I hated adding a Las Vegas and Mark David Photo as the header image for this article as much as you guys hate looking at it, but that’s where the draft is being held this year so it made sense… give me a break. There aren’t many Getty Images available for the draft outside of this one before the actual event!

My Brothers and I do a mock draft competition every year, where we have developed our own scoring system to make a game out of draft night. Each participant puts $20 on the line and builds their own mock draft, capturing trades if they want to. Then we all watch together and score it together in real time, usually over drinks. The scoring system is; participants get 1 point for the correct player being selected at a given draft position, you get 1 point for the right team selecting the right player at that position, and you get 1 point for the right team at least selecting the right position at that point in the draft.

Different Scoring Scenarios

• If at pick #1, the Jaguars select Aiden Hutchinson, and that’s who I had identified, I get all three points.
• If I said the Jags, would pick the edge rusher Aiden Hutchinson, at pick 1. But they Jaguars selected OT Ikem Ekwonu, I would get zero points because I didn’t get the player, the position, or the team:player:position combination correct.
• If the Jaguars selected Travon Walker or Kayvon Thibodeaux, I would get two points for the team and identifying the correct football position the team would draft.
• Lastly, if I had the Giants selecting Kayvon Thibodeaux at pick 5, but instead they traded up to get him, or passed on him and instead picked him at pick 7. I would get 2 points for identifying the correct team:player combination just missing out on the draft position the player would go.

This system has been a family tradition for about 5-years now, and I wanted to teach the world about it and give my 1^st round mock below.

Mock Draft Strategy

Usually all of us are pretty in touch with the college football world, we all follow social media and typically all try and watch a few hours of tape to get the details on each prospect. Using other mock drafts available online, using rumors and free agency trends to adjust our picks, available NFL big boards, and finding team needs, we can all build our own mock drafts independently and then send them to one another just before the draft starts.

I like to build out my draft order 1-32, put the drafting team’s needs in the column next to it on excel, and then populate the college top 50-75 players on the far right of my monitor. I typically like to take a few big boards like PFF, ESPN and the NFL Networks and just compare and review where they have major differences. I also like to look over other people’s player rankings to see if there are any outliers or players dramatically different ratings from board to board. Once I have my spreadsheet up, I try and get in the minds of the GMs drafting.

One of the difficulties that typically ruins these mocks for everyone is when someone moves up a ton of spaces to take a QB way sooner than they rightfully should have been drafted. The concept of positional value makes the QB and Edge Rusher positions much higher value than say a Center or a Running Back, meaning that people are more likely to make extreme moves for those premium position. I typically don’t try and predict trades, but I do like to have teams draft who I think they would have their eye on, so that I can try and get the points for either them moving up, or the player falling.

My Mock Draft

Denver Broncos

Broncos don’t draft until pick 64, I’m still holding out hope that they can get CSU’s tight end Trey McBride or a defensive end to replace Shelby Harris. I have seen lots of mocks showing a RT or an inside Linebacker, I just think those positions can be addressed, but the first selection in the draft must go towards shoring up a position of need for this roster. Hoping Albert O stays healthy for a full season seems like a gigantic risk. Looking at the defensive line rotation, I think there is a very serious opportunity to improve the quality of at least one of the starters in that position group.

I’d like Chad Muma, the LB from Wyoming, but I don’t think he is the best draft pick for the team at selection 64. I also would love a long-term solution at RT, but I think the team addressed RT in free agency with Calvin Anderson and Billy Turner coming on board.

Broncos will get themselves a TE, LB, Edge Rusher, cornerback depth, and defensive line in the draft, I feel very confident in that, it’s just going to be which position is prioritized as their first pick in the draft. I think TE is the biggest risk to ignore, considering Russell Wilson is a big tight end user, and that Albert O has a history of not being durable. I love Albert O, but you cannot ignore the past in hope it changes in the future.

About Post Author

Aaron Hubert

Major Colorado sports fan who was once, for an entire year, a paid writer covering the entire Colorado sports scene. I grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado, a huge fan of all the professional sports Colorado had to offer. I played Football and Basketball in High School. I attended Colorado State University for undergrad, earning my degree in Business with a concentration in Computer Information Systems. I work as a professional Product Manager in the software development space for Fanatics.com the sports apparel company. I am a Fantasy Football and Fantasy Hockey participant, not sure if that will ever be worked into these writings, but keeping my option open! I really enjoy the process of being a huge fan of sports, being a passionate Colorado sports advocate, and using social media and writing to express my beliefs and opinions about sports.

aaronh92@hotmail.com

http://www.centennial-sports.com

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