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+---- Thread: *S22 Mock Draft v2.1 (/showthread.php?tid=20475)
*S22 Mock Draft v2.1 - Memento Mori - 03-27-2020
A few days after I wrote my S22 Mock Draft v1, HO decided to go ahead and announce where the two expansion teams would be drafting and who their GMs were. How rude. This immediately made v1 outdated, so I wrote v2. I decided to wait until the west coast USA people woke up before posting it, and then NOLA traded up to the second overall pick - which of course changes a bunch of resulting selections as I had them picking a different player at 2 than Sarasota did. So, instead of v2, here’s v2.1, featuring both expansion teams and the NOLA/SAR trade. The whole of the UK is in quarantine now so expect v3 tomorrow, v4 the day after and v5 sometime next week. I’m so bored.
Anyway, here’s wonderwall Mock Draft v2.1:
Round 1
1) Honolulu Hahalua: Tyler Oles JR, CB - Portland
The reasoning here is pretty simple. After writing v1, I started putting together a big board (essentially a ranked list of prospects, as opposed to a mock draft). I came to the conclusion that Oles JR is the best prospect in the draft class. To is a former GM, a former Head Office member, a former Head of Player Progression… he’s had almost as many league jobs as my ex-girlfriend had affairs. Fuck you, Samantha.
This is his third player, and he claims the title of ‘most pre-regression TPE’ with his second, which is another way of saying Oles JR has both a very high floor and a very high ceiling. I think he’d be in play for the #1 pick with almost any team picking here.
2) New Orleans Second Line (from Sarasota): Magnus Rikiya, DT - Norfolk
New Orleans have moved up to second overall, trading Sarasota their third and fifth round picks in this year’s draft, plus their first round pick in S23.
Tesla ticks all the boxes - she’s active, she’s a high earner and is the richest user in the draft. Even before factoring in future contracts and the salary from her league job, there’s enough there to afford Tier 6 equipment and weekly training for the next four seasons. I think NOLA have been interested in Tesla for a long time - Norfolk’s GM is a NOLA player, and many prominent members of the Second Line dressing room have strong ties to the SeaWolves. In v2 I had Rikiya going top five, and NOLA likely realised they’d have to trade up if they wanted to draft Rikiya. With Sarasota looking to build their roster by acquiring extra picks, this is a trade that makes sense for both sides.
3) San Jose Sabercats: Phat Boi, DT - Kansas City
Almost half of San Jose’s defense is in regression, and to make matters worse they have just two active defensive linemen and two active defensive backs (three if you include Tyler Swift, but they’re retiring at the end of the season). Luckily for them, this class has lots of DLs and lots of DBs. Phat Boi has the highest TPE of this draft class, which should play into San Jose’s thinking as he’d be likely to see significant snaps right away.
4) Arizona Outlaws: Johnny Hellzapoppin, S - Myrtle Beach
Arizona’s offense is in a fairly good place, but their defense allows the most points in the NSFL. They need help at all three levels of the defense, and a first round defensive lineman, cornerback or safety could be a starter right away in nickel packages. I imagine they’ll pick their favourite of the remaining defensive prospects available here and Arizona’s second safety is a 130 TPE inactive - so upgrading at safety will be a huge priority. I have them picking Hellzapoppin here as the two best defensive line prospects have just been drafted and the cornerback class is very deep.
Hellzapoppin is controlled by a user with a league job, and he’s among the top earners in the class. The $15m in his bank account should ensure that affording training and Tier 6 equipment will never be much of a problem for Hellzapoppin, and he’s a good locker room presence that won’t cause any drama.
5) Philadelphia Liberty: Troen Egghands, DE - Myrtle Beach
Philadelphia needs new starters on the defensive line and in the secondary, and with back-to-back picks at fifth and sixth overall they can find them. The (in my eyes) top cornerback, defensive line and safety options have been taken within the first four picks, but Philadelphia will hardly complain given Egghands’ talent.
Troen’s impressed off the field too, writing enough high-quality media pieces to accumulate a very healthy $38m bank balance. The Liberty have a number of Myrtle Beach connections and alumni which will make them even more confident about taking Troen with this pick.
