[u]Intro:[/u Linebackers! Not big enough to be Dline, not fast enough to be CB’s. Linebackers play a pivotal support role in every team and here we’ll be going over the 8 that are in this draft class. Let’s get it on.
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User: Tayjay
Color # in chart above: 6
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: Leonard Taylor
S25 Match: Terry Tate
Cosine Similarity: 0.931
Other notable matches: Gary Goodman (0.884), L’Gazzy Burfict (0.864)
Distinguishing attributes: High AGI, High STR
Why it works:
Art - Moving onto Linebackers and we kick things off with Tayjay’s Leonard Taylor who has been matched to the S25 LB Terry Tate by user Brane_Chyld. According to Tayjay’s update page, he’s sitting at a sweet 140 TPE once he gets updated. How did he get matched to 228 TPE Terry Tate? Mostly though the connection of positive normalized strength, agility, tackling and speed - and lower than average endurance for their respective draft classes. While both are either a full standard deviation or half of one above most of their fellow draftees in 3 of those 4 main LB attributes, the endurance pulls both into the same match and allows the maths to connect them. Hurrah.
Hordle - Strength, Speed and tackling are the building blocks of a successful LB. So it makes sense that our first pairing is based off of those. I am sure that in the rest of this article we’ll see the same. With Leonard’s strength only being 10 points away from Terry’s and their speed being close as well. I can see why and how this matchup was made.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - Well the math doesn’t quite line up perfectly - I mean Taylor’s agility is a separator from the other LBs in the S26 class, above a standard deviation from the mean and at least 0.5 std above the other LBs in his class. Meanwhile, Terry Tate’s is high for his class (a lot of the S25 LBs have agility under the mean), it’s not quite as high as Gary Goodman’s, Jimi DeSoto’s, or Guy Fields’. Likewise, but reversed, for speed - Tate’s right up there with speed, while that’s not Taylor’s calling card in the initial build. All in all it's a decent match, but not perfect.
Hordle - Good thing we’re not focusing on perfection. I think this one is pretty good. Archetypes match, stats are similar. Makes sense and sounds good to me.
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Tayjay, Leonard Taylor’s creator has been active on the forums. He’s currently waiting on an update that’ll put him at 80 speed. I believe that he’ll be a good pickup as long as the activity stays on course and the TPE gain stays consistent. I can’t speak much on the character of this player as I can’t recall talking to them, not that it really matters. Point is, he’s got the stats and forum activity.
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User: manicmav36
Color # in chart above: 1
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: BamBam McMullet
S25 Match: Richard Leaking
Cosine Similarity: 0.963
Other notable matches: L’Gazzy Burfict (0.913), Hank Winchester (0.902)
Distinguishing attributes: High SPD
Why it works:
Art - Next we have manicmav36’s BamBam McMullet who’s been paired with Richard Leaking. McMullet has the highest speed of the S26 LB class, almost a full standard deviation above the mean when compared to all S26 rookies. Richard Leaking is tied with Hank Winchester for the best speed in the S25 class (via the builds we pulled a week ago), and so it makes sense to see both of them as matches for McMullet. Leaking wins the match over Winchester, however, since he more closely resembles McMullet’s medium (half a standard deviation over the mean) strength than Winchester’s standout strength (and reversely his higher tackling matches McMullet’s normalized higher tackling). So yeah, all in all a good match by the maths.
Hordle - BamBam go Vroom. Speed is a big deal for Linebackers for obvious reasons and this matching with Richard Leaking makes sense. And like Art said their strengths are closer than that of BamBam and Hank.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - Honestly this is a pretty good match across the board. I suppose if you’re going off longevity in this league than timeconsumer’s Winchester may be a better match to manicmav36’s McMullet given how long both of those guys have been around based on their user pages. But Rev is super active and all over too, so I don’t hate the match that way. It works out pretty well in any which way.
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Art covered why it doesn’t work. Which honestly isn’t much because on base numbers. This match is damn near perfect. Richard is a stud, Rev is freaking everywhere and usually involved in the conversations. BamBam is a recreate, so activity isn’t a question. His stats are insane with him being only 5 points away from max speed. Expect this man to give OLines some issues on the blitz and for him to shut down the run really quickly.
