Mock draft

Mock draft is a term used by sports websites and magazines in reference to a simulation of a sports league draft or fantasy sports league's draft.

Mock drafts for the NFL Draft or other league drafts are very popular in magazines and online. ESPN has run mock drafts on the front page of its website, allowing any visitor to vote towards a specific team's choice.

Mock drafts are often found to be helpful to fans because they allow them to speculate on which members of the collegiate ranks will join the fan's favorite team. They are also often useful to general managers because they may help them to estimate which players will be available at a particular point in the draft.

There are many Internet and television analysts that are considered experts in this field and can give the fans the best gauge of where players are expected to go in drafts. Although mock drafts are created in nearly every sport, they are most commonplace in the NFL. Mel Kiper and Todd McShay of ESPN and Mike Mayock of the NFL Network are considered television experts on the NFL Draft. Scott Wright of DraftCountdown.com, Walter Cherepinksy of WalterFootball.com Michael Abromowitz of TheFootballExpert.com, Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News, James Alder of Football.about.com, the members of the Saint Francis Mock Draft Club and Rob Rang of NFL Draft Scout are considered Internet experts in this field.

Although nobody can be in the minds of a sports general manager, these analysts are often considered to have the most information and give the fans of the sports league they are covering the most accurate information relating to their field.

Fantasy Sports Mock Drafts

Mock drafts are practice fantasy sports drafts. Before a league's draft takes place, mock drafts are a way to practice before someone's pride and/or money are on the line. Participating in a mock draft alerts fantasy players to real players that are going higher or lower than you expected. Savvy fantasy sports players also monitor the results of these drafts for trends and to see where players are being taken to get a feel for each player's value [as shown in the Average Draft Position (or ADP) from multiple mock drafts].

"Die-hard participants are set to engage in this activity throughout the summer as part of an evaluation process to gauge player values before drafting for real." ^[1]