04-01-2023, 11:03 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-01-2023, 08:55 PM by Caleb_H. Edited 1 time in total.)
The Ultimini has come to an end, and the Bondi Beach Buccaneers are victorious in their worst-to-first campaign. Now that I have finished my first sim league season, I wanted to take a look back at the draft. Originally, I wanted to do the entire draft- giving grades and overall team rankings. I was in way over my head. But that's not the reason I decided against it, as there was no time limit on how long I had to write the article. No, it's because I found myself writing far more about the Seawolves players than most others- especially after the first round. I also tend to give my teammates higher scores. It felt unfair, and for that reason I am going all in on my own team. My grade is based on how well the user earned, my impression of their locker room presence, and their value relative to the round they were drafted in.
ROUND 1, PICK 7:
@TheRake Rico Savage, S
Grade: A+
Local real-life daddy Rico Savage was Norfolk's first pick in the S40 draft. Despite going 7OA, I still consider this beast to be a steal. Known mainly as the counter-part to @toofpete Bruce White (real-life daddy status unknown), bullying high schoolers, and skirting the lines of trolling via t*****ing, I believe Rico Savage to be so much more, even if he does pronounce our team "Seawooves".
While Rico is obviously a top earner of the class, many might not know how active he is in the Seawoove locker room. The man is full of, dare I say, support for his teammates and is constantly looking for ways to help improve the team. He's had a huge impact in various team functions and is still just getting started. The fact that Norfolk was able to pick up a player of this caliber so late into the 1st round leaves me with no choice but to call this pick a home-run. He brings more to a team than most realize, and more than he probably would admit himself. While Bruce White plays checkers with Mike Evans, Rico Savage plays chess.
ROUND 2, PICK 7:
@Weaves Kadarius Claypool ll, CB
Grade: A+
Nearing the end of the 2nd round, the 'wooves got 'weaves. You may know him from bringing us into the New Era with his podcast, but I know him from being a great teammate that used L's in his player name instead of I's.
Claypoolll's earning for a second rounder has been top notch, coming extremely close to hitting the DSFL cap before the end of the season. He's one of the most active people in the locker room, whether it's exchanging banter over a newly crowned GM's busted computer or bringing support to the war room. Between his production on and off the field, Weaves was an A+ pick in the second and was most definitely worthy of a 1st. Rookie CBs completely outshined their veteran counterparts in the DSFL this season, and Claypool had to be the top dog.
ROUND 3, PICK 7:
me
Grade: L(egs)
I'm not going to grade myself, and I usually hate talking myself up at all, but I'm gonna brag and say I broke two Norfolk records this season. I broke the NOR playoff record for longest punt return despite not returning any punts in the regular season, and I broke the NOR single game receiving yards record in week 3.
Not as fun fact: That game accounted for over 20% of my receiving yards and 50% of my TDs. Whoops!
ROUND 4, PICK 7:
@Greenbaynathan Otto The Orange, TE
Grade: A+
Otto started tearing it up near the end of the season! As the team's first recreate taken off the board, he's someone who already had some Norfolk blood in him. A Norfolk blood orange, if you will.
Our resident Orange is quite active across the league, and is no stranger in the locker room. I've personally found his veteran presence to be very helpful! If he doesn't get called up right away, look forward to him being a TD monster next season.
ROUND 5, PICK 7:
@MCHers Garth Silver, S
Grade: C
While Garth might be our first pick that wasn't a total steal, he was still a major contributor on the field. He had a really solid amount of tackles and even managed to add a sack to his resume this past season. He's also still active, completing activity checks and slowly building that TPE. He's still growing, and I anticipate him being a big player on Norfolk's defense for many seasons to come!
ROUND 6, PICK 7:
@18situaseans Sean Robinson, WR
Grade: A+
Everyone knows Big Sean! With what is easily the top steal of the draft, the Seawolves managed to get this diva WR in the 6th round and never looked back. Just about everyone in the DSFL has had a conversation with Sean by now, probably because he came at you trying to throw hands. Even I wasn't safe!
While Sean's enthusiasm can sometimes overwhelm people, I think it's helped him become the ultimate underdog. This self-proclaimed hand pumper is basically Ash's Charizard, if you put in the time to get on the same page as him he's just straight up overpowered. Little known fact, but this 6th round pick took over as WR1 by the end of the season! And while he likes to make jabs, it's always in good fun. Sean has a lot of respect for the league and the players in it, and is always eager to help out in the NOR locker room. Don't expect Sean to drop to the 6th again- because he'll make you regret it on the field.