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User: Pythonic
Color # in chart above: 5
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: Erik Kirkland
S25 Match: Caleb Judge
Cosine Similarity: 0.877
Other notable matches: Donald McBobby (0.875), Rusty Rucker (0.875)
Distinguishing attributes: High AGI
Why it works:
Art - Next is Pythonic’s LB prospect named Erik Kirkland who's been paired to Caleb Judge. Kirkland has more endurance than our first two prospects, great tackling form, great agility and decent strength. Really this is quite an even build as a base to build off - which is probably why he was matched to TheBlanken’s Caleb Judge who similarly has a wide array of talents. Neither overly specialize in one aspect, but there’s plenty of room to grow into a speciality (or specialize as a generalist).
Hordle - Kirkland, much like Judge, seems to have a decent spread among his stats. While there does seem to be a little more focus on speed. It looks like Kirklands trying to be an all around athlete with a great burst of speed. It’ll be interesting to see where his build goes in the future. I think this is a fantastic match up.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - It’s definitely not perfect. I’d have preferred a match for Kirkland that highlighted his agility and really did a solid on his tackling and endurance. Judge definitely matches the latter too, but his agility isn’t as ‘stand-out’ as Kirklands (relative to their own draft classes of course). By eyeballs alone, I’d have said Rusty Rucker is a better match (and of course this model only missed that match by 0.002, so maybe my eyes aren’t that bad...).
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Balance and Speed, Kirkland is looking like the full package. Knowing a bit more about the player, Pythonic is active in the SHL. So I am sure he’ll have some time to spare for the ISFL. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits in with the team he goes to. I see him being a highly rated prospect come the ISFL draft next season. Not to mention he has one of the best renders. LVE!
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User: huck24
Color # in chart above: 12
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: Vincent Jones
S25 Match: Matty Martinsson
Cosine Similarity: 0.949
Other notable matches: Dean McBean (0.945), Daniel Bateman (0.945)
Distinguishing attributes: High TCK, High END, High STR
Why it works:
Art - And now it's huck24’s Vincent Jones. I’ve seen huck all over the place and he’s been active in Discord and LRs, so a good prospect here I’d imagine. He’s matched to Matty Martinsson, and as you’ll notice once you finish reading a bit more, he shares a lot of similarities in initial build to the next prospect in the list (also matched to Martinsson). So what’s the key here? High tackling, high endurance and high strength - Vincent Jones has all three attributes over 1 standard deviation above the S26 draft class mean. And while Martinsson’s tackling is surely very high, his strength is about average for the S25 LB class, but his endurance is tied for the highest. So yeah, based on those key attributes, it's a good match and Jones has a great build to start off from.
Hordle - Some balanced on balanced action. Match made wrap it up. Just kidding obviously, though I think this matchup works really well. Like Art said their pre-draft build is almost identical and even after some updates their skills remain close. Though that’s not due to a lack of activity as both have been on recently. According to the most recent updates, Jones is leading with strength with a solid 80 while Martinsson has a solid 71. Either way this is a great match in my opinion.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - Jones has over 1 standard deviation above the mean strength compared to the rest of the S26 draft class - meanwhile Martinsson only has half a standard deviation above the mean. That’s mostly the difference, with a similar gap in endurance, but both standout for the same three attributes so from a purely build perspective (all we can focus on with the maths here), these two are a good match with some slight room for improvement.
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Jones is active and an absolute beastly stud in terms of strength. Only 5 points off max, he’s going to run through people in their not careful. His speed is also crazy high. Which will allow him to cover RB’s, TE’s and even some WR. All in all I feel like Jones is gonna make a big name for himself in the DSFL.
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User: moonlight
Color # in chart above: 2
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: Big Slammu
S25 Match: Matty Martinsson
Cosine Similarity: 0.945
Other notable matches: Dean McBean (0.932), Daniel Bateman (0.932)
Distinguishing attributes: High TCK, High END, High STR
Why it works:
Art - Second verse, same as the first ... mostly. This is moonlight’s LB Big Slammu who, like huck24’s Vincent Jones above, is matched to Matty Martinsson. As you might’ve read above, Martinsson has good strength, great tackling, and tied for best endurance in the S25 LB class. So you might be able to guess the build strengths for Big Slammu by this point. If you guessed high strength, high tackling and high endurance congratulations. It's another good match.
