Reviewing the best NFL mock draft simulators
Mock drafting is increasing in popularity. These are the best free-to-use simulators available to fans.
Football fans love mock drafts. They spend hours creating fictional scenarios, plotting their ideal draft night outcomes. Some companies and brands even cater their websites to creating easy, fun mock draft simulators knowing they can occupy consumers for hours. With that in mind, today we’ll dissect five of the most popular mock draft simulators out there right now, identifying the best for fan experiences.
Before going any further, I should specify that I have immense respect for everyone who works on these mock draft simulators and puts together the boards they use. It takes hundreds of hours to build these websites, code simulators, and write the player profiles that we often take for granted. None of the criticism in this article is meant to come across as cruel or an attack. I simply wish to provide readers with both sides of an argument for each simulator.
If you have any thoughts after reading this article, feel free to leave them in the comments below or reach out to me @Sam_Teets33 on Twitter.
The Draft Network (TDN) Mock Draft Machine
Unique Elements
- Hundreds of in-depth player reports
- Player reports accessible while in the mock
- Ability to see previously drafted players on the overall board
- Computer proposed trades on computer selections
The Positives
Fans can access pause and trade features in TDN’s Mock Draft Machine with a subscription. This simulator has 430 ranked prospects, most of which have player reports you don’t need the premium subscription to access. Fans can easily open these reports without navigating away from their mock draft. You can even read a report as the computer makes its picks, eliminating some of the dead time between user selections.
Fans who purchase the annual premium subscription gain guaranteed access to hundreds of player reports written by a dedicated scouting staff with terrific resumes and decades of experience. Some of TDN’s scouts have experience working with NFL teams. The Draft Network also has alumni working at ESPN (Jordan Reid), Pro Football Focus (Trevor Sikkema), and The Ringer (Benjamin Solak).
Player reports range in length and depth. For example, George Karlaftis’ report is slightly under 1,400 words. It includes TDN’s standard background section, role and scheme projections, a list of the prospect’s games the scout watched, a prospect comparison, analysis of ten traits/skills, and grades from every staff member who cross-checked the player.
Some scouts are more concise when creating their player reports. For instance, Lewis Cine’s page is around 500 words, but it still includes all standard details. TDN has done an excellent job directly connecting its reports to the Mock Draft Machine. They’re unmatched in this regard.
You can keep track of selections during your mock draft by scrolling through the whole draft log or looking at user picks. You can also view previously drafted players to see which prospects already heard their names called.
TDN offers two big boards for fans to choose from when starting mock drafts. A premium subscription allows fans to create their own boards for mocks.
TDN often updates its simulator within an hour of a significant trade occurring to reflect the latest draft order.
The Mock Draft Machine’s trading process is complex in a fun way. It allows for some outlandish mocks while still preventing you from completely going off the rails. Fans may trade draft picks from up to three years down the line (2024), and there’s an acceptance meter to give users a general idea of what they can add or remove to get a deal done.
You can propose trades to other franchises at any time during the mock, and they’ll call you frequently with their own trade proposals. This way, you always get a variety of trade offers.
The Negatives
Accessing full player reports requires a premium subscription. This subscription also unlocks trades and the ability to pause the Mock Draft Machine. You don’t have access to these functions without a subscription.
Some prospects listed in the Mock Draft Machine don’t have player reports attached. They only include the player’s classification, position, height, weight, and jersey number as listed on ESPN’s website. Some examples this year include Jalyn Armour-Davis, De'Shaan Dixon, Mataeo Durant, Eric Johnson, Gregory Junior, Sam Webb, Alex Wright, and Dee Winters.
Other player reports haven’t been updated since early in the 2021 season or remain incomplete. Examples include Trae Barry, Markquese Bell, Max Borghi, Logan Bruss, Joshua Ezeudu, Aqeel Glass, Demetrius Taylor, Isaac Taylor-Stuart, and Isaiah Thomas.
Sometimes prospects who withdrew from the 2022 NFL Draft remain in the Mock Draft Machine. Cornerback Jay Shaw, who recently transferred to Wisconsin for 2022, is listed at No. 414. Defensive lineman Jermayne Lole, who decided in November to return to Arizona State, is listed at No. 135. Utah tight end Brant Kuithe (No. 313) is another example.
These instances aren’t because of neglect. As someone who spent over 30 hours this year just trying to figure out who was and wasn’t in the 2022 NFL Draft by scrolling through Google, Twitter, and the internet’s never-ending void, some of these issues are likely just oversights. The incomplete or missing profiles are likely because of insufficient time to write full reports on the Mock Draft Machine’s 430 ranked prospects.
