2) Tell us about your draft class. Is there anything that makes it special in comparison to other classes? Where did your fellow draftees land, how are they doing? Did anyone turn out to be an unexpected steal of that draft based on what you know today? Do you think anyone in your draft class will become a hall of famer? If you’re new to the league, how do you think your class will do? Where do you think people will get drafted to? (long form, 800 words)
As a member of the Season 22 ISFL draft class, I was a part of the biggest draft class in league history. With so many players and teams to talk about, I’m going to focus on a particular aspect of this prompt: The Hall of Fame.
40 players have been inducted into the ISFL Hall of Fame, though 18 of these were from the inaugural Season 1 class and 7 more Hall of Famers entered the league in Season 2. I bring this up because important to the discussion of how many S22 players will make the Hall of Fame is the criteria they’re judged by: are they judged according to their own achievements, their achievements compared to their peers, to the 25 S1-2 players who are in the Hall or the 15 players to make the Hall from all the draft classes we’ve had since?
Let’s start with the quarterbacks as it’s the most important position on the field and the most contentious when it comes to Hall of Fame discussions. As in the NFL, I find this to be difficult to predict earlier in a quarterback’s career. I’m going to start by discounting Suleiman Ramza, Ben Slothlisberger and Nick Kaepercolin. Ramza has only played two ISFL seasons, so it’s too early to tell. Slothlisberger has only had one season as an above average QB by passer rating, and as a wide receiver who switched to QB Kaepercolin has played two seasons at the position (in the first, he was last in passer rating).
The two that are interesting to me are Colby Jack and Monty Jack. Monty Jack entered the ISFL in Season 23, before the rest of the QB class. The cheesier Jack bro had a difficult rookie season, before winning the Ultimus back-to-back in Seasons 24 and 25. His individual numbers were good (21:8 TD:INT in S24 and 22:10 in S25), though San Jose were a team heavily reliant on their run game (in the two seasons, the Sabercats were 11th and 12th of 12 teams in passing attempts). In Season 26, Monty threw the ball 567 times (7th in the ISFL), and the result was that he was the least efficient quarterback in the league (fewest yards, lowest passer rating, highest interception rate). Monty’s Hall of Fame chances are interesting to me in that he only needs to be a good quarterback, in my opinion, for Seasons 24 and 25 to make a strong case for the Hall of Fame. If he isn’t, then we may have found the ISFL’s answer to Eli Manning, a player with arguably the most contentious Hall of Fame case IRL.
His brother Colby’s rookie ISFL season was in S24. Like Monty, he struggled at times, but not nearly as much. His 25 touchdowns were good for 3rd in the league, but he was inefficient and inaccurate. In Season 25 he turned the ball over much less, but was still relatively inefficient. Season 26 is where things get interesting. Colby’s 13-3 Wraiths won the Ultimus in a season where the Yellowknife quarterback threw 29 touchdowns (3rd again) and a league-low 7 interceptions. He’s also amassed a respectable 1005 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns in the regular season. I believe Colby has a better team around him, and plays in the slightly weaker conference (giving him a greater chance of making the playoffs and achieving further postseason success). Colby needs to do more to make the Hall of Fame, but I think he’s in a better position to do more.
I’ll stay on the offensive side of the ball, as their statistics a lot more predictable year-to-year than defenders’. The ISFL has been the inverse of the NFL to some extent, in that all the passing records and single-season champions are from long ago and all the best rushers, statistically, are more recent (only one S1 and one S2 player finds themselves in the top 10 for career rushing yards). Enter: Jamar Lackson. Lackson has been the star of the running game that helped take San Jose to the two Ultimus wins mentioned previously. Since his debut in Season 23, in four seasons Lackson has run 1137 times for 4660 yards and 35 touchdowns. Five more seasons like this (and more is possible given that Lackson is 2nd in TPE for the entire class) and Lackson is looking at around 2558 carries for 10485 yards and 79 touchdowns. Those marks would be 5th all-time in each category with the titles to boost his resumé too. Lackson looks on course for the Hall of Fame to me, and looks ahead of the rest of the class. Tatsu Nakamura has two rushing titles, but those are his two 1000-yard seasons. Richard Gilbert’s career numbers are hurt by his time playing behind Darrel Williams, and Keʻokeʻo Kāne-Maikaʻi’s jack-of-all-trades role is going to hurt his chances at awards or attaining goady career numbers.
The stand-out tight end is Orange County’s Heath Evans. Called up as a true rookie, the Outlaw-turned-Otter has led the league in receiving yards among tight ends for each of the last 3 seasons – and in each season was the only one to cross the 1000-yard mark. He’s caught 415 passes in his five seasons, and was voted Tight End of the Year in S24 (at the time of writing, he looks favourite to win again in S26). Depending on how long Thor decides to play, Evans could accumulate more receptions than any player not named (Hall of Fame Tight End) Paul DiMirio and has spent almost his entire career in the conversation as best Tight End in the league. DiMirio’s records were set in a time when quarterbacks were regularly throwing for close to or over 5000 yards, and Evans only needs to keep pace with his previous production in order to enter the debate as the best receiving tight end in league history. At the time of writing, Evans is probably the player I’m most confident will make the Hall of Fame.
