(Ready to be graded - double draft media)
I’m not sure if I’ll get through all of the rounds of this draft, but I’m going to at least plan on hitting highlights of some active players from later in the draft. The talent doesn’t drop a whole lot in the next few rounds. Some of the best players in the league were taken in this range, which shows a little bit of the flukiness in the DSFL draft. The inactives do start to become a little more frequent as we go on, but all in all we don’t see a huge drop off until later on. I’m going to try to cover rounds 4-8 in this article. I’ll have to be a little briefer in my analysis of each player, so I apologize. I’m starting to run out of time to get this in, so I’ve got to be a little more succinct.
Let’s get into Round 4!
Round 4:
Pick 1: Ahri Espeeyeeseetee -- WR -- @`steelsound`
The Seawolves took the first receiver in the draft here. Ahri had an excellent first season with the Seawolves. He finished third in receiving yards, and second in receptions with 75 catches for 873 yards. He showed he can be efficient even with a high volume of targets, as his 11.6 YPC average shows. He’s been one of the most active WRs in this class, and he’s been a very high TPE earner. He’s nearly maxed out the speed of his Red-Zone Threat archetype, which will give him a nice advantage over the lesser DBs of the NSFL. I’ve got Ahri as a top 3 receiver in the draft. Wide Receiver is a little harder to predict since it’s based a lot on team need, but I think we’ll see him go in rounds 2-3 range.
Pick 2: Ben Bortboy -- RB -- @spinarnie
The Solar Bears started to round out their offense by taking Bortboy. They knew it would be a run-heavy team, so this pick makes sense. Bortboy had one of the best rushing campaigns this season. He ran the ball over 250 times for 1208 yards and 6 touchdowns. Palm Beach relied heavily on their running backs this season, and he and Ludicolo Bigby were an excellent combo. Unfortunately, he’s been inactive since early April. Not the worst case scenario for the Solar Bears who can use him in the DSFL again next year, but his draft stock has fallen quite a bit. He’ll get lumped in with the players that showed some promise but are now inactive. Hopefully his new team can coax him to get back into the mix.
Pick 3: Xerxes Ridley -- CB -- @plantane
The Pythons managed to find another stud with this pick. Ridley is the first CB off the board in a lot of people’s mocks, and for good reason. He had an excellent season in the Pythons championship run, and he’s been a top TPE earner to go along with a good activity level. I’m predicted him to be a late 1st/early 2nd round pick for a team that needs some depth at DB, and will try to make him into a CB1 some day. Xerxes put in the work this season both on and off the field, and it’s about to payoff for him in a big way.
Pick 4: Forrest Gump -- RB -- @TomHanks
The Luchadores traded up for this pick, and it was 100% worth it. Forrest took the league by storm with his blazing speed and good-natured attitude. He got over 1000 yards rushing, but really came alive in the playoffs with a 96 yard touchdown run in the 1st round upset of the San Antonio Marshals. Gump’s speed is already at 90, which almost seems unfair, so I’d expect him to be able to get a nice share of carries in the NSFL next year. He’s the 2nd RB to Morgan Marshall on my board, so I think we’ll see a team take him in the 2nd round as their RB of the future. Life might be like a box of chocolates, but you can be pretty sure you are getting a great running back in Gump.
Pick 5: Frasier Crane -- DE -- @TheFlash
Frasier ended up being traded to Portland after some GM switching. He had a relatively quiet season, with most of his tackles being for a loss, but only 1 sack. He’s at 106 TPE, and has been pretty inactive for the last month or so, sadly. He’ll likely play a while longer in the DSFL, unless he comes back to improve his character. Definitely an awesome signature and mental image of Frasier Crane playing defensive lineman, but that’s probably the most we’ll get out of Crane.
Pick 6: Jammerson Irving -- TE -- @contacts
Irving had arguably a top 2-3 year of the tight ends in the league. He finished with 574 yards on 62 catches, which puts him really only behind Jensen in those categories. The Luchadores were pretty dependent on him, Tidwell and Rey. His average of 9.3 per catch was impressive, especially for the TE position. Irving is at around 230 TPE as of his next update, and I’ve got him as the 4th TE off the board after Jensen, Olsen, and Wright. He is using the balanced tight end build, which is popular, and is one of the speedier tight ends in the league at 84. He’ll need to put in some more TPE into strength and blocking to be a balanced TE, but he can be a receiving option right away in the NSFL.