There’s an infuriating glitch with the Mock Draft Machine where the computer will make picks for your team, even if you’re controlling the selections. You can cause this glitch by clicking the trade button, picking two teams, and exiting the proposal without making a trade. Sometimes this glitch happens after you complete a trade too. Hitting the pause button immediately after making a trade is the only way to stop the machine from auto drafting for your team.
Conclusion- A must-have subscription for draftniks seeking in-depth analysis, a highly interactive experience, and more information than you know what to do with. There are a few bugs and flaws that are reasonably avoidable.
Pro Football Focus (PFF) Mock Draft Simulator
Unique Elements
- Player trades
- Draft frequency data
- Mock draft grading
- Downloadable mock draft PNG
The Positives
Unlike all other simulators, PFF allows you to trade players. This allows fans to get as close to predicting draft night’s actual outcomes as possible. You can also force trades through, which is another feature unique to PFF.
PFF has advanced sliders where you choose how computer-controlled teams pick based on positional value, draft needs, randomness, and more. The simulator also provides the average draft position (ADP) for all 352 ranked prospects.
PFF offers percentage breakdowns of the most often selected player for your team at the position they are picking. They offer the same breakdown based on the position a prospect plays. For instance, Malik Willis is the most often selected prospect for the Pittsburgh Steelers at 20th overall, and fans picking for Pittsburgh most frequently selected a quarterback.
This mock draft simulator runs smoothly. It won’t slow down if you navigate away to another tab, and it creates little to no strain on your computer. It also tells you how far away your next pick is as the computer makes selections. You can pause the simulator when it’s not your pick and make trade offers to move up.
After your mock draft ends, PFF provides letter grades for each of your picks and an overall draft grade based on positional value, team needs, and several other factors. There’s an easy option to download an image of your team’s mock or an image of the top 32 picks.
The Negatives
Player stats and analysis, the pause function, and the ability to offer trades remain locked for fans unless they purchase a subscription.
PFF’s Mock Draft Simulator includes 352 ranked prospects. While that’s plenty of potential selections, it’s the lowest total of the five simulators reviewed in this article. As a result, several viable prospects are completely omitted from the simulator, including David Anenih, Tanner Conner, Dallis Flowers, Matt Hankins, Derion Kendrick, and Forrest Rhyne.
There are a few prospects in the simulator that didn’t declare for the draft. Examples include Eric Gray from Oklahoma and Kenderick Duncan from Louisville.
The prospect analysis drops off at around the 100th ranked player on PFF’s big board. Some prospects beyond this point still have full player bios, but most only have their 2021 stats and ADP trends (which also show which teams most frequently draft the prospect).
Filtering positions can be painful because PFF lets you stack multiple position groups together, which can be helpful, but having to unselect positions as you add new ones to the filter becomes annoying.
Conclusion- A data-driven simulator providing unique insights and perspective in the mock draft space and running on a smooth website. However, PFF’s Mock Draft Simulator is largely overshadowed in depth and scope by its player data, which isn’t directly connected to the simulator. That information is more than worth the cost of subscribing.
NFL Mock Draft Database Mock Draft Simulator
Unique Elements
- Drafting for previous and future years
- A community-based composite big board
- No subscription required to access content
The Positives
You have free access to the trade function. There are three trade difficulty settings to choose from: strict, relaxed, and free-for-all. You’re also presented with three draft speeds (fast, normal, and slow) and three draft types (realistic, aggressive, and chaotic) in the pre-mock menu.
With 615 listed prospects, NFL Mock Draft Database offers the second-largest collection of possible selections among the five reviewed simulators.
The menu is clear and presents the user with plenty of options. There aren’t any confusing mechanics or obvious frustrating flaws. It’s easy to navigate between position groups and find any prospect in the large player pool.
Your mock draft is only permanently saved if you create an account and log in. However, even if you aren’t logged in, your mock draft will be saved for seven days before disappearing into the void.
The Negatives
The simulator can slow down, and even its fast speed stutters at times. It slows down even more if you navigate away to another tab while the simulator runs through picks you don’t own.
The lack of draft profiles provides a somewhat limited experience. You can’t access any player profile directly from the mock draft simulator without navigating away. The profiles won’t provide any in-depth breakdowns, but they show you trends in a prospect’s ADP.
