By now, if you are anything like me, you have probably looked at thousands of NFL mock drafts. Ok, that may be a bit of a stretch but you certainly get the point.
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That being said, the latest mock draft I stumbled across on NFL.com will have you rethinking everything you thought you knew about the upcoming NFL Draft. At least it sure had my head spinning for a while until I came to my senses!
This particular mock was put together by Cynthia Frelund, who is an NFL Network analytics expert, so she was obviously looking at a bunch of fancy numbers and statistics as she came to a conclusion for each pick.
Here is a brief explanation as to how Frelund came up with each pick.
“My analytics-based mock is based solely on a contextual, data-driven model that aims to do one thing: maximize each team’s potential to win as many games as possible in 2019.
So, before you read any further, take note: I am NOT attempting to predict or divine what teams will ACTUALLY DO on draft day. This is not meant to predict how the draft will play out in reality. Rather, I am using this model to, again, examine what teams should do if winning the most games in 2019 is their only goal.”
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That being said, the first surprise came with the very first pick of the mock. The consensus in Mock Draft world right now is that the Arizona Cardinals will select Kyler Murray with the No. 1 pick. Well, Frelund has the Cardinals selecting DT Quinnen Williams, which is not a huge stretch but what does seem to be a stretch is that she had Murray going all the way down at No. 13 to the Miami Dolphins.
Here are some of the other picks that caught me off guard.
No. 2 San Francisco (CB – Deandre Baker)
No. 14 Atlanta (DT – Ed Oliver)
No. 15 Washington (Edge – Montez Sweat)
No. 26 Indianapolis (Edge – Brian Burns)
No. 32 New England Patriots (QB – Dwayne Haskins)
As far as the Detroit Lions go, Frelund as then selecting CB Greedy Williams with the No. 8 overall pick. This pick surprises me to some extent (I certainly would not be thrilled with the decision) as Williams has seemed to slide down many boards as of late.
To see the full analytics-based mock draft, please click here.
