Now with your average mock draft, many things are taken into account, such as TPE, bank account, prior user reputation and connections, whether they intend to position switch, whether or not they think a hot dog is a sandwich, etc. However, I've realized that if these sim leagues were real, you'd have people questioning the wisdom of so many of these picks, wondering why High Ceiling McUser is being taken over a guy that looked so much more promising in his rookie year (but is possibly destined for forum inactivity in the context of the game.). I've experienced this in the SHL, and wrote a media piece about my player there Nick Brain getting booed on the draft stage for being taken 11th overall, as teams would look at his low offensive output for his junior team (7 goals and 6 assists in 50 games) and assume it was a bad choice, not knowing that Nick would have the upside to go on to be a Top 15 TPE earner all-time in the league, which is what really mattered to the GMs instead of some low stats in a depth role.
This mock draft is designed to be a knee-jerk reaction to the Season 27 DSFL campaign, looking at rookies based on their performances in the season (much like how we judge IRL college prospects by their quality of stat compiling), and basing predictions of future upside off of player builds and season-specific sim luck that won't be the least bit relevant in 4-5 seasons. Hopefully, enough analysis will be contained within to snow some media grader into paying out for this and making my boy Saleem Spence looking more and more elite due to his high bankroll. Lets get to it!
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1st Overall:
Baltimore Hawks select QB Troy Abed
Season 27 Stats: 246-480, 51.2 COMP%, 3130 YDS, 19TD, 8INT
So Baltimore is clearly a franchise starting over, and as a general rule if a franchise is starting over they need to start over with a young quarterback. Troy Abed showed some chutzpah, taking a lightly regarded Kansas City team and boosting their offensive potential enough to be the 3rd best offense in the league, behind the two 11-3 division leading teams in Dallas and Portland. Abed looked good against Portland in the playoffs, and mediocre against Dallas. There might be some people questioning Abed's ability under pressure based off of the Dallas game, but he didn't throw an interception there at least. 8 picks in 14 games for a young quarterback is pretty impressive, and Abed led over the other two starting rookies in completion percentage. Perhaps he wouldn't have the highest ceiling in history, but Abed's the best this class has got, and Baltimore needs a new QB to raise up while Skywalker plays out the twilight of his career. Also, given how IRL QBs tend to be valued highly even if the cream of the crop is rather questionable, Abed as 1st pick makes a degree of sense, even though hes not exactly Trevor Lawrence in terms of current performance.
Abed is probably not being taken 1st Overall in this world, however. Even if he was the best upside QB in the draft class undisputed, QB is in a weird spot in this draft cause pretty much every team has an established active veteran good for a little while longer or someone younger on the way up.......... except for Baltimore who will need to replace Skywalker in a much shorter timeframe than anyone else. Thus I kinda expect teams to wait til round 3-4 to get their guy if they feel the need to replace a veteran soon (and there's only like 5 or 6 QB prospects anyways). I believe one of Baltimore's GMs has also made a QB prospect for Season 29, so they may not draft a QB at all except as a safeguard when they've exhausted all other avenues.
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2nd Overall: Baltimore Hawks select WR Chunt The Badger
Season 27 Stats: 111 REC, 1405 YDS, 10 TDs
So having drafted their QB of the future, Baltimore needs an option to throw to, and an option that can grow alongside a future franchise quarterback, or failing that, become a trade piece worth more than the 2nd overall pick used to obtain them. Chunt the Badger broke the DSFL yards and reception records in Season 27 that had stood for some time, and being in Dallas, would be seen as a big-time young gun getting analyzed from every angle and assessed as a future star, similar to every major Alabama or Ohio State prospect ever IRL. Chunt would be regarded as the sure-fire number 1 receiver prospect we've seen in some time (even more so than Eleven Kendrick-Watts from last year, who had 70something receptions for under 1000 yards by comparison), and would be an easy pick. Even if Abed doesn't work out and the window for Baltimore gets fragged, they could conceivably get a big return via trade.
Yes, Baltimore could go defense too, and fortify a league-worst defense. In general though, the whole team started to fall apart after the Fujiwara trade, and to bring fans back after a disaster Baltimore is better served making sexy splash picks on offense, then going after defense with their raft of depth picks. I would expect Baltimore to take at least one defensive player, probably front seven, with either of their first two picks, while the other one could likely be wide receiver and could very well be Chunt The Badger (I'm more inclined to think Baltimore will go with recreate Luke Quick for the higher floor).
