Am I A Better Drafter Than Maccagnan

Mock drafts and scouting were always my things. Drew (@DrewFromJersey) and I put out about 3 to 4 mock drafts annually. In 2015 I decided to make the leap to armchair GM. It’s easy to watch a GM draft who he drafts, then 3 years later say “Look, so and so could have taken so and so there. Instead he drafted this bum.” Until you put yourself on the clock with your own big board, you really have no idea. It’s a fun exercise that I invite everyone to do. Right when the Jets go on the clock, make your own pick before they do. Keep track of those players and see how you did. Here are my drafts right alongside Macc’s. One of the biggest surprises was how many times we took the same player, outside of the 1st round pick.

2015

Like Maccagnan, 2015 was by far my worst draft. Unlike Macc, my draft came away with more than an above AVG Leonard Williams. More on that later. Macc and I had our paths converge on two other picks. Mauldin I can see, since he was a promising talent coming out of Louisville. Harrison was probably the biggest surprise. He was sort of an obscure pick, but I saw some raw talent that could possibly be molded. Macc did as well apparently. My biggest win from this draft was Anthony Harris in the 7th. Everyone knows Harrison Smith, but Anthony Harris has been as good or better since 2015. He is PFF’s second ranked safety this year.

2016

I think in 2016, I put Macc to shame. Sure he found a half decent RT and a punter, but I found a top rated center, a very good edge defender, and some interior OL depth. Whitehair came right out the gate and showed that he was going to be an amazing NFL center. Fackrell, unlike Jenkins, Fackrell has developed into a very good edge defender. He leads the Packers in sacks. Boehm is a half decent depth guy that can spot start.

2017

It’s still too soon to judge this draft as a whole for either of us, but for now, I think I squeak out a win. Maye is a better safety than Quincy is a CB right now, but Maye wouldn’t have been needed if I drafted Anthony Harris. Godwin is head to toe a better receiver than Stewart. Woods is a nice movable piece in the secondary, and is light years ahead of Hansen. Macc has me with McGuire, as I really like how he has developed into a decent replacement option for Powell. Jeremy Clark and Derrick Jones haven’t shown anything yet, but they could be late bloomers.

2018

This draft still has that new draft smell, so we can’t really pick any winners or losers just yet. This was probably Macc’s best draft in 4 years. Early returns from Herndon look promising. Neither of the QB’s have done much to separate themselves from the other. I don’t feel so bad about missing out on Shell now with Orlando Brown looking like a solid RT. Meeks and Nickerson would be decent depth options. Cannon could develop into a bigger piece, but like all of these 2018 picks, we will have to wait and see.

Here is a look at what our 2018 starters would have looked like if I was in charge of the draft and kept Macc on to run pro player personnel: