09-26-2019, 09:21 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-31-2019, 08:13 AM by IsaStarcrossed.)
66423 words, ready to be graded.
Introduction
Hi guys, IsaStarcrossed here. I got this crazy idea in my head about a week and a half ago to do a massive predraft article for this incredibly class. I had no idea how I would do it or where I would even begin, so I started plotting out some ideas. Finally, I decided the best way to do it would be to do a mock that would have some form of backing to it. The only way I knew to do that was by taking a dive into all the NSFL rosters and seeing what they needed and what they didn’t. It helped me get familiar with the rosters and at the end of the day, the more I learned the more I got confused with my mock. At one point I thought I had a solid idea of where people would go in the draft based off of activity and earnings. After seeing actual team needs, it made things much more confusing because best player available doesn’t always mean best player for the team. It was a struggle, but I think I put together something respectable that everyone can enjoy. Let's get into it!”
Quick disclaimers. Some of the TPE numbers for NSFL rosters will be off. I started writing this Wednesday September 17th. I wasn’t going to go back and change all the numbers for one update. The active/inactive may be inaccurate. I checked every profile and if they had been logged in within two weeks, I considered them to still be active. Any longer than two weeks, I considered them inactive. Also this offseason has been insane with trades and retirements and roster swaps. I couldn’t keep going back and changing things every time something new pops up. Also I am fully aware that some guys play out of position, I’m also fully aware that some guys may change roles from week to week, but without an in depth analysis of every game this season I can’t really cover that. My coverage strictly sticks to their roster designation, so obviously some of the roster analysis will be wrong because of it.
Team Roster Reviews
New Orleans Second Line
Quarterback
JuOSu aka Stan Francisco S14 - 691 TPE - Active - Stan Francisco is just now entering his prime as he enters his fifth year of play. He won’t start regression until the S21 season and still has plenty of time to get better on this squad as he leads them for the foreseeable future. With his current TPE gains, I could see Francisco holding off until the end of S23 before considering retirement which gives him at least another six full seasons with the Second Line. In S16, Francisco completed 54.7 percent of his passes for 2711 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions which resulted in a 75.7 quarterback rating on the season. This season, he saw himself complete 55.9 percent of his passes for 3483 yards, 15 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions for an 84.5 quarterback rating. There was clear improvement from season to season and I think you’ll see that trend continue.
Positional Need Grade: F - Stan Francisco will be the man under center for this team for at least another six full seasons before heading off into the sunset. This team doesn’t even need to consider looking for a developmental replacement until the S21 draft at the earliest and I think they could even put it off until S22. Francisco isn’t going anywhere and there is zero priority on quarterback for this team going into the draft.
Running Back
TomHanks aka Forrest Gump S15 - 687 TPE - Active - Forrest Gump is already one of the best running backs in the league despite splitting touches with Tyler Swift. He’s just now entering his fourth season and won’t see regression start to impact him until S22. His TPE gains have been insane and if he continues his current rate, I think Gump could potentially hold off a real drop in production until S25. The S16 campaign saw Gump rack up 1331 all purpose yards and nine touchdowns for New Orleans. This season saw him go for 1456 yards and 12 touchdowns. Steady improvement means everything in the league and he’s just going to get better. This guy is going to be a feature back for a long time to come.
BayleyIsland aka Tyler Swift S13 - 604 TPE - Inactive - Tyler Swift is the secondary guy in New Orleans and while he has been splitting carries with Gump, I think that might be changing in the near future. He’s entering his sixth season and will see regression in S20. Unfortunately, he’s also recently gone inactive and so I believe he only has three more seasons at most of production and could be gone in before the start of S22. Swift managed 1352 all purpose yards and 12 touchdowns in S16 when he was still active. This season saw him manage 1316 all purpose yards and only 10 scores. He saw his workload slightly reduced and still had similar numbers. I think this is about what we can expect from him for the rest of his career unless New Orleans wants to continue moving him out of the game plan.
Positional Need Grade: F - Forrest Gump is going to be an absolute stud in this league for the foreseeable future. He’s a top earner and a young player with a long career of blowing defenses up ahead of him. He will probably be the feature guy on this team until at least after the S23 season when regression really starts to settle in and even then he should provide pretty lofty numbers as a backup. As for Tyler Swift? 604 TPE is really, really good for a backup guy and for some teams could slot in as their feature. Obviously he is inactive and once he starts regression, they’ll need to seriously consider his replacement. That isn’t for another five seasons though and I think it's pretty clear the running back situation in New Orleans is locked down for a long while and this is a position they shouldn’t even consider as they plot out their draft board.
Wide Receiver
majesiu aka Vladimir Fyodorovich S07 - 678 TPE - Active - Vladimir Fyodorovich has been a great player in this league for a long time and is still showing a fair bit of production in the league. That said, his peak passed a long time ago and we’re seeing him sink deep into regression. He actually got hit in S14 for the first time and he is still ticking on. He hasn’t announced his retirement yet as he enters his 12th season in this league, but you have to imagine it is coming soon. He may drag it out one or two more seasons, but I don’t see him in the league in S20. In his S16 campaign, Fyodorovich saw himself catch 64 passes for 1004 yards and six touchdowns. He followed that up by catching 64 passes for 1140 yards and 10 scores this season. Despite having the same catch numbers, Fyodorovich has found a way to make the most of his opportunities in S17. He’s still not showing decline at this point, so perhaps he goes for one more before deciding to step out on top.
toivo aka Bona’beri Jones S13 - 491 TPE - Active - Bona’beri Jones is just about to hit is stride. He’s not been a top trainer, but he has been consistent through the seasons and is about to head into his sixth. This is peak time for most players and I don’t think Jones will be any different. He will see his first hints of regression as S20 begins and he still has a bit of time to get ready for that. Currently though, I don’t see him fighting it for more than a couple and he’ll likely hang his cleats up by S22’s end. Jones caught 51 catches for 742 yards and four touchdowns in S16. This last campaign saw him catch 54 balls for 902 yards and a single score. As he progresses, Francisco as starting to trust him more as he finds a way to make bigger and bigger plays. He struggled to find the end zone this season, but as he improves I think his scoring opportunities increase.
KillaScrilla aka Action Jackson S17 - 282 TPE - Active - Action Jackson is new to the block as a S17 rookie. He’s been training well and advancing at a decent rate. He has at least another season before he hits his prime, but I fully believe he will begin making solid contributions to this roster as early as S18. He’s going to be a long time player in this league and won’t be seeing regression until S24. With his current earnings, it may be the start of S26 or S27 before he considers retiring. New Orleans has this one in for the long haul if they can retain him. His rookie season saw him catch 36 passes for 294 yards and a score. These weren’t bad numbers for a young player who came into a roster already set at the position. As Fyodorovich declines, Jackson should get more opportunities to shine.
Positional Need Grade: D - Vladimir Fyodorovich is on the decline and might have another season, two at the most left playing in the NSFL. Luckily for New Orleans, they have two guys who should be able to step up and fill the void. Bona’beri Jones has shown improvement from season to season and will likely shine as the number one guy for a couple of seasons here. Meanwhile, Action Jackson looks to be developing into a young star and should start having some pretty big impact for this team. They are mostly set at this position until Jones starts regression in S20. If they wanted to think ahead and get a guy on the roster to start developing to take Jones’ place much like they did for Fyodorovich when they picked Jackson, they might grab a guy here. That said, I don’t think it is a huge priority for this team and I think they ignore the position unless the right guy falls into their lap at the right time.
Tight End
None. Zero. Zilch.
Positional Need Grade: C - This New Orleans squad doesn’t have a single tight end on their squad. Not a single one rostered. Fortunately for them, it isn’t a pressing concern. The teams that really use their tight ends usually have them in a receiver capacity as more of a big slot guy to make mismatches. New Orleans has the luxury of their second guy at running back being a 604 TPE playmaker. If they wanted to reduce the load on their backfield and help to distribute endurance a bit more widely, they might look to make a pick here. Again, not even remotely a priority for this team right now unless the right player comes along.
Defensive Line
Phobospwns aka Lo Rax S10 - 588 TPE - Inactive - Lo Rax will be entering his ninth season and his second season of regression. He is no longer earning and hasn’t announced retirement either, so there is a chance regression hits him in a hard and unpredictable way heading into S18. He may still find some production for another season or two, but his drop off now will likely be rapid once his tenth season hits in S19. In S16, Lo Rax was one of the best run stuffers in the entire league as he brought in 37 tackles, 18 tackles for a loss, and five sacks. He was an unstoppable monster who lived in his opponents’ backfields. This season saw him step back a bit as he managed just 23 tackles, only seven tackles for a loss, and three sacks. He fell back across the board as it seems regression did take a bit of a toll on him. He still had his impact plays sprinkled in, but I don’t know how much longer he keeps this up.
Buttersqauch101 aka Brayden Ennis S17 - 328 TPE - Active - Brayden Ennis is one of the best training earners in the S17 class. He’s at a position of need for most teams, is young, and should be entering next season with a solid chance of producing if his numbers keep improving. He should be in this league for a long time with regression not beginning until S24 and there being a good chance that he holds off regression until S27 if he has a mind to. A decade of solid defensive tackle play is something this league always needs. His rookie season didn’t see him get involved too much as his 21 tackles and three sacks didn’t scream impact, but he should develop well as he goes forward. I think he has a chance to have a bigger impact in S18 and I can’t wait to see what he can do.
CoachEaux aka Thomas Clark S12 - 125 TPE - Inactive - Thomas Clark will see his first hit of regression in S19, but he hasn’t really earned much to speak of as it is. They may keep him as a role filler this season at best. He’s inactive, isn’t showing any signs of progress, and chances are he will not be on this roster by the time S19 regression cuts hit. It is unfortunate for New Orleans as he continues to find ways to produce. His 31 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, and single sack in S16 were decent for an inactive. Then in S17 he managed 28 tackles, nine tackles for a loss, and another sack to show that his production is at least consistent. It will sting a little to lose that when S19 kicks off.
MarneMauler99 aka Franklin Townsend S11 - 94 TPE - Inactive - Franklin Townsend will enter regression season after a long career of doing absolutely nothing. Regression should impact what little bit of skill he has and at this point he would be better replaced by a completely inactive rookie. The cuts should be enough to send him to retirement as we see him exit the league. He shouldn’t be too hard to replace. He had 31 tackles and three sacks in S16 and did even worse this season with his 26 tackles and single sack. Hopefully this Second Line squad finds an upgrade for him.
Positional Need Grade: A - Outside of Brayden Ennis, this defensive line is old, inactive, and absolutely on the decline. They might be able to squeeze a couple of more productive seasons out of Lo Rax, but regression is about to start tearing him to pieces. Then you look at Thomas Clark and Franklin Townsend and neither of these guys were really playmakers in the first place. Now facing regression, one is going to retire and the other will be gone next season. This team is in desperate need for any and defensive linemen they can get their hands on and there are only so many to go around.
