As a draft analyst for NFL Network, Mike Mayock’s big board used to be up for public consumption. It was widely regarded as one of the most definitive draft boards in NFL Draft coverage. As the Oakland Raiders general manager, Mayock’s big board will see far fewer eyes. Similarly, as a media member, Mayock could collect relatively unfiltered information from players, scouts, coaches and general managers around the league.
Here’s a nugget he gleaned as a media member.
“Over the years, I’ve talked to almost every top quarterback in the NFL and I’ve asked them the same question: What bothers you the most? And almost every top-flight quarterback says, ‘Immediate pressure up the middle,'” Mayock said at the 2019 NFL Combine in Indianapolis on Wednesday.
As a media member, Mayock said he felt he’d built strong friendships around the league. As the son of a coach, Mayock had long been a tape junkie, which he felt had earned him mutual respect with higher-ups around the NFL. That allowed easy and open dialogue.
He was asked if those nuggets may come fewer and further between now that Mayock is competition to these players, scouts and coaches.
“It’s a little bit different,” he said after chuckling. “It’s already changed. We kind of lie to each other a little bit instead of opening up to each other about our draft boards.”
Of course, NFL decision-makers lie all the time during the pre-draft process, especially when speaking privately to reporters. It’s a time of year when smoke screens can be enormously important in landing the prospect a team actually desires, rather than the one they say they desire.
Mayock knows his role has reversed — he is now the one feeding good and bad information to the media. His demeanor seems to have changed accordingly. His Wednesday press conference was filled with vague description, evasion and non-answers. It’s an obvious and necessary change.
He’ll start lying, because he has to. He’ll be more discerning when speaking to his friends, who are now competitors, because he has to.
