Graders:
Please split the pay with 60% going to TubbyTim and 40% going to Ephenssta. This whole thing was Tim’s idea and he did most of the background work with the mock protection lists.
Hello Everyone and Welcome to Part 2 of my series where we pretend like HO accepted 2 new expansion teams this past season and we mock what the teams would look like. Again, As a reminder from the first post (https://forums.sim-football.com/showthre...?tid=32714) this is all pretend hence the “mock” and in no way shape or form does it signal that this is happening anytime soon. Now, With that out of the way let me introduce the 2 Gm’s of these teams. First we have me cause well…. It was my idea. Next we have Ephenssta, Eph was my Co-Gm when we applied for the last expansion draft as well as when we applied for other GM’ing jobs together. Also Note, we mainly drafted based off of TPE and what season they were drafted. Who the user is didnt really play a factor into it as it would if this actually happened. Now, The rules for this draft are as Follows:
Each team is only allowed to lose 2 players, and as they lose 1 player they’re allowed to protect another. Myself and Eph’s player do not count as players taken from New York or Colorado on the sole purpose of I forgot about it and we had already finished the draft when I remembered. After a grueling rock paper scissors battle My team has won the opportunity to select first in the Expansion Draft. So without further ado here are the selections:
1st overall Pick Tim's Team: Jeeeeroy Lenkins CB Berlin Fire-Salamanders
Most important part of building a team is having a guy on Defence you can trust. Lenkins has been one of the best Corners in the league for a few seasons now and is only getting better. Lenkins will be a great defensive piece to build around for a new Expansion team.
Berlin New Protection: Cmon Skiuuup WR
2nd overall pick Eph's Team: Adélie de Pengu - LB - Colorado Yeti
The whole time I was waiting on Tim to pick, I was crossing my fingers and hoping he didn’t take Isa, who has been one of my closest friends on the Yeti and is one of our most trusted voices in the war room. He brings a wealth of sim league experience to the team and will be a nearly irreplaceable member to both the locker room and the war room. He will be regressing and will likely retire within a few seasons due to that, but he should still be able to make an impact on the field and his presence in the locker room would go a long way towards establishing the type of environment I want to create for the long term.
3rd overall Pick Tim's Team: NationalSimulation Footballleague CB- Colorado Yeti
With the 3rd Overall pick we had another player to our secondary. With teams leaning on the passing game a ton in this league and having multiple star WR’s, its important to have a guy who can shut down anyone. FootballLeague will play on the opposite side of Lenkins in what has become a solid secondary with 2 picks.
All Yeti players are now auto Protected as they lost 2 players
4th Overall Pick Eph's Team: Bayley Cowabunga - WR - Austin Copperheads
After taking an older player on the defensive side of the ball, I decided to look a little more to the long-term future with this pick. JK is another long-time league user, but his player brings some youth to the offense at a valuable position. The passing game is truly dangerous in this sim, so setting myself up with a young WR to pair with whoever ends up at QB should begin to shape the offense that will one day dominate the league.
5th overall Pick Tim's Team: Demon Jaxson DE Sarasota Sailfish
Defense wins Championships. Jaxson is still a young player in this league and is one of the top pass rushers out there. Jaxson is the key piece to building a strong front 7 to go with the elite CB’s behind him in the secondary. This team is quickly becoming one of the scariest defenses in the league and it only has 3 players.
Sarasota new Protection: Mario Messi TE
6th Overall Pick Eph's Team: Raeni Clarke - QB - Honolulu
Every team needs a QB. Expansion is always hard for QBs because either you take someone who is likely entering the throes of death (regression is theft) or you get someone incredibly young and/or underdeveloped that a team was OK exposing because it doesn’t hurt their long term potential too much. Honolulu is in an interesting situation, though, and Clarke seems to fit the development timeline this young team is looking at, especially with Cowabunga being similarly positioned to carry this offense into the future. I’m a little surprised Clarke fell this far, especially as there are very few un-protected quarterbacks that will be viable for more than a season or two, which is not nearly long enough to develop a replacement. With the sim being incredibly pass heavy in its current state, setting the team up early with a QB and WR should go a long way in creating a competitive product on the field.