Linebacker
slothfacekilla aka Johnny Slothface S15 - 674 TPE - Active - Johnny Slothface is a young player heading into the prime of his career. This will be his fourth season he is heading into and he’s already been building a pretty nice career for himself. He won’t be seeing potential decline until S22 and with the way he’s been training, it could be as far off as the end of S25 before he’s looking into retirement. Slothface had a pretty productive S16 as a first year starter with his 90 tackles, two tackles for a loss, and eight sacks. That wasn’t good enough for him though as he decided to expand on his game in S17. 93 tackles, eight sacks, an interception return for a touchdown, and 16 pass defenses shows his determination to work on his craft as he became essential in pass coverage this season. We should see him steadily improve and I think this is a face that should be sticking around for a while.
terriblehippo aka Quenton Bode S15 - 634 TPE - Active - Quenton Bode was drafted in the same draft as Slothface. He makes up the second part of a young, talented linebacker duo for the Second Line. Like Slothface, he has been consistent with his training and when his S22 regression comes in he shouldn’t see much of a step back. I don’t know that I see him putting off retirement quite as long, but if we see him playing in S24 I wouldn’t be surprised at all. While Slothface has become their swiss army knife, Bode has become a sideline to sideline defender for New Orleans. He showed his explosiveness and range in S16 when he brought in 108 tackles, two tackles for a loss, two sacks, and three pass defenses. This season we saw him follow that up by leading the league in tackles 125 while also grabbing a sack and three pass defenses. He is their big play insurance in the middle of the field and so far he’s played his part. New Orleans should enjoy high level play for a while yet from this guy.
Positional Need Grade: F - Most teams in the league only run two linebacker sets on most occasions as a 4-2-5 has become a mainstay for most lineups. The Second Line are blessed with having two of the best young linebackers in the entire NSFL. Johnny Slothface is a big play guy who focuses on making splashes that can completely end drives. Pass rush or pass coverage, he really finds a way to contribute all over the field. Quenton Bode is a more reliable and consistent sideline to sideline tackling machine. No matter what is going on, he always finds himself around to ball to make a play. Somehow they managed to snag both of these guys in the S15 draft and both of them are towards the top of earning potential for their class. These guys make a wicked one two punch that will be hard to rival in the NSFL. I can’t see New Orleans needing a guy at linebacker for at least six seasons now.
Cornerback
BrewCrew aka Deon Taylor S15 - 602 TPE - Active - Deon Taylor is another one of these S15 guys entering their prime for New Orleans. They have a lot of key players who should be hitting their golden point at almost the same time and Taylor is in that window. He will hit his regression window in S22, but he’s another high earner who can likely fight it for at least a couple seasons and make it to to the start of S24 before replacements start being considered. Taylor has proven himself to at least be consistent in the secondary for New Orleans. Last season saw him manage 59 tackles, three interceptions, and 20 pass defenses as he became an elite coverage guy. This season saw him follow it up with 72 tackles, two interceptions, and 20 pass defenses as he almost mirrored what he did a year ago. If he can stay consistent as he and the rest of this young defense develops, he should have a lot more opportunities to make plays in the future.
RaiderNation aka Jordan Andrews S17 - 381 TPE - Active - Andrews has turned out to be the highest earning trainer in all of the S17 class. He’s been an absolute stud this season and he should only get better as he goes forward. He won’t see regression until S24, but at his current rate of earning I could see him playing a consistent role clear through S27 if that is what he decided. Andrews saw himself become an explosive playmaker in his rookie season, imposing his way into the top 10 pass defenders in just his first year. He brought it 59 tackles, three interceptions, and 19 pass defenses this season. This is with him just starting out. Andrews should quickly develop into a star.
royalc90 aka Willie Woodson S17 - 164 TPE - Inactive - Willie Woodson is one of those guys who looked solid for a while and then went mostly inactive after being drafted. He hasn’t really been earning and there are guys coming in from S18 that are already better than he is right now. His regression won’t start until S24, so he may be left on the roster for a while. I just don’t see him making much impact in the future and I don’t think he survives the regression cut in S24. Woodson was used more at the line in run support for New Orleans in his rookie season as he claimed 69 tackles, two tackles for a loss, and only eight pass defenses. I think this role will remain what he does if he stays on this roster as currently I think he might get exposed in coverage.
Positional Need Grade: C - New Orleans is pretty much set in their number one and two guys right now at cornerback. Deon Taylor is a stud defender they picked up in the S15 draft who has been a solid earner. He hasn’t been at the top, but he’s done more than enough to potentially hit maximum effectiveness within the next season or two. They have this guy wrapped up for another five years minimum, so that is plenty of time for him to make plays in this defense. Then they picked up rookie Jordan Andrews from the S17 draft and that dude has been absolutely insane. He’s a max earner who has worked himself to the bone to stay at the top of his game and he’s shown no signs of slowing down. With these two guys, they’ll at least have the sidelines locked down for a long time to come. Unfortunately teams need five defensive backs and that is where their third corner comes into question. Willie Woodson is another rookie they picked up in S17, but he has gone inactive and completely stopped earning. He’s stalled at 164 TPE and I can’t see him having much impact in the future. If New Orleans wants to upgrade at an impact position, this might be a good place to look.
Safety
Mongoose87 aka William H. Harrison S08 - 404 TPE - Inactive - William Harrison is a long time player in this league and he will be entering his 11th season as S18 arrives. He’s gone inactive and is no longer producing a way to fight his regression as he heads into his fourth year of skill reduction. It will hit hard, but I think he can still be a marginal player for a couple more seasons on this team and make an exit before S20. It will be a swift decline for a pretty decent all around safety. In S16 we saw him go for 75 tackles, two tackles for a loss, five sacks, seven interceptions, and seven pass defenses. We honestly didn’t see too much decline in a S17 campaign that saw 90 tackles, six sacks, four interceptions, and 10 pass defenses. Regression has been kind to him and I hope we can see him continue to make big plays, but he can only keep it up for so long.
Grapehead aka Damien Arnold S10 - 224 TPE - Inactive - Damien Arnold is entering this season ready to be slapped down by regression for the first time. He’ll get to battle with this backwards conflict for the S18 campaign, but his inactivity won’t do him any favors. I’m not sure how hard the regression hits, but I’m not sure he remains on the team beyond S19. Arnold has been used in a variety of ways so far for this team. In S16 he did a little bit of everything with his 65 tackles, one tackle for a loss, one sack, two interceptions, and four pass defenses. S17 saw similar numbers with 65 tackles, two tackles for a loss, one sack, one interception, and two passes defended. He isn’t a huge playmaker, but he shows up from time to time. Luckily, his production should be fairly easy to replace for New Orleans.
Whatistheinternet aka Jeff Jefferson IV S12 - 182 TPE - Inactive - Jeff Jefferson is another player that has fallen to inactivity. While he might contribute this season, S19 is going to be his first confrontation with regression and he doesn’t have much here to regress. I don’t know if Jefferson even has a chance to battle it out in that campaign, but I he won’t be able to remain on the roster past S20. Fortunately for New Orleans, they already prepared for this eventuality. After S16 which saw him have a large impact with 100 tackles, a sack, four interceptions, and 10 pass defenses you would think he would be a hard replacement. They almost completely eliminated his snap count in S17. Two tackles and a single pass defense is all he managed in the season. New Orleans is ready to move on.
Positional Need Grade: A - The safety position looks absolutely bleak in New Orleans. All three guys they have on the roster are older players who have either hit regression or will be hitting regression after this season. To cap it off, all three guys are also inactive, will no longer be earning, and won’t fight regression at all. William H. Harrison should see a massive drop this season as he heads into a big season of regression, Damien Arnold should see what little skill he has diminish, and Jeff Jefferson will likely be out of the league before S19 even kicks off depending on his own regression. This is an ugly spot for the Second Line and somewhere that they should absolutely be looking to upgrade in this draft.
Kicker/Punter
39alaska39 aka Alex Frost S13 - 141 TPE - Active - Alex Frost is a rare active kicker in this league. He isn’t a huge earner, but he at least checks in and gets involved from time to time. His first dance with regression will be in S20, so I think he has at least three more seasons of contribution to this team if he gets in a bit more training. S21 kickoff will probably be the last we see from him in this league as retirement takes him. Frost so far has been a fairly middle of the back kicker in this league. His S16 campaign saw him have an 80 percent success in field goal tries and 94.3 percent success in extra points. He followed that up with marginal improvement in S17 with his 88.5 percent success rate in field goal tries and 93.8 percent success in extra points. He should continue to develop a bit more and continue doing just enough that New Orleans won’t be in a hurry to replace him.
Positional Need Grade: D - Kicker isn’t a huge priority for any team and Frost has been fairly consistent and shown growth on this New Orleans roster. He’s not the best kicker around, but it can be hard to find much improvement over what Frost offers. If they can find a replacement, great. If not, they shouldn’t go out of their way to improve on something that isn’t in terrible shape.
Overall Roster Review
I feel like this team is soldly set up for the future. They currently have 11 active players on their roster and eight inactives. Six of their inactive players were about to hit regression and exit the team anyways while eight of their actives are young players at key positions. They make up a very solid core for this team going forward. 10 of their players will retire or enter regression before the 2020 season starts, but they have nine guys that should anchor this team for the foreseeable future as they build a pretty tough looking team. This team has two first round picks and only two truly glaring holes. Defensive line and safety. If they can solidify either position with their five picks in the first three rounds of this draft, I think teams should really start getting nervous about facing a rather stacked roster going forward.
Philadelphia Liberty
Quarterback
enigmatic aka Adriana Falconi S10 - 985 TPE - Active - Adriana Falconi is the star attraction of the Philadelphia Liberty franchise. That said, she had her first brush with regression this past season and she did see a clear decline in her ability to carry the team on her back. She hasn’t made any sort of retirement announcements yet as S18 rapidly approaches, but after taking a second regression hit it can’t be too far away now as her ninth season begins. In S16 she had an incredible year. She completed 58.4 percent of her passes for 3693 yards, 36 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. Her season quarterback rating was 95.2 and she basically strapped this Liberty team to her back and carried them to the championship game. Unfortunately she took a pretty solid step back in the S17 compain. She had a 56.8 percent completion rating for 3322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Her 82 quarterback rating on the season was one of the worst in the league and it really went to show how far backwards she fell. I don’t know how much of it was her regression or how much of it was the team’s. Either way it has to be on her mind. This may be the last campaign we see Falconi embark on and I hope it is a magical one.
Positional Need Grade: A - Adriana Falconi is there. The regression hit and she definitely saw the decline in her on the field abilities. The longer Falconi pushes this, the worse it is going to get for her. I don’t know how long a competitor like Falconi can let that happen. There seems to be no heir apparent in Philadelphia and when Falconi is gone, I think a massive void will be left on the team. She’s a leader and one of the best players on the team and it’s a bit baffling to think of what will happen when Philadelphia can’t rely on her anymore. They might have her for another season. They might have her for two. I just don’t see them having her for three. You can’t just throw a rookie to the wolves without development and I don’t think now would be the worst time to look for someone to start nurturing for the role behind center.
Running Back
YoungTB aka Marquise Brown S09 - 725 TPE - Active - Marquise Brown has been in this league for a long time. This past week we saw him reach a massive milestone in his career and some thought the retirement announcements might follow. Facing down a date with his third season of regression can’t be exciting, but he hasn’t yet decided to hang up his cleats. He looks like he wants to give it one more spin even after a bit of a down year for him. The team can always use a veteran presence if he does play in his 10th season, but I’m pretty sure we don’t see him play in S19. Much of that has to do with the drop in production he’s begun to see. He went from a S16 campaign that saw him put together 1409 all purpose yards and 15 touchdowns into a S17 trail that only amounted to 1109 all purpose yards and seven touchdowns. It wasn’t a complete collapse of a season, but it was a noticeable drop. I’m not too sure how many more hits he can take and keep on going.
