02-14-2023, 10:35 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-16-2023, 10:48 PM by dude_man. Edited 2 times in total.)
The S40 draft ISFL draft has concluded and so clearly it's time to talk about how the teams did! I'll be looking at team's rosters after initial callups and regression (Feb 12 onward), thought the TPE tracker might fool me if it's not fully up to date.
Arizona
R1 P13 - S Notso Smart - the first of the two S40 draftees to be called up to the team, Smart at 349 TPE isn't much behind the Outlaws' other Safety, S31 Springer. Smart looks like a solid pick to reinforce the team's much older secondary.
R2 P13 - DT Sir Tywrell Xah'Aawrone - Arizona seems to love DTs with 3 and no DEs on the roster. Xah'Aawrone is the second callup and at 282 TPE has a chance this season of overtaking S36 Quinn, currently at 380. With only 11 defensive personnel on the roster, it looks like Arizona will be in a 3-3-5 defense and I'll be interested to see if they'll be able to keep up their conference-leading rush yard defense.
R3 P13 - WR Don Tollibeo - having 3 WRs over 1000 TPE means this is definitely a pick for the future. S31 Staggs is hitting regression so the team is presumably hoping to find the future replacement with this pick.
R3 P14 - K/P Jayme Jayne Jay-Jaymison - with the team already having S36 K/P Witchqueen a few years out from regression still, this is maybe an odd pick. Plenty of teams stumble around with kickers in the 200 TPE range, though, so maybe this is more of a speculative pick to work as trade bait in the future? Still, as a later pick I don't hate it.
R4 P13 - CB Jack Henderson - at 59 TPE and not having been seen on the site since 2022, I'm not expecting this pick to amount to much. Still, the hope of getting users to return after the draft springs eternal so we'll see if it works this time.
Austin
R1 P10 - RB Howard Coward - Coward wasn't called up this year, which makes sense with Austin having 2 500+ TPE RBs on their roster already. I could see Coward either getting called up next season as a replacement for the inactive S34 Buckshank who will be hitting regression. Alternatively, I could see the possibility of Coward swapping positions if the leadership think Newman is enough to rely on.
R2 P10 - TE Pegme Amidala - the first sighting of a fabled "Tight End" that the team actually selected in a very long time, Amidala was actually called up at 167 TPE as of the Feb 11th update. It'll be interesting to see how well this replacement for the 1-year rental of S30 TE Back does in Austin's future.
R3 P10 - S Mike Holiday - Holiday seems likely slated to replace S32 S Worthington III once regression becomes too much to deal with. At 150 TPE, I don't know if we'll be seeing a callup in S41 or not. Seeing as S36 S Amir-Kani is inactive, earning well this year could be enough to get the nod even at a lower TPE total.
R4 P10 - K/P Cole Mann - while Mann hasn't been seen in a month, S30 K/P Tate is hitting regression hard and Mann is much better than not having a kicker. I'm sure the GMs would rather have a kicker with more than 70 TPE, but you can't always get draft what you want. And for a late 4th round selection, I think it's a decent move.
Baltimore
R1 P2 - LB Money Tolliver - Baltimore enters the season with a low TPE total but on an upward trend with lots of high-earning S38 players in particular. Tolliver is the first of four callups for the Hawks and clearly will be replacing S29 King soon due to the relentless march of regression. This pick makes a lot of sense as King is the oldest player on the team.
R1 P9 - LB Walter Gunther - the second oldest player on the team is S30 LB Woody and so this seems like another direct replacement. Linebacker isn't quite as critical as RB as the team has 2 other active with more TPE than Woody, S36 Buckley Jr. and S38 Burner. Gunther actually joins the team with more TPE than the IA S35 Dafootbawl so I'd expect to see the rookie to get a fair amount of playing time.
R2 P4 - DT Bourtol Halcomsby - Halcomsby was drafted as a DT but swapped to S in the offseason. At only 236 TPE as of the Feb 11 update, I'm guessing the team's looking at a replacement for S32 Turtle in the next season or two.
R2 P8 - WR Penger Tolliver - Tolliver is the third callup and the second position swap for Baltimore, moving to TE. S34 TE Macho Man is inactive and at only 276 TPE so I think Tolliver will easily secure the TE1 role for the team.
R3 P4 - OL Bengal Tigerheart - the fourth and final (for now?) callup ends up as the top OL by TPE already. This ends up looking like a huge steal with Tigerheart hitting 328 TPE in the last update, but I'm assuming that the 85 TPE at the time of draft could have been found to not include a bunch of earned but unclaimed TPE if teams investigated in more detail. Definitely feels like it could have been an intentional stealth move but I don't think it's technically against the rules. Tigerheart also wins my favorite silly render of the draft vote.
