The things mock draft simulators teach me about myself

I’ve just started to play around with the various mock draft simulators for 2025, and I’ve got to say they’re eye-opening.

Not because they actually teach me anything about the draft. No, they’re eye-opening because of what they teach me about me.

I play the intellectual, data-driven podcaster pretty well, I think, but these simulators reveal a different side of me. Here’s some of what I’ve uncovered as I sort through this yea’rs pretend drafts.

1 - I’m not immune to shiny object syndrome

I know as well as anyone that good football teams are built in the trenches. Defensive linemen, offensive linemen, and edge rushers make the world go round. They either stop other teams from getting to your quarterback or make it easier to get after the quarterback on other teams. It’s the simplest thing in the world to understand.

But so many of their benefits are intangible. It’s hard to quantify (and boy do I spend a lot of time trying) the offensive line’s impact on a given game or play, but we know it’s there. It just looks a lot less interesting than a wide receiver catching a touchdown pass.

My experience in the simulators shows me that while my stated preference is for a strong offensive and defensive line, my revealed preference is for wide receivers catching touchdown passes. If you were ever wondering about my biases, here’s one.

2 - It’s hard to get around people I’ve heard of

And here’s another: guys that we’ve covered on Blue 58 repeatedly and mysteriously ended up in my draft classes again and again. Curious!

(It’s not that curious.)

I’m biased toward people I’ve heard of, both for and against. It’s hard to trust someone else’s analysis of a prospect even if reputable sources say they’re good!

This is the one lesson I wonder about applying to real war rooms. Their data sets for “guys we’ve heard of” are obviously much bigger, but I think there’s a real danger of teams focusing on players they had a positive opinion about early in the process. That’s only human, right? How much do human preferences, quirks, and foibles shape what happens in the NFL draft?

3 - Analysis paralysis is real

Thank goodness for time limits, both in the simulators and in real life. There is so much information out there about every one of these prospects it’s easy to get in the weeds very quickly. Even early in simulations, when you theoretically are looking at guys everyone has known about for years, it’s hard to sort through the glut of information quickly and effectively to make a decision.

Even worse, the risk of missing out on someone is even higher. If you don’t take a guy at pick 155, chances are pretty good he could still be around at 175 or 200. But at pick 23? Unless you do some nifty trading, whoever you pass on is as good as gone the next time your turn rolls around.

This is where I’m really in awe of NFL teams, even the ones that regularly screw up in the draft. It’s hard for me to make decisions and stick with them, whatever the consequences. That anybody is able to pull the trigger on a draft pick knowing there’s a good chance the pick won’t turn out and they’ll end up out of a job is a praiseworthy thing, in my opinion. I don’t know if I could live with that kind of pressure.

Then again, how many NFL general managers are cut out for the high stakes world of podcasting?