The 2006 Blogger Mock Draft was an idea I came up with half way through my migration from the old site. Mock drafts are not unique online. If you do a Google search for "NFL mock draft" , you probably run into 100k worth of links on the subject. What made ours different, was that we don't aggregate NFL bloggers like the super-sports blog sites. We also aren't a huge network of bloggers. Our mock draft would have been like all the others online: two guys eating donuts picking names out of a hat when it was the Packer's turn to draft.
It could have been an editorial staff making the picks. That didn't sound any better than the donut eating guys. Worse still, we don't have enough Bengals readers to make that crucial #24 pick. It made sense to invite all the bloggers from across the country and the blogsphere to help us with this project. Why not? They write about their team just as much as we write about the Bears. Some of them write much gooder than us two. :)
The difference between our mock draft and all the others you see online is that we allowed trades. We tried to make it as realistic as possible and still keep it simple. I don't know if we succeeded in that regard. There were no trades that were approved, but I can tell you there were over 30 different trade offers behind the scenes! All of them rejected! There was a lot of moving and shaking going on. I won't give away who was offering what, or how badly some teams wanted to trade down but I will say that the offers ranged from whacky to spot on. If you are that curious, take a look at each of the links on the overview page. Most of the bloggers added comments or wrote articles to express the thought process they were going through when they were on the clock. It's all good stuff. There is even a podcast or two that talks about it.
Now let's talk about the picks themselves. First, you guys should know that we had to Kiper the number 2 pick in the draft. The Saints were out of town and not able to get back to us in time, and I had no choice but to make their pick based on the Kiper projections. Turn based drafting via email was going to cause stuff like this, but I am happy it only happened once. (ok twice, with Reggie Bush at number 1) Many draft experts think the Saints pick is critical to this year's draft. I agree. If they would have taken Leinart instead of Williams, would the Titans have picked Vince Young?
Some of the surprises I saw on the draft board included Jay Cutler being drafted by the Ravens. That's the fan's pick, no question. Baltimore's fans hate their quarterback situation. Especially since their coaching staff doesn't see a problem. The question becomes similar to the one the Bears currently have: can one of these young bucks step up and lead us to the promise land? The Bear's answer to that question was no. That's why we signed Greise.
Another great pick, and one that scares me as a Bears fan is the Packers drafting of AJ Hawk. This guy is a menace. Deep down I hate this pick for many reasons. First, it's because I have to hear more stories about how he is dating Brady Quinn's sister. He of Notre Dame QB fame. That's a big who cares. Secondly, he could hurt our starting quarterback(s) early. Lastly, I can't stand to hear people say Buckeyes! everytime he makes a tackle. Sheesh.
I'm running out of time here, and you guys need to get back to work. So let me wrap this post up. I'll be back with some quick hits on each pick before the end of the day (work willing) - and be sure to check back on Monday when we compare our mock draft to the real draft.
Finally, I'd be curious to see who everyone thinks was the steal of our draft. Get your votes in. Drop me a note or a comment right here.
Thanks again to all our GMs. We hope to see you again next year!