Before I begin, let me just tip the hat to @pulsedk and @`dustyatters` who both did surprisingly good recaps for how long they’d been here. I know that sounds patronizing, but damn. It took me a while to figure this league out and they did their homework FAST.
Naturally, I valued some players higher than others, and since I’ve kind of made a thing about being open on processes and strategies for the sake of helping people understand them, I decided “why not just share the whole damn board?” I’ve commented where I had a few people, after all. May as well go all out.
Before posting the list, let me say a few things. First, it’s not the WHOLE board. At some point in the 20s it gets REALLY messy, and I just had a bunch of names and then a second group of “confirmed inactives.” Second, there are TWO reasons GMs don’t reveal this shit. The first is that they don’t want to give away how their team evaluates. The second is hurt feelings. Every GM wants their guy to think that the 6 players they drafted were 1-6 on their board. We know it’s bullshit, but no one wants that bullshit proven to be bullshit. I loved the results of the draft, but obviously there are players I wanted that I couldn’t get.
Lastly, bear in mind that this isn’t my player RANKING. This is my PLAN. It is based on the needs of my team and where I think I see value. For example, I drafted Thomas Mango at 26. I would rather have Connall O’Sullivan, but there was no way I was gonna use a 3rd rounder on O’Sullivan when I thought I could get someone almost as good in the 5th round. I’ll try to explain those as I go, but I am just kind of shitting out explanations on the fly. I may take this opportunity to say other random shit about the player as well, since this will also be my draft recap.
I’ll list them in order of my board and put where they were actually drafted for easy reference.
#1 Andre Bly – CB (drafted #4, KCC): I got the PM. I laughed, not because I thought he was an ass, but because I thought he was right. He was the clear #1 pick. I can’t believe he fell so far, and bear in mind I already have Isaiah Rashad, so secondary wasn’t even a weakness for me. With him I would have had a complete no fly zone. I PM’d him telling him that he would be a “cheat code” on the Marshals, and I wanted him to keep falling. I will say this, though, he went to the WORST spot. Kansas City is a good team, but he is in a conference with the two teams who passed the LEAST in Season One. Add to that the fact that San Antonio and Tijuana both improved their run game this draft, and that the two of us account for 8 of his 14 games, and I’d say he’s not going to be very busy this year. Kind of a shame, really.
#2 Victor Medved – NT (drafted #3, TIJ): To anyone who doubts the power of an NT, look at San Antonio last year. People see low speed and think a player is worthless, then you see 3 straight runs for a short gain and figure it out. Ben Green tore the league up as a 70 TPE inactive. What do you think this guy is gonna do? It’s not just about stats either. NTs are effectively immune to pancakes, which all but completely kills a team’s chances of second-level runs. This guy is gonna anchor a tough defense. I made it clear I wanted him back and it wasn’t a ploy. I didn’t trade up because I had no clue where he would go, though, and didn’t want to waste picks in such a deep draft.
#3 Carlito Crush –TE (drafted #8, POR): Fuck you, Portland. This one might surprise you, since the Marshals had the best TE of Season One, and still have him, but Crush was good enough to play at slot and still destroy. I can’t believe he fell this far, though MOST of the picks above him made sense. I will fault Tijuana for drafting an O line while Crush was still available. You like blocking, eh? GUESS WHAT HE’S GOOD AT?
#4 John Wachtner – WR (drafted #2, POR): Portland…see previous entry. Portland made waves by paying a HUGE price to acquire Jameis Christ, then spent the #2 and #8 giving him the two best weapons in the league. Shit. What I love about this is that there is only one offense that I think can dictate to my defense, and it is Portland’s. Fortunately, their defense is crap now…unless Waiters and Goodson get sent back down. If that happens, this may be the best team in the DSFL this season. No pressure.
#5 Bastion Barnhardt – DE (drafted #5, SA): Someone FINALLY went when they were expected to! With Medved expected to be gone, getting the other D line candidate (who was also very active, fun, and interested in playing for us) was a priority, so much so that we turned down a trade where we would give up #5 and #26 for #10 and #16. On paper it was a great deal, but it meant losing out on this guy. Couldn’t do it. Barnhardt is a 4-3 DE, so it meant a scheme change, but more on that later.
