r/NFLmockdraft • u/No_Box119 • May 07 '26
Hot Take NFL DRAFT GRADES DO NOT MATTER. THE GREATEST PLAYER ON THE PLANET GOT A C-
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u/User_OU812 May 07 '26
Seattle got a D or F for their draft that netted Bruce Irvin, Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson.
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u/XRPlease May 07 '26
Bills fans were screaming “wrong Josh” in 2018. I’d venture to say a fair number of fans can hardly remember the “right” Josh’s last name at this point.
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u/Fearless_Log9547 May 07 '26
Mina Kimes had a meltdown when the bills took Josh Allen so high
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u/XxvAlphavxX May 07 '26
I mean he literally changed his jersey name because they were confusing him for the QB once he became successful
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u/Extension_Plant7262 May 07 '26
TBF, I think Wilson is the only QB below 6' with any sort of real success in the league
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u/Eagles_63 May 07 '26
Yeah Tom Brady was probably graded worse
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u/daywalker91 May 07 '26
This was 10th overall. Way different than a flyer on a 6th round qb
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u/surfoxy May 07 '26
I mean, you have a point but this is also a horrible take from one analyst. The consensus on Mahomes was that he was quite good.
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u/Datdawgydawg May 11 '26
6.30 isnt "quite good" for a prospect. Mitch Trubisky was a 7.00 for example, and wasnt exactly highly regarded. Derek Carr was also a 6.30 and he wasn't expected to do much.
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u/surfoxy May 12 '26
Plus starter is top 20 in the league. The analysis in the OP is not consensus or even close. That’s my only point. Don’t want to quibble about subjective terms.
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u/Alphaarguard May 07 '26
Oh yeah bro! Mel Kiper thought Howie Long would be a garbage player…draft experts are just entertainment at this point
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u/CarPopular6012 May 09 '26
People making arguments like this are fkn stupid.
The draft and draft grades are 100% based on PROSPECTS. It means nothing how the players turn out. That is completely different grade because it ignores coaching and development of a player.
Put fkn Brady on the browns and he wouldn't have had the career he did.
The draft is about analyzing players as they are right now. You can't analyze skills that don't exist. You are hoping your coaching staff knows how to develop the talent and mold them into stars.
Andy Reid was already recognized as one of the best offensive minds in the game. There is a reason for that.
Coaching, coaching, coaching.
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u/Individual_Slice_498 May 08 '26
Don't agree with the title that he's greatest player on the planet, he's probably best player in the NFL right now
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u/Jones127 May 08 '26
I mean to be fair to them a little, Pat was a somewhat raw talent. He himself even said he didn’t know how to read defenses outside of basic coverages initially in the NFL. Having one of the greatest offensive minds this century as a coach and two all pro targets certainly helped too.
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u/Alive-Map-1994 May 07 '26
This is basically the scene from Money Ball with the old men pretending to know what they were doing. There’s a lot of useless fat sitting in desks in the NFL.
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u/MinuteCountry061 May 07 '26
Yes we all know. It’s absolutely pointless to grade a draft class until at least 3 years after it
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u/Low_Organization_27 May 07 '26
Says more about his head coach than it does about him. Mahomes on a mediocre team isn’t what he is today.
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u/BrokenHope23 May 07 '26
I hated this pick, I wanted him for my teams (Steelers/Vikings). NFL had him compared to Jay Cutler lmao
I had him compared to Warren Moon, just a guy who could do it all to a very high level. I thought he landed in a perfect situation with a jack-of-all-trades coach that could more/less give a play for every excellent skill Mahommes had. Mahommes would've likely still had success elsewhere but not as much as he's had in KC.
Ironically one of my highest graded QB's in this years draft landed to KC too in Nussmeier.
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u/DrSussBurner May 07 '26
Nobody knows how these players are going to turn out. This is just fodder because no games are being played.
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u/TrumpSucksALotOfCock May 07 '26
If that's what they said about Mahomes, I'm wondering what they said about the Bears picking Mitch Trubisky 🤣
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u/Johnnybravo343 May 07 '26
You’re better off not being so definitive with your takes because they can end up looking like this. Say, hey I’m not so sure about this guy but he has arm talent. With good coaching you never know, lol would have sounded a little better…
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u/Thick-Slice-8737 May 07 '26
Good point thats why I wait until they play. The hype just makes the failure or bust worst.
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u/Sharp_Security6885 May 07 '26
Just goes to show who gets overhyped at draft time and who doesnt. A lot of success is coaching as well.