Hordle - Starting off Slammu, is a balanced LB and it seems that Matty is too. So that’s a decent start in this matchup working. Both look to be rocking higher speeds with Slammu at 80 and Matty at 81 as of the last update and both have good strength. Though Slammu has the lead in that category. I feel all in all this matchup, like many others, works very well.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - Well we might as well compare Vincent Jones and Big Slammu, since through analogous thinking we’ve essentially compared them. And there’s some differences in those base builds. Slammu is faster and slightly stronger than Jones. But that’s easily fixable, let’s look at more intangibles. Moonlight’s been around since 2019 in the ISFL, while huck24 is as new as Hordle and I. Despite that, after investigating update pages, Vincent Jones is going to be at 129 after update while Big Slammu will be at 109. Moonlight’s updating as he goes, focusing on speed and strength, while huck24 is banking. So some differences that will be real fun to watch.
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Slammu is big and fast. As a balanced linebacker he’ll add to both stopping both the run and pass. I’ll look to see an increase in agility and hands, personally. I believe this will make him more of an all around threat. As of right now Slammu is active. I’ve seen him hanging out in a few locker rooms and he seems to be a recreate. Which bodes well for any team looking to pick him up. Also his PFP is from Street Sharks which is a great show.
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User: Sticks
Color # in chart above: 11
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: Ty Tyson
S25 Match: Richard Leaking
Cosine Similarity: 0.951
Other notable matches: Rusty Rucker (0.888), Hank Winchester (0.872)
Distinguishing attributes: High SPD
Why it works:
Art - Next is Sticks’ Ty Tyson who’s been paired up with Richard Leaking, the same Leaking we saw earlier with manicmav36’s BamBam McMullet. So how does Tyson compare to Leaking? Pretty well, since the basis of this match, like McMullet’s before him, is on a very high speed relative to the rest of class (an attribute that Richard Leaking is the best in the S25 LB class as of the data collection). I like the match.
Hordle - Being paired with Richard Leaking is no small task. Richard was and still is a stud. Tyson looks like he might still have a little bit to go to be on the same level. But like Art said, Ty’s speed is very high.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - Well to be honest it’s a pretty good comparison. And even taking manicmav36’s BamBam McMullet into account as a tertiary comparison, it also works out there. The initial builds between Tyson and McMullet are very similar with just slight differences - mostly in strength and speed which both slightly favor McMullet. But yeah, for both players it’s a strong match to Leaking.
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Rocking a 78 in speed, Ty’s going to be great at getting around the offensive line and into the backfield. Should his other stats raise, I’m sure we’ll see him becoming a threat to watch. He has been active and was recruited by South. I think Ty will be someone to watch later on in the season. But he might struggle in the early part of the season.
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User: DApolloS
Color # in chart above: 7
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: Logan Sarrasin
S25 Match: Caleb Judge
Cosine Similarity: 0.921
Other notable matches: Donald McBobby (0.876), Chad Thunder (0.872)
Distinguishing attributes: High TCK, High INT, Medium END
Why it works:
Art - DApolloS! This user is fantastic so I’m excited to get to Logan Sarrasin, DApolloS’ S26 linebacker prospect. They’ve been matched to Caleb Judge, the same Judge as Pythonic’s Erik Kirkland. Strangely enough, Sarrasin’s build is pretty different from Kirkland’s. What sets Sarrasin apart? A crazy good tackling attribute (nearly 2 standard deviations above the mean), very high intelligence (over a standard deviation greater than the mean - or another S26 LB prospects’), and good endurance. It comes at the price of starting speed (lower than other attributes), but man it's a unique build and I love it. It’s also a decent (but not fantastic) match to Judge, who as we mentioned has good strength, great tackling, and good endurance, and decent intelligence. Passing grade for the match!