#6 Luke Kraken – LB (drafted #9, NOR): The thing about a 4-3 is that you need one REALLY good LB to make it work. Kraken is that LB. He had the speed to cover the field and enough tackling to do the job. I also loved his energy when he came back into the league late last season. Hell, I had TWO players of his, which I think means he was the only user to win TWO rings in one season. Pretty solid accomplishment. Was confident I wouldn’t get him, but that was okay.
#7 Luis Elmarez – LB (drafted #12, SA): This was iamslm22’s #1 LB, but I hated his speed. He is working on that now, and should be ready by week 1 of the season, but that was a major concern. Fortunately, his interview showed him to be VERY engaging and willing to adapt to feedback, so we were glad to pull the trigger here.
#8 Ben Urlacher – LB (drafted #20, SA): This is a complete no bullshitter, and one of two times this happened. Picking Elmarez meant saying goodbye to Urlacher, but the two were this close. I was sure I’d only get one LB, and given that I didn’t pick until 12, I was afraid I’d need to trade up to get even THAT. Genuinely, slm and I were discussing what to give up to move up once two of these three LBs were gone so we could make sure we got ONE of them, only to get both without even really trying. This pick, by the way, signifies the last front seven defender in the draft, which was a large part of why I had them so high. There were SO MANY good DBs, but only 2 D line, and 3 LB. I don’t think teams gave that scarcity much importance.
#9 Wolverine Justice – QB (drafted #1, NOR): REEEEEACH! Actually, no. This is a great time to remind folks that this board was based off of MY TEAM’S needs. Norfolk had a 30 TPE filler bot at QB. I had a 100+ TPE QB. Obviously I wasn’t hurting as badly at the position. Norfolk had 3191 passing yards and 14 passing touchdowns last season. The Marshals had 2555 and 4. Obviously a passing offense wasn’t as important to me. Justice will be the best or second best QB this season (Christ MIGHT be better due to superior weapons), and locking him up was vital for the SeaWolves to have ANY chance at post-season success.
#10 Ryan Sierra – OL (drafted #7, TIJ): Only one active O lineman. I think the combination of poor front seven talent and O line buffs really hurt this guy’s draft stock. Had O line not been buffed, I might have taken him at 5 to be the force of my O line, but with so little pass-rushing or run-stopping talent, I didn’t NEED a stronger O line.
#11 Tegan Atwell – CB (drafted #11, CHI): This was a placeholder for what will likely be the #2 CB in the league this year. Rules are rules.
#12 Gregory Fletcher – CB (drafted #14, SA): This is where it gets scary. At 12 I drafted Elmarez, who was a bigger need. Despite Fletcher being every bit as solid a prospect, LB was a MUCH bigger need. Hell, even ranking Fletcher was really difficult, because like TWO HOURS before the draft…
#13 Darren Morris – S (drafted #17, SA): …uploaded a one hour podcast and moved up my board (I think he’d been around the high teens before) to the point where I strongly considered taking him above Fletcher. Both were great players, and Morris now had a SLIGHT lead in resources, but I felt that strong man coverage was more important to my plans than an over the top safety net. Toughest decision of the draft, turned out damn near irrelevant.
#14 Terrell Brister – CB (drafted #13, TIJ): So, my apologies. I said Brister was 13th on my board in another thread because I didn’t have Atwell on it (I wasn’t allowed to draft her). So he was actually 14th. Basically, I’d talked to Fletcher on site and in discord, and the mere-exposure effect is a powerful factor. Yeah, great logic, huh?
#15 Cameron Taylor – S (drafted #23, POR): Noticing a theme, here? This was a great pick by Portland, and a sign that this year, Pythons GMs were putting in the work. Fun fact, I almost took Taylor at pick #21, as that was the highest-remaining on my draft board at that point, but I’d already picked up 5 defense at that point, and I also had…
#16 Brandon Carter – TE (drafted #21, SA): this guy available. Carter was pretty low on my board due to not really needing a TE, but the versatility of his build and the player’s responsiveness told me I could make this guy into a great slot receiver without ruining him for his NSFL team (important note: whenever I say things like this I am referring to playing out of position, NEVER suggesting a position change. Ideally, players would be banned from changing positions until after the NSFL draft).
