Happy Draft Day, Broncos fans! As promised, here is your opportunity to enter a 1st round mock draft for the chance to win… well, nothing, actually. Maybe some message board bragging rights? Maybe if you win this, the next time someone tells you that you don’t know what you’re talking about, you can say “SCOREBOARD, JAMOKE!” Then again, I doubt that would gain you much credibility. It’s a cruel world, but I digress.
In all seriousness, mock drafts are good fun. Much like fantasy football or NCAA tourney brackets, they give you a rooting interest in the Draft. All of a sudden you’ll find yourself caring about who the Tennessee Titans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft, and shouting “THAT’S RIGHT, KIPER!” and “YOU DON’T KNOW SHIT, TODD!” at your television, and any loved ones who share your home will no longer have any doubt that you’ve lost your damn mind.
Now that we’ve established the stakes, let’s get into the rules. I’ll give you until 3:00 pm MDT to enter your mock into the comments below this post. You don’t need a lot of detail. Just list the names, 1-31 (remember, no pick for the Patriots this year) so I can copy and paste them into my scoring spreadsheet. I realize we can all edit posts, but I’m copying and pasting at 3 o’clock, so any sly maneuvers to beef up your picks after the fact will be in vain.
Points will be awarded as follows:
Correct pick (Player in precise slot where he is selected) – 8 points
Off by 1 slot, early or late – 4 points
Off by 2 slots, early or late – 2 points
Off by 3 slots, early or late – 1 point
Trades will not effect the scoring as points are awarded based on draft slot. For instance, if you have Connor Cook going #20 to the Jets, and the Jets trade out of the pick, but the team trading in still selects Cook, you still get 8 points. You’ve assigned Cook to the 20 slot, and it doesn’t matter which team takes him there. Make sense?
The draft order is as follows:
1. Los Angeles Rams (from Tennessee Titans)
2. Philadelphia Eagles (from Cleveland Browns)
3. San Diego Chargers
4. Dallas Cowboys
5. Jacksonville Jaguars
6. Baltimore Ravens
7. San Francisco 49ers
8. Cleveland Browns (from Philadelphia Eaglesthrough Miami Dolphins)
9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
10. New York Giants
11. Chicago Bears
12. New Orleans Saints
13. Miami Dolphins (from Philadelphia Eagles)
14. Oakland Raiders
15. Tennessee Titans (from Los Angeles Rams)
16. Detroit Lions
17. Atlanta Falcons
18. Indianapolis Colts
19. Buffalo Bills
20. New York Jets
21. Washington Redskins
22. Houston Texans
23. Minnesota Vikings
24. Cincinnati Bengals
25. Pittsburgh Steelers
26. Seattle Seahawks
27. Green Bay Packers
28. Kansas City Chiefs
29. New England Patriots (Forfeited)
29. Arizona Cardinals
30. Carolina Panthers
31. Denver Broncos
For your reference, here’s an article on team needs according to NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein. Also, here’s some links to the most recent mocks from NFL.com. Of course you can reference any other sources you wish, but that’s all you’re getting from me.
Good luck, and Go Broncos.