Beebob aka Farley Hank S15 - 428 TPE - Active - Farley Hank is an upcoming star in Philadelphia. Since being drafted in S15, he has been the backup to Marquise Brown. He’s continued to work and grind and now that he’s continued to progress, he may be a short season away from taking over the reigns as a feature guy for this franchise. He still has until S22 before regression starts to take over and he could easily fight until the beginning of S24. He might see a good five years of workhorse games before Philadelphia replaces him as long as he can produce. Some questions about that ability may have come up this past season as he saw his production drop just a bit. After amassing 807 yards and five touchdowns in S16, we saw him slip down to 675 yards and only four scores in S17. He did see a reduction in his total touches as he wasn’t as active in the game plan, but he really seemed to struggle to maximize the touches he did get. He should be able to improve on that as he develops and fall into a lead back role nicely in the future.
Positional Need Grade: B - Philadelphia likely has their feature guy of the foreseeable future in Farley Hank. That said, the league seems to run a running back by committee very well across the board. It is one of the most explosive ways for offenses to play and if you don’t have two solid guys at the position, you’re likely behind the curve. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, Marquise Brown is getting up there in age. If he plays in S18, it will be his 11th season in the NSFL. He has been on the grind for a long time and he is reaching for some of the all time records. I’m not sure how much longer his body holds out, but realistically Philadelphia should be looking into a replacement for Brown. Picking up someone in this draft and letting them develop for a season before replacing Brown might be their ideal situation.
Wide Receiver
JVMjrDOT aka Jordan von Matt S10 - 774 TPE - Inactive - Jordan von Matt tangoed with regression for his first time in S17 and it hit him like a ton of bricks. The star receiver has not had an ideal year and now that he is inactive, I don’t see it changing in the near future. Philadelphia might be able to milk another couple years out of him, but I expect him to be virtually wasted away by the time the S20 campaign kicks off. He’s already seen his production dive off of a cliff. After a S16 march that saw him catch 71 balls for 1338 yards and 10 touchdowns, he looked like one of the top three guys in the league. Then in S17 everything changed as he only caught 63 balls for 870 yards and six touchdowns. He saw a small decline in opportunities compared to S16, but it wouldn’t have mattered as von Matt simply did not make the most out of what opportunities he did get. I don’t know if we continue to see him slide this season, but we could be watching the end of a star.
Fordhammer aka Nacho Varga S15 - 707 TPE - Active - Nacho Varga is an upcoming star in this league. He has had to play second fiddle to the incredible von Matt so far since he was picked up in the S15 draft, but after regression and his continued progress Varga should see himself in the number one role next season. Farga has until S22 to be a star highlight reel before regression hits and with the kind of gains he’s had, I fully believe he could hold his retirement out until after the S24 season if he so wished. Varga has already begun to show his worth to this team as a reliable safety valve. It is rare to see a quarterback’s numbers dip and one of the receivers actually do better. Varga did just that. In S16 he caught 48 passes for 726 yards and seven touchdowns. He saw improvement in S17 with 65 catches for 817 yards and seven touchdowns. He wasn’t quite able to make as many big plays, but he showed he had reliable hands and could be relied on as the number one guy.
Relams123 aka Sam Hardwick S12 - 591 TPE - Active - Sam Hardwick is an older guy, but he is still active to this point. He won’t get the kind of gains you see out of Varga, but he doesn’t begin his regression until S19. With some minimal effort he might actually be able to pass von Matt on the depth chart and have a solid two or three seasons as the number two guy in Philadelphia before a likely retirement before S21 kicks off. As von Matt has declined, Hardwick has at least increased his production. After a S16 campaign that saw him only haul in 28 balls for 331 yards, he came into S17 determined not to be forgotten. His 34 catches for 559 yards and five touchdowns were a huge advancement on his previous season as he not only was open for more opportunities, he did a lot more with what opportunities he was given. It is a good luck for a guy who is hoping he might get even more chances in S18.
Positional Need Grade: B - If we’re being honest here, Philadelphia might need to address this position sooner than later. Jordan von Matt is about to be on a steep decline has he enters his ninth year and can’t have much more than a season ahead of him. Sam Hardwick won’t be far behind von Matt as he’ll see a decrease in his own abilities in S19. The only receiver they have for the foreseeable future on this roster is Nacho Varga and he can’t carry it all alone. This draft has a couple of solid receivers who might slip down late into this one and if Philadelphia wanted to get a guy in their system to develop for them, it wouldn’t be the worst time to grab one.
Tight End
Coming up empty boss.
Positional Need Grade: B - I might argue at times that teams don’t need a tight end. Usually the tight end players are best used in the slot as a secondary receiver threat on the roster and a lot of teams already have that guy. Be it a pass catching running back or a solid second receiver, most teams have that guy. Philadelphia does not. Three of their five players at skill positions are currently heading into regression. The decline will be swift and this offense doesn’t have many other options. A playmaker at the tight end position very well might be what they need to spice this offense back up as their veterans depart.
Defensive Line
Wasty aka Ikaika Kalilimoku S12 - 270 TPE - Inactive - Ikaika Kalilimoku is unfortunately an inactive who is quickly racing towards regression. S19 will be his first hit and I think S20 might be the nail in the coffin for Kalilimoku. At the moment he’s barely even a serviceable player and has minimal impact for this team, but he fills a hole on this team until regression hits and retirement comes for him. He had a pretty solid S16 with 41 tackles, two tackles for a loss, and six sacks, but he fell off near completely in S17. 17 tackles and only two sacks are not indicative of a player who is supposed to be a starter. His lack of production before even hitting regression raises a lot of questions for this line.
Graciejj2000 aka Chad Maulolo S16 - 247 TPE - Inactive - Chad Maulolo has good news and bad news. The bad news about Maulolo is that he’s inactive and will no longer be earning. The good news is he has roughly the TPE of a top earning rookie and shouldn’t regress until S23. If Philadelphia wants to continue slotting him in, I think they can keep him until S24 kickoff rolls around. That raises the question of if they’d even want to. His rookie season saw him only manage 24 tackles and three tackles for a loss and he followed it up with a marginally improved S17 campaign with 32 tackles, one tackle for a loss, and four sacks. This is his plateau though and I can’t see him getting better numbers than that. If Philadelphia keep him around, they have to accept this is his likely peak.
Kentuckycolonel aka Alberto McGwire S16 - 146 TPE - Inactive - Alberto McGwire is also inactive, but unfortunately for Philadelphia he didn’t bother to collect much TPE before his exit. I don’t know how much impact having a guy like this remaining on your roster has or if they’ll bother resigning him when his rookie contract is up, but if they want to hold onto him he won’t regress for another six seasons. They will have to cut ties with him the moment regression hits in S23 if they don’t decide to cut ties before then. McGwire had a presentable rookie season in S16 with his 24 tackles, five tackles for a loss, and two sacks. It was looking up for him, but then he stopped training and in S17 we saw him drop. 14 tackles, two tackles for a loss, and only a single sack was put up for McGwire and there has to be questions about how long they allow him to sit on a roster spot.
Positional Need Grade: A - This team desperately needs defensive linemen. I’m not going to mince words about it, they need help up front in a big way and their lack of production from this position group is likely a big reason why they struggled this past season. Ikaika Kalilimoku in inactive and about to hit regression. Chad Maulolo and Alberto McGwire are both young guys, but they’re also inactive and won’t improve anytime in the near future. This defensive line is a glaring weakness of the entire roster and I’m not sure the draft even has enough guys available to plug all the spots open here. Their current roster is worse than some of the rookies coming in for S18 and I think it will be a long rebuilding process before they have anything resembling competence at the position. The earlier they can check this need off of their list, the better.
Linebacker
soryantyler aka Gekyume Stokeley S14 - 474 TPE - Active - Gekyume Stokeley is one of the better guys in the league. He isn’t insanely active, but he’s a consistent earner and an asset to the locker room. He’s still got some time ahead of him to make up some ground or get ahead of the curve. He won’t hit regression until S21 and he’ll probably put it off for about a year with a sendoff in S22. So far, Stokeley has shown to be one of the better tacklers in the entire league. He was top 10 in S16 with 99 tackles and three sacks and then followed that up with an incredible top five performance in S17. With 118 tackles, a tackle for a loss, two sacks, an interception, and five pass defenses, he flashed his ability as a sideline to sideline player who can make plays all over the field. He has a nose for the ball and almost always find himself near it at the end of a play. This ability should become more apparent as he develops.
Rouchicus aka Rock Hardshaft S15 - 184 TPE - Inactive - Rock Hardshaft is a young player who has found ways to produce pretty well in the league despite being inactive. Philadelphia has found ways to get something out of him and he won’t see regression till S22. There is a good chance he stays around on the roster until then, but I can’t see them keeping him on after that first regression hit. Hardshaft is a hard read for me. He didn’t earn much even when he was active, but he’s still found ways to have impact plays and he even had a better season in S17 than S16. S16 saw him close out with 58 tackles, six tackles for a loss, four sacks, and three passes defended, which was decent for a guy with his skill set. This season saw him show up in the offensive backfield in a big way with his 39 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, four sacks, and two passes defended. He proved he can be effective and disruptive which is surprising for someone in Hardshaft’s position. If he keeps putting up similar numbers, I could see the potential for Philadelphia to let him sit on the roster.
Positional Need Grade: A - If we’re being honest, every team needs at least two solid linebackers. Gekyume Stokeley is clearly a solid guy who should continue developing and producing for this team, but Rock Hardshaft is spinning his wheels in place. He won’t ever improve, he won’t ever do more than what he’s doing right now. Philadelphia really needs to look into replacing him as their number two guy at the position. They have a high pick, there are multiple options available who are already better than Harshaft, and I can see them making a splash at the position. Linebacker is one of the most important positions on the entire field and having a weakness there is absolutely not a good look for any team.
Cornerback
BWIII aka Emondov Emoji S15 - 750 TPE - Active - Emondov Emoji is heading into S18 ready to start his fourth campaign in prime form. He is one of the top earners of the S15 class and he is at near peak performance already. He’s a star for this team and with him not heading towards regression until S22, he still has a long career ahead of him. With his current earning potential, I think he can fight regression until after the S25 season if he felt the need to prolong his career. With the kind of numbers he’s been producing, he may look to as he could potentially be aiming for a record in coverage when it comes time for his career to start wrapping up. He led the league in passes defended with 26 while also netting himself 60 tackles and three interceptions. He expectedly stepped back a bit this season as quarterbacks have begun passing away from him. He’s still lockdown when he is targeted though, racking up another 16 pass defenses and two interceptions in coverage while also grabbing 63 tackles. It has been an impressive couple of years for Emoji and he is really starting to stand out as an elite playmaker.
Waters aka Johnson Cox III S11 - 258 - Inactive - Johnson Cox is in a terrible position right now. S18 will be the start of his regression as he enters his eight season. He never gained too much when he was active in the first place, so there isn’t a lot of room to drop there. Cox might still have a role to play in this season, but I doubt he makes it past S19 as he’s already seeing his production drop in coverage. In S16 he managed 66 tackles, three sacks, two interceptions, and 12 passes defended. His S17 campaign saw a rough season as he made 98 tackles, one interception, and eight passes defended. The increase of tackles came on a season where he was repeatedly burned in coverage, forcing himself to make tackles after the catch to prevent long scores. With regression coming in fast, I think he is now a liability for this defense.
