Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends We're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside... (this post is mainly a place holder for the spreadsheet) All posted times are EASTERN time zone. I'm filling in for LAOJoe and RTTruth again this year. Like last year, this will largely be experimental to see if we can make the whole thing easier for everyone who participates and easier to run. This year we're going to see if we can fit the entire draft in one week while never (officially) going longer than 13 hours in any given day. [I'll fill in the rules later. The basics: trades will not need to be approved at all. Both GMs post the details, or one posts and the other replies saying it's agreed, and it's official. Also, no autopicks. If you're late, the draft goes on as if your pick has been made. Post when you can. And if possible, leave a list with several people you trust.] Game plan is to light this thing on the afternoon of April 20 and wrap it up April 26. I'm planning on fitting in 2 UDFA rounds on the 26th if possible and extra UDFAs for those who want it on the 27th.
The rules, in a nutshell: Like last year, this will be a bit different from mocks we've had in previous years. It's mainly an experiment to see what we can do to make it easier for everyone to participate and make it easier to run. Yes, it's a rush job, as I wasn't expecting to be doing it again this year. But you're stuck with me again. I didn't name it the "half-assed last minute mock draft" this year, but it still fits. I'm totally winging it. Key points: Trades will NOT have to be approved. If the Washington Sentinels want to trade Shane Falco and a 2nd round pick to the California Atoms for their place kicker, fine. The way you do it is the GM of the Sentinels would post a message with the details of the trade. The GM of the Atoms would also post or simply quote/reply saying "yep, that's it". As soon as both GMs have posted it, presto, it's done. No need for a moderator. [General reason for this: I have always believed that by trying to force "good" or "fair" trades, we make mocks less realistic rather than more realistic. Big trades happen. Weird trades happen. Bad trades happen. So let it happen.] Bonus points (and condolences) if you already knew the name of the place kicker for the California Atoms without looking it up. If you have two teams, you can't trade with yourself. If you end up deciding it's absolutely necessary to do a trade involving both of your teams, let me know and we'll see what we can work out. No autopicks. If you're late with your pick, the draft goes on without you. The next teams are free to pick as if your pick had been made. You are free to pop by and post your pick whenever you can. One BIG change from last year though: in last year's draft I held things up until the start of each successive time slot. This year we're treating the late picks as if they have been made. If the next ten GMs are standing by and ready to make their picks in rapid fire order in the next five minutes after your time slot officially ends, so be it. (Helpful hint: leave lists with multiple people that you trust if you can.) Important clarification #1: teams can officially jump the gun 1 minute after the end of the late pick's time slot. If the time slot ends at 5:30, that team can still pick at 5:30 and have priority. But at 5:31, it's game on - if the next team posts a pick at 5:31 and the late team also picks the same player at 5:31, whoever's post comes through first gets the player. Also, if the next team's post is labeled at 5:30, that team will not need to repost at 5:31. The late team still has priority at 5:30 and would get the player if both teams post the same pick. But otherwise the next team's pick will become official at 5:31. Important clarification #2: the last time slot at the end of each day ends at the posted time. If the time slot ends at 10:00 pm, the next team can pick at 10:01 pm. If it's ridiculously late (like, more than a day) we might have to take action to fill in the blanks, but I prefer to avoid that if at all possible. Obviously leaving a list with people you trust will help and is highly recommended. Anything else weird that pops up: I'll probably figure it out as we go along. Yes, I'm winging it... Thanks for your patience, and have fun!
