An Analysis of 36 Recent Mock Drafts - Picks 1-8

[KB_fan]

One remaining piece of analysis I'd like to do with this data is break it down by position.  (It will then be interesting to compare the perceived value by position in the mock drafts, with the actual results of the draft).

Most importantly though for us Panthers fans, we want to know is whether any QBs will get picked before #8, increasing the chance that a player we really like (someone like Adams or Fournette perhaps) could fall to us at #8.

While I've not finished the analysis for other positions, I have looked at the QB data.  

Of particular interest, I see a trend that more mock drafts in the past 7-10 days are including QBs in picks 1 - 7:

In all 36 drafts, at least 1 QB was selected with picks 1 - 7 in 16 of the mock drafts (44% of the time).  But look at this:

• Prior to April 7, the % of mock drafts taking a QB early was only 40%.
• Since April 7th, however, 11 of 21 mock drafts (52%) have one or more QBs being selected prior to the Panthers pick.  That's a nice trend for Panthers' fans!

[Catufb85]

9 hours ago, KB_fan said:

So Huddle, if these mocks are right, the players likely off the board before we pick are:

• Garrett
• Hooker
• Thomas
• Adams
• Lattimore
• Allen
• Fournette

Who would you pick in that case? 

Personally I'd go with Howard or McCaffrey, or possibly trade down so a team can pick a QB.  Barnett would also be on the board, but I'm not convinced he's BPA in this scenario.

I expect though that there WILL be jockeying for at least 1 QB, if not 2 in picks 1 - 7.... so this could well change in our favor.  Stay tuned.

In this case I agree I would go Howard, McCaffrey, or trade down into teens for a QB needy team and could still possibly get McCaffrey or one of the top WR or DE left.

[KB_fan]

Not much time to post more until tonight my time, but here's a breakdown of the popularity of picks by position in these 36 mock drafts:  This INCLUDES Panthers pick at #8.

I didn't try to separate out DE/DT as it's hard to know where Jonathan Allen fits...

Here's what it looks like pick by pick, by position:

The cells in green represent the position most frequently mocked at each pick.  The light blue cells are the 2nd or 3rd most popular positions at each of the 1st 8 picks.  (note, while team names are shown, I've not accounted for trades.  This analysis shows what position goes off the board at each pick, regardless of which team is drafting.  In *most* cases it is the team shown.  There weren't so many of the 36 mock drafts that had a lot of trades showsn.)

[Ace_Aladdin]

10 hours ago, KB_fan said:

So Huddle, if these mocks are right, the players likely off the board before we pick are:

• Garrett
• Hooker
• Thomas
• Adams
• Lattimore
• Allen
• Fournette

Who would you pick in that case? 

Personally I'd go with Howard or McCaffrey, or possibly trade down so a team can pick a QB.  Barnett would also be on the board, but I'm not convinced he's BPA in this scenario.

I expect though that there WILL be jockeying for at least 1 QB, if not 2 in picks 1 - 7.... so this could well change in our favor.  Stay tuned.

2 QBs are going to be gone in top 10