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3rd Overall:
Orange County Otters select DE Glenn Smart
Season 27 Stats: 51 TKL, 13 SACKS, 13 TFL, 2 FF, 1 FR
So Orange County could decide to go offense, as I'm sure some fanatical fans would be questioning Suleiman Ramza's leadership after a rare bad season from the perpetually contending Otters. The Otters had a strong defense in Season 27, but I think the feeling is that a few pieces are either starting to age out or aren't of starting caliber. Glenn Smart had an excellent rookie season with 13 sacks on a stout London defense, and could step in almost right away and hold his own for a little while until he fully develops as a potential leader of the defense from the edge.
In this world, I do think Orange County would try him at number 3 overall if available, but Smart could go number 2 to Baltimore, barring any relationships I don't know about. There is a cluster of good front seven prospects that would warrant strong consideration at this spot, like Godfrey Gravity, Mongo, Dexter Hall, and Xavier Walls, among others, not even mentioning position change possibilities down the line.
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4th Overall:
Philadelphia Liberty select DT Prof. Godfrey Gravity
Season 27 Stats: 76 TKL, 14 TFL, 7 SACKS
Philly's weakness is pretty clear: the defense is young and developing, but were porous against the run this year (13th in the league in yards allowed per game), and have some journeymen pieces with their development behind them rather than in front of them. Godfrey Gravity was a bright spot on a fairly weak Kansas City defense that overachieved down the stretch when it mattered. He can help bring some run support to the team, can be expected to set the tone with some physical play, and can improve the team culture with his extensive intellectual background. This is a pick that makes sense for Philly no matter what way you slice it, but again, there's a gaggle of good front 7 options available at the top of the draft board, and it'll be a job sorting out Gravity from the rest of the pack until we've had a few seasons to see everyone's developmental arcs.
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5th Overall
Berlin Fire Salamanders select WR Bayley Cowabunga
Season 27 Stats: 80 REC, 1073 YDS, 7 TDs
This was a pick I went back and forth on. Berlin's 6-10 record could be blamed on a multitude of factors. Berlin's offense struggled to gain a lot of yards and consistently put the ball in the endzone, but their RBs averaged 4.9 yards a carry, Kaepercolin had a TD to INT ratio of 20 to 8 and clearly has the arm talent to still be good for a while, and the WRs have some development in front of them. Probably need to go Offensive Line, Berlin allowed 3rd fewest sacks this year. You could go defense, but the team has some growth in front of them there, and the defense, despite not generating a ton of turnovers, seemed improved from last year in terms of points and yards allowed, and might not benefit from a speed rusher like Mongo if they're running a 3-3-5 base set.
So what do you do if you're Berlin? Go for a sexy splash pick I guess. Cowabunga would be high on a lot of draft boards, due to being on Dallas and having a hell of a playoffs for them, catching a dozen passes for over 250 yards en route to the Ultimus win. Berlin could sell him to the soccer fans just starting to get into football as a good academy player with the potential and the nerves to be effective in the big title deciders towards the end of the season. The army brats would know exactly know he is, because everyone knows Dallas, and there would be a lot of hype around the pick if Berlin's marketing team is worth its salt. Plus an extra option at Wideout might help Kaepercolin improve his completion percentage in later years.
Now in this universe, Cowabunga could go 5, or they might pick another receiver on the board, maybe Luke Quick, maybe me, who knows. Berlin could also go front 7 and restructure their defense a little, even though secondary is a strength. I could understand a Cowabunga pick as a higher-floor recreate one, but he might be headed to Austin according to rumours so who knows. I could see Berlin maybe trading down here if they could find a partner, as there might be some teams on the back end wanting to get in on that sweet Front 7 action before the marquee players are all gone.
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6th Overall
New York Silverbacks select OL Stumpy Jones
S27 Stats: 67 Pancakes, 1 Sack Allowed
New York's problems last year lie on the offensive side of the ball, and one culprit is the 23 sacks given up by their offensive line. Some of their primary offensive pieces are younger and growing into their roles, and the running game could benefit especially from an all-purpose lineman like Stumpy, who led the DSFL in pancakes. I imagine Jones tape shows his blocking abilities better, as this sim doesn't show advanced PFF grades or whatever the kidz theze dayz are using to judge offensive lineman. Its good to have protection for a developing Quarterback in Sam Howitzer though.