Another really solid round, with only Bortboy and Crane as minor disappointments in terms of activity. These guys should be proud of their progress, and can expect a lot of attention on draft day.
Here we go with Round 5:
Round 5:
Pick 1: Jay Longshaw -- QB -- @dropbear
The dropbear recreate fell a little in this draft, but the expansion team was wise to pick him up. Longshaw had a really nice season as a first year QB, especially considering he played with all first-year players. His stats were not overwhelming, but it’s difficult to judge a first-year QB with all of the DSFL factors also in play. He’s a Gunslinger archetype, and he’s put his TPE into the three throwing attributes, with all of them nearly at 80. He’s under 200 TPE, which is a little low, but he’s in the update lull, so I’d expect that to jump up soon. I’ve got him going after Armstrong in the draft, with probably one of the expansion teams picking him up.
Pick 2: Guy Nikko -- LB -- @Duress
Here we’ve got the greatest render/sig combo in the league going to the Solar Bears. Nikko led the entire league in sacks with 10. His production tailed off a little towards the end of the season, but I think that was just a matter of more guys on defense getting involved, and offenses getting a little wiser to him blitzing. He’s a coverage linebacker, with 236 TPE. He’s about to max out speed on his build, and has some attributes hovering at 70 that he can start improving. Guy will be a great asset to the team that drafts him. He’s active and an all around fun guy to have in the locker room. I have him in the tier 2 of this really deep LB group, going in maybe the late 2nd or early 3rd of the draft.
Pick 3: Lanzer Grievous -- LB -- @Rising Equinox
The Pythons selected the second coverage linebacker in a row here with Grievous. His stats aren’t quite as high as some of the other LBs in this class, mostly due to Lee and Stokeley gobbling up their fair share of tackles and sacks. He did manage 5 sacks and a pick to go along with almost 100 tackles, though. He just got over the 250 TPE mark, and he’s a really active player on the forums, including a really cool analysis of our round 1 mock drafts that you should check out. I’ve got him going in the 2nd round of the draft right in that second tier of LBs, with a small chance to be taken in the first if there’s a good fit for him there.
Pick 4: Walt Green -- S -- @Duilio05
Another loaded position this year is safety, and Walt has really made a name for himself. He was 2nd in the league in interceptions with 7. He feasted off of the young QBs, as he also deflected 17 passes. His Center Fielder build really paid off in this season, giving him the ability to roam the field at will. Walt’s been a really high TPE earner, in addition to being really active on the forums with some great media. Some mocks have him as a 1st round pick, which I see as a real possibility. I think we’re more likely to see him go as the first safety taken in the 2nd round, which is no small accomplishment given the talent at this position this year.
Pick 5: Terry Taffy -- RB -- @KingCollins
The Coyotes drafted another RB in Taffy here. A little odd since they took Farley in the 1st, but it could have been best player left on their board type of scenario. Taffy had some nice production in an offense and team that struggled all year. His YPC is kind of low at 4.2, and he didn’t get the volume that some of the other workhorse RBs got, but I think Taffy will make a really nice rookie in the NSFL. He’s a little lower in TPE currently, but he’s a really active player who seems to be in it for the long haul. He’s a little different than some of the other RBs in that he’s got the Receiving Back archetype, so he could bring a little more versatility as he progresses through his career. I see him going in the 3rd or 4th round to a team that doesn’t have as urgent of a need at RB currently.
Pick 6: Martavius Mack -- S -- @`Allplanet`
The Luchadores took the second safety of this round. Mack is not a name you hear a lot of, but he’s quietly been doing work. He had 83 tackles and 2 interceptions this season in a really nice rookie campaign. He’s been a little inconsistent in his updating, which will put him behind the top safeties in this class. The pick worked out well for the Luchadores, as we’ll more than likely see him play in the DSFL another season as a near TPE capped player. I can see him going in the 4th or 5th round once the higher TPE and more active DBs are off the board. Still a lot of upside possible, though.
The 5th round was another strong group of players. Teams took some risks and it really paid off for some. Not quite as good of a haul as Round 4, but I think we’ll see someone from this group taken in the 1st round, with a lot of likely 2nd rounders.