R3 P8 - S Quandale Dingle - lower earning player, but I think the team has two safeties they'd like to replace in the next couple seasons. Reasonable to try to hit the position of need, though Dingle will need to pick up earning a bit to get to the point of getting called up next season I think.
R4 P4 - QB Rocky Franklin lll - with the team having a high-earning S37 QB already, this feels more like a speculation pick than one of need. If Franklin lll is willing to switch positions, I could see this being a great pickup that the team can flex into whatever they need after the draft next season. Or, it's possible another team will need a QB and Baltimore can flip this into more picks later. I like this as a late round selection.
Berlin
R1 P4 - TE Clint Mustache - the only callup for Berlin, Mustache looks to soon replace S35 TE Hamilton who has been seen on the site this month but hasn't updated since September of 2022. I don't know that TE is the biggest positional need here, but the Fire Salamanders need to address it at some point so I guess this pick works. Edit: Looks like Mustache tried to swap to DE, but there was a problem with money or something? Slotting into DE gives Berlin a third person on D-line so that seems to make sense if they want to run a 3-4 defense.
R2 P2 - RB KK Slider - with a backfield of S29 Cue Jr. and IA Thecrab, I'm guessing Slider is slated to be the replacement next year. Staying down this year makes sense as both other RBs will be playing at higher TPE totals.
R2 P6 - OL Melvin Harris - while Harris is only at 150 TPE, I'm slightly surprised to not see the team try making a call-up here over an OL bot since if I mathed correctly I think they could have gotten a 4th T4 bot. Maybe that's not a net gain with the cost of having a weak human, though? I haven't really ever tried to figure out how bots vs. humans perform for OL. Seeing this pick in the second round vs. Tigerheart in the third must make the team pretty unhappy though.
R4 P1 - OL The Heavy - trying another OL pickup, Heavy hasn't been seen since 2022. Still, with no human OL before the draft I don't hate trying to fill a position late here.
R4 P2 - RB Cape The Party Rhino - clearly a huge miss from the Crash by not taking The Party Rhino before this point. Talk about branching synergy! For Berlin, though, burning a late round pick on an RB looks good. Their roster is currently the S29 Cue Jr. (down to 420 TPE after regression hits) and inactive S35 Thecrab. So, trying to find an RB late seems worth burning the 44th pick on and I'm sure the team has its fingers crossed on getting The Party Rhino into the ranks of the high earners.
Cape Town
R1 P7 - WR Kairo Knight - with their existing WRs from S32, 34, and S36, stocking up for replacements as in particulr Sama hits deeper regression makes sense. At about 200 fewer TPE after regression, I'm not surprised to see that Knight wasn't called up this season but I'd naturally expect him in S41.
R2 P7 - WR Mike Ehrmantraut - sticking with their positional intent, I don't know that a second WR makes the most sense, but the team's statement sounded like they love the user. Purely on need, though, I think a linebacker might have been better here? If I'm reading my notes correctly, though, I think there was only one non-GM LB left, so that makes a bit more sense.
R3 P5 - DE Ryan Lawrence - seems solid for a third round pick and a likely replacement for S33 DE Archer next season. Their DT is also from S33 (though still over 1100 TPE), so I think the positional pick makes a lot of sense. And I think a third round pick who's at around 200 TPE is pretty good value for this draft.
R3 P7 - RB Nakiri Ayame - Ayame already has more TPE than S32 Riggins so I'm a bit surprised to not see a callup here. The team's tight on cap, though, so maybe they weren't able to do so if they'd already made their IA bid by the time they made this draft pick? I don't think that's the case from the date on that bid, but maybe I'm missing something. Either way, I'm completely expecting to see Ayame called up next season. Seems like a great value pick here, though I was surprised to see two RBs back-to-back with this much TPE.
R3 P9 - TE Jake Basinger - another good value for later in the draft, though I don't know that the team will be needing a TE soon with S35 Boot at over 900 and still free from regression. Drizzy has 5 retired players (S6/15/20/29/34) so I could see some concern about longevity leading to not getting selected higher. Still probably one of the more solid options at this point as a user even if the positional fit isn't perfect.
