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*The draft from a GMs perspective - JuOSu - 05-04-2019

Well this was the most massive draft ever and I think it was also one of the most active. We saw in the mock drafts how many players were predicted to go in the first round by some, and in some cases they were far off. There is a lot of media written about this draft too and obviously a lot of speculation about many things but I figured I would give sort of an inside information kind of article. This is my first draft as GM here for the New Orleans Second Line and I figured especially to some newer players it might be interesting to see our thought process a little. Plus, I need money for equipment (haha).

So before I go into the details of each pick, let me describe the situation leading into the draft for New Orleans. We ended up with a 4-10 record last season, coming off of recent championships and now more in a rebuilding phase. We have an aging quarterback and an aging star wide receiver, a few very active good players elsewhere but especially on defense are plagued with playing a lot of inactives, especially in the linebacker position and at cornerback, where we played four guys last season who were all under 250 TPE and inactive.

While a lot of people pointed out that quarterback would be an immense position of need for us, to me it never felt that way at least for early rounds. We have Bovo who should be good enough for a struggling team for at least another season, a season in which we are likely not contending regardless yet, before pushing to the playoffs in the year after that with hopefully a new group of young guys we drafted here and not losing much in expansion. Beyond that, there was also always the possibility that I could switch to Quarterback, as I felt like I was wasting my TPE a little now at tight end, a GM should have a more meaningful position. Additionally, we felt like QB wasn’t a huge need for a lot of teams this draft. Most teams already have their QB and even the expansion teams likely had other needs to fill too. We felt like we could likely focus more on our much more pressing defensive needs before going for a quarterback later in the draft if he fell there. Spoiler alert, sadly he did not.

Going into the draft, we knew that we had the second and third overall pick, which are two picks you really cannot miss on. We knew that defense was our main focus so early on my mind was set on taking two defenders here. There was a point where that focus briefly shifted, which I will talk about below, but the goal from the start was to get two cornerstones to our defense which was much needed.

The draft itself:

#1 pick: Arizona Outlaws – WR Brock Landers

What a pick to open up the draft! Honestly, I loved Gucci in interviews. He actually reached out to us (and apparently several other teams) with a great motivator, for us it was wanting to replace the legacy of Fyodo and continue great WR play for New Orleans. I was very impressed with his interview and answers and at one point the question started to become “can I actually take someone who isn’t a position of need this highly?” – I definitely considered Landers with one of our two picks, so when it became clear that Arizona would go that route, it was almost a relief, because it meant we were able to stick with the original plan of going with two defenders in the first round.

#2 pick: New Orleans Second Line – LB Quenton Bode

There are a lot of things I can say about terriblehippo. My immediate thought was that I liked him, just based on his activity. He had written a ton of articles, had a great initial answer to my questions, including knowledge of our team needs, willingness to get a league job and more. I was sold from the very start and all the comments I heard from anyone who knew him were positive and glowing recommendations, including glowing recommendations from his DSFL GMs and from people in my war room. At one point we had a list of 6-7 guys to consider for these two spots, but Bode became a name at the top of the list very early on for me.

#3 pick: New Orleans Second Line – LB Johnny Slothface

As many might know, I am also the GM in another league, the PBE, where I run a team called the Sloths. Slothfacekilla had been in the recent draft in that league as well but due to lack of draft picks, I was not able to fulfil the ultimate naming prophecy of getting him on the Sloths. But I immediately recognized the username again in this draft obviously and always heard good things about him. That was confirmed by basically anyone I talked to and Slothface himself was great and easy to talk to too. I got the sense that he would be very easy to work with and while there were a number of other guys we considered, we felt like this was the right way to go.

#4 pick: Yellowknife Wraiths – DE Nero Alexander

When we decided on our two players earlier, Nero Alexander was one of the guys I had mentioned that was also in the discussion. Many people had praise for him to a similar level as terriblehippo and Alexander seems like a great pick here. I guess to us, DE was less of an immediate need since we have a decent defensive line, but Alexander should be a great option for the Wraiths in the future.

#5 pick: Expansion team 1 – TE Chase Jensen

I’ll be honest, this pick surprised me. Jensen was obviously a top player in this draft, but tight ends are generally not as important as other positions and especially for an expansion team, a team that has no players, I expected a bigger position of need here than Tight End. Jensen seems like a great guy and definitely deserved to go in the first round, but I was surprised it was an expansion team doing it.

