(S23) - PT2 - Draft Day

[PMoney]

Going into my NSFL draft I had no idea where I was going. DE was a position of need for a few teams so some people had mocked me in the first 3 rounds or so but I really wasn’t bothered by how high I went. Interviews with all the teams that had scouted me had gone fairly well but there were a handful that seemed to show more interest in me. Even still I had no real idea as S22 was such a large class that there were probably 10 rounds of good picks. My only real aim was to not drop from my DSFL draft position at 85, but I felt I was probably just about safe from that as a basically max earner.

However, when it approached draft stream time, the Yellowknife twitter account started interacting with me. While I wasn’t certain still, I had an idea that I might end up at Yellowknife, which was good news for me as they were one of my top teams from the scouting process. As the draft unfolded, Yellowknife took James Cho, one of the top DE’s. Cho is an absolute beast and should have gone far earlier but I was then unsure if YKW would take another DE. However, near the end of the 5th round I did indeed end up in Yellowknife, much to my delight. I was happy where I went as we had 4 rounds before myself of top quality players that we might have missed out on if I had been selected earlier. James Cho has made playing on the DL much easier, especially alongside high performing veterans in Nero Alexander and Giannis Kroustis.

[DrChops]

Upon first entering the league, I was not sure how things worked so everything was a surprise to me. Early on, my TPE was fairly low because I was not actively gaining TPE so I was at the very bottom of most DSFL draft boards. I had some contact with DSFL GMs through the messenger, but really had no indication of what was going to happen come draft night. Every team looked great to me, so I was open to joining every team. I watched the first few rounds, but quickly zoomed out and started focusing on something else. I think it was round 7 or 8, I finally saw my name get called by the Portland Pythons, a team that didn't even message me before hand. I was sent a discord invite to their team server and everything went great.

As I was a little bit more experience with the league I was more excited for the NSFL draft. I had some good conversations with a few of the GMs and was pumped to see where I ended up. Since the DSFL draft, I had been updating regularly, so I was ranked higher on NSFL boards than I was for the DSFL draft, so I was expecting to go a little bit higher. At the time, I think I had about 150ish TPE, so I was not going to be a first round pick, but I figured I would atleast go in round 6 or 7. I went in round 10, but I did fall to the reigning champs, the New Orleans Second Line, the team that I wanted through the whole process, so it all worked out in the end.

[Tesla]

I am going to do this point task in my meta style for the sake of simplicity and going to address the DSFL draft that I was involved in as I believe everyone knew where I was going to be drafted come the NSFL draft.

I cannot say I honestly expected go high in the DSFL draft as I have anxiety that told me I was going to fall despite my best efforts. Although I knew there were general managers and war room members that were aware of my interest in the league after I posted my 16.8 thousand words of scouting reports before the draft. My hope was to go in the first two rounds, but I did not expect it to go that well for me. Although any time I voiced that there were people who supported me which I greatly appreciated.

I had posted before the draft that I hoped to go to Norfolk or Kansas City as I got along best with their general managers upon my entry to the league, however I do not think I ruled out any teams as a possibility. There were only two teams I did not want to go to for quite different reasons, as one irritated me with a scouting question, and the other did not scout Magnus at all. Outside of that though I would say I had productive talks with at least five of the teams as one other team did not get back to me after putting out a form to fill out to all the rookies.

Not sure if it would reach the level of shock, but I was definitely pleasantly surprised to be taken tenth overall. I do remember the day before the draft a mock draft was released that projected Magnus at ninth overall to one of the two teams I did not want to go to which had me anxious before the draft. Honestly I was thrilled to have fallen that one extra spot to my preferred destination.

Genuinely given some of the league events that have happened since then I cannot overstate how beneficial for my growth going to Norfolk has been. The people that I got to meet through that team are a big reason of why I am as invested in this league as I am, and by extension are why Magnus has been and will continue to be a max earner. However just in regards to how it impacted Magnus specifically I can say that if not for my presence in the Norfolk locker room he probably would not have been drafted as high as second overall come the NSFL draft. Despite my self-aggrandizing in articles I readily admit that playing a defensive tackle with no sim experience that I do not bring much of anything to the table outside of locker room contributions and bank balance. Without a team being both aware and interested in that my player would never go that high. Thankfully for me there are quite a few general managers who are aware of that now and so I have gone top ten in all three sim league drafts that I have been involved in thus far.

This was a fun one and I have to say it made me wonder what would have happened if Norfolk passed on me at ten. However looking at the draft I probably still end up in Norfolk at pick fourteen as Portland did not show any interest in me, and I honestly do not see Kansas City grabbing another defensive tackle in the first two rounds. I am happy with how things turned out though and would not have it any other way.

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[Confictional]

Being drafted into the league is honestly one of the best experiences I will never forget when joining this simulation league. When getting scouted by GMs, and scouters for the teams in the DSFL, the interviewing process was very fun and at times could be kind of repetitive, but I still enjoyed answering their questions. During those times when getting interviewed, I met some new and great people along the way. The way I managed to meet those members, was from joining other team's locker rooms. Anyways, there was one interview that stood out out of all of them. It was my interview with the Norfolk Seawolves. The interest Norfolk had for me for playing them was incredible. The interview I had with them went smoothly as possible, and after being done with the interview, I just had a great feeling that I was going to be drafted by them. I was kinda shocked that I was drafted with the 30th pick, because I thought I would go a little lower, but I am happy that I was chosen by Norfolk. The draft impacted my player because it made my player to work even harder, and help Norfolk to gain their success.

