11-26-2019, 10:51 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-05-2019, 06:45 PM by goodvsevil1275.)
Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far, away, I used to do quite a bit of media for the draft. I haven’t touched it in a couple seasons after making my fortune, but it turns out that my savings are nearing empty after I found out my personal trainer has been charging me $1M a week, and my cleats cost $3M, among other things. I’m going to do an analysis of the draft. While it’s not a super deep one compared to others, I think it has a lot of good users that will make a big impact on the league for seasons to come. I’m going to plan on just doing the 1st round for now.
First Round:
#1 - NOLA - LordMacharius - Mack Arianlacher - LB
First up, the absolute stud of a linebacker Arianlacher. A lot of mocks had him going 1oa, so this is not a real surprise here. NOLA traded away Thudd Kassel to Philly last season, so he’ll help to fill the void left by him, albeit a year behind. NOLA has one of the strongest, if not the strongest, LB cores in the league, and this will only make it better for seasons to come. Macharius is a little behind the top tier of TPE earners this class, with just under 200. I think the Second Line are less concerned with him being a max-max earner and see him as more of a long-term investment that will be consistently earning at near max levels for a long career. There are also rumors of this player transition to DL, which would make the barely lower TPE levels matter even less. All in all, a really strong, safe pick from NOLA to start things off.
#2 - SJS - Deondre Thomas-Fox - QB - AndrewWarren13
Next up is a long-time user and recreate from AW. This guy knows a thing or two about creating a QB, so it’s not a huge surprise that SJS decided to take him here, with the Dan Wright switch to QB having somewhat mixed results last season. I’m assuming Wright will stay at QB for a couple seasons until Thomas-Fox is ready to be called up from the DSFL. Deondre is about 50 TPE behind the top of this class, but AW has a track record of earning like crazy, and I imagine he’ll continue to do so. He went with the Mobile QB archetype for his build, so it will be interesting to see it translate to the NSFL in a couple years. While there were probably some better prospects on the board at this point, QB was a big need for the future of this team, so I see the reason for San Jose going with Thomas-Fox at this pick.
#3 - NOLA - Austin McCormick - TE - Nokazoa
NOLA had another pick in the first here, and this time they decided to draft an offensive player. A lot of mocks had Nokazoa as #1oa, and that would not have been a surprise. He’s made a huge impact on the league already, with a league job, and he’s barely behind the leader in this class for TPE with 236. NOLA is short on TEs, so this pick makes perfect sense for them. I have a feeling that NOLA thought long and hard about taking Noka at #1, so I’m sure they were thrilled to see him make it to them at #3oa. McCormick is a Vertical Threat TE, so I think we’ll see him plenty involved in the passing game right off the bat, as Gump and Toriki split carries and receptions, and Fyodo prepares for his last season in the league before recreating. Austin has been putting most of his TPE into Speed right away, so I think he’ll be a solid player starting out in the NSFL. His hands leave something to be desired, so I think he’ll be less of a safety blanket and more of a downfield option than your usual TE, at least to start out.
#4 - CHI - Sean O’Leary - WR - Blueline
Chicago had 2 picks in this 1st round after moving some assets last season, and they decided to go double WR with these. First up was Blueline’s WR Sean O’Leary. Blueline is already near the DSFL max of 250 TPE, coming in at 231 at the time of this article. Blueline would have been a great pick with any of the first 3 picks, so I see why Chicago went for him here, with Oles being traded off and the WR position being a little weak for them. O’Leary has somehow managed to be at 90 speed already, since it looks like he’s poured most of his TPE into that, not too surprisingly. Hands are at 76 which will be okay at least for now as Chicago tries to stay relevant after some questionable moves and their GM quitting unexpectedly. Chicago locked him up for 3 years at $5M a year, so hopefully they’ll be able to hold onto him as an anchor of their receiving core going forward.
