05-16-2024, 05:22 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-17-2024, 03:25 PM by wetwilleh. Edited 1 time in total.)
Today we will be reviewing the results of the recent ISFL draft and rating how well each team did with their first round picks. It may seem early to give out these ratings given that none of these players have even played a snap in the ISFL yet, they don’t need to in order to grant a fair, objective rating. We’ve got cold, hard facts on how well each of these players will be courtesy of 100yardrun.com. As this is a thorough evaluation, we made sure to run the simulation one time to ensure the most unbiased results possible. A replay of this run can be found here. Without further ado, let’s get started!
1.1 Colorado Yeti: LB Willeh Strong
Coming into the draft, Strong was the consensus top pick. Just about every mock had him going first overall, and it made sense given Colorado’s need for a linebacker and just the massive positive presence Willeh brings to a locker room. This was one of the most surefire picks in the draft, and no one thought it could backfire. Sadly, it seems everyone was wrong, as Strong surprisingly projects to be a huge bust after all. It’s hard living up to being the top pick, as there is nowhere to go but down, so it would be understandable if Strong ended up not quite number one in the results as long as he was towards the top. Unfortunately, he came in dead last amongst the first round picks. JaMarcus Russell would be proud of just how fast Strong went from top prospect to complete bust. The one thing Strong can look forward to though: while before there was nowhere to go but down, now there is nowhere to go but up!
Grade: F
1.2 Honalulu Hahalua: LB Robot Sunfish
It was widely regarded that Honalulu would be focusing on defense in this draft, so their selection of Robot Sunfish was no surprise here. Unfortunately, once again we have a linebacker prospect that is not living up to their hype. Luckily for the Hahalua, Sunfish did not fall nearly as far as Strong did in the evaluation, ranking middle of the pack at 6th overall. Still, that puts him at 2nd amongst linebackers and 4th amongst defensive players. Sunfish will still be a strong player for Honalulu, but people will always wonder what could have been had the Hahalua drafted the actual best linebacker here.
Grade: C
1.3 Sarasota Sailfish: RB Zigzag Zipstep
This pick is a very tough one to evaluate due to the circumstances surrounding it. Sarasota originally had the 6th overall pick, but they sacrificed the 20th overall pick in order to move up 3 spots to 3rd overall. On one hand, this ended up being a bit of a reach, as Zipstep ultimately ended up ranked 5th in our results. On the other hand, had the draft gone perfectly to our rankings, he wouldn’t have lasted to 6th, which means Sarasota had to make the move to get the player they really needed. So ultimately I’m torn on how to grade it. Realistically, the 3rd overall pick performing as the 5th best overall player is generally still a good value, especially if it’s at a position the team needed, but giving up an extra pick to get there does diminish the value a bit. In the end, I’ll grant them the benefit of the doubt that Zipstep would technically have been a steal at 6th and that team needs necessitated the loss of the 20th overall pick to secure him.
Grade: B-
1.4 Berlin Fire Salamanders: LB Mac Mannheim
We’re four picks in at this point, and we’re already getting our 3rd linebacker off the board. Normally, one might be concerned that Berlin is falling victim to a position run and could have gotten better value elsewhere. Instead, they may have secured the best player in the entire draft here at 4th overall. Not only did Mannheim rank best in our evaluation, it wasn’t even all that close. Mannheim hit the finish line before anyone else even reached the 10 yard mark! Berlin will be ecstatic having snatched the gem from the sea of rocks at linebacker in this draft, and they will be looking like contenders sooner than later at this rate.
Grade: A+
1.5 New York Silverbacks: WR Warren Peace
The pairing of New York and Warren Peace were foretold in the annals of lore; a paring more iconic than lamb and tuna fish. So when the 5th pick came around, it wasn’t much of a surprise to see the Silverbacks snatch up Peace without hesitation. But was it really the right move to make? According to our analysis, surprisingly, it really was! Peace ranked 4th overall in our evaluation and just edged out Zipstep as the highest rated offensive player. It’s hard to truly call it a steal getting the 4th best player at 5th overall, but in the most technical respects, it was a steal.