Teams and GMs so far: Bengals = @matthewwillson29 Browns = @IrishDawg42 Ravens = @StlCrtn Steelers = @nybites Colts = @RTTRUTH Jaguars = @BowserBroncos Texans = @MaroonTyphoon Titans = posted by @Torgo (real mastermind = Vancouver Volcanos) Bills = @LAOJoe Dolphins = @EvertonBears Jets = @Campbell Patriots = @Underdog Broncos = @BowserBroncos Chargers = @CharginChimp (probably via @LAOJoe ) Chiefs = @gidion72 Raiders = @Wes Bears = @EvertonBears Lions = @Quew777 Packers = @MaroonTyphoon Vikings = @Willie Buccaneers = @SportsFanatic (likely announced by @Campbell ) Falcons = @Falcons Guy (likely announced by @LAOJoe ) Panthers = @StlCrtn Saints = posted by @Torgo (real mastermind = SoCalSaint) Commanders = @Joe McDonnell Cowboys = @Willie Eagles = @LAOJoe Giants = @xinik 49ers = @Silver&black Cardinals = @Joe McDonnell Rams = @RTTRUTH Seahawks = @Campbell
@Torgo could you give some specifics if you have them re timings. Start time on the 20th? How long each team on the clock? This will help me try and be available cheers. I doubt i will take part in the UDFA part. I usually don't cos my knowledge is already getting severely stretched by the 5th round heh. Also, i said i could do the Broncos(unless a Broncos fan appears and wants it) too. I'd love to say i could do the Seahawks or Bucs but i suspect that 19th/20th pick will be a problem for me time wise. Seems a little pointless to take a team then miss their most important picks.
I'm putting together the spreadsheet now. In general, the current plan is to go from 9:30am to 10:30pm eastern each day after the first afternoon's kickoff. The time slots will be 20 minutes for rounds 1-5 and 15 minutes for rounds 6-7. The first day would go six hours / 18 picks (officially), setting it up to end by 10:30 and working backwards from there. Chicago's #9 slot would either be at 7pm eastern or 7:10pm eastern, depending on whether I line up that first day to have picks on the hour or on the half-hour. Since you're in a time zone five hours ahead, I'll probably line it up on the hour so you can get it out of the way by midnight. It would only make a 10 minute difference, but at midnight every minute of extra sleep time counts. And hopefully we'll get far enough ahead of the schedule so that you can get it in much sooner than that.
(Side note for anyone wondering about a particular "coincidence"... if I did line up the slots on the half hour for the first day, the official welcome announcement from the commissioner would be exactly 10 minutes before the start of the first of those 18 time slots.)
I’m trying to talk @RSki to take the Panthers from me, seeing as how that’s his team. If he does, I’ll take on whatever two teams you want to give me.
@RSki and @Wes, join us if you can. We'd love to have you join the fun. I haven't heard back from any of the long shots, which isn't a surprise at all but was worth a try. Plus side is we're tentatively looking at having right around 20 participants, which would be terrific. Just to keep everyone in the loop... I'm close to done with the tracking spreadsheet. I added in the column with the history of the traded picks. (@Lyman always had that one in his draft spreadsheets, so I kept it and filled it in. I think he typed it in manually. That was tedious, but it's done. If I do this again next year, I'll probably skip that step. I don't update it once the mock begins, so it's really just for entertainment anyway.) I added a tab showing what draft picks in future years have already been traded / forfeited / awarded as a reference for planning trades involving future picks. That's useful info, and it will help make sure trades with future picks are legit. For example, we'd probably remember that the Browns can't trade away next year's first rounder because they already traded it in the Deshaun Watson deal. But we'd be hard pressed to remember (if we ever knew in the first place) that the Dolphins traded away next year's fourth rounder as part of the Bradley Chubb/Chase Edmonds trade. So now we have a tab with a list of all that stuff.
@Torgo I just invited a good dude who is a Broncos fan. I’m optimistic he’ll join, but I’ll let you know
Also, if it helps other people enjoy the mock more to focus on their one team, I’m more than willing to handle 3 teams in this. We’re all aware I’ve been at this awhile and can do the squads justice. Just putting it out there.
If there are any leftover teams when all is said and done, I'll do a second team other than my beloved Vikings, but keep me the last in line, cuz i dont know my butt from a hole in the ground... Thanks.