7th Overall Pick Tim's Team: Preston Parker WR Baltimore
This draft so far has been very defensive heavy and it’s time to work on our Offense. Parker is a S27 WR who specializes in playing in the slot. Parker is a playmaker that can really take an offense to the next level. Parker has an opportunity to become WR1 very quickly in this offence.
Baltimore New Protection: Caven Mcrae
8th Overall Pick Tea 2: Derek Wildstar - S - Berlin
After getting some great talent on offense, it’s time to follow Tim’s lead and work on that secondary. I placed slightly less urgency on secondary in general as my own player will fill a cornerback slot, though I don’t have any unrealistic expectations of greatness. But safety is an incredibly important position and one where I currently have a lot of need. Wildstar fits the bill of a player coming into their prime who is ready to make an immediate impact on an otherwise pretty young team. That definitely fits what I’m looking for, as this team won’t be competitive right away but could show some serious improvement if we keep earning. Wildstar will likely be the star of this secondary and should go on to do great things.
All Berlin players are now auto-protected as two players have been picked from their team.
9th Overall Pick Tim's Team: Tim Soulja S Chicago Butchers
S28 Safety Tim Soulja will be the playmaker in the secondary, With 2 lock down corners already Soulja will be the 3rd man up to lock down key players. Soulja provides the team with great earning while also being S26 so he will be serviceable for many many seasons. The secondary has rounded out fairly well and with this addition we can comfortably look at other options.
Chicago New Protection: Dexter Hall LB
10th Overall Pick Eph's Team: Anton Bruckner - CB - Orange County
I presume this player is named after the composer Anton Bruckner, whose 8th Symphony is absolutely incredible. That alone makes this pick worth it. Ultimately, I hope this pick sets up the secondary to be the strength of this team in the future. The passing game is in a decent place for the time being with a QB and WR, and the defense is really beginning to take shape around some stars in the making. Bruckner rounds out the CB squad and will soon overtake my player in earning, likely becoming the CB1 very quickly. As the team continues to develop, Bruckner is expected to terrorize offenses around the league and will be a real asset to this young team.
11th overall Pick Tim's Team: Borgo San Lorenzo TE Philadelphia Liberty
Recently in the game of football the TE has gotten more and more valuable. With a TE being a reliable passing target they must also be a great blocker. Lorenzo checks off both of those boxes and while he is still fairly young he is going to be a staple in this Offense for years to come. Whoever ends up at QB for this franchise will enjoy having this big man as a weapon.
Philadelphia new Protection: Romulus Roman S
12th overall pick Eph's Team: Xavier Walls - DE - Philadelphia Liberty
With the secondary filling up quickly, it is time to pay more attention to the front 7. Walls my be a more appropriate name for a defensive tackle, but this man doesn’t care and is expected to terrorize the offensive line and make his presence felt in the backfield. Nothing I can think of is more terrible than a literal brick wall charging at you. If that’s not Walls’ render, maybe it should be. This pick starts the process of filling in the d-line and balancing a defense that is, so far, pretty talent heavy in the secondary with only isa up front. I had thought by now that I would be addressing some of my needs on offense, but there is just so much readily available talent on defense that some of these guys are just too hard to pass on.
All Philadelphia players are now auto-protected as two players have been picked from their team.
13th Overall Pick Tim's Team: Joshua Campbell WR San Jose Sabercats
San Jose new Protection; Lawrence Bass LB
With this pick we are selecting our WR1 and top target for the next few seasons, Campbell has had an up and down career first spending time in Baltimore before stints with Chicago and San Jose. Campbell is the big bodied receiver this offense will need to help push the ball down field. While the offense still hasn’t figured out who will be throwing the ball all we know is campbell is going to play an integral part of it.
14th overall pick Eph's Team: Ragnar Krashwagen - TE - Honolulu
After going solid defense for a few picks, it makes sense to go back to the offense. Krashwagen will take over as the TE1 in the newly formed offense. Krashwagen, at this time, has the highest TPE of any player on the offensive side of the ball and will likely look to be the leader of the young offense. The Vertical threat will look to generate mismatches and make his way through to the secondary to wrack up some yards, quite possibly being named the primary target for our young QB to aim for. The first order of business will be signing him to a long extension. With this pick, I also tried to put some thought and effort into making sure the entire team wouldn’t be aging and falling off into regression at the same time. Krashwagen is a couple seasons older than the other stars on this offense, giving me both a higher TPE player immediately and ensuring that the entire offensive core that has so far been established will not need to be replaced in the same draft, which would likely prove to be very difficult unless we get another massive reddit class.