#17 Connall O’Sullivan – RB (drafted #15, NOR): There were three great RBs in this draft, and I REALLY felt I had a chance of getting a steal on one of them, so I had O’Sullivan a bit low despite being very dependent on RBs for my offensive success. That said, this is easily the best RB of the bunch. The player, Kristy95, is LOADED on money, and can already buy a full set of pro gear. As a receiving back, hands are already well above average, making fumbles very unlikely, plus boasts high agility, so will be hard to tackle. A great dump off option for an up and coming QB as well, so a solid pick by Norfolk.
#18 Kenny Omega – WR (drafted #10, NOR): Wasn’t blown away by his interview or by his starting build, though it was a good fit for my system. Basically, I had this guy as being a “light” version of Brandon Carter, and I think his spot on the draft board demonstrates that pretty well. I felt this was a bit of a reach, but with Booter already off the board (notice he hasn’t appeared on mine yet), I get it. Norfolk’s identity is in their offense just as mine is in my defense.
#19 Sydney Spinelli – RB (drafted #19, TIJ): So, TIJ now has a dominant NT, a good O line, and a running back they can lean on. Does this seem…familiar to anyone? Not gonna lie, I really think TIJ is building what the Marshals had in Season One, with a slightly better offense but a significantly worse pass defense. Spinelli is an easy pick, especially given that their once promising QB appears to have dropped off the map, making a strong run game more important.
#20 Jackie Jordan – CB (drafted #29, CHI): So yeah, big steal by Chicago here. Despite joining late, we got an interview with Jordan and were really happy with it. This seemed a great sleeper pick that initially we were going to take at #26. Plans change, though.
#21 Thomas Mango – RB (drafted #26, SA): iamslm22 owned this one. Had a great conversation with him on discord when he popped on and surprised us all a bit. Fortunately, it seemed the other GMs just weren’t online, so slm got an unexpected exclusive interview. Having no life REALLY paid off here. At any rate, Mango informed us he was on a vacation of sorts and would be returning soon. We kept quiet about it and decided we could get him at #21. However, when pick #21 came up and there were two players we still had on the board above him, we decided to gamble on him not being picked up and instead grabbed Carter. We are expecting him to come back. If so, we have a starting caliber RB. If not…kick returner and depth. At #26, kind of bust-proof.
#22 Jacob Lattimore – S (drafted #22, KCC): He was our intended fall back if we lost on Mango. Both his update page and creation were a bit confusing, and I was counting on that confusing teams, but his interview went pretty well, so we were all for drafting him.
At this point on, it’s all a mess, so I’ll touch on one last candidate.
#23 Fresh Booter – WR (drafted #6, CHI): Having played with this guy on the Wraiths, I don’t get him. He was one of the least active players in terms of TPE, yet was ALWAYS on discord, or watching the games on twitch, bitching about how poorly he played. Motherfucker, if you want to play better go earn some damn TPE…and then LINK IT! He had to have teammate Ricky Maddox help him FIND the TPE he’d earned. When he re-created, he had to ask which positions were in need despite having been in the league for THREE SEASONS! I wouldn’t mind any of this, though (not too much, at least), except that he has applied for GM positions no fewer than FOUR TIMES (twice NSFL, twice DSFL). Jiggly is a more emotionally generous person than I am, so maybe he’ll work out well there, but I didn’t want him in my locker room.
Booter is the ONLY player moved down over character, and some of you may be wondering why that was the case for him, but not Bly. Bly was created on 5 October, and has earned 85 TPE since, a very impressive amount. Booter was created on 12 October, a full week behind, so obviously has not earned as much. That amount? 18 TPE.
Well, there it all is for now, might add more later since NO kickers made it on here. Apologies to the players who didn’t get on here, but your REAL draft is in one more season. Use being left off here as motivation.