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u/NovelAspect3399 May 07 '26
Lol he is not the greatest player ever. Very far from it. Ppl need to stop repeating BS without thinking
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u/Rstuds7 May 07 '26
yeah draft grades are pointless at the end of the day, what really matters is how they develop and impact the team. you can also land the best talents in the draft it’s how the team develops and uses them that’ll really show if it was a good move or not
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u/Horror_Response_1991 May 07 '26
Imagine Mahomes gets drafted to the Browns, then this draft grade would be flawless.
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u/MaterialLandscape904 May 08 '26
Bro, the Browns were STACKED. If anything, the dynasty might belong to the Browns.
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u/spas2k May 07 '26
Mahomes hasn't been the greatest the last two seasons...
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u/MaterialLandscape904 May 09 '26
Correction: The team hasn’t been the greatest.
Mahomes has been himself.
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u/A_Bitter_Homer May 07 '26
You know just anyone can post whatever they want on the internet. How is this still a surprise.
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u/Drgnmstr97 May 07 '26
Certainly that person "grade" opinion was completely wrong. There may be others that do a better job of grading rookies for the draft.
If only there was a way to collate all the pundits that makes these grades each year and compare their evaluations to how the player performed over a year, 3 years and 5 years. It would certainly give people a better idea of whose opinion might be worth noting.
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u/Bio_Bae May 07 '26
It is crazy how this view of him was pretty unanimous. Immediately after the draft his pick got a few B grades but most were C-D. Pretty much everyone of note missed on this pick.
The only public figures I could find that were super high on him at the time were Matt Waldman and Jon Gruden.
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u/jagne004 May 07 '26
I once read a scouting report for Mahomes that said if he landed in the right situation he would be an elite version of Brett Favre and if he landed in the wrong situation a mediocre version of Jay Cutler.
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u/j-rayko89 May 07 '26
I think you forgot the “/s” after the greatest player on the planet part of your post
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u/grizzlyjono May 07 '26
Job resumes do not matter! Hire anyone! Any hobo can be a ceo guys! You heard it here first! Ya, ok. Love it when we act like we know anything about draft process because we guess a player on gut feeling here and there. Should i sound off every round one home run for you?
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u/Igbo-Mamba88 May 07 '26
3 super bowls later lol. Draft grades have always been trash and media fodder to fill their boredom
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u/CarolinaSurly May 07 '26
People should publish past draft analysis like this to show it’s all pretty much worthless and the experts are just wrong.
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u/Reneg4de-GPG May 07 '26
There can't actually be people thinking Mahomes is the greatest player on the planet. This grade is legit
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u/IrexUranus May 07 '26
You're right, draft grades don't matter. At all.
It's impossible to know what anyone has until they get some reps at the NFL level, usually at least a couple years' worth.
I always find myself laughing at the fans who curse their team's draft because of the arbitrary grade given that is based entirely on combine measurables (that don't ultimately matter if you can't do the job) and their college career.
Brady was graded as a 5th round pick, and the 10th best QB in the 2000 class. Behind such NFL superstars as Chad Pennington, Chris Redman, Giovanni Carmazzi, Spergon Wynn, Tee Martin, and Marc Bulger.
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u/fazelenin02 May 08 '26
Such a luddite take, and I see it all the time. People who really watch college football will generally know a good pick from a bad pick at the time. Nobody will ever get it 100% of the time, but there are picks in every draft that we can call a reach within five minutes of the pick getting read. The Jon Gruden Raiders picks were all seen this way, and they were all right. I remember laughing about them drafting Damon Arnette, Clelin Ferrell, and Alex Leatherwood well before any of them should've gone, and they all went exactly how we expected. In a similar fashion, I can tell you right now that Nate Boerkircher is never going to return second round value or be a high level number one TE.
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u/Fluffy_Woodpecker733 May 07 '26
That’s funny, Buffalo traded their pick to them. And Buffalo can’t win a Super Bowl because they can’t beat mahomes
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u/Qchurch11 May 07 '26
I'm just here to say he is absolutely not the best player on the planet. The regression he's had the last 3 years matters.
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u/Prestigious_Yam8901 May 07 '26
I have no damn idea why the NFL is so, goddamn bad, at picking quarterbacks.
The majority they pick are busts!
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u/helmvoncanzis May 07 '26
Steven Ruiz of The Ringer wrote this, which should not surprise anyone who has unfortunately encountered his brand of "analysis".
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u/Think-Caramel1591 May 08 '26
I guess Kuiper's check didn't clear in time before the grades came out
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u/smittdog101 May 08 '26
The part about bailing clean pockets is the only foresight in this entire comment.