Round 6:
Pick 1: Giannis Kroustis -- S -- @`AirCrou`
The Seawolves took Kroustis as the first member of their secondary. His stats were about on par with a lot of the other safeties taken in this later part of the draft, with about 75 tackles and 2 interceptions to go with 4 sacks. Kroustis has been a little less active than some of the top tier DBs that will get drafted before him. His “Kroustis Unfiltered” series has been a fun read, hopefully he keeps it up. He’s updating regularly but is hovering around 200 TPE which is not quite in the same tier as a lot of other options at safety. I could see him falling a little bit in the draft, mostly because there is so much depth at DB this year. He’s been consistent enough in activity that I think he’ll be a nice addition to a team’s secondary this year, with a chance of playing again in the DSFL.
Pick 2: Fatih Terim -- S -- @Eco
The Solar Bears were able to find one of the best young players in the league with their 6th round pick. Fatih had a pretty standard season for safeties 77 tackles, 2 sacks and a pick. Where he has really differentiated himself is TPE and league activity. He started off relatively quiet but has been shooting up draft boards in the last few weeks. He’s a near top TPE earner, and has rebuilt the TPE tracker site, in addition to making sweet graphics. He’s also been more active in Discord recently, and should be seen as a great long-term asset for a team. I’ve got him going late in the 1st round or an early 2nd rounder at the latest. I’m a little biased here as his Solar Bears teammate, but I think whoever drafts him will not be disappointed.
Pick 3: Lightsout Lewis -- LB -- @flyeaglesfly29
Lewis ended up getting swapped with the Coyotes for GM related stuff, so his season was a little different than most. His stats are quite a bit lower than the top tier LBs in the draft, but I’m not sure if it’s more of a KC thing than his actual performance. He’s a coverage linebacker which seem to be in high demand, but his TPE is around 200, which is lower than a lot of these LBs. He’s a GM now giving him a bump as far as longevity odds go, so I think he’ll be a high in the second tier of LBs. I think he could go late 2nd/early 3rd to someone who has some LB depth already or who is banking on him being around longer than some of the new guys.
Pick 4: Mo Berry -- LB -- @Frick_Nasty
The Marshals bolstered their LB depth with Mo in this round. Berry had an outstanding season in the DSFL. 88 tackles to go along with 6 sacks, and he was also really solid in coverage, with 2 interceptions and several passes deflected. Mo’s getting some 1st round buzz in the mock drafts, and I think it’s definitely justified. His TPE is at 220 as of a couple weeks ago, and it’s climbing rapidly. It seems likely he’ll go in the 2nd round, as I’ve mentioned before, this position is absolutely loaded this draft, so it will probably come down to team fit with the team that decides to draft him.
Pick 5: Lamont Mckinnie -- S -- @SouljaBoy2007
I’m fairly certain the Solar Bears traded up for this pick, since he’s been on their roster since the beginning, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. McKinnie was lost a little bit in the Solar Bears season, but he has quietly been putting in the work this year. He’s using the All-Around archetype, so his max build will be a little more of a jack-of-all trades type player than a lot of the ballhawks we’re seeing in this class. I think it can give him a little more of an edge when teams are looking for a safety that can play coverage well but also come up and stop RBs in the second level. I’m predicting McKinnie goes somewhere in the 3-4 round range, with some really high upside, and a fairly low floor given his activity on the forum and Discord.
Pick 6: Carlamagno Rey -- WR -- @Crey23
The Luchadores struck out with this pick, it seems. Carlamagno showed some early promise, but has been inactive since the middle of March. I won’t go into too much detail on him, since at this point it seems a little unlikely he makes a comeback. Some say he’s still flexing for his profile pic. He did have a pretty nice season for the Luchadores, so not a total loss on their part. I don’t see him drafted this year, except for maybe a late-late round pick.
Round 6 included some excellent players, with no misses except for Rey. NSFL GMs can’t go too wrong with any of the others taken here. I’m guessing we’ll see some of these guys make a big splash on defense in the NSFL going forward.
Round 7:
Pick 1: Jack Rambo -- S -- @oz3700
Norfolk got another solid safety in the 7th round. Rambo didn’t make quite as much noise in the DSFL this season, but he put up respectable numbers, finishing with 71 tackles 4 sacks. I’m guessing he was used as more of a linebacker since he didn’t have many pass coverage stats at all. Rambo’s a little lower on TPE than a lot of this class, which will hurt his draft stock a bit in such a talented class. But he’s been consistent with updates, and I think he’s got a great shot at making a splash in the NSFL. I think he’ll be more of a 4th-5th rounder, after some of the high TPE earners and really active players are off the board.