I think New York might on onboard the Front 7 train that I'm expecting Round 1 as well, but they could take Stumpy in later round, if OL gets lumped in with QB and Kickers as a "lets get this later just to be safe" kind of need.
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7th Overall
San Jose Silverbacks select WR Luke Quick
S27 Stats: 67 REC, 1126 YDS, 6TDs
San Jose's passing game was miserable last season, costing them a playoff spot, and the hot seat would be on for San Jose's quarterback Monterey Jack, who was last in the league in yards, second last in completion percentage, and had a 19 TD to 16 INT ratio. Drafting a QB here would be tempting, but Jack has led the franchise to title wins before, plus there might be some serious doubts about the remaining QBs ability to perform at the next level, given that they're all scramblers in a pocket QB world (Jack led QBs in rushing this year with 22 yards. Not even Madden franchise mode does their QBs dirty like this in running stats.). If they take a shot on Zaylren or Arrow, it'll be a later round thing, so they might as well give Ty Hood some help and pick Luke Quick, who showed promise with a strong regular season for a good KC passing attack, and caught 15 passes for almost 200 yards in 2 playoff games as KC fell just short of winning the Ultimini. Quick also averaged more yards per catch than any receiver in the league, showing that he has what it takes to be a gamebreaker receiver.
San Jose on paper, on the other hand, has a fairly well-balanced roster, and don't really need wide receiver if those two compadres on Ty Hood stick around. they could probably just draft best available and be fine with it unless they've got people bailing to early retirement or free agency.
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8th Overall
Yellowknife Wraiths select LB DeAndre Chuggs
S27 Stats: 99 TKL, 7 TFL, 2 SACKS. 1 INT, 3 FF, 6 PD
Yellowknife absolutely positively should have made the playoffs, but the culprit of their season appeared to be a porous run defense that let up slightly over 100 yards a game, and gave up 26 points per game, 2nd worst in the league. Yellowknife might be playing a bend don't break 3-3-5 or something, but this has got to be improved, and old-school analysts would be accusing the Wraiths of being soft, and needing players who can track the ball and set a tone on defense. With the primary sack guys in the DSFL being more stand-up speed rusher type, it looks like Linebacker is the answer, and DeAndre Chuggs showed some surprising skill and leadership for a rookie, and was an integral part of the mix for the 3rd best defense in the league in Minnesota. Chuggs could be seen as having upside and being a potential captain of the defense from the middle linebacker position. Yellowknife could go running back and assume Skyline is past it, but RB isn't a super big need for teams I suspect, quite a few past winners had more of a change of pace running game, hell NOLA made the Ultimus with a league worst rushing attack. Now I know what you're thinking: why make a pick on run defense then turn around and say the running game is unimportant. Well, like the real NFL, RBs should be a secondary need, but there are teams that will do a rogue strategy of running the ball without having a conventional passing attack to lean on instead, and you need to be prepared for those teams instead of conceding losses to them because they can't stop converting on 3rd and short. (Good IRL example of this is Tennessee, with Tannehill not being a desired QB for like half the teams in the league, but he can manage a game and hand off to Derrick Henry, who can run over and destroy weaker teams up front that might be superior in every other facet of the game. This strategy won't win a Super Bowl, but it will annoy specific analytics-heavy teams that skimp on situational run defense.) Papering over any weaknesses is important, especially for a team that missed playoffs by half a game.
I doubt Yellowknife would make this pick even if the first 7 picks are all the good front 7 players. Chuggs will get selected probably, but not in the 1st round, with the high caliber of potential generational talents available. I could see them going RB or WR in Round 1 as well.
