*S19 DSFL Draft: Baron’s Breakdown

Baron1898 · (This post was last modified: 11-21-2019, 12:43 AM by Baron1898.)

It’s less than a week before the most important event of the offseason - the S19 DSFL Draft! True, the media lens may be focused primarily on the NSFL Draft this Friday, as most offseasons usually are, but there’s an exciting new crop of prospects entering the minor leagues deserving of their fair share of the spotlight. With the recent botification of the Kansas City Coyotes and Norfolk Seawolves as part of the DSFL’s semi-annual contraction ritual, four teams will be eagerly scouting new players - the Tijuana Luchadores and Myrtle Beach Buccaneers in the SFC, and the Portland Pythons and the team in Minnesota in the NFC. So let’s break them down, ranked by position and by the approximate (and unofficial) amount of TPE earned as of the time of publication.

Also remember that this is all the work and opinions of one dude - feel free to point out any criticisms or mistakes, especially if you feel like your player has been overlooked unfairly. It’s all in good fun.

There are no quarterbacks approved for this draft class yet. But while you’re here, would you mind (re)discovering the salvation of our lord and savior Gimmy Jarappolo?

Leading the running back crop is Darrel Williams (105 TPE) from user @Ry_. One of four prospects who joined the league after the DSFL trade deadline, Williams is an All-Purpose Back in the mold of NSFL superstar Sam Torenson. The 23-year old LSU graduate was claimed by the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers off waivers last season and played two games for the squad, rushing 16 times for 76 yards and a decent 4.8 yards per carry. After redshirting his freshman year in college, Williams spent most of his LSU career as a second-string back, and unsuccessfully attempted to join the NFL as an undrafted free agent before coming to the DSFL. Williams doesn’t possess the straight line burner speed of fellow draftee Siddhu Sarvepally, but he is still one of the fastest recruits available and has a healthy amount of power and shiftiness to pair with it. With the second most TPE of any draftee this year, Williams is well set to go high in the draft.

His college teammate, Ricardo Rose (57 TPE), is a creation of @riddlingminion. Rose is another All-Purpose Back with good fundamentals across the board, a blank slate for any interested GMs to shape. Although he isn’t quite as active as Williams thus far, he is participating in the available TPE tasks, including creating a mock draft. He is slightly more endurant and muscular than his LSU compatriot but suffers accordingly in the agility department and is well behind both Williams and Sarvepally in top end speed. With the proper time and commitment, Rose has a good shot of morphing into a starting caliber back and becoming a possible diamond in the rough for DSFL GMs to discover.

The final available rushing prospect is the aforementioned Siddhu Sarvepally (57 TPE) from @siddhus. What jumps off the page for the 19 year old is his speed - Sarvepally is a credible threat in the open field and faster than any other recruit in the draft. However, his ability to push through tackles and earn tough yardage is rather limited. The back from San Jose State may never get the opportunity to overcome his shortcomings. Sarvepally has not been seen at any draft workouts for over ten days, making him a risky prospect for any GM to bet the franchise on. Barring a surprise return to activity, expect Sarvepally to be drafted well after the other two competitors in the running game.

Like with the running backs, the TPE leader among wide receivers is a trade deadline create. Jah Bur’Berry (94 TPE), from user @soryantyler, infuriatingly does not have an update page, which means I had to collect and add the total TPE manually. He also seems to have forgotten that recreates cannot buy equipment in the season they recreate, so his 12 million dollar equipment purchase on the 6th of November is invalid. (Ahem) Anyways, Bur’Berry is a small school receiver from James Madison College with the Route Runner archetype. He possesses good hands and playmaking explosiveness with plenty of TPE to use for even further gains if he ever decides to make a frickin update page. Bur’Berry was claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Coyotes for two games in S18 and had himself a rather good statline, catching 11 balls for 119 yards and a score. Similar to Darrel Williams, Bur’Berry holds a commanding case for a first round pick, even more so because of his recreate status.

Following him up are three true rookie receivers, the first of which is Tash Thompson (67 TPE), created by @casserole. The 21-year old Speed Receiver from the University of North Texas is a lighter frame and does not yet possess the ability to power or block downfield — yet her largest asset remains her speed, tied in the class for the fastest receiver. Thompson has created a Mock Draft and begun work on the Rookie PT, so if the user can keep his or her activity steady and increase their community presence, Thompson has the attributes GMs desire for a higher draft pick with big upside.

Close behind Thompson is Randy Vuxta (61 TPE) from @roastfuego. Vuxta played Division II football for the University of Hawaii - Honolulu as a wide receiver and as a running back. After declaring for the DSFL Draft a year early, the Route Runner switched to wide receiver full time. He boasts good shiftiness and solid hands compared to his class. On the other hand, the 20-yard old Hawaiian is the slowest receiver available, and in a league dominated by speed, this may prove an area of concern if Vuxta doesn’t spend good training time shoring it up. But overall, Vuxta has already become relatively active across the community and media, a solid sign of future activity and something valued by DSFL GMs more than anything else.

