In my first-ever mock draft that was published in the Post-Gazette last Tuesday, I correctly matched eight players to the teams that drafted them. I also correctly predicted 23 of the players that would go in the first round.
Using the formula the Huddle Report uses to grade mock drafts (two points for matching players to teams and one point matching players to the first round) I scored a 39, which would place me among the top 38 of the 107 mock draft experts they tracked.
It’s not a complete listing, of course. Tracking everyone who did a mock draft would be impossible, but it’s as complete of a list as I could find.
But don’t give me too much credit. Two players I predicted to go in the first round went in the fourth – Andrew Billings and Connor Cook.
According to Draft Huddle, Forrest Long of Scout Fantasy and Matt Falk of Draft Season won top honors with 49 points by matching 12 players to teams and 25 first-rounders.
My final four-round Steelers’ mock draft wasn’t as successful. I didn’t get any right.
I had the Steelers taking William Jackson III, Austin Johnson, Justin Simmons and Joe Schobert. At least I had three of the positions right. And I would have had Jackson right had the Bengals not swooped in to steal him from the Steelers.
I should have stuck with my four-round mock 5.0. At least there I got one right, predicting the Steelers would take Javon Hargrave in the third round.
Here is what I wrote two weeks before the draft on Hargrave:
3. Javon Hargrave, defensive tackle, South Carolina State – It’s a deep defensive tackle class and I am betting some of the best ones projected to go in the first round will fall to the second because interior linemen aren’t as valued as they once were. In the third round, Hargrave would be great value for the Steelers, who need a versatile multi-down player to play in place of the departed Steve McLendon.
Turns out I was right about the defensive tackles. As many as eight were predicted to go in the first round by some draft analysts, but only four were among the top 31 picks and three of those were picks 27, 29 and 30. An interior defensive lineman was not selected in the top 10.
In addition to Billings falling all the way to the fourth round, Alabama’s Jarran Reed and A’Shawn Robinson fell to the second. They were almost exclusively mocked in the first round. Chris Jones Austin Johnson were second-rounders as well. A few analysts had them going in the first round.
Defensive tackles represented the most talented and deepest position in this draft, but they are undervalued in today’s NFL because of the number of snaps they’ll play as offenses spread teams out and force more defensive backs onto the field.
As a result, defensive backs are pushed up in the draft because teams value them more. Seven (five corners and two safeties) were selected in the first round.
The other position that teams valued this year: offensive tackles. They tied corners with five taken in Round 1.
OK, onto some NFL draft grades. Those who read the blog on Friday know Pro Football Focus was critical of the Steelers selecting Artie Burns in the first round. They gave the Steelers a D for that pick. Turns out, they were critical of the Steelers’ entire draft, giving them a C-minus. Only one team was given a lower grade. Atlanta got a D.
Here are how some other draft analysts graded the Steelers’ draft:
Mel Kiper, Jr. of ESPN gave the Steelers a B.
Chris Burke and Doug Farrar of Sports Illustrated gave the Steelers a B.
Pete Prisco of CBS Sports also gave the Steelers a B.
First Published: May 2, 2016, 11:48 a.m.