Why it doesn’t:
Art - So not a high passing grade, however. Since, like Erik Kirland, the Judge comparison doesn’t do enough to show how unique Logan Sarrasin is for the initial build of S26 LB prospects. I think that Donald McBobby, the secondary match, actually works better as it highlights the intelligence of Sarrasin and his endurance. Of course the speed doesn’t quite line up, but sacrifices have to be made.
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Apollo is crazy active. Seen him in several locker rooms and on the forums. He’s updating and seems like a good guy. His strength is on the rise while his endurance and speed are both sitting around 70. Good stats, might see a little bit of a struggle early while trying to blitz if the strength doesn’t start rising. But I think he’ll do well in the DSFl.
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User: Alucas
Color # in chart above: 0
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: A.J Lucas
S25 Match: Donald McBobby
Cosine Similarity: 0.908
Other notable matches: Caleb Judge (0.896), L’Gazzy Burfict (0.887)
Distinguishing attributes: Even Build
Why it works:
Art - And we’re at the last LB prospect in the S26 class - Alucas’ A.J Lucas who has been matched to the S25 player I was just describing in DApolloS’ ‘why not’ section: Donald McBobby. In some ways we can probably expect Lucas to share some attributes with Sarrasin ... sort of, is the answer after looking at the numbers. I can see why the math made him a good McBobby pairing, as he is Sarrasin-lite on endurance, tackling and intelligence, but much better in initial speed and strength. That lines up well with McBobby, especially pushing the speed into the positive side of the mean.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - The intelligence is the only attribute that diminishes this match that otherwise works quite well. Intelligence and slightly more strength. But Lucas isn’t a slouch in intelligence, just middle of the pack, so I think the comparison can stay - although I do see Caleb Judge, ironically, as a good fit here (ironic since it was Sarrasin’s match).
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Alucas has been active. I’ve seen him around on some discords and he seems to be a cool guy. 70 Strength, 80 Speed and near 70 endurance is a great start for this player and I am sure we will see it on the field. Being a speed rusher it’s no surprise that he focused so heavily on getting Speed to 80, only 10 points off his cap. I’m sure we’ll see Lucas covering TE’s and RB’s all day and maybe even some slot WR. Lucas will be fun to watch and I believe he'll be one of the top draft choices come the ISFL.
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User: Tayjay
Color # in chart above: 6
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: Leonard Taylor
S25 Match: Terry Tate
Cosine Similarity: 0.931
Other notable matches: Gary Goodman (0.884), L’Gazzy Burfict (0.864)
Distinguishing attributes: High AGI, High STR
Why it works:
Art - Moving onto Linebackers and we kick things off with Tayjay’s Leonard Taylor who has been matched to the S25 LB Terry Tate by user Brane_Chyld. According to Tayjay’s update page, he’s sitting at a sweet 140 TPE once he gets updated. How did he get matched to 228 TPE Terry Tate? Mostly though the connection of positive normalized strength, agility, tackling and speed - and lower than average endurance for their respective draft classes. While both are either a full standard deviation or half of one above most of their fellow draftees in 3 of those 4 main LB attributes, the endurance pulls both into the same match and allows the maths to connect them. Hurrah.
Hordle - Strength, Speed and tackling are the building blocks of a successful LB. So it makes sense that our first pairing is based off of those. I am sure that in the rest of this article we’ll see the same. With Leonard’s strength only being 10 points away from Terry’s and their speed being close as well. I can see why and how this matchup was made.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - Well the math doesn’t quite line up perfectly - I mean Taylor’s agility is a separator from the other LBs in the S26 class, above a standard deviation from the mean and at least 0.5 std above the other LBs in his class. Meanwhile, Terry Tate’s is high for his class (a lot of the S25 LBs have agility under the mean), it’s not quite as high as Gary Goodman’s, Jimi DeSoto’s, or Guy Fields’. Likewise, but reversed, for speed - Tate’s right up there with speed, while that’s not Taylor’s calling card in the initial build. All in all it's a decent match, but not perfect.
Hordle - Good thing we’re not focusing on perfection. I think this one is pretty good. Archetypes match, stats are similar. Makes sense and sounds good to me.
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Tayjay, Leonard Taylor’s creator has been active on the forums. He’s currently waiting on an update that’ll put him at 80 speed. I believe that he’ll be a good pickup as long as the activity stays on course and the TPE gain stays consistent. I can’t speak much on the character of this player as I can’t recall talking to them, not that it really matters. Point is, he’s got the stats and forum activity.
