09-28-2020, 07:49 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-01-2020, 05:00 AM by Asked Madden.)
Introduction
Hello and welcome to my draft grading series where I grade each teams’ performance in the 2040 (S25) ISFL Draft on the classic A-F scale along the lines of how NFL analysts grade the draft. Something to start out with is that I will grade using a mix of need and the player as well as the user behind the player to get to the final grade of a player. For the overall team grade I average the grades of each drafted player and will take general need and pick amount into account.
Also to take into account is that I removed everything after round 6 out of the grading because that’s the territory where we mostly ended up with inactives (not all of them of course) and they are really hard to judge and grade.
Also this is split in two parts for conferences, because damn there are a lot of players in this class and I couldn’t be bothered to do them all in one.
I want to thank user @Troen who’s Post-Expansion draft needs article was very helpful in my research.
Also: This is a Simulation Football League and I’m not trying to say anyone did a horrible job here or piss anyone off. Everyone is doing a great job at what they do and in the end we’re all here to have fun, even with a piece like this. If I critique a pick because of a player or position choice, I do not, and I can only repeat that DO NOT critique the user behind that chosen player. Sir/Ma’am: This is a Simulation Football League.
Baltimore Hawks
The Baltimore Hawks had a bit of a disappointing Season 24. After finishing at .500 in 23 the goal to get better was pretty clear set. Ending up with the worst record in the ISFL though (shared with the Philadelphia Liberty) and their receiving corps getting hit hard in expansion they need to bounce back big next season.
Round 1, Pick 6: Felix Archstone, OL, KCC , User GlimsTC
With Glims being on the board at the sixth pick it was pretty much a no-brainer for Baltimore to pick him here. A S25 rookie and a new player to the league Glims has all the traits that you want in your first rounder. He immediately made an impact in the league when he came in, was made a GM of his DSFL team in his first season and is a locker room leader. Exactly what Baltimore needed this season. Offensive Line is always useful in the ISFL (especially when you have none at all like Baltimore had), you can save on bots, and especially with a great earner like Glims he will make an impact on and off the field for them. Grade: A
Round 2, Pick 18: Tony Yeboah, S, KCC , User Frazzle14
Defensive Backs was a great need for them this offseason Tony was a great pickup for them here in the second round. With one off the best safeties of this class in Crunk already off the board he was a great choice. Also the Hawks-KCC connections seems real with Glims and Frazzle both going there. The only other position I could’ve seen going here was Cornerback, although the best ones were already off the board by then. Grade: B+
Round 4, Pick 46: Gary Goodman, LB, KCC , User Shnarlydude
There’s nothing but great things to say about the user Shnarlydude. First of all he gives the bestest of presents on Twitter. While he is not exploding with TPE he was one of the best - if not the best - Linebackers on the board by this point in the draft seeing the Hawks did not have a third round pick. Personally I think it would have been great for them to get some Offense here at this point with maybe a second Tight End to round their receivers out, but Gary was a great choice and we can’t forget about the personal connection with the the Coyotes. Grade: B-
Overall Baltimore Hawks Draft:
Overall a really good draft for them. They did a lot with the low amount of picks they had, and picked up a probably inactive WR and CB up in the later rounds which was about as good as it gets since they had no 5th or 6th round pick. Also they really seem to like KCC? Overall Grade: B
Berlin Fire Salamanders
Berlin had a great expansion draft, picking up very important pieces of their future squad. Picking up receiving corps and some basic defense in the expansion draft and free agency, they needed to fill the Quarterback role as well as add to a slightly thin defensive backs and linebacker corps going into this draft.
Round 1, Pick 1: Swantavius Jones, CB, LON , User Swanty
Up and coming in the past few hours of mock drafting Swanty for me was always the 1OA pick. Having just won the award for the best new user of the DSFL and being a great member who produces a lot of media and is well respected I did not even need to take into account that he was a London member when Highhaschdi was their GM to know where he will go. He is a great pickup with a position they need, a great locker room member and will help them build a great culture which is especially important for an expansion team. Grade: A
Round 3, Pick 37: Ananda Adyan, OL, NOR , User TMosura
Having only one member on their human O-Line before picking up Adyan it certainly helps them purchase less bots and get a great locker room member with TMosura who lately made splashes getting hired as DSFL graphics wizard on the stream team. While I could have seen a Quarterback here seeing that they are without Quarterback it may still have been a bit early for it (and as we learn later they had other plans for that role). Grade: B-
Round 5, Pick 57: Jeeeeroy Lenkins, CB, MINN , User LewisMelville
Having no pick in Round 4 Berlin adds to their defensive backs here with Lenkins who is nearly capped out at around 240 TPE. Grabbing one of the objectively best CBs left in the draft at that point to fix some holes in their defense. Grade: B
Round 5, Pick 69: Cmon Skiuuup, TE, DAL , User AirCrou
AirCrou was probably made for Pick 69. He’s been a great part in the Dallas Lockerroom this season and hopefully will be made an integral of their offense. When you get him the ball he is electric and the only reason his stats weren’t better this season is because hex had a amazing season with the Dallas offense. With being pretty set for Wide Receivers this was a smart pick and very high value this late in the draft. Grade: B
Round 6, Pick 72: Gavin Leclerc, CB, LON , User Gav
Having amassed a nice bunch of picks in the later rounds Berlin was still able to get value pretty late in the draft. They grabbed a Cornerback here who still seems to be active but doesn’t seem to have earned a lot this season. With Leclerc either staying down to be watched or serving as their backup Cornerback he can still be called up at a later point. But to be honest, there was not that much left on the board, although I could’ve seen them picking up Peterson, a very active QB here. Grade: C
Round 6, Pick 78: Lebby Newton, WR, MINN , User Newty
Lebby Newton is a still earning Wide Receiver around the 120 TPE mark that could be called up if he continues earning and was one of the best “active” players on the board by then. He wasn’t that active throughout the season in regards to point tasks, but has been still earning and checking in so he may be a future prospect for them. Grade: C
Overall Berlin Fire Salamanders Draft:
It was a great entry into the world of the ISFL for the Berlin Fire Salamanders. They fixed some big holes in their Defense and chose a key piece for their scoring offense and a great blocker. Their biggest hole at Quarterback they didn’t fill through the draft but by position switching their star GM wide receiver Kaepercolin to QB, which made me wonder if we couldn’t have seen a bit more offense generally here. Overall Grade: B-
Chicago Butchers
Chicago is in the middle of a great looking rebuild, based on great drafting the past few seasons. They went to the playoffs with a 7-9 record after picking first last draft and while they didn’t win it all, their trajectory is looking like it is on a great upward slope. They lost a bit of defense in the expansion draft and I would have expected them to take that back here.