((READY FOR GRADING))
Naturally, I valued some players higher than others, and since I’ve kind of made a thing about being open on processes and strategies for the sake of helping people understand them, I decided “why not just share the whole damn board?” I’ve commented where I had a few people, after all. May as well go all out.
Before posting the list, let me say a few things. First, it’s not the WHOLE board. At some point in the 20s it gets REALLY messy, and I just had a bunch of names and then a second group of “confirmed inactives.” Second, there are TWO reasons GMs don’t reveal this shit. The first is that they don’t want to give away how their team evaluates. The second is hurt feelings. Every GM wants their guy to think that the 6 players they drafted were 1-6 on their board. We know it’s bullshit, but no one wants that bullshit proven to be bullshit. I loved the results of the draft, but obviously there are players I wanted that I couldn’t get.
Lastly, bear in mind that this isn’t my player RANKING. This is my PLAN. It is based on the needs of my team and where I think I see value. For example, I drafted Thomas Mango at 26. I would rather have Connall O’Sullivan, but there was no way I was gonna use a 3rd rounder on O’Sullivan when I thought I could get someone almost as good in the 5th round. I’ll try to explain those as I go, but I am just kind of shitting out explanations on the fly. I may take this opportunity to say other random shit about the player as well, since this will also be my draft recap.
I’ll list them in order of my board and put where they were actually drafted for easy reference.
#1 Andre Bly – CB (drafted #4, KCC): I got the PM. I laughed, not because I thought he was an ass, but because I thought he was right. He was the clear #1 pick. I can’t believe he fell so far, and bear in mind I already have Isaiah Rashad, so secondary wasn’t even a weakness for me. With him I would have had a complete no fly zone. I PM’d him telling him that he would be a “cheat code” on the Marshals, and I wanted him to keep falling. I will say this, though, he went to the WORST spot. Kansas City is a good team, but he is in a conference with the two teams who passed the LEAST in Season One. Add to that the fact that San Antonio and Tijuana both improved their run game this draft, and that the two of us account for 8 of his 14 games, and I’d say he’s not going to be very busy this year. Kind of a shame, really.
#2 Victor Medved – NT (drafted #3, TIJ): To anyone who doubts the power of an NT, look at San Antonio last year. People see low speed and think a player is worthless, then you see 3 straight runs for a short gain and figure it out. Ben Green tore the league up as a 70 TPE inactive. What do you think this guy is gonna do? It’s not just about stats either. NTs are effectively immune to pancakes, which all but completely kills a team’s chances of second-level runs. This guy is gonna anchor a tough defense. I made it clear I wanted him back and it wasn’t a ploy. I didn’t trade up because I had no clue where he would go, though, and didn’t want to waste picks in such a deep draft.
#3 Carlito Crush –TE (drafted #8, POR): Fuck you, Portland. This one might surprise you, since the Marshals had the best TE of Season One, and still have him, but Crush was good enough to play at slot and still destroy. I can’t believe he fell this far, though MOST of the picks above him made sense. I will fault Tijuana for drafting an O line while Crush was still available. You like blocking, eh? GUESS WHAT HE’S GOOD AT?
#4 John Wachtner – WR (drafted #2, POR): Portland…see previous entry. Portland made waves by paying a HUGE price to acquire Jameis Christ, then spent the #2 and #8 giving him the two best weapons in the league. Shit. What I love about this is that there is only one offense that I think can dictate to my defense, and it is Portland’s. Fortunately, their defense is crap now…unless Waiters and Goodson get sent back down. If that happens, this may be the best team in the DSFL this season. No pressure.
#5 Bastion Barnhardt – DE (drafted #5, SA): Someone FINALLY went when they were expected to! With Medved expected to be gone, getting the other D line candidate (who was also very active, fun, and interested in playing for us) was a priority, so much so that we turned down a trade where we would give up #5 and #26 for #10 and #16. On paper it was a great deal, but it meant losing out on this guy. Couldn’t do it. Barnhardt is a 4-3 DE, so it meant a scheme change, but more on that later.