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User: manicmav36
Color # in chart above: 1
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: BamBam McMullet
S25 Match: Richard Leaking
Cosine Similarity: 0.963
Other notable matches: L’Gazzy Burfict (0.913), Hank Winchester (0.902)
Distinguishing attributes: High SPD
Why it works:
Art - Next we have manicmav36’s BamBam McMullet who’s been paired with Richard Leaking. McMullet has the highest speed of the S26 LB class, almost a full standard deviation above the mean when compared to all S26 rookies. Richard Leaking is tied with Hank Winchester for the best speed in the S25 class (via the builds we pulled a week ago), and so it makes sense to see both of them as matches for McMullet. Leaking wins the match over Winchester, however, since he more closely resembles McMullet’s medium (half a standard deviation over the mean) strength than Winchester’s standout strength (and reversely his higher tackling matches McMullet’s normalized higher tackling). So yeah, all in all a good match by the maths.
Hordle - BamBam go Vroom. Speed is a big deal for Linebackers for obvious reasons and this matching with Richard Leaking makes sense. And like Art said their strengths are closer than that of BamBam and Hank.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - Honestly this is a pretty good match across the board. I suppose if you’re going off longevity in this league than timeconsumer’s Winchester may be a better match to manicmav36’s McMullet given how long both of those guys have been around based on their user pages. But Rev is super active and all over too, so I don’t hate the match that way. It works out pretty well in any which way.
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Art covered why it doesn’t work. Which honestly isn’t much because on base numbers. This match is damn near perfect. Richard is a stud, Rev is freaking everywhere and usually involved in the conversations. BamBam is a recreate, so activity isn’t a question. His stats are insane with him being only 5 points away from max speed. Expect this man to give OLines some issues on the blitz and for him to shut down the run really quickly.
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User: Pythonic
Color # in chart above: 5
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: Erik Kirkland
S25 Match: Caleb Judge
Cosine Similarity: 0.877
Other notable matches: Donald McBobby (0.875), Rusty Rucker (0.875)
Distinguishing attributes: High AGI
Why it works:
Art - Next is Pythonic’s LB prospect named Erik Kirkland who's been paired to Caleb Judge. Kirkland has more endurance than our first two prospects, great tackling form, great agility and decent strength. Really this is quite an even build as a base to build off - which is probably why he was matched to TheBlanken’s Caleb Judge who similarly has a wide array of talents. Neither overly specialize in one aspect, but there’s plenty of room to grow into a speciality (or specialize as a generalist).
Hordle - Kirkland, much like Judge, seems to have a decent spread among his stats. While there does seem to be a little more focus on speed. It looks like Kirklands trying to be an all around athlete with a great burst of speed. It’ll be interesting to see where his build goes in the future. I think this is a fantastic match up.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - It’s definitely not perfect. I’d have preferred a match for Kirkland that highlighted his agility and really did a solid on his tackling and endurance. Judge definitely matches the latter too, but his agility isn’t as ‘stand-out’ as Kirklands (relative to their own draft classes of course). By eyeballs alone, I’d have said Rusty Rucker is a better match (and of course this model only missed that match by 0.002, so maybe my eyes aren’t that bad...).
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Balance and Speed, Kirkland is looking like the full package. Knowing a bit more about the player, Pythonic is active in the SHL. So I am sure he’ll have some time to spare for the ISFL. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits in with the team he goes to. I see him being a highly rated prospect come the ISFL draft next season. Not to mention he has one of the best renders. LVE!
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User: huck24
Color # in chart above: 12
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: Vincent Jones
S25 Match: Matty Martinsson
Cosine Similarity: 0.949
Other notable matches: Dean McBean (0.945), Daniel Bateman (0.945)
Distinguishing attributes: High TCK, High END, High STR
Why it works:
Art - And now it's huck24’s Vincent Jones. I’ve seen huck all over the place and he’s been active in Discord and LRs, so a good prospect here I’d imagine. He’s matched to Matty Martinsson, and as you’ll notice once you finish reading a bit more, he shares a lot of similarities in initial build to the next prospect in the list (also matched to Martinsson). So what’s the key here? High tackling, high endurance and high strength - Vincent Jones has all three attributes over 1 standard deviation above the S26 draft class mean. And while Martinsson’s tackling is surely very high, his strength is about average for the S25 LB class, but his endurance is tied for the highest. So yeah, based on those key attributes, it's a good match and Jones has a great build to start off from.
