I decided to do a followup to my recap of the season 3 draft for the Wraiths after writing this recap directly after last year's draft. One year removed from the draft, it is a lot clearer where the front office of this team hit, and where they missed. As I said in my previous write-up, "the league is often won not by the major stars selected in the first couple of rounds, but instead by the players selected in the later rounds", which holds up to be absolutely true, as evidenced by the season 3 draft. Now let's get on to the draft.
Overall
The main areas of need for the Wraiths at this time last season were offensive line, linebacker, and defensive tackle. It would also become apparent later on that they needed to find a replacement at tight end due to the GOAT TE Ricky Maddox deciding to switch sides of the ball to help out his team's defense. They found pretty good solutions to these areas throughout the season, even if some of them ended up because of trades. Let's now look at their draft picks.
Round 1
Pick 3
The Wraiths selected Brice Boggs here. By itself, this was a great pick at the time. It helped fill a position of need for the team and looked to be an anchor for the front seven for years to come. That is, however, until he requested a trade to be able to become a more integral part of a different team. This completely changed the direction the Wraiths were heading as they no longer had a stud to maintain their defense like they thought they had in Boggs. They got a one year rental out of Wyatt Fulton, who was great for a year, but he soon left in a trade for the Las Vegas Legion with the Wraiths only getting $6 million in cap space in return. The Wraiths also got two season 4 second round picks in the trade, but these ended up having almost no value as the season 4 draft was one of the worst in history due to the head office transitioning in the DSFL. Overall, this ended up panning out into one of the biggest first round busts in league history for the Wraiths, as almost everything that could have gone wrong after drafting him, did go wrong.
Round 2
Pick 1
Going into the second round, Yellowknife chose offensive lineman Francois Lameroux with their selection here. Through the beginning of their season, this appeared to be a great pick. However, catastrophe struck as Lameroux decided that due to personal reasons he needed to take a permanent break from the league. This severely hurt the Wraiths, but it is what is healthiest for Lameroux, so no one can be too upset with the player. He put all of his heart into the league for his short time here, and while it is unfortunate he decided to call it quits, it is what is best for him. In my last write-up I took note that "Lameroux is a somewhat controversial figure in the league already due to some of the outlandish comments he has made, so it will be interesting to see how he fits in with the Wraiths locker room". I find this to be an interesting footnote because in his statement calling it quits from the league, Lameroux noted one of the two reasons he quit was due to him "becoming somewhat toxic in an OOC way."
Pick 5
The Wraiths next pick was Eidur Gustavsson. He was drafted to help bolster their defensive line, and he definitely did help. Through the season, he had 8 sacks, including two of them for safeties That is a great stat line for a rookie, and although he has seemed to stop practicing as much this offseason, there is a chance he comes back next season to help improve his build. Overall, this was not a terrible pick for the Wraiths, and it could have gone worse for them here.
Round 3
Pick 8
James Warner was the next selection for the Yellowknife Wraiths. Being a recreated player, the Wraiths thought he might have a chance of being an active part of their team, but unfortunately he spent the entire year playing in the DSFL and he appears to be washed out of the league. He will likely never make an impact in the NSFL, so this pick is basically a complete bust. There is almost nothing good to say about this pick in hind sight.
Round 4
Pick 3
With this pick, the Wraiths selected defensive tackle Ryan Fitzfatrick, a prospect coming out of Yale. He had a decent impact his rookie season, accumulating 3 sacks as a defensive tackle and plugging up the middle. Overall, this ended up being a pretty decent selection by the Wraiths as he ended up having a decent rookie season and appears to still have interest in the NSFL. For a fourth round pick, you can't ask for much more...
Pick 6
Until you look at rookie tight end Joseph Askins. Now I might be a bit of a biased source, but the tight end out of ASU has so much promise and has to be the pick of the draft for the Wraiths. Finding this hidden gem late in the draft was a great find for the team, as the player has already accumulated more TPE than any other season 3 rookie drafted by the Wraiths that is still currently on the team. He was given big shoes to fill for the team after the GOAT TE Ricky Maddox switched sides of the field, and although he did not live up to the hype, he still had a solid first season, catching 34 balls for 211 yards, and having 20 pancake blocks while only giving up one sack. Once again, even though I have personal ties to this player, I strongly believe this has ended up panning out to be one of, if not the best pick by the Yellowknife Wraiths in the season 3 draft.