#6 Luke Kraken – LB (drafted #9, NOR): The thing about a 4-3 is that you need one REALLY good LB to make it work. Kraken is that LB. He had the speed to cover the field and enough tackling to do the job. I also loved his energy when he came back into the league late last season. Hell, I had TWO players of his, which I think means he was the only user to win TWO rings in one season. Pretty solid accomplishment. Was confident I wouldn’t get him, but that was okay.
#7 Luis Elmarez – LB (drafted #12, SA): This was iamslm22’s #1 LB, but I hated his speed. He is working on that now, and should be ready by week 1 of the season, but that was a major concern. Fortunately, his interview showed him to be VERY engaging and willing to adapt to feedback, so we were glad to pull the trigger here.
#8 Ben Urlacher – LB (drafted #20, SA): This is a complete no bullshitter, and one of two times this happened. Picking Elmarez meant saying goodbye to Urlacher, but the two were this close. I was sure I’d only get one LB, and given that I didn’t pick until 12, I was afraid I’d need to trade up to get even THAT. Genuinely, slm and I were discussing what to give up to move up once two of these three LBs were gone so we could make sure we got ONE of them, only to get both without even really trying. This pick, by the way, signifies the last front seven defender in the draft, which was a large part of why I had them so high. There were SO MANY good DBs, but only 2 D line, and 3 LB. I don’t think teams gave that scarcity much importance.
#9 Wolverine Justice – QB (drafted #1, NOR): REEEEEACH! Actually, no. This is a great time to remind folks that this board was based off of MY TEAM’S needs. Norfolk had a 30 TPE filler bot at QB. I had a 100+ TPE QB. Obviously I wasn’t hurting as badly at the position. Norfolk had 3191 passing yards and 14 passing touchdowns last season. The Marshals had 2555 and 4. Obviously a passing offense wasn’t as important to me. Justice will be the best or second best QB this season (Christ MIGHT be better due to superior weapons), and locking him up was vital for the SeaWolves to have ANY chance at post-season success.
#10 Ryan Sierra – OL (drafted #7, TIJ): Only one active O lineman. I think the combination of poor front seven talent and O line buffs really hurt this guy’s draft stock. Had O line not been buffed, I might have taken him at 5 to be the force of my O line, but with so little pass-rushing or run-stopping talent, I didn’t NEED a stronger O line.
#11 Tegan Atwell – CB (drafted #11, CHI): This was a placeholder for what will likely be the #2 CB in the league this year. Rules are rules.
#12 Gregory Fletcher – CB (drafted #14, SA): This is where it gets scary. At 12 I drafted Elmarez, who was a bigger need. Despite Fletcher being every bit as solid a prospect, LB was a MUCH bigger need. Hell, even ranking Fletcher was really difficult, because like TWO HOURS before the draft…
#13 Darren Morris – S (drafted #17, SA): …uploaded a one hour podcast and moved up my board (I think he’d been around the high teens before) to the point where I strongly considered taking him above Fletcher. Both were great players, and Morris now had a SLIGHT lead in resources, but I felt that strong man coverage was more important to my plans than an over the top safety net. Toughest decision of the draft, turned out damn near irrelevant.
#14 Terrell Brister – CB (drafted #13, TIJ): So, my apologies. I said Brister was 13th on my board in another thread because I didn’t have Atwell on it (I wasn’t allowed to draft her). So he was actually 14th. Basically, I’d talked to Fletcher on site and in discord, and the mere-exposure effect is a powerful factor. Yeah, great logic, huh?
#15 Cameron Taylor – S (drafted #23, POR): Noticing a theme, here? This was a great pick by Portland, and a sign that this year, Pythons GMs were putting in the work. Fun fact, I almost took Taylor at pick #21, as that was the highest-remaining on my draft board at that point, but I’d already picked up 5 defense at that point, and I also had…
#16 Brandon Carter – TE (drafted #21, SA): this guy available. Carter was pretty low on my board due to not really needing a TE, but the versatility of his build and the player’s responsiveness told me I could make this guy into a great slot receiver without ruining him for his NSFL team (important note: whenever I say things like this I am referring to playing out of position, NEVER suggesting a position change. Ideally, players would be banned from changing positions until after the NSFL draft).
