(S23) - PT2 - Draft Day

[Memento Mori]

I’ll reflect on the S22 NSFL Draft, where my player was drafted. I looked back at a media piece written by iStegosauruz prior to writing this, where he analysed the Mock Draft Point Task. 195 users completed the point task, and 103 of them projected my player, Brandon Booker, to be drafted in Round 1. Personally I knew from conversations I’d had with teams that I’d go in the first round, but I was unsure where in the first round and which team would be the one to take me.

Prior to the draft, I did something a little sneaky. I told Arizona, Austin, Philadelphia and Sarasota that they were in my top three draft destinations. I knew all four teams were interested in me, and while I hoped I ended up in Philadelphia, I would have been happy to be drafted by any of them. Arizona and Philadelphia both had high first-round picks (3rd, 4th, and 6th overall) while Sarasota had traded out of the first round and Austin had traded up to 1st – it being an open secret that they’d draft Steg’s player, Colt Mendoza. I was quietly confident that I’d go 3rd, 4th or 6th unless Sarasota or Austin engineered a trade back into the first round to draft me.

When Philadelphia picked Matt Cross 3rd overall, a part of me was worried that I’d be drafted before Philadelphia’s next pick. Thankfully for me, they won the bidding war for 4th overall and made me a Liberty player. Jumping from 35th overall in the DSFL draft (where I was the ninth cornerback taken) to 4th overall in the NSFL draft (where I was the second cornerback taken) was a nice feeling too. (285 words)