Round 1, Pick 9: James Gath, CB, MINN , User beefstu409
One of the sim breakers of the league beefstu is a great addition to a locker and war room being a great help with testing and strategy development. So that alone makes him worth a first rounder. They also get an important piece of defense to keep building on their young defense with a high earning cornerback. Am I still salty about not open sourcing his sim tool straight away? Maybe a little bit. Also Choccy Milk. Grade: A-
Round 3, Pick 32: Damian Blackfyre, S, MINN , User Thundertitan82
Second backfield player, second Minnesota player for Chicago. Thundertitan has been steadily been producing great media for the league and while I don’t see the immediate need for safety with their roster I have to say that the Butchers generally did not have a lot of holes to begin with, so this is also a great user pick up for them. Grade: B+
Round 3, Pick 35: Wasrabi Gleel, LB, MINN , User crodyman
After losing star Linebacker McCringleberry in the expansion draft this made a lot of sense here with Gleel being the best eligable Linebacker on the Ducks roster. A great user as well, but not the best Linebacker on the board at this point with Burfict from the Royals being a much greater earner than Gleel I could’ve seen them taking Burfict here (who went with the next pick). But not all picks are best available and Chicago must have seen something in crodyman that they have not seen in y2bobman. Grade: B-
Round 4, Pick 54: Timmy Dimbi, DT, TIJ , User Tylar
The first non-duck Chicago picked here and another defensive piece with defensive tackle Dimby. He has been a mid earner throughout this season this season and gives them future options in case they start to bleed DLine starters soon. A great future pick up for them here who may develop greatly when spending another season or two in the DSFL with Tijuana. That said, also with this pick they left a higher earning DT on the board who was picked with the next pick. Grade: B-
Round 5, Pick 65: Mark Callous, WR, DAL , User McCransky
The first offensive piece for Chicago with the Birddogs Wide Receiver and hero of the prospect bowl Mark Callous. He has been a great user with Dallas this season and may have dropped down the board because (and I know from first hand sources) he was on vacation the last few weeks and wasn’t able to update as much as he has before. Grade: B
Round 5, Pick 70: Etrigan T. Slayer, DE, POR , User Thiath
I am new to the league so I don’t know all the intricacies of the league and personal relationships between users. But Tiath with Slayer, a high earning Defensive End in the bottom of the fifth is basically just a steal. Also his movie reviews were great and he should be able to bring a lot of joy to a locker room. Grade: A
Round 6, Pick 75: Duncan Donuts, OL, DAL , User DunkinDuncan
While it may look like an inactive pick at first I have insider information that Duncan Donuts recently returned to the realm of the living with an update. Even when considered as an inactive he is a good pickup here late in the draft. If you can keep him earning steadily he could make a nice cheap addition to a human OLine in a season or two. Grade: B-
Round 6, Pick 79: Clay Clark, CB, KCC , User Richard_Hooklip
Not seen for a while, under 100 TPE, so not really a lot to say here. There were some CBs on the board here that were active more recently and have more TPE, so why not go for those? Grade: C-
Overall Chicago Butchers Draft:
Very defense heavy draft by Chicago since that is what they mostly lost in the expansion and they went for a lot of great users. On top of that they had a lot of picks in the mid rounds which makes them have a great base for future call ups in case they lose some of their good young core to free agency in the future. The only thing I would have liked to see from them is a Linebacker in some of the mid rounds. Overall Grade: B-
Colorado Yeti
Coming from a great season with an Ultimus appearance that they somehow (seriously, what happened there) lost to the San Jose Sabercats Colorado has a great squad still and already has their Quarterback of the future ready. So they were in a great position to pick great users and enhance the little holes they have.
Round 1, Pick 5: Albert Ruschmann, DE, LON , User katarn22
Colorado traded two of their players to the Silverbacks to grab Ruschmann here. And don’t get me wrong, katarn is one of the greatest people from my rookie class I have met, he is a joy to talk to, a great simmer from what I have heard, seriously a great influence for every team that can get him. I just don’t think they would have needed to train up for him here. I think he still would have been there for them with their pick and they wouldn’t have needed to lose two of their players for him. So this grade is solely based on the fact of the trade and not the pick itself, which is perfect for them. Grade: B
Round 2, Pick 27: Dave Batista, TE, POR , User Frick_Nasty
The Yeti had a hole at Tight End and Batista being a trade deadline create is a league veteran, great earner and makes total sense for them here seeing that he may be one of the best if not the best tight end in this whole draft. Grade: A
Round 3, Pick 29: NationalSimulation FootballLeague, S, TIJ , User SDCore
League veteran SDCore with his recreate NationalSimulation FootballLeague is their third round pick. A high earning league veteran to add a great presence to their locker room was probably the biggest influence behind the decision process with this pick. There is no immediate need for safety at Colorado, but picking him up here to add the user to their roster was a good choice. Grade: B
Round 4, Pick 55: Angelo Cerilli, DT, POR , User AngeloC
Being slim on the D-Line is never great for a team and Colorado went into this draft with a very thinned out defensive line. Angelo Cerilli may not be the highest earner of the bunch but at this point in the draft there was not much left in terms of defensive tackles so AngeloC and his self-named DT make for a good pick up here. Although they could have pulled the trigger a bit earlier on a DT if they really had the need. Grade: C+
Round 6, Pick 74: Anders Christiansen, RB, POR , User bluesfan55
Not sure if this username refers to the St. Lois Blues or the musical genre in general (I seriously hope the second, because I don’t like the St. Lois Blues). Over 200 TPE in Round 6, he can act as a future Runningback for them that is still active and earning in case they lose one of them in the future. Grade: B
Overall Colorado Yeti Draft:
Overall a draft that does what it needs to do for the Yeti. It adds to their future rosters, brings some instant life and even more veteran presence in to elevate them next season and bring them to their ultimate goal of grabbing another Ultimus trophy for their trophy case. They were stocked up on mid-round picks so the trade for katarn didn’t cost them too much in draft value but they still lost 2 great players. We will see if it pays off for them. Overall Grade: B+
Philadelphia Liberty
Philadelphia comes into this draft off the back of a pretty much worst case of a season for them. Ending with the worst record in the league together with the Baltimore Hawks and being the last winless team they needed to act quickly here to fill the holes in their roster and add some young blood to sacrifice to the sim gods. I sure hope for them that things are on an upward trajectory.