Chicago
R1 P12 - WR Jimmy Ryder - with only 2 WRs on their roster and S30 Sharpei Jr. hitting deep regression, this seems like a great positional fit. I'm a little surprised to not see Ryder called up since the team has the cap for it, but it might be because I don't see a signed contract in the budget tracker as of the 14th. Might be something to keep an eye on if there are contract negotiation complications? I don't actually know offhand how much a player can hold out, though I think I read that it's possible.
R3 P3 - CB Bobby Steel - not the highest earning, but probably enough to get called up next season as a replacement for IA S35 CB Altidor, currently at 261 TPE. Seems like a solid positional match for the team.
R3 P12 - S Xavier Frost - another decent but not top earning DB seems intended as the replacement for S30 Walt in a year or two due to regression. I could even see both Frost and Steel getting called up next year to play alongside Walt and the team cutting or at least sidelining Altidor.
R4 P7 - DE Action Bronson - hasn't updated since January 7th but has been on the site, posting an activity check and training camp. It looks to me like this could be a sighting of the fabled "inactive player returns to active after the ISFL draft" pattern that teams dream of hitting in late round of the draft and yet so often sadly fall short. Good on Chicago for making that work! On on top of that, the team only paid cap space. Seems like far and away the best steal of the draft here.
R4 P12 - WR Malcom Grimes - getting an active player at nearly 200 TPE this late in the draft seems really impressive. The user does have 5 retired players from S25/27/31/37/39 and topped out at just over 400 TPE at the highest, so I can see the track record absolutely having been enough to keep other teams away. Still, this late the risk is so low that I really like the pick.
Honolulu
R1 P1 - LB Liv Elsathelookout - the first of the team's three callups, I'd expect to see Elsathelookout quickly surpass S37 Ward for TPE and to make an impact as the third LB. Honolulu has a lot of building to do to get into playoff contention, but they're clearly improving.
R1 P14 - WR Florida Man - with two high-TPE WRs, I'm not sure that this is the best positional match. As an experienced user I wouldn't be surprised to see a position switch next year prior to getting called up rather than sticking with WR. On the other hand, many teams do roster three WRs so I could see a direct callup next year too.
R2 P14 - OL Raya Ho'Opa'I - the second callup, Ho'Opa'I position switched over to DT to make half of the team's 100% rookie D-line. I'm expecting to see teams try to run against the Hahalua a lot with year with their weaker front seven, but at least the player will have a chance to be involved in a lot of plays I guess? Though as the GM, I'm sure the concern will be winning more than personal stats.
R3 P1 - DT Lenny Longpipe - the team's third callup and second half of the rookie D-line, Longpipe is a bit more in the TPE range you'd expect to see in a third round pick in this draft. Still, absolutely hits the positional need checkbox and so this seems like a good and crucial pick.
R3 P2 - RB Alita Battle Angel - the user has two amazing players and apparently no interest in bothering with an update thread. I thought you had to claim TPE in the season it was earned so I'm not sure about the value of the strategy, but I'm not an auditor so whatever I guess. If this pick does turn into a max-earning RB, though, I'd expect to see a quick callup next year to take over from S35 Oswald-Newman (currently 257 TPE).
R4 P6 - WR Oliver O'Conner - hasn't updated in 2023 but has been seen. Seems like a decent late round gamble and I'm sure the team is working to get the player to return.
R4 P11 - S Matthew Fryars - seemingly the second sighting of a returned inactive in this draft, Fryars has a ways to go before hitting a max earning career. Still, in a team that has a lot of needs, getting a serviceable safety this late would be great.
R5 P1 - RB Cassius Holloway - still 50 TPE and not seen since December, so I think this is going to be a miss to balance out some good 4th round finds.
New Orleans
R3 P11 - WR Eli Prince - New Orleans' only pick in the draft won't be making an immediate impact, but at 273 TPE looks to be trending into getting called up next year. I could see Prince serving as a replacement for S30 TE Crenshaw or even just being a third WR, depending on the team's cap situation.
New York
R1 P5 - DT Lionel Scrimmage - called up into a crowded D-line, Scrimmage looks to be critical in future years as the team will need to say goodbye to the S30/31/32 trio of Blade, Kekua, and Rufus. Scrimmage probably won't have the highest TPE on the D-line this season but S41 is looking pretty auspicious for the rookie's chances.
R2 P5 - DE James Batista - another future replacement for that aging line, I'd expect to see Batista in the ISFL next season as the vets hit regression. Seems like a great positional fit for the team here.
