A word about mocks

[Mr. Scot]

I'd guess pretty much everybody already knows that mocks prior to Free Agency don't mean much. But this year, we have a new GM. And one who has a stated purpose to set us up pre-draft so that drafting for need isn't necessary.

The vast majority of mocks being posted now are pretty clearly need-based in their projections. If - and it's very much an 'if' at this point - Gettleman succeeds, then need-based mocking will be the wrong approach for this team.

Still a lot of time between now and April, but if you're evaluating a mock or writing one of your own, I'd say think BPA.

[carolina-chuck]

BPA? Vaccaro come on down!

[nagai]

Dude, multiple-round mocks done have always been inaccurate even in approach.

Here's the average poster's idea of a mock:

Take the team's biggest needs, say, OL, DT, CB and WR this year, match our picks with DT's, CB's etc. who are projected to go there. So for example,

1. Johnathan Cooper

2. Brandon Williams

4. Tyrann Mathieu... etc.

But in reality good teams just don't draft like that. Forget Gettleman's BPA philosophy, we didn't even draft for need like that under Hurney. A more realistic mock would be something like:

1. BPA DE

2. Guard with good value

4. Random BPA TE

5. Special teams guy and project S

It's gonna be all over the place, and that's how it should be. In many years we didn't even draft our biggest need. Most people thought DT was the biggest need last year, look how that turned up. When Minter retired, we had NO ONE at either safety spot and we didn't draft one till the 7th round. The draft just doesn't unfold in a neat and predictable way, so the VAST majority of the draft is BPA. You really think your 4th round DT is gonna be the next Kevin Williams? It's hard enough just finding a starter there! But that's exactly what posters don't understand; they don't get the wisdom behind just picking for talent. Every time someone posts a multi-round mock, I get the urge to tell them they're just wrong. Not wrong in terms of the picks, because nobody knows where anyone will get draft, wrong in terms of approach. They don't understand the draft in any meaningful way at all.

But then when I think about it, they're never gonna change. So now whenever I see one of those mocks, I just take it as a chance to talk about prospects, rather than a legitimate prediction.

[carolina-chuck]

Vaccaro! Vaccaro! Vaccaro!!!!!!

[Manos]

Vaccaro! Vaccaro! Vaccaro!!!!!!

Not to derail the thread but can you please explain what the deal with Vaccaro is. I keep hearing people talk about him but I don't get why. Maybe I haven't seen the proper videos but what i have seen the guy was just meh. Not saying he is terrible but from what I've seen I don't see the 14th pick in the draft.

[carolina-chuck]

Not to derail the thread but can you please explain what the deal with Vaccaro is. I keep hearing people talk about him but I don't get why. Maybe I haven't seen the proper videos but what i have seen the guy was just meh. Not saying he is terrible but from what I've seen I don't see the 14th pick in the draft.

Well, me too. I'm just living with the hype put on him lol.

But FS is probably our biggest need and Vaccaro do luckily play that position. He is an extremely good cover FS. Can cover both WR and TE. Can also player the nickle, dime where ever you put him at.

A good ball hawker and solid tackler. Only knock on him is that he takes bad angles too much. But he can def be your Earl Thomas. Really solidify our secondary for years.

Even though the Bucs secondary was one of the worst last year, we saw how much Barron made a difference for them. Vaccaro can be that guy that force the opponents to give up the long passing plays.

He def is worth the 14 pick! He could even go earlier.