2023 Off-Season Mock Drafts: Pre-Combine Compare and Contrast

A week ago, for the first time in this series, I looked at a real-life mock draft. Following that draft, I wanted to see how a mock using DLF's Mock Draft Simulator Tool would compare to the results from an actual mock with human participants. So, I set up the mock draft simulator with the same settings as the real-person mock: a 12-team, superflex, PPR, rookie draft.

This will be my final mock draft article prior to when the NFL Combine impacts the entire rookie landscape, so it will be interesting to compare these results again in a few weeks after we see who over - and under - performs in Indianapolis.

I will be referencing last week's draft quite a bit. If you want to check back and forth and see how it played out, you can use this link to the article. Now, let's see how everything played out.

ROUND One

Not a shocker, but once again, at the top, Bijan Robinson went 1.01. Nobody in recent memory has been more locked in at first overall than him. In the real-person draft, the top-six picks were the top two running backs and top-four quarterbacks. Here, with the simulator, we saw two receivers squeeze into the top-six picks. The big "faller" was Anthony Richardson, who I was able to get at 1.09.

When real drafts roll around, I suspect we'll see things play out more like last week's draft as opposed to what results we got here. Richardson is likely going to put on a show at the combine, and as his potential draft hype gains steam, he's going to keep climbing. Richardson has the highest upside among this year's top signal-callers, so landing him with the ninth picks would be a godsend. I already like the start of this draft more than last week's.

Once the top two running backs and three receivers were gone, I really had no other option here anyway. To many, there is a clear top nine in superflex drafts. No matter how it ends up shaking out in picks one through eight, you should be happy with whoever you land at 1.09, and you have the perk of not wasting any energy making a decision, you just grab the best guy not already taken.

After my pick, the simulator went with Michael Mayer, Kayshon Boutte, and Zach Evans - none of whom went in the first in last week's draft.