Round 5
Pick 5
Defensive back Kiko Bakari was selected in the 5th round by the Wraiths. He was sent down to the DSFL following the draft, and he had a decent season in the DSFL. He has remained somewhat active in the league, and looks to be called up the Wraiths in season 4, so it will be interesting if he will be able to contribute to the team at all now that he has a chance. Overall, not a terrible selection here, as it could be much worse.
Round 6
Pick 5
What a great pick by the Yellowknife Wraiths here, selecting Nicholas Pierno, current starting QB for the Colorado Yeti. Pierno was traded to the Yeti almost immediately when news broke that starting quarterback Logan Noble was suspended for the entire season after tampering occurred. This was a great opportunity for Pierno, as he went from DSFL starter, to starter of the Yeti, a team with a great history of winning. Although he had a rough first season, things are looking up for the young quarterback, and he yielded a great return for the Wraiths. They received line backer Luke Tiernan in a trade for Pierno, a great player who returned to activity after being traded to the Wraiths. This was a rare trade where it ended up benefitting both teams immensely, and this was such great value for the Wraiths int he sixth round.
Round 7
Pick 5
There is almost nothing to say about line backer Dion Jacobs here. He apparently abandoned the league before he was even drafted. He spent the year down in the DSFL, and did not amount to much there. Overall, this was a wasted pick by the Wraiths, but by the 7th round, you can't expect much to amount to anything.
Round 8
Pick 5
Eddy Kim has been inactive for almost a month, and once again looks like another bust by the Wraiths. This is not a big deal because it occurred so late in the draft, but it is still a bust no matter what way you look at it.
Conclusion
Overall, this draft ended up turning out a lot worse than it originally looked for the Wraiths. I had originally thought the Wraiths had filled many of their holes with the draft and looked to be super strong entering season 3. Through other trades, they did have a nice roster entering the season, but not thanks to this draft. It is super unfortunate how bad the trade for Boggs ended up for them, and the fact that Lameroux called it quits was devastating, which is part of the reason why this draft class was so bad for the Wraiths. Luckily, they had some late round hits in TE Joseph Askins and QB Nicholas Pierno which significantly helped their bad draft, but at the end of the day, it was not as good of a draft as it should have been.
(1,515 words)
GRADED
Overall
The main areas of need for the Wraiths at this time last season were offensive line, linebacker, and defensive tackle. It would also become apparent later on that they needed to find a replacement at tight end due to the GOAT TE Ricky Maddox deciding to switch sides of the ball to help out his team's defense. They found pretty good solutions to these areas throughout the season, even if some of them ended up because of trades. Let's now look at their draft picks.
Round 1
Pick 3
The Wraiths selected Brice Boggs here. By itself, this was a great pick at the time. It helped fill a position of need for the team and looked to be an anchor for the front seven for years to come. That is, however, until he requested a trade to be able to become a more integral part of a different team. This completely changed the direction the Wraiths were heading as they no longer had a stud to maintain their defense like they thought they had in Boggs. They got a one year rental out of Wyatt Fulton, who was great for a year, but he soon left in a trade for the Las Vegas Legion with the Wraiths only getting $6 million in cap space in return. The Wraiths also got two season 4 second round picks in the trade, but these ended up having almost no value as the season 4 draft was one of the worst in history due to the head office transitioning in the DSFL. Overall, this ended up panning out into one of the biggest first round busts in league history for the Wraiths, as almost everything that could have gone wrong after drafting him, did go wrong.
Round 2
Pick 1
Going into the second round, Yellowknife chose offensive lineman Francois Lameroux with their selection here. Through the beginning of their season, this appeared to be a great pick. However, catastrophe struck as Lameroux decided that due to personal reasons he needed to take a permanent break from the league. This severely hurt the Wraiths, but it is what is healthiest for Lameroux, so no one can be too upset with the player. He put all of his heart into the league for his short time here, and while it is unfortunate he decided to call it quits, it is what is best for him. In my last write-up I took note that "Lameroux is a somewhat controversial figure in the league already due to some of the outlandish comments he has made, so it will be interesting to see how he fits in with the Wraiths locker room". I find this to be an interesting footnote because in his statement calling it quits from the league, Lameroux noted one of the two reasons he quit was due to him "becoming somewhat toxic in an OOC way."