R4 P5 - TE Anthony Simmons II - the team's current TE hasn't updated in 2023 and is only at 279 TPE, so it wouldn't take too much more earning to see Simmons II as a natural callup in S41. For a 4th round selection whic might be able to replace an IA, I like this pick.
R4 P8 - WR Keno Akara - another 4th rounder who hadn't updated for a couple weeks but did after the draft, so that makes me like this pick too. At only 122 TPE, I think Akara might need to pick up the earning rate to try and get the callup next season.
Orange County
R1 P3 - CB Jamdrian LeBayers - the only callup, LaBayers looks like a planned replacement for IA S32 Blaze and seems likely to be picking up CB2 duties this season, possibly even from week 1. Orange County has a really strong offense and a much more weak defense, so I like the pick going to an area of need here.
R1 P8 - TE Big McLarge Huge - while S33 Koivu will need to be replaced in coming years, I'm not sure I love the offense pick over another defensive spot. McLarge Huge is at 304 TPE now which is enough to have more TPE than 6 of the other defensive players. If they could have picked up a safety or linebacker with a similar TPE value, I could see that paying off more and sooner. I'm sure that the team will love this pick after Koivu retires but I just wonder about the prioritization.
R2 P3 - DE Iosefa Fuamatu-Ma'afala - at 250 TPE already, I'm a bit surprised Fuamatu-Ma'afala wasn't called up to replace IA S34 McCoy since the team definitely has the cap room for it. Some players do want to stay in the DSFL an extra year to help their team or to not struggle in their rookie ISFL year, so maybe that's why? No matter what the reason, I expect this to be a great pick that leads to a callup next season.
R3 P6 - RB Tyler One - one of the other third round RBs with weirdly high TPE for how late they were picked, pauadrian also has multiple retired players and never broke 500 TPE. RB isn't an immediate need for the Otters, but S33 Cold does need a replacement eventually so this could be a good pick down the line. Hopefully the team can keep One engaged and eager to continue earning and contributing in the future.
R4 P3 - QB Mathias Mayhem - at only 161 TPE, I doubt Orange County is banking on Mayhem to be the replacement for S33 Shinomiya. Still, if this QB ends up as an active earner then this looks like a great fourth round selection.
San Jose
R1 P6 - DE Alex Armstrong - at only 1 TPE behind the class leader, Armstrong getting called up makes a lot of sense for the SaberCats. The team's other DE is S36 Scott who hasn't updated since October or been seen since December, so I expect that Armstrong will soon take over as the higher impact player.
R2 P12 - RB Lord Farquaads - I'm not quite sure what the team is thinking here. Assuming no position switch, if Farquaads gets called up in S41 S33 RB King would still be worst-case at 640 TPE. So, I'm speculating on either a position swap or an early retirement? The draft commentary sounded like this was a user selection much more than a position fit, though, so that sounds more like a position swap.
Sarasota
R1 P11 - DE Ginand Toxic - the first of two callups, I'm not sure that Toxic will be making a huge impact this year with 3 other D-line players with higher TPE. Still, as a future replacement for S32 McHits, the positional fit seems good.
R2 P9 - LB Fronky Fresh - the second of the callups, Fresh looks likely to be more immediately useful since overtaking IA S36 Cloud (302 TPE) won't take too long. The team also has S30 draft hitting deeper regression, so the LB pick here makes a ton of sense for the team to select. Their secondary is going to be starting to get pretty rough in S41 after regression, though, so I think they'll need to focus on that in the next draft.
R4 P9 - RB Luis Randall - getting an active player in the 4th round of this draft, even if they're only at 100 TPE now, seems like pretty good value. RB is even a decent positional fit seeing as the team only has one under contract now. Might take a while to get called up without an improved earning rate, though.
Yellowknife
R2 P1 - TE Detective Crashmore - the team's sole callup, Crashmore is already the TPE leader over IA S36 Harden. I expect this to be an important pickup to help out the positionally switched S36 QB Unit with a huge TPE reserve hit and the team doubtlessly leaning hard on its spectacular RB duo. I wouldn't be surprised to see Crashmore lead all TEs in pancakes with the number of runs I'd expect to see from the Wraiths.
R2 P11 - LB Toad Wananapaoa - with LBs from S32/33/35, trying to pick up a future replacement seems like a good plan. Wananapaoa hasn't been max earning, but the user's last 2 players both got close to 1k TPE so I definitely think the team made a good selection here.
R4 P14 - DE Colt Mackintosh - a 50 TPE DE is probably not going to be an impact pickup seeing as the user hasn't been seen since January 5th. Good luck to getting the user to return, though I don't think that the weather in Yellowknife this time of year is going to do much to convince someone to pick up and move there.
