If you’re sick of mock drafts flooding your timeline this time of year, we have some bad news for you. It’s only getting more oversaturated. And not because someone cracked the code or uncovered a secret formula. No, the mock draft boom might swell even further thanks to something Dianna Russini shared on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz.
During her appearance on Thursday ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, The Athletic’s senior NFL insider applauded the Miami Herald’s Greg Cote for doing his mock. He may have lost the plot with projecting Shedeur Sanders to the New Orleans Saints at No. 9 overall, but Russini still gave him props for trying.
And that’s because someone in the NFL just might lay their eyeballs on it.
“Just so you know, coaches and GMs — even owners — they read all the mocks,” Russini revealed. “I haven’t asked them. When they tell me they read the mocks, I always just assumed it’s the [Todd] McShays, it’s the [Mel] Kipers, it’s the Field Yates, Daniel Jeremiah.”
Cote’s mock might not be on the radar yet, but Russini says she’s going to check back in with those decision-makers to find out. Before she could get there, though, Dan Le Batard had a more pressing question. He wanted to know what the consensus was in league circles of who was the king of mocking the draft.
Peter Schrager had the most accurate mock last year, hitting on 12 picks, but it’s not him.
“Probably Daniel Jeremiah,” she says. “He’s considered to be one of the best ones. Todd McShay does a really good job, too. I did speak to a team who tracks the accuracy of the mockers…”
So why doesn’t Russini throw her own mock into the mix?
“Because I feel like if I say this is what I believe a team is doing, the lunatics out there that don’t understand that I’m just collecting information and making that prediction,” Russini adds. “They can’t separate prediction with when I’m reporting truth. And I don’t want to deal with that hassle, because I deal with it every day. There’s an audience out there of sports consumers who don’t understand that agents lie, players lie, teams lie.”
That’s why she’s decided to sit out the mock draft game entirely.
Instead, she focuses on gathering intel and passing it on to individuals like Cote.
“Reporters are just trying to get information and be accurate about it,” Russini said. “It’s such a hard place to navigate. So, I made the decision to just step outside the mock game, and just try to provide as much intel, and allow you guys, you specifically Greg, to take that information and form your own thoughts, and opinions, and guesses on what these teams should do.”
As for Schrager, who nailed a dozen first-round picks last year? Russini couldn’t help but throw a playful jab his way.
“Peter will tell you how good his was, because he’ll tell you who he spoke to, too,” Russini quipped. “Peter will celebrate like Greg.”
Just remember, nobody remembers the misses if you celebrate the hits hard enough.