ROUND 7, PICK 7:
@PonchoC Nwoye Musa, DT
Grade: C-
This one hurts a little more. Poncho had a great start in the DSFL, quickly getting up to about 84 TPE. They even got in on writing some media for their player! Unfortunately, we haven't seen Nwoye since the beginning of March. He should still be contributing to the defensive front next season, but it would be great to see him again. Still, for a 7th rounder, this wasn't a bad pick at all. Considering his start to the league, there is always a chance he will return to finish what he started!
ROUND 8, PICK 7:
@Quasi Sticky Hands, RB
Grade: A+
We're back at it again with another fantastic pick! Sticky Hands was a huge steal for us. This 8th rounder accumulated over 200 TPE by the end of the season, and had a truly great rookie season. Quasi is also decently active in the locker room, it's always a joy whenever we see him chatting it up.
I am sure ISFL GMs are having trouble assessing Sticky, but as a teammate I can tell you that's he's great. He should be one of the first RBs to be taken off the board. I don't see any signs up him slowing down anytime soon, so he'll go MUCH earlier in the upcoming draft than he did the first time around.
ROUND 9, PICK 7:
@thajoker Jean Pierre III, DE
Grade: F
Truly our first miss. Jared Leto made it two days on the site and never completed an update. In his lone activity check, he stated that he was active and hungry- he may have been referring to his stomach.
ROUND 10, PICK 7:
@YoungBuck Akele Kekela, RB
Grade: B
Although not a big locker room guy, Kekela had a solid rookie campaign considering his TPE and position on the depth chart. I think getting someone who is still active at this point is a total win, let alone a RB3 that still managed to get 4 TDs. If he can boost his activity just a little bit, I think Akele Kekela is primed for a breakout season coming up. While it would be great to see him hang out in the locker room, I'm just happy he is still in the league!
ROUND 11, PICK 7:
@Blacchollywoodd Slim Reaper, WR
Grade: C-
I teetered between a D+ and C- grade for this pick, but overall I think for round 11 this was solid. We haven't seen Slim in about two months now, but in his short time here he managed to accomplish a decent amount. He created his update page and got some TPE, did some rookie tasks, and even posted his player render. I have a feeling he will eventually remember this and come back one day too, considering how much effort he put in during his one week stint here. Not to mention, he also got some solid playing time during the season and even managed a 36 yard reception.
ROUND 12, PICK 7:
@VintageDubstep Theo Akersloot, K/P
Grade: F- minus minus --- -- minus
This grade is for the player Theo Akersloot himself, and not the user or the GMs that drafted him. Drafting a kicker, even if inactive, was the right move here, but I can't in good conscious give anything other than a super F-.
Was his season actually that bad? No, on paper he was average. But the man had no clutch gene. He also missed the most FGs from 20-29 yds out, nearly 50% of his gimmes.
The user himself made an update page and completed an activity check before going off into the void, but I can never forgive him for all the FGs he missed in the playoffs. Give me Ray Baker or give me death.
ROUND 13, PICK 7:
@M_Calabrese_9 Bo Stonerod, LB
Grade: C
Why would I give a 50 TPE player that never made an update page such a high grade? One word: hope.
He completed a lot of tasks and made it almost a full month on the site before truly logging off. He was also stellar (somehow) on our defense for the first half of the season before being replaced by a waiver pickup. I think that Bo's contributions as one of our final picks makes him a solid value choice in comparison to most of the players taken beyond this point. Bo, if you're reading this, come back!
ROUND 14, PICK 7:
@Modalmiles Cassius Jameson, TE
Grade: N/A
Inactive and the last pick for Norfolk. Lasted only a single day on the site. But if it's gonna happen, it'll be in the last round.
WAIVERS:
I will only be including one waiver claim of ours, and that is our new fearless leader:
@Gumbaman Terry Johnson, LB
Grade: A+
Who would've thought our waiver claim would come through and take over as GM? Certainly not I, at least not at first. But what Gumba has managed to do for our team in such a small amount of time is nothing short of remarkable. All I can say is that he is such a great locker room guy and teammate. I'm really excited to see where he falls in the ISFL draft, because he's deserving of an early pick. He legitimately does it all, between earning TPE, game planning, team building. I can't wait to see what we do next season.
