The S22 NSFL draft features 5 high-caliber offensive line prospects. There's a 6th prospect who maybe can turn into something yet, but it's a pretty slim chance at this point.
First, we'll take a quick look at where their TPE stands as of last week, and where they'll be after today's updates.
Calvin Golladay - 184 -> 205
Bruce Buckley - 179 -> 207
Byron Dolls - 176 -> 212
Tommy Sacamano - 167 -> 186
Joey McCabe - 133 -> 143
Sylvester Berlin - 86 -> 86
Sylvester Berlin -
As I mentioned before, there's 5 high caliber offensive linemen, and a 6th one who a slim chance to make it. Berlin is that 6th. He hasn't updated in multiple weeks now, since the 14th of March, however, he was on the site just over a week ago, and he has 1 outstanding claim for week 3 predictions. I don't venture into league general discord or rookie discord, and I'm not in Tijuana, so I can't be sure if they're still there, but they're gone from the OL discord. Like I said - slim chance. Maybe if you have a good LR and can find a way to get a hold of them, maybe they come back. I don't know the reason they went inactive, but who knows if you give them a shot, maybe, just maybe, it'll work out.
Calvin Golladay -
Golladay has been a great active. He hasn't missed a beat, and has pumped out 5 great media articles already, and even after buying T6 equipment he's still got a good sized bank. Even though he's dropped to 3rd in TPE this week, it's not for lack of trying. Dolls created with a week's headstart, catching some TPE from the end of S20. Buckley got a 2 TPE edge from a few predictions, most likely. It would not shock me in the slightest if Golladay was the first offensive lineman taken in the draft. He's certainly emerged as one of the top 3 OL, any of which could be the first one taken.
Bruce Buckley -
Buckley has been another great active. He's also been jumping on the media train. Like Golladay, he hasn't missed a beat and has built up a solid start to a bank after buying T6 equipment. Buckley has put out 7 media articles already, though the length hurt the revenue from most of them, as 4 were under 650 words, and another was a big article, but the payout was split 12 ways which amounted to under 800 words payout for him. Still, 5 mil in the bank is a pretty good place to be at the end of a season. He's still going to sit 2nd in TPE this week despite passing Golladay, and is absolutely 1 of the 3 who could be the first lineman off the board.
Byron Dolls -
The first of the Pythons crew, it's me. Unlike the other 2, I haven't been power through media - fortunately this is my 3rd player, and so for a little bit I could coast on the bank account left over from Smyles. It wasn't that much though, and I'm sitting just over 2 million in the bank. I've done 1 graphic so far with Dolls which hasn't been graded, and now this article. The bank is so far the biggest advantage Buckley & Golladay have over me, which is important, probably more than the slight TPE advantage I have. They've used that advantage to have a decent amount saved up, and they've bought T6 - I've only got T4. I do think I could be the first lineman off the board, though it also wouldn't surprise me if I was the third. The one factor that falls in the "intangibles" category is reputation. Calvin & Nicholas are both new users, AFAIK new to sim leagues. I made my name known in the NSFL a long time ago, and the rest of sim leagues too. My reputation on the PBE likely precedes me - if it doesn't, I'll say I wish we could merge the banks from SHL/NSFL/PBE into one. Really, I don't know who will go first of the offensive linemen. What makes it even tougher is the where. By rounds 4-5, maybe even 3, who knows what will happen.
Tommy Sacamano -
Tommy is solidly the #4 OL in the draft. He's been earning TPE at a good rate, not really missing much. What separates him from the top 3 is equipment. Tommy hasn't done any articles, or graphics or anything, so his bank is quite small currently, and he's only got tier 2 equipment. Dolls at tier 4 is 10 TPE, and the other 2 at tier 6 is 20 TPE difference. With max equipment, Tommy would be just 1 TPE behind Golladay. It's going to be the biggest question mark come draft day, how will he keep the bank up? You can go without equipment, for sure, and try to cruise along on contract alone, but even that is tough to do over a season 7-8 weeks long. The bank is the only thing holding Tommy back right now, because otherwise he's been fantastic. That will prevent him from being in the top 3 OL, unless something changes over the next week.