Pick 2: Michael Rood -- TE -- @DCross
Unfortunately another casualty of attrition due to inactivity. Rood showed some early promise with some nice intro articles and activity, but has posted anything since the end of March. Hopefully he can make a comeback. The Solar Bears were kind of loaded at TE this year between Wright and Jensen, so he wasn’t a huge factor on the field this year.
Pick 3: Tony Gabagool -- LB -- @shipwreckrising
Another trade up for Palm Beach here to get the final piece of their linebacker trio know affectionately as “Triple Penetration.” Gabagool really came on late in the season, and really seemed to find his groove in the defense as a solid run-stopper. He finished 5th in tackles with 119. His TPE is not quite as high as the top tier, but is still solid enough combined with his activity level and versatility of his position to see a team take him in the late 2nd or early 3rd round. His Coverage Linebacker archetype wasn’t used too much this year, but I think we’ll see him transition to more of that role as his player progresses.
Pick 4: Max Vaz -- RB -- @Skyandbray
Max had an excellent season this year, though given his TPE it seems that almost any RB could have excelled with the Marshals. He showed some initial promise by completing rookie tasks, his wiki page, etc., but hasn’t done much since then. The picks in these rounds are a little more of a crapshoot, so you can’t blame the Marshals too much here, and they did get excellent production from him.
Pick 5: Paul Dimirio III -- K -- @Nykonax
The first kicker off the board! This pick is a little baffling, since it appears he only played in 2 games for them. This definitely has to be a candidate for worst pick of the draft, since he never even made an update page. Obviously nothing is guaranteed at this point in the draft, but there were at least a lot of active players left in much more meaningful positions. I don’t want to come across as hammering the KC GMs here, since I’m sure the job is harder than it looks, but I can’t really wrap my head around this one.
Pick 6: Bill Inohi -- DT -- @Sunshine
Another now inactive player picked here. He helped a lot in the run game for the Luchadores, but hasn’t updated in a long time. If you’re reading this, come back! I hear defensive tackle is a high-demand position.
Round 7 was a bit of a bummer. Several inactives, with the cracks starting to show as we get through the more surefire picks. Gabagool is far and away the best pick in this round. Props to the Solar Bears for finding a gem!
Round 8:
Pick 1: Lucas Knight -- CB -- @ven_knight
The Seawolves found a steal here, as Knight is projecting as one of the top CBs in the upcoming draft. He had an excellent 5 picks this and also notched 78 tackles, showing his versatility as an All-Around corner build. He’s got a really nice combination of TPE, activity, and the stats to back it up. Some have him going as high as the 1st round, which I could see happening, but I think he’ll be more of a mid 2nd pick to a team that needs some CB depth right away.
Pick 2: Nacho Varga -- WR -- @Fordhammer
Not gonna talk about myself here too much, but Nacho had an average season in the DSFL, which was good enough to make the Pro Bowl in a weak conference. I’m excited to see where I end up!
Pick 3: AJ Lattimer -- DT -- @TeyonSchavari
The Pythons had a pretty stellar draft when you start to look at their picks in totality. They got another good one here in Lattimer. His stats were underwhelming, but I think that comes with the Nose Tackle position. His TPE has started to catch up with some of the top earners in this class, he’s been really consistent in updating, and has been very present on the forum. He hasn’t gotten as much attention as some of the other big name players in this draft, but I think he’ll be the second DT taken after only Morris in this draft.
Pick 4: Shaquill Williams VII -- S -- @Shaquill
Alas, despite his head start on most of the class, Williams has been inactive since February. No doubt this tag will bring him back for one of the best comebacks of all time. Or maybe not.
Pick 5: Nick Snider - DT - @eighthroundpick
I was about to roast this guy for the most impressive thing about him being he predicted where he would be drafted. Then I saw that a week ago he posted “Nick Snider is back” in an activity check. He has not been seen since. So I’m just going to leave this here and hope he gets back in the swing of things around here. Probably still a late round pick at this point.
Pick 6: Troy Humuhumunukunukuapua'a - S - @Sir Earl
Troy was killing it up until about April 20, when it’s possible he got stoned enough to forget about this league. He’s got a really nice start going, but I imagine his draft stock has dropped quite a bit over the past week. I see him as more of a mid to late round pick at this point, going before the other inactives, but after the players that are still updating and posting on the forums.
That does it for Round 8 and this article. We start to see a significant drop-off in talent going forward, although some great players go after this. Not sure I’ll get around to doing the other rounds, but I might at some point. I hope everyone enjoyed. Good luck in the draft tomorrow!
