Steelers mock draft contest winner
This year, we held our inaugural Steelers Mock Draft Contest.
We got dozens of entries, and lots of variation in how fans thought the draft would play out.
There were a few consistencies in the picks that people made. For example, one thing that was very consistent was that most of you thought that the Steelers were going to take Dont’a Hightower, the inside linebacker from Alabama. Of course we now know that Hightower ended up going to the New England Patriots one pick after the Steelers selected David DeCastro.
Another thing that was pretty consistent was that most of you didn’t get a single Steelers selection right. Not one! (And you call yourselves Steelers fans). 
In fact, it’s worth noting that Dawson Payne was the only fan who got more than one of the Steelers’ picks right. He accurately predicted that the Steelers would take Mike Adams and Alemeda Ta’amu. He didn’t win the entire competition, but he deserves recognition for getting more of the Steelers’ picks right than anyone else.
But the overall winner of the competition was…………(drum roll please)………..Shane Hallam. Shane didn’t get a single Steelers pick right (Shame on you, Shane), but he did better on the other teams’ picks than anyone else. Even with the bonus that I awarded for getting Steelers picks correct, Shane still outscored his closest competitor by 2 points.
Shane will receive a free copy of Pittsburgh Steelers – The Complete Illustrated History, by Lew Freedman. Congratulations Shane!
Lol yes! The second time I’ve been mentioned in one of your posts!
1Decastro falling to us shot all of our thoughts to pieces! lol
2@Dawson,
Very nicely done!
You did have both players being selected earlier than they actually were. But I think that just goes to show what a bargain the Steelers got with those 2 players.
You had Adams being selected in the 1st round, and Ta’amu being taken in the 2nd round. Instead, we got them in the 2nd and 4th rounds respectively.
In particular, I think that being able to get Ta’amu in the 4th was really lucky for us (although the Steelers did trade up 10 spots to get him).
Once again, well done Dawson!
3Steve,
4Excuses, excuses.
Hah! I don’t remember seeing you make a mock draft for us…
5That’s right, Steve. And you probably never will.
I’ve written in the past about why I don’t do mock drafts. But basically, it comes down to the fact that I’m a math nerd. I know that the odds of getting a mock draft correct are extremely low.
There are always trades that nobody can anticipate. Then there are teams who pick players that most teams don’t even have rated as 1st round talent. There are also teams like the Raiders who have a history of doing things that are just stupid.
So mock drafts end up being a lot like baseball batting averages; if you can get 30% of your picks right, you’re a Hall-Of-Famer.
I also find that too many fans place far too much emphasis on mock drafts. I’ve had people actually get indignant with me when I had the audacity to suggest that the Steelers might not select Dont’a Hightower in the 1st round. You wouldn’t believe the rude messages that people send.
So I decided years ago that while mock drafts are fun for many people, they really don’t provide any real-world information. So I don’t bother to do one. But I understand that readers like them, so we did the contest this year to allow readers to enjoy making their picks.
Here’s a little exercise for you. Go back and see how many picks Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay got right. Not very impressive, is it?
6Thanks everyone! It was fun. Last year, I got the first 3 of the Steelers picks right (ugh,) but none this year.
Thanks for running the contest!
7Shane,
8If you haven’t already done so, please e-mail your mailing address to us at admin@steelerstoday.com, and we’ll mail you your prize. Thanks.