0 of 38

LM Otero/Associated Press

Good morning, football fans. It's officially draft season.

In keeping with tradition, the morning after the Super Bowl I post a seven-round mock draft. As always, I'll caution you guys to not get too upset about team needs—because they're all going to change in free agency—and to remember that I'm still in the process of learning about these players. But that's never stopped me from having some fun and digging into a mock draft.

For me, mock drafts are a great exercise in learning team needs and sorting out my thoughts on players. The NFL Scouting Combine in late February will help with that, but this early look touches on where the players are valued and what I'm hearing from NFL teams in regards to what they're looking for.

You'll notice this mock draft isn't 256 picks long. That's because compensatory picks haven't been announced yet. Once those extra 32 picks are announced, they will be added into future mock drafts. But that's important to note because a player drafted in Round 5 of this mock draft might be a Round 4 player with compensatory picks added in.