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9th Overall
Arizona Outlaws select CB C.J. Sonjack
S27 Stats: 54TKL, 7 INT, 2 FF, 1 SACK, 27 PD
Arizona should've gone farther in the playoffs than they did, but got undone 41-21 by a strong NOLA passing attack the burned them for close to 350 yards. That and the fact Arizona allowed the 10th most passing yards in the league in the regular season shows that some improvements to the secondary might be needed. Yes, it is young and developing, but given Arizona's all around quality one more DB couldn't hurt. Besides, even fi Arizona weren't drafting by need, there aren't that many sexy high stat splash picks left to make. Mongo and Andrew Warthol could be considered, and maybe Running Back Manhattan Project, but their ceilings might not be higher than what Arizona already has. Likewise wideout Saleem Spence could warrant consideration, but he had a laughably bad playoff game against Kansas City, plus some prior baggage from his college career that would steer people away, despite his freakish specs and potential upside, he'd be more of a second or third round gamble. (Well, he could be a kneejerk tearing up the track at the ISFL Combine pick, but thats another article altogether.)
I doubt Arizona would make this pick as they have a young secondary with some upside. Plus Sonjack may not be a Top 3 DB on the board, as Juno Hu, Anton Bruckner, and Tim Soulja could warrant more consideration at this stage.
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10th Overall
Chicago Butchers select SS Tim Soulja
S27 Stats: 68 TKL, 1 TFL, 3 INT, 4 SACKS, 1 FF, 1 FR, 5 PD
Chicago had an interesting statistical season, giving up the most passing yards in the league at 298.1 per game, and giving up the 3rd most yards per game at 380.6, yet had the best defense in the league in terms of points allowed at a stingy 17.3 per game. I suspect Chicago's league leading 75 sacks and some key redzone turnovers were probably the reason for this. Nonetheless, being able to get a ballhawking safety that played in the box a bit like Tim Soulja would be a good fit for what Chicago's defense is trying to accomplish. Chicago has a few pending free agents, so Soulja could step right in depending on how things go for Chicago in the offseason.
This is a pick Chicago could make in the upcoming draft too, depending on how many DBs fly off the board before this.
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Well, I'm running out of motivation so better keep this as a Top 10. I'm over 2500 words and will get paid, which is what matters, but is there any other takeaway from this article? Well, to any rookies reading that are despondent over their DSFL stats, don't be, because they'll probably have random correlation at best to your third season in the ISFL stats, while one or two of the starts in this article might go IA or semi-active, who knows. Just do your best and do what you can, and teams will see you for what you are and value you accordingly. That means YOU @xtitanxmvpx
And with that I'm outie. I hope my future ISFL GM appreciates the half-season worth of equipment I will buy with this article! See you around and take care.
This mock draft is designed to be a knee-jerk reaction to the Season 27 DSFL campaign, looking at rookies based on their performances in the season (much like how we judge IRL college prospects by their quality of stat compiling), and basing predictions of future upside off of player builds and season-specific sim luck that won't be the least bit relevant in 4-5 seasons. Hopefully, enough analysis will be contained within to snow some media grader into paying out for this and making my boy Saleem Spence looking more and more elite due to his high bankroll. Lets get to it!
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1st Overall:
Baltimore Hawks select QB Troy AbedSeason 27 Stats: 246-480, 51.2 COMP%, 3130 YDS, 19TD, 8INT
So Baltimore is clearly a franchise starting over, and as a general rule if a franchise is starting over they need to start over with a young quarterback. Troy Abed showed some chutzpah, taking a lightly regarded Kansas City team and boosting their offensive potential enough to be the 3rd best offense in the league, behind the two 11-3 division leading teams in Dallas and Portland. Abed looked good against Portland in the playoffs, and mediocre against Dallas. There might be some people questioning Abed's ability under pressure based off of the Dallas game, but he didn't throw an interception there at least. 8 picks in 14 games for a young quarterback is pretty impressive, and Abed led over the other two starting rookies in completion percentage. Perhaps he wouldn't have the highest ceiling in history, but Abed's the best this class has got, and Baltimore needs a new QB to raise up while Skywalker plays out the twilight of his career. Also, given how IRL QBs tend to be valued highly even if the cream of the crop is rather questionable, Abed as 1st pick makes a degree of sense, even though hes not exactly Trevor Lawrence in terms of current performance.