Grade: A
1.6 Austin Copperheads: WR Seer Ial
Speaking of team and wide receiver combos that were commonly linked in the predraft process, many mocks had Austin selecting Seer Ial. The catch? They had them taking him at 3rd overall, not 6th overall. The Copperheads were quite savvy, picking up the 20th overall pick from Sarasota to move down 3 places and still grab the guy they wanted all along. Was it the right move though? Well… sort of? Seer Ial actually turned out to not live up to his hype in our evaluation, sliding down to 9th overall in the results. That said, he was still the 3rd best offensive player overall, so Austin’s need for a wide receiver makes the pick a bit justified here. That said, by trading down they missed out on the more highly ranked Zigzag Zipstep and Warren Peace. Ultimately, it may come down to just how good 20th overall pick Rocket Ride ends up being before we can determine the full value of the trade. As for the pick though? Not the worst, but could be better.
Grade: B-
1.7 Berlin Fire Salamanders: DT GCBWRNW Princess Donut
Berlin got the overall highest ranked player at 4th overall already, so what did they do at 7th overall? Well, they ended up taking the 2nd best player in GCBWRNW Princess Donut! A lot of teams may have been put off by Donut’s unique personality and tendency to yell a lot, but those teams are complete fools. Donut was easily the best defensive line prospect going into the draft, and our evaluation confirms that they were vastly underrated compared to where many mockers projected her to go. The Fire Salamanders absolutely knocked this one out of the park, and if they keep this up it would be a shock if they don’t have the best defense in the league within a couple of seasons.
Grade: A+
1.8 Honalulu Hahalua: DE Rex Havoc
Continuing their pursuit of rebuilding their defense, Honalulu snagged Rex Havoc with this pick. Overall, this was a fine pick, as Havoc rated 7th in our evaluation. Really there’s not a whole lot to say here: we have a middle of the pack rated player selected in the middle of the round. Once again, just one slot off is the most technical definition of a steal, but it’s not the same kind of splash that Berlin has been making so far.
Grade: B
1.9 Colorado Yeti: CB Jet Larsen
While they didn’t know it at the time, Colorado was reeling pretty badly after missing hard at 1st overall. They had a chance to redeem themselves here at 9th overall and selected Jet Larsen. Well… they missed again. Larsen ended up 11th overall in our evaluation, so it isn’t a huge miss, but he did rank worst among all the cornerbacks drafted in the first round, and both the other two were still available at this point. Colorado went 1-15 last season, and they are looking to repeat that again for the foreseeable future.
Grade: D+
1.10 Honalulu Hahalua: CB Caleb TheGEICOCamel
Honalulu, seeing Colorado stumble here, swoops in and takes Caleb TheGEICOCamel. While he wasn’t the highest rated cornerback in pre-draft workouts, our personal evaluation put him as the top rated cornerback in the first round, popping in at a solid 8th overall. The Hahalua started off the draft with a bit of a misplay, but they have proven that they can draft effectively and find value later on in the draft.
Grade: A-
1.11 Chicago Butchers: CB Tyler Oles III
Chicago finally gets their first pick here at 11, and seeing two cornerbacks go right before them, they panic and take Tyler Oles III. Was that the right move? Well, it’s hard to make a wrong move this late in the round (at least in this case since we’re only evaluating players drafted in the first round), and it turns out they made a fine pick as Oles III clocked in at 10th overall. They may be a little upset that they missed out on TheGEICOCamel, but there’s also some relief that they weren’t stuck with Jet Larsen. Overall that’s a win in my book.
Grade: B
1.12 San Jose SaberCats: DT Lheorvine Adebisi
After sitting on the sidelines all this time, San Jose finally jumps into the fray and selects Lheorvine Adebisi. SaberCats fans, rejoice: you just snagged the biggest steal in the entire first round! Adebisi greatly exceeded expectations and popped in at 3rd in our evaluation. Easily the best player left on the board, San Jose did not hesitate to make this selection, and they were handsomely rewarded because of it.
Grade: A+
1.13 Berlin Fire Salamanders: WR Big Tractor
Berlin is playing with house money at this point, having already won this draft. So what do they do with the 13th pick here? Well, obviously they once again select the best player remaining in Big Tractor. It’s not quite as big of an impact here as Tractor was rated just 12th overall in our evaluation, but that’s still technically a steal, and if you’re worse pick in a 3 pick round is still considered a steal, you know you are doing things right.
Grade: B+
1.14 New York Silverbacks: LB Draven Chanos
Originally it was Arizona who had this pick, however the Silverbacks liked what they saw and traded back into the first round to grab Draven Chanos here. Chanos is a fine selection, though it’s hard to say if he was worth trading up for. Sadly we would have needed to expand our evaluation to include 2nd round prospects to truly get an accurate rating here. That said, the 13th best player in the 14th slot is once again a technical steal (there’ve been an eerily large number of those at this point), so it definitely wasn’t a bad pick. That said can any pick be bad if you’re drafting 14th out of 14?
