An avalanche of content accompanies every important event in the sporting calendar, with endless analysis and speculation surrounding high-profile games and draft picks. That’s not surprising, but what might raise a few eyebrows is the fact that there’s also a huge output of and appetite for coverage of team needs and mock draft picks.

One simple reason explains this obsession, and it comes down to hope. When the topic of discussion is purely speculative, there are no right answers, and any fan can claim they’ve homed in on the best path forward for their preferred team. By creating mock draft content and asserting specific team needs that these choices can, at least theoretically, meet, anyone can be optimistic about the coming season.

Hold tight as we pull back the curtains on this phenomenon and look a little closer at what keeps fans hungry for content that’s basically built around a bunch of hypotheticals.

The Illusion of Control

We’re programmed to look for control in our lives, and that applies to abstract ideas as much as to actual realities we can interact with directly.  NFL Mock draft picks and post-Draft Winners and Losers content is a way of asserting ourselves in a space that’s completely beyond the reach of the vast majority of fans: professional football.

Combined with this need to feel in control is the intellectual validation of seeing our thoughts and analyses reflected back by others. Mock draft content that matches what a fan has thought up under their own steam gives them a warm feeling of being a smart strategist, even if there’s nothing concrete to support this.

From this point, fans can begin to put their thoughts into action before the season gets underway, perhaps by placing a bet on their team’s likelihood of eventual Super Bowl glory, or at least of playoff contendership. You can access sports betting here and do just that, or keep your picks purely intellectual and track team performance without the potential of a monetary reward.

Our Love of Stories

Another factor behind the popularity of team needs and NFL or NBA mock draft content is that it gives fans a way to filter the chaos of the infinite potential outcomes the actual draft represents and narrow it to a more manageable data set. From here, it’s much easier to start building a narrative around what awaits certain teams and players, aligning with our preference for finding patterns and turning them into stories designed to satisfy.

On top of this, mock draft content can be created and consumed at any point because being speculative means there’s always a fresh angle to find or a fresh take to put forward, regardless of what’s happening elsewhere. The only thing more alluring than a story with a satisfying ending is one that’s never-ending by design.

Basically, football fans who take the game seriously will slurp down content on their sport of choice day in, day out, whether it’s about actual events or if it’s purely driven by guesswork and blue-sky thinking. So pontification over team needs and mock draft write-ups won’t ever get boring, to the right audience.