AI NFL mock draft features head-scratching picks for Chiefs, Patriots

A month and a half after the Microsoft Copilot AI chatbot crafted a reasonable and well-constructed 2026 NFL mock draft , USA TODAY Sports decided to retry the experiment. The main takeaway? NFL mock draft analysts won't need to worry about AI taking their jobs any time soon.

In the original experiment, Copilot successfully created a full, first-round mock in advance of Super Bowl 60 using just one prompt: "Can you create your own 2026 NFL mock draft for the first 32 picks? " This time, Copilot struggled to interpret the prompt. This wasn't a major surprise – as some Large Language Models (LLMs) have trouble keeping up with the latest sports news and updates – but the errors in this iteration were more unorthodox than usual.

Originally, the chatbot produced a mock draft that not only featured an incorrect draft order, but also consisted entirely of players the AI had seemingly created itself. After several re-prompts, Copilot was able to use the correct draft order, but it struggled to keep track of which players were draft-eligible in 2026. That led to players already on NFL teams – like Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard – being included in its mock draft.

After enough tinkering, Copilot finally produced a 2026 NFL mock draft featuring the correct draft order and only players eligible for this year's draft. The prompt utilized to create it was as follows: Can you create your own 2026 NFL mock draft for the first 32 picks using the official 2026 NFL Draft order, only players eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft and without having the same prospect being selected twice within the mock? Even so, Copilot's mock featured several head-scratching picks, including inexplicably mocking a quarterback to the New England Patriots at the end of Round 1.