I’m not sure if I’ll get through all of the rounds of this draft, but I’m going to at least plan on hitting highlights of some active players from later in the draft. The talent doesn’t drop a whole lot in the next few rounds. Some of the best players in the league were taken in this range, which shows a little bit of the flukiness in the DSFL draft. The inactives do start to become a little more frequent as we go on, but all in all we don’t see a huge drop off until later on. I’m going to try to cover rounds 4-8 in this article. I’ll have to be a little briefer in my analysis of each player, so I apologize. I’m starting to run out of time to get this in, so I’ve got to be a little more succinct.
Let’s get into Round 4!
Round 4:
Pick 1: Ahri Espeeyeeseetee -- WR -- @`steelsound`
The Seawolves took the first receiver in the draft here. Ahri had an excellent first season with the Seawolves. He finished third in receiving yards, and second in receptions with 75 catches for 873 yards. He showed he can be efficient even with a high volume of targets, as his 11.6 YPC average shows. He’s been one of the most active WRs in this class, and he’s been a very high TPE earner. He’s nearly maxed out the speed of his Red-Zone Threat archetype, which will give him a nice advantage over the lesser DBs of the NSFL. I’ve got Ahri as a top 3 receiver in the draft. Wide Receiver is a little harder to predict since it’s based a lot on team need, but I think we’ll see him go in rounds 2-3 range.
Pick 2: Ben Bortboy -- RB -- @spinarnie
The Solar Bears started to round out their offense by taking Bortboy. They knew it would be a run-heavy team, so this pick makes sense. Bortboy had one of the best rushing campaigns this season. He ran the ball over 250 times for 1208 yards and 6 touchdowns. Palm Beach relied heavily on their running backs this season, and he and Ludicolo Bigby were an excellent combo. Unfortunately, he’s been inactive since early April. Not the worst case scenario for the Solar Bears who can use him in the DSFL again next year, but his draft stock has fallen quite a bit. He’ll get lumped in with the players that showed some promise but are now inactive. Hopefully his new team can coax him to get back into the mix.
Pick 3: Xerxes Ridley -- CB -- @plantane
The Pythons managed to find another stud with this pick. Ridley is the first CB off the board in a lot of people’s mocks, and for good reason. He had an excellent season in the Pythons championship run, and he’s been a top TPE earner to go along with a good activity level. I’m predicted him to be a late 1st/early 2nd round pick for a team that needs some depth at DB, and will try to make him into a CB1 some day. Xerxes put in the work this season both on and off the field, and it’s about to payoff for him in a big way.
Pick 4: Forrest Gump -- RB -- @TomHanks
The Luchadores traded up for this pick, and it was 100% worth it. Forrest took the league by storm with his blazing speed and good-natured attitude. He got over 1000 yards rushing, but really came alive in the playoffs with a 96 yard touchdown run in the 1st round upset of the San Antonio Marshals. Gump’s speed is already at 90, which almost seems unfair, so I’d expect him to be able to get a nice share of carries in the NSFL next year. He’s the 2nd RB to Morgan Marshall on my board, so I think we’ll see a team take him in the 2nd round as their RB of the future. Life might be like a box of chocolates, but you can be pretty sure you are getting a great running back in Gump.
Pick 5: Frasier Crane -- DE -- @TheFlash
Frasier ended up being traded to Portland after some GM switching. He had a relatively quiet season, with most of his tackles being for a loss, but only 1 sack. He’s at 106 TPE, and has been pretty inactive for the last month or so, sadly. He’ll likely play a while longer in the DSFL, unless he comes back to improve his character. Definitely an awesome signature and mental image of Frasier Crane playing defensive lineman, but that’s probably the most we’ll get out of Crane.
Pick 6: Jammerson Irving -- TE -- @contacts
Irving had arguably a top 2-3 year of the tight ends in the league. He finished with 574 yards on 62 catches, which puts him really only behind Jensen in those categories. The Luchadores were pretty dependent on him, Tidwell and Rey. His average of 9.3 per catch was impressive, especially for the TE position. Irving is at around 230 TPE as of his next update, and I’ve got him as the 4th TE off the board after Jensen, Olsen, and Wright. He is using the balanced tight end build, which is popular, and is one of the speedier tight ends in the league at 84. He’ll need to put in some more TPE into strength and blocking to be a balanced TE, but he can be a receiving option right away in the NSFL.
