Was at a party over the weekend and a couple of Cowboys fans were fired up about the NFL Draft.
Said one to the other, "Yeah but in one mock draft…"
Again I was reminded just how silly football’s offseason has become. The Scouting Combine where teams measure rookies’ vertical leap and inquire about their sexual orientation. OTAs where players practice in shorts and t-shirts. And, ah yes, the foolishness of the mock draft.
Look, by definition the adjective "mock" is "not authentic or real, but without the intention to deceive." In other words, be amused and entertaining by them. But, please, not informed.
Thanks to the Internet, there are more mock drafts these days then are draftable rookies. For example, someone named Daniel Jeremiah has his own mock draft over at the NFL Network. I’m sure Jeremiah is a hard-working guy who tries to do his homework for the league’s flagship network.
But last week he appeared on ESPN Radio and – I swear – justified his latest mock draft in which he predicted the Cowboys would take Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa thusly:
"I talked to somebody that said they were sitting next to Stephen Jones in a restaurant and heard him talking a lot about Joey Bosa," told his radio audience. "That's probably not something that you, as a reporter, can go with, but when you're putting some of these mock drafts together, dog gone it, it’s good enough for me."
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In other words, a grain of salt is way too much of an investment for a mock draft. Dog gone it.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
