Special to Sports News Highlights

(SNH) — Well, hell froze over.

Mel Kiper and the rest of the experts actually had a fairly decent Day 1 regarding their NFL mock drafts.

The majority of draft pundits predicted that Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and Marvin Harrison Jr. would be the first four picks. And they got many of the positions the teams selected correct, if not the players.

Great job. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Congratulations.

You have to remember: It was just one year ago that Kiper got one pick right in the first round. LITERALLY ONE PICK. And that was the first overall, which everyone on earth knew would be Bryce Young going to the Panthers.

But what do you expect from the guy who thought USC receiver Mike Williams would be a Hall of Fame player, but then flamed out after just two seasons in Detroit? How about when he compared 2007 No. 1 overall pick Jamarcus Russell to John Elway in his pre-draft evaluation, and said he could be one of the league's best quarterbacks within three years?

He was out of the league in three years.

And who can forget when Kiper was shocked that Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen fell to the second round? Mel said he would retire if Clausen didn’t become a star.

Clausen threw 7 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in his career. And we’re still stuck with Kiper.

The problem with mock drafts is many fans take them as gospel. If a team selects a player five picks before Reverend Mel predicted, many of the fans believe they got ripped off and didn’t get good value.

That’s just ridiculous.

All it takes is for one team to make a selection that no one saw coming to throw an entire mock draft out of whack. And that’s exactly what  happened Thursday with the Falcons at number eight.

Atlanta shocked everyone by selecting Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The Falcons made the pick despite signing veteran QB Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract a month ago.

The Falcons apparently believe they are built to win now and probably won’t any time soon get another shot at taking a quarterback this high in the draft.

It’s unconventional thinking.

But that’s all it takes. You only need one team to go outside the box and your precious mock draft gets lit on fire.

And that’s why mock drafts are stupid.

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