PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – If there is one piece of truth to take away from Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan addressing reporters two days before the draft, it is something Tomlin said near the end of the 22-minute news conference.
Both were asked about the adrenaline of leading up to the Draft. The potential to move up or down. If it’s like preparing for a game you are trying to win with a plan you are confident in?
“It’s a game to be played, it’s competition,” Tomlin said. “It is fun.”
Then came the comment to ensure that you need to take every report around draft time with some skepticism. All of the insider scoops detailing a team’s thoughts on a player after a visit. Analyzing every facial expression made by a Steelers coach or front-office staffer during a pro day, the NFL Combine, draft eligible bowl practices. What is the size of the team’s representation at a college’s pro day? The thought that every one of the 30 players brought in to Pittsburgh to meet with the team before the draft is an absolute lock to be selected.
Think about all of that and then remember this quote from Tomlin on Tuesday.
“I think about it at pro days as you guys watch us move, who I interact with, where I go,” Tomlin said. “Sometimes it’s real, sometimes it’s not.”
“The same could be said about who we bring in on pre-draft visits.”
Some of it is very true, but it doesn’t benefit any team to leak information about what they really think about a player. None of these teams want the other to know what is happening. It is a game, a mind game. We are all the pawns that get moved around in it. Media, fans, insiders, we are all a part of a plan for a team to throw their competition off the scent.
“But that’s a fun component of the competition,” Tomlin said.
View it like that, this is entertainment.
Fans love mock drafts, they click on them like crazy. Some sites give you the opportunity to create your own draft and it’s very popular, and fun. The definition of the work mock is ‘not authentic or real, but without the intention to deceive’.
Enjoy the draft process, the distraction from real life, but please don’t think for a minute that any ‘insider’ really knows what a team is thinking, because that team wants you to think that.
Confused? That’s just where they want you.