Grade: B
The final results of our evaluation is summarized below.
1.1 Colorado Yeti: LB Willeh Strong
Coming into the draft, Strong was the consensus top pick. Just about every mock had him going first overall, and it made sense given Colorado’s need for a linebacker and just the massive positive presence Willeh brings to a locker room. This was one of the most surefire picks in the draft, and no one thought it could backfire. Sadly, it seems everyone was wrong, as Strong surprisingly projects to be a huge bust after all. It’s hard living up to being the top pick, as there is nowhere to go but down, so it would be understandable if Strong ended up not quite number one in the results as long as he was towards the top. Unfortunately, he came in dead last amongst the first round picks. JaMarcus Russell would be proud of just how fast Strong went from top prospect to complete bust. The one thing Strong can look forward to though: while before there was nowhere to go but down, now there is nowhere to go but up!
Grade: F
1.2 Honalulu Hahalua: LB Robot Sunfish
It was widely regarded that Honalulu would be focusing on defense in this draft, so their selection of Robot Sunfish was no surprise here. Unfortunately, once again we have a linebacker prospect that is not living up to their hype. Luckily for the Hahalua, Sunfish did not fall nearly as far as Strong did in the evaluation, ranking middle of the pack at 6th overall. Still, that puts him at 2nd amongst linebackers and 4th amongst defensive players. Sunfish will still be a strong player for Honalulu, but people will always wonder what could have been had the Hahalua drafted the actual best linebacker here.
Grade: C
1.3 Sarasota Sailfish: RB Zigzag Zipstep
This pick is a very tough one to evaluate due to the circumstances surrounding it. Sarasota originally had the 6th overall pick, but they sacrificed the 20th overall pick in order to move up 3 spots to 3rd overall. On one hand, this ended up being a bit of a reach, as Zipstep ultimately ended up ranked 5th in our results. On the other hand, had the draft gone perfectly to our rankings, he wouldn’t have lasted to 6th, which means Sarasota had to make the move to get the player they really needed. So ultimately I’m torn on how to grade it. Realistically, the 3rd overall pick performing as the 5th best overall player is generally still a good value, especially if it’s at a position the team needed, but giving up an extra pick to get there does diminish the value a bit. In the end, I’ll grant them the benefit of the doubt that Zipstep would technically have been a steal at 6th and that team needs necessitated the loss of the 20th overall pick to secure him.
Grade: B-
1.4 Berlin Fire Salamanders: LB Mac Mannheim
We’re four picks in at this point, and we’re already getting our 3rd linebacker off the board. Normally, one might be concerned that Berlin is falling victim to a position run and could have gotten better value elsewhere. Instead, they may have secured the best player in the entire draft here at 4th overall. Not only did Mannheim rank best in our evaluation, it wasn’t even all that close. Mannheim hit the finish line before anyone else even reached the 10 yard mark! Berlin will be ecstatic having snatched the gem from the sea of rocks at linebacker in this draft, and they will be looking like contenders sooner than later at this rate.
Grade: A+
1.5 New York Silverbacks: WR Warren Peace
The pairing of New York and Warren Peace were foretold in the annals of lore; a paring more iconic than lamb and tuna fish. So when the 5th pick came around, it wasn’t much of a surprise to see the Silverbacks snatch up Peace without hesitation. But was it really the right move to make? According to our analysis, surprisingly, it really was! Peace ranked 4th overall in our evaluation and just edged out Zipstep as the highest rated offensive player. It’s hard to truly call it a steal getting the 4th best player at 5th overall, but in the most technical respects, it was a steal.
Grade: A
1.6 Austin Copperheads: WR Seer Ial
Speaking of team and wide receiver combos that were commonly linked in the predraft process, many mocks had Austin selecting Seer Ial. The catch? They had them taking him at 3rd overall, not 6th overall. The Copperheads were quite savvy, picking up the 20th overall pick from Sarasota to move down 3 places and still grab the guy they wanted all along. Was it the right move though? Well… sort of? Seer Ial actually turned out to not live up to his hype in our evaluation, sliding down to 9th overall in the results. That said, he was still the 3rd best offensive player overall, so Austin’s need for a wide receiver makes the pick a bit justified here. That said, by trading down they missed out on the more highly ranked Zigzag Zipstep and Warren Peace. Ultimately, it may come down to just how good 20th overall pick Rocket Ride ends up being before we can determine the full value of the trade. As for the pick though? Not the worst, but could be better.
