Newsletter: Scott DiBenedetto Mock Draft 1.0

Day 1 and 2 were chalky if you've been following along, but I love Day 3 trades.

(Courtesy of the Cleveland Browns)

Before we get into the weeds with my mock, I have to say that this is the first mock draft I’ve ever broken down after the fact. During the lead-up to the draft, many Browns people I used to work with would knock out a couple of mocks when we had extra time, just to see what we could come up with.

It was fun to compare with other people in the personnel department, and it all was in preparation for a legit mock draft the department would run during draft week. AB, DePodesta, and the other execs would be in the draft room picking for the Browns, and each department member would be the GM of another team.

The Pro Scouting department would put together a list of team needs for each GM, and we were free to pick whatever player we wanted when it was our turn on the clock.

We typically only went through two or three rounds, and the goal was to present different situations to the higher-ups so they’d have a plan of action if that scenario came up when we were on the clock. The head of football administration would let us know if the Browns were looking to trade with our team, and we would get a call from the war-room.

Sometimes, we had the freedom to make a trade decision on our own. Typically, the group that put together the scenarios decided for us, but it was always fun.

Fast forward to today. My write-ups for each pick won’t be as long as Jake’s, but hopefully, I explain myself well enough.

I made four trades in this mock.

I’ll say now that I hate 7th round picks. I added one in ‘26 in my final trade, but getting rid of 255 was a priority. Sure, you could luck into Brock Purdy in the 7th, but I’d rather not have any final-round picks and get a head start talking to potential UDFAs.

The UDFA process with the Browns was awesome to be a part of. Two scouts would be assigned to a position group, and we’d have a list of all the players that received undraftable grades at that position during draft meetings. We’d watch a few games on each guy and rank them within three different “buckets”.

• A Bucket: Players with one physical tool or one position specific graded 4 or higher

• B Bucket: Players with one physical tool or position-specific graded 4 or higher

• C Bucket: Players with no 4 or higher grades

• A bucket players got the most money offered after the draft, B bucket second-most, and C bucket the least. Any player with a draftable grade that slipped through would automatically be put at the top of the list.

Between the combine and the draft, the scouting pair had to contact each player on the list and his agent to recruit them in case they didn’t get drafted. We were also the ones calling the agents on day 3 to finalize deals, so the first hour or so after the draft ends is a high-energy whirlwind.

We’d typically start calling agents mid-way through the 6th round, and it’s harder for the agent to say, “Why don’t you just pick my player in the 7th round?” when you don’t have any picks left. Always get rid of 7th round picks, as far as I’m concerned.

Let’s get to the picks.

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