The results of the annual workout day for ISFL prospects are here, and this season's class of seventy -- notably more than a 50% reduction on last season's monster class -- have gone through the yearly farce designed to line the pockets of one of the league's wealthiest members that is the ISFL scouting combine. I kid, I actually find this whole thing really interesting and I will revamp it soon. Just gotta make time.

Anyway, as usual, the scouting combine took place over a few days, giving ISFL front office people a chance to get a look at their potential draft selections in a controlled environment that doesn't at all replicate game conditions. We do it because immersion is fun. I guess?

Anyway, first up, the quarterbacks


So. Talking points for all three signal-callers this year, interestingly enough. First I want to talk about Emi Rune. It would be easy to look at her performance here, and in her rookie DSFL season, and write her off. It would also be monumentally stupid. We -- by that I mean Wu Tang Sports Management (WTSM), since we run this event on behalf of the league and are working on some changes to help scouts and GMs get a better idea of a player's actual ability -- actually invited the quarterbacks (and some receivers) to do a separate workout, and in the quarterback accuracy challenge, Emi wasn't far behind LBJ3 and Ryan Negs. This is why I keep talking about a revamp of this event. Some positions just get screwed.

LeBron James III is the best athlete among this year's quarterbacks, and it's not even close. In a dynamic offense with a set of decent receivers and a strong offensive line (and fullback maybe) this guy could probably have a decent impact as a true rookie. Give him an offseason to prep and yeah. He'd struggle passing against ISFL secondaries, but he has the legs to make things happen regardless.

Ryan Negs on the other hand is the complete opposite kind of quarterback. This kid is smart. He equalled the combine record on the wonderlic, and only lost out to LBJ3 in the accuracy challenge on longer throws. Sure, he's not as mobile, but he'll probably make far fewer mistakes. The importance of that can't be overstated, especially for a young quarterback.

Next up, let's look at the running backs.


If you're a regular viewer of the combine, you already know what I'm gonna say. Running backs in this league are overwhelmingly built for sp- ...waaaait a minute. We only have two obvious speed backs here. I say obvious because they both equalled the combine record in the forty. No big deal.

Cobra Kai looks like a potential first overall pick to many, and I get it. He's a monster of a back. But I think that talking about him at that position and not mentioning Mr Forty-Two is ... odd. There really isn't much between them. In fact, our in-house player value metric has them 0.6 points apart, with Kai taking the edge (on account of his being stronger, in case you wondered). As is the pattern with top end speed backs in this league, though... these two are both about as smart as whatever first emerged from the primordial soup. Both scored a 3 on the wonderlic. If you randomly guessed every question you'd expect to score around 12. I'm just sayin'.......

Outside those two, Ozymandias looks promising, leading the class in three events, all of which show off his powerful lower body. It's also worth noting he's no slouch either, clocking a 4.32 in the forty. If he continues this nicely rounded path of development, he could well be challenging the class leaders in the not too distant future.

Special mention goes to Sirdsvaldis Miglasķēms, who is the only running back in the class to score above average on the wonderlic. Their lacklustre showing elsewhere suggests maybe they're smart enough to think "hey you know what? maybe this isn't the career for me"

On to the wide receivers. 


Alright so... my son Raphael is in this group. He actually leads it in two events (wonderlic and three cone drill) but he's... not the leading prospect here overall. All that time with his nose in books was time he didn't spend in the gym, you see (my boy only managed four reps on the bench, ffs). That said, he's among the best in this group. Along with about five other prospects who all look like they could go on to be elite receivers at ISFL level: Speedman, Messi, Naught, McGrady and the class leader, in my opinion - Salamanca.

Salamanca is the quickest, has the best vert, best broad jump, and best shuttle. Weirdly not among the top five in three cone drill, but good enough for fourth among wide receivers this year for bench press, and average on the wonderlic with a twenty. My appraisal here is actually at odds with our in-house metric, which puts him fully three points behind the class leader (McGrady) and only one point ahead of Raphael Delacour.

That group of six, though... in some order, they will be the first six receivers off the board, I'm sure. Not to be disrespectful about the others but they have the look of either project players (Jackman, Hulkenvettel and Washington in particular seem to fit this mould to me) or the kind of long shot pick a GM makes in the late rounds, hoping they can be the one to find just the right combination of words to get this player to produce at max potential. The ISFL is an unforgiving league, and the sad truth is that a large majority of players never really "make it" or elevate themselves beyond "role players". Sorry, kids.

Tight ends, next.


Tight end is an often overlooked position in this league, I feel. Two strong prospects this year, with Teboat looking better than Ding Dong to my eyes, but there's a lot of career for that gap to narrow and possibly even reverse, in fairness.

Teboat leads this class in every event except the wonderlic -- where he was two points behind John Johnson -- that's a competitor right there. His closest rival, Jaja Ding Dong, put up respectable numbers, but just wasn't really in the same contest when you break it down. 4.46 seconds in the forty is nothing to sniff at, it's in the 80th percentile all-time among tight ends; same goes for his vert. Broad jump in the 77th, shuttle in the 74th. These are strong numbers. But... Teboat hits the 92nd percentile or better in those same events. That's monstrous.

Uh, on to the offensive linemen, then. 


We've come a long way with offensive linemen. I think all of these guys look like good prospects if I'm honest. Littlewood clearly spends all his time reading his playbook and pumping iron. Those 49 reps tie the all time record (set last year by Adam Mellott, incidentally).