Finally, because I’m already well over 800 words, just a brief note on S22’s wide receivers. Two names stand out above the rest. Sarasota’s Michael Witheblock and Colorado’s William Lim. Witheblock was S26’s receiving yards champion with 1622, and in his career so far has 296 receptions for 5374 yards and 32 touchdowns. Lim, meanwhile, boasts almost identical yardage with 5354 yards on 328 catches but has 45 touchdowns. Both were called up as rookies, playing five seasons so far. William Lim has clearly had the better career so far, with an Ultimus win (and two further losses) to his name in addition to the Season 24 Wide Receiver of the Year award. It’s Witheblock who might end up besting him though, as Lim’s numbers have been achieved as a result of four 1000-yard seasons. Witheblock only broke out it in his third season, with yardage totals of 1312, 1399 and 1622 in the past three seasons. Both have had excellent careers, and it’ll be interesting to compare them again when they hang up their cleats.
Sorry, defensive players and offensive linemen. You’re neglected far too often. (1189 words)
As a member of the Season 22 ISFL draft class, I was a part of the biggest draft class in league history. With so many players and teams to talk about, I’m going to focus on a particular aspect of this prompt: The Hall of Fame.
40 players have been inducted into the ISFL Hall of Fame, though 18 of these were from the inaugural Season 1 class and 7 more Hall of Famers entered the league in Season 2. I bring this up because important to the discussion of how many S22 players will make the Hall of Fame is the criteria they’re judged by: are they judged according to their own achievements, their achievements compared to their peers, to the 25 S1-2 players who are in the Hall or the 15 players to make the Hall from all the draft classes we’ve had since?
Let’s start with the quarterbacks as it’s the most important position on the field and the most contentious when it comes to Hall of Fame discussions. As in the NFL, I find this to be difficult to predict earlier in a quarterback’s career. I’m going to start by discounting Suleiman Ramza, Ben Slothlisberger and Nick Kaepercolin. Ramza has only played two ISFL seasons, so it’s too early to tell. Slothlisberger has only had one season as an above average QB by passer rating, and as a wide receiver who switched to QB Kaepercolin has played two seasons at the position (in the first, he was last in passer rating).
The two that are interesting to me are Colby Jack and Monty Jack. Monty Jack entered the ISFL in Season 23, before the rest of the QB class. The cheesier Jack bro had a difficult rookie season, before winning the Ultimus back-to-back in Seasons 24 and 25. His individual numbers were good (21:8 TD:INT in S24 and 22:10 in S25), though San Jose were a team heavily reliant on their run game (in the two seasons, the Sabercats were 11th and 12th of 12 teams in passing attempts). In Season 26, Monty threw the ball 567 times (7th in the ISFL), and the result was that he was the least efficient quarterback in the league (fewest yards, lowest passer rating, highest interception rate). Monty’s Hall of Fame chances are interesting to me in that he only needs to be a good quarterback, in my opinion, for Seasons 24 and 25 to make a strong case for the Hall of Fame. If he isn’t, then we may have found the ISFL’s answer to Eli Manning, a player with arguably the most contentious Hall of Fame case IRL.
His brother Colby’s rookie ISFL season was in S24. Like Monty, he struggled at times, but not nearly as much. His 25 touchdowns were good for 3rd in the league, but he was inefficient and inaccurate. In Season 25 he turned the ball over much less, but was still relatively inefficient. Season 26 is where things get interesting. Colby’s 13-3 Wraiths won the Ultimus in a season where the Yellowknife quarterback threw 29 touchdowns (3rd again) and a league-low 7 interceptions. He’s also amassed a respectable 1005 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns in the regular season. I believe Colby has a better team around him, and plays in the slightly weaker conference (giving him a greater chance of making the playoffs and achieving further postseason success). Colby needs to do more to make the Hall of Fame, but I think he’s in a better position to do more.
I’ll stay on the offensive side of the ball, as their statistics a lot more predictable year-to-year than defenders’. The ISFL has been the inverse of the NFL to some extent, in that all the passing records and single-season champions are from long ago and all the best rushers, statistically, are more recent (only one S1 and one S2 player finds themselves in the top 10 for career rushing yards). Enter: Jamar Lackson. Lackson has been the star of the running game that helped take San Jose to the two Ultimus wins mentioned previously. Since his debut in Season 23, in four seasons Lackson has run 1137 times for 4660 yards and 35 touchdowns. Five more seasons like this (and more is possible given that Lackson is 2nd in TPE for the entire class) and Lackson is looking at around 2558 carries for 10485 yards and 79 touchdowns. Those marks would be 5th all-time in each category with the titles to boost his resumé too. Lackson looks on course for the Hall of Fame to me, and looks ahead of the rest of the class. Tatsu Nakamura has two rushing titles, but those are his two 1000-yard seasons. Richard Gilbert’s career numbers are hurt by his time playing behind Darrel Williams, and Keʻokeʻo Kāne-Maikaʻi’s jack-of-all-trades role is going to hurt his chances at awards or attaining goady career numbers.
