Doing the impossible


For a project in a Data Mining class that I'm currently enrolled in I have to use data to predict an unknown value or object, given other data that may or may not relate to the subject in question.  Since I'm going to be spending a lot of time on this for the next week, and because I believe the more you're interested in something the better you'll do, I wanted to pick a subject that I was passionate about.  Given the timing, I want to try to do the impossible and predict the 1st round of the NFL Draft as the picks are made live on May 8.


I've always been fascinated by the NFL Draft.  The workings behind the scenes of player evaluation and selection are as interesting to me as the games themselves.  The draft and all that goes into it is something that people devote their lives to; it is even now shown live over 3 consecutive days on one of the most watched channels on TV in the primetime month of May.  Yet with all the attention paid to it by smart people all over the country, even the best pundits can only get 12 of the 32 selections correct.  I thought I'd give it creating a mock draft in real time as the picks are made a shot by simply doing a data analysis project on it.


My plan is to use predictors such as an aggregated mock draft collection of various pundits across the country, player physical attributes, college statistics and confirmed NFL team visits to try and assign a probability to the top guess for each team.


Wish me luck.