#5 - OCO - Kacey Dream - CB - scorycory
The Otters traded to get this pick, and they got the most out of it with the top-earning player in this class. Orange County doesn’t have too many holes as they are coming off a big upset in the Ultimus over the Wraiths, but Cornerback might be one of them, as they are mostly relying on Teyon Schavari and that’s about it outside of a young Korrin Abernathy. Kacey Dream comes into the league as a max-max earner, and I’m sure OCO was thrilled to get him here, which is a common theme, as this first round is full of really strong players. Kacey uses the Man-to-Man archetype, so he’ll be trying to lock down an equally strong receiver group in this class for many seasons to come. I for one think he’ll be up to the challenge, and it’ll be exciting to watch his career progress. I imagine he’ll be called up right away to play in some nickel back in OCO’s defense.
#6 - CHI - Sweet James-Jones - WR - SweetJamesJones
Now to one of the most interesting picks in the draft. There’s a lot of hearsay around this pick and how Chicago’s GMs handled it, but it seems there was some initial animosity between Sweet and the Chicago staff even before the draft, so you have to wonder what exactly Chicago was thinking taking him here. My guess is that they thought they could turn the relationship around, but it doesn’t seem like they were able to do that, as the blowup between the team and Sweet in General chat over the weekend showed. Toasty stepped down as GM, for a variety of reasons, I’m sure, but Valor was able to sign Sweet to a 1 year deal, at least. You always hope you can lock down these high draft picks for more seasons than that, but they’ll at least have a full season to get him to commit to a longer contract after this one. Sweet, in my opinion, is one of the best draft prospects we’ve seen in a couple seasons. He’s earning TPE at a very high rate, and has been very active in both discord and on the forums with a variety of very entertaining posts. Wide receiver is always a need for teams, and I’d imagine he’ll be a stud in this league in no time. Hopefully for Chicago’s sake, they can mend things with him and he can have a bright future there.
#7 - YKW - Rayne Gordon - WR - RainDelay
Another WR off the board for what is shaping up to be a revitalization of the position in the NSFL. RainDelay is another Speed Receiver archetype who is quite a bit lower in TPE than some of the top earners in this class. That said, he has been around the league since 2017, and I’d expect him to still be max earning late into regression. He’s a little slower right now than some of the other receivers and RBs, so he probably won’t make as big of an impact right off the bat, but I think he’ll be a nice complementary piece alongside Nate Swift and Tommy Helanen. The Wraiths are shaping up to have the best receiver group in the league, and I really like this pick for them as Swift and Helanen enter regression in the next couple of seasons.
#8 - NOLA - Mason Blaylock - S - Jay_Doctor
Blaylock somehow fell to #8 even though he’s in a position that’s usually a need, and is top five in TPE for this class. Mason is the Center Fielder archetype, so he can be a ballhawk in this stacked NOLA defense. Jay seems like a great user who is very active on the forums and discord, so this seems like quite a steal for me. NOLA has quite the young core on defense now, between the last few drafts and this one. Blaylock is already at 90 speed so he can fit right in alongside Deon Taylor, Tyler Swift and an inactive Xerxes Ridley. I would not be too surprised if he had a strong first year in the NSFL, given the opportunities this defense can create. He should be able to take away a lot of deep passes from opposing offenses as he has the speed to close gaps pretty quickly, and will only improve as the season goes on. Another strong pick for NOLA, especially with the best receivers off the board already.
#9 - YKW - Jayson Kearse - DE - JaytheGreat
Our second Jay taken in a row, the Wraiths grabbed this defensive end to presumably fill some of the gap left by their stud DL Ryan Leaf Jr. noping out after a tough loss in the Ultimus last season. Jayson hasn’t exactly been max earning, but that’s fine for DE, and I see why the Wraiths took him here. He went with the balanced build so he probably won’t be racking up sacks like the edge rusher, but this should allow Yellowknife to play him at tackle, or on the edge depending on what they need from season to season. Losing Leaf was a tough loss, but I think Jayson will make a great replacement, and the draft capital they acquired worked out well for them in the end.