Arizona
R1 P13 - S Notso Smart - the first of the two S40 draftees to be called up to the team, Smart at 349 TPE isn't much behind the Outlaws' other Safety, S31 Springer. Smart looks like a solid pick to reinforce the team's much older secondary.
R2 P13 - DT Sir Tywrell Xah'Aawrone - Arizona seems to love DTs with 3 and no DEs on the roster. Xah'Aawrone is the second callup and at 282 TPE has a chance this season of overtaking S36 Quinn, currently at 380. With only 11 defensive personnel on the roster, it looks like Arizona will be in a 3-3-5 defense and I'll be interested to see if they'll be able to keep up their conference-leading rush yard defense.
R3 P13 - WR Don Tollibeo - having 3 WRs over 1000 TPE means this is definitely a pick for the future. S31 Staggs is hitting regression so the team is presumably hoping to find the future replacement with this pick.
R3 P14 - K/P Jayme Jayne Jay-Jaymison - with the team already having S36 K/P Witchqueen a few years out from regression still, this is maybe an odd pick. Plenty of teams stumble around with kickers in the 200 TPE range, though, so maybe this is more of a speculative pick to work as trade bait in the future? Still, as a later pick I don't hate it.
R4 P13 - CB Jack Henderson - at 59 TPE and not having been seen on the site since 2022, I'm not expecting this pick to amount to much. Still, the hope of getting users to return after the draft springs eternal so we'll see if it works this time.
Austin
R1 P10 - RB Howard Coward - Coward wasn't called up this year, which makes sense with Austin having 2 500+ TPE RBs on their roster already. I could see Coward either getting called up next season as a replacement for the inactive S34 Buckshank who will be hitting regression. Alternatively, I could see the possibility of Coward swapping positions if the leadership think Newman is enough to rely on.
R2 P10 - TE Pegme Amidala - the first sighting of a fabled "Tight End" that the team actually selected in a very long time, Amidala was actually called up at 167 TPE as of the Feb 11th update. It'll be interesting to see how well this replacement for the 1-year rental of S30 TE Back does in Austin's future.
R3 P10 - S Mike Holiday - Holiday seems likely slated to replace S32 S Worthington III once regression becomes too much to deal with. At 150 TPE, I don't know if we'll be seeing a callup in S41 or not. Seeing as S36 S Amir-Kani is inactive, earning well this year could be enough to get the nod even at a lower TPE total.
R4 P10 - K/P Cole Mann - while Mann hasn't been seen in a month, S30 K/P Tate is hitting regression hard and Mann is much better than not having a kicker. I'm sure the GMs would rather have a kicker with more than 70 TPE, but you can't always get draft what you want. And for a late 4th round selection, I think it's a decent move.
Baltimore
R1 P2 - LB Money Tolliver - Baltimore enters the season with a low TPE total but on an upward trend with lots of high-earning S38 players in particular. Tolliver is the first of four callups for the Hawks and clearly will be replacing S29 King soon due to the relentless march of regression. This pick makes a lot of sense as King is the oldest player on the team.
R1 P9 - LB Walter Gunther - the second oldest player on the team is S30 LB Woody and so this seems like another direct replacement. Linebacker isn't quite as critical as RB as the team has 2 other active with more TPE than Woody, S36 Buckley Jr. and S38 Burner. Gunther actually joins the team with more TPE than the IA S35 Dafootbawl so I'd expect to see the rookie to get a fair amount of playing time.
R2 P4 - DT Bourtol Halcomsby - Halcomsby was drafted as a DT but swapped to S in the offseason. At only 236 TPE as of the Feb 11 update, I'm guessing the team's looking at a replacement for S32 Turtle in the next season or two.
R2 P8 - WR Penger Tolliver - Tolliver is the third callup and the second position swap for Baltimore, moving to TE. S34 TE Macho Man is inactive and at only 276 TPE so I think Tolliver will easily secure the TE1 role for the team.
R3 P4 - OL Bengal Tigerheart - the fourth and final (for now?) callup ends up as the top OL by TPE already. This ends up looking like a huge steal with Tigerheart hitting 328 TPE in the last update, but I'm assuming that the 85 TPE at the time of draft could have been found to not include a bunch of earned but unclaimed TPE if teams investigated in more detail. Definitely feels like it could have been an intentional stealth move but I don't think it's technically against the rules. Tigerheart also wins my favorite silly render of the draft vote.
