Last year, I finally put together a mock draft filled with the worst possible picks for every NFL team. My purpose was to troll every single fan base (or at least as many as possible). However, a funny thing happened along the way. I kind of got a few things right. By accident, of course. For example, I gave the Jacksonville Jaguars the No. 1 overall pick and had them select Trevor Lawrence, passing on Justin Fields. That pick looks genius now … or stupid. One or the other. Maybe both.
Regardless, I’m back this year to make terrible picks for every single team. But the point of this mock draft is that the picks have to be realistic as well. To illustrate how outrageous this exercise is not, let’s remember that the Oakland Raiders once took JaMarcus Russell with the first overall pick in a draft that featured Calvin Johnson and Adrian Peterson, two can’t-miss prospects who are now Hall of Famers. Russell was drafted right in front of Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco (and Jake Locker was taken in front of Flacco too). The Cleveland Browns drafted Brady Quinn over Aaron Rodgers … and still went to a Super Bowl in spite of themselves.
Even Bill Belichick took Chad Jackson instead of Reggie Bush, or even Steve Smith. Stop pretending your favorite NFL team makes the right decisions on draft night. NFL teams do stupid things all the time. Come join me on a voyage of bad decisions!
For more draft coverage, you can hear in-depth analysis twice a week on “With the First Pick” — our year-round podcast with analyst Ryan Wilson and former general manager Rick Spielman. You can find “With the First Pick” wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, etc.