15th Overall pick Tim's Team: Hank Winchester LB New York silverbacks
New York protection: Colt Mendoza CB
With This pick we take one of the top LB’s in this league. Winchester has been an absolute stud for the Silverbacks defense while controlling the line of scrimmage. Winchester is part of the infamous New York Sack Exchange and that will be carried onto the new expansion team. Not only is the player great but he comes with an excellent user who is a league vet. Adding Winchester helps make this defense even better with a stud in the middle.
16th overall pick Eph's Team: Mongo - DE - New York
I, once again, stole Tim’s next pick with this move. Mongo brings more to the defensive line, solidifying the ends for several seasons to come. The importance of a good edge rusher cannot be overstated and I believe I have found two very talented individuals to fill this role for the foreseeable future.
17th Overall Pick Tim's Team: Etrigan T. Slayer DE Baltimore Hawks
All Baltimore Hawks players are protected
Another addition to the Defense and another addition that can get after the QB. Slayer will be a great edge rusher to get after the QB while having a wicked secondary behind him. Slayer a has been a member of the Hawks his whole career and in a new city he has a chance to get his name on the map. This defense is starting to look very scary.
18th Overall pick Eph's Team: Owen Isaac - DT - Austin
With LB’s looking thin at this point, it looks like this team will be a 4-3 team in its early seasons, meaning a couple strong DTs are a must--have. Isaac has the Nose Tackle archetype and should grow nicely into that role.
19th Overall Pick Tim's Team: IsHe... ReallyInvisible QB New Orleans Secondline
NOLA Protection:Roman
Finally a Qb. We have our Qb of the future and the now with this pick. NOLA had too many players they had to protect and lose out on their QB of the Future here. With Raeni being selected earlier, Both teams are now in a great position QB wise for the next 10 seasons or so. ReallyInvisible will lead this Offense and has some good weapons around him already.
20th overall pick Eph's Team: Vincent Jones - LB - New Orleans
After picking Isa early, I have neglected the linebacker position for some time now in favor of the secondary and the d-line. It is time we returned to linebacker and fill yet another hole in the defense. Jones has the third most TPE in the S26 class and will very quickly outpace the other linebackers I have selected (only isa so far) as he continues to earn. Jones should enjoy a handful of seasons as the star of the front-seven on this defense and I expect himi to put up big numbers and terrorize opposing QBs.
All NOLA players are protected
21st overall pick Tim's Team: Stumpy Jones OL Sarasota Sailfish
Sarasota Sailfish are done
After selecting a Qb it only made sense to take one of the top up and coming OL prospects. Stumpy jones will be the main anchor on the Offensive line for years to come and a building block we can build around. While OL isnt always a need this is a fantastic pick to help boost the offense and to help out with Cap.
22nd overall pick Eph's Team: Alejandro Chainbreaker - LB - Chicago
Assuming I stick with the idea of going with the 4-3 defense (final determinations on that probably depend on how the rookie draft plays out, but it seems most likely at this point), I decided to finish rounding out the linebacker corps by going back to that position. Chainbreaker is only a season behind isa in terms of regression, so he will likely soon be outpaced by Jones and LB will be a position of need in the next couple rookie drafts to make sure we have some continuity there, but this pick rounds out the front seven nicely. I don’t expect this defense will do great things right off the bat as our secondary needs some more time to develop. But I do think it has a solid foundation to build from while we make tweaks and establish continuity of the team.
23rd Overall pick Tim's Team: Fergus Callaghan Jr DT Arizona Outlaws
Arizona Protects DB Jadakiss S
Callaghan Jr is the first DT taken for this team and will slide in the middle of Jaxson and Slayer. Callaghan is still a young player with tremendous upside with some good experience in this league already. This draft was very defense based for my team as Skill players can be found more often in the rookie draft. Callaghan will be a key component for the Defense for years to come.