Abed is probably not being taken 1st Overall in this world, however. Even if he was the best upside QB in the draft class undisputed, QB is in a weird spot in this draft cause pretty much every team has an established active veteran good for a little while longer or someone younger on the way up.......... except for Baltimore who will need to replace Skywalker in a much shorter timeframe than anyone else. Thus I kinda expect teams to wait til round 3-4 to get their guy if they feel the need to replace a veteran soon (and there's only like 5 or 6 QB prospects anyways). I believe one of Baltimore's GMs has also made a QB prospect for Season 29, so they may not draft a QB at all except as a safeguard when they've exhausted all other avenues.
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2nd Overall:
Baltimore Hawks select WR Chunt The BadgerSeason 27 Stats: 111 REC, 1405 YDS, 10 TDs
So having drafted their QB of the future, Baltimore needs an option to throw to, and an option that can grow alongside a future franchise quarterback, or failing that, become a trade piece worth more than the 2nd overall pick used to obtain them. Chunt the Badger broke the DSFL yards and reception records in Season 27 that had stood for some time, and being in Dallas, would be seen as a big-time young gun getting analyzed from every angle and assessed as a future star, similar to every major Alabama or Ohio State prospect ever IRL. Chunt would be regarded as the sure-fire number 1 receiver prospect we've seen in some time (even more so than Eleven Kendrick-Watts from last year, who had 70something receptions for under 1000 yards by comparison), and would be an easy pick. Even if Abed doesn't work out and the window for Baltimore gets fragged, they could conceivably get a big return via trade.
Yes, Baltimore could go defense too, and fortify a league-worst defense. In general though, the whole team started to fall apart after the Fujiwara trade, and to bring fans back after a disaster Baltimore is better served making sexy splash picks on offense, then going after defense with their raft of depth picks. I would expect Baltimore to take at least one defensive player, probably front seven, with either of their first two picks, while the other one could likely be wide receiver and could very well be Chunt The Badger (I'm more inclined to think Baltimore will go with recreate Luke Quick for the higher floor).
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3rd Overall:
Orange County Otters select DE Glenn SmartSeason 27 Stats: 51 TKL, 13 SACKS, 13 TFL, 2 FF, 1 FR
So Orange County could decide to go offense, as I'm sure some fanatical fans would be questioning Suleiman Ramza's leadership after a rare bad season from the perpetually contending Otters. The Otters had a strong defense in Season 27, but I think the feeling is that a few pieces are either starting to age out or aren't of starting caliber. Glenn Smart had an excellent rookie season with 13 sacks on a stout London defense, and could step in almost right away and hold his own for a little while until he fully develops as a potential leader of the defense from the edge.
In this world, I do think Orange County would try him at number 3 overall if available, but Smart could go number 2 to Baltimore, barring any relationships I don't know about. There is a cluster of good front seven prospects that would warrant strong consideration at this spot, like Godfrey Gravity, Mongo, Dexter Hall, and Xavier Walls, among others, not even mentioning position change possibilities down the line.
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4th Overall:
Philadelphia Liberty select DT Prof. Godfrey GravitySeason 27 Stats: 76 TKL, 14 TFL, 7 SACKS
Philly's weakness is pretty clear: the defense is young and developing, but were porous against the run this year (13th in the league in yards allowed per game), and have some journeymen pieces with their development behind them rather than in front of them. Godfrey Gravity was a bright spot on a fairly weak Kansas City defense that overachieved down the stretch when it mattered. He can help bring some run support to the team, can be expected to set the tone with some physical play, and can improve the team culture with his extensive intellectual background. This is a pick that makes sense for Philly no matter what way you slice it, but again, there's a gaggle of good front 7 options available at the top of the draft board, and it'll be a job sorting out Gravity from the rest of the pack until we've had a few seasons to see everyone's developmental arcs.
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5th Overall
Berlin Fire Salamanders select WR Bayley CowabungaSeason 27 Stats: 80 REC, 1073 YDS, 7 TDs
This was a pick I went back and forth on. Berlin's 6-10 record could be blamed on a multitude of factors. Berlin's offense struggled to gain a lot of yards and consistently put the ball in the endzone, but their RBs averaged 4.9 yards a carry, Kaepercolin had a TD to INT ratio of 20 to 8 and clearly has the arm talent to still be good for a while, and the WRs have some development in front of them. Probably need to go Offensive Line, Berlin allowed 3rd fewest sacks this year. You could go defense, but the team has some growth in front of them there, and the defense, despite not generating a ton of turnovers, seemed improved from last year in terms of points and yards allowed, and might not benefit from a speed rusher like Mongo if they're running a 3-3-5 base set.
