How mock drafts tell us the story of what the NFL thinks of prospects

We are 62 days away from the 2017 NFL Draft, mock drafts are the rage, in both a positive and negative manner of speaking and people tend to not understand their usefulness.

While mock drafts are an exercise for many, if you follow the bigger names, you can learn about what the NFL thinks on prospects.

When Blake Murphy dropped his mock yesterday, it was met with some interesting feedback, Patrick Mahomes II is not worth a first round pick, Jarrad Davis? that is a reach.

Well, follow along on a story if you don’t mind.

Matt Miller, one of the bigger draft names and someone not behind a pay site, has all his mock drafts available from last year. I have access to Mel Kiper and Todd McShay, but that asks too much in terms of copying and pasting.

Here is Miller’s first mock of 2016.

First, no Carson Wentz. Second... No Sheldon Rankins... Third... Well you get the point.

Fast forward one month, and look who is getting picked second overall.

Who wasn’t in that mock draft?

Karl Joseph? Nope. Keanu Neal? Nah. What about Artie Burns or William Jackson III.

After the combine, still none of those players in that mock.

In Miller’s final mock, three of the four players made their first appearance.

What happened? Did they get better? No, the media is getting their information, which in turn gives you, the fans more information.

You know who didn’t go in the first round?

Mackensie Alexander who was mocked early in the first.

Noah Spence.

Myles Jack, even with the injury concerns, he showed he wasn’t a top five player like some, most, were billing him.

If you follow along, they give you the information they have. When they rank players it is a combination of what they see and what they are hearing. That is how big boards vary from edition to edition.

Remember, as you read through mocks and rankings. They are sharing the information they have, not necessarily the information that the NFL wants us to know.

Oh and by the way. Kiper or McShay have mocked Davis to the Cardinals, so the NFL may know more than you think.