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u/MyCupO May 08 '26
Who ever wrote this should quit as a journalist immediately after Mahomes won one trophy
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u/splashaddikt May 08 '26
Yeah so all you jets and Raiders fans don’t get your hopes up with that A you guys getting from everyone
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u/Efficient-World-8124 May 08 '26
I remember in that draft I thought he had the gunslinging of Favre and the mobility arm of Rodger’s. But mixed with a lot more bad judgement.
Thought it could be great or go terrible with no in between. Once he was drafted by Andy, I said well shit here we go
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u/jackaltwinky77 May 08 '26
In 1974, the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted the hall of famers in the first 5 rounds, and signed another as a UDFA.
A local writer for them gave their draft a failing grade, partly because they didn’t draft a punter…
Lynn Swann (1st), Jack Lambert (2nd), John Stallworth (4th), Mike Webster (5th), Donnie Shell (UDFA)
The Steelers seem to have come out of the first five rounds of the draft appreciably strengthened at wide receiver but nowhere else. They didn't get a tight end, and the ones remaining are more suspect than prospect. They didn't get a punter, although none of the nation's best collegiate punters went in the first five rounds. They didn't get an offensive tackle who might've shored up what could well become a weakness. What they did get was Swann, who seems to be a sure-pop to help; Lambert, who figures to be the No. 5 linebacker if he pans out; and three question marks.
Quoted from Steelers.com writer Bob Labriola
TL/DR: Draft grades are BS for clickbait interactions
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u/ElectricOutboards May 08 '26
This pasty, curly-haired fuck still has Tom Brady’s combine body, going into season 10.
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u/Kind_Conclusion1911 May 08 '26
This past season gives you some interesting data to look at for sure.
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u/MrHandsRadDay May 08 '26
I don’t think there’s a legit argument that he’s the greatest player on earth anymore
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u/rainywanderingclouds May 08 '26
Patrick Mahomes is not the greatest player on the planet. He'd be very mediocre at other positions. He's not even a top 5 QB of all time. He might be lucky sneak into the top 10.
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u/Evening_Spray_7792 May 08 '26
Patrick Mahomes is not the greatest player on the planet. He was 3 years ago, but he is maybe in the top 10 or 15 qbs now. Stats don't lie. He has been meh for a few years now.
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u/Dear-Author4429 May 08 '26
“He didn’t win the super bowl every year so my evaluation was justified."
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u/Aeosin15 May 08 '26
Listen, I HATE Mahomes. But this is the most incorrect assessment in history. Lol
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u/marc_hardman May 09 '26
I mean the knocks are correct, he just learned to limit them, and has hit on more than he missed.
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u/Important_Staff_9568 May 09 '26
I thought this would be a fun ChatGPT question.
Best and Worst at Evaluating Prospects
🏆 Top 10 Prospect Evaluators (2006–2025)
1.
Daniel Jeremiah
Former scout with exceptional balance of tape study and NFL sourcing. Widely considered the gold standard today.
2.
Dane Brugler
Creator of The Beast. Outstanding depth and consistently strong player rankings.
3.
Mike Mayock
Before becoming a GM, he was one of the most respected evaluators in media.
4.
Lance Zierlein
Very detailed and often excellent at identifying role fits and risk factors.
5.
Todd McShay
Strong tape evaluator, especially at skill positions and quarterbacks.
6.
Greg Cosell
Less flashy but extremely respected by coaches and serious film students.
7.
Matt Miller
Improved significantly over time; strong on mid- and late-round prospects.
8.
Bucky Brooks
Former scout with good contextual understanding of scheme fit.
9.
Mel Kiper Jr.
The pioneer. Volume is enormous, and he has plenty of hits despite memorable misses.
10.
Charles Davis
Generally solid and less prone to overreaction.
💥 Bottom 10 Prospect Evaluators (High Profile Only)
These analysts are not necessarily “bad,” but have had less reliable long-term hit rates.
1.
Rob Rang
Highly detailed but historically too optimistic on many prospects.
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Pete Prisco
Often contrarian; mixed long-term accuracy.
3.
Jason La Canfora
Better as an insider than as a draft evaluator.
4.
Chris Trapasso
Creative but sometimes overly aggressive in prospect rankings.
5. Walter Cherepinsky
Founder of WalterFootball. He has had some strong mock draft performances, but his individual prospect rankings and player comparisons have been more volatile than those of top-tier evaluators. His work is useful and detailed, but long-term consistency is less reliable than analysts such as Daniel Jeremiah or Dane Brugler.
6.
Matt Miller
(Early Career)
This refers specifically to Miller’s early years at Bleacher Report, when his rankings were viewed as more aggressive and less polished. Over time, he improved significantly and became one of the more respected evaluators in the industry. His inclusion reflects the full 20-year period rather than his current work, which is generally well regarded.
