Former Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert was known for discussing the team’s first-round draft strategy in a way that seemingly removed the other 31 teams in the league from the equation. The day before the draft, for example, they would conduct their own self-mock in which they select player after player that they would draft, in order, up to their own pick.
Doing so, Colbert found over the years, gave them the clearest picture of exactly what they want to do. If a number of players they had selected were still available when their pick was up, for example, it might tempt them to trade down.