(S28) PT 3 - What If?

[qWest]

In the S22 ISFL Draft, there were four high profile running back prospects on everyone's minds as they put together mock drafts and discussed the possible openings. At the clear number one spot among the four was White Goodman (gucci), a recreate that had a clear TPE advantage from creating at the trade dealine. After that it was a close race between r/NFL recruits Acura Skyline (Skyline), Kichwa Jones (howsour), and Tatsu Nakamura (qWest). Goodman would come off the board at the beginning of the 2nd round as newcomer Honolulu looked to add an offensive centerpoint for the future. The remaining three had to wait until the 4th round, where they all came of the board in rapid succession. First off the board was Kichwa Jones to Austin at 42 overall, with Nakamura and Skyline going 46 and 47 overall to Orange County and Yellowknife respectively. It is a big "what if?" that I often consider as to how different the league might be if those three had been drafted in another order, or if those teams had instead waited to strike on late round gems Richard Gilbert and Jamar Lackson. While Kichwa turned out to be a bust for the Copperheads over time, they recovered quickly by picking up Zoe Watts in S24. Skyline has done amazing things as a part of Yellowknife and was a part of their championship winning rosters in S23 and S26, but he hasn't quite made his mark statistically and has stagnated late in his career. For Nakamura, he would make it to the Ultimus his rookie season and would be a consistent top 5 RB before eventually demanding a trade from the Otters, leading Orange County to scramble to fill that role in the offense and to miss the playoffs for the first time ever. Perhaps Orange County may have not only kept the streak alive had they selected Skyline instead, but maybe they also could have used his championship winning presence to take home that trophy in S22? And perhaps the S26 MVP may have been taken from Yellowknife's Colby Jack and instead gone to the ball-hogging Nakamura had they picked him up after Skyline went to Orange County in our magical IS"if"L. Not to mention Austin might have been able to steal San Jose's magic Ultimus winning beans had they found late round gem Jamar Lackson instead of blowing the pick of Kichwa Jones. What if?