TubbyTim69 aka Julian McMorris S17 - 237 TPE - Active - Julian McMorris is a S17 rookie who came into this season with a lot of question marks. Even then, he overcame and has come out of the other end of this season looking pretty solid. He is in the middle range of his class’ earners, but has remained both active and consistent. I think he can contribute in this defense for a long time as he won’t hit regression until S24. I think he’ll retire pretty quickly and might push into the S25 campaign, but I doubt he’ll do much to fight his decline when it comes. That said, he did put together a very solid rookie season that he can be proud of. 72 tackles, a tackle for a loss, three sacks, four interceptions, and 21 pass defenses. He was one of the best pass coverage guys in the NSFL in what was absolutely a breakout display for him. I don’t know if he can repeat it in S18, but it will be fun to watch him try.
Positional Need Grade: C - Most teams are running three cornerbacks on their team in this league and I don’t think Philadelphia is an exception. Emondov Emoji is going to be a long term all star for this team as he tears his way through the league in dominant fashion and Julian McMorris is developing into a very solid number two behind him. Both of these guys should be manning the position for at least another six seasons, giving Philadelphia a very solid core. With Johnson Cox III hitting regression though, I think this team should be in the market for their nickel corner. I’m not sure how desperate of a need it is and with some gaping holes on this team already, I don’t know that it is a need even emphasized in this draft. Still, it might come up for discussion as this draft gets deep.
Safety
37thechamber aka Lennox Garnett S11 - 1089 TPE - Active - Lennox Garnett has been a huge earner throughout his history in the league. He is highly active and has kept himself on top of his gains. He should be entering regression as S18 opens up, but it shouldn’t hit him too hard and he might still be able to pull out another couple of solid seasons. I think he officially retires at the end of the S19 season, but may push into S20 if he’s chasing a record. Garnett has been nothing but consistent at this point in his career. S16 saw him rack up 86 tackles, six interceptions, and 14 pass defenses in coverage. S17 saw him actually improve a bit on that mark with 82 tackles, three interceptions, and 24 passes defended as he placed himself at the top of the rankings for disruption in the secondary. I’m not sure how much this regression actually hurts him, but I can’t see a guy at the top of his game like this backing up.
124715 aka Richard D’Attoria V S15 - 716 TPE - Active - Richard D’Attoria is a top guy from the S15 draft and is one of the most promising safeties in the league as he heads into what should be the prime of his career. The next few years so see him put together a very solid campaign as his regression doesn’t loom until S22. Even then, he should be able to easily fight regression for a few seasons and likely won’t step down until roughly the end of S25. So far D’Attoria has been setting the league on fire. His 95 tackles, two tackles for a loss, eight sacks, three interceptions, and 14 pass defenses in S16 were an absolute marvel and the kind of numbers safeties get jealous of. He has very similar impact in S17 with 88 tackles, two tackles for a loss, four sacks, and 15 pass defenses. He didn’t have the interceptions this time, but he did have two forced fumbles and fumble recoveries to make up for it. He is a star and a playmaker and will be the rock of this defense for a long time.
wuma aka Derek Bohne S12 - 278 TPE - Inactive - Derek Bohne is another inactive from a long past draft class who didn’t actually get called up until S16. Because it was so late, he’s in only his second NSFL season and this S18 campaign will be his last before regression hits him in S19. He was already on a bubble in a five defensive back set and he may stay there one more season, but when regression hits I think he fades fast. S20 should seem him mostly retired as he finishes his career without really doing much. He had 81 tackles, two sacks, one interception, and five passes defended in S16 and then somehow got worse in S17 with 69 tackles, two sacks, one interception, and only a single pass defended. He’s just not an impact player and its likely he’ll need to be replaced as soon as possible.
Positional Need Grade: D - Even as he hits regression, Lennox Garnett is going to continue to be one of the top guys at the position for one more season at least and he might fight his way through a couple past that, but the writing is on the wall for him. Derek Bohne should be replaced as soon as possible. An inactive heading into regression a season out is no place to bank your future. The only safety we know will be on this roster for the foreseeable future is Richard D’Attoria. While he is a star who will be making plays on this defense for at least another four years and while he will be a solid anchor, he is going to need some help in the next few seasons. The need isn’t urgent and it doesn’t have to be addressed right this second, but it is certainly something they’ll need to be thinking about soon.
Kicker/Punter
Avakael aka Roderick Castleberry S12 - 95 TPE - Inactive - Roderick Castleberry only has one more season left of his career. This inactive will enter S18 with one last chance to leave his mark on the league, but when regression hits at the end of the season he’ll be officially retired. He’s been a long standing player, so hopefully he makes to most of this next campaign. Chances of that are relatively low as he didn’t make a roster at all in S16 and this past season he had some of the lowest percentages in the league. He only made 81.8 percent of his field goals and his misses certainly cost the Liberty a few games. I’m not sure that changes in S18.
Positional Need Grade: A - The situation here isn’t completely dire. No team is really going to go out of their way to pick up a kicker, no matter how bad the one on their roster is. This one is really bad and I would go as far as saying he’s the ninth ranked kicker of 10 in the league. He won’t even be on the roster in just one season, so they could potentially get ahead of the curve and replace him right now with a S18 rookie who is better. They should be able to get a decent one a bit later in the draft process, but I don’t know that they should reach.
Overall Roster Review
Where do I even start with this team? It is ugly in Philadelphia. Of this team’s 18 players, eight are inactive and 10 are active. Nine of their players will be entering regression or retiring by the end of this season. Of those nine, six of them are from their active player pool. That means this team has a grand total of 14 players who are either inactive and no longer earning, on the edge of retiring, or will start seeing skill reduction in S19. That leaves their future on the shoulders of just four players. Four players have to carry this retirement home forward and I don’t even know where they are going. The situation is pretty desolate and I think they are going into rebuild now mode. This isn’t something that gets better fast and they’re going to have to make some big splashes in this draft if they want to be competing come S20. They need help at pretty much every position. Some are more vital than others, but I can’t look at a single position group and say they’re set for the future. This may be a long season coming up.
Austin Copperheads
Quarterback
JKortesi81 aka Easton Cole S16 - 524 TPE - Active - Easton Cole is one of the young bucks at quarterback in the league. He’s entering his third season and should be at least one more season out of his prime as he develops. Still, he has been a solid performer and we should see him get better as he develops over the next season. He won’t begin to regress until S23 and will probably stick around until the end of S24 at a minimum before calling it quits. Cole was arguably the worst quarterback in the league in S16 with his 52.2 percent completion rating, 2351 yards, nine touchdowns and 21 interceptions. It resulted in a humiliating 55.3 quarterback rating on the year. I think a lot of people were surprised by his quick recovery. S17 saw his completion percentage come up to 55.7 as he threw for 3106 yards, 18 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions for a 89.8 quarterback rating on the season. His development is coming along quickly and I think in two seasons, Cole might be a monster.
Positional Need Grade: F - Easton Cole is a young guy who has a lot of development still in front of him. He has shown massive season to season improvement and there is no way Austin ever even considers moving away from him. Cole likely has this spot locked up for the Copperheads for no less than six seasons and I could potentially see him staying for up to eight. He’s a spectacular talent, a great locker room leader, and he’s always striving to better himself. When you have a guy like that, you don’t go looking for his replacement this early. They might look for a development guy in S24, but that is still a long time off.
Running Back
Mooty99 aka Mako Mendonca S16 - 439 TPE - Active - Mako Mendonca is the oldest member of an active two headed running attack for the Copperheads. Mako is entering his third season after a sophomore season that saw him hit the ground running. He’s been a solid earner and when he hits regression in S23, I think he is more than capable of slowing the bleeding. I could see him sticking around until S24 before retirement comes up. Mendonca’s rookie season in S16 only saw him string together 555 all purpose yards and three touchdowns in the whole campaign as he backed up Dick Wizardry. After a position switch from Dick, he saw his role increase dramatically on the team. 1458 all purpose yards and nine touchdowns had him put together a massive year for the Second Line as he’s now the veteran back on the team and he’s been filling the role nicely.
run_CMC aka Ashley Owens S17 - 357 TPE - Active - Ashley Owens has become a star in his rookie campaign. He is one of the top earners in his entire draft class and he has more than showed his value on the field. He doesn’t even have to think about losing progress until S24 and when that rolls around, I think he’ll be more than ready and be fully capable of sticking around and having impact into S27 if he so desired. As a first year rookie, Owens really showed what he is capable of. His 1420 all purpose yards and seven touchdowns were massive for this team and was surprising production from a guy sharing a backfield with another back. He’s working his way into the feature guy role as he’s on pace to pass Mendonca within the next season or so and he should produce for this team for a long time yet.
Positional Need Grade: F - There is a good chance that Austin has the best running back situation in the entirety of the NSFL. Mako Mendonca is only heading into his third season as an active player who earns at a decent rate and showed what he can do with more opportunities this season. He should continue to improve and as he does, the dual threat he has going with backfield partner Ashley Owens should only get more explosive. In his first season, Owens set the league on fire as he produced big numbers for this team week after week. He’s been a top earner and while I think he might pass Mendonca on the depth chart from a skill perspective, I think both get more than their share of carries. Their production as a dual backfield is incredible and I think Austin will get to see more of this for at least six seasons before they’ll need to start discussion replacements for these guys. Running back should be completely scratched off the list for this team.
Wide Receiver
tik742 aka Django Anoa’i S12 - 770 TPE - Active - Django Anoa’i is about to hit the last year of his prime here in S18. He’s active and can fight against the coming S19 regression for another two or three seasons, but by the time S21 comes to an end I think it will be about time for his career to come to a close. He’s still showing an ability to improve though. After hauling in 63 catches for 848 yards and five touchdowns in S16, he decided to one up himself by catching 65 balls for 956 yards and four touchdowns in S17. He’s showing an improved process on making the most out of every chance he gets and going into S18, he should have his best season yet before finally starting to head down hill.
SDCore aka Rod Tidwell S15 - 603 TPE - Active - Rod Tidwell is a star in the making as he enters his fourth season of play. He’s been the number two guy for a while, but as he enters his prime the guy opposite of him is hitting regression. I can see him taking over duties as the number one guy before long and with him not hitting his own regression until S22 he could hold that spot until at least the end of S24 before someone else comes in and does the same to him. Tidwell’s first year as a starter saw him catch 39 balls for 515 yards and two touchdowns in S16. This season he seemed to gain a bit more rapport with Cole as he was able to haul in 52 passes for 606 yards and three touchdowns. He hasn’t been a big play guy, but he’s been a consistent underneath target as the number two weapon in this offense.
Positional Need Grade: C - Receiver is not an immediate concern for this roster. Rod Tidwell is a young star in the making who should lead this receiving corps for a long time and Django Anoa’i still has a couple of solid seasons ahead of him as he only starts regression at the end of this campaign. That said, they have no one currently filling the slot and often have their running backs fill the role instead. There is potential to pick up a solid number three guy and have him develop behind Tidwell and Anoa’i to take over as Anoa’i regresses in a few seasons, but it isn’t a rush and shouldn’t be completely emphasized for this team.
