what you’re getting at, considering that ‘every mock they post is the same’ isn’t even true because they’re on like.. revision 474937493749 in which the 49ers have changed picks several times, so what are we arguing exactly? I know how mock drafts work, just because I don’t make posts about college players doesn’t suddenly mean I’m braindead when it comes to such things.

And then God created Saturn.. And he liked it, so he put a ring on it.

by James Brady on Mar 20, 2010 6:38 PM PDT up reply actions

I am getting at, Hoopers Judge’s comment wasn’t that out of line, or far of base, or not warranted. At least not in my opinion.

Too many freaks, not enough circuses.

by Drew Kerr on Mar 20, 2010 8:39 PM PDT up reply actions

What he said, then, could arguably be said about every site that mocks drafts, yes?

And then God created Saturn.. And he liked it, so he put a ring on it.

by James Brady on Mar 20, 2010 11:57 PM PDT up reply actions

Not exactly.

The other site I do analysis for Drafttek changes and they are a very credible source. This is all computer generated by team needs and positional rankings of players (a lot of info obtained from real pro scouts). Things shift when things happen to other teams. The influence of change is inevitable. So if they keep Haden and Williams as the picks each week, I think its less realistic than anything else I have seen.

Too many freaks, not enough circuses.

by Drew Kerr on Mar 21, 2010 1:19 AM PDT up reply actions

I just really, really do not agree with you.

Like, at all. I see what you’re saying, but I don’t think you can really say what is realistic and what isn’t realistic in a hypothetical mock draft. It’s not possible by definition.

And then God created Saturn.. And he liked it, so he put a ring on it.

by James Brady on Mar 21, 2010 12:43 PM PDT up reply actions