#10 - OCO - Gary Lazer-Eyes - S - Sweetwater
The last pick in the draft doesn’t need too much of an intro, as Sweet is one of the most well-known users in the league. Kind of surprised to see him fall to this pick, but I’m sure Orange County loved getting such a great user here at the bottom of the draft. Sweetwater’s last player was Jerrod Canton, who had an outstanding career, and I’m sure his next player will be a success as well, just on the opposite side of the ball. Lazer-Eyes is a little lower on the TPE charts than some players in this class, but I think it’s a pretty safe pick. The only risk would be Sweet burning out, but I doubt that will happen with him stepping down as simmer and just having a player. Sweet chose the All-Around archetype, so he’ll be able to fit into the OCO defense where needed, it seems. I, for one, am a big fan of this pick.
In summary, I think the first round of this draft has a ton of talent. While it’s not quite as deep as some of the large classes like S15 and S18, many of the above players will be big TPE earners and make a big difference for their teams.
Here are a couple more random observations about the draft.
There were not any RBs taken in the first round. I think you could make arguments for both Zeddez and KC15’s players being taken by some of these teams in the first, but they obviously either thought they could get them in the 2nd round, or just opted for different needs, instead. Baltimore didn’t have a pick in this round, or I imagine they would have selected one of those 2, with Wozy being their main back this season, and not a whole lot of other prospects at the position.
The trend of DL being taken in droves in the first round continues, with rumors that Arianlacher will be switching at some point surfacing, as well as Kearse going before some other high-earners. At some point I think this trend could start to reverse as more and more players either create as DL or switch to it. Teams seem to be stocking up on these positions more and more, and I think we’ll start to see some course-correction in the next few drafts.
The league really needed a strong receiver class, and I think this one could turn out to be a great one. Despite being pretty shallow, the amount of top receivers and TEs in this class will be a nice boon to the league as a lot of the older studs start getting deep into regression. Hopefully most of them can stick with it and help fill the receiver gap going forward.
That’ll do it for my first round summary! I might come back and review the 2nd round at some point in the future.
First Round:
#1 - NOLA - LordMacharius - Mack Arianlacher - LB
First up, the absolute stud of a linebacker Arianlacher. A lot of mocks had him going 1oa, so this is not a real surprise here. NOLA traded away Thudd Kassel to Philly last season, so he’ll help to fill the void left by him, albeit a year behind. NOLA has one of the strongest, if not the strongest, LB cores in the league, and this will only make it better for seasons to come. Macharius is a little behind the top tier of TPE earners this class, with just under 200. I think the Second Line are less concerned with him being a max-max earner and see him as more of a long-term investment that will be consistently earning at near max levels for a long career. There are also rumors of this player transition to DL, which would make the barely lower TPE levels matter even less. All in all, a really strong, safe pick from NOLA to start things off.
#2 - SJS - Deondre Thomas-Fox - QB - AndrewWarren13
Next up is a long-time user and recreate from AW. This guy knows a thing or two about creating a QB, so it’s not a huge surprise that SJS decided to take him here, with the Dan Wright switch to QB having somewhat mixed results last season. I’m assuming Wright will stay at QB for a couple seasons until Thomas-Fox is ready to be called up from the DSFL. Deondre is about 50 TPE behind the top of this class, but AW has a track record of earning like crazy, and I imagine he’ll continue to do so. He went with the Mobile QB archetype for his build, so it will be interesting to see it translate to the NSFL in a couple years. While there were probably some better prospects on the board at this point, QB was a big need for the future of this team, so I see the reason for San Jose going with Thomas-Fox at this pick.