So what do you do if you're Berlin? Go for a sexy splash pick I guess. Cowabunga would be high on a lot of draft boards, due to being on Dallas and having a hell of a playoffs for them, catching a dozen passes for over 250 yards en route to the Ultimus win. Berlin could sell him to the soccer fans just starting to get into football as a good academy player with the potential and the nerves to be effective in the big title deciders towards the end of the season. The army brats would know exactly know he is, because everyone knows Dallas, and there would be a lot of hype around the pick if Berlin's marketing team is worth its salt. Plus an extra option at Wideout might help Kaepercolin improve his completion percentage in later years.
Now in this universe, Cowabunga could go 5, or they might pick another receiver on the board, maybe Luke Quick, maybe me, who knows. Berlin could also go front 7 and restructure their defense a little, even though secondary is a strength. I could understand a Cowabunga pick as a higher-floor recreate one, but he might be headed to Austin according to rumours so who knows. I could see Berlin maybe trading down here if they could find a partner, as there might be some teams on the back end wanting to get in on that sweet Front 7 action before the marquee players are all gone.
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6th Overall
New York Silverbacks select OL Stumpy JonesS27 Stats: 67 Pancakes, 1 Sack Allowed
New York's problems last year lie on the offensive side of the ball, and one culprit is the 23 sacks given up by their offensive line. Some of their primary offensive pieces are younger and growing into their roles, and the running game could benefit especially from an all-purpose lineman like Stumpy, who led the DSFL in pancakes. I imagine Jones tape shows his blocking abilities better, as this sim doesn't show advanced PFF grades or whatever the kidz theze dayz are using to judge offensive lineman. Its good to have protection for a developing Quarterback in Sam Howitzer though.
I think New York might on onboard the Front 7 train that I'm expecting Round 1 as well, but they could take Stumpy in later round, if OL gets lumped in with QB and Kickers as a "lets get this later just to be safe" kind of need.
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7th Overall
San Jose Silverbacks select WR Luke QuickS27 Stats: 67 REC, 1126 YDS, 6TDs
San Jose's passing game was miserable last season, costing them a playoff spot, and the hot seat would be on for San Jose's quarterback Monterey Jack, who was last in the league in yards, second last in completion percentage, and had a 19 TD to 16 INT ratio. Drafting a QB here would be tempting, but Jack has led the franchise to title wins before, plus there might be some serious doubts about the remaining QBs ability to perform at the next level, given that they're all scramblers in a pocket QB world (Jack led QBs in rushing this year with 22 yards. Not even Madden franchise mode does their QBs dirty like this in running stats.). If they take a shot on Zaylren or Arrow, it'll be a later round thing, so they might as well give Ty Hood some help and pick Luke Quick, who showed promise with a strong regular season for a good KC passing attack, and caught 15 passes for almost 200 yards in 2 playoff games as KC fell just short of winning the Ultimini. Quick also averaged more yards per catch than any receiver in the league, showing that he has what it takes to be a gamebreaker receiver.
San Jose on paper, on the other hand, has a fairly well-balanced roster, and don't really need wide receiver if those two compadres on Ty Hood stick around. they could probably just draft best available and be fine with it unless they've got people bailing to early retirement or free agency.