Another really solid round, with only Bortboy and Crane as minor disappointments in terms of activity. These guys should be proud of their progress, and can expect a lot of attention on draft day.
Here we go with Round 5:
Round 5:
Pick 1: Jay Longshaw -- QB -- @dropbear
The dropbear recreate fell a little in this draft, but the expansion team was wise to pick him up. Longshaw had a really nice season as a first year QB, especially considering he played with all first-year players. His stats were not overwhelming, but it’s difficult to judge a first-year QB with all of the DSFL factors also in play. He’s a Gunslinger archetype, and he’s put his TPE into the three throwing attributes, with all of them nearly at 80. He’s under 200 TPE, which is a little low, but he’s in the update lull, so I’d expect that to jump up soon. I’ve got him going after Armstrong in the draft, with probably one of the expansion teams picking him up.
Pick 2: Guy Nikko -- LB -- @Duress
Here we’ve got the greatest render/sig combo in the league going to the Solar Bears. Nikko led the entire league in sacks with 10. His production tailed off a little towards the end of the season, but I think that was just a matter of more guys on defense getting involved, and offenses getting a little wiser to him blitzing. He’s a coverage linebacker, with 236 TPE. He’s about to max out speed on his build, and has some attributes hovering at 70 that he can start improving. Guy will be a great asset to the team that drafts him. He’s active and an all around fun guy to have in the locker room. I have him in the tier 2 of this really deep LB group, going in maybe the late 2nd or early 3rd of the draft.
Pick 3: Lanzer Grievous -- LB -- @Rising Equinox
The Pythons selected the second coverage linebacker in a row here with Grievous. His stats aren’t quite as high as some of the other LBs in this class, mostly due to Lee and Stokeley gobbling up their fair share of tackles and sacks. He did manage 5 sacks and a pick to go along with almost 100 tackles, though. He just got over the 250 TPE mark, and he’s a really active player on the forums, including a really cool analysis of our round 1 mock drafts that you should check out. I’ve got him going in the 2nd round of the draft right in that second tier of LBs, with a small chance to be taken in the first if there’s a good fit for him there.
Pick 4: Walt Green -- S -- @Duilio05
Another loaded position this year is safety, and Walt has really made a name for himself. He was 2nd in the league in interceptions with 7. He feasted off of the young QBs, as he also deflected 17 passes. His Center Fielder build really paid off in this season, giving him the ability to roam the field at will. Walt’s been a really high TPE earner, in addition to being really active on the forums with some great media. Some mocks have him as a 1st round pick, which I see as a real possibility. I think we’re more likely to see him go as the first safety taken in the 2nd round, which is no small accomplishment given the talent at this position this year.
Pick 5: Terry Taffy -- RB -- @KingCollins
The Coyotes drafted another RB in Taffy here. A little odd since they took Farley in the 1st, but it could have been best player left on their board type of scenario. Taffy had some nice production in an offense and team that struggled all year. His YPC is kind of low at 4.2, and he didn’t get the volume that some of the other workhorse RBs got, but I think Taffy will make a really nice rookie in the NSFL. He’s a little lower in TPE currently, but he’s a really active player who seems to be in it for the long haul. He’s a little different than some of the other RBs in that he’s got the Receiving Back archetype, so he could bring a little more versatility as he progresses through his career. I see him going in the 3rd or 4th round to a team that doesn’t have as urgent of a need at RB currently.
Pick 6: Martavius Mack -- S -- @`Allplanet`
The Luchadores took the second safety of this round. Mack is not a name you hear a lot of, but he’s quietly been doing work. He had 83 tackles and 2 interceptions this season in a really nice rookie campaign. He’s been a little inconsistent in his updating, which will put him behind the top safeties in this class. The pick worked out well for the Luchadores, as we’ll more than likely see him play in the DSFL another season as a near TPE capped player. I can see him going in the 4th or 5th round once the higher TPE and more active DBs are off the board. Still a lot of upside possible, though.
The 5th round was another strong group of players. Teams took some risks and it really paid off for some. Not quite as good of a haul as Round 4, but I think we’ll see someone from this group taken in the 1st round, with a lot of likely 2nd rounders.
