Interview with Dan Kadar of Mocking the Draft
Up next in our interviews of team experts and draftnik’s is Dan Kadar of Mockingthedraft. Read on to see what Dan thinks of Von Miller, Cam Newton and other draft related topics.
). How did the site come about?
11. Mocking the Draft was around some time before I joined the site in 2009. I believe it started as a hub for the (currently ongoing) SB Nation mock draft. It was then taken over by Matt Miller of NewEraScouting.com. I helped Matt run that site for a while. At some point, he stopped doing MtD and I decided to go there. Simple enough, right?
2). Do you have a favorite N.F.L. team?
2. Cleveland Browns
3). What’s personal draft philosophy?
3. I’ve always believed that non-playoff teams should draft best player available and teams in the playoffs or contending for the playoffs should draft to fill needs without reaching for a player. Character should be taken into regard, but only as long as due diligence is performed.
4). What’s your thoughts on drafting a running back early in the draft?
4. A team should draft a running back if they feel he’ll be a starter and productive. The notion that running backs shouldn’t be taken in the first round is overblown. If a team likes Mark Ingram and thinks he should be taken in the first, then they should take him.
5). can’t talk to draft people without asking them about Cam Newton…what kind of pro do you think Cam Newton will be?
5. He’ll be whatever kind of pro he works himself into being. It’s a cop out answer, but Newton has more potential than any player in this year’s draft. His size and athleticism is stunning. Of course, if he’s lazy and has no work ethic, he’ll quickly play his way out of the league. He has the ceiling to be Ben Roethlisberger.
6). Who are some of your overrated players?
6. I’ve always thought Von Miller was overrated because he’s one-dimensional as a pass rusher. Corey Liuget is getting overrated. He’s not a better player than Stephen Paea. In that same vein, I think Paea has become on the most underrated players in this year’s draft.
7) How proud were you to be #2 in the Huddle Report’s scoring system last year…and can we expect the same kind of success this year?
7. It was pretty neat and sort of validated the work that’s done the rest of the year. We’ll see about this year. I’ve done really poorly and really well in that contest.
8). Danny Watkins will be over thirty years old before his rookie contract is over how should this effect his draft stock?
8. It shouldn’t. If a team can get eight good years out of him, that’s not bad.
9). Rank these Draft gurus. Kiper, Mcshay, Bunting, Mayock, Rob Rang, Gil Brandt, Matt Millen, Dan Kadar.
9. Mayock, Rang, Bunting, Kiper, McShay, Brandt, Millen. I’m not comfortable putting myself anywhere in there, for good or bad. I like all of those guys for different reasons, though. Well, maybe not Millen.
10). Is there a G.M. that no matter who they pick in the draft you find them tough to question?
10. Really only Ozzie Newsome of Baltimore. That might be due to being a Browns fanboy, but he always seems to pick well.
11). Tell us about the site and why our readers should come and visit
11. MtD is a year-round draft site. Some sites say they are take May-August off. That’s not us. We are quite literally 365 days a year doing work.
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