6) Philadelphia Liberty (from Chicago): Thubba Bumper, CB - Norfolk
The Liberty were light at cornerback even before Julian McMorris announced his retirement. McMorris was yet to hit regression and his retirement leaves them with just Emondov Emoji and Stuart Little IV at corner. Emoji is due to hit regression this offseason, and Little IV is sitting at just 238 TPE. Adding a sim league veteran in bauer at a position of need makes a lot of sense here.
7) Yellowknife Wraiths: Eddie Jeeta, WR - Kansas City
As two of Yellowknife’s players were selected to become the GMs of Sarasota, they know two of the maximum three players they are losing in the expansion draft. The Wraiths are deep enough at running back, with Mathias Hanyadi fresh off a RBotY award and both backs being S18 creates who won’t regress any time soon. Rayne Gordon ranks in the top 10 for receiving yards and leads the Wraiths in touchdowns with 6, so replacing his production will be a priority. Yellowknife also has a need at TE and on the defensive side of the ball, but there’s more depth in this draft at those positions. There’s a clear top two receiver prospects and I rate Jeeta just ahead of William Lim so he’s the pick.
8) Austin Copperheads: Brandon Booker, CB - Myrtle Beach
Hey look, it’s me! Cornerback is one of the few positions where Austin’s roster isn’t deep. They only have two on the roster and Dermot Lavelle Jr. is part of the Copperheads S16 core of players, which are due to begin regression in S23. Austin’s other outside cornerback is Victor Moreno with 328 TPE, so corner looks to be a position Austin will target early unless the expansion draft dramatically alters their plans. At eighth they take the dashingly handsome Brandon Booker, who is second only to Oles JR in TPE among cornerbacks.
9) Colorado Yeti: Derred de Ville, LB - London
Colorado’s roster is in good shape. Only four starters are due to regress in S22, and three of those are S15 players entering their first season of regression. With no glaring holes on their roster, I’d expect Colorado to draft for the future and take an eventual replacement for one of the four regressing players - wide receiver James Bishop, cornerback Quintin Sinclair, and linebackers Mo Berry and Tony Gabagool. CB3 Axel Hornbacher is retiring, but Colorado drafted Rotticus Scott of Myrtle Beach in the second round of last year’s draft and Scott will be called up from the DSFL this offseason to replace him. de Ville has the most TPE of the entire r/NFL recruitment drive and only drops to ninth because the teams drafting ahead of the Yeti have bigger needs at other positions. Exilizer has been a force on and off the field, an accomplished player who has contributed a lot to the wiki, the TPE tracker and more.
10) Orange County Otters: Jeffrey Phillips, TE - Dallas
Orange County are another team with a well-balanced, deep roster. I considered another defensive lineman in this spot as DE Max Lovote has announced his retirement and S11 vet Kwame Abayomi Mbafeno will drop below 200 TPE after regression. The Otters look set to call up another Myrtle Beach player in defensive end Larry Longshot to fill this role, so instead they choose to prepare for Johnny Blaze’s eventual retirement by drafting the best tight end prospect in the S22 class. DrunkenTeddy’s previous player spent his entire NSFL career with Orange County, making this match made in heaven the first pick so far that I haven’t changed from v1.
11) Baltimore Hawks: Colt Mendoza, CB - Dallas
Losing their starting quarterback Corvo Havran to Honolulu will hurt Baltimore’s chances of being competitive in S22. Baltimore drafted Chika Fujiwara in the 5th round of last season’s draft, and Baltimore will be looking to add as much young talent around Fujiwara as possible in order to build a strong roster for 2-3 seasons’ time.
Marquees Acho’s retirement announcement leaves Baltimore desperately short of cornerback talent. Baltimore will have just Juan Marston and Xandra Troyski on the roster, and with Troyski having been drafted in Season 10 he may join Acho in retiring at the end of S21. Mendoza doesn’t have the highest TPE of the remaining cornerbacks on the board, but iStegosauruz has demonstrated with his statistical analysis pieces that he’d be a huge asset to Baltimore’s war room as well as on the field.
12) New Orleans Second Line: Ben Slothlisberger, QB - Tijuana
Sloth announced that his linebacker Johnny Slothface would be retiring so that he could recreate as QB, with the plan being that Slothlisberger would be NOLA’s quarterback of the future. Expansion means there’s more starting QB jobs, and therefore more spots for developing QBs to land. New Orleans decide not to take any risks and takes Slothlisberger at the first opportunity.
