Can’t make it to The Machine’s Draft Day Party?  Well, that sucks for you.  But have no fear…we got your back.  “How can I make the Draft better?”, you ask yourself in amazement.  By playing The Big Red Sports Machine’s Draft Day Drinking Game.  It’s fun, it’s easy, guaranteed to impress the ladies, and you can play at home or at your favorite watering hole.  Here are the rules:

1. Draft catchphrases.  There are certain phrases you only hear during the Draft.  Why?  We don’t know, but we love them.  For this reason alone, we give ESPN the slight lean over the NFL Network for your Draft Day coverage.  That, and, Kiper.  Duh, winning!

The following phrases are worth a shot of beer:

• Raw talent
• Off-the-field/Character issues
• Live arm
• High motor
• Straight line speed
• Great Value/Upside
• Dual threat
• System quarterback
• Pocket presence
• Best player available
• Intangibles or Measurables
• War Room
• New Regime
• Edge Rusher
• Gets to the Second Level
• Quick feet
• Plays in Space
• Silky hips
• Thick frame
• Plays in the box (hey oh!)
• Backside protector (hey oh!)
• Generational talent
• Hybrid

2.  Videos/references.  Each of these are beer-finishing worthy:

• Reference to Mel’s hair
• Video of Goodell’s basement
• Player with matching suit and mask
• First shot of Drew Rosenhaus in his newest client’s living room
• First player to cry when their name is called
• Reference to when Tom Brady was drafted (we’ll also accept Brady’s Combine picture)
• Reference to Aaron Rodgers draft day slide
• Video of Bill Tobin’s infamous “who the hell is Mel Kiper?” interview during the ’94 Draft
• And this:

3.  On the Clock Chug.  When your team is on the clock, you have to finish a full beer before the pick is called (shot of Jim Beam also acceptable). Note: if your team trades down, they’re on the clock twice, meaning two full beers. Cowboy up, it’s the Draft!

Basically, if it doesn’t look like this, you’re doing it wrong.

Or this:

Yes, only Version 2.0…we’re only 5+ hours from the draft, plenty of time for last-minute adjustments and/or inflammatory social media posts/pictures aimed at dropping prospect grades. So, for now…

I guess we’ll hold serve with Walker, the betting favorite, to be selected by the Jags. The Texans draft protection for Davis Mills and whomever the selected #1 in next years draft. I can’t buy the Thibodeaux slide. He’s a solid player/prospect at a premium position and fills an enormous need for Gang Green. I think the Panthers would love to trade down a few spots, grab a second round pick (they don’t have a second or third round pick this year…. there’s a reason bad teams stay bad) and still pick one of the QBs. If they thought Mayfield or Jimmy-G were an upgrade to Darnold they’d already have made the move. They should be able to find an upgrade to OL on Day 3 (but there definitely isn’t a plug and play QB available that late). Derrick Stingley is my top corner and I’m sticking to it!

Really wasn’t expecting a Charles Cross slide, as I think he could could make a ton of sense for the Giant or Panthers, but that’s just how the board fell. Saints get a gift.

There are a ton of quality WR’s in this draft. Given the market recent that occurred this offseason, it makes sense to get cost controlled help at the position. Dallas quietly has a ton of needs (OL, DL, WR)…gotta love watching Jerry drive that franchise into the ground. Crash and burn.

The Bills prepare for life after Jordan Poyer (and Rachel Bush!). I don’t buy the Breece Hall love. Cine will player a joker role on defense this year, while taking a starting safety job in 2023.

This entire draft will be wild, but picks 24-32 will be all over the place. The Lions take advantage of the 5th year option and potential draft the best QB in this class. Low risk, high reward at pick 32.

Cleveland rocks!……………….

Four QB’s in the Top-10 (with Mac Jones slipping in the draft – someone will!). Value meets (desperate) need as the Cowboys take 3 second to phone in their pick. I’ve had Big Blue taking Waddle and Slater, but both were off the board, so they grab an Edge defender.

I love the player-team pairings for picks 13-17. Washington is a sneaky team to trade into the Top-10 for a QB. The cupboard is awfully bare after AJ Brown, Moore gives the Titans offense some juice.