[TeyonSchavari]

PBE PT

[puolivalmiste]

As I initially joined just after draft had started I didn't get to be drafted to DSFL. Though this was not really told me in any way so I spent few days in the dark wondering what is happening and how I might get to join a team, specially coming from SHL where you get to negotiate with teams and pick who you sign with I was surprised to be taken from waivers by Norfolk.

As I had joined late and saved my money for training instead of using it on equipment, which I also openly told to every scout that was messaging me, my expectations for NSFL draft were not too high. Because of that I had not really checked TPE tracker or stuff like that to get an idea where I might stand compared to rest of the draft class. I didn't ask and really had no idea for what picks scouts might have been scouting me for though I expected it to be quite late as I joined late.

Draft day for me wasn't super special as I live in Finland and timing of the draft couldn't really have been any worse for me, so there was no suspension about where I might go or at what pick, it was just waking up to see that Sarasota had taken me at 30, which was higher than I expected but still withing range I could have imagined so didn't really shock me or anything.

[toivo]

SHL PT

[ForSucksFake]

You're asking the wrong person to talk about their draft experience. Let's start with my DSFL draft. I was part of the legendarily large S22 class. Well over 200 players were eagerly awaiting hearing their name being called. I sat and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. No joke. I remember watching the entire draft stream wondering if I'd ever get picked up. I was pick 208 out of around 250. But I think I've turned it around. I was able to get picked nearly 100 spots earlier the next season in the NSFL Draft at pick 91. I've found the draft to be the most exciting part of the year, even more than the playoffs. You get to hear what some of the league's voices think about players both new and returning. That's when you realize people notice what you do even if you don't realize it. Some people take to the league early and become quality earners. Some people get jobs pretty quickly. Others are well-liked for their personality on display in the Discord servers. Watching drafts as a "veteran" user have become a lot of fun. Now that i know who people and teams are, I can enjoy the happiness of others getting drafted and teams getting their guys. I think the draft is also more fun than the playoffs because it isn't over in the blink of an eye like games are. There's real storyline to it and I love it.

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[Skyline]

When I was drafted in the DSFL I did not have particularly high expectations. I was brand new to simulation leagues, having never participated in one before, and was just excited to be a part of what was going on. I had a relatively high TPE, and there was a reasonable amount of need at the running back position, so I was fortunately drafted in the fourth round to the London Royals, making Acura Skyline the first ever RB1 for the British expansion franchise. After a terrific season in the DSFL winning rookie of the year, offensive player of the year, and running back of the year, I had high expectations going into the NSFL draft. I was (and still am) a max earner and the sim clearly loved my build, and I had a pretty tremendous amount of TPE. I expected to be a late second, early third round pick, with a puncher’s chance of making it in the first round. However, on the actual draft day, I was pretty shocked to see pick after pick go by without Acura Skyline’s name being called. A ton of players with less TPE went before me, but I justified that by the fact that RBs do not get a lot of love in the NSFL draft. However, When three RBs were picked before me, I was shocked. I was second in TPE out of RBs, and objectively the best sim performer of the bunch. I was thrilled to land in Yellowknife (my first choice), but disappointed at where I was picked. Anyway, it looks like it worked out. I think we’re going to the Ultimus this year.

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[mithrandir]

The S22 NSFL draft was the single biggest and most exciting draft in league history. With a record class of over 250 people, the results of this draft affected draftees and league veterans alike, as nailing this draft would set the team up for success in the future. I had previously been selected 28th overall in the DSFL draft, the 4th pick of the 4th round, which would be equivalent to the 4th pick in the 3rd round in the 12-team NSFL. I hoped that I could at least place as well in this draft as I had in the last. I was doubtful that that would be the case, though, as leading up to the draft, I had been projected by nearly every mock draft as a fourth or fifth rounder. This was due to two main factors: first, I missed some TPE opportunities early on that meant that many other players had more than I did. Second, I was in an absolutely loaded cornerback class that had multiple first round prospects. I wrote some good media leading up to the draft, and I saw myself climbing into the 3rd round in mock drafts, and even late into the second in one. I was really hoping to land in New Orleans with my good friend Jay_Doctor, but NOLA already had a loaded secondary. Additionally, they did not have any picks in the third round, and I didn't think I would be taken as early as 24th or as late as 48th, so I thought that I would probably go elsewhere. It seemed that everyone had NOLA's first round picks pegged as surefire things: Magnus Rikiya would go 2nd overall and Ben Slothlisberger 12th overall. To everyone's amazement, NOLA drafted me instead with the 12th overall pick! When I saw that, my heart pounded in my chest and I was shocked but incredibly happy. Not only did I get taken with a first round pick, which not a single person had predicted in their mock draft, but I was taken by the team I most wanted to go to. I am incredibly grateful to TomHanks and IsaStarcrossed for selecting me and it was the definitive highlight of my sim league experience so far.