Round 2
13) Sarasota Sailfish: Octavio Clemente, DT - Myrtle Beach
Sarasota’s needs will depend on how the expansion draft plays out, making these second round selections more difficult to pick. Octavio Clemente will make sense as an option regardless, as he plays in a coveted NSFL position - there’s a lack of good NSFL defensive linemen available and so teams may opt to protect the talented defensive line players they do have. Frost and Rain will be well-acquainted with Clemente due to their connections to Myrtle Beach, making him a safe and wise choice here.
14) Honolulu Hahalua: Stanis?aw Koniecpolski, LB, Dallas
As with the previous pick, the expansion draft will play a large role in their S22 draft strategy and as Dwyer hasn’t (re)created a player yet, we know even less about the Honolulu roster. Koniecpolski has the second most TPE in the class and majesiu is a reliable sim league vet. As was the case with Sarasota and Clemente (given that there’s more offensive than defensive players in general) it may be easier for Honolulu to find value picking more offensive players in the expansion draft and defensive players in this draft given the depth of talent on the defensive side of the ball in this class.
15) San Jose Sabercats: Monterey “Monty” Jack, QB - Dallas
Monty Jack is GM Rradum’s recreate, and one reason to make a mock draft. You cannot get this pick wrong, because San Jose aren’t allowed to select anyone other than Rradum with their second round pick.
16) Arizona Outlaws: Deshun Jones, DT - Dallas
In Round 2, it’s Arizona’s turn to pick back-to-back. Having picked Johnny Hellzapoppin with their first round pick, it’s time to address the two other main positions of need: defensive line and cornerback. Deshun Jones is the highest TPE defensive lineman available here, and he’s already secured himself a league job as a fantasy manager, so Arizona makes him the third Birddog to be selected in a row.
17) Arizona Outlaws (from Philadelphia): Zamir Kehla, CB - Portland
Arizona’s CB3 is Beau Montgomery, who has been hit hard by regression and is now at just 269 TPE. The Outlaws drafted Atlas Quin in last year’s draft, but he hasn’t developed as much as they would have hoped and any cornerback drafted here looks likely to have more TPE than Montgomery or Quin by Week 1. Zamir Kehla is a somewhat divisive prospect, known for being loud and combative on social media and in interviews. His teammates and coaches have fiercely defended him though, and the Outlaws have connections within the Portland organisation who’ll be able to verify how Kehla acts and is thought of within the Pythons locker room. Arizona looks set to draft three defensive players in the top seventeen picks, who they’ll rely on to play a huge role in transforming their porous defense.
18) Philadelphia Liberty (from Chicago): Buck Thornton, S - Minnesota
Philadelphia addressed their two biggest needs by taking Rikiya and Bumper in Round 1, giving them a bit more flexibility with this pick. Another cornerback wouldn’t go amiss, but this is a deep CB class and they could wait at that position. Their first round pick from last year, Juniped Catfish, is rumoured to be switching positions and that gives them further flexibility in addressing their needs. That said, with their starting safety tandem being two S15 vets the Liberty will need to prepare for their eventual departure. I have Buck Thornton and Matt Cross graded pretty similarly, giving the edge to Thornton as he seems to be slightly more active and seems to be more recognised within the league overall.
19) Yellowknife Wraiths: Colby Jack, QB - London
The other Jack brother is another GM recreate, this time flyeaglesfly29 of the Wraiths. All I can say is: thank god the Butchers don’t have a GM recreate in this draft. That’d create some problems.
20) Austin Copperheads: Mo “Mamba” Magic, DT - Minnesota
Austin’s defensive line needs some improvement, and Mo Magic is my favourite defensive line prospect yet to be selected. Kyle Idlewyld and Riles McTackle are two young, talented players but Grayson Kuusela is almost old enough to start claiming social security payments. Hal Fassingit and John-Caleb Bradberton haven’t developed as much as Austin would have hoped, and Magic plays a position where it’s often difficult to find good NSFL-level starters. Sandro Ryeu is a DE with slightly more TPE than Magic, but Magic is a more active user who I’m sure will surpass him in the future given his current trajectory.