Round 1, Pick 3: Tex Wrecks, DE, TIJ , User 209tacos
User 209tacos is a great user in every aspect of ISFL importance. Great graphics come from him, he earns at a great pace and did well on the field in the DSFL last year. It looks like he is an immediate call up and an improvement to their locker room. Their front seven didn’t perform and this is a good pickup with a high earner and a lot of future potential to replace some of the inactives they have there. Grade: B+
Round 2, Pick 17: Killian Chambers, WR, MINN , User charlit
The first Wide Receiver off the board fills an immediate need for them. Explains a lot about the draft position, but I think there would have been good receivers as well later in the draft without reaching for a position. Charlit, the user, on the other hand is a great pickup for them and will continue to earn well and develop in the position. He could for sure be a WR1/2 starter in a season or two. Grade: B
Round 3, Pick 31: Jimi DeSoto, LB, NOR , User Jimi64
DeSoto was one of the best Linebackers still on the board at that time since a lot of the max earning LBs went very early, but it’s nevertheless a good pickup for the with user Jimi being very active and a good locker room person from what I have heard. I could have seen them going Runningback here since it will soon become a need for them with regression starting to hit their current backs and Bronko Mills still being on the board. Grade: C+
Round 3, Pick 34: Honky-Tonk Haywood, DT, POR , User jzajenius36
Picking shortly after DeSoto again Philly decides to go for their second D-Line player here with Honky-Tonk Haywood. Again to plug holes in the D-Line with a very active user and good earner. Also an elite player name and render. Grade: B+
Round 4, Pick 45: Samuel Roes, DE, NOR , User Roezam
Have I mentioned Philly seems to like some D-Line? It seems like Philly likes themselves some D-Line after last seasons bad performance. Here is some more D-Line and I run out of things to say about it. Very high earning defensive end from Norfolk, good pickup at this part of the draft. But there still was some Runningback of the future on the board that i could’ve seen here. Grade: B-
Round 5, Pick 59: Jake Fencik, K, LON , User xenosthelegend
Philly lost their kicker in the expansion draft. So they needed a kicker, here is one that like’s to remind us that kicker are people too a lot. I’m not 100% convinced this is true, but a good pickup here to immediately come up and fill a need for them. In case you did not know, this is an Ultimini winning kicker, but he is from London, so you WILL KNOW. Grade: A
Round 6, Pick 73: Brent Silva, DT, LON , User Brentmeister69
And we end this short kicker intermission with some more defensive line. Brentmeister still seems to earn, although he is in the mid-tier of earners and most likely won’t get called up very soon. If he even does, depending on he continues to earn. What can I say? Philly had a bad D-Line with some IA holes. Now they have more D-Line. Grade: C
Overall Philadelpha Liberty Draft:
As I mentioned in this draft grades it is obvious where Philly saw it’s biggest holes. 4 out of 7 picks in the first 6 rounds were all D-Line. 3 out of 4 of those seem very active with the last one being fringe active. I’m not sure if this will pay off in the long term but it will give them an immediate boost in a category of their biggest need. Hopefully they can grab some more help on offense next draft, although the S26 class seems a lot slimmer than this one was. At least there’s Wide Receivers in there. Overall Grade: C+
Sarasota Sailfish
Sarasota ended the season with some firsts. First season with a winning record, first season with a playoff win. They got beaten in the conference finals by the Colorado Yeti and should have big expectations for next season. They have a great QB, already have the line of succession secured and are probably in need of some O-Line help.