Joey McCabe -
Much like there was a gap between the top 3 and Sacamano, there's a decent gap between Sacamano and McCabe. McCabe has the same issue with bank, sitting at just 1 million and only having tier 2 equipment. He does have some graphics pending, which would net a bit of money, but TPE has been an issue too. McCabe will only have 143 TPE after this update, missing quite a few things. McCabe will be the 5th lineman off the board, and a team will be super happy to have them, no doubt. Despite the slower earning, McCabe will still get to a totally acceptable level for NSFL play. Much like Sacamano, how they keep up with the bank will be the question. Unlike Sacamano, there's been TPE earning that has pushed them down.
Now, I apologize if anything I said sounded too critical - I'm just analyzing the pros and cons - I was a GM in other leagues before, I evaluate the talent as I would if I was looking at drafting them.
The most interesting challenge of this draft, aside from the sheer size of it, and all the talent it contains, is the value of offensive line compared to other positions. You can't buy bots for other positions like you can for the OLine. Big thanks to @iStegosauruz for fighting for fair rubs for all. Players like Golladay & Buckley as rookies who have been as engaged as they are would possibly be 1st round picks, absolutely 2nd rounders, if they were a position other than OL. Me too most likely. Instead, we're talking about rounds 4-5. This is where you have probably the toughest question as a GM - moreso than other sports/leagues, any other position anywhere. Buckley & Golladay are slam dunk picks. So when do you take them versus a risky pick on a different position? An early round talent at a late round position, versus a later round talent at an early round position. How do you decide that? That is a way more difficult choice than say, goalie in hockey or reliever in baseball. I'm glad I don't have to make that choice. It does make me super nervous about where I would land, because it's not about who picks before who - everyone will pick at least once before I get drafted. The question is: who bites first?
Now, those are the big important factors in drafting players. But something else I want to take a look at is builds. Now, thanks to Steg's articles, and the tips from those who paved the way, we kind of have a good outline as to how to build a good lineman.
So, the #1 thing that we're told is to upgrade strength. Steg taught us the importance of intelligence. We also know the blocking stats are important. But somewhere there's points where they all intertwine to determine what makes you perform best. I'm only going to take a look at the top 5, going to compare against Berlin would be just too much of a TPE difference.
Calvin Golladay - 46 pancakes, 3 sacks allowed
Strength: 86
Run Block: 75
Pass Block: 70
Intelligence: 60
Speed: 45
Average Blocking: 72.5
Bruce Buckley - 34 pancakes, 2 sacks allowed
Strength: 88
Run Block: 70
Pass Block: 70
Intelligence: 55
Speed: 50
Average Blocking: 70
Byron Dolls - 66 pancakes (DSFL Leader), 1 sacks allowed
Strength: 81
Run Block: 80
Pass Block: 75
Intelligence: 56
Speed: 49
Average Blocking: 77.5
Tommy Sacamano - 45 pancakes, 4 sacks allowed
Strength: 80
Run Block: 73
Pass Block: 80
Intelligence: 60
Speed: 50
Average Blocking: 76.5
Joey McCabe - 30 pancakes, 3 sacks allowed
Strength: 80
Run Block: 80
Pass Block: 65
Intelligence: 60
Speed: 59
Average Blocking: 72.5
The most successful season was undoubtedly Dolls, who led the entire DSFL in pancakes, and had the fewest sacks allowed of anyone on this list.
Buckley and Golladay followed the orders and went hard for strength - Buckley with just 70 in both blocking ratings. Dolls and Sacamano went for the blocking ratings, with a significant difference between them and everyone else. McCabe is just trailing in TPE really, so he doesn't fall much on either side. He's also the only one who isn't an athletic lineman.
Dolls and Sacamano both sacrificed some strength for blocking, and for Dolls it worked out, for Sacamano it did not. Both were tackles for Portland. The difference between then is that Dolls focused on run blocking, and Sacamano on pass blocking. You would expect that would help Sacamano give up less sacks, but that wasn't the case. However in the DSFL which is much more a rushing league, the extra run blocking certainly seemed to help Dolls rack up the pancakes.
It'll be interesting to too, if they continue on these tracks, how each one fares with their final DSFL build. I expect all 5 to be back in the DSFL, and at least 3 will be capped before the next season starts.
So that's my talk about our wonderful S22 OL prospects. We're all great, thanks for coming to my TED talk.