Tight End
Tomasnz aka Peter Larson S16 - 388 TPE - Active - Peter Larson is an active guy and overall an above average earner. He’s done well since joining the league and as he reaches his third season in S18, he’ll be looking to make a bigger in game impact for his career. He’s still got a lot of years left in front of him as his regression won’t begin to impact him until S23 and he could potentially even hold out until the end of S25 before considering retirement with his current rate of gains. His S16 rookie campaign saw him make minor impacts for this team with 37 catches for 259 yards, but then he found a bit more production in an improved S17 season. 54 catches for 359 yards and a score made him one of the more reliable receivers underneath. He was able to shiftily make consistent five to six yard gains when it was asked of him. He can only get better from here.
Positional Need Grade: F - Most teams only keep one tight end on their roster and some don’t carry any at all. Peter Larson is a very solid prospect from the S16 draft who has been a consistent earner since entering the league. He’s going to continue to be a star for Austin going forward and this isn’t usually a position you look to train a replacement for. More often than not, it is plug and play so I feel like it will be six or seven seasons before the Copperheads look at a new player in this position.
Offensive Line
Beaver aka Edmond Beaver-Dantes S15 - 388 TPE - Active - Edmond Beaver-Dantes is the only active offensive lineman in the entire NSFL. He’s done enough to get himself up to start over a bot as he heads into his fourth season and he has plenty of room for growth as he won’t see regression until S22. He hasn’t been getting max training, but I think he’s done enough that he should be able to fight regression for a season or two before seeing himself retire by S24. Beaver-Dantes had a rough S17 season. After his 60 pancakes and only two sacks allowed in S16, he only managed 51 pancakes and allowed four sacks in this last campaign. Taking a step backwards is an awful look for the only active guy at the position.
Positional Need Grade: F - I hate to put this here. I really do. I will probably get some flack for it, but no team really needs offensive linemen. GMs prefer the bots well enough and even as someone like Beaver tries to prove he can compete, he’s just barely top 20 in the league. 388 TPE isn’t bad for a player who is ending his third season, but it simply isn’t enough to compete at a high level at this position. I hope some of the new blood coming into S18 can prove me wrong because I love our offensive line players, but I don’t expect to see any team taking a chance on an offensive lineman early in the draft.
Defensive Line
WannabeFinn aka Grayson Kuusela S12 - 524 TPE - Active - Grayson Kuusela will be trying to put together a solid campaign in S18 before seeing his first season of regression coming up in S19. His earnings despite being active has been limited and I’m not sure how long he can fight off the hits he’ll be taking. I’m not sure how hard Kuusela plans to fight and we might see him retired as early as S20 but probably not later than S22 kickoff. After having a modest S16 with 42 tackles and only three sacks, Kuusela decided to explode in S17 and really show his value to this team. His 48 tackles didn’t speak too much, but his 15 sacks made this an absolute breakout season for him. He still has at least one more year of prime production for this team and hopefully he can keep it up.
uncleleo’skomrade aka Joseph Henry S14 - 218 TPE - Inactive - Joseph Henry is an inactive fringe player who may still be on the roster for a while yet. He doesn’t see regression until S21 and might can survive on the roster until then. There is a good chance that his second regression takes him from the league though and we see him depart in S22. Despite being a lower overall defensive lineman, Henry has at least produced some numbers for this team. In S16 we saw him make 35 tackles, grab nine tackles for a loss, and put up six sacks. With Wizardry coming in in S17, he saw some of his production drop but he still had impact plays. 21 tackles, nine tackles for a loss, and two sacks are numbers indicative of a guy who can still get into the backfield. Maybe he still can do a bit for this team in the next couple of seasons.
AdamS aka Dick Wizardry S12 - 1097 TPE - Active - Dick Wizardry in an incredibly active player at an essential position who is entering his impact year. In S18 he is going to be a maxed out monster who should set the tone early. He will be entering the twilight of his career starting in S19 as regressing kicks in, but he has absolutely stacked training and should take it with grace as I see him continuing for a while in the league before hanging them up. By S22’s end though we should be seeing him getting ready to move on and there will be a massive hole left in this team that the Copperheads will be forced to try and fill. How big of a hole? In just his first season after a position change, Wizardry put up 32 tackles, five tackles for a loss, and five sacks as he plugged the middle of this defense. His impact went much deeper than the stat line as he caused terror beyond the line. A lot of position changes can fall short, but Dick made this one work and he should be looking to make an even larger impact as he moves into his second season on the defensive line.
eighthroundpick aka Nick Snider S15 - 124 TPE - Inactive - Nick Snider is unfortunately inactive and didn’t spend much time in the training room before going that way. He fills a small role on the Copperheads’ defensive line and he will likely find some use on the team until S22. That first regression should be enough to drop him entirely though. Either way it doesn’t look to be a real asset or loss to Austin. S16 saw him man a campaign where he made 15 tackles, four tackles for a loss, and two sacks. S17 saw him up his game a bit with 26 tackles, four tackles for a loss, and five sacks. Much of that addition success can be amounted to the improvement of this line with Wizardry on it, giving Snider more room to work with. Either way, Snider seems expendable.
Positional Need Grade: B - The need at defensive line is pretty big for this team, but it may not be primary. They have two very solid guys on the line who will be entering regression in S19, but both have the capabilities to fight it. I think Dick Wizardy fights his for a bit longer than Grayson Kuusela, but I believe both have another three seasons of production at the minimum. Then you have Nick Snider and Joseph Henry who are both inactives that won’t see regression for a long while. Replacing one of those guys now to eventually prepare for the departure of Kuusela at a minimum might not be the worst idea. Especially in a class that has a few pot
Introduction
Hi guys, IsaStarcrossed here. I got this crazy idea in my head about a week and a half ago to do a massive predraft article for this incredibly class. I had no idea how I would do it or where I would even begin, so I started plotting out some ideas. Finally, I decided the best way to do it would be to do a mock that would have some form of backing to it. The only way I knew to do that was by taking a dive into all the NSFL rosters and seeing what they needed and what they didn’t. It helped me get familiar with the rosters and at the end of the day, the more I learned the more I got confused with my mock. At one point I thought I had a solid idea of where people would go in the draft based off of activity and earnings. After seeing actual team needs, it made things much more confusing because best player available doesn’t always mean best player for the team. It was a struggle, but I think I put together something respectable that everyone can enjoy. Let's get into it!”
Quick disclaimers. Some of the TPE numbers for NSFL rosters will be off. I started writing this Wednesday September 17th. I wasn’t going to go back and change all the numbers for one update. The active/inactive may be inaccurate. I checked every profile and if they had been logged in within two weeks, I considered them to still be active. Any longer than two weeks, I considered them inactive. Also this offseason has been insane with trades and retirements and roster swaps. I couldn’t keep going back and changing things every time something new pops up. Also I am fully aware that some guys play out of position, I’m also fully aware that some guys may change roles from week to week, but without an in depth analysis of every game this season I can’t really cover that. My coverage strictly sticks to their roster designation, so obviously some of the roster analysis will be wrong because of it.
Team Roster Reviews
New Orleans Second Line
Quarterback
JuOSu aka Stan Francisco S14 - 691 TPE - Active - Stan Francisco is just now entering his prime as he enters his fifth year of play. He won’t start regression until the S21 season and still has plenty of time to get better on this squad as he leads them for the foreseeable future. With his current TPE gains, I could see Francisco holding off until the end of S23 before considering retirement which gives him at least another six full seasons with the Second Line. In S16, Francisco completed 54.7 percent of his passes for 2711 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions which resulted in a 75.7 quarterback rating on the season. This season, he saw himself complete 55.9 percent of his passes for 3483 yards, 15 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions for an 84.5 quarterback rating. There was clear improvement from season to season and I think you’ll see that trend continue.
Positional Need Grade: F - Stan Francisco will be the man under center for this team for at least another six full seasons before heading off into the sunset. This team doesn’t even need to consider looking for a developmental replacement until the S21 draft at the earliest and I think they could even put it off until S22. Francisco isn’t going anywhere and there is zero priority on quarterback for this team going into the draft.
Running Back
TomHanks aka Forrest Gump S15 - 687 TPE - Active - Forrest Gump is already one of the best running backs in the league despite splitting touches with Tyler Swift. He’s just now entering his fourth season and won’t see regression start to impact him until S22. His TPE gains have been insane and if he continues his current rate, I think Gump could potentially hold off a real drop in production until S25. The S16 campaign saw Gump rack up 1331 all purpose yards and nine touchdowns for New Orleans. This season saw him go for 1456 yards and 12 touchdowns. Steady improvement means everything in the league and he’s just going to get better. This guy is going to be a feature back for a long time to come.
BayleyIsland aka Tyler Swift S13 - 604 TPE - Inactive - Tyler Swift is the secondary guy in New Orleans and while he has been splitting carries with Gump, I think that might be changing in the near future. He’s entering his sixth season and will see regression in S20. Unfortunately, he’s also recently gone inactive and so I believe he only has three more seasons at most of production and could be gone in before the start of S22. Swift managed 1352 all purpose yards and 12 touchdowns in S16 when he was still active. This season saw him manage 1316 all purpose yards and only 10 scores. He saw his workload slightly reduced and still had similar numbers. I think this is about what we can expect from him for the rest of his career unless New Orleans wants to continue moving him out of the game plan.
Positional Need Grade: F - Forrest Gump is going to be an absolute stud in this league for the foreseeable future. He’s a top earner and a young player with a long career of blowing defenses up ahead of him. He will probably be the feature guy on this team until at least after the S23 season when regression really starts to settle in and even then he should provide pretty lofty numbers as a backup. As for Tyler Swift? 604 TPE is really, really good for a backup guy and for some teams could slot in as their feature. Obviously he is inactive and once he starts regression, they’ll need to seriously consider his replacement. That isn’t for another five seasons though and I think it's pretty clear the running back situation in New Orleans is locked down for a long while and this is a position they shouldn’t even consider as they plot out their draft board.
Wide Receiver
majesiu aka Vladimir Fyodorovich S07 - 678 TPE - Active - Vladimir Fyodorovich has been a great player in this league for a long time and is still showing a fair bit of production in the league. That said, his peak passed a long time ago and we’re seeing him sink deep into regression. He actually got hit in S14 for the first time and he is still ticking on. He hasn’t announced his retirement yet as he enters his 12th season in this league, but you have to imagine it is coming soon. He may drag it out one or two more seasons, but I don’t see him in the league in S20. In his S16 campaign, Fyodorovich saw himself catch 64 passes for 1004 yards and six touchdowns. He followed that up by catching 64 passes for 1140 yards and 10 scores this season. Despite having the same catch numbers, Fyodorovich has found a way to make the most of his opportunities in S17. He’s still not showing decline at this point, so perhaps he goes for one more before deciding to step out on top.
toivo aka Bona’beri Jones S13 - 491 TPE - Active - Bona’beri Jones is just about to hit is stride. He’s not been a top trainer, but he has been consistent through the seasons and is about to head into his sixth. This is peak time for most players and I don’t think Jones will be any different. He will see his first hints of regression as S20 begins and he still has a bit of time to get ready for that. Currently though, I don’t see him fighting it for more than a couple and he’ll likely hang his cleats up by S22’s end. Jones caught 51 catches for 742 yards and four touchdowns in S16. This last campaign saw him catch 54 balls for 902 yards and a single score. As he progresses, Francisco as starting to trust him more as he finds a way to make bigger and bigger plays. He struggled to find the end zone this season, but as he improves I think his scoring opportunities increase.