Round 6:
Pick 1: Giannis Kroustis -- S -- @`AirCrou`
The Seawolves took Kroustis as the first member of their secondary. His stats were about on par with a lot of the other safeties taken in this later part of the draft, with about 75 tackles and 2 interceptions to go with 4 sacks. Kroustis has been a little less active than some of the top tier DBs that will get drafted before him. His “Kroustis Unfiltered” series has been a fun read, hopefully he keeps it up. He’s updating regularly but is hovering around 200 TPE which is not quite in the same tier as a lot of other options at safety. I could see him falling a little bit in the draft, mostly because there is so much depth at DB this year. He’s been consistent enough in activity that I think he’ll be a nice addition to a team’s secondary this year, with a chance of playing again in the DSFL.
Pick 2: Fatih Terim -- S -- @Eco
The Solar Bears were able to find one of the best young players in the league with their 6th round pick. Fatih had a pretty standard season for safeties 77 tackles, 2 sacks and a pick. Where he has really differentiated himself is TPE and league activity. He started off relatively quiet but has been shooting up draft boards in the last few weeks. He’s a near top TPE earner, and has rebuilt the TPE tracker site, in addition to making sweet graphics. He’s also been more active in Discord recently, and should be seen as a great long-term asset for a team. I’ve got him going late in the 1st round or an early 2nd rounder at the latest. I’m a little biased here as his Solar Bears teammate, but I think whoever drafts him will not be disappointed.
Pick 3: Lightsout Lewis -- LB -- @flyeaglesfly29
Lewis ended up getting swapped with the Coyotes for GM related stuff, so his season was a little different than most. His stats are quite a bit lower than the top tier LBs in the draft, but I’m not sure if it’s more of a KC thing than his actual performance. He’s a coverage linebacker which seem to be in high demand, but his TPE is around 200, which is lower than a lot of these LBs. He’s a GM now giving him a bump as far as longevity odds go, so I think he’ll be a high in the second tier of LBs. I think he could go late 2nd/early 3rd to someone who has some LB depth already or who is banking on him being around longer than some of the new guys.
Pick 4: Mo Berry -- LB -- @Frick_Nasty
The Marshals bolstered their LB depth with Mo in this round. Berry had an outstanding season in the DSFL. 88 tackles to go along with 6 sacks, and he was also really solid in coverage, with 2 interceptions and several passes deflected. Mo’s getting some 1st round buzz in the mock drafts, and I think it’s definitely justified. His TPE is at 220 as of a couple weeks ago, and it’s climbing rapidly. It seems likely he’ll go in the 2nd round, as I’ve mentioned before, this position is absolutely loaded this draft, so it will probably come down to team fit with the team that decides to draft him.
Pick 5: Lamont Mckinnie -- S -- @SouljaBoy2007
I’m fairly certain the Solar Bears traded up for this pick, since he’s been on their roster since the beginning, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. McKinnie was lost a little bit in the Solar Bears season, but he has quietly been putting in the work this year. He’s using the All-Around archetype, so his max build will be a little more of a jack-of-all trades type player than a lot of the ballhawks we’re seeing in this class. I think it can give him a little more of an edge when teams are looking for a safety that can play coverage well but also come up and stop RBs in the second level. I’m predicting McKinnie goes somewhere in the 3-4 round range, with some really high upside, and a fairly low floor given his activity on the forum and Discord.
Pick 6: Carlamagno Rey -- WR -- @Crey23
The Luchadores struck out with this pick, it seems. Carlamagno showed some early promise, but has been inactive since the middle of March. I won’t go into too much detail on him, since at this point it seems a little unlikely he makes a comeback. Some say he’s still flexing for his profile pic. He did have a pretty nice season for the Luchadores, so not a total loss on their part. I don’t see him drafted this year, except for maybe a late-late round pick.
Round 6 included some excellent players, with no misses except for Rey. NSFL GMs can’t go too wrong with any of the others taken here. I’m guessing we’ll see some of these guys make a big splash on defense in the NSFL going forward.
Round 7:
Pick 1: Jack Rambo -- S -- @oz3700
Norfolk got another solid safety in the 7th round. Rambo didn’t make quite as much noise in the DSFL this season, but he put up respectable numbers, finishing with 71 tackles 4 sacks. I’m guessing he was used as more of a linebacker since he didn’t have many pass coverage stats at all. Rambo’s a little lower on TPE than a lot of this class, which will hurt his draft stock a bit in such a talented class. But he’s been consistent with updates, and I think he’s got a great shot at making a splash in the NSFL. I think he’ll be more of a 4th-5th rounder, after some of the high TPE earners and really active players are off the board.