R3 P8 - S Quandale Dingle - lower earning player, but I think the team has two safeties they'd like to replace in the next couple seasons. Reasonable to try to hit the position of need, though Dingle will need to pick up earning a bit to get to the point of getting called up next season I think.
R4 P4 - QB Rocky Franklin lll - with the team having a high-earning S37 QB already, this feels more like a speculation pick than one of need. If Franklin lll is willing to switch positions, I could see this being a great pickup that the team can flex into whatever they need after the draft next season. Or, it's possible another team will need a QB and Baltimore can flip this into more picks later. I like this as a late round selection.
Berlin
R1 P4 - TE Clint Mustache - the only callup for Berlin, Mustache looks to soon replace S35 TE Hamilton who has been seen on the site this month but hasn't updated since September of 2022. I don't know that TE is the biggest positional need here, but the Fire Salamanders need to address it at some point so I guess this pick works. Edit: Looks like Mustache tried to swap to DE, but there was a problem with money or something? Slotting into DE gives Berlin a third person on D-line so that seems to make sense if they want to run a 3-4 defense.
R2 P2 - RB KK Slider - with a backfield of S29 Cue Jr. and IA Thecrab, I'm guessing Slider is slated to be the replacement next year. Staying down this year makes sense as both other RBs will be playing at higher TPE totals.
R2 P6 - OL Melvin Harris - while Harris is only at 150 TPE, I'm slightly surprised to not see the team try making a call-up here over an OL bot since if I mathed correctly I think they could have gotten a 4th T4 bot. Maybe that's not a net gain with the cost of having a weak human, though? I haven't really ever tried to figure out how bots vs. humans perform for OL. Seeing this pick in the second round vs. Tigerheart in the third must make the team pretty unhappy though.
R4 P1 - OL The Heavy - trying another OL pickup, Heavy hasn't been seen since 2022. Still, with no human OL before the draft I don't hate trying to fill a position late here.
R4 P2 - RB Cape The Party Rhino - clearly a huge miss from the Crash by not taking The Party Rhino before this point. Talk about branching synergy! For Berlin, though, burning a late round pick on an RB looks good. Their roster is currently the S29 Cue Jr. (down to 420 TPE after regression hits) and inactive S35 Thecrab. So, trying to find an RB late seems worth burning the 44th pick on and I'm sure the team has its fingers crossed on getting The Party Rhino into the ranks of the high earners.
Cape Town
R1 P7 - WR Kairo Knight - with their existing WRs from S32, 34, and S36, stocking up for replacements as in particulr Sama hits deeper regression makes sense. At about 200 fewer TPE after regression, I'm not surprised to see that Knight wasn't called up this season but I'd naturally expect him in S41.
R2 P7 - WR Mike Ehrmantraut - sticking with their positional intent, I don't know that a second WR makes the most sense, but the team's statement sounded like they love the user. Purely on need, though, I think a linebacker might have been better here? If I'm reading my notes correctly, though, I think there was only one non-GM LB left, so that makes a bit more sense.
R3 P5 - DE Ryan Lawrence - seems solid for a third round pick and a likely replacement for S33 DE Archer next season. Their DT is also from S33 (though still over 1100 TPE), so I think the positional pick makes a lot of sense. And I think a third round pick who's at around 200 TPE is pretty good value for this draft.
R3 P7 - RB Nakiri Ayame - Ayame already has more TPE than S32 Riggins so I'm a bit surprised to not see a callup here. The team's tight on cap, though, so maybe they weren't able to do so if they'd already made their IA bid by the time they made this draft pick? I don't think that's the case from the date on that bid, but maybe I'm missing something. Either way, I'm completely expecting to see Ayame called up next season. Seems like a great value pick here, though I was surprised to see two RBs back-to-back with this much TPE.
R3 P9 - TE Jake Basinger - another good value for later in the draft, though I don't know that the team will be needing a TE soon with S35 Boot at over 900 and still free from regression. Drizzy has 5 retired players (S6/15/20/29/34) so I could see some concern about longevity leading to not getting selected higher. Still probably one of the more solid options at this point as a user even if the positional fit isn't perfect.
Chicago
R1 P12 - WR Jimmy Ryder - with only 2 WRs on their roster and S30 Sharpei Jr. hitting deep regression, this seems like a great positional fit. I'm a little surprised to not see Ryder called up since the team has the cap for it, but it might be because I don't see a signed contract in the budget tracker as of the 14th. Might be something to keep an eye on if there are contract negotiation complications? I don't actually know offhand how much a player can hold out, though I think I read that it's possible.
