Why Mock Drafts Fail

We've all seen them and we as writer-bloggers have all held them. I've done more than I'd like to in an entire lifetime.

I'm talking about "mock" drafts. They're ALWAYS, without exception, WRONG.

Why?

Real-time Panthers Fan Reactions to the Kelvin Benjamin Pick

This draft has been anything but predictable.  Check the C3 crew's real-time reaction to the +Carolina Panthers 1st Rd selection, Kelvin Benjamin.

Round One has the Usual Surprises - Here are the Ones I See

FINALLY the much-hyped first round of the NFL draft is done with! David Gettleman selected Kelvin Benjamin, a very raw but very big talent from last year's national championship team, the FSU Seminoles.

Now, heads turn to rounds 2-3 this evening at 7 pm. Carolina drafts at numbers 2-60 and 3-92 after a wild, strange round one. It seems like every draft, we make our "mocks" which are always ALWAYS wrong, but do serve several purposes: They're informative as to team needs and illustrative of overall thoughts about the talent level of the players involved. There are always some surprises and and some head-scratchers.

Let's take a look at some of the more surprising choices as I see them:

C3 Live Carolina Panthers Draft Party!

C3's inaugural NFL Draft Party.  The crew, with special guests, will commentate the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft.  All NFL fans are welcome.  All Panther fans will be at home!  

Panthers Pick Kelvin Benjamin pt 4/4

Panthers Draft Party pt. 1/4

Panthers Draft Party pt. 2/4

Panthers Draft Party pt. 3/4

Hold Up, the Bucs Ain't Champs Yet! A Pre-Draft Evaluation of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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There's been a lot made of the Tampay Bay’s offseason free agency activity, especially hiring of Coach Lovie Smith.  The media had fawned over these additions, some already deeming the Buc’s the new division leader.  It has been busy offseason for Tampa with 17 total new faces on the roster. While there have been heaps of praise, I don’t think there has been enough coverage free agent departures and problems with important components of the team’s roster. Here's a couple of issues I see pre-draft for the Buc’s.

Defense:

Secondary: Tampa is playing 3 strong safeties without a true free safety. Dshon Goldson, Major Wright, and Mark Barron all have issues in coverage and are best playing in the box. I’m interested to see how they fit in a Tampa 2 base defense. The newly added Alterraun Verner is a good solid corner who fits the Tampa 2 defense, but he's not an upgrade over Revis. 

Big questions also loom with Mike Jenkins, Jonthan Banks, and Michael Johnson.

Linebackers: Tampa has an excellent outside linebacker in Lavonte David, but then what? Mason Foster is horrible in coverage. This position has to be addressed in the draft.  I’m guessing this will be a position Tampa Bay will look to upgrade in the draft given Lovie’s history with beast linebackers in the middle, such as Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs.

Defensive line: Consisting of Gerald McCoy, Clinton McDonald, Michael Johnson, Da’Quan Bowers, and Adrian Clayborn, this line is a mixed bag of goods. McCoy is an outstanding player, but what about the rest?  Big name free agent, Michael Johnson, was brought to shore of last year’s lack of defensive push. Johnson showed promise in 2012 compiling 11.5 sacks with the Cincinnati Bengals, but that figure dropped to a mere 3.5 sacks in 2013. The Bengals do one of the league’s premier pass rushers in Geno Atkins, so it's not like Johnson didn't have help. It unclear why his production dropped so dramatically.  Some think Johnson should flourish in Lovie’sdefense, but we haven’t seen much consistency yet from the league’s, now, 4th highest paid defensive player. McDonald, a backup defensive tackle for Seattle, had 5.5 sacks last season. He could be valuable in passing situations. Bowers has yet to live up to his acclaimed draft status, and Clayborn’s future with the Bucs is a question.

Offense:

Who Do the Carolina Panthers Have in Jerricho Cotchery?

Who Do the Carolina Panthers Have?

Part 1: Jerricho Cotchery

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Much to do has been made of who the Panthers lost this offseason.  The exodus of Panther staples, such as Steve Smith, Jordan Gross, and Captain Munnerlyn has left fans uncertain. The uncertainty of the unknown has caused fans to flail for something to help them get their bearings, particularly on the offensive side of the roster. 

This is part one of a series meant to explore Carolina’s unknown, well less known anyway.  The series will first focus on the Panthers’ unknown receiver core because that has been the greatest cause of fan angst. Followed by an analysis of offensive additions, we’ll look at new, but more familiar, defensive players, such as Roman Harper, Antoine Casson, and Thomas Decoud. Fans need to know who we have to understand what we need.  The series will conclude with a who we added group of articles, producing the final product of: 

Who the Panthers have, who did they add, and what do they got? Let’s look at some of those mysterious wide receivers first!

Jerricho Cotchery: Panther fans, welcome back a familiar star! The

C3 Broadcast: Don't Mock the Draft Decide It!

Tonight @6 pm!  It's the Last Mock.  The Mock that Broke Google!

+Cat Chronicles has partnered with Drafttek.com expert analyst, Erin Ford, to bring you the premiere, fan focused, Carolina Panther draft mock up--DON'T MOCK THE DRAFT, DECIDE IT!  This was  massive 14 phase project, where fans chose the position drafted in each round and the the player the the Panthers should draft in that round. After PantherNation drafted their guy, Drafttek.com Panther analyst Erin Ford provided a custom player profile and draft analysis for each draft choice.  This was 14 phase process, where you controlled the discussion--because without the fans, football is just a kids game!