There are mock drafts that have Sam Darnold going first overall to the Browns, mock drafts that have Darnold going third overall to the Jets, and mock drafts that have some other team trading up to get Darnold at No. 2. But Darnold wouldn’t know.
Darnold said this morning on PFT Live that he doesn’t look at mock drafts and thinks the whole concept is maddening.
“I haven’t looked at mock drafts,” Darnold said. “If I looked at those a lot I think I would drive myself insane. With the draft coming up I’m just trying to spend time with my family and close friends. There’s so many mock drafts out there I haven’t been able to keep up with them.”
Darnold’s approach is the smart one: Mock drafts are mostly useless. No one knows where anyone is going, and NFL sources are blowing so much smoke in the days leading up to the draft that even the best-connected draft analysts get fooled. A player could go crazy trying to keep track of where all the mock drafts have him going. Darnold will wait to find out on Thursday.