#3 - NOLA - Austin McCormick - TE - Nokazoa
NOLA had another pick in the first here, and this time they decided to draft an offensive player. A lot of mocks had Nokazoa as #1oa, and that would not have been a surprise. He’s made a huge impact on the league already, with a league job, and he’s barely behind the leader in this class for TPE with 236. NOLA is short on TEs, so this pick makes perfect sense for them. I have a feeling that NOLA thought long and hard about taking Noka at #1, so I’m sure they were thrilled to see him make it to them at #3oa. McCormick is a Vertical Threat TE, so I think we’ll see him plenty involved in the passing game right off the bat, as Gump and Toriki split carries and receptions, and Fyodo prepares for his last season in the league before recreating. Austin has been putting most of his TPE into Speed right away, so I think he’ll be a solid player starting out in the NSFL. His hands leave something to be desired, so I think he’ll be less of a safety blanket and more of a downfield option than your usual TE, at least to start out.
#4 - CHI - Sean O’Leary - WR - Blueline
Chicago had 2 picks in this 1st round after moving some assets last season, and they decided to go double WR with these. First up was Blueline’s WR Sean O’Leary. Blueline is already near the DSFL max of 250 TPE, coming in at 231 at the time of this article. Blueline would have been a great pick with any of the first 3 picks, so I see why Chicago went for him here, with Oles being traded off and the WR position being a little weak for them. O’Leary has somehow managed to be at 90 speed already, since it looks like he’s poured most of his TPE into that, not too surprisingly. Hands are at 76 which will be okay at least for now as Chicago tries to stay relevant after some questionable moves and their GM quitting unexpectedly. Chicago locked him up for 3 years at $5M a year, so hopefully they’ll be able to hold onto him as an anchor of their receiving core going forward.
#5 - OCO - Kacey Dream - CB - scorycory
The Otters traded to get this pick, and they got the most out of it with the top-earning player in this class. Orange County doesn’t have too many holes as they are coming off a big upset in the Ultimus over the Wraiths, but Cornerback might be one of them, as they are mostly relying on Teyon Schavari and that’s about it outside of a young Korrin Abernathy. Kacey Dream comes into the league as a max-max earner, and I’m sure OCO was thrilled to get him here, which is a common theme, as this first round is full of really strong players. Kacey uses the Man-to-Man archetype, so he’ll be trying to lock down an equally strong receiver group in this class for many seasons to come. I for one think he’ll be up to the challenge, and it’ll be exciting to watch his career progress. I imagine he’ll be called up right away to play in some nickel back in OCO’s defense.
#6 - CHI - Sweet James-Jones - WR - SweetJamesJones
Now to one of the most interesting picks in the draft. There’s a lot of hearsay around this pick and how Chicago’s GMs handled it, but it seems there was some initial animosity between Sweet and the Chicago staff even before the draft, so you have to wonder what exactly Chicago was thinking taking him here. My guess is that they thought they could turn the relationship around, but it doesn’t seem like they were able to do that, as the blowup between the team and Sweet in General chat over the weekend showed. Toasty stepped down as GM, for a variety of reasons, I’m sure, but Valor was able to sign Sweet to a 1 year deal, at least. You always hope you can lock down these high draft picks for more seasons than that, but they’ll at least have a full season to get him to commit to a longer contract after this one. Sweet, in my opinion, is one of the best draft prospects we’ve seen in a couple seasons. He’s earning TPE at a very high rate, and has been very active in both discord and on the forums with a variety of very entertaining posts. Wide receiver is always a need for teams, and I’d imagine he’ll be a stud in this league in no time. Hopefully for Chicago’s sake, they can mend things with him and he can have a bright future there.
#7 - YKW - Rayne Gordon - WR - RainDelay
Another WR off the board for what is shaping up to be a revitalization of the position in the NSFL. RainDelay is another Speed Receiver archetype who is quite a bit lower in TPE than some of the top earners in this class. That said, he has been around the league since 2017, and I’d expect him to still be max earning late into regression. He’s a little slower right now than some of the other receivers and RBs, so he probably won’t make as big of an impact right off the bat, but I think he’ll be a nice complementary piece alongside Nate Swift and Tommy Helanen. The Wraiths are shaping up to have the best receiver group in the league, and I really like this pick for them as Swift and Helanen enter regression in the next couple of seasons.
