The On The Clock NFL Mock Draft Simulator puts you in control of any NFL franchise and lets you experience the draft exactly how you want it. Run quick one-round mocks, deep seven-round simulations with trades, custom rankings, and multi-team drafting.
This guide covers every feature, setting, and concept you need to get the most out of the simulator.
Configure Page
Before the draft begins, you’ll set up your team, draft settings, and how the CPU behaves. Every option changes the draft experience in a meaningful way.
Select Your Team
Click any NFL team logo to draft from that team’s real draft position. Once selected, the simulator loads that team’s current draft picks, roster-based needs, and pick order.
Premium users can select multiple teams and control them all in the same draft. Click additional team logos to add them. Click a selected team again to deselect it.
Number of Rounds
Choose between 1 and 7 rounds. The draft tracker, pick displays, and scoring will only include the rounds you select. One round is great for quick scenarios. Seven rounds gives you the full experience.
Select Your Big Board
A Big Board is a ranked list of draft prospects ordered from #1 through the entire draft class, regardless of position. Big Boards are created by NFL draft analysts, scouting services, and fan-driven consensus rankings. They represent overall prospect value, not team fit.
Your Big Board determines how players are ranked in the Available Players panel during the draft. It also drives how the simulator evaluates pick value for your draft grade.
The simulator offers multiple Big Boards from different analysts and sources. Each board produces a different draft experience because prospect rankings vary across evaluators.
CPU Draft Preference
This is one of the most important settings. It controls how the other CPU-controlled teams make their picks.
Player Ranking mode prioritizes the highest-ranked player available on the board, regardless of team needs. CPU teams take the best player available more often, leading to drafts where top talent falls less frequently but positional runs are less common.
Team Needs mode weighs roster needs much more heavily. CPU teams will reach for players at positions of need even if a higher-ranked player is available at a different position. This produces more realistic positional drafting and creates more opportunities for players to slide.
In Team Needs mode, a player who fills a team’s top need has a 5x multiplier compared to a 0.2x penalty for a player at a non-need position. That 25-to-1 ratio means CPU teams will almost always draft for need. In Player Ranking mode, the top-ranked player in the pool gets the full ranking boost regardless of need fit.
Draft Speed
Controls how quickly CPU teams make their selections.
| Setting | Delay Between Picks |
|---|---|
| Slow | 2 seconds |
| Classic | 1 second |
| Fast | 0.5 seconds |
| Very Fast | Instant |
Slower speeds let you watch the draft unfold and react to picks in real time. Very Fast is ideal for running quick scenarios or jumping straight to your pick.
Randomness (Premium)
The Randomness slider controls how strictly CPU teams follow their draft logic. It ranges from 0 (Strict) to 100 (Chaotic), with a default of 30.
Strict (0): CPU teams follow rankings and needs very closely. Pre-slotted players are picked 99% of the time. Need multipliers are amplified by 50%. Drafts are highly predictable and repeatable.
Default (30): Baseline behavior. Pre-slotted picks happen 95% of the time. A solid balance between realistic outcomes and variety.
Chaotic (100): CPU teams frequently deviate from rankings and needs. Pre-slotted picks drop to 38%. Need multipliers are weakened by 67%. Every draft is wildly different. Great for exploring unlikely scenarios and seeing surprise picks.
| Randomness | Strictness | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1.50x | 50% stricter than baseline |
| 30 (default) | 1.00x | Baseline behavior |
| 50 | 0.81x | 19% looser |
| 70 | 0.62x | 38% looser |
| 100 | 0.33x | 67% looser (chaotic) |
The slider also affects how many players CPU teams consider for each pick. At strict settings, they focus narrowly on the top prospects. At chaotic settings, they consider a wider pool and are more likely to make unexpected selections.
Recent Drafts
If you’re logged in, the simulator shows your three most recent drafts below the settings. Each card displays the team, grade, rounds, and difficulty. Click “Reuse Settings” to instantly load that draft’s configuration.
Draft Page
The draft page is divided into several panels designed to keep you informed and in control at all times.
Header and Controls
The header displays your selected team, team needs, current pick, and the Big Board being used. Three buttons control the flow of the draft:
Start Round: Must be clicked at the beginning of each round. Once a round begins, CPU picks run automatically at your selected speed until it’s your turn or the round ends.
Pause / Resume: Pauses the auto-draft timer at any point during the round. CPU picks stop advancing. Click Resume to continue. Useful if you want to study the board or propose a trade mid-round.
Propose Trade: Opens the trade interface (Premium). You can propose a trade at any time, but trades made before starting a round are most strategic since you can see who’s picking ahead of you.
Draft Tracker
The Draft Tracker shows live results for the current round: which players each team has selected, each team’s remaining needs, and how many rounds remain. Use it to anticipate positional runs, track which needs other teams have filled, and decide whether your target will still be available at your pick.