24th overall pick Eph's Team: Maiteers Ric-Shea - OL
With the defense taking shape and the offense still having a lot of positions, I figured we should address some of those gaps and grab a member of the fair-rubs club. Maiteers has not been the fastest earner in the S26 class, but it is a well-accepted fact that human OL are superior to bots for a couple different reasons. Their positional experience makes them valuable and they have huge implications for the team's cap. With a mind to both of those things, Maiteers seems like a solid pick to get the big men in the trenches off to a solid start.
25th Overall pick Tim's Team: Jameson Vermillion RB San Jose Sabercats
All San Jose Players are protected
And finally we have our Runningback. The available RB’s are all entering regression or not the highest of earners. Vermillion is still fairly young while being a solid earner. Being a versatile threat on the ground and in the passing game he is more of a utility weapon than anything. Vermillion will serve as RB1 for the near future until another one is brought onto the roster.
26th Overall Pick Eph's Team: Johnny Hellzapoppin - S
More secondary! Hellzapoppin is another player nearing the end of his career. As an S22 player, regression will not be kind over the next few seasons, but Helzapoppin can provide some veteran leadership to the secondary and give me some time to draft and develop a rookie to take over that role.
27th Overall pick Tim's Team: Mason Gillion CB Arizona outlaws
Our final pick we are ending with how we started off. Gillion is a younger CB unlike the other 2 selected who are league Vets. He will primarily be used as a slot corner in the nickel spot until the other 2 CB’s start regressing. Gillion helps round out this defense potentially making it one of the best in the league.
28th overall pick Eph's Team: Doug Howlett - WR
The last pick in the expansion draft was made with similar logic to Hellzapoppin. This late into the draft, there were very few unprotected players remaining and even fewer who still filled a position of need. Helzapoppin gives another target to our young QB and can fill a valuable role while the rest of the team develops around them. This pick strengthens the offense and buys me some more time.
After 28 picks, two plates have been taken from all teams and all remaining players are protecting, which brings the expansion mock draft to a close. At the end of this process, the rosters are below.
Tim’s team
Eph’s team
Part 3 will be the ISFL rookie draft, because we are both involved in War Rooms part 3 won't be out until after the draft is streamed.
Please split the pay with 60% going to TubbyTim and 40% going to Ephenssta. This whole thing was Tim’s idea and he did most of the background work with the mock protection lists.
Hello Everyone and Welcome to Part 2 of my series where we pretend like HO accepted 2 new expansion teams this past season and we mock what the teams would look like. Again, As a reminder from the first post (https://forums.sim-football.com/showthre...?tid=32714) this is all pretend hence the “mock” and in no way shape or form does it signal that this is happening anytime soon. Now, With that out of the way let me introduce the 2 Gm’s of these teams. First we have me cause well…. It was my idea. Next we have Ephenssta, Eph was my Co-Gm when we applied for the last expansion draft as well as when we applied for other GM’ing jobs together. Also Note, we mainly drafted based off of TPE and what season they were drafted. Who the user is didnt really play a factor into it as it would if this actually happened. Now, The rules for this draft are as Follows:
Each team is only allowed to lose 2 players, and as they lose 1 player they’re allowed to protect another. Myself and Eph’s player do not count as players taken from New York or Colorado on the sole purpose of I forgot about it and we had already finished the draft when I remembered. After a grueling rock paper scissors battle My team has won the opportunity to select first in the Expansion Draft. So without further ado here are the selections:
1st overall Pick Tim's Team: Jeeeeroy Lenkins CB Berlin Fire-Salamanders
Most important part of building a team is having a guy on Defence you can trust. Lenkins has been one of the best Corners in the league for a few seasons now and is only getting better. Lenkins will be a great defensive piece to build around for a new Expansion team.
Berlin New Protection: Cmon Skiuuup WR
2nd overall pick Eph's Team: Adélie de Pengu - LB - Colorado Yeti
The whole time I was waiting on Tim to pick, I was crossing my fingers and hoping he didn’t take Isa, who has been one of my closest friends on the Yeti and is one of our most trusted voices in the war room. He brings a wealth of sim league experience to the team and will be a nearly irreplaceable member to both the locker room and the war room. He will be regressing and will likely retire within a few seasons due to that, but he should still be able to make an impact on the field and his presence in the locker room would go a long way towards establishing the type of environment I want to create for the long term.