KillaScrilla aka Action Jackson S17 - 282 TPE - Active - Action Jackson is new to the block as a S17 rookie. He’s been training well and advancing at a decent rate. He has at least another season before he hits his prime, but I fully believe he will begin making solid contributions to this roster as early as S18. He’s going to be a long time player in this league and won’t be seeing regression until S24. With his current earnings, it may be the start of S26 or S27 before he considers retiring. New Orleans has this one in for the long haul if they can retain him. His rookie season saw him catch 36 passes for 294 yards and a score. These weren’t bad numbers for a young player who came into a roster already set at the position. As Fyodorovich declines, Jackson should get more opportunities to shine.
Positional Need Grade: D - Vladimir Fyodorovich is on the decline and might have another season, two at the most left playing in the NSFL. Luckily for New Orleans, they have two guys who should be able to step up and fill the void. Bona’beri Jones has shown improvement from season to season and will likely shine as the number one guy for a couple of seasons here. Meanwhile, Action Jackson looks to be developing into a young star and should start having some pretty big impact for this team. They are mostly set at this position until Jones starts regression in S20. If they wanted to think ahead and get a guy on the roster to start developing to take Jones’ place much like they did for Fyodorovich when they picked Jackson, they might grab a guy here. That said, I don’t think it is a huge priority for this team and I think they ignore the position unless the right guy falls into their lap at the right time.
Tight End
None. Zero. Zilch.
Positional Need Grade: C - This New Orleans squad doesn’t have a single tight end on their squad. Not a single one rostered. Fortunately for them, it isn’t a pressing concern. The teams that really use their tight ends usually have them in a receiver capacity as more of a big slot guy to make mismatches. New Orleans has the luxury of their second guy at running back being a 604 TPE playmaker. If they wanted to reduce the load on their backfield and help to distribute endurance a bit more widely, they might look to make a pick here. Again, not even remotely a priority for this team right now unless the right player comes along.
Defensive Line
Phobospwns aka Lo Rax S10 - 588 TPE - Inactive - Lo Rax will be entering his ninth season and his second season of regression. He is no longer earning and hasn’t announced retirement either, so there is a chance regression hits him in a hard and unpredictable way heading into S18. He may still find some production for another season or two, but his drop off now will likely be rapid once his tenth season hits in S19. In S16, Lo Rax was one of the best run stuffers in the entire league as he brought in 37 tackles, 18 tackles for a loss, and five sacks. He was an unstoppable monster who lived in his opponents’ backfields. This season saw him step back a bit as he managed just 23 tackles, only seven tackles for a loss, and three sacks. He fell back across the board as it seems regression did take a bit of a toll on him. He still had his impact plays sprinkled in, but I don’t know how much longer he keeps this up.
Buttersqauch101 aka Brayden Ennis S17 - 328 TPE - Active - Brayden Ennis is one of the best training earners in the S17 class. He’s at a position of need for most teams, is young, and should be entering next season with a solid chance of producing if his numbers keep improving. He should be in this league for a long time with regression not beginning until S24 and there being a good chance that he holds off regression until S27 if he has a mind to. A decade of solid defensive tackle play is something this league always needs. His rookie season didn’t see him get involved too much as his 21 tackles and three sacks didn’t scream impact, but he should develop well as he goes forward. I think he has a chance to have a bigger impact in S18 and I can’t wait to see what he can do.
CoachEaux aka Thomas Clark S12 - 125 TPE - Inactive - Thomas Clark will see his first hit of regression in S19, but he hasn’t really earned much to speak of as it is. They may keep him as a role filler this season at best. He’s inactive, isn’t showing any signs of progress, and chances are he will not be on this roster by the time S19 regression cuts hit. It is unfortunate for New Orleans as he continues to find ways to produce. His 31 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, and single sack in S16 were decent for an inactive. Then in S17 he managed 28 tackles, nine tackles for a loss, and another sack to show that his production is at least consistent. It will sting a little to lose that when S19 kicks off.
MarneMauler99 aka Franklin Townsend S11 - 94 TPE - Inactive - Franklin Townsend will enter regression season after a long career of doing absolutely nothing. Regression should impact what little bit of skill he has and at this point he would be better replaced by a completely inactive rookie. The cuts should be enough to send him to retirement as we see him exit the league. He shouldn’t be too hard to replace. He had 31 tackles and three sacks in S16 and did even worse this season with his 26 tackles and single sack. Hopefully this Second Line squad finds an upgrade for him.
Positional Need Grade: A - Outside of Brayden Ennis, this defensive line is old, inactive, and absolutely on the decline. They might be able to squeeze a couple of more productive seasons out of Lo Rax, but regression is about to start tearing him to pieces. Then you look at Thomas Clark and Franklin Townsend and neither of these guys were really playmakers in the first place. Now facing regression, one is going to retire and the other will be gone next season. This team is in desperate need for any and defensive linemen they can get their hands on and there are only so many to go around.
Linebacker
slothfacekilla aka Johnny Slothface S15 - 674 TPE - Active - Johnny Slothface is a young player heading into the prime of his career. This will be his fourth season he is heading into and he’s already been building a pretty nice career for himself. He won’t be seeing potential decline until S22 and with the way he’s been training, it could be as far off as the end of S25 before he’s looking into retirement. Slothface had a pretty productive S16 as a first year starter with his 90 tackles, two tackles for a loss, and eight sacks. That wasn’t good enough for him though as he decided to expand on his game in S17. 93 tackles, eight sacks, an interception return for a touchdown, and 16 pass defenses shows his determination to work on his craft as he became essential in pass coverage this season. We should see him steadily improve and I think this is a face that should be sticking around for a while.
terriblehippo aka Quenton Bode S15 - 634 TPE - Active - Quenton Bode was drafted in the same draft as Slothface. He makes up the second part of a young, talented linebacker duo for the Second Line. Like Slothface, he has been consistent with his training and when his S22 regression comes in he shouldn’t see much of a step back. I don’t know that I see him putting off retirement quite as long, but if we see him playing in S24 I wouldn’t be surprised at all. While Slothface has become their swiss army knife, Bode has become a sideline to sideline defender for New Orleans. He showed his explosiveness and range in S16 when he brought in 108 tackles, two tackles for a loss, two sacks, and three pass defenses. This season we saw him follow that up by leading the league in tackles 125 while also grabbing a sack and three pass defenses. He is their big play insurance in the middle of the field and so far he’s played his part. New Orleans should enjoy high level play for a while yet from this guy.
Positional Need Grade: F - Most teams in the league only run two linebacker sets on most occasions as a 4-2-5 has become a mainstay for most lineups. The Second Line are blessed with having two of the best young linebackers in the entire NSFL. Johnny Slothface is a big play guy who focuses on making splashes that can completely end drives. Pass rush or pass coverage, he really finds a way to contribute all over the field. Quenton Bode is a more reliable and consistent sideline to sideline tackling machine. No matter what is going on, he always finds himself around to ball to make a play. Somehow they managed to snag both of these guys in the S15 draft and both of them are towards the top of earning potential for their class. These guys make a wicked one two punch that will be hard to rival in the NSFL. I can’t see New Orleans needing a guy at linebacker for at least six seasons now.
Cornerback
BrewCrew aka Deon Taylor S15 - 602 TPE - Active - Deon Taylor is another one of these S15 guys entering their prime for New Orleans. They have a lot of key players who should be hitting their golden point at almost the same time and Taylor is in that window. He will hit his regression window in S22, but he’s another high earner who can likely fight it for at least a couple seasons and make it to to the start of S24 before replacements start being considered. Taylor has proven himself to at least be consistent in the secondary for New Orleans. Last season saw him manage 59 tackles, three interceptions, and 20 pass defenses as he became an elite coverage guy. This season saw him follow it up with 72 tackles, two interceptions, and 20 pass defenses as he almost mirrored what he did a year ago. If he can stay consistent as he and the rest of this young defense develops, he should have a lot more opportunities to make plays in the future.
RaiderNation aka Jordan Andrews S17 - 381 TPE - Active - Andrews has turned out to be the highest earning trainer in all of the S17 class. He’s been an absolute stud this season and he should only get better as he goes forward. He won’t see regression until S24, but at his current rate of earning I could see him playing a consistent role clear through S27 if that is what he decided. Andrews saw himself become an explosive playmaker in his rookie season, imposing his way into the top 10 pass defenders in just his first year. He brought it 59 tackles, three interceptions, and 19 pass defenses this season. This is with him just starting out. Andrews should quickly develop into a star.
royalc90 aka Willie Woodson S17 - 164 TPE - Inactive - Willie Woodson is one of those guys who looked solid for a while and then went mostly inactive after being drafted. He hasn’t really been earning and there are guys coming in from S18 that are already better than he is right now. His regression won’t start until S24, so he may be left on the roster for a while. I just don’t see him making much impact in the future and I don’t think he survives the regression cut in S24. Woodson was used more at the line in run support for New Orleans in his rookie season as he claimed 69 tackles, two tackles for a loss, and only eight pass defenses. I think this role will remain what he does if he stays on this roster as currently I think he might get exposed in coverage.
Positional Need Grade: C - New Orleans is pretty much set in their number one and two guys right now at cornerback. Deon Taylor is a stud defender they picked up in the S15 draft who has been a solid earner. He hasn’t been at the top, but he’s done more than enough to potentially hit maximum effectiveness within the next season or two. They have this guy wrapped up for another five years minimum, so that is plenty of time for him to make plays in this defense. Then they picked up rookie Jordan Andrews from the S17 draft and that dude has been absolutely insane. He’s a max earner who has worked himself to the bone to stay at the top of his game and he’s shown no signs of slowing down. With these two guys, they’ll at least have the sidelines locked down for a long time to come. Unfortunately teams need five defensive backs and that is where their third corner comes into question. Willie Woodson is another rookie they picked up in S17, but he has gone inactive and completely stopped earning. He’s stalled at 164 TPE and I can’t see him having much impact in the future. If New Orleans wants to upgrade at an impact position, this might be a good place to look.
Safety
Mongoose87 aka William H. Harrison S08 - 404 TPE - Inactive - William Harrison is a long time player in this league and he will be entering his 11th season as S18 arrives. He’s gone inactive and is no longer producing a way to fight his regression as he heads into his fourth year of skill reduction. It will hit hard, but I think he can still be a marginal player for a couple more seasons on this team and make an exit before S20. It will be a swift decline for a pretty decent all around safety. In S16 we saw him go for 75 tackles, two tackles for a loss, five sacks, seven interceptions, and seven pass defenses. We honestly didn’t see too much decline in a S17 campaign that saw 90 tackles, six sacks, four interceptions, and 10 pass defenses. Regression has been kind to him and I hope we can see him continue to make big plays, but he can only keep it up for so long.