Round 1, Pick 12: Peter Patterson, CB, KCC , User slate
Slate, slate, why did you end up here. Being in the mix for first overall with some great additions for the simtest community a lot of people expected slate to go at least top 3. So grabbing him here with Pick 12 makes for a great steal for an amazing user. Next to his sim murdering abilities he is a great locker room pickup, a nice addition to their defensive backs who need som help soon and will continue to do amazing things. Nothing else to say but: Well done. Grade: A
Round 2, Pick 26: Clay Stallworth, OL, KCC , User gravtx
The aforementioned help they need at O-Line made them grab the amazing gravtx here. Which is a position of need and a great user to start building a core of human O-Line with. Lingering at over 250 TPE he should be able to be called up immediately and make an impact next season in the hunt for the trophy. The only thing which makes me add that minus there is me not being sure if there wouldn’t have been some great O-Line in a later round that would still be worth a pick up. Grade: A-
Round 4, Pick 51: Cleg Manclaw, TE, MINN , User Cynoblaze
With only one tight end on the roster, this is a necessary position draft here, although there was at least one other tight end on the board here who are was a better earner than Cynoblaze here, and since this is a current need for them going for someone else may have made sense as well. Grade: C
Round 5, Pick 66: Dexter Jackson, LB, MBB , User Killascrilla
The best linebacker on the board by far at this point, very active user Killascrilla gets the call and helps them with the hole in that roster category. As third Linebacker on the roster he can be called up or left down for one more season but will help them stuff some more running at the LOS soon. Grade: B
Round 5, Pick 67: Teddy Utterstruzen, S, MBB , User teddyoojo
Teddy with the weird last name comes late in this draft even though he had a monster season and was in the talks for DSFL awards as a safety. My only reasoning for seeing him drafted this late is that this class was extremely good at defensive positions and being under the DSFL cap teddyoojo wasn’t the highest earner of them all. Still a great pick for value. Grade: B+
Round 5, Pick 68: Steven Wadham, S, LON , User Arvot
Sarasota sure loved their fifth rounders this draft. 3 picks in the fifth round and the second safety off the board for them here. Seeing that they lost a safety in the expansion it makes a lot of sense to stock up on them for current and future need, having a porous secondary sure impacts their goal of improving on their great last season. Grade: B
Round 6, Pick 82: Elijah Torres, CB, POR , User Toasty
And we end here with another secondary pick this time a cornerback from Portland with Elijah Torres from user Toasty. Still forums active, but he hasn’t updated in quite some time. I could’ve personally seen a Wide Receiver here, since there were still active earning users on the board by them and it would probably have been a smart investment for the future. Grade: C-
Overall Sarasota Sailfish Draft:
Again 7 picks in the first 6 rounds from a team here, and this time with a load of picks in the fifth round. Generally an all-around good draft, no real DSFL affiliation here, spread around users all over the board. They sure did a good job on working on their secondary, while I could’ve seen some pass catchers later in the draft. Overall Grade: B
Yellowknife Wraiths
And we arrived at the last team of this conference. My eyes are bleeding, my fingertips are hurting and my brain is full of useless numbers. S23 Ultimus winner Yellowknife set out this season to achieve a repeat but ended up with a 6-10 record and a first round close playoff loss against the Colorado Yeti. They were able to protect a good portion of their core from the expansion and sure want to get back to their winning ways next season.
Round 1, Pick 2: Dan Foster, CB, POR , User Arkz
This pick came as a bit of a surprise that not many people saw coming. I haven’t seen a lot of mocks up the great Arkz to Yellowknife, but it makes a lot of sense from a user standpoint. They also need help at CB and Foster is a great pickup in this position. He will quickly become a great starting corner for them and be a great influence in their locker room. Grade: A
Round 2, Pick 15: Djibutee McJimmerson, TE, MBB , User uberbj
There’s not a lot to say about uberbj other than he is an amazing person. He has a ton of TPE as a waiver create (I hope he was a waiver create, otherwise I would feel horrible about my own TPE) and brings great conversation and fun into a locker room. In the end I feel like this is pretty much a user pickup though because while Tight End sure was a need for them in this draft I could have seen other needs, especially on the D-Line filled before that. Grade: B-
Round 3, Pick 30: Jameson Vermillion, RB, MINN , User Vainknight13
Let’s gooo! More offense! While we have seen a lot of early-mid defense drafted in this one, Yellowknife is straight up going for a lot of high value offensive picks early. Grabbing the objectively best rookie Running Back of the DSFL season makes sense seeing that Hanyadi was suspended the season and is on the older side of running backs. Vermillion will continue doing great things soon next to Skyline. Grade: B+
Round 3, Pick 33: Donald McBobby, LB, POR , User bjbren17
That was quick! Right after Vermillion Yellowknife picks again and takes a Linebacker in the third round. There still was a great choice of LBs on the board at that point (this class was SO deep at Linebacker, seriously), and McBobby was one of them. Argumentively their Linebacker corps is still pretty stacked, so I would have loved to see some D-Line at this point again while there were still some of the higher earners on the board. Grade: C+
Round 4, Pick 43: Mark Walker, WR, TIJ , User deadlunatic
A great pickup for their receiving corps who will hopefully make an instant impact next season after losing Cash in expansion. Together with some pass blocking by their new tight end it could help elevate the passing game of the Wraiths and return to their old high-scoring ways. Grade: B
Round 4, Pick 47: Sheed Thebaw, DT, DAL , User nutbarspadge
It always brings a tear to my eye when I see a Birddog off the board and this is a good pickup for a big need of theirs in strengthening their defensive line. Nutbarspadge is a consistent earner, great locker room person, and my only gripe is they did not go for it earlier in the draft. Grade: B+
Round 5, Pick 61: Milk Mann, S, DAL , User Bkfootball
And another Dallas player off the board. This time bkfootball with my favourite profile picture of all time. Steady earner, great locker room personality as well and can seriously impact your team in a lot of ways. Although, here again: I think with some more D-Line Yellowknife could have fared better, or even adding some human O-Line to their Tight End game to help with passing and rushing in the short term. Grade: C+
Overall Yellowknife Wraiths Draft:
We didn’t see a lot of early-mid offensive picks in this draft, so Yellowknife sure worked against the trend here to plug some holes and make sure they get better at scoring for next season. The only thing missing for me from this draft was grabbing some more help on the D-Line, but that shouldn’t immediately impact their play for S25 too much since they still have a good core at the front seven. Overall Grade: B+
This is it
So, that’s it, I think I am dead now. I don’t really know if there will be a Part 2 of this with the ASFC since I may have bitten off a lot more than I can chew with this analysis and grading, but maybe I get inspired once I see the payout or positive comments. Or you tell me it is stupid and I am stupid and I should go dig a hole, crawl in, and never do this again. That’s ok too and could motivate me even more to make a part 2 just to prove you all wrong. Also I don’t like digging holes.
Also if you really read this and didn’t just look for your player to get outraged at me: First of all I think you are a lier, how dare you lie to me, if you really read all of it thank you, that really means a lot to me and my tendinitis.
