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So what do the NFL draft gurus really know, anyway?

We read every word, anxiously. But what do Mike Mayock, Mel Kiper Jr. and the rest really know?

NOBODY KNOWS. Everyone guesses. Hardly anyone gets more than a few exactly right. One look at any one of the countless NFL draft projections from last season emphasizes this.

And yet the tradition continues because, well, it's just so much fun. You say defensive back. He says wide receiver. The guy over there thinks the Eagles' most pressing need is defensive end.

And then there is Christian McCaffrey, whose shifts up and down the endless projection lists mirror the versatility that makes him such a tempting pick for a team that loves to use its running backs as receivers.

Click here for more coverage of the 2017 NFL draft in Philadelphia. Our live blog will have updates from the event starting Thursday at noon.

So let's total it up, shall we? By now — really every spring at this time — we are undeniably aware of those who have made a name for themselves naming these names. There's the godfather of it all, Mel Kiper Jr., who has been predicting and critiquing the draft since before helmet phones were invented and the headline afterward revolved around Jets fans booing their pick as it was announced in a New York hotel ballroom.

And then there are all of his disciples. Too many to name, certainly, but some with more of a niche than others. Wayne's own Mike Mayock, for sure. An arbitrary grade system of last year's draft by SB Nation's Scott Schulze awarded Mayock twice as many points as the ESPN team of Kiper and Todd McShay (126-60).

According to the article, Mayock was correct on eight of his first 12 picks. The Eagles, of course, select 14th in the first round Thursday, and Mayock's most recent inclination was that they will push their need for a defensive back to the next round if Ohio State's Gareon Conley is gone and one of the well-discussed offensive talents – minus Joe Mixon — are still on the board at 14.

"Get a McCaffrey or a Dalvin Cook," he said during a recent conference call. "Get a tight end, O.J. Howard. Get weapons. Get one of those wideouts you like."

In the end, he went with Clemson wideout Mike Williams in his mock draft, released Wednesday.

Mayock made those comments before the recent rape accusation against Conley surfaced. Kiper/McShay had them choosing Conley in their most recent draft board, which also predates the charges and receives this qualifier: It is whom they would pick, not necessarily whom the teams will.

Of the seven mock drafts listed on NFL.com on Wednesday morning, two have the Eagles selecting Stanford Swiss army knife McCaffrey and two have them picking receiver John Ross, the burner from Washington. Ross is also the pick of Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox.

Walter Reports, which finished a surprising second to Mayock in that 2016 accuracy measurement listed above with 81 points, thinks it will be Alabama tight end Howard.

Daniel Jeremiah, the most recent NFL.com guru to post his draft, says it will be Tennessee defensive end Derek Barnett, who broke Reggie White's sacks record for the Volunteers. With Barnett and McCaffrey picked before 14, Draftsite.com, which finished third in that accuracy ranking, has the Eagles choosing Alabama cornerback Marlon Humphrey.

The bottom line seems to be that, after months of combines, tapes, analysis and pro days, the experts have no better feel for what the Eagles might do than the guy on the barstool next to you. The only thing we are sure of is that if one of these names isn't announced Thursday night, the boos will be so loud at the Art Museum that the Eagles brass will hear it from South Philly.