3rd overall Pick Tim's Team: NationalSimulation Footballleague CB- Colorado Yeti
With the 3rd Overall pick we had another player to our secondary. With teams leaning on the passing game a ton in this league and having multiple star WR’s, its important to have a guy who can shut down anyone. FootballLeague will play on the opposite side of Lenkins in what has become a solid secondary with 2 picks.
All Yeti players are now auto Protected as they lost 2 players
4th Overall Pick Eph's Team: Bayley Cowabunga - WR - Austin Copperheads
After taking an older player on the defensive side of the ball, I decided to look a little more to the long-term future with this pick. JK is another long-time league user, but his player brings some youth to the offense at a valuable position. The passing game is truly dangerous in this sim, so setting myself up with a young WR to pair with whoever ends up at QB should begin to shape the offense that will one day dominate the league.
5th overall Pick Tim's Team: Demon Jaxson DE Sarasota Sailfish
Defense wins Championships. Jaxson is still a young player in this league and is one of the top pass rushers out there. Jaxson is the key piece to building a strong front 7 to go with the elite CB’s behind him in the secondary. This team is quickly becoming one of the scariest defenses in the league and it only has 3 players.
Sarasota new Protection: Mario Messi TE
6th Overall Pick Eph's Team: Raeni Clarke - QB - Honolulu
Every team needs a QB. Expansion is always hard for QBs because either you take someone who is likely entering the throes of death (regression is theft) or you get someone incredibly young and/or underdeveloped that a team was OK exposing because it doesn’t hurt their long term potential too much. Honolulu is in an interesting situation, though, and Clarke seems to fit the development timeline this young team is looking at, especially with Cowabunga being similarly positioned to carry this offense into the future. I’m a little surprised Clarke fell this far, especially as there are very few un-protected quarterbacks that will be viable for more than a season or two, which is not nearly long enough to develop a replacement. With the sim being incredibly pass heavy in its current state, setting the team up early with a QB and WR should go a long way in creating a competitive product on the field.
7th Overall Pick Tim's Team: Preston Parker WR Baltimore
This draft so far has been very defensive heavy and it’s time to work on our Offense. Parker is a S27 WR who specializes in playing in the slot. Parker is a playmaker that can really take an offense to the next level. Parker has an opportunity to become WR1 very quickly in this offence.
Baltimore New Protection: Caven Mcrae
8th Overall Pick Tea 2: Derek Wildstar - S - Berlin
After getting some great talent on offense, it’s time to follow Tim’s lead and work on that secondary. I placed slightly less urgency on secondary in general as my own player will fill a cornerback slot, though I don’t have any unrealistic expectations of greatness. But safety is an incredibly important position and one where I currently have a lot of need. Wildstar fits the bill of a player coming into their prime who is ready to make an immediate impact on an otherwise pretty young team. That definitely fits what I’m looking for, as this team won’t be competitive right away but could show some serious improvement if we keep earning. Wildstar will likely be the star of this secondary and should go on to do great things.
All Berlin players are now auto-protected as two players have been picked from their team.
9th Overall Pick Tim's Team: Tim Soulja S Chicago Butchers
S28 Safety Tim Soulja will be the playmaker in the secondary, With 2 lock down corners already Soulja will be the 3rd man up to lock down key players. Soulja provides the team with great earning while also being S26 so he will be serviceable for many many seasons. The secondary has rounded out fairly well and with this addition we can comfortably look at other options.
Chicago New Protection: Dexter Hall LB
10th Overall Pick Eph's Team: Anton Bruckner - CB - Orange County
I presume this player is named after the composer Anton Bruckner, whose 8th Symphony is absolutely incredible. That alone makes this pick worth it. Ultimately, I hope this pick sets up the secondary to be the strength of this team in the future. The passing game is in a decent place for the time being with a QB and WR, and the defense is really beginning to take shape around some stars in the making. Bruckner rounds out the CB squad and will soon overtake my player in earning, likely becoming the CB1 very quickly. As the team continues to develop, Bruckner is expected to terrorize offenses around the league and will be a real asset to this young team.