Grapehead aka Damien Arnold S10 - 224 TPE - Inactive - Damien Arnold is entering this season ready to be slapped down by regression for the first time. He’ll get to battle with this backwards conflict for the S18 campaign, but his inactivity won’t do him any favors. I’m not sure how hard the regression hits, but I’m not sure he remains on the team beyond S19. Arnold has been used in a variety of ways so far for this team. In S16 he did a little bit of everything with his 65 tackles, one tackle for a loss, one sack, two interceptions, and four pass defenses. S17 saw similar numbers with 65 tackles, two tackles for a loss, one sack, one interception, and two passes defended. He isn’t a huge playmaker, but he shows up from time to time. Luckily, his production should be fairly easy to replace for New Orleans.
Whatistheinternet aka Jeff Jefferson IV S12 - 182 TPE - Inactive - Jeff Jefferson is another player that has fallen to inactivity. While he might contribute this season, S19 is going to be his first confrontation with regression and he doesn’t have much here to regress. I don’t know if Jefferson even has a chance to battle it out in that campaign, but I he won’t be able to remain on the roster past S20. Fortunately for New Orleans, they already prepared for this eventuality. After S16 which saw him have a large impact with 100 tackles, a sack, four interceptions, and 10 pass defenses you would think he would be a hard replacement. They almost completely eliminated his snap count in S17. Two tackles and a single pass defense is all he managed in the season. New Orleans is ready to move on.
Positional Need Grade: A - The safety position looks absolutely bleak in New Orleans. All three guys they have on the roster are older players who have either hit regression or will be hitting regression after this season. To cap it off, all three guys are also inactive, will no longer be earning, and won’t fight regression at all. William H. Harrison should see a massive drop this season as he heads into a big season of regression, Damien Arnold should see what little skill he has diminish, and Jeff Jefferson will likely be out of the league before S19 even kicks off depending on his own regression. This is an ugly spot for the Second Line and somewhere that they should absolutely be looking to upgrade in this draft.
Kicker/Punter
39alaska39 aka Alex Frost S13 - 141 TPE - Active - Alex Frost is a rare active kicker in this league. He isn’t a huge earner, but he at least checks in and gets involved from time to time. His first dance with regression will be in S20, so I think he has at least three more seasons of contribution to this team if he gets in a bit more training. S21 kickoff will probably be the last we see from him in this league as retirement takes him. Frost so far has been a fairly middle of the back kicker in this league. His S16 campaign saw him have an 80 percent success in field goal tries and 94.3 percent success in extra points. He followed that up with marginal improvement in S17 with his 88.5 percent success rate in field goal tries and 93.8 percent success in extra points. He should continue to develop a bit more and continue doing just enough that New Orleans won’t be in a hurry to replace him.
Positional Need Grade: D - Kicker isn’t a huge priority for any team and Frost has been fairly consistent and shown growth on this New Orleans roster. He’s not the best kicker around, but it can be hard to find much improvement over what Frost offers. If they can find a replacement, great. If not, they shouldn’t go out of their way to improve on something that isn’t in terrible shape.
Overall Roster Review
I feel like this team is soldly set up for the future. They currently have 11 active players on their roster and eight inactives. Six of their inactive players were about to hit regression and exit the team anyways while eight of their actives are young players at key positions. They make up a very solid core for this team going forward. 10 of their players will retire or enter regression before the 2020 season starts, but they have nine guys that should anchor this team for the foreseeable future as they build a pretty tough looking team. This team has two first round picks and only two truly glaring holes. Defensive line and safety. If they can solidify either position with their five picks in the first three rounds of this draft, I think teams should really start getting nervous about facing a rather stacked roster going forward.
Philadelphia Liberty
Quarterback
enigmatic aka Adriana Falconi S10 - 985 TPE - Active - Adriana Falconi is the star attraction of the Philadelphia Liberty franchise. That said, she had her first brush with regression this past season and she did see a clear decline in her ability to carry the team on her back. She hasn’t made any sort of retirement announcements yet as S18 rapidly approaches, but after taking a second regression hit it can’t be too far away now as her ninth season begins. In S16 she had an incredible year. She completed 58.4 percent of her passes for 3693 yards, 36 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. Her season quarterback rating was 95.2 and she basically strapped this Liberty team to her back and carried them to the championship game. Unfortunately she took a pretty solid step back in the S17 compain. She had a 56.8 percent completion rating for 3322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Her 82 quarterback rating on the season was one of the worst in the league and it really went to show how far backwards she fell. I don’t know how much of it was her regression or how much of it was the team’s. Either way it has to be on her mind. This may be the last campaign we see Falconi embark on and I hope it is a magical one.
Positional Need Grade: A - Adriana Falconi is there. The regression hit and she definitely saw the decline in her on the field abilities. The longer Falconi pushes this, the worse it is going to get for her. I don’t know how long a competitor like Falconi can let that happen. There seems to be no heir apparent in Philadelphia and when Falconi is gone, I think a massive void will be left on the team. She’s a leader and one of the best players on the team and it’s a bit baffling to think of what will happen when Philadelphia can’t rely on her anymore. They might have her for another season. They might have her for two. I just don’t see them having her for three. You can’t just throw a rookie to the wolves without development and I don’t think now would be the worst time to look for someone to start nurturing for the role behind center.
Running Back
YoungTB aka Marquise Brown S09 - 725 TPE - Active - Marquise Brown has been in this league for a long time. This past week we saw him reach a massive milestone in his career and some thought the retirement announcements might follow. Facing down a date with his third season of regression can’t be exciting, but he hasn’t yet decided to hang up his cleats. He looks like he wants to give it one more spin even after a bit of a down year for him. The team can always use a veteran presence if he does play in his 10th season, but I’m pretty sure we don’t see him play in S19. Much of that has to do with the drop in production he’s begun to see. He went from a S16 campaign that saw him put together 1409 all purpose yards and 15 touchdowns into a S17 trail that only amounted to 1109 all purpose yards and seven touchdowns. It wasn’t a complete collapse of a season, but it was a noticeable drop. I’m not too sure how many more hits he can take and keep on going.
Beebob aka Farley Hank S15 - 428 TPE - Active - Farley Hank is an upcoming star in Philadelphia. Since being drafted in S15, he has been the backup to Marquise Brown. He’s continued to work and grind and now that he’s continued to progress, he may be a short season away from taking over the reigns as a feature guy for this franchise. He still has until S22 before regression starts to take over and he could easily fight until the beginning of S24. He might see a good five years of workhorse games before Philadelphia replaces him as long as he can produce. Some questions about that ability may have come up this past season as he saw his production drop just a bit. After amassing 807 yards and five touchdowns in S16, we saw him slip down to 675 yards and only four scores in S17. He did see a reduction in his total touches as he wasn’t as active in the game plan, but he really seemed to struggle to maximize the touches he did get. He should be able to improve on that as he develops and fall into a lead back role nicely in the future.
Positional Need Grade: B - Philadelphia likely has their feature guy of the foreseeable future in Farley Hank. That said, the league seems to run a running back by committee very well across the board. It is one of the most explosive ways for offenses to play and if you don’t have two solid guys at the position, you’re likely behind the curve. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, Marquise Brown is getting up there in age. If he plays in S18, it will be his 11th season in the NSFL. He has been on the grind for a long time and he is reaching for some of the all time records. I’m not sure how much longer his body holds out, but realistically Philadelphia should be looking into a replacement for Brown. Picking up someone in this draft and letting them develop for a season before replacing Brown might be their ideal situation.
Wide Receiver
JVMjrDOT aka Jordan von Matt S10 - 774 TPE - Inactive - Jordan von Matt tangoed with regression for his first time in S17 and it hit him like a ton of bricks. The star receiver has not had an ideal year and now that he is inactive, I don’t see it changing in the near future. Philadelphia might be able to milk another couple years out of him, but I expect him to be virtually wasted away by the time the S20 campaign kicks off. He’s already seen his production dive off of a cliff. After a S16 march that saw him catch 71 balls for 1338 yards and 10 touchdowns, he looked like one of the top three guys in the league. Then in S17 everything changed as he only caught 63 balls for 870 yards and six touchdowns. He saw a small decline in opportunities compared to S16, but it wouldn’t have mattered as von Matt simply did not make the most out of what opportunities he did get. I don’t know if we continue to see him slide this season, but we could be watching the end of a star.
Fordhammer aka Nacho Varga S15 - 707 TPE - Active - Nacho Varga is an upcoming star in this league. He has had to play second fiddle to the incredible von Matt so far since he was picked up in the S15 draft, but after regression and his continued progress Varga should see himself in the number one role next season. Farga has until S22 to be a star highlight reel before regression hits and with the kind of gains he’s had, I fully believe he could hold his retirement out until after the S24 season if he so wished. Varga has already begun to show his worth to this team as a reliable safety valve. It is rare to see a quarterback’s numbers dip and one of the receivers actually do better. Varga did just that. In S16 he caught 48 passes for 726 yards and seven touchdowns. He saw improvement in S17 with 65 catches for 817 yards and seven touchdowns. He wasn’t quite able to make as many big plays, but he showed he had reliable hands and could be relied on as the number one guy.
Relams123 aka Sam Hardwick S12 - 591 TPE - Active - Sam Hardwick is an older guy, but he is still active to this point. He won’t get the kind of gains you see out of Varga, but he doesn’t begin his regression until S19. With some minimal effort he might actually be able to pass von Matt on the depth chart and have a solid two or three seasons as the number two guy in Philadelphia before a likely retirement before S21 kicks off. As von Matt has declined, Hardwick has at least increased his production. After a S16 campaign that saw him only haul in 28 balls for 331 yards, he came into S17 determined not to be forgotten. His 34 catches for 559 yards and five touchdowns were a huge advancement on his previous season as he not only was open for more opportunities, he did a lot more with what opportunities he was given. It is a good luck for a guy who is hoping he might get even more chances in S18.
Positional Need Grade: B - If we’re being honest here, Philadelphia might need to address this position sooner than later. Jordan von Matt is about to be on a steep decline has he enters his ninth year and can’t have much more than a season ahead of him. Sam Hardwick won’t be far behind von Matt as he’ll see a decrease in his own abilities in S19. The only receiver they have for the foreseeable future on this roster is Nacho Varga and he can’t carry it all alone. This draft has a couple of solid receivers who might slip down late into this one and if Philadelphia wanted to get a guy in their system to develop for them, it wouldn’t be the worst time to grab one.
Tight End
Coming up empty boss.
Positional Need Grade: B - I might argue at times that teams don’t need a tight end. Usually the tight end players are best used in the slot as a secondary receiver threat on the roster and a lot of teams already have that guy. Be it a pass catching running back or a solid second receiver, most teams have that guy. Philadelphia does not. Three of their five players at skill positions are currently heading into regression. The decline will be swift and this offense doesn’t have many other options. A playmaker at the tight end position very well might be what they need to spice this offense back up as their veterans depart.
Defensive Line
Wasty aka Ikaika Kalilimoku S12 - 270 TPE - Inactive - Ikaika Kalilimoku is unfortunately an inactive who is quickly racing towards regression. S19 will be his first hit and I think S20 might be the nail in the coffin for Kalilimoku. At the moment he’s barely even a serviceable player and has minimal impact for this team, but he fills a hole on this team until regression hits and retirement comes for him. He had a pretty solid S16 with 41 tackles, two tackles for a loss, and six sacks, but he fell off near completely in S17. 17 tackles and only two sacks are not indicative of a player who is supposed to be a starter. His lack of production before even hitting regression raises a lot of questions for this line.
