Stop mocking

The first step toward recovery is admitting you have a problem. Unfortunately, it’s not also the last step.

I have a mock draft addiction. Come springtime, the Internet is littered with predictions about which players teams will select in the NFL draft. As the actual draft draws nearer, I can’t help but scour sports Web sites for any insight into who the Green Bay Packers might pick.

I can’t help it. I realize mock drafts are ridiculous on many levels. They don’t, and can’t, take into account the numerous trades that are likely to occur. For the most part, the so-called experts constructing them have no clues as to which direction a team might be leaning.

But now, mock draft season officially comes to an end, because the real draft will reveal the actual picks, complete with trades, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. What’s a little strange is, I probably won’t watch more than a few minutes of draft coverage. As much as I love mock drafts, I find the actual draft almost unwatchable.

It takes too damn long, and all the down time (and there will be plenty of it) is filled with Mel Kiper and Todd McShay arguing about the picks that have happened and will happen. They never agree, which is a little entertaining, but not enough to watch for 17 hours.

Perhaps the appeal of mock drafts is that they’re finished as quickly as you can read them. Which is why I’ll get the bulk of my draft knowledge the morning after in the paper.