Hordle - Some balanced on balanced action. Match made wrap it up. Just kidding obviously, though I think this matchup works really well. Like Art said their pre-draft build is almost identical and even after some updates their skills remain close. Though that’s not due to a lack of activity as both have been on recently. According to the most recent updates, Jones is leading with strength with a solid 80 while Martinsson has a solid 71. Either way this is a great match in my opinion.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - Jones has over 1 standard deviation above the mean strength compared to the rest of the S26 draft class - meanwhile Martinsson only has half a standard deviation above the mean. That’s mostly the difference, with a similar gap in endurance, but both standout for the same three attributes so from a purely build perspective (all we can focus on with the maths here), these two are a good match with some slight room for improvement.
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Jones is active and an absolute beastly stud in terms of strength. Only 5 points off max, he’s going to run through people in their not careful. His speed is also crazy high. Which will allow him to cover RB’s, TE’s and even some WR. All in all I feel like Jones is gonna make a big name for himself in the DSFL.
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User: moonlight
Color # in chart above: 2
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: Big Slammu
S25 Match: Matty Martinsson
Cosine Similarity: 0.945
Other notable matches: Dean McBean (0.932), Daniel Bateman (0.932)
Distinguishing attributes: High TCK, High END, High STR
Why it works:
Art - Second verse, same as the first ... mostly. This is moonlight’s LB Big Slammu who, like huck24’s Vincent Jones above, is matched to Matty Martinsson. As you might’ve read above, Martinsson has good strength, great tackling, and tied for best endurance in the S25 LB class. So you might be able to guess the build strengths for Big Slammu by this point. If you guessed high strength, high tackling and high endurance congratulations. It's another good match.
Hordle - Starting off Slammu, is a balanced LB and it seems that Matty is too. So that’s a decent start in this matchup working. Both look to be rocking higher speeds with Slammu at 80 and Matty at 81 as of the last update and both have good strength. Though Slammu has the lead in that category. I feel all in all this matchup, like many others, works very well.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - Well we might as well compare Vincent Jones and Big Slammu, since through analogous thinking we’ve essentially compared them. And there’s some differences in those base builds. Slammu is faster and slightly stronger than Jones. But that’s easily fixable, let’s look at more intangibles. Moonlight’s been around since 2019 in the ISFL, while huck24 is as new as Hordle and I. Despite that, after investigating update pages, Vincent Jones is going to be at 129 after update while Big Slammu will be at 109. Moonlight’s updating as he goes, focusing on speed and strength, while huck24 is banking. So some differences that will be real fun to watch.
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Slammu is big and fast. As a balanced linebacker he’ll add to both stopping both the run and pass. I’ll look to see an increase in agility and hands, personally. I believe this will make him more of an all around threat. As of right now Slammu is active. I’ve seen him hanging out in a few locker rooms and he seems to be a recreate. Which bodes well for any team looking to pick him up. Also his PFP is from Street Sharks which is a great show.
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User: Sticks
Color # in chart above: 11
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: Ty Tyson
S25 Match: Richard Leaking
Cosine Similarity: 0.951
Other notable matches: Rusty Rucker (0.888), Hank Winchester (0.872)
Distinguishing attributes: High SPD
Why it works:
Art - Next is Sticks’ Ty Tyson who’s been paired up with Richard Leaking, the same Leaking we saw earlier with manicmav36’s BamBam McMullet. So how does Tyson compare to Leaking? Pretty well, since the basis of this match, like McMullet’s before him, is on a very high speed relative to the rest of class (an attribute that Richard Leaking is the best in the S25 LB class as of the data collection). I like the match.