TL;DR: Teams drafted gud. Players gud. We all love each other. And I love you all. Thank you.
Hello and welcome to my draft grading series where I grade each teams’ performance in the 2040 (S25) ISFL Draft on the classic A-F scale along the lines of how NFL analysts grade the draft. Something to start out with is that I will grade using a mix of need and the player as well as the user behind the player to get to the final grade of a player. For the overall team grade I average the grades of each drafted player and will take general need and pick amount into account.
Also to take into account is that I removed everything after round 6 out of the grading because that’s the territory where we mostly ended up with inactives (not all of them of course) and they are really hard to judge and grade.
Also this is split in two parts for conferences, because damn there are a lot of players in this class and I couldn’t be bothered to do them all in one.
I want to thank user @Troen who’s Post-Expansion draft needs article was very helpful in my research.
Also: This is a Simulation Football League and I’m not trying to say anyone did a horrible job here or piss anyone off. Everyone is doing a great job at what they do and in the end we’re all here to have fun, even with a piece like this. If I critique a pick because of a player or position choice, I do not, and I can only repeat that DO NOT critique the user behind that chosen player. Sir/Ma’am: This is a Simulation Football League.
Baltimore Hawks
The Baltimore Hawks had a bit of a disappointing Season 24. After finishing at .500 in 23 the goal to get better was pretty clear set. Ending up with the worst record in the ISFL though (shared with the Philadelphia Liberty) and their receiving corps getting hit hard in expansion they need to bounce back big next season.
Round 1, Pick 6: Felix Archstone, OL, KCC , User GlimsTC
With Glims being on the board at the sixth pick it was pretty much a no-brainer for Baltimore to pick him here. A S25 rookie and a new player to the league Glims has all the traits that you want in your first rounder. He immediately made an impact in the league when he came in, was made a GM of his DSFL team in his first season and is a locker room leader. Exactly what Baltimore needed this season. Offensive Line is always useful in the ISFL (especially when you have none at all like Baltimore had), you can save on bots, and especially with a great earner like Glims he will make an impact on and off the field for them. Grade: A
Round 2, Pick 18: Tony Yeboah, S, KCC , User Frazzle14
Defensive Backs was a great need for them this offseason Tony was a great pickup for them here in the second round. With one off the best safeties of this class in Crunk already off the board he was a great choice. Also the Hawks-KCC connections seems real with Glims and Frazzle both going there. The only other position I could’ve seen going here was Cornerback, although the best ones were already off the board by then. Grade: B+
Round 4, Pick 46: Gary Goodman, LB, KCC , User Shnarlydude
There’s nothing but great things to say about the user Shnarlydude. First of all he gives the bestest of presents on Twitter. While he is not exploding with TPE he was one of the best - if not the best - Linebackers on the board by this point in the draft seeing the Hawks did not have a third round pick. Personally I think it would have been great for them to get some Offense here at this point with maybe a second Tight End to round their receivers out, but Gary was a great choice and we can’t forget about the personal connection with the the Coyotes. Grade: B-
Overall Baltimore Hawks Draft:
Overall a really good draft for them. They did a lot with the low amount of picks they had, and picked up a probably inactive WR and CB up in the later rounds which was about as good as it gets since they had no 5th or 6th round pick. Also they really seem to like KCC? Overall Grade: B
Berlin Fire Salamanders
Berlin had a great expansion draft, picking up very important pieces of their future squad. Picking up receiving corps and some basic defense in the expansion draft and free agency, they needed to fill the Quarterback role as well as add to a slightly thin defensive backs and linebacker corps going into this draft.
Round 1, Pick 1: Swantavius Jones, CB, LON , User Swanty
Up and coming in the past few hours of mock drafting Swanty for me was always the 1OA pick. Having just won the award for the best new user of the DSFL and being a great member who produces a lot of media and is well respected I did not even need to take into account that he was a London member when Highhaschdi was their GM to know where he will go. He is a great pickup with a position they need, a great locker room member and will help them build a great culture which is especially important for an expansion team. Grade: A
Round 3, Pick 37: Ananda Adyan, OL, NOR , User TMosura
Having only one member on their human O-Line before picking up Adyan it certainly helps them purchase less bots and get a great locker room member with TMosura who lately made splashes getting hired as DSFL graphics wizard on the stream team. While I could have seen a Quarterback here seeing that they are without Quarterback it may still have been a bit early for it (and as we learn later they had other plans for that role). Grade: B-
Round 5, Pick 57: Jeeeeroy Lenkins, CB, MINN , User LewisMelville
Having no pick in Round 4 Berlin adds to their defensive backs here with Lenkins who is nearly capped out at around 240 TPE. Grabbing one of the objectively best CBs left in the draft at that point to fix some holes in their defense. Grade: B
Round 5, Pick 69: Cmon Skiuuup, TE, DAL , User AirCrou
AirCrou was probably made for Pick 69. He’s been a great part in the Dallas Lockerroom this season and hopefully will be made an integral of their offense. When you get him the ball he is electric and the only reason his stats weren’t better this season is because hex had a amazing season with the Dallas offense. With being pretty set for Wide Receivers this was a smart pick and very high value this late in the draft. Grade: B
Round 6, Pick 72: Gavin Leclerc, CB, LON , User Gav
Having amassed a nice bunch of picks in the later rounds Berlin was still able to get value pretty late in the draft. They grabbed a Cornerback here who still seems to be active but doesn’t seem to have earned a lot this season. With Leclerc either staying down to be watched or serving as their backup Cornerback he can still be called up at a later point. But to be honest, there was not that much left on the board, although I could’ve seen them picking up Peterson, a very active QB here. Grade: C
Round 6, Pick 78: Lebby Newton, WR, MINN , User Newty
Lebby Newton is a still earning Wide Receiver around the 120 TPE mark that could be called up if he continues earning and was one of the best “active” players on the board by then. He wasn’t that active throughout the season in regards to point tasks, but has been still earning and checking in so he may be a future prospect for them. Grade: C
Overall Berlin Fire Salamanders Draft:
It was a great entry into the world of the ISFL for the Berlin Fire Salamanders. They fixed some big holes in their Defense and chose a key piece for their scoring offense and a great blocker. Their biggest hole at Quarterback they didn’t fill through the draft but by position switching their star GM wide receiver Kaepercolin to QB, which made me wonder if we couldn’t have seen a bit more offense generally here. Overall Grade: B-
Chicago Butchers
Chicago is in the middle of a great looking rebuild, based on great drafting the past few seasons. They went to the playoffs with a 7-9 record after picking first last draft and while they didn’t win it all, their trajectory is looking like it is on a great upward slope. They lost a bit of defense in the expansion draft and I would have expected them to take that back here.