The stand-out tight end is Orange County’s Heath Evans. Called up as a true rookie, the Outlaw-turned-Otter has led the league in receiving yards among tight ends for each of the last 3 seasons – and in each season was the only one to cross the 1000-yard mark. He’s caught 415 passes in his five seasons, and was voted Tight End of the Year in S24 (at the time of writing, he looks favourite to win again in S26). Depending on how long Thor decides to play, Evans could accumulate more receptions than any player not named (Hall of Fame Tight End) Paul DiMirio and has spent almost his entire career in the conversation as best Tight End in the league. DiMirio’s records were set in a time when quarterbacks were regularly throwing for close to or over 5000 yards, and Evans only needs to keep pace with his previous production in order to enter the debate as the best receiving tight end in league history. At the time of writing, Evans is probably the player I’m most confident will make the Hall of Fame.
Finally, because I’m already well over 800 words, just a brief note on S22’s wide receivers. Two names stand out above the rest. Sarasota’s Michael Witheblock and Colorado’s William Lim. Witheblock was S26’s receiving yards champion with 1622, and in his career so far has 296 receptions for 5374 yards and 32 touchdowns. Lim, meanwhile, boasts almost identical yardage with 5354 yards on 328 catches but has 45 touchdowns. Both were called up as rookies, playing five seasons so far. William Lim has clearly had the better career so far, with an Ultimus win (and two further losses) to his name in addition to the Season 24 Wide Receiver of the Year award. It’s Witheblock who might end up besting him though, as Lim’s numbers have been achieved as a result of four 1000-yard seasons. Witheblock only broke out it in his third season, with yardage totals of 1312, 1399 and 1622 in the past three seasons. Both have had excellent careers, and it’ll be interesting to compare them again when they hang up their cleats.
Sorry, defensive players and offensive linemen. You’re neglected far too often. (1189 words)
[OPTION]S24 (PHI): 16 GP, 73 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 FF, 3 sacks, 5 INTs, 10 PDs, 2 TDs
[OPTION]S25 (PHI): 16 GP, 67 tackles, 4 INTs, 13 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]S26 (OCO): 16 GP, 68 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 2 INTs, 10 PDs
[OPTION]S27 (OCO): 16 GP, 116 tackles, 4 INTs, 23 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]S28 (OCO): 16 GP, 84 tackles, 1 FF, 1 FR, 3 INTs, 20 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]S29 (OCO): 16 GP, 99 tackles, 3 FF, 1 FR, 5 INTs, 23 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]=============================================================
[OPTION]ISFL Playoff Stats:
[OPTION]S23 (PHI): 1 GP, 2 tackles
[OPTION]S26 (OCO): 1 GP, 5 tackles, 2 PDs
[OPTION]=============================================================
[OPTION]Trophies and Achievements:
[OPTION]Drafted 35th Overall by Myrtle Beach in the S21 DSFL Draft
[OPTION]S21 Ultimini Champion
[OPTION]S21 DSFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S21 DSFL Defensive Back of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]Drafted 4th Overall by Philadelphia in the S22 ISFL Draft
[OPTION]S23 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S23 ISFL Cornerback of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S23 ISFL Defensive Performance of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S24 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S24 ISFL Cornerback of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S25 (PHI): 16 GP, 67 tackles, 4 INTs, 13 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]S26 (OCO): 16 GP, 68 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 2 INTs, 10 PDs
[OPTION]S27 (OCO): 16 GP, 116 tackles, 4 INTs, 23 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]S28 (OCO): 16 GP, 84 tackles, 1 FF, 1 FR, 3 INTs, 20 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]S29 (OCO): 16 GP, 99 tackles, 3 FF, 1 FR, 5 INTs, 23 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]=============================================================
[OPTION]ISFL Playoff Stats:
[OPTION]S23 (PHI): 1 GP, 2 tackles
[OPTION]S26 (OCO): 1 GP, 5 tackles, 2 PDs
[OPTION]=============================================================
[OPTION]Trophies and Achievements:
[OPTION]Drafted 35th Overall by Myrtle Beach in the S21 DSFL Draft
[OPTION]S21 Ultimini Champion
[OPTION]S21 DSFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S21 DSFL Defensive Back of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]Drafted 4th Overall by Philadelphia in the S22 ISFL Draft
[OPTION]S23 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S23 ISFL Cornerback of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S23 ISFL Defensive Performance of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S24 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S24 ISFL Cornerback of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S26 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S26 ISFL Returner of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S29 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S29 ISFL Cornerback of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]=============================================================
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[OPTION]S26 ISFL Returner of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S29 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S29 ISFL Cornerback of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]=============================================================
Player | Update | Wiki | Twitter