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8th Overall
Yellowknife Wraiths select LB DeAndre ChuggsS27 Stats: 99 TKL, 7 TFL, 2 SACKS. 1 INT, 3 FF, 6 PD
Yellowknife absolutely positively should have made the playoffs, but the culprit of their season appeared to be a porous run defense that let up slightly over 100 yards a game, and gave up 26 points per game, 2nd worst in the league. Yellowknife might be playing a bend don't break 3-3-5 or something, but this has got to be improved, and old-school analysts would be accusing the Wraiths of being soft, and needing players who can track the ball and set a tone on defense. With the primary sack guys in the DSFL being more stand-up speed rusher type, it looks like Linebacker is the answer, and DeAndre Chuggs showed some surprising skill and leadership for a rookie, and was an integral part of the mix for the 3rd best defense in the league in Minnesota. Chuggs could be seen as having upside and being a potential captain of the defense from the middle linebacker position. Yellowknife could go running back and assume Skyline is past it, but RB isn't a super big need for teams I suspect, quite a few past winners had more of a change of pace running game, hell NOLA made the Ultimus with a league worst rushing attack. Now I know what you're thinking: why make a pick on run defense then turn around and say the running game is unimportant. Well, like the real NFL, RBs should be a secondary need, but there are teams that will do a rogue strategy of running the ball without having a conventional passing attack to lean on instead, and you need to be prepared for those teams instead of conceding losses to them because they can't stop converting on 3rd and short. (Good IRL example of this is Tennessee, with Tannehill not being a desired QB for like half the teams in the league, but he can manage a game and hand off to Derrick Henry, who can run over and destroy weaker teams up front that might be superior in every other facet of the game. This strategy won't win a Super Bowl, but it will annoy specific analytics-heavy teams that skimp on situational run defense.) Papering over any weaknesses is important, especially for a team that missed playoffs by half a game.
I doubt Yellowknife would make this pick even if the first 7 picks are all the good front 7 players. Chuggs will get selected probably, but not in the 1st round, with the high caliber of potential generational talents available. I could see them going RB or WR in Round 1 as well.
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9th Overall
Arizona Outlaws select CB C.J. SonjackS27 Stats: 54TKL, 7 INT, 2 FF, 1 SACK, 27 PD
Arizona should've gone farther in the playoffs than they did, but got undone 41-21 by a strong NOLA passing attack the burned them for close to 350 yards. That and the fact Arizona allowed the 10th most passing yards in the league in the regular season shows that some improvements to the secondary might be needed. Yes, it is young and developing, but given Arizona's all around quality one more DB couldn't hurt. Besides, even fi Arizona weren't drafting by need, there aren't that many sexy high stat splash picks left to make. Mongo and Andrew Warthol could be considered, and maybe Running Back Manhattan Project, but their ceilings might not be higher than what Arizona already has. Likewise wideout Saleem Spence could warrant consideration, but he had a laughably bad playoff game against Kansas City, plus some prior baggage from his college career that would steer people away, despite his freakish specs and potential upside, he'd be more of a second or third round gamble. (Well, he could be a kneejerk tearing up the track at the ISFL Combine pick, but thats another article altogether.)
I doubt Arizona would make this pick as they have a young secondary with some upside. Plus Sonjack may not be a Top 3 DB on the board, as Juno Hu, Anton Bruckner, and Tim Soulja could warrant more consideration at this stage.
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10th Overall
Chicago Butchers select SS Tim SouljaS27 Stats: 68 TKL, 1 TFL, 3 INT, 4 SACKS, 1 FF, 1 FR, 5 PD
Chicago had an interesting statistical season, giving up the most passing yards in the league at 298.1 per game, and giving up the 3rd most yards per game at 380.6, yet had the best defense in the league in terms of points allowed at a stingy 17.3 per game. I suspect Chicago's league leading 75 sacks and some key redzone turnovers were probably the reason for this. Nonetheless, being able to get a ballhawking safety that played in the box a bit like Tim Soulja would be a good fit for what Chicago's defense is trying to accomplish. Chicago has a few pending free agents, so Soulja could step right in depending on how things go for Chicago in the offseason.
This is a pick Chicago could make in the upcoming draft too, depending on how many DBs fly off the board before this.
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Well, I'm running out of motivation so better keep this as a Top 10. I'm over 2500 words and will get paid, which is what matters, but is there any other takeaway from this article? Well, to any rookies reading that are despondent over their DSFL stats, don't be, because they'll probably have random correlation at best to your third season in the ISFL stats, while one or two of the starts in this article might go IA or semi-active, who knows. Just do your best and do what you can, and teams will see you for what you are and value you accordingly. That means YOU @xtitanxmvpx
And with that I'm outie. I hope my future ISFL GM appreciates the half-season worth of equipment I will buy with this article! See you around and take care.
![[Image: iknqryr.png]](https://i.imgur.com/iknqryr.png)
Player Agent of Wide Receiver Saleem Spence -
Saleem Spence Player Profile: https://forums.sim-football.com/showthre...?tid=28380
Saleem Spence Update Thread: https://forums.sim-football.com/showthre...?tid=28552
