Draftnik

{{short description|Person who covers sports drafts}}

A draftnik is a person who studies professional sports leagues drafts and covers the draft in the media. The term is most often used in reference to the NFL draft and was coined in the mid-1980s after the draft was first televised by ESPN.

The first draftniks are typically considered to be Joel Buchsbaum and Mel Kiper Jr.[http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1003707/2/index.htm Mel Kiper Jr embodies a dream of every NFL Draftnik] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924201020/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1003707/2/index.htm |date=September 24, 2008 }}, Sports Illustrated, retrieved March 30 2009.

Nowadays, there are a large number of draftniks which post their own mock drafts on websites, and some have even made a living out of it.

In 2002, TheHuddleReport.com began grading the efforts of draftniks and tracking the success of their mock draft. The Huddle Report awards 2 points for correctly predicting a team's draft pick, and 1 point for each player correctly placed in the 1st round.[http://www.thehuddlereport.com/Free/mockdraftscoring.shtml Mock Draft Scores] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209085639/http://www.thehuddlereport.com/Free/mockdraftscoring.shtml |date=February 9, 2010 }}, TheHuddleReport.com, retrieved March 30 2009.