The other end of the scale is Jack Cobb, who is by far the least powerful among this class, but makes up for it in quickness and agility. I'm sure that whoever drafts him will be able to get him in the weight room making up that particular shortcoming.

Alexander Franklin is an all-rounder in a way, and actually has the second best score on our in-house metric (1.1 points behind Littlewood). He's pretty firmly in the middle on most events, but joint top of the class on the wonderlic -- an aspect of the lineman's role that is often overlooked -- and has deceptively quick feet, topping the class in the three cone drill.

Rico-Shea might be my sleeper pick, seeming to have the best overall potential. The main thing that seems likely to hold him back is his poor showing in the wonderlic. It'll be interesting to see how many GMs look at his overall profile and think it's worth the risk even if he gets flagged more, for example. Smith is similar to Rico-Shea but a little behind him overall, for me. Smith is slightly more agile, but Rico-Shea is stronger... and in the ISFL, that extra strength will help more, I think.

Time to switch sides and look at the defensive linemen now.


The consensus first overall pick this year, and seemingly clear leader among defensive linemen is Ernest Lover. I can't really make much of a case against this, in all honesty. He might not go first overall if Berlin decide they have more pressing needs -- a very real possibility for an expansion team, in fairness -- but you'd not be surprised if he did. I'd be surprised if they took another defensive lineman before him, though.

This isn't to say that the likes of Otawara, Jaxson or Francis aren't also very promising talents, they just aren't at the same level as Lover, who our metric pegs as a generational talent, scoring him fully eleven points ahead of the next best option.

Byakuya Togami is worthy of a mention here too, their 39 reps holding up well in this class as third best. The majority of this class is sort of middling, for me. Togami, Dreyar, McFredBeard, and Berto all solid options, but will likely need a little while to really adjust to ISFL ball, whereas the top four here are ISFL ready now.

Moving back a level, we have linebackers. 


Again I think we have four really strong candidates here, with Taylor, McMullet, Jones and Slammu all looking ready to terrorise those speedy backs in the ISFL as rookies. Sarrasin and Lucas the next tier down, and then the rest looking like they might benefit from a season or two in the DSFL to refine their game.

McMullet's 4.27 in the forty is positively terrifying, for what its worth, and the fastest time ever recorded in the forty by a linebacker in this league's history. You look at McMullet's measurables and seriously think this kid could probably line up at safety. That's impressive. He's not the only one. Taylor and Jones look similarly adaptable, while Slammu's selling point is his capacity to deliver particularly brutal hits -- his strength compares favourably with linemen. Sarrasin on the other hand, looks like a bonafide "quarterback of the defense" and could develop into a top class middle linebacker for an ISFL team, given time.

Now we reach my personal favourite position group; the defensive backs. 


If I were to choose one name from this group who I feel is the top prospect at defensive back, it would probably be Derek Wildstar. Hear me out, Moe Skeeter and Caven McRae stans... Wildstar loses out only on the three cone drill to Skeeter, and only on the wonderlic to McRae. Otherwise, he has them equalled or better in every other event.

Lennox [Garnett] insists that it was brains that put us over at defensive back, and he's not wrong... but we were also very strong athletes. Brains alone can't make up for that first step that an explosive sprinter has, that extra inch or two that a better vertical gives you, and so on. This does mean, though, that I think of the three, McRae may have the highest ceiling. ISFL teams are generally better at helping a player improve athletically than cerebrally, in my experience.

A few others here are good value, like McKenzie, Shuffleboard, and Dogwood Maple -- who I really like for his excellent work ethic, having seen him at Norfolk on a visit to Raphael -- but I suspect Wildstar will be the first DB off the board tonight.

Finally, we come to special teams. I'll be honest, I only include this because the kicker mafia make me do it. Who ever heard of a sport where kicking in the most important attribute?
(for those of you who don't get the joke, I'm a retired soccer player/coach)


Let's be real. Johnathan Smith is the only real option here, right? Oh wait kickers, right. We're not expecting any of them to put up significant numbers here at all. Look, I never really know what to say about kickers at the combine. We're working on something for you guys, I promise. WTSM will have you covered in future, give you something to properly showcase your unique skillset. Until then, I guess, if you want your kicker to be an extra man on special teams in a pinch, Smith is your guy.


To wrap things up, some notes about this season’s combine.

Four players in this draft class have equalled all-time combine records: Negs (Wonderlic), Littlewood (Bench Press), Kai and Forty-Two (40 Yard Dash).

Raphael Delacour's 6.85 in the three cone drill is just short of the all-time top ten (by 0.01 seconds), but is the joint fourth best result in the event since season two, equalling Darren Smallwood's time, and only a hundredth of a second behind Dermot Lavelle.

Similarly, Mr Forty-Two's shuttle run time is just outside the top ten (by 0.02 seconds), but only four players have done better since season 11.

Derek Wildstar's broad jump is less than an inch away from being top ten all-time, and ranks joint fifth since season 2. In fact, all the better jumps since then occurred in the past three years.

Leonard Taylor's 35.5 inch vertical jump has been bettered only six times since season 4.

This year's workout warrior is unclear, with multiple players appearing in the top five for more than one event, however, Tom Teboat's performance -- for a tight end -- was outstanding, with five of his results appearing in the top ten (of 133) at his position and only one (Wonderlic) rating below average for his position group, all-time.