While an extremely user-friendly experience with plenty of options for fans, the whole point of NFL Mock Draft Database is to provide fans with an understanding of average draft positioning for prospects based on other mock drafts and big boards. This means the ranking you’re using while in the mock draft simulator represents what the collective draft community thinks, which often fails to reflect the opinions of professional analysts.
For instance, Jalyn-Armour Davis was ranked 108 when I most recently used the simulator, ahead of Mario Goodrich (111), Cam Taylor-Britt (114), Alontae Taylor (116), Zyon McCollum (123), and Joshua Williams (157), who are all better players. Sometimes name and school popularity overtake in-depth examinations.
Conclusion- The most creative, user-friendly mock draft simulator for everyday fans with what seems like the largest number of possible outcomes among the surveyed simulators.
Pro Football Network (PFN) Mock Draft Simulator
Unique Elements
- Over 800 prospects listed
- No subscription required to access content
- Massive external single-prospect reports
The Positives
With 843 listed prospects, PFN’s Mock Draft Simulator offers the largest collection of possible selections out of the five surveyed simulators. I’d estimate there are roughly 200 prospects with player profiles that display the prospect’s height, weight, relative athletic score (RAS), and a paragraph or two of analysis. Some of these reports link externally to free 1,500-word, single-prospect reports.
The computer proposes trades to user teams when the user selection arrives. Fans can pause the mock and offer trades at any point without a subscription.
The fast setting for the simulator works well. There’s very little wait time between picks, and the simulator doesn’t slow down if you navigate to another tab.
The Negatives
PFN offers fewer options in the pre-mock process, limiting fans to selecting teams, rounds, and draft speed. Once you’re in the mock, there’s no easy way to keep track of the selections you’ve already made. This leads to fans scrolling up and down the full draft log, looking for their team’s logo.
There’s a lot of white space that’s not used effectively and leads to too many features running through a central bar. It’s aesthetically and functionally frustrating compared to other simulators.
While the simulator includes 843 listed prospects, most don’t have player profiles. You have to visit external links to get more than a paragraph or two of information on prospects that have profiles. Some of the links lead to articles that mention a prospect but don’t go in-depth on their profile (ex. Jack Sanborn at No. 219).
Some prospects in the simulator aren’t in the 2022 NFL Draft. Cincinnati safety Ja'von Hicks at No. 453 is returning to school.
You can’t easily screenshot or save your mock draft results after it’s complete. Fans have to scroll through their draft picks if they have more than seven. You can view the full results, but nothing marks your picks to make them stand out in the massive draft log.
Conclusion- A simulator with every prospect you could imagine, PFN’s Mock Draft Simulator links to dozens of free, in-depth scouting reports. It’s a good option for casual fans to learn about the draft’s top prospects in an interactive way. However, you have to do more individual research the deeper you go into the mock.
Fanspeak On the Clock Mock Draft Simulator
Unique Elements
- Fastest computer draft time
- Individual round recaps
- Downloadable jpg at the end
The Positives
There are 464 ranked prospects on Fanspeak’s default big board (created by Steve Shoup). However, you’re presented with 15 pre-made big boards for your mock draft. There’s also an option to customize a big board if you buy the premium access. Premium also allows you to make the computer use a different big board than you for its selections.
All users have access to the menu common for mock draft simulators, which features settings for rounds picked, difficulty, and speed. The speed setting is the most useful of these features. Fanspeak has the fastest draft time, meaning fans spend less time waiting for the computer to auto draft for 31 other teams.
Fanspeak’s simulator includes breaks between rounds that recap the entire round and the user’s selections in that round. You can download the results of your mock draft as a jpg once the mock concludes.
The Negatives
I remember using Fanspeak in high school to run mock drafts whenever I got bored in freshman digital design class (coincidentally, I can barely use Photoshop). I don’t remember them offering a premium subscription, which means they’ve added that in the past six or seven years. What hasn’t changed is the site’s tendency to lag and slow down your whole computer.
Buying the premium subscription allows you to make trades and removes most of the ads that clutter the screen throughout the mock draft (I counted five simultaneously displayed). Part of me believes the excessive number of ads causes the website’s slow speeds.
There aren’t any player profiles available to access other than pages that link to career stats from Sports Reference and YouTube highlight videos pulled from random channels.
It takes more button-clicking to navigate through this simulator than the others. The constant pausing between rounds and a longer than normal list of pre-mock settings causes some delay in re-racking drafts.
Conclusion- A classic mock draft experience from a long-time member of the industry that helps fans keep track of their selections as they go. There’s plenty of potential in comparing mocks done with different big boards, so long as you don’t mind the ad bombardment.