#8 - NOLA - Mason Blaylock - S - Jay_Doctor
Blaylock somehow fell to #8 even though he’s in a position that’s usually a need, and is top five in TPE for this class. Mason is the Center Fielder archetype, so he can be a ballhawk in this stacked NOLA defense. Jay seems like a great user who is very active on the forums and discord, so this seems like quite a steal for me. NOLA has quite the young core on defense now, between the last few drafts and this one. Blaylock is already at 90 speed so he can fit right in alongside Deon Taylor, Tyler Swift and an inactive Xerxes Ridley. I would not be too surprised if he had a strong first year in the NSFL, given the opportunities this defense can create. He should be able to take away a lot of deep passes from opposing offenses as he has the speed to close gaps pretty quickly, and will only improve as the season goes on. Another strong pick for NOLA, especially with the best receivers off the board already.
#9 - YKW - Jayson Kearse - DE - JaytheGreat
Our second Jay taken in a row, the Wraiths grabbed this defensive end to presumably fill some of the gap left by their stud DL Ryan Leaf Jr. noping out after a tough loss in the Ultimus last season. Jayson hasn’t exactly been max earning, but that’s fine for DE, and I see why the Wraiths took him here. He went with the balanced build so he probably won’t be racking up sacks like the edge rusher, but this should allow Yellowknife to play him at tackle, or on the edge depending on what they need from season to season. Losing Leaf was a tough loss, but I think Jayson will make a great replacement, and the draft capital they acquired worked out well for them in the end.
#10 - OCO - Gary Lazer-Eyes - S - Sweetwater
The last pick in the draft doesn’t need too much of an intro, as Sweet is one of the most well-known users in the league. Kind of surprised to see him fall to this pick, but I’m sure Orange County loved getting such a great user here at the bottom of the draft. Sweetwater’s last player was Jerrod Canton, who had an outstanding career, and I’m sure his next player will be a success as well, just on the opposite side of the ball. Lazer-Eyes is a little lower on the TPE charts than some players in this class, but I think it’s a pretty safe pick. The only risk would be Sweet burning out, but I doubt that will happen with him stepping down as simmer and just having a player. Sweet chose the All-Around archetype, so he’ll be able to fit into the OCO defense where needed, it seems. I, for one, am a big fan of this pick.
In summary, I think the first round of this draft has a ton of talent. While it’s not quite as deep as some of the large classes like S15 and S18, many of the above players will be big TPE earners and make a big difference for their teams.
Here are a couple more random observations about the draft.
There were not any RBs taken in the first round. I think you could make arguments for both Zeddez and KC15’s players being taken by some of these teams in the first, but they obviously either thought they could get them in the 2nd round, or just opted for different needs, instead. Baltimore didn’t have a pick in this round, or I imagine they would have selected one of those 2, with Wozy being their main back this season, and not a whole lot of other prospects at the position.
The trend of DL being taken in droves in the first round continues, with rumors that Arianlacher will be switching at some point surfacing, as well as Kearse going before some other high-earners. At some point I think this trend could start to reverse as more and more players either create as DL or switch to it. Teams seem to be stocking up on these positions more and more, and I think we’ll start to see some course-correction in the next few drafts.
The league really needed a strong receiver class, and I think this one could turn out to be a great one. Despite being pretty shallow, the amount of top receivers and TEs in this class will be a nice boon to the league as a lot of the older studs start getting deep into regression. Hopefully most of them can stick with it and help fill the receiver gap going forward.
That’ll do it for my first round summary! I might come back and review the 2nd round at some point in the future.
![[Image: 033p.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/Jn5rvcDt/033p.png)