#17 Connall O’Sullivan – RB (drafted #15, NOR): There were three great RBs in this draft, and I REALLY felt I had a chance of getting a steal on one of them, so I had O’Sullivan a bit low despite being very dependent on RBs for my offensive success. That said, this is easily the best RB of the bunch. The player, Kristy95, is LOADED on money, and can already buy a full set of pro gear. As a receiving back, hands are already well above average, making fumbles very unlikely, plus boasts high agility, so will be hard to tackle. A great dump off option for an up and coming QB as well, so a solid pick by Norfolk.
#18 Kenny Omega – WR (drafted #10, NOR): Wasn’t blown away by his interview or by his starting build, though it was a good fit for my system. Basically, I had this guy as being a “light” version of Brandon Carter, and I think his spot on the draft board demonstrates that pretty well. I felt this was a bit of a reach, but with Booter already off the board (notice he hasn’t appeared on mine yet), I get it. Norfolk’s identity is in their offense just as mine is in my defense.
#19 Sydney Spinelli – RB (drafted #19, TIJ): So, TIJ now has a dominant NT, a good O line, and a running back they can lean on. Does this seem…familiar to anyone? Not gonna lie, I really think TIJ is building what the Marshals had in Season One, with a slightly better offense but a significantly worse pass defense. Spinelli is an easy pick, especially given that their once promising QB appears to have dropped off the map, making a strong run game more important.
#20 Jackie Jordan – CB (drafted #29, CHI): So yeah, big steal by Chicago here. Despite joining late, we got an interview with Jordan and were really happy with it. This seemed a great sleeper pick that initially we were going to take at #26. Plans change, though.
#21 Thomas Mango – RB (drafted #26, SA): iamslm22 owned this one. Had a great conversation with him on discord when he popped on and surprised us all a bit. Fortunately, it seemed the other GMs just weren’t online, so slm got an unexpected exclusive interview. Having no life REALLY paid off here. At any rate, Mango informed us he was on a vacation of sorts and would be returning soon. We kept quiet about it and decided we could get him at #21. However, when pick #21 came up and there were two players we still had on the board above him, we decided to gamble on him not being picked up and instead grabbed Carter. We are expecting him to come back. If so, we have a starting caliber RB. If not…kick returner and depth. At #26, kind of bust-proof.
#22 Jacob Lattimore – S (drafted #22, KCC): He was our intended fall back if we lost on Mango. Both his update page and creation were a bit confusing, and I was counting on that confusing teams, but his interview went pretty well, so we were all for drafting him.
At this point on, it’s all a mess, so I’ll touch on one last candidate.
#23 Fresh Booter – WR (drafted #6, CHI): Having played with this guy on the Wraiths, I don’t get him. He was one of the least active players in terms of TPE, yet was ALWAYS on discord, or watching the games on twitch, bitching about how poorly he played. Motherfucker, if you want to play better go earn some damn TPE…and then LINK IT! He had to have teammate Ricky Maddox help him FIND the TPE he’d earned. When he re-created, he had to ask which positions were in need despite having been in the league for THREE SEASONS! I wouldn’t mind any of this, though (not too much, at least), except that he has applied for GM positions no fewer than FOUR TIMES (twice NSFL, twice DSFL). Jiggly is a more emotionally generous person than I am, so maybe he’ll work out well there, but I didn’t want him in my locker room.
Booter is the ONLY player moved down over character, and some of you may be wondering why that was the case for him, but not Bly. Bly was created on 5 October, and has earned 85 TPE since, a very impressive amount. Booter was created on 12 October, a full week behind, so obviously has not earned as much. That amount? 18 TPE.
Well, there it all is for now, might add more later since NO kickers made it on here. Apologies to the players who didn’t get on here, but your REAL draft is in one more season. Use being left off here as motivation.
((READY FOR GRADING))