*Hit, Miss, or Meh?: Colorado Yeti

[YoungTB]

I'll be taking a look at every first round pick by the Colorado Yeti and giving them a draft grade of hit, miss, or meh. I'm looking at purely the player here and how they did, not the user and what they contributed to the LR or to the front office.

S1: With the third pick in the S1 draft, the Colorado Yeti select CB Phillipe Carter.

MISS. Spent only two seasons with the team before being traded to Arizona, and then signing in Las Vegas only a season later, only to be traded to Yellowknife to spend 2 seasons before ultimately retiring. In Carter’s rather short career, he had some peaks but was never able to set himself apart from other star DBs at the time like Lavelle or Delacour… not to mention that he was barely in Colorado.

S2: With the second pick in the S2 draft, the Colorado Yeti select DE Blaster Blade.

MISS. Spent just one season with Colorado before being traded to Las Vegas… and then to Arizona… and then to Yellowknife… before retiring after four seasons.

S3: With the first pick in the S3 draft, the Colorado Yeti select: DT Antonio Sandoval.

MEH. While he spent his entire eight-year career with the team unlike the other two first rounders, he only had a handful of years that he could be considered a solid DL piece. Otherwise, Sandoval was “just another guy” on a subpar defense.

S4: With the fourth pick in the S4 draft, the Colorado Yeti select: LB Haruki Ishigawa.

HIT. After being drafted, Ishigawa quickly became one of the league’s best linebackers. Ishigawa would spend almost his entire career in Colorado as a perennial pro bowler and a major contributor on the defensive side of the ball, becoming known as the “Tackle King” across the league, as he’d rack up 998 tackles in his long career, making him fourth on the tackle list.

S5: With the first pick in the S5 draft, the Colorado Yeti select: TE Carlito Crush.

MEH. For Colorado at least. Crush spent his years in a Yeti jersey as a decent TE that could get yards when the team needed them, but nothing stand-out. That is before he went to OCO and switched to a WR, where he would consistently be in the upper echelon of receivers in the league.

S5: With the second pick in the S5 draft, the Colorado Yeti select: CB Andre Bly Jr.

HIT. Bly would end up having a much bigger impact on the Yeti than his draft mate, Carlito Crush would have, as Bly would become one of the league’s best DBs and kick returners. He’d be the cornerstone of a talented Colorado secondary for nearly 5 seasons before being traded to PHI.

S6: With the third pick in the S6 draft, the Colorado Yeti select: WR Dwayne Aaron.

HIT. Aaron became one half of an excellent WR duo with Howard Miller. While Miller took up the spotlight, Aaron was the definition of consistency, one you could guarantee would get 1000 yards and 7 touchdowns a season. Who knows how he would have done as a WR1.

S7: With the first pick in the S7 draft, the Colorado Yeti select: WR Howard Miller.

MAJOR HIT. Miller would spend most of his career leading the league in receiving yards every season, evolving into a superb deep threat for the Yeti. One of the more underrated WRs in NSFL history, Miller was inarguably one of the best WRs in the league while wearing a Yeti uniform.

S7: With the fourth pick in the S7 NSFL Draft, the Colorado Yeti select: RB Mark Grau.

MISS. Grau would end up having only one season over 1000 yards before moving to YKW, where he would continue to be subpar as a RB.

S7: With the fifth pick in the S7 NSFL Draft, the Colorado Yeti select: LB Ryan Lefevre.

MISS. Lefevre would barely be a impact player for the Yeti on the defensive side and would end up being largely a depth player for most of his career. He’d be overshadowed by the LB whom would be picked 3 picks later by the Otters; Mason Brown.

S7: With the sixth pick in the S7 NSFL Draft, the Colorado Yeti select: CB Desta Danger.

Yet another MISS. Danger would go on to do very little in the secondary during his short career, his highest PD season would see him only racking up 14.

S7: With the seventh pick in the S7 NSFL Draft, the Colorado Yeti select: QB Ryan Applehort.

MISS. Applehort had some very bad season in the beginning of his career, but he started to figure it out and put up decent seasons in S9 and S10 where he was a solid starter. However, he’d ultimately move to Baltimore where he just couldn’t quite continue his production. Applehort would be the figurehead of the great Colorado drought of wins, which definitely hurt his reputation and the rest of his career.

S8: With the first pick in the S8 NSFL Draft, the Colorado Yeti select: LB Rickey Ramero.

MEH. Ramero is often considered a major bust when looking at the S8 draft, especially when you see the guys that went after him (William Harrison, Childish Gambino, Chad Pennington, Ben Horne, and Brock Weathers III, just to name a few.). But Ramero put up some decent seasons, however, definitely not what you want from your first overall pick. Ramero would spend his career as mainly a rotation LB before going to OCO and seeing a short renaissance in his career, before ultimately retiring in S14, ending off a complicated tenure in the NSFL.

S9: With the sixth pick in the S9 NSFL Draft, the Colorado Yeti select: CB Oskar Ludvig.

MISS. Ludvig had a very odd career. In his rookie year, Ludvig wasn’t a factor on the defensive side at all. The next season, he didn’t even receive starting time. The season after that however, S11, Ludvig broke out and lead the league in PDs and racked up 6 picks, even making the pro bowl. The very next season though, Ludvig would fall off the face of the earth and amass just 3 tackles. That’s it. Ludvig now is a bench player and receives very little playing time. This is a miss, though I wonder what his career would look like if he actually played.

S9: With the seventh pick in the S9 NSFL Draft, the Colorado Yeti select: S Alexandre Thibault.

MISS. Thibault did very little to justify his draft position and could only be summed up as a depth player for the Yeti. Thibault had a very short career and would ultimately retire in S12.

S10: No picks in the first round

S11: No picks in the first round

S12: With the fifth pick in the S12 NSFL Draft, the Colorado Yeti select: WR James Bishop.

HIT. Bishop has shaped into a solid WR for the Yeti. While he’s been a bit inconsistent with his yardage, leading the league in receiving yards in S15 to dropping down to 10th most yardage in S16, Bishop is still developing and will most likely have a great career.

S13: No picks in the first round

S14: No picks in the first round

S15: No picks in the first round

S16: With the 10th pick in the S16 NSFL Draft, the Colorado Yeti select: TE Joshua Palmer.

MEH. Palmer has yet to prove to the league why he was picked number 10, but has shown promise as a utility player, racking up 19 pancakes along with 313 receiving yards. If used right, Palmer could turn out to be a key role player in the Yeti system.

Summary: 5 hits, 4 mehs, 7 misses, 5 N/A.

Colorado hasn’t had the best luck with the draft throughout the history of the NSFL. While they have drafted some great players in Miller, Ishigawa, Bly Jr., and Aaron, the S7 stretch of busts have really hurt them. The sub-par players outweigh the greats, as the Yeti continue to experience mediocrity.

The Yeti drafted DT Bubba Thumper with the second pick in S17.

Did I get anything wrong? Any suggestions of what I should add? Let me know. I plan on doing this type of article for every team.