21) Colorado Yeti: William Lim, WR - Dallas
This could well change depending on the results of the expansion draft, but there doesn’t seem to be a player at this spot who’d be of sufficient talent to start for the Yeti in S22. Colorado can look to replace what they lost due to expansion, or draft the eventual replacement for an ageing player on their roster. William Lim is the top receiver in the class by TPE and will be ready to step into a contributing role when S12 vet James Bishop eventually decides to retire.
22) Orange County Otters: Acura Skyline, RB - London
Most NSFL teams have reasonably talented backfields, so 22nd could be where the first running back is taken. Ludicolo Bigby is the Otters’ top back and given that he only has 543 TPE, regression will hit him hard once it begins in S22. Their RB2, Siddhu Sarvepally, is due to retire at the end of this season and so Skyline could immediately fill that RB2 role with a view to eventually supplanting Bigby. Dallas’ White Goodman is also available here, but the Otters decide to refresh a veteran locker room with a newer face.
23) Baltimore Hawks: Cadillac Harris, CB - London
I had Lawrence Bass going at this spot in v1, and though LB remains a big need for Baltimore, I think it’s more important that Baltimore finds another cornerback given Acho’s retirement. Baltimore will likely call up Gregor MacGregor from Portland to freshen up their LB core, and hope that Bass or another linebacker they like is available later in the draft. A cornerback group of Marston, Mendoza and Harris will be very raw, but Mendoza and Harris have the potential to grow into an excellent starting cornerback pairing.
24) New Orleans Second Line: Michael Witheblock, WR - Kansas City
Another pick that remains the same as in v1, NOLA picks a successor to the regressing Bona’beri Jones at wide receiver. As arguably the NSFL’s most talented roster, NOLA has a lot to lose in the upcoming expansion draft and so I think the most likely scenario is that this pick will be spent looking to replenish the talent they end up losing to Honolulu and/or Sarasota. If the draft were to happen tomorrow, however, I think they take Witheblock in this spot.
Memento Mori Wrote:2701 words
*S22 Mock Draft v2.1 - NamelessNate - 03-27-2020
Sofa Snubbed
*S22 Mock Draft v2.1 - Billybolo53 - 03-27-2020
????
*S22 Mock Draft v2.1 - Memento Mori - 03-27-2020
(03-27-2020, 05:27 PM)NamelessNate Wrote:Sofa SnubbedBlame the expansion team without a QB for trading out of #2 overall :eyes:
*S22 Mock Draft v2.1 - retrospace111 - 03-27-2020
I’m glad I’m finally on someone’s mock ???????
*S22 Mock Draft v2.1 - br0_0ker - 03-27-2020
(03-27-2020, 09:37 AM)Memento Mori Wrote:Blame the expansion team without a QB for trading out of #2 overall :eyes:
The QB economy in the league right now is such that you can probably draft a future long-term starter at QB for your franchise with a later puck than a 1st, hell just last year the first QB wasn't taken until round 5 (pick 41) and they're the 17th highest earner of the class, AND S21 was a shallower draft class than S22. There are at least 4 high earning QBs in S22, and I can't count 4 teams that are going to be QB needy going into S22. And that also assumes they don't trade for a QB.
*S22 Mock Draft v2.1 - Memento Mori - 03-27-2020
(03-27-2020, 05:52 PM)steelsound Wrote:The QB economy in the league right now is such that you can probably draft a future long-term starter at QB for your franchise with a later puck than a 1st, hell just last year the first QB wasn't taken until round 5 (pick 41) and they're the 17th highest earner of the class, AND S21 was a shallower draft class than S22. There are at least 4 high earning QBs in S22, and I can't count 4 teams that are going to be QB needy going into S22. And that also assumes they don't trade for a QB.it was a joke
*S22 Mock Draft v2.1 - Bruins10 - 03-27-2020
i was disappointed to see you didnt do a mock till the 7th round, i wanted to know where i would end up....
*S22 Mock Draft v2.1 - br0_0ker - 03-27-2020
(03-27-2020, 10:01 AM)Memento Mori Wrote:it was a joke
Consider me whooshed
*S22 Mock Draft v2.1 - Memento Mori - 03-27-2020
(03-27-2020, 06:02 PM)Bruins10 Wrote:i was disappointed to see you didnt do a mock till the 7th round, i wanted to know where i would end up....I did put together a very rough big board as it gives me an excuse to say more nice things about people but that'd be a long, long article. May try and make it more digestible and post it at some point if I run out of other fun quarantine activities.