Round 1, Pick 9: James Gath, CB, MINN , User beefstu409
One of the sim breakers of the league beefstu is a great addition to a locker and war room being a great help with testing and strategy development. So that alone makes him worth a first rounder. They also get an important piece of defense to keep building on their young defense with a high earning cornerback. Am I still salty about not open sourcing his sim tool straight away? Maybe a little bit. Also Choccy Milk. Grade: A-
Round 3, Pick 32: Damian Blackfyre, S, MINN , User Thundertitan82
Second backfield player, second Minnesota player for Chicago. Thundertitan has been steadily been producing great media for the league and while I don’t see the immediate need for safety with their roster I have to say that the Butchers generally did not have a lot of holes to begin with, so this is also a great user pick up for them. Grade: B+
Round 3, Pick 35: Wasrabi Gleel, LB, MINN , User crodyman
After losing star Linebacker McCringleberry in the expansion draft this made a lot of sense here with Gleel being the best eligable Linebacker on the Ducks roster. A great user as well, but not the best Linebacker on the board at this point with Burfict from the Royals being a much greater earner than Gleel I could’ve seen them taking Burfict here (who went with the next pick). But not all picks are best available and Chicago must have seen something in crodyman that they have not seen in y2bobman. Grade: B-
Round 4, Pick 54: Timmy Dimbi, DT, TIJ , User Tylar
The first non-duck Chicago picked here and another defensive piece with defensive tackle Dimby. He has been a mid earner throughout this season this season and gives them future options in case they start to bleed DLine starters soon. A great future pick up for them here who may develop greatly when spending another season or two in the DSFL with Tijuana. That said, also with this pick they left a higher earning DT on the board who was picked with the next pick. Grade: B-
Round 5, Pick 65: Mark Callous, WR, DAL , User McCransky
The first offensive piece for Chicago with the Birddogs Wide Receiver and hero of the prospect bowl Mark Callous. He has been a great user with Dallas this season and may have dropped down the board because (and I know from first hand sources) he was on vacation the last few weeks and wasn’t able to update as much as he has before. Grade: B
Round 5, Pick 70: Etrigan T. Slayer, DE, POR , User Thiath
I am new to the league so I don’t know all the intricacies of the league and personal relationships between users. But Tiath with Slayer, a high earning Defensive End in the bottom of the fifth is basically just a steal. Also his movie reviews were great and he should be able to bring a lot of joy to a locker room. Grade: A
Round 6, Pick 75: Duncan Donuts, OL, DAL , User DunkinDuncan
While it may look like an inactive pick at first I have insider information that Duncan Donuts recently returned to the realm of the living with an update. Even when considered as an inactive he is a good pickup here late in the draft. If you can keep him earning steadily he could make a nice cheap addition to a human OLine in a season or two. Grade: B-
Round 6, Pick 79: Clay Clark, CB, KCC , User Richard_Hooklip
Not seen for a while, under 100 TPE, so not really a lot to say here. There were some CBs on the board here that were active more recently and have more TPE, so why not go for those? Grade: C-
Overall Chicago Butchers Draft:
Very defense heavy draft by Chicago since that is what they mostly lost in the expansion and they went for a lot of great users. On top of that they had a lot of picks in the mid rounds which makes them have a great base for future call ups in case they lose some of their good young core to free agency in the future. The only thing I would have liked to see from them is a Linebacker in some of the mid rounds. Overall Grade: B-
Colorado Yeti
Coming from a great season with an Ultimus appearance that they somehow (seriously, what happened there) lost to the San Jose Sabercats Colorado has a great squad still and already has their Quarterback of the future ready. So they were in a great position to pick great users and enhance the little holes they have.
Round 1, Pick 5: Albert Ruschmann, DE, LON , User katarn22
Colorado traded two of their players to the Silverbacks to grab Ruschmann here. And don’t get me wrong, katarn is one of the greatest people from my rookie class I have met, he is a joy to talk to, a great simmer from what I have heard, seriously a great influence for every team that can get him. I just don’t think they would have needed to train up for him here. I think he still would have been there for them with their pick and they wouldn’t have needed to lose two of their players for him. So this grade is solely based on the fact of the trade and not the pick itself, which is perfect for them. Grade: B
Round 2, Pick 27: Dave Batista, TE, POR , User Frick_Nasty
The Yeti had a hole at Tight End and Batista being a trade deadline create is a league veteran, great earner and makes total sense for them here seeing that he may be one of the best if not the best tight end in this whole draft. Grade: A
Round 3, Pick 29: NationalSimulation FootballLeague, S, TIJ , User SDCore
League veteran SDCore with his recreate NationalSimulation FootballLeague is their third round pick. A high earning league veteran to add a great presence to their locker room was probably the biggest influence behind the decision process with this pick. There is no immediate need for safety at Colorado, but picking him up here to add the user to their roster was a good choice. Grade: B
Round 4, Pick 55: Angelo Cerilli, DT, POR , User AngeloC
Being slim on the D-Line is never great for a team and Colorado went into this draft with a very thinned out defensive line. Angelo Cerilli may not be the highest earner of the bunch but at this point in the draft there was not much left in terms of defensive tackles so AngeloC and his self-named DT make for a good pick up here. Although they could have pulled the trigger a bit earlier on a DT if they really had the need. Grade: C+
Round 6, Pick 74: Anders Christiansen, RB, POR , User bluesfan55
Not sure if this username refers to the St. Lois Blues or the musical genre in general (I seriously hope the second, because I don’t like the St. Lois Blues). Over 200 TPE in Round 6, he can act as a future Runningback for them that is still active and earning in case they lose one of them in the future. Grade: B
Overall Colorado Yeti Draft:
Overall a draft that does what it needs to do for the Yeti. It adds to their future rosters, brings some instant life and even more veteran presence in to elevate them next season and bring them to their ultimate goal of grabbing another Ultimus trophy for their trophy case. They were stocked up on mid-round picks so the trade for katarn didn’t cost them too much in draft value but they still lost 2 great players. We will see if it pays off for them. Overall Grade: B+
Philadelphia Liberty
Philadelphia comes into this draft off the back of a pretty much worst case of a season for them. Ending with the worst record in the league together with the Baltimore Hawks and being the last winless team they needed to act quickly here to fill the holes in their roster and add some young blood to sacrifice to the sim gods. I sure hope for them that things are on an upward trajectory.