Pick 5
The Wraiths next pick was Eidur Gustavsson. He was drafted to help bolster their defensive line, and he definitely did help. Through the season, he had 8 sacks, including two of them for safeties That is a great stat line for a rookie, and although he has seemed to stop practicing as much this offseason, there is a chance he comes back next season to help improve his build. Overall, this was not a terrible pick for the Wraiths, and it could have gone worse for them here.
Round 3
Pick 8
James Warner was the next selection for the Yellowknife Wraiths. Being a recreated player, the Wraiths thought he might have a chance of being an active part of their team, but unfortunately he spent the entire year playing in the DSFL and he appears to be washed out of the league. He will likely never make an impact in the NSFL, so this pick is basically a complete bust. There is almost nothing good to say about this pick in hind sight.
Round 4
Pick 3
With this pick, the Wraiths selected defensive tackle Ryan Fitzfatrick, a prospect coming out of Yale. He had a decent impact his rookie season, accumulating 3 sacks as a defensive tackle and plugging up the middle. Overall, this ended up being a pretty decent selection by the Wraiths as he ended up having a decent rookie season and appears to still have interest in the NSFL. For a fourth round pick, you can't ask for much more...
Pick 6
Until you look at rookie tight end Joseph Askins. Now I might be a bit of a biased source, but the tight end out of ASU has so much promise and has to be the pick of the draft for the Wraiths. Finding this hidden gem late in the draft was a great find for the team, as the player has already accumulated more TPE than any other season 3 rookie drafted by the Wraiths that is still currently on the team. He was given big shoes to fill for the team after the GOAT TE Ricky Maddox switched sides of the field, and although he did not live up to the hype, he still had a solid first season, catching 34 balls for 211 yards, and having 20 pancake blocks while only giving up one sack. Once again, even though I have personal ties to this player, I strongly believe this has ended up panning out to be one of, if not the best pick by the Yellowknife Wraiths in the season 3 draft.
Round 5
Pick 5
Defensive back Kiko Bakari was selected in the 5th round by the Wraiths. He was sent down to the DSFL following the draft, and he had a decent season in the DSFL. He has remained somewhat active in the league, and looks to be called up the Wraiths in season 4, so it will be interesting if he will be able to contribute to the team at all now that he has a chance. Overall, not a terrible selection here, as it could be much worse.
Round 6
Pick 5
What a great pick by the Yellowknife Wraiths here, selecting Nicholas Pierno, current starting QB for the Colorado Yeti. Pierno was traded to the Yeti almost immediately when news broke that starting quarterback Logan Noble was suspended for the entire season after tampering occurred. This was a great opportunity for Pierno, as he went from DSFL starter, to starter of the Yeti, a team with a great history of winning. Although he had a rough first season, things are looking up for the young quarterback, and he yielded a great return for the Wraiths. They received line backer Luke Tiernan in a trade for Pierno, a great player who returned to activity after being traded to the Wraiths. This was a rare trade where it ended up benefitting both teams immensely, and this was such great value for the Wraiths int he sixth round.
Round 7
Pick 5
There is almost nothing to say about line backer Dion Jacobs here. He apparently abandoned the league before he was even drafted. He spent the year down in the DSFL, and did not amount to much there. Overall, this was a wasted pick by the Wraiths, but by the 7th round, you can't expect much to amount to anything.
Round 8
Pick 5
Eddy Kim has been inactive for almost a month, and once again looks like another bust by the Wraiths. This is not a big deal because it occurred so late in the draft, but it is still a bust no matter what way you look at it.
Conclusion
Overall, this draft ended up turning out a lot worse than it originally looked for the Wraiths. I had originally thought the Wraiths had filled many of their holes with the draft and looked to be super strong entering season 3. Through other trades, they did have a nice roster entering the season, but not thanks to this draft. It is super unfortunate how bad the trade for Boggs ended up for them, and the fact that Lameroux called it quits was devastating, which is part of the reason why this draft class was so bad for the Wraiths. Luckily, they had some late round hits in TE Joseph Askins and QB Nicholas Pierno which significantly helped their bad draft, but at the end of the day, it was not as good of a draft as it should have been.
(1,515 words)
GRADED
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