R3 P3 - CB Bobby Steel - not the highest earning, but probably enough to get called up next season as a replacement for IA S35 CB Altidor, currently at 261 TPE. Seems like a solid positional match for the team.
R3 P12 - S Xavier Frost - another decent but not top earning DB seems intended as the replacement for S30 Walt in a year or two due to regression. I could even see both Frost and Steel getting called up next year to play alongside Walt and the team cutting or at least sidelining Altidor.
R4 P7 - DE Action Bronson - hasn't updated since January 7th but has been on the site, posting an activity check and training camp. It looks to me like this could be a sighting of the fabled "inactive player returns to active after the ISFL draft" pattern that teams dream of hitting in late round of the draft and yet so often sadly fall short. Good on Chicago for making that work! On on top of that, the team only paid cap space. Seems like far and away the best steal of the draft here.
R4 P12 - WR Malcom Grimes - getting an active player at nearly 200 TPE this late in the draft seems really impressive. The user does have 5 retired players from S25/27/31/37/39 and topped out at just over 400 TPE at the highest, so I can see the track record absolutely having been enough to keep other teams away. Still, this late the risk is so low that I really like the pick.
Honolulu
R1 P1 - LB Liv Elsathelookout - the first of the team's three callups, I'd expect to see Elsathelookout quickly surpass S37 Ward for TPE and to make an impact as the third LB. Honolulu has a lot of building to do to get into playoff contention, but they're clearly improving.
R1 P14 - WR Florida Man - with two high-TPE WRs, I'm not sure that this is the best positional match. As an experienced user I wouldn't be surprised to see a position switch next year prior to getting called up rather than sticking with WR. On the other hand, many teams do roster three WRs so I could see a direct callup next year too.
R2 P14 - OL Raya Ho'Opa'I - the second callup, Ho'Opa'I position switched over to DT to make half of the team's 100% rookie D-line. I'm expecting to see teams try to run against the Hahalua a lot with year with their weaker front seven, but at least the player will have a chance to be involved in a lot of plays I guess? Though as the GM, I'm sure the concern will be winning more than personal stats.
R3 P1 - DT Lenny Longpipe - the team's third callup and second half of the rookie D-line, Longpipe is a bit more in the TPE range you'd expect to see in a third round pick in this draft. Still, absolutely hits the positional need checkbox and so this seems like a good and crucial pick.
R3 P2 - RB Alita Battle Angel - the user has two amazing players and apparently no interest in bothering with an update thread. I thought you had to claim TPE in the season it was earned so I'm not sure about the value of the strategy, but I'm not an auditor so whatever I guess. If this pick does turn into a max-earning RB, though, I'd expect to see a quick callup next year to take over from S35 Oswald-Newman (currently 257 TPE).
R4 P6 - WR Oliver O'Conner - hasn't updated in 2023 but has been seen. Seems like a decent late round gamble and I'm sure the team is working to get the player to return.
R4 P11 - S Matthew Fryars - seemingly the second sighting of a returned inactive in this draft, Fryars has a ways to go before hitting a max earning career. Still, in a team that has a lot of needs, getting a serviceable safety this late would be great.
R5 P1 - RB Cassius Holloway - still 50 TPE and not seen since December, so I think this is going to be a miss to balance out some good 4th round finds.
New Orleans
R3 P11 - WR Eli Prince - New Orleans' only pick in the draft won't be making an immediate impact, but at 273 TPE looks to be trending into getting called up next year. I could see Prince serving as a replacement for S30 TE Crenshaw or even just being a third WR, depending on the team's cap situation.
New York
R1 P5 - DT Lionel Scrimmage - called up into a crowded D-line, Scrimmage looks to be critical in future years as the team will need to say goodbye to the S30/31/32 trio of Blade, Kekua, and Rufus. Scrimmage probably won't have the highest TPE on the D-line this season but S41 is looking pretty auspicious for the rookie's chances.
R2 P5 - DE James Batista - another future replacement for that aging line, I'd expect to see Batista in the ISFL next season as the vets hit regression. Seems like a great positional fit for the team here.
R4 P5 - TE Anthony Simmons II - the team's current TE hasn't updated in 2023 and is only at 279 TPE, so it wouldn't take too much more earning to see Simmons II as a natural callup in S41. For a 4th round selection whic might be able to replace an IA, I like this pick.