#6 pick: Expansion team 2 – LB Lightsout Lewis

Another somewhat surprising pick from the other expansion team too. Lewis seems like a great option but at the very least I was surprised to see him go in the first round. They likely could have made this pick in the second round too, at least I believe so. But if they felt like he was their guy, then I also can’t blame them.

#7 pick: Arizona Outlaws – DT Ricardo Morris

Really love this pick. Obviously a trade happened here and Morris was worth it. He was also very high on my list and at one point was someone we considered for one of our picks. I felt very strongly that he was a great option, especially given his bank account and activity. I guess to some there was some concern about the small spurt of inactivity but I was not surprised that he went in the first round at all. This was also a pick that we tried to trade for, I believe, but we were not willing to give up as much.

#8 pick: Orange County Otters – DT AJ Lattimer

Again, more of a surprising pick to me. Lattimer is not a bad pick whatsoever but I had not ranked him this high, I expected him to be more of a 2nd rounder, potentially even third, but then again, with Morris gone, this was the only active DT left in this draft, so maybe that influenced OCOs decision here a bit.

#9 pick: Philadelphia Liberty – S Richard D’Attoria

This pick definitely hurt. D’Attoria had made it clear that he wanted to return to NOLA and we really wanted to get him here. He was obviously on our list for the first two picks we had, but we felt like we needed the linebackers more at that point and a part of me felt like we could trade up to get him or even wait until 13 for him. Sadly, neither worked out and now I have to live with the fact that I may have made a mistake and was not able to get him. Great pick for Philadelphia.

#10 pick: San Jose Sabercats – WR Ahri Espeeyeeseetee

While I really liked steelsound, I felt like maybe this was a tad early from a strategical standpoint. There were four great WRs in this draft, one of which had been taken. To me, the other three felt very similar in terms of talent and I feel like SJS could have waited another round here, but again, if they felt very strongly then this is the right move too.

#11 pick: Colorado Yeti – LB Mo Berry

This was a great pick by Colorado in my eyes. Mo Berry was hyped up as a very underrated player, with lots of motivation and dedication. I think he came on strong close towards the draft, making an unexpected push towards the first round (and in the end barely falling short of it). Still, Berry looks like the real deal and should be a fantastic pick here.

#12 pick: Baltimore Hawks – S Fatih Terim

In some ways, I was very happy with this pick. Terim was someone I had rated very highly on our board, plus he was also a position of need. But I also really loved who we actually picked, so Baltimore picking Terim made our decision much much easier. Terim first came to my attention when he made the amazing new TPE tracker (which I used a BUNCH for this draft, so thank you Eco!). I saw someone in him who had a lot of passion and dedication and was going to be great. Similar to Berry, he made a late push towards the first round and climbed boards.

#13 pick: New Orleans Second Line – RB Forrest Gump

Man, the things I can say about this pick. Honestly, I think this will end up a huge steal for us. Forrest Gump seems like the real deal to me. We had some incredible conversations already and when I first made my board, I almost didn’t even write running backs since they were not a position of need. I felt like with every moment he made me re-write the comment section on my draft board to include yet another compliment. I first noted his great articles. Then I noted his great first reply. I just kept adding more every day. Out of all the draftees, I probably have talked most to him and it was crazy how I went from “we won’t draft a RB in this draft” to “I don’t know how I can ever pass up on this guy”. I obviously ended up not taking him in the first round but I really hoped he would fall to my second round pick and given that there were other great RB options, I was hoping he might. Obviously the recent news of him becoming co-GM in the minors is another great sign. I think he will be excellent.

#14 pick: Yellowknife Wraiths – RB Morgan Marshall

And speaking of great running backs… I think Marshall was the number 1 guy to most teams and I don’t even necessarily disagree with that. He has everything you want in a player and prospect. I think he will do really well in this league and be very successful.

#15 pick: Expansion team 1 – WR Rod Tidwell

Given the first pick they made with a tight end, I can’t say that I expected a Wide Receiver to be taken here either. Tidwell looks great and was someone I liked a lot too especially given that he is active in the PBE. I think he will be a great pick, but again felt surprised an expansion team would go that route this early.