11th overall Pick Tim's Team: Borgo San Lorenzo TE Philadelphia Liberty
Recently in the game of football the TE has gotten more and more valuable. With a TE being a reliable passing target they must also be a great blocker. Lorenzo checks off both of those boxes and while he is still fairly young he is going to be a staple in this Offense for years to come. Whoever ends up at QB for this franchise will enjoy having this big man as a weapon.
Philadelphia new Protection: Romulus Roman S
12th overall pick Eph's Team: Xavier Walls - DE - Philadelphia Liberty
With the secondary filling up quickly, it is time to pay more attention to the front 7. Walls my be a more appropriate name for a defensive tackle, but this man doesn’t care and is expected to terrorize the offensive line and make his presence felt in the backfield. Nothing I can think of is more terrible than a literal brick wall charging at you. If that’s not Walls’ render, maybe it should be. This pick starts the process of filling in the d-line and balancing a defense that is, so far, pretty talent heavy in the secondary with only isa up front. I had thought by now that I would be addressing some of my needs on offense, but there is just so much readily available talent on defense that some of these guys are just too hard to pass on.
All Philadelphia players are now auto-protected as two players have been picked from their team.
13th Overall Pick Tim's Team: Joshua Campbell WR San Jose Sabercats
San Jose new Protection; Lawrence Bass LB
With this pick we are selecting our WR1 and top target for the next few seasons, Campbell has had an up and down career first spending time in Baltimore before stints with Chicago and San Jose. Campbell is the big bodied receiver this offense will need to help push the ball down field. While the offense still hasn’t figured out who will be throwing the ball all we know is campbell is going to play an integral part of it.
14th overall pick Eph's Team: Ragnar Krashwagen - TE - Honolulu
After going solid defense for a few picks, it makes sense to go back to the offense. Krashwagen will take over as the TE1 in the newly formed offense. Krashwagen, at this time, has the highest TPE of any player on the offensive side of the ball and will likely look to be the leader of the young offense. The Vertical threat will look to generate mismatches and make his way through to the secondary to wrack up some yards, quite possibly being named the primary target for our young QB to aim for. The first order of business will be signing him to a long extension. With this pick, I also tried to put some thought and effort into making sure the entire team wouldn’t be aging and falling off into regression at the same time. Krashwagen is a couple seasons older than the other stars on this offense, giving me both a higher TPE player immediately and ensuring that the entire offensive core that has so far been established will not need to be replaced in the same draft, which would likely prove to be very difficult unless we get another massive reddit class.
15th Overall pick Tim's Team: Hank Winchester LB New York silverbacks
New York protection: Colt Mendoza CB
With This pick we take one of the top LB’s in this league. Winchester has been an absolute stud for the Silverbacks defense while controlling the line of scrimmage. Winchester is part of the infamous New York Sack Exchange and that will be carried onto the new expansion team. Not only is the player great but he comes with an excellent user who is a league vet. Adding Winchester helps make this defense even better with a stud in the middle.
16th overall pick Eph's Team: Mongo - DE - New York
I, once again, stole Tim’s next pick with this move. Mongo brings more to the defensive line, solidifying the ends for several seasons to come. The importance of a good edge rusher cannot be overstated and I believe I have found two very talented individuals to fill this role for the foreseeable future.
17th Overall Pick Tim's Team: Etrigan T. Slayer DE Baltimore Hawks
All Baltimore Hawks players are protected
Another addition to the Defense and another addition that can get after the QB. Slayer will be a great edge rusher to get after the QB while having a wicked secondary behind him. Slayer a has been a member of the Hawks his whole career and in a new city he has a chance to get his name on the map. This defense is starting to look very scary.
18th Overall pick Eph's Team: Owen Isaac - DT - Austin
With LB’s looking thin at this point, it looks like this team will be a 4-3 team in its early seasons, meaning a couple strong DTs are a must--have. Isaac has the Nose Tackle archetype and should grow nicely into that role.
19th Overall Pick Tim's Team: IsHe... ReallyInvisible QB New Orleans Secondline
NOLA Protection:Roman
Finally a Qb. We have our Qb of the future and the now with this pick. NOLA had too many players they had to protect and lose out on their QB of the Future here. With Raeni being selected earlier, Both teams are now in a great position QB wise for the next 10 seasons or so. ReallyInvisible will lead this Offense and has some good weapons around him already.
