There was a time when the only real NFL mock draft that counted arrived via the mailbox. Mel Kiper predicted the first round of the draft in his NFL Draft Report, a yearly book first published in 1979 that analyzed college prospects and team needs.
It ceased publication in 2014. Oh, that the mock drafts would have followed. Instead, they proliferated, like the guy at the bar who orders “just one more” and never leaves.
What once was a nice, fun idea pursued by several draftniks like Kiper and beat guys in their own newspapers has turned into the Griswolds’ Christmas house and everyone is Chevy Chase.