#16 pick: Expansion team 2 – CB Xerxes Ridley

Ridley was very high on our board and I feel like this will be a fantastic pick in the end. Ridley could have easily been a first rounder but made it all the way to 16 for the second expansion team. I think he will be a great player and addition on this team and helps their defense.

#17 pick: Baltimore Hawks – S Walt Green

There were a LOT of great safeties in this draft (incidentally, none of which we ended up getting), but Green could have easily been the best one of them. Green comes with great articles, a healthy bank account, a possible league job and more. I think given that already two safeties had been taken, this feels like a steal to me.

#18 pick: Orange County Otters – LB Lanzer Grievous

I don’t have a ton to say about this pick except for yeah, it was a great one? Not sure really. Among the Linebackers, I definitely saw him a tiny bit below the two we picked and even below Mo Berry but personally I had him above Lewis. It’s definitely an interesting question of where they will all end up TPE wise in the end, but I think this was a solid pick.

#19 pick: Philadelphia Liberty – CB Emondov Emoji

Obviously this was not a pick that was up for debate, but clearly he was a great pick here for the Liberty.

#20 pick: San Jose Sabercats – TE Cameron Olsen

Had he fallen a bit further, I think Olsen could have been someone we considered as well. I had him rated very highly, another DSFL GM who seems very active. In any other draft, he would have been a first rounder, but there was just too much talent here.

#21 pick: Arizona Outlaws – CB Lucas Knight

This pick made me a bit anxious. Our CB situation was very dire, going into this draft and this essentially just left one more CB on the board who was active. I actually had Knight rated third among cornerbacks but they were all very close together. I think it’s a very good pick especially given how few CBs were in this draft.

#22 pick: Colorado Yeti – LB Tony Gabagool

This was another pick that was not really on my radar this high and surprised me a bit. Obviously won’t complain about it but they clearly saw something that maybe I didn’t see.

#23 pick: Baltimore Hawks – RB Dorfus Jimbo

Another DSFL GM, Jimbo feels slightly below the RBs taken before him but also seems like he has a lot of hidden value. I think if you were a team willing to wait, Jimbo at 23 is a great steal for you.

#24 pick: Yellowknife Wraiths – S Logan Uchiha

I honestly have to say I didn’t know a ton about him. There were other safeties that I felt had more upside and could be had later on, so this pick felt fine to me.

#25 pick: Arizona Outlaws – S Lamont McKinnie

This was one of said safeties that I had rated higher. Definitely lucky that he fell all the way here and I think this is going to be a decent pick up for Arizona.

#26 pick: Expansion team 2 – LB Guy Nikko

I haven’t really said anything negative about anyone yet, but this may be a little bit of that. While I think he was a great prospect who is clearly very active, I was not entirely blown away by his reply to my questions, so maybe for that reason, I felt like he fell a little bit more than he otherwise might have.

#27 pick: New Orleans Second Line – CB Deon Taylor (gave up 33 and 53)

Yeah this decision is going to give me nightmares for a long time, isn’t it? We had been trying to trade up for a few picks. I mentioned earlier how desperate things had gotten at CB with Taylor now the only active left. And among CBs I felt like he was a better prospect than Knight at least, especially given his insane 9000 word article he had posted. I was impressed by Taylor for that reason. Despite that, there was definitely a discussion on whether to take Armstrong here. As discussed way earlier, I felt like he would fall a bit, as he did, but it was tough to know when to take him. We could have easily done so here and it might have been the right decision but in my head, I felt like it was more likely that Armstrong would fall another few picks rather than Taylor. And we had a better plan B in place for not getting Armstrong but no plan B for not getting Taylor. Still, this decision was tough and not getting Armstrong definitely hurt, but we are very happy with Taylor and happy we were able to add yet another hugely active defensive player early on here. With his immense article, he was someone that was always very high on my board and I was shocked we were able to get him here still at 27.

#28 pick: Orange County Otters – QB Franklin Armstrong

Like described above, it really hurt that we couldn’t get him. It was a tough decision and I feel like I might regret it down the line. This, along with D’Attoria earlier, was the two things that were most frustrating. There will be a third one though later on.

#29 pick: Philadelphia Liberty – WR Nacho Varga

Like I mentioned earlier, there were four good WRs in this draft and I feel like Liberty did a good job waiting it out and ending up with a solid pick this late in the draft.