While the Steelers will be tempted with Najee Harris staring them in the face, their offensive line is a wreak, they need to walk away with two OL starters this weekend. Hard to believe the Ravens don’t burn one of their first round picks on a WR, but there are plenty of Day 2 options available for them; Greg Newsome this late was too hard to pass up. Welp, I was going to give Aaron Rodgers a new toy, but Draft Day rumors have it that A-Rod might not be long for GB. Get your popcorn ready, indeed! Well Bills Mafia, I gave us an edge rusher. Oweh can play in sub-packages this year and (hopefully) put some pressure on the QB, and who knows, maybe even get a sack! The plan would be to develop him into a starter for next year when Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison hit free agency.

It’s mock draft Monday! And not just any Monday, Draft Week Monday! The Ravens now hold two first round picks after their trade with the Chiefs. Speaking of trades, pick No. 7 is an ideal spot for a team looking to trade up to grab the fourth QB off the board. Even though the Falcons would love to move back and draft defenders, teams know the Bengals and Dolphins are no threat to draft a quarterback, so a jump to 7 (in front the Broncos) is the play. Of course, the Broncos know this too, and they haven’t exactly been quiet in their pursuit of a QB this offseason. So I’ve got the Broncos and Lions swapping picks. With that, here is my final mock draft before my final mock draft…..

I think we’ll get a little clarity (like an hour before the draft) on the Niners preference. There is so much smoke, I just can’t buy the Mac Jones hype. Missing out on Chase & Pitts can’t be what the Dolphins envisioned when they moved back up to 6 (moving down was great; but blindly moving back to 6 was dumb). At least they snag a familar playmaker for Tua.

If Gettlemen trades back I’ll drink Ginger Kings beamers the rest of the night! Not. Going. To. Happen. Slater is versatile enough to play multiple positions along the line. I think the range for Devonta Smith is 12 – 16, which is ironically exactly the range of weight he needs to gain to survive in the league. I’m really liking the Vikings-Phillips pairing.

I know I said it in my previous mock, but JOK & Zaven Collins are really fun linebackers to watch as they fly around, cover, and blitz. Modern day LBs. Parsons, whom is a no question top-10 talent, stumbles due to off the field concerns and questions around his work ethic. I’m sold on the Steelers taking OL and this pick could have easily been Dickerson’s line mate, Alex Leatherwood.

GB please please please draft Elijah Moore! I’m really close to mocking Travis Etienne to the Bills. Both of these guys would add some serious juice to those offense and make them even more of a nightmare to defend. But the Bills really need someone that can create pressure (didn’t say sacks) off the edge. Oweh has all the physical tools. Joe Tryon is a first round pick.

We are officially single digit days until the draft! I lost count with how many variations I mocked with Mock Draft Simulator, but I really liked how this 2.0 version is shaping up. I’m close to locking in the top-10 and the second half of the first round is coming into more clarity….

The only change from my first mock in the top-8 is the Lions grabbing Surtain in lieu of Parsons. Part of me feels like Dan Campbell is going to pound the table to draft only linemen and linebackers, but grabbing the last blue-chip prospect on the board is the smart play. I’m not sure why the Dolphins were so eager to jump back into the top-10 pre-draft, but there must be someone they’ve got their eye on and Chase is a bonafide WR1.

I can’t get off Big Blue adding Waddle to that offense. Golladay, Shepard, Engram, Waddle and Barkley. Danny Dimes or bust! Feels like Parsons could slip a bit due to being a scumbag off the field, but likely gets scooped up by one of the teams picking 14-16. This is also the range I have Mac Jones (he made it!) and Devonta Smith slipping too. Dude, Devonta can be both tough as nails and tiny. This ain’t the SEC folks, you want to spend a premium pick to bet that a 170-lbs WR holds up in the NFL?! Be my guest.

The Raiders and Redskins (sue me) both desperately need linebackers; Koramoah and Collins are ballers. These two LBs push for DROY in my book. I’m off the Bears taking a WR, the need at CB is greater and Newsome has the makings of a great boundary corner. The Colts go back to the Notre Dame well of offensive linemen as it worked out for them last time.