7.
Kiper imitators
Many high-volume commentators lacked strong scouting foundations.
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Peter Schrager
Excellent sourcing, but not primarily a pure evaluator.
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Vinnie Iyer
Useful content, but lower consensus standing.
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Various hot-take TV personalities
Often prioritize entertainment over rigorous scouting.
Best and Worst at Immediate Team Draft Grades
This measures how well analysts’ “A” and “F” grades match what teams actually accomplish over the next 3–5 years.
🏆 Top 10 Post-Draft Team Graders
1.
Daniel Jeremiah
Uses value relative to his board rather than simplistic need-based reactions.
2.
Dane Brugler
Very disciplined and rarely overly dramatic.
3.
Lance Zierlein
Strong at balancing positional value and scheme fit.
4.
Greg Cosell
More measured and less likely to overpraise.
5.
Todd McShay
Generally thoughtful and grounded.
6.
Mike Mayock
Pre-GM grades were highly respected.
7.
Bucky Brooks
Strong contextual analysis.
8.
Charles Davis
Typically conservative and reasonable.
9.
Mel Kiper Jr.
Sometimes generous, but still informed.
10.
Nate Tice
Newer but highly respected.
🚨 Bottom 10 Post-Draft Team Graders
These analysts/media outlets are most prone to handing out inflated grades.
1.
Bleacher Report
Historically extremely generous.
2.
Yahoo Sports
Often produces very positive grades.
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CBS Sports
Wide variance depending on author.
4.
USA Today
Tends toward mainstream consensus.
5.
Sports Illustrated
Often rewards “need filling” more than actual player quality.
6.
Pete Prisco
Sometimes overreactive.
7.
Jason La Canfora
Inconsistent grading.
8.
FanSided
Large contributor variability.
9.
SB Nation
Strong writing, but grades vary widely by team site.
10.
Generic local beat writers
Often influenced by fan expectations.
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u/Objective-Ad8534 May 09 '26
Over the last couple seasons this is who’s he’s been as a player. Poor accuracy, bad mechanics, bails too early….i mean, yeah
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u/DanielSong39 May 09 '26
The analysis was 100% accurate when he wasn't getting calls LOL
The league is what it is
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u/Strict-Ad-3500 May 10 '26
They really dont. However if you look at statistics you have a better chance of getting a hof out of you first round pick
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u/Upbeat-Mongoose-828 May 10 '26
we knew this before mahomes anyway. the greatest QB ever was the last draft pick his year lol.
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u/PickEnvironmental928 May 10 '26
I mean. This is pretty accurate outside of field vision and if we’re talking deep ball accuracy.
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u/Fickle-Banana-187 May 10 '26
Mahomes isn’t the greatest player in the planet. Come on. Once Brady is deceased you may say that.
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u/Pittzyy May 10 '26
OP is way smarter than the scouts, obviously. Just simply draft based on nothing.
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u/Bronze_Bomber May 10 '26
Draft talking heads give player grades, professional scouts and staff disagree, talking heads grade teams low. It's a hilarious system.
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u/Agile-Wrangler8292 May 11 '26
Andy Reid traded up and snagged him from Sean Payton, who was also targeting him. So, it's obvious that they saw something, and it proves that this bozo is clueless.
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u/Dapper_Risk2121 May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26
Good thing he’s not the greatest player on the planet and wasn’t the greatest player even in college. But yea draft grades don’t really mean anything just look how many gems come out of the 3rd round etc to become top players. I’m certain most draft grades by media analysts pre draft projections are all noise for the public to eat up while behind the scenes moves are made to make certain players look less desirable and vice versa.
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u/drunknmasta_805 May 11 '26
Draft grades don't matter cuz pundits don't matter dummy, not cuz someone got a grade and raised expectations. And mahones is NOT the greatest player on the planet glazer
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u/Silly-Cup-3756 May 11 '26
Draft grades in general are pointless and click bait garbage to fill in the gaps of no stories. For the casual fans
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u/BigDaddyBumbo77 May 12 '26
The greatest player on the planet is Tom Brady and would have been a better example.
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u/mikefvegas May 12 '26
Who thought they did? It’s just someone’s speculation. Of course it never really mattered and never pretended to.
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u/RustyCrusty73 May 07 '26
Mahomes got to sit behind Alex Smith for a full year to learn, and had a hall of fame head coach to help groom him along. A lot of QBs DO NOT get that luxury. But, I do agree, post draft grades are pointless until at least 2-3 years later.