#FAIRRUBS
First, we'll take a quick look at where their TPE stands as of last week, and where they'll be after today's updates.
Calvin Golladay - 184 -> 205
Bruce Buckley - 179 -> 207
Byron Dolls - 176 -> 212
Tommy Sacamano - 167 -> 186
Joey McCabe - 133 -> 143
Sylvester Berlin - 86 -> 86
Sylvester Berlin -
As I mentioned before, there's 5 high caliber offensive linemen, and a 6th one who a slim chance to make it. Berlin is that 6th. He hasn't updated in multiple weeks now, since the 14th of March, however, he was on the site just over a week ago, and he has 1 outstanding claim for week 3 predictions. I don't venture into league general discord or rookie discord, and I'm not in Tijuana, so I can't be sure if they're still there, but they're gone from the OL discord. Like I said - slim chance. Maybe if you have a good LR and can find a way to get a hold of them, maybe they come back. I don't know the reason they went inactive, but who knows if you give them a shot, maybe, just maybe, it'll work out.
Calvin Golladay -
Golladay has been a great active. He hasn't missed a beat, and has pumped out 5 great media articles already, and even after buying T6 equipment he's still got a good sized bank. Even though he's dropped to 3rd in TPE this week, it's not for lack of trying. Dolls created with a week's headstart, catching some TPE from the end of S20. Buckley got a 2 TPE edge from a few predictions, most likely. It would not shock me in the slightest if Golladay was the first offensive lineman taken in the draft. He's certainly emerged as one of the top 3 OL, any of which could be the first one taken.
Bruce Buckley -
Buckley has been another great active. He's also been jumping on the media train. Like Golladay, he hasn't missed a beat and has built up a solid start to a bank after buying T6 equipment. Buckley has put out 7 media articles already, though the length hurt the revenue from most of them, as 4 were under 650 words, and another was a big article, but the payout was split 12 ways which amounted to under 800 words payout for him. Still, 5 mil in the bank is a pretty good place to be at the end of a season. He's still going to sit 2nd in TPE this week despite passing Golladay, and is absolutely 1 of the 3 who could be the first lineman off the board.
Byron Dolls -
The first of the Pythons crew, it's me. Unlike the other 2, I haven't been power through media - fortunately this is my 3rd player, and so for a little bit I could coast on the bank account left over from Smyles. It wasn't that much though, and I'm sitting just over 2 million in the bank. I've done 1 graphic so far with Dolls which hasn't been graded, and now this article. The bank is so far the biggest advantage Buckley & Golladay have over me, which is important, probably more than the slight TPE advantage I have. They've used that advantage to have a decent amount saved up, and they've bought T6 - I've only got T4. I do think I could be the first lineman off the board, though it also wouldn't surprise me if I was the third. The one factor that falls in the "intangibles" category is reputation. Calvin & Nicholas are both new users, AFAIK new to sim leagues. I made my name known in the NSFL a long time ago, and the rest of sim leagues too. My reputation on the PBE likely precedes me - if it doesn't, I'll say I wish we could merge the banks from SHL/NSFL/PBE into one. Really, I don't know who will go first of the offensive linemen. What makes it even tougher is the where. By rounds 4-5, maybe even 3, who knows what will happen.
Tommy Sacamano -
Tommy is solidly the #4 OL in the draft. He's been earning TPE at a good rate, not really missing much. What separates him from the top 3 is equipment. Tommy hasn't done any articles, or graphics or anything, so his bank is quite small currently, and he's only got tier 2 equipment. Dolls at tier 4 is 10 TPE, and the other 2 at tier 6 is 20 TPE difference. With max equipment, Tommy would be just 1 TPE behind Golladay. It's going to be the biggest question mark come draft day, how will he keep the bank up? You can go without equipment, for sure, and try to cruise along on contract alone, but even that is tough to do over a season 7-8 weeks long. The bank is the only thing holding Tommy back right now, because otherwise he's been fantastic. That will prevent him from being in the top 3 OL, unless something changes over the next week.
