Congratulations to our mock draft/NFL scout expert's Xavier Cromartie and Ross Jacobs for their 2023 showings in the national 'The Huddle Report' contest -- where they compete with the likes of Mel Kiper, Todd McShay, Daniel Jeremiah, Bob McGinn, among others.
The real prize, the major annual contest held is The Huddle Report’s top 100 board...a prediction of who each analyst thinks will be the first 100 prospects taken in the NFL Draft each year.
Xavier Cromartie finished #5 (tied) overall this year with 85 out of 100 picks predicted correctly...one pick away from being tied for 1st-place for the year. Xavier is a 2x champion in this contest over the years.
Even more importantly, Xavier is now tied for the top draft analyst in the top 100 board contest in the coveted/key 'five year average' contest. Had Xavier gotten one more pick right in 2023 -- he would’ve won (shared) the 2023 title again and would also be all alone, untied, at the top as the best in the mock draft business in the five-year average rank. So close to taking all the gold, but still a great year of scouting. Tune in next season when he takes over the #1 spot overall!
Ross Jacobs was granted acceptance into the contest in 2022, and he landed #21 (tied) this season...a finish in the upper third of the group. Ross is three years away from getting on the five year average board. Based on his first two seasons, he's trending to be in the top 20...but a good year or two away from debuting in the top 5-10.
Xavier and Ross spend a ton of research time on building their boards each year, and their effort and talents in this arena show through as they are besting some of the top recognized experts in this arena year-in-and-year-out. They are a great resource for helping me scout and cross-check the entire draft class year after year, pre-Draft and post-Draft. It's good to have top resources to work with who think independently...not just fanboys parroting the mainstream.
Congrats on your 2023 contest results guys! The 2024 contest studies starts...now.
Link to the final national scoreboard/names: https://www.thehuddlereport.com/top100.scores.shtml