The final prospect available is Jacoby Clay (52 TPE) by user @Vexatious, and sadly there are plenty of red flags for any team willing to draft them. After declaring for the draft, Clay completed only the rookie survey before going radio silent - no activity checks, no weekly training, no mock draft, no update page, and no activity for over half a week. It remains to be seen whether the Red Zone Threat from LSU will ever return to action. If he does, Clay has decent fundamentals across the board and could present a blank slate for team leadership to shape and mold.

In contrast to a relatively promising crop of running backs and wide receivers in the S20 class, the tight end group leaves much to be desired. The current leader of TPE among tight ends is David Donaldson (65 TPE), a recreate from @Kcobb9 and the third of four trade deadline creates. A graduate of Ball State, Donaldson has the archetype of a Possession Tight End, emphasizing catching and power over pure speed. Indeed, the 21-year old spent his 15 earned TPE on improving pass and run blocking before the sporadically active recreate went inactive for now almost a week and a half. DSFL GMs may appreciate the help the pickup would provide as a blocker and situational target for their teams, but the lack of activity makes Donaldson likely to stay at his current level and unlikely to go high.

@Sanchez801 is the user behind the second tight end prospect of the class, a Vertical Threat named Dave Casper Jr. (50 TPE). Like his ghostly namesake, Casper Jr. has departed this mortal coil and ascended into the unknown regions beyond the veil. Yet what does he leave behind for us mere mortals still trapped in our fleshy confines? The answer is a relatively fast tight end with no real other standout skills, with a mediocre amount of muscle to back it up. Since his only post thus far has been the creation page, Casper Jr. is unlikely to ever return. Expect him to land near the end of the draft board.

There are no offensive linemen approved for this class yet. @~~Dylandeluxe~~ would murder me if I mentioned my feelings on this.

The same isn’t true of the other side of the ball, where three prospects await. The highest earning defensive tackle so far is the colorfully named Oliver McWigglebutts (57 TPE), a player from @MaxTheDog out of South Harmon Institute of Technology. The lack of a legitimate education and/or sports program doesn’t seem to have bothered the 65-year old Run Stuffer DT at all. McWigglebutts has cashed in his Social Security for game pads and possesses relatively high speed and strength among his class. Yet inconsistent activity (he last posted half a week ago) and relatively low levels of both TPE earning and community engagement drop McWigglebutt out of contention for a higher draft slot. If he doesn’t return, he will most likely be targeted in the mid to late rounds.

The next man up is George Bjornsson (52 TPE), who may or may not be related to Bjørn Ironside and/or Tormund Bjornsson, both of whom are also defensive tackles. Coming from user @Tolan33, Bjornsson is a 20-year old Balanced tackle out of Minnesota weighing a hefty 310 pounds. He has good fundamentals across the board, as befitting someone of his archetype, but doesn’t yet possess any real standout traits given the lack of earned TPE. He’s been inactive longer than McWigglebutts has; if he can come back, he may shoot up the board. If not, he’ll probably go second in the class for defensive tackles and rather late overall.

If you thought the other two prospects had fun names, try Hingle McCringleberry (50 TPE), created by Scrabble world champion @Quesadillananda. The Nose Tackle from USC is a bit shorter than the other two tackles at a measly 6’3”. At 21 years old, McCringleberry has incredible strength compared to his competitors but lacks in nearly every other statistic, including a blisteringly slow 35 speed. He has yet to claim any TPE or create any community splash, making him a very low priority target in the draft barring a pretty serious activity turnaround.

Defensive end has some better prospects on the horizon. Bobby Boucher (76 TPE), created by @BigUnitBabs, is a steadily improving prospect from South Central Louisiana State. The Power Rusher 24-year old first played as linebacker in college before position switching onto the edge. Although his late joining in the season means that he missed out of much of the TPE setting apart the early four trade deadline creates, Boucher has been a consistent earner in his opportunities and has carved out a nice community footprint. A consistently active, earning true rookie at a position of need for basically every team? If he keeps on his pace, don’t be surprised to see Boucher land high in the draft come Monday.

Close behind Boucher is Kyle Idlewyld (69 TPE) by user @Kyle. A 20-year old defensive edge hailing from Fort Worth, Texas, the Balanced player apparently played for five separate high schools and three separate colleges, unable to tolerate playing among his inferiors in the amateur game. Now he looks to make it big in the DSFL arena. He has good speed and strength for a defensive end, and while his technique might need some further work, it’s clear that the foundation is in place for a potential star in the trenches. He has been at a good level of engagement so far, so the pieces are in place for DSFL GMs to take a chance on the true rookie for potential huge gains.