Joey McCabe -
Much like there was a gap between the top 3 and Sacamano, there's a decent gap between Sacamano and McCabe. McCabe has the same issue with bank, sitting at just 1 million and only having tier 2 equipment. He does have some graphics pending, which would net a bit of money, but TPE has been an issue too. McCabe will only have 143 TPE after this update, missing quite a few things. McCabe will be the 5th lineman off the board, and a team will be super happy to have them, no doubt. Despite the slower earning, McCabe will still get to a totally acceptable level for NSFL play. Much like Sacamano, how they keep up with the bank will be the question. Unlike Sacamano, there's been TPE earning that has pushed them down.
Now, I apologize if anything I said sounded too critical - I'm just analyzing the pros and cons - I was a GM in other leagues before, I evaluate the talent as I would if I was looking at drafting them.
The most interesting challenge of this draft, aside from the sheer size of it, and all the talent it contains, is the value of offensive line compared to other positions. You can't buy bots for other positions like you can for the OLine. Big thanks to @iStegosauruz for fighting for fair rubs for all. Players like Golladay & Buckley as rookies who have been as engaged as they are would possibly be 1st round picks, absolutely 2nd rounders, if they were a position other than OL. Me too most likely. Instead, we're talking about rounds 4-5. This is where you have probably the toughest question as a GM - moreso than other sports/leagues, any other position anywhere. Buckley & Golladay are slam dunk picks. So when do you take them versus a risky pick on a different position? An early round talent at a late round position, versus a later round talent at an early round position. How do you decide that? That is a way more difficult choice than say, goalie in hockey or reliever in baseball. I'm glad I don't have to make that choice. It does make me super nervous about where I would land, because it's not about who picks before who - everyone will pick at least once before I get drafted. The question is: who bites first?
Now, those are the big important factors in drafting players. But something else I want to take a look at is builds. Now, thanks to Steg's articles, and the tips from those who paved the way, we kind of have a good outline as to how to build a good lineman.
So, the #1 thing that we're told is to upgrade strength. Steg taught us the importance of intelligence. We also know the blocking stats are important. But somewhere there's points where they all intertwine to determine what makes you perform best. I'm only going to take a look at the top 5, going to compare against Berlin would be just too much of a TPE difference.
Calvin Golladay - 46 pancakes, 3 sacks allowed
Strength: 86
Run Block: 75
Pass Block: 70
Intelligence: 60
Speed: 45
Average Blocking: 72.5
Bruce Buckley - 34 pancakes, 2 sacks allowed
Strength: 88
Run Block: 70
Pass Block: 70
Intelligence: 55
Speed: 50
Average Blocking: 70
Byron Dolls - 66 pancakes (DSFL Leader), 1 sacks allowed
Strength: 81
Run Block: 80
Pass Block: 75
Intelligence: 56
Speed: 49
Average Blocking: 77.5
Tommy Sacamano - 45 pancakes, 4 sacks allowed
Strength: 80
Run Block: 73
Pass Block: 80
Intelligence: 60
Speed: 50
Average Blocking: 76.5
Joey McCabe - 30 pancakes, 3 sacks allowed
Strength: 80
Run Block: 80
Pass Block: 65
Intelligence: 60
Speed: 59
Average Blocking: 72.5
The most successful season was undoubtedly Dolls, who led the entire DSFL in pancakes, and had the fewest sacks allowed of anyone on this list.
Buckley and Golladay followed the orders and went hard for strength - Buckley with just 70 in both blocking ratings. Dolls and Sacamano went for the blocking ratings, with a significant difference between them and everyone else. McCabe is just trailing in TPE really, so he doesn't fall much on either side. He's also the only one who isn't an athletic lineman.
Dolls and Sacamano both sacrificed some strength for blocking, and for Dolls it worked out, for Sacamano it did not. Both were tackles for Portland. The difference between then is that Dolls focused on run blocking, and Sacamano on pass blocking. You would expect that would help Sacamano give up less sacks, but that wasn't the case. However in the DSFL which is much more a rushing league, the extra run blocking certainly seemed to help Dolls rack up the pancakes.
It'll be interesting to too, if they continue on these tracks, how each one fares with their final DSFL build. I expect all 5 to be back in the DSFL, and at least 3 will be capped before the next season starts.
So that's my talk about our wonderful S22 OL prospects. We're all great, thanks for coming to my TED talk.
#FAIRRUBS
Code:
1708 words