Round 1, Pick 3: Tex Wrecks, DE, TIJ , User 209tacos
User 209tacos is a great user in every aspect of ISFL importance. Great graphics come from him, he earns at a great pace and did well on the field in the DSFL last year. It looks like he is an immediate call up and an improvement to their locker room. Their front seven didn’t perform and this is a good pickup with a high earner and a lot of future potential to replace some of the inactives they have there. Grade: B+
Round 2, Pick 17: Killian Chambers, WR, MINN , User charlit
The first Wide Receiver off the board fills an immediate need for them. Explains a lot about the draft position, but I think there would have been good receivers as well later in the draft without reaching for a position. Charlit, the user, on the other hand is a great pickup for them and will continue to earn well and develop in the position. He could for sure be a WR1/2 starter in a season or two. Grade: B
Round 3, Pick 31: Jimi DeSoto, LB, NOR , User Jimi64
DeSoto was one of the best Linebackers still on the board at that time since a lot of the max earning LBs went very early, but it’s nevertheless a good pickup for the with user Jimi being very active and a good locker room person from what I have heard. I could have seen them going Runningback here since it will soon become a need for them with regression starting to hit their current backs and Bronko Mills still being on the board. Grade: C+
Round 3, Pick 34: Honky-Tonk Haywood, DT, POR , User jzajenius36
Picking shortly after DeSoto again Philly decides to go for their second D-Line player here with Honky-Tonk Haywood. Again to plug holes in the D-Line with a very active user and good earner. Also an elite player name and render. Grade: B+
Round 4, Pick 45: Samuel Roes, DE, NOR , User Roezam
Have I mentioned Philly seems to like some D-Line? It seems like Philly likes themselves some D-Line after last seasons bad performance. Here is some more D-Line and I run out of things to say about it. Very high earning defensive end from Norfolk, good pickup at this part of the draft. But there still was some Runningback of the future on the board that i could’ve seen here. Grade: B-
Round 5, Pick 59: Jake Fencik, K, LON , User xenosthelegend
Philly lost their kicker in the expansion draft. So they needed a kicker, here is one that like’s to remind us that kicker are people too a lot. I’m not 100% convinced this is true, but a good pickup here to immediately come up and fill a need for them. In case you did not know, this is an Ultimini winning kicker, but he is from London, so you WILL KNOW. Grade: A
Round 6, Pick 73: Brent Silva, DT, LON , User Brentmeister69
And we end this short kicker intermission with some more defensive line. Brentmeister still seems to earn, although he is in the mid-tier of earners and most likely won’t get called up very soon. If he even does, depending on he continues to earn. What can I say? Philly had a bad D-Line with some IA holes. Now they have more D-Line. Grade: C
Overall Philadelpha Liberty Draft:
As I mentioned in this draft grades it is obvious where Philly saw it’s biggest holes. 4 out of 7 picks in the first 6 rounds were all D-Line. 3 out of 4 of those seem very active with the last one being fringe active. I’m not sure if this will pay off in the long term but it will give them an immediate boost in a category of their biggest need. Hopefully they can grab some more help on offense next draft, although the S26 class seems a lot slimmer than this one was. At least there’s Wide Receivers in there. Overall Grade: C+
Sarasota Sailfish
Sarasota ended the season with some firsts. First season with a winning record, first season with a playoff win. They got beaten in the conference finals by the Colorado Yeti and should have big expectations for next season. They have a great QB, already have the line of succession secured and are probably in need of some O-Line help.