#30 pick: San Jose Sabercats – TE Dan Wright

Really like this pick here as well, great guy to get this late. Writes a lot of articles and is very active, lots of money in the bank. At this point in the draft, this feels like a steal.

Not going to discuss every pick anymore in detail but will pick some that stood out to me:

#32 pick: Expansion team 1 – OL Edmond Beaver-Dantes

This one obviously hurt as well. Beaver is someone I get along with extremely well and who has been on NOLA before and who we wanted to bring back, despite being on the O line now. However, yet another pick by an expansion team that you have to question a little. Despite Beaver being awesome, picking an OL this high as one of your first players seems questionable to me.

#34 pick: Yellowknife Wraiths – S Giannis Croustis

I mentioned earlier how many awesome safeties there were in this draft and how we didn’t manage to get any of them. Croustis was one of them and we really liked him. We were hoping one of these following picks would fall to our next pick.

#35 pick: Expansion team 1 – S Troy Humhjsadhsadjdhasdasda (or whatever)

Yet another guy I know from the PBE and yet another safety that we ended up missing out on. Good pick here.

#36 pick: Expansion team 2 – S Jack Rambo

And another one! This was the round of safeties for sure. Great pick again and we felt bad that we didn’t get him.

#38 pick: New Orleans Second Line – OL Brave Ulysses

Well, despite what I said about Beaver, I ended up picking an OL myself too. Yet again someone I get along with well and who has been on NOLA before. We were happy to bring him back to NOLA and happy we could get him before Adam would. However, this was one of those tough choices again, with Mack being an extremely talented safety left over and I definitely wonder, especially with how the trade played out, if Mack wasn’t the pick here after all somehow.

#40 pick: Expansion team 1 – S Martavius Mack

Mack was one of the biggest steals of the draft and was very high on our board. I really hoped he would fall a tiny bit more, but alas he didn’t. As we saw in the humongous trade, other teams also really liked Mack and were willing to give up a ton for him, more so than myself I must say. While I believe he is a great pick and a steal, it also made me wonder if maybe giving up a first round pick for him was too much.

#41 pick: Arizona Outlaws – TE Jammerson Irving

At 43, Irving was going to be our pick once Mack was gone, so this one hurt a little bit as well. I really like this pick at this point in the draft and felt like it came at the right time. Good pick!

#43 pick: Colorado Yeti – QB Jay Longshaw

Well well well. Not the first time that I held someone hostage over a pick. Honestly, at this point no one was left that we really liked all that much at this pick and so Longshaw was the obvious choice. You can’t just let Colorado have him for free at the end of the draft, so I made it very clear that I was going to pick Longshaw if I didn’t get a trade offer. I likely could have sold him for more expensive, but I think it was in everyone’s interest to get this done fast and fluidly and so we made a trade happen very fast and everyone can be happy.

#47 pick: Baltimore Hawks – RB Ludicolo Bigby

Honestly, given that there are no more actives left, Bigby isn’t a terrible pick here, with Wozy being someone who is at least reachable and may update occasionally.

#48 pick: Arizona Outlaws – LB Allen Josh

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Former first overall pick a season ago in the DSFL, now all the way down to pick 48. Allen Josh might not be a bad choice here as one of the higher TPE inactives left, might have some value at least.

#50 pick: San Jose Sabercats – LB JoJo Burr-Kirven

Like Wozy, at least Rindiee is someone who is around and reachable occasionally so it is not a bad pick.

While these are not actives anymore, I just want to say a word or two about the other inactives we picked in this draft:

#57 pick: New Orleans Second Line – CB Tobias Chase

Honestly, with how our roster looks, Chase may actually see time in the majors as a higher TPE inactive than what we have on our roster. He might be used in Nickle for a bit at least this upcoming season.

#63 pick: New Orleans Second Line – DT Donte Shields

Shields had logged in somewhat recently and also had a decent amount of TPE too.

#73 pick: New Orleans Second Line – RB Max Vaz

Vaz had logged in April 19th, not even all that long ago and while I doubt we will ever actually use him, that’s why we picked him.

#78 pick: New Orleans Second Line – S Shaquill Williams VII

Shaquill, the thrill. I will admit, this was a bit of a meme pick, given what Shaquill has done in the PBE, but I couldn’t help myself. Maybe he comes back one day? Who knows.