Barmore and the Jags makes too much sense. Someone is going to medically clear Farley, and if they are patient and let him heal they’ll have a hell of a corner on their hands. The Ravens, Saints and Packers all inject some much needed life into their receiving corps. The Bills have an edge rusher fall into their lap (actually have their pick between Ojulari and Rousseau. The Georgia Bulldog is a bit more polished). The Chiefs draft board consists of only Offensive Tackles.

Late to the game?! More like now the party can start! Question: How are all your pre-free agency mock drafts looking now? Answer: Hot garbage. Ginger King already covered why we hold back the urge to post mocks until after the first few waves of free agency. Not only that, scouting is more of a bitch than ever this year…no combine, skewed pro day results…thanks COVID! Anyways, after you’ve taken a peak at the wreckage below make sure to check out NFLMockDraftDatabase to craft your own mock. Onward….

I just can’t see 5 QB’s going in the Top 10 this year, somebody inevitably takes the Aaron Rodgers – Lamar Jackson tumble and my money is overwhelmingly unspectacular Mac Jones (and spoiler alert he isn’t even in the first round of my mock! That kind of feels like a mistake, as he’ll probably get scooped up later in the first, but I’m not projecting trades here).

The one reason I keep coming back to Justin Fields to the Niners: he’s really fucking good. Like, the Jets should take him at #2 good. Kyle Pitts is a mismatch nightmare and in play anywhere from 4-10. The Dolphins are quietly building a powerhouse (I just threw up a bit in my mouth), but it’s all for naught if Tua busts.

Feels like the Raiders backed themselves into a corner and have to rebuild the OL in this draft. Two of my personal favorite fits are Bateman to the Bears and Cosmi to the Colts. Nice alliterations too! Washington not selecting a team name is such a Dan Synder move; self-entitled whinny bitch!

A worse-case scenario for the Bills, as the top Edge rushers get snatched up before their pick. Dickerson is solid C/G depth and the not too distant replacement for Mitch Morse.

And with that Mock 1.0 is in the books! Check back often as the Machine is just getting started!

It’s that time of year! The Machine is vaccinated and ready to mock. Where have we been, you ask? You’ve already looked at several mock drafts. Kiper’s on his 4th??? As a refresher, we’ll start with our usual reminder:

We know…there’s nothing sexier than looking at mock drafts. However, like a good Catholic, you need to resist temptation and wait until marriage. In this case, marriage is free agency. The Draft is shaped by free agency…and also trades, as we’ve seen several trades already, with teams moving into the Top 10 (Niners), moving out of the Top 10 (Eagles), and moving out of and then back into the Top 10 (Miami). With that said, here’s our first mock…check back often, as we’ll start to ramp thing up as we get closer to the big day.

Also, this year we hooked up with the NFL Mock Draft Simulator (a great way to spend an afternoon). Check them out https://www.nflmockdraftdatabase.com/

Now, on to the show.

The Top 2, and probably 3, are locked in. Atlanta’s a tough one to read…if QBs go 1, 2, and, 3, they could get an offer they can’t refuse from a real QB needy team (I see you Denver). Or they could take a stud WR like Ja’Marr Chase and give it another go with Matt Ryan. Smart money would be to draft Fields (we have him ranked ahead of Mac Jones) and let him learn from Matt Ryan. Elsewhere, Carolina, who just acquired Sam Darnold (many “expert” pre-free agency mocks had them locked on drafting a QB – see embedded tweet above) give him something he never had in New York, a true left tackle in Rashawn Slater.

The Giants, thanks to free agency, can go in a number of directions. They need to build up their offensive line, and would love it if Rashawn Slater were available. If not, if Kyle Pitts is on the board, he should be the pick. He would help with blocking, and also give Daniel Jones another weapon. Philly trades down and still ends up with Jaylen Waddle. Miami should have their pick of edge rushers and 18, and we love the upside Kwity Paye offers.

Heading to the end of the first round, this draft has a ton of depth at receiver. We have 7 (8 if you include Pitts) in the first round, but that number could easily be 9 or 10. Maybe we’re partial to Elis from Ole Miss…but we love Elijah Moore. Seriously, check out some tape. He will provide instant fire power to the (perpetually inept) Jets offense. Also, the Jags will want to surround Trevor with instant playmakers, and Kadarius Toney will give them a nice 1-2 punch.