Pick 2: Michael Rood -- TE -- @DCross
Unfortunately another casualty of attrition due to inactivity. Rood showed some early promise with some nice intro articles and activity, but has posted anything since the end of March. Hopefully he can make a comeback. The Solar Bears were kind of loaded at TE this year between Wright and Jensen, so he wasn’t a huge factor on the field this year.
Pick 3: Tony Gabagool -- LB -- @shipwreckrising
Another trade up for Palm Beach here to get the final piece of their linebacker trio know affectionately as “Triple Penetration.” Gabagool really came on late in the season, and really seemed to find his groove in the defense as a solid run-stopper. He finished 5th in tackles with 119. His TPE is not quite as high as the top tier, but is still solid enough combined with his activity level and versatility of his position to see a team take him in the late 2nd or early 3rd round. His Coverage Linebacker archetype wasn’t used too much this year, but I think we’ll see him transition to more of that role as his player progresses.
Pick 4: Max Vaz -- RB -- @Skyandbray
Max had an excellent season this year, though given his TPE it seems that almost any RB could have excelled with the Marshals. He showed some initial promise by completing rookie tasks, his wiki page, etc., but hasn’t done much since then. The picks in these rounds are a little more of a crapshoot, so you can’t blame the Marshals too much here, and they did get excellent production from him.
Pick 5: Paul Dimirio III -- K -- @Nykonax
The first kicker off the board! This pick is a little baffling, since it appears he only played in 2 games for them. This definitely has to be a candidate for worst pick of the draft, since he never even made an update page. Obviously nothing is guaranteed at this point in the draft, but there were at least a lot of active players left in much more meaningful positions. I don’t want to come across as hammering the KC GMs here, since I’m sure the job is harder than it looks, but I can’t really wrap my head around this one.
Pick 6: Bill Inohi -- DT -- @Sunshine
Another now inactive player picked here. He helped a lot in the run game for the Luchadores, but hasn’t updated in a long time. If you’re reading this, come back! I hear defensive tackle is a high-demand position.
Round 7 was a bit of a bummer. Several inactives, with the cracks starting to show as we get through the more surefire picks. Gabagool is far and away the best pick in this round. Props to the Solar Bears for finding a gem!
Round 8:
Pick 1: Lucas Knight -- CB -- @ven_knight
The Seawolves found a steal here, as Knight is projecting as one of the top CBs in the upcoming draft. He had an excellent 5 picks this and also notched 78 tackles, showing his versatility as an All-Around corner build. He’s got a really nice combination of TPE, activity, and the stats to back it up. Some have him going as high as the 1st round, which I could see happening, but I think he’ll be more of a mid 2nd pick to a team that needs some CB depth right away.
Pick 2: Nacho Varga -- WR -- @Fordhammer
Not gonna talk about myself here too much, but Nacho had an average season in the DSFL, which was good enough to make the Pro Bowl in a weak conference. I’m excited to see where I end up!
Pick 3: AJ Lattimer -- DT -- @TeyonSchavari
The Pythons had a pretty stellar draft when you start to look at their picks in totality. They got another good one here in Lattimer. His stats were underwhelming, but I think that comes with the Nose Tackle position. His TPE has started to catch up with some of the top earners in this class, he’s been really consistent in updating, and has been very present on the forum. He hasn’t gotten as much attention as some of the other big name players in this draft, but I think he’ll be the second DT taken after only Morris in this draft.
Pick 4: Shaquill Williams VII -- S -- @Shaquill
Alas, despite his head start on most of the class, Williams has been inactive since February. No doubt this tag will bring him back for one of the best comebacks of all time. Or maybe not.
Pick 5: Nick Snider - DT - @eighthroundpick
I was about to roast this guy for the most impressive thing about him being he predicted where he would be drafted. Then I saw that a week ago he posted “Nick Snider is back” in an activity check. He has not been seen since. So I’m just going to leave this here and hope he gets back in the swing of things around here. Probably still a late round pick at this point.
Pick 6: Troy Humuhumunukunukuapua'a - S - @Sir Earl
Troy was killing it up until about April 20, when it’s possible he got stoned enough to forget about this league. He’s got a really nice start going, but I imagine his draft stock has dropped quite a bit over the past week. I see him as more of a mid to late round pick at this point, going before the other inactives, but after the players that are still updating and posting on the forums.
That does it for Round 8 and this article. We start to see a significant drop-off in talent going forward, although some great players go after this. Not sure I’ll get around to doing the other rounds, but I might at some point. I hope everyone enjoyed. Good luck in the draft tomorrow!