#81 pick: New Orleans Second Line – RB Jay Quick

Yet another Running back, alright, I know that was far too many, but he also had logged in more recently than most of who was left.

#83 pick – New Orleans Second Line – WR Charles Mudley

83 TPE aren’t terrible for an inactive in this round. Never going to get used but oh well.

#93 pick: New Orleans Second Line – CB Groovy Johnson

And our last pick was one that was almost purely cause of the name. Groovy Johnson just sounds like a New Orleans player, doesn’t he? Groovy baby yeah.

So that was it, our draft in a nutshell, as well as an analysis of a lot of the other top picks. I hope this was enjoyable, especially from an outside perspective into the draft and the opinion of one of the GMs involved. I am sure others saw it differently, everyone can nitpick, everyone has different opinions. No one knows how this class will look like in a few seasons. But overall, despite the few errors of judgment, I feel really happy with this draft and excited to bring in the guys we drafted and build a culture of winning again in New Orleans. I am very excited and hyped for the next season and especially for the one after that where I think we should be able to contend for a playoff spot already.

Thanks for reading!

*The draft from a GMs perspective - Ben - 05-04-2019

(05-05-2019, 02:28 AM)JuOSu Wrote:And our last pick was one that was almost purely cause of the name. Groovy Johnson just sounds like a New Orleans player, doesn’t he? Groovy baby yeah.

Lmao best pick justification ever

*The draft from a GMs perspective - Fordhammer - 05-04-2019

I enjoyed reading about the draft from a GM perspective! Would love to see more of these.

*The draft from a GMs perspective - AdamS - 05-05-2019

(05-04-2019, 02:51 PM)Ben Wrote:Lmao best pick justification ever

You would be surprised how many meme picks happen when we get to those rounds

*The draft from a GMs perspective - Ben - 05-05-2019

(05-05-2019, 07:23 PM)AdamS Wrote:You would be surprised how many meme picks happen when we get to those rounds

Oh don't you worry I've done my rounds as a GM I don't think I'd be that surprised lol

*The draft from a GMs perspective - JuOSu - 05-05-2019

(05-04-2019, 08:34 PM)Fordhammer Wrote:I enjoyed reading about the draft from a GM perspective! Would love to see more of these.

Thank you!

*The draft from a GMs perspective - infinitempg - 05-05-2019

(05-04-2019, 08:28 AM)JuOSu Wrote:#43 pick: Colorado Yeti – QB Jay Longshaw

Well well well. Not the first time that I held someone hostage over a pick. Honestly, at this point no one was left that we really liked all that much at this pick and so Longshaw was the obvious choice. You can’t just let Colorado have him for free at the end of the draft, so I made it very clear that I was going to pick Longshaw if I didn’t get a trade offer. I likely could have sold him for more expensive, but I think it was in everyone’s interest to get this done fast and fluidly and so we made a trade happen very fast and everyone can be happy.

This hostage situation will have big ramifications in the next draft too - we sent our S16 R2 in return for Longshaw and a R3. This leaves us without a R2 for our GM pick next year...

*The draft from a GMs perspective - iamslm22 - 05-05-2019

(05-05-2019, 09:45 PM)infinitempg Wrote:This hostage situation will have big ramifications in the next draft too - we sent our S16 R2 in return for Longshaw and a R3. This leaves us without a R2 for our GM pick next year...

Should've just let him sign in NOLA for a season and leave in FA

*The draft from a GMs perspective - infinitempg - 05-05-2019

(05-05-2019, 08:09 PM)iamslm22 Wrote:Should've just let him sign in NOLA for a season and leave in FA

I don't think NOLA was gonna let him sign for one year - leaving him holding out and unable to earn TPE. Not a risk we want to take on our QB of the future

*The draft from a GMs perspective - iamslm22 - 05-06-2019

(05-05-2019, 11:09 PM)infinitempg Wrote:I don't think NOLA was gonna let him sign for one year - leaving him holding out and unable to earn TPE. Not a risk we want to take on our QB of the future

It would be an interesting ruling from HO - but rookies have signed 1 years before specifically with NOLA (PDX for example) - but I don't think you can demand your rookies sign multi year deals