Available Players
Displays all players still on the board, ranked according to your selected Big Board. Each player shows their name, position, ranking, and school. Position filters at the top let you narrow the view to specific positions.
When it’s your turn, the Draft button activates next to each player. Click it to make your selection.
Your Draft and Selected Players
Your Draft shows your upcoming picks by round and pick number. Picks beyond your selected number of rounds appear grayed out. If you’ve traded picks away, they reflect the new owner.
Your Selected Players tracks every player you’ve drafted so far, updating in real time as you make selections.
Trades (Premium)
Trades use the Jimmy Johnson Trade Value Chart, the same system NFL front offices reference when evaluating draft pick trades. Every pick in the draft has a point value, and trade packages must match or exceed the value of the pick being traded for.
Inbound Trade Offers
CPU teams will occasionally offer to trade up to your pick position. These offers happen organically during the draft:
Trade offers are most common in Rounds 1 through 3. Teams picking 3 to 16 spots behind you may propose a trade up. At least one trade offer is guaranteed per draft in the early rounds. Each offer includes a package of picks valued at 95–115% of your pick’s value. Offers may include current-year picks and future round picks. You can Accept or Decline each offer.
Proposing a Trade (Outbound)
Click “Propose Trade” to initiate your own trade. Select the team you want to trade with, choose which of your picks to offer, and select which of their picks you want in return.
The CPU evaluates your proposal using the Jimmy Johnson chart:
In Player Ranking mode, the CPU accepts if your offer meets or exceeds the value of what they’re giving up. In Team Needs mode, the CPU requires you to overpay by at least 100 points on the chart, simulating a tougher negotiation.
If the trade is rejected, you can adjust your offer and try again.
Multi-Team Trades
Premium users controlling multiple teams can trade picks between their own teams freely. These trades are always accepted regardless of value, giving you full flexibility to consolidate picks or move around the draft board.
Multi-Team Drafting (Premium)
Premium users can control multiple NFL teams in the same draft. Select additional team logos on the setup page to add them to your roster of controlled teams.
When it’s any of your teams’ turns to pick, the simulator pauses and lets you make the selection. The active team automatically switches as each of your teams comes on the clock.
You can trade between your own teams, consolidate picks to move up, or spread selections across the board. Each team’s draft class and grade are tracked independently on the results page.
Draft Grades
After your final pick, click “Finish Draft” to view your results. Your draft receives an overall letter grade from A+ to F based on two components.
Value Score
Measures whether you got good value with each pick. The simulator uses the Jimmy Johnson Trade Value Chart to compare the value of the pick slot you used against the player’s ranking. Drafting a player ranked higher than your pick position is a steal (positive value). Drafting a player ranked lower is a reach (negative value).
Needs Score
Measures how well you addressed your team’s roster needs. Filling top needs earns more credit than filling lower-priority needs due to exponential decay weighting:
| Need Priority | Weight |
|---|---|
| #1 need | 100% |
| #2 need | 64% |
| #3 need | 41% |
| #4 need | 26% |
| #5 need | 17% |
Grading Scale
The final grade combines both scores into a single letter grade:
| Score | Grade |
|---|---|
| 97+ | A+ |
| 93–96 | A |
| 90–92 | A- |
| 87–89 | B+ |
| 83–86 | B |
| 80–82 | B- |
| 77–79 | C+ |
| 73–76 | C |
| 70–72 | C- |
| 67–69 | D+ |
| 63–66 | D |
| 60–62 | D- |
| Below 60 | F |
Pick-by-Pick Breakdown
Each pick receives its own letter grade and explanation. The breakdown shows the Slide Delta (how far the player slid past their ranking), the JJ Delta (difference in Jimmy Johnson chart value between the player’s ranking and the pick used), Need Priority (whether the player filled a team need and how urgent it was), and Pick Quality (a combined score factoring value, needs, and best-player-available consideration).
Summary Statistics
The summary page shows your biggest steals, biggest reaches, total picks, trades completed, needs filled, and the overall split between value performance and needs performance.
Redraft
Click “Redraft” to return to the setup page with your previous configuration pre-loaded. Change a single setting or keep everything the same and run it again for a different outcome.
Tips
Watch for positional runs. If three cornerbacks go in a row, the remaining CBs will slide. Use the Draft Tracker to spot these trends and exploit them.
Trade before starting the round. Once the round starts, CPU picks happen fast. If you see a target slipping, trade up before clicking Start Round.
Use Team Needs mode for realism. Player Ranking mode produces more BPA-driven drafts. Team Needs mode creates realistic positional drafting with more trade-up opportunities.
Adjust Randomness for variety. If you’re running the same draft repeatedly, increase randomness to see different outcomes. Lower it for more consistent, predictable results.
Try different Big Boards. Switching Big Boards dramatically changes which players are available at your pick. A player ranked #15 on one board might be #30 on another.
Use Redraft to iterate. The best way to explore draft strategy is to run the same setup multiple times and compare results. Redraft keeps your settings loaded so you can go again instantly.