20th overall pick Eph's Team: Vincent Jones - LB - New Orleans
After picking Isa early, I have neglected the linebacker position for some time now in favor of the secondary and the d-line. It is time we returned to linebacker and fill yet another hole in the defense. Jones has the third most TPE in the S26 class and will very quickly outpace the other linebackers I have selected (only isa so far) as he continues to earn. Jones should enjoy a handful of seasons as the star of the front-seven on this defense and I expect himi to put up big numbers and terrorize opposing QBs.
All NOLA players are protected
21st overall pick Tim's Team: Stumpy Jones OL Sarasota Sailfish
Sarasota Sailfish are done
After selecting a Qb it only made sense to take one of the top up and coming OL prospects. Stumpy jones will be the main anchor on the Offensive line for years to come and a building block we can build around. While OL isnt always a need this is a fantastic pick to help boost the offense and to help out with Cap.
22nd overall pick Eph's Team: Alejandro Chainbreaker - LB - Chicago
Assuming I stick with the idea of going with the 4-3 defense (final determinations on that probably depend on how the rookie draft plays out, but it seems most likely at this point), I decided to finish rounding out the linebacker corps by going back to that position. Chainbreaker is only a season behind isa in terms of regression, so he will likely soon be outpaced by Jones and LB will be a position of need in the next couple rookie drafts to make sure we have some continuity there, but this pick rounds out the front seven nicely. I don’t expect this defense will do great things right off the bat as our secondary needs some more time to develop. But I do think it has a solid foundation to build from while we make tweaks and establish continuity of the team.
23rd Overall pick Tim's Team: Fergus Callaghan Jr DT Arizona Outlaws
Arizona Protects DB Jadakiss S
Callaghan Jr is the first DT taken for this team and will slide in the middle of Jaxson and Slayer. Callaghan is still a young player with tremendous upside with some good experience in this league already. This draft was very defense based for my team as Skill players can be found more often in the rookie draft. Callaghan will be a key component for the Defense for years to come.
24th overall pick Eph's Team: Maiteers Ric-Shea - OL
With the defense taking shape and the offense still having a lot of positions, I figured we should address some of those gaps and grab a member of the fair-rubs club. Maiteers has not been the fastest earner in the S26 class, but it is a well-accepted fact that human OL are superior to bots for a couple different reasons. Their positional experience makes them valuable and they have huge implications for the team's cap. With a mind to both of those things, Maiteers seems like a solid pick to get the big men in the trenches off to a solid start.
25th Overall pick Tim's Team: Jameson Vermillion RB San Jose Sabercats
All San Jose Players are protected
And finally we have our Runningback. The available RB’s are all entering regression or not the highest of earners. Vermillion is still fairly young while being a solid earner. Being a versatile threat on the ground and in the passing game he is more of a utility weapon than anything. Vermillion will serve as RB1 for the near future until another one is brought onto the roster.
26th Overall Pick Eph's Team: Johnny Hellzapoppin - S
More secondary! Hellzapoppin is another player nearing the end of his career. As an S22 player, regression will not be kind over the next few seasons, but Helzapoppin can provide some veteran leadership to the secondary and give me some time to draft and develop a rookie to take over that role.
27th Overall pick Tim's Team: Mason Gillion CB Arizona outlaws
Our final pick we are ending with how we started off. Gillion is a younger CB unlike the other 2 selected who are league Vets. He will primarily be used as a slot corner in the nickel spot until the other 2 CB’s start regressing. Gillion helps round out this defense potentially making it one of the best in the league.
28th overall pick Eph's Team: Doug Howlett - WR
The last pick in the expansion draft was made with similar logic to Hellzapoppin. This late into the draft, there were very few unprotected players remaining and even fewer who still filled a position of need. Helzapoppin gives another target to our young QB and can fill a valuable role while the rest of the team develops around them. This pick strengthens the offense and buys me some more time.
After 28 picks, two plates have been taken from all teams and all remaining players are protecting, which brings the expansion mock draft to a close. At the end of this process, the rosters are below.
Tim’s team
Eph’s team
Part 3 will be the ISFL rookie draft, because we are both involved in War Rooms part 3 won't be out until after the draft is streamed.
![[Image: JLcbwdP.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/JLcbwdP.jpeg)
