The opinions expressed in this article and podcast do not reflect those of the team.
The NFL season is over for most teams, which means they -- along with fans and media members -- are about to begin their months-long process of evaluating players for the draft.
Over the next four months, social media feeds are going to be flooded with profiles proclaiming with certainty what a prospect is and what they could be. But while there are some players almost universally accepted as the best in their class, the reality is that evaluating college talent is a murkier business than some would believe. In fact, Commanders analyst Logan Paulsen believes it's a lie to portray the draft process as more of a science than it is.
"It is more art than science; 100 percent," Paulsen said in a recent episode of the "Drive to the Draft" podcast.
The Commanders are picking seventh in the draft order this year, and naturally, there are a litany of different opinions on who they should take. Paulsen and co-host Jason Johnson broke down some of them during their "Mock Draft Madness" segment, including Miami pass-rusher Reuben Bain, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs and Auburn pass-rusher Keldric Faulk.
Each analyst has their own process and reasoning for why they connected those players with Washington. "There's no archetype," Paulsen said, and everyone who evaluates prospects goes through the process a bit differently from one another. Some value measurables, while others put more emphasis on experience or fit into a certain scheme. Sometimes, Paulsen added, "you're just looking for a heck of a ball player," and none of those approaches are necessarily wrong.
That variance is why one analyst's top prospect might be in a completely different spot on another's big board, or even why they might disagree on whether a certain player is even a first-round pick. It even happens to NFL teams, which is why a player like New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson -- one of the most talented rookies in the NFL -- fell to the second round or, to use an example focused on Washington, why projected first-round picks like cornerback Trey Amos and defensive tackle Johnny Newton become Day 2 picks.
Paulsen described it as a yearly struggle that he, other analysts and fans "need to fight."
"What the establishment is saying; what the science is saying; and what the film and what your heart is telling you," Paulsen said.
So, when you're scouring the internet for mock drafts and find that one of your draft crushes isn't valued as highly, keep in mind there was a healthy amount of subjectivity that influenced the decision. Listen to the podcast above for the full discussion.
