Teams are not made in a day. In fact, teams are not generally made any less than 2 or 3 seasons at a minimum generally speaking. There are always exceptions to the rule of course. Las Vegas Knights in hockey are the most obvious answer in recent times that comes to mind. In an established league, though, that is going to be the rare exception and certainly not the norm. Still, there are a lot of times when a particular offseason completely changes the fortune of a team. The S19 offseason is one that was critical to the New Orleans Second Line. Before I really dive into what made S18 so great, I want to show the groundwork that was already in place. S18 was one of the biggest classes and came with a lot of hype to it. New Orleans started a major part of an eventual championship team done by the work of players from the S18 class. Names such as David Rector, Marcella Turiki, Givussafare Rubbe and Bjorn Ironside were all vital pieces. Other key players such as linebackers Bode and Slothface, along with quarterback Stan Francisco and all pro running back Forrest Gump were all primed to be in great contention for an Ultimus. With a big S18 class came a lot of teams with top talent, though. Teams like Yellowknife, Colorado and Orange County also have their fair of top talent from this class. It’s no surprise that all four of these teams have won Ultimus’ since that draft. But enough of the backstory, let us look at the S19 draft.
The S19 class was different than the previous season in almost every way. There were only a grand total of 33 players that were NSFL ready (yes I said NSFL, that’s what it was at this point in the league). In comparison. S18 had 111 players that were drafted into the NSFL. Through moves from a season before, New Orleans found themselves with 3 first round picks in the draft. These were acquired through skilled maneuvers, in part from certain high name players that wanted out at the time. Action Jackson and Thud Castle, each high value players, wanted to leave for different reasons. This lead to New Orleans committing to its future by acquiring multiple picks in what turned out to be a tiny class. Once the draft came about, those picks became the first, third and eighth pick of the draft. With the first pick, the Second Line grabbed LB Mack Arianlacher. Mack was a top talent out of Tijuana who was liking to make an immediate impact at the next level. At pick three, New Orleans got the top earner in the class in Tight End Austin McCormick. It was later on mentioned that there was a fear that San Jose were interested in Mack, so the best strategy was to take him at one with little fear of McCormick going to a team that didn’t really need a tight end. Another team could have traded up of course, but they would have paid a heavy price. The Second Line came back at pick 8 and took safety Mason Blaylock. There were some GMs who weren’t really aware of the young safety at the time (notably that they skipped over him for a troublesome player), but he wouldn’t go unheard of for long.
After the first round finished up, NOLA actually traded up (if memory serves me correct) and grabbed Jed Podolak. He was an under-the-radar running back who created later in the season, so his TPE was deceptive. He was a big earner and great locker room presence from the start. To finish things out, New Orleans wound up with an active earning kicker later in the draft.
This S19 class would prove to be the absolute cream of the crop, bar none. At one point, NOLA had 3 of the top 5 players in the class, including the overall #1 player. It is hard to pinpoint the very peak of the team, but I also recall it being as strong as 4 of the top 7. This group of young players all earned well, especially the first four mentioned before. It took a couple of seasons to put everything together, but the culmination of all this talent lead to New Orleans making the conference finals three seasons in a row (one technically before S19) and an Ultimus victory in season 21. The timing could not have been more perfect, as an expansion loomed on the horizon for the NSFL. Right after the S21 championship. The expansion was announced. Two new teams would be joining the topflight and with it an expansion draft would follow. This draft would hurt some teams more than others, but NOLA was among the teams to get hit hardest. They had the most young talent and were unable to protect everyone. Of course, this is the whole point of an expansion is to help redistribute talent to the newcomers and help them become competitive sooner than later. Two of the first picks in the expansion were none other than Mack and Jed respectively. 2 of the top 4 players of that S19 class joined Honalulu. Just like that, the band was torn apart. It was a sad moment for the team, but we all understood it was the way it goes sometimes.
When I look at the TPE tracker to this day and sort by S19, I still see my fellow rookies and we rank in the top 8. Regardless of what team is listed next to their name, I will always remember them as part of the class that helped bring NOLA a championship. I can only hope that a future NOLA class coming in gets to have that same experience.
The S19 class was different than the previous season in almost every way. There were only a grand total of 33 players that were NSFL ready (yes I said NSFL, that’s what it was at this point in the league). In comparison. S18 had 111 players that were drafted into the NSFL. Through moves from a season before, New Orleans found themselves with 3 first round picks in the draft. These were acquired through skilled maneuvers, in part from certain high name players that wanted out at the time. Action Jackson and Thud Castle, each high value players, wanted to leave for different reasons. This lead to New Orleans committing to its future by acquiring multiple picks in what turned out to be a tiny class. Once the draft came about, those picks became the first, third and eighth pick of the draft. With the first pick, the Second Line grabbed LB Mack Arianlacher. Mack was a top talent out of Tijuana who was liking to make an immediate impact at the next level. At pick three, New Orleans got the top earner in the class in Tight End Austin McCormick. It was later on mentioned that there was a fear that San Jose were interested in Mack, so the best strategy was to take him at one with little fear of McCormick going to a team that didn’t really need a tight end. Another team could have traded up of course, but they would have paid a heavy price. The Second Line came back at pick 8 and took safety Mason Blaylock. There were some GMs who weren’t really aware of the young safety at the time (notably that they skipped over him for a troublesome player), but he wouldn’t go unheard of for long.
After the first round finished up, NOLA actually traded up (if memory serves me correct) and grabbed Jed Podolak. He was an under-the-radar running back who created later in the season, so his TPE was deceptive. He was a big earner and great locker room presence from the start. To finish things out, New Orleans wound up with an active earning kicker later in the draft.
This S19 class would prove to be the absolute cream of the crop, bar none. At one point, NOLA had 3 of the top 5 players in the class, including the overall #1 player. It is hard to pinpoint the very peak of the team, but I also recall it being as strong as 4 of the top 7. This group of young players all earned well, especially the first four mentioned before. It took a couple of seasons to put everything together, but the culmination of all this talent lead to New Orleans making the conference finals three seasons in a row (one technically before S19) and an Ultimus victory in season 21. The timing could not have been more perfect, as an expansion loomed on the horizon for the NSFL. Right after the S21 championship. The expansion was announced. Two new teams would be joining the topflight and with it an expansion draft would follow. This draft would hurt some teams more than others, but NOLA was among the teams to get hit hardest. They had the most young talent and were unable to protect everyone. Of course, this is the whole point of an expansion is to help redistribute talent to the newcomers and help them become competitive sooner than later. Two of the first picks in the expansion were none other than Mack and Jed respectively. 2 of the top 4 players of that S19 class joined Honalulu. Just like that, the band was torn apart. It was a sad moment for the team, but we all understood it was the way it goes sometimes.
When I look at the TPE tracker to this day and sort by S19, I still see my fellow rookies and we rank in the top 8. Regardless of what team is listed next to their name, I will always remember them as part of the class that helped bring NOLA a championship. I can only hope that a future NOLA class coming in gets to have that same experience.