Thanks for reading this. It's definitely not going to be a fun read for most people outside of Norfolk, but I wanted to do something to give back to the team that has helped me grow so much and hopefully help ISFL GMs see a different side of the players they've been scouting. I also want to give a huge shoutout to @lordcoolcats and @Ephenssta for making the Seawolves such a great team to be on; you've built something really special here- you (and the rest of the team) did a phenomenal job in this draft. We have so many users close to or above 200 TPE from this draft alone it's unreal. Go Boats!
ROUND 1, PICK 7:
@TheRake Rico Savage, S
Grade: A+
Local real-life daddy Rico Savage was Norfolk's first pick in the S40 draft. Despite going 7OA, I still consider this beast to be a steal. Known mainly as the counter-part to @toofpete Bruce White (real-life daddy status unknown), bullying high schoolers, and skirting the lines of trolling via t*****ing, I believe Rico Savage to be so much more, even if he does pronounce our team "Seawooves".
While Rico is obviously a top earner of the class, many might not know how active he is in the Seawoove locker room. The man is full of, dare I say, support for his teammates and is constantly looking for ways to help improve the team. He's had a huge impact in various team functions and is still just getting started. The fact that Norfolk was able to pick up a player of this caliber so late into the 1st round leaves me with no choice but to call this pick a home-run. He brings more to a team than most realize, and more than he probably would admit himself. While Bruce White plays checkers with Mike Evans, Rico Savage plays chess.
ROUND 2, PICK 7:
@Weaves Kadarius Claypool ll, CB
Grade: A+
Nearing the end of the 2nd round, the 'wooves got 'weaves. You may know him from bringing us into the New Era with his podcast, but I know him from being a great teammate that used L's in his player name instead of I's.
Claypoolll's earning for a second rounder has been top notch, coming extremely close to hitting the DSFL cap before the end of the season. He's one of the most active people in the locker room, whether it's exchanging banter over a newly crowned GM's busted computer or bringing support to the war room. Between his production on and off the field, Weaves was an A+ pick in the second and was most definitely worthy of a 1st. Rookie CBs completely outshined their veteran counterparts in the DSFL this season, and Claypool had to be the top dog.
ROUND 3, PICK 7:
me
Grade: L(egs)
I'm not going to grade myself, and I usually hate talking myself up at all, but I'm gonna brag and say I broke two Norfolk records this season. I broke the NOR playoff record for longest punt return despite not returning any punts in the regular season, and I broke the NOR single game receiving yards record in week 3.
Not as fun fact: That game accounted for over 20% of my receiving yards and 50% of my TDs. Whoops!
ROUND 4, PICK 7:
@Greenbaynathan Otto The Orange, TE
Grade: A+
Otto started tearing it up near the end of the season! As the team's first recreate taken off the board, he's someone who already had some Norfolk blood in him. A Norfolk blood orange, if you will.
Our resident Orange is quite active across the league, and is no stranger in the locker room. I've personally found his veteran presence to be very helpful! If he doesn't get called up right away, look forward to him being a TD monster next season.
ROUND 5, PICK 7:
@MCHers Garth Silver, S
Grade: C
While Garth might be our first pick that wasn't a total steal, he was still a major contributor on the field. He had a really solid amount of tackles and even managed to add a sack to his resume this past season. He's also still active, completing activity checks and slowly building that TPE. He's still growing, and I anticipate him being a big player on Norfolk's defense for many seasons to come!
ROUND 6, PICK 7:
@18situaseans Sean Robinson, WR
Grade: A+
Everyone knows Big Sean! With what is easily the top steal of the draft, the Seawolves managed to get this diva WR in the 6th round and never looked back. Just about everyone in the DSFL has had a conversation with Sean by now, probably because he came at you trying to throw hands. Even I wasn't safe!
While Sean's enthusiasm can sometimes overwhelm people, I think it's helped him become the ultimate underdog. This self-proclaimed hand pumper is basically Ash's Charizard, if you put in the time to get on the same page as him he's just straight up overpowered. Little known fact, but this 6th round pick took over as WR1 by the end of the season! And while he likes to make jabs, it's always in good fun. Sean has a lot of respect for the league and the players in it, and is always eager to help out in the NOR locker room. Don't expect Sean to drop to the 6th again- because he'll make you regret it on the field.
ROUND 7, PICK 7:
@PonchoC Nwoye Musa, DT
Grade: C-
This one hurts a little more. Poncho had a great start in the DSFL, quickly getting up to about 84 TPE. They even got in on writing some media for their player! Unfortunately, we haven't seen Nwoye since the beginning of March. He should still be contributing to the defensive front next season, but it would be great to see him again. Still, for a 7th rounder, this wasn't a bad pick at all. Considering his start to the league, there is always a chance he will return to finish what he started!
