NFL

2017 NFL Mock Draft: Projecting What Could Happen in the First Round

What needs will each NFL team try to fill during Round 1 of the 2017 NFL Draft? We use analytics to try to figure it out.

Go on and sing with me: It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

No, I don’t mean the winter holiday season, which has already come and gone. I mean draft season, which is finally upon us. The prospect pundit and college analyst’s favorite part of the calendar has begun, and the four-month fiesta will lead us to that most high of holy days: the commencement of the annual National Football League Player Selection Meeting (or #NFLDraft).

Some teams’ fans get to drool over the playoffs for the next month, but others are only able to look to the future for hope and enjoyment. We here at numberFire like to find those motes of hope in the dust still settling on another NFL season gone by, so we’re going to take a look at each team’s draft needs and what they can do in the first round to address them.

By using our signature metric, Net Expected Points (NEP), and assessing each team’s strengths and weaknesses over the past year, we can peek a bit into our crystal ball and figure out which player each team might select in Round 1.

Let’s dig in!