The final prospect on the defensive line is Barnabas Cole (59 TPE), a Speed Rusher from user @ITBret42. Cole is a 21-year old prospect from UTSA, and true to his archetype he emphasizes speed and smart football technique in his build. Cole joined a few days ago but hasn’t been the world’s most active guy in terms of TPE. If he can potentially pick up the pace and increase his community engagement - he is still active on the forums - then Cole could close the gap with Idlewyld and Boucher. If not, he remains a decent pickup in the mid to late draft rounds due to the importance of his position and the TPE he has garnered to date.

Next up? Linebackers, and who better to start off with than Galf Wilf (59 TPE), the recreate from @Moosecop? He may only have 59 TPE thus far, but someone with the pedigree of Moosecop will assuredly become one of the top earners in the class in short order. The Speed Rusher LB from the University of Buffalo is 20 years old and very heavy on the speed - Wilf can blaze down the field faster than almost anyone else in the S20 group. This obviously comes at the expense of other attributes. Yet Wilf will likely be able to earn his way to boosting these soon. He is consistently active and well-renowned to boot, so even though his current TPE count lags behind the class leaders, don’t expect to see his draft stock fall badly.

Wilf’s competition comes in the form of Inspectah Deck (59 TPE) from user @W.Sconnie. The Wisconsin native and alumni enters the draft race as a Speed Rusher archetype, but unlike Wilf, he trades in elite top line speed for improved horizontal shiftiness and power. The 23-year old has about as well-rounded of a portfolio as you can find. His lack of a standout attribute at this point is balanced by the overall adaptability of his build to any potential team schemes. He remains active, but should increase his presence and more aggressively pursue TPE opportunities to keep competitive in the league. If he remains on his current course, Deck will likely land in the mid to late rounds for any team wanting a solid starter on defense.

There’s some solid promise awaiting in the cornerback group, where Victor Moreno (61 TPE) narrowly edges out for the top spot. The player from @GreenArmy is a physical 21-year old Man to Man coverage cornerback from Arizona State. One of Moreno’s more distinct attributes is his football IQ - he has good technique across the board, from intelligence to tackling to his physical speed. He hasn’t been online for a couple days, which is a shame given the promise Moreno’s build shows for future player success. If he returns online and continues his steady rate of TPE growth, Moreno could very easily rise up a GM’s prospect board.

I have to admit I’ve taken a bit of a personal liking to Dre Uzond (57 TPE), mainly because @Nuk has been one of the most consistently engaged rookies on the discord server. The 21-year old cornerback fought his way past a high school ACL tear onto the roster of Eastern Washington University and later transferred to the University of Washington. He possesses the All-Around archetype, making him fungible enough for practically any DSFL roster scheme to employ his talents. Speed and intelligence stand out as strong points for his build. As previously mentioned, Uzond is one of the most active true rookies in the class and has got himself both a Mock Draft and an update page up and running. If he could continue to seize more training points and make up for lost time, especially with season equipment and the rookie point task, there’s no telling how far he’ll go.

There are no safeties approved for this class yet. There may be safety in numbers, but there are no numbers in safety. (I apologize for the bad joke.)

Special teams! Who doesn’t love them? Finally I get an excuse to talk about myself, the fourth trade deadline recreate, the class leader in TPE, the one and only Venus Powers (137 TPE) from the user @Baron1898. Powers is a 22-year old graduate of the United States Service Academy, Accurate kicker and punter extraordinaire. She grew up in Alamo Heights, Texas just minutes from her home team of the San Antonio Marshals, and throughout college she rose to become the nation’s top ranked kicker and the recipient of many awards. After declaring that she would only play for San Antonio, San Antonio decided to become the team in Minnesota, and Powers changed her mind - now willing to accept any team that drafts her, even fucking Tijuana. The obvious goal is to become the greatest kicker of all time. We shall see how this turns out.

But Powers has some competition in the form of Vince Hammerson (57 TPE) from @Channel88. Hammerson is a graduate of Arizona State, an Accurate archetype kicker in the vein of NSFL GOAT Turk Turkleton. The 21-year old has shown some diversity by investing training into strength, intelligence, and endurance instead of kicking attributes, but has a solid foundation of accuracy and power with which to anchor any team’s special teams unit. Given the dearth of quality kickers in both the major and minor leagues, if the semi-inactive Hammerson can earn just a bit more TPE, he will be able to go higher in the draft and easily find himself a job.

How will the draft play out? Will Venus Powers earn the kicking GOAT status? Will Casper Jr. ever grace us with his presence ever again? Will Gimmy ever not be the GOAT? Tune in to the follow up (which is never happening) to find out!

(Oh yeah also I want 1.5x draft payment for this)