Round 1, Pick 12: Peter Patterson, CB, KCC , User slate
Slate, slate, why did you end up here. Being in the mix for first overall with some great additions for the simtest community a lot of people expected slate to go at least top 3. So grabbing him here with Pick 12 makes for a great steal for an amazing user. Next to his sim murdering abilities he is a great locker room pickup, a nice addition to their defensive backs who need som help soon and will continue to do amazing things. Nothing else to say but: Well done. Grade: A
Round 2, Pick 26: Clay Stallworth, OL, KCC , User gravtx
The aforementioned help they need at O-Line made them grab the amazing gravtx here. Which is a position of need and a great user to start building a core of human O-Line with. Lingering at over 250 TPE he should be able to be called up immediately and make an impact next season in the hunt for the trophy. The only thing which makes me add that minus there is me not being sure if there wouldn’t have been some great O-Line in a later round that would still be worth a pick up. Grade: A-
Round 4, Pick 51: Cleg Manclaw, TE, MINN , User Cynoblaze
With only one tight end on the roster, this is a necessary position draft here, although there was at least one other tight end on the board here who are was a better earner than Cynoblaze here, and since this is a current need for them going for someone else may have made sense as well. Grade: C
Round 5, Pick 66: Dexter Jackson, LB, MBB , User Killascrilla
The best linebacker on the board by far at this point, very active user Killascrilla gets the call and helps them with the hole in that roster category. As third Linebacker on the roster he can be called up or left down for one more season but will help them stuff some more running at the LOS soon. Grade: B
Round 5, Pick 67: Teddy Utterstruzen, S, MBB , User teddyoojo
Teddy with the weird last name comes late in this draft even though he had a monster season and was in the talks for DSFL awards as a safety. My only reasoning for seeing him drafted this late is that this class was extremely good at defensive positions and being under the DSFL cap teddyoojo wasn’t the highest earner of them all. Still a great pick for value. Grade: B+
Round 5, Pick 68: Steven Wadham, S, LON , User Arvot
Sarasota sure loved their fifth rounders this draft. 3 picks in the fifth round and the second safety off the board for them here. Seeing that they lost a safety in the expansion it makes a lot of sense to stock up on them for current and future need, having a porous secondary sure impacts their goal of improving on their great last season. Grade: B
Round 6, Pick 82: Elijah Torres, CB, POR , User Toasty
And we end here with another secondary pick this time a cornerback from Portland with Elijah Torres from user Toasty. Still forums active, but he hasn’t updated in quite some time. I could’ve personally seen a Wide Receiver here, since there were still active earning users on the board by them and it would probably have been a smart investment for the future. Grade: C-
Overall Sarasota Sailfish Draft:
Again 7 picks in the first 6 rounds from a team here, and this time with a load of picks in the fifth round. Generally an all-around good draft, no real DSFL affiliation here, spread around users all over the board. They sure did a good job on working on their secondary, while I could’ve seen some pass catchers later in the draft. Overall Grade: B
Yellowknife Wraiths
And we arrived at the last team of this conference. My eyes are bleeding, my fingertips are hurting and my brain is full of useless numbers. S23 Ultimus winner Yellowknife set out this season to achieve a repeat but ended up with a 6-10 record and a first round close playoff loss against the Colorado Yeti. They were able to protect a good portion of their core from the expansion and sure want to get back to their winning ways next season.
Round 1, Pick 2: Dan Foster, CB, POR , User Arkz
This pick came as a bit of a surprise that not many people saw coming. I haven’t seen a lot of mocks up the great Arkz to Yellowknife, but it makes a lot of sense from a user standpoint. They also need help at CB and Foster is a great pickup in this position. He will quickly become a great starting corner for them and be a great influence in their locker room. Grade: A
Round 2, Pick 15: Djibutee McJimmerson, TE, MBB , User uberbj
There’s not a lot to say about uberbj other than he is an amazing person. He has a ton of TPE as a waiver create (I hope he was a waiver create, otherwise I would feel horrible about my own TPE) and brings great conversation and fun into a locker room. In the end I feel like this is pretty much a user pickup though because while Tight End sure was a need for them in this draft I could have seen other needs, especially on the D-Line filled before that. Grade: B-
Round 3, Pick 30: Jameson Vermillion, RB, MINN , User Vainknight13
Let’s gooo! More offense! While we have seen a lot of early-mid defense drafted in this one, Yellowknife is straight up going for a lot of high value offensive picks early. Grabbing the objectively best rookie Running Back of the DSFL season makes sense seeing that Hanyadi was suspended the season and is on the older side of running backs. Vermillion will continue doing great things soon next to Skyline. Grade: B+
Round 3, Pick 33: Donald McBobby, LB, POR , User bjbren17
That was quick! Right after Vermillion Yellowknife picks again and takes a Linebacker in the third round. There still was a great choice of LBs on the board at that point (this class was SO deep at Linebacker, seriously), and McBobby was one of them. Argumentively their Linebacker corps is still pretty stacked, so I would have loved to see some D-Line at this point again while there were still some of the higher earners on the board. Grade: C+
Round 4, Pick 43: Mark Walker, WR, TIJ , User deadlunatic
A great pickup for their receiving corps who will hopefully make an instant impact next season after losing Cash in expansion. Together with some pass blocking by their new tight end it could help elevate the passing game of the Wraiths and return to their old high-scoring ways. Grade: B
Round 4, Pick 47: Sheed Thebaw, DT, DAL , User nutbarspadge
It always brings a tear to my eye when I see a Birddog off the board and this is a good pickup for a big need of theirs in strengthening their defensive line. Nutbarspadge is a consistent earner, great locker room person, and my only gripe is they did not go for it earlier in the draft. Grade: B+
Round 5, Pick 61: Milk Mann, S, DAL , User Bkfootball
And another Dallas player off the board. This time bkfootball with my favourite profile picture of all time. Steady earner, great locker room personality as well and can seriously impact your team in a lot of ways. Although, here again: I think with some more D-Line Yellowknife could have fared better, or even adding some human O-Line to their Tight End game to help with passing and rushing in the short term. Grade: C+
Overall Yellowknife Wraiths Draft:
We didn’t see a lot of early-mid offensive picks in this draft, so Yellowknife sure worked against the trend here to plug some holes and make sure they get better at scoring for next season. The only thing missing for me from this draft was grabbing some more help on the D-Line, but that shouldn’t immediately impact their play for S25 too much since they still have a good core at the front seven. Overall Grade: B+
This is it
So, that’s it, I think I am dead now. I don’t really know if there will be a Part 2 of this with the ASFC since I may have bitten off a lot more than I can chew with this analysis and grading, but maybe I get inspired once I see the payout or positive comments. Or you tell me it is stupid and I am stupid and I should go dig a hole, crawl in, and never do this again. That’s ok too and could motivate me even more to make a part 2 just to prove you all wrong. Also I don’t like digging holes.
Also if you really read this and didn’t just look for your player to get outraged at me: First of all I think you are a lier, how dare you lie to me, if you really read all of it thank you, that really means a lot to me and my tendinitis.
TL;DR: Teams drafted gud. Players gud. We all love each other. And I love you all. Thank you.