R4 P8 - WR Keno Akara - another 4th rounder who hadn't updated for a couple weeks but did after the draft, so that makes me like this pick too. At only 122 TPE, I think Akara might need to pick up the earning rate to try and get the callup next season.
Orange County
R1 P3 - CB Jamdrian LeBayers - the only callup, LaBayers looks like a planned replacement for IA S32 Blaze and seems likely to be picking up CB2 duties this season, possibly even from week 1. Orange County has a really strong offense and a much more weak defense, so I like the pick going to an area of need here.
R1 P8 - TE Big McLarge Huge - while S33 Koivu will need to be replaced in coming years, I'm not sure I love the offense pick over another defensive spot. McLarge Huge is at 304 TPE now which is enough to have more TPE than 6 of the other defensive players. If they could have picked up a safety or linebacker with a similar TPE value, I could see that paying off more and sooner. I'm sure that the team will love this pick after Koivu retires but I just wonder about the prioritization.
R2 P3 - DE Iosefa Fuamatu-Ma'afala - at 250 TPE already, I'm a bit surprised Fuamatu-Ma'afala wasn't called up to replace IA S34 McCoy since the team definitely has the cap room for it. Some players do want to stay in the DSFL an extra year to help their team or to not struggle in their rookie ISFL year, so maybe that's why? No matter what the reason, I expect this to be a great pick that leads to a callup next season.
R3 P6 - RB Tyler One - one of the other third round RBs with weirdly high TPE for how late they were picked, pauadrian also has multiple retired players and never broke 500 TPE. RB isn't an immediate need for the Otters, but S33 Cold does need a replacement eventually so this could be a good pick down the line. Hopefully the team can keep One engaged and eager to continue earning and contributing in the future.
R4 P3 - QB Mathias Mayhem - at only 161 TPE, I doubt Orange County is banking on Mayhem to be the replacement for S33 Shinomiya. Still, if this QB ends up as an active earner then this looks like a great fourth round selection.
San Jose
R1 P6 - DE Alex Armstrong - at only 1 TPE behind the class leader, Armstrong getting called up makes a lot of sense for the SaberCats. The team's other DE is S36 Scott who hasn't updated since October or been seen since December, so I expect that Armstrong will soon take over as the higher impact player.
R2 P12 - RB Lord Farquaads - I'm not quite sure what the team is thinking here. Assuming no position switch, if Farquaads gets called up in S41 S33 RB King would still be worst-case at 640 TPE. So, I'm speculating on either a position swap or an early retirement? The draft commentary sounded like this was a user selection much more than a position fit, though, so that sounds more like a position swap.
Sarasota
R1 P11 - DE Ginand Toxic - the first of two callups, I'm not sure that Toxic will be making a huge impact this year with 3 other D-line players with higher TPE. Still, as a future replacement for S32 McHits, the positional fit seems good.
R2 P9 - LB Fronky Fresh - the second of the callups, Fresh looks likely to be more immediately useful since overtaking IA S36 Cloud (302 TPE) won't take too long. The team also has S30 draft hitting deeper regression, so the LB pick here makes a ton of sense for the team to select. Their secondary is going to be starting to get pretty rough in S41 after regression, though, so I think they'll need to focus on that in the next draft.
R4 P9 - RB Luis Randall - getting an active player in the 4th round of this draft, even if they're only at 100 TPE now, seems like pretty good value. RB is even a decent positional fit seeing as the team only has one under contract now. Might take a while to get called up without an improved earning rate, though.
Yellowknife
R2 P1 - TE Detective Crashmore - the team's sole callup, Crashmore is already the TPE leader over IA S36 Harden. I expect this to be an important pickup to help out the positionally switched S36 QB Unit with a huge TPE reserve hit and the team doubtlessly leaning hard on its spectacular RB duo. I wouldn't be surprised to see Crashmore lead all TEs in pancakes with the number of runs I'd expect to see from the Wraiths.
R2 P11 - LB Toad Wananapaoa - with LBs from S32/33/35, trying to pick up a future replacement seems like a good plan. Wananapaoa hasn't been max earning, but the user's last 2 players both got close to 1k TPE so I definitely think the team made a good selection here.
R4 P14 - DE Colt Mackintosh - a 50 TPE DE is probably not going to be an impact pickup seeing as the user hasn't been seen since January 5th. Good luck to getting the user to return, though I don't think that the weather in Yellowknife this time of year is going to do much to convince someone to pick up and move there.
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Draft Steal (retired S35 CB) - Profile/Update | Wiki
Troen Egghands (retired S22 DE) - Profile | Update | Wiki
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