ROUND 8, PICK 7:
@Quasi Sticky Hands, RB
Grade: A+
We're back at it again with another fantastic pick! Sticky Hands was a huge steal for us. This 8th rounder accumulated over 200 TPE by the end of the season, and had a truly great rookie season. Quasi is also decently active in the locker room, it's always a joy whenever we see him chatting it up.
I am sure ISFL GMs are having trouble assessing Sticky, but as a teammate I can tell you that's he's great. He should be one of the first RBs to be taken off the board. I don't see any signs up him slowing down anytime soon, so he'll go MUCH earlier in the upcoming draft than he did the first time around.
ROUND 9, PICK 7:
@thajoker Jean Pierre III, DE
Grade: F
Truly our first miss. Jared Leto made it two days on the site and never completed an update. In his lone activity check, he stated that he was active and hungry- he may have been referring to his stomach.
ROUND 10, PICK 7:
@YoungBuck Akele Kekela, RB
Grade: B
Although not a big locker room guy, Kekela had a solid rookie campaign considering his TPE and position on the depth chart. I think getting someone who is still active at this point is a total win, let alone a RB3 that still managed to get 4 TDs. If he can boost his activity just a little bit, I think Akele Kekela is primed for a breakout season coming up. While it would be great to see him hang out in the locker room, I'm just happy he is still in the league!
ROUND 11, PICK 7:
@Blacchollywoodd Slim Reaper, WR
Grade: C-
I teetered between a D+ and C- grade for this pick, but overall I think for round 11 this was solid. We haven't seen Slim in about two months now, but in his short time here he managed to accomplish a decent amount. He created his update page and got some TPE, did some rookie tasks, and even posted his player render. I have a feeling he will eventually remember this and come back one day too, considering how much effort he put in during his one week stint here. Not to mention, he also got some solid playing time during the season and even managed a 36 yard reception.
ROUND 12, PICK 7:
@VintageDubstep Theo Akersloot, K/P
Grade: F- minus minus --- -- minus
This grade is for the player Theo Akersloot himself, and not the user or the GMs that drafted him. Drafting a kicker, even if inactive, was the right move here, but I can't in good conscious give anything other than a super F-.
Was his season actually that bad? No, on paper he was average. But the man had no clutch gene. He also missed the most FGs from 20-29 yds out, nearly 50% of his gimmes.
The user himself made an update page and completed an activity check before going off into the void, but I can never forgive him for all the FGs he missed in the playoffs. Give me Ray Baker or give me death.
ROUND 13, PICK 7:
@M_Calabrese_9 Bo Stonerod, LB
Grade: C
Why would I give a 50 TPE player that never made an update page such a high grade? One word: hope.
He completed a lot of tasks and made it almost a full month on the site before truly logging off. He was also stellar (somehow) on our defense for the first half of the season before being replaced by a waiver pickup. I think that Bo's contributions as one of our final picks makes him a solid value choice in comparison to most of the players taken beyond this point. Bo, if you're reading this, come back!
ROUND 14, PICK 7:
@Modalmiles Cassius Jameson, TE
Grade: N/A
Inactive and the last pick for Norfolk. Lasted only a single day on the site. But if it's gonna happen, it'll be in the last round.
WAIVERS:
I will only be including one waiver claim of ours, and that is our new fearless leader:
@Gumbaman Terry Johnson, LB
Grade: A+
Who would've thought our waiver claim would come through and take over as GM? Certainly not I, at least not at first. But what Gumba has managed to do for our team in such a small amount of time is nothing short of remarkable. All I can say is that he is such a great locker room guy and teammate. I'm really excited to see where he falls in the ISFL draft, because he's deserving of an early pick. He legitimately does it all, between earning TPE, game planning, team building. I can't wait to see what we do next season.
Thanks for reading this. It's definitely not going to be a fun read for most people outside of Norfolk, but I wanted to do something to give back to the team that has helped me grow so much and hopefully help ISFL GMs see a different side of the players they've been scouting. I also want to give a huge shoutout to @lordcoolcats and @Ephenssta for making the Seawolves such a great team to be on; you've built something really special here- you (and the rest of the team) did a phenomenal job in this draft. We have so many users close to or above 200 TPE from this draft alone it's unreal. Go Boats!