Grade: B-
1.7 Berlin Fire Salamanders: DT GCBWRNW Princess Donut
Berlin got the overall highest ranked player at 4th overall already, so what did they do at 7th overall? Well, they ended up taking the 2nd best player in GCBWRNW Princess Donut! A lot of teams may have been put off by Donut’s unique personality and tendency to yell a lot, but those teams are complete fools. Donut was easily the best defensive line prospect going into the draft, and our evaluation confirms that they were vastly underrated compared to where many mockers projected her to go. The Fire Salamanders absolutely knocked this one out of the park, and if they keep this up it would be a shock if they don’t have the best defense in the league within a couple of seasons.
Grade: A+
1.8 Honalulu Hahalua: DE Rex Havoc
Continuing their pursuit of rebuilding their defense, Honalulu snagged Rex Havoc with this pick. Overall, this was a fine pick, as Havoc rated 7th in our evaluation. Really there’s not a whole lot to say here: we have a middle of the pack rated player selected in the middle of the round. Once again, just one slot off is the most technical definition of a steal, but it’s not the same kind of splash that Berlin has been making so far.
Grade: B
1.9 Colorado Yeti: CB Jet Larsen
While they didn’t know it at the time, Colorado was reeling pretty badly after missing hard at 1st overall. They had a chance to redeem themselves here at 9th overall and selected Jet Larsen. Well… they missed again. Larsen ended up 11th overall in our evaluation, so it isn’t a huge miss, but he did rank worst among all the cornerbacks drafted in the first round, and both the other two were still available at this point. Colorado went 1-15 last season, and they are looking to repeat that again for the foreseeable future.
Grade: D+
1.10 Honalulu Hahalua: CB Caleb TheGEICOCamel
Honalulu, seeing Colorado stumble here, swoops in and takes Caleb TheGEICOCamel. While he wasn’t the highest rated cornerback in pre-draft workouts, our personal evaluation put him as the top rated cornerback in the first round, popping in at a solid 8th overall. The Hahalua started off the draft with a bit of a misplay, but they have proven that they can draft effectively and find value later on in the draft.
Grade: A-
1.11 Chicago Butchers: CB Tyler Oles III
Chicago finally gets their first pick here at 11, and seeing two cornerbacks go right before them, they panic and take Tyler Oles III. Was that the right move? Well, it’s hard to make a wrong move this late in the round (at least in this case since we’re only evaluating players drafted in the first round), and it turns out they made a fine pick as Oles III clocked in at 10th overall. They may be a little upset that they missed out on TheGEICOCamel, but there’s also some relief that they weren’t stuck with Jet Larsen. Overall that’s a win in my book.
Grade: B
1.12 San Jose SaberCats: DT Lheorvine Adebisi
After sitting on the sidelines all this time, San Jose finally jumps into the fray and selects Lheorvine Adebisi. SaberCats fans, rejoice: you just snagged the biggest steal in the entire first round! Adebisi greatly exceeded expectations and popped in at 3rd in our evaluation. Easily the best player left on the board, San Jose did not hesitate to make this selection, and they were handsomely rewarded because of it.
Grade: A+
1.13 Berlin Fire Salamanders: WR Big Tractor
Berlin is playing with house money at this point, having already won this draft. So what do they do with the 13th pick here? Well, obviously they once again select the best player remaining in Big Tractor. It’s not quite as big of an impact here as Tractor was rated just 12th overall in our evaluation, but that’s still technically a steal, and if you’re worse pick in a 3 pick round is still considered a steal, you know you are doing things right.
Grade: B+
1.14 New York Silverbacks: LB Draven Chanos
Originally it was Arizona who had this pick, however the Silverbacks liked what they saw and traded back into the first round to grab Draven Chanos here. Chanos is a fine selection, though it’s hard to say if he was worth trading up for. Sadly we would have needed to expand our evaluation to include 2nd round prospects to truly get an accurate rating here. That said, the 13th best player in the 14th slot is once again a technical steal (there’ve been an eerily large number of those at this point), so it definitely wasn’t a bad pick. That said can any pick be bad if you’re drafting 14th out of 14?
Grade: B
The final results of our evaluation is summarized below.