Hordle - Being paired with Richard Leaking is no small task. Richard was and still is a stud. Tyson looks like he might still have a little bit to go to be on the same level. But like Art said, Ty’s speed is very high.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - Well to be honest it’s a pretty good comparison. And even taking manicmav36’s BamBam McMullet into account as a tertiary comparison, it also works out there. The initial builds between Tyson and McMullet are very similar with just slight differences - mostly in strength and speed which both slightly favor McMullet. But yeah, for both players it’s a strong match to Leaking.
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Rocking a 78 in speed, Ty’s going to be great at getting around the offensive line and into the backfield. Should his other stats raise, I’m sure we’ll see him becoming a threat to watch. He has been active and was recruited by South. I think Ty will be someone to watch later on in the season. But he might struggle in the early part of the season.
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User: DApolloS
Color # in chart above: 7
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: Logan Sarrasin
S25 Match: Caleb Judge
Cosine Similarity: 0.921
Other notable matches: Donald McBobby (0.876), Chad Thunder (0.872)
Distinguishing attributes: High TCK, High INT, Medium END
Why it works:
Art - DApolloS! This user is fantastic so I’m excited to get to Logan Sarrasin, DApolloS’ S26 linebacker prospect. They’ve been matched to Caleb Judge, the same Judge as Pythonic’s Erik Kirkland. Strangely enough, Sarrasin’s build is pretty different from Kirkland’s. What sets Sarrasin apart? A crazy good tackling attribute (nearly 2 standard deviations above the mean), very high intelligence (over a standard deviation greater than the mean - or another S26 LB prospects’), and good endurance. It comes at the price of starting speed (lower than other attributes), but man it's a unique build and I love it. It’s also a decent (but not fantastic) match to Judge, who as we mentioned has good strength, great tackling, and good endurance, and decent intelligence. Passing grade for the match!
Why it doesn’t:
Art - So not a high passing grade, however. Since, like Erik Kirland, the Judge comparison doesn’t do enough to show how unique Logan Sarrasin is for the initial build of S26 LB prospects. I think that Donald McBobby, the secondary match, actually works better as it highlights the intelligence of Sarrasin and his endurance. Of course the speed doesn’t quite line up, but sacrifices have to be made.
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Apollo is crazy active. Seen him in several locker rooms and on the forums. He’s updating and seems like a good guy. His strength is on the rise while his endurance and speed are both sitting around 70. Good stats, might see a little bit of a struggle early while trying to blitz if the strength doesn’t start rising. But I think he’ll do well in the DSFl.
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User: Alucas
Color # in chart above: 0
Draft Year: S26
Position: Linebacker
Name: A.J Lucas
S25 Match: Donald McBobby
Cosine Similarity: 0.908
Other notable matches: Caleb Judge (0.896), L’Gazzy Burfict (0.887)
Distinguishing attributes: Even Build
Why it works:
Art - And we’re at the last LB prospect in the S26 class - Alucas’ A.J Lucas who has been matched to the S25 player I was just describing in DApolloS’ ‘why not’ section: Donald McBobby. In some ways we can probably expect Lucas to share some attributes with Sarrasin ... sort of, is the answer after looking at the numbers. I can see why the math made him a good McBobby pairing, as he is Sarrasin-lite on endurance, tackling and intelligence, but much better in initial speed and strength. That lines up well with McBobby, especially pushing the speed into the positive side of the mean.
Why it doesn’t:
Art - The intelligence is the only attribute that diminishes this match that otherwise works quite well. Intelligence and slightly more strength. But Lucas isn’t a slouch in intelligence, just middle of the pack, so I think the comparison can stay - although I do see Caleb Judge, ironically, as a good fit here (ironic since it was Sarrasin’s match).
What to watch for / build similarities:
Hordle - Alucas has been active. I’ve seen him around on some discords and he seems to be a cool guy. 70 Strength, 80 Speed and near 70 endurance is a great start for this player and I am sure we will see it on the field. Being a speed rusher it’s no surprise that he focused so heavily on getting Speed to 80, only 10 points off his cap. I’m sure we’ll see Lucas covering TE’s and RB’s all day and maybe even some slot WR. Lucas will be fun to watch and I believe he'll be one of the top draft choices come the ISFL.
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Please split 40-60, (40 going to Hordle), between Hordle and wonderful_art