I am a bit out of touch with what good (non-subscription) draft sites are out there - I like walterfootball as (whatever you think of the quality of his analysis) at least he is active and his site is updated regularly. I was also hoping to track down some good NFL draft mags (I know they are quickly out of date but I like to hoard them) but with PFW going bust I am not too sure which ones are still going (I am in the UK so cant just head down to the store). Any pointers gratefully received.
Unlike many on here, I really like reading the drafts done by Bleacher Report. They are usually fairly accurate and they have good reasons as to why they chose the picks they did. People usually shit on them, but they have been on par with Walter Football.
nfldraftcountdown.com is one that I look at. draftdaddy.com is one that I looked at in the past, not in a few years though.
cornerblitz.com? Just posted my running back rankings: (full-text for each ranked player on the site) RankNameSchoolPositionHeightWeightRound 1Bishop SankeyWashingtonRB5'10"2032 2Carlos HydeOhio StateRB6'0"2352 3Lache SeastrunkBaylorRB5'9"2103 4James WhiteWisconsinRB5'9"2063 5Devonta FreemanFlorida StateRB5'8"2033 6Jeremy HillLSURB6'1"2354 7Terrance WestTowsonRB5'11"2234 8Tre MasonAuburnRB5'9"2054 9Isaiah CrowellAlabama StateRB5'11"2154 10Adam MuemaSan Diego StateRB5'10"2055 11Marion GriceArizona StateRB6'0"2075 12Charles SimsWest VirginiaRB6'0"2145 13Antonio AndrewsWestern KentuckyRB5'10"2255 14Ka'Deem CareyArizonaRB5'10"2076 15Branden OliverBuffaloRB5'7"2087 16Storm JohnsonUCFRB6'0"2157 17Andre WilliamsBoston CollegeRB6'0"2277 18Tyler GaffneyStanfordRB6'0"2267 19Jerick McKinnonGeorgia SouthernRB5'9"209 20De'Anthony ThomasOregonRB5'9"170 21Jerome SmithSyracuseRB5'11"226 22Kapri BibbsColorado StateRB5'11"203
Good sites? All a draft site is one or more, person's opinion, which is fine. Most Fans just go to draft sites and get their opinions of players from these so called draft experts. Instead of concentrating on reading draft sites I would suggest watching and study College Football on a regular basis. Pull up some film on a player and study his game. Watch College games on Saturday and keep notes on players that look like they can be successful in the NFL. I could careless what Scott Wright thinks, I base my findings on watching players thru out their college career. I understand some people don't have the time to devote to watching College Football. For me, it's a passion and I love the whole process of watching College kids and how they project to the NFL. Most casual NFL draft fans just go to web sites and base their opinions on what others have already printed.
Personally, I wouldn't waste my time on draftdaddy.com. I've posted on a couple of sites where bitonti posts and he's way off base most of the time.
I agree. As far as I know, no former NFL GMs or scouts run these scouting websites. If I'm wrong and one or some of them are, my first question would be why he's not still working in the NFL unless he's retirement age and just doing it for fun. It's just some guy like us with a passion, the money, time, and an opinion. They're no better than the sports media who "should" be knowledgeable because that's their job, but as we know, most aren't.
I agree, the best is always to watch on your own and form your own opinions. Sometimes they can offer new insights or discussion points. That's what I try to do with mine... my biggest complaint is so many of these sites just copycat each other and I don't understand the point. Last year I got a lot of criticism for my mock draft because it was so different than all the other ones that were out there, but I don't think you can find one on the net that turned out better than my final 7-rounder.
I tend not to worry too much what others think, it's their opinion, just like mine. I took some heat for having Beckham going #18. I at least try to justify my reasoning for my opinions. I respect other's opinions who give me a specific reason they feel that way, even if we disagree. What I can stand is people on message boards that post for the sake of posting, no reasoning, no facts and no knowledge of the subject. I agree, many sites just regurgitate material and everyone thinks it must be correct. It's just a product of the the internet.
I have no real access to College Football being in the UK - I used to watch some when I had a sub to ESPN America but that isn't available to me at the moment. Plus I like a good draft site, sorry.
Big fan of nfldraftcountdown as well. I remember reading an article a couple yrs ago that ranked how accurate all of these sites mock drafts were. His was continually in the top 5.