Graciejj2000 aka Chad Maulolo S16 - 247 TPE - Inactive - Chad Maulolo has good news and bad news. The bad news about Maulolo is that he’s inactive and will no longer be earning. The good news is he has roughly the TPE of a top earning rookie and shouldn’t regress until S23. If Philadelphia wants to continue slotting him in, I think they can keep him until S24 kickoff rolls around. That raises the question of if they’d even want to. His rookie season saw him only manage 24 tackles and three tackles for a loss and he followed it up with a marginally improved S17 campaign with 32 tackles, one tackle for a loss, and four sacks. This is his plateau though and I can’t see him getting better numbers than that. If Philadelphia keep him around, they have to accept this is his likely peak.
Kentuckycolonel aka Alberto McGwire S16 - 146 TPE - Inactive - Alberto McGwire is also inactive, but unfortunately for Philadelphia he didn’t bother to collect much TPE before his exit. I don’t know how much impact having a guy like this remaining on your roster has or if they’ll bother resigning him when his rookie contract is up, but if they want to hold onto him he won’t regress for another six seasons. They will have to cut ties with him the moment regression hits in S23 if they don’t decide to cut ties before then. McGwire had a presentable rookie season in S16 with his 24 tackles, five tackles for a loss, and two sacks. It was looking up for him, but then he stopped training and in S17 we saw him drop. 14 tackles, two tackles for a loss, and only a single sack was put up for McGwire and there has to be questions about how long they allow him to sit on a roster spot.
Positional Need Grade: A - This team desperately needs defensive linemen. I’m not going to mince words about it, they need help up front in a big way and their lack of production from this position group is likely a big reason why they struggled this past season. Ikaika Kalilimoku in inactive and about to hit regression. Chad Maulolo and Alberto McGwire are both young guys, but they’re also inactive and won’t improve anytime in the near future. This defensive line is a glaring weakness of the entire roster and I’m not sure the draft even has enough guys available to plug all the spots open here. Their current roster is worse than some of the rookies coming in for S18 and I think it will be a long rebuilding process before they have anything resembling competence at the position. The earlier they can check this need off of their list, the better.
Linebacker
soryantyler aka Gekyume Stokeley S14 - 474 TPE - Active - Gekyume Stokeley is one of the better guys in the league. He isn’t insanely active, but he’s a consistent earner and an asset to the locker room. He’s still got some time ahead of him to make up some ground or get ahead of the curve. He won’t hit regression until S21 and he’ll probably put it off for about a year with a sendoff in S22. So far, Stokeley has shown to be one of the better tacklers in the entire league. He was top 10 in S16 with 99 tackles and three sacks and then followed that up with an incredible top five performance in S17. With 118 tackles, a tackle for a loss, two sacks, an interception, and five pass defenses, he flashed his ability as a sideline to sideline player who can make plays all over the field. He has a nose for the ball and almost always find himself near it at the end of a play. This ability should become more apparent as he develops.
Rouchicus aka Rock Hardshaft S15 - 184 TPE - Inactive - Rock Hardshaft is a young player who has found ways to produce pretty well in the league despite being inactive. Philadelphia has found ways to get something out of him and he won’t see regression till S22. There is a good chance he stays around on the roster until then, but I can’t see them keeping him on after that first regression hit. Hardshaft is a hard read for me. He didn’t earn much even when he was active, but he’s still found ways to have impact plays and he even had a better season in S17 than S16. S16 saw him close out with 58 tackles, six tackles for a loss, four sacks, and three passes defended, which was decent for a guy with his skill set. This season saw him show up in the offensive backfield in a big way with his 39 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, four sacks, and two passes defended. He proved he can be effective and disruptive which is surprising for someone in Hardshaft’s position. If he keeps putting up similar numbers, I could see the potential for Philadelphia to let him sit on the roster.
Positional Need Grade: A - If we’re being honest, every team needs at least two solid linebackers. Gekyume Stokeley is clearly a solid guy who should continue developing and producing for this team, but Rock Hardshaft is spinning his wheels in place. He won’t ever improve, he won’t ever do more than what he’s doing right now. Philadelphia really needs to look into replacing him as their number two guy at the position. They have a high pick, there are multiple options available who are already better than Harshaft, and I can see them making a splash at the position. Linebacker is one of the most important positions on the entire field and having a weakness there is absolutely not a good look for any team.
Cornerback
BWIII aka Emondov Emoji S15 - 750 TPE - Active - Emondov Emoji is heading into S18 ready to start his fourth campaign in prime form. He is one of the top earners of the S15 class and he is at near peak performance already. He’s a star for this team and with him not heading towards regression until S22, he still has a long career ahead of him. With his current earning potential, I think he can fight regression until after the S25 season if he felt the need to prolong his career. With the kind of numbers he’s been producing, he may look to as he could potentially be aiming for a record in coverage when it comes time for his career to start wrapping up. He led the league in passes defended with 26 while also netting himself 60 tackles and three interceptions. He expectedly stepped back a bit this season as quarterbacks have begun passing away from him. He’s still lockdown when he is targeted though, racking up another 16 pass defenses and two interceptions in coverage while also grabbing 63 tackles. It has been an impressive couple of years for Emoji and he is really starting to stand out as an elite playmaker.
Waters aka Johnson Cox III S11 - 258 - Inactive - Johnson Cox is in a terrible position right now. S18 will be the start of his regression as he enters his eight season. He never gained too much when he was active in the first place, so there isn’t a lot of room to drop there. Cox might still have a role to play in this season, but I doubt he makes it past S19 as he’s already seeing his production drop in coverage. In S16 he managed 66 tackles, three sacks, two interceptions, and 12 passes defended. His S17 campaign saw a rough season as he made 98 tackles, one interception, and eight passes defended. The increase of tackles came on a season where he was repeatedly burned in coverage, forcing himself to make tackles after the catch to prevent long scores. With regression coming in fast, I think he is now a liability for this defense.
TubbyTim69 aka Julian McMorris S17 - 237 TPE - Active - Julian McMorris is a S17 rookie who came into this season with a lot of question marks. Even then, he overcame and has come out of the other end of this season looking pretty solid. He is in the middle range of his class’ earners, but has remained both active and consistent. I think he can contribute in this defense for a long time as he won’t hit regression until S24. I think he’ll retire pretty quickly and might push into the S25 campaign, but I doubt he’ll do much to fight his decline when it comes. That said, he did put together a very solid rookie season that he can be proud of. 72 tackles, a tackle for a loss, three sacks, four interceptions, and 21 pass defenses. He was one of the best pass coverage guys in the NSFL in what was absolutely a breakout display for him. I don’t know if he can repeat it in S18, but it will be fun to watch him try.
Positional Need Grade: C - Most teams are running three cornerbacks on their team in this league and I don’t think Philadelphia is an exception. Emondov Emoji is going to be a long term all star for this team as he tears his way through the league in dominant fashion and Julian McMorris is developing into a very solid number two behind him. Both of these guys should be manning the position for at least another six seasons, giving Philadelphia a very solid core. With Johnson Cox III hitting regression though, I think this team should be in the market for their nickel corner. I’m not sure how desperate of a need it is and with some gaping holes on this team already, I don’t know that it is a need even emphasized in this draft. Still, it might come up for discussion as this draft gets deep.
Safety
37thechamber aka Lennox Garnett S11 - 1089 TPE - Active - Lennox Garnett has been a huge earner throughout his history in the league. He is highly active and has kept himself on top of his gains. He should be entering regression as S18 opens up, but it shouldn’t hit him too hard and he might still be able to pull out another couple of solid seasons. I think he officially retires at the end of the S19 season, but may push into S20 if he’s chasing a record. Garnett has been nothing but consistent at this point in his career. S16 saw him rack up 86 tackles, six interceptions, and 14 pass defenses in coverage. S17 saw him actually improve a bit on that mark with 82 tackles, three interceptions, and 24 passes defended as he placed himself at the top of the rankings for disruption in the secondary. I’m not sure how much this regression actually hurts him, but I can’t see a guy at the top of his game like this backing up.
124715 aka Richard D’Attoria V S15 - 716 TPE - Active - Richard D’Attoria is a top guy from the S15 draft and is one of the most promising safeties in the league as he heads into what should be the prime of his career. The next few years so see him put together a very solid campaign as his regression doesn’t loom until S22. Even then, he should be able to easily fight regression for a few seasons and likely won’t step down until roughly the end of S25. So far D’Attoria has been setting the league on fire. His 95 tackles, two tackles for a loss, eight sacks, three interceptions, and 14 pass defenses in S16 were an absolute marvel and the kind of numbers safeties get jealous of. He has very similar impact in S17 with 88 tackles, two tackles for a loss, four sacks, and 15 pass defenses. He didn’t have the interceptions this time, but he did have two forced fumbles and fumble recoveries to make up for it. He is a star and a playmaker and will be the rock of this defense for a long time.
wuma aka Derek Bohne S12 - 278 TPE - Inactive - Derek Bohne is another inactive from a long past draft class who didn’t actually get called up until S16. Because it was so late, he’s in only his second NSFL season and this S18 campaign will be his last before regression hits him in S19. He was already on a bubble in a five defensive back set and he may stay there one more season, but when regression hits I think he fades fast. S20 should seem him mostly retired as he finishes his career without really doing much. He had 81 tackles, two sacks, one interception, and five passes defended in S16 and then somehow got worse in S17 with 69 tackles, two sacks, one interception, and only a single pass defended. He’s just not an impact player and its likely he’ll need to be replaced as soon as possible.
Positional Need Grade: D - Even as he hits regression, Lennox Garnett is going to continue to be one of the top guys at the position for one more season at least and he might fight his way through a couple past that, but the writing is on the wall for him. Derek Bohne should be replaced as soon as possible. An inactive heading into regression a season out is no place to bank your future. The only safety we know will be on this roster for the foreseeable future is Richard D’Attoria. While he is a star who will be making plays on this defense for at least another four years and while he will be a solid anchor, he is going to need some help in the next few seasons. The need isn’t urgent and it doesn’t have to be addressed right this second, but it is certainly something they’ll need to be thinking about soon.
Kicker/Punter
Avakael aka Roderick Castleberry S12 - 95 TPE - Inactive - Roderick Castleberry only has one more season left of his career. This inactive will enter S18 with one last chance to leave his mark on the league, but when regression hits at the end of the season he’ll be officially retired. He’s been a long standing player, so hopefully he makes to most of this next campaign. Chances of that are relatively low as he didn’t make a roster at all in S16 and this past season he had some of the lowest percentages in the league. He only made 81.8 percent of his field goals and his misses certainly cost the Liberty a few games. I’m not sure that changes in S18.
Positional Need Grade: A - The situation here isn’t completely dire. No team is really going to go out of their way to pick up a kicker, no matter how bad the one on their roster is. This one is really bad and I would go as far as saying he’s the ninth ranked kicker of 10 in the league. He won’t even be on the roster in just one season, so they could potentially get ahead of the curve and replace him right now with a S18 rookie who is better. They should be able to get a decent one a bit later in the draft process, but I don’t know that they should reach.
Overall Roster Review
Where do I even start with this team? It is ugly in Philadelphia. Of this team’s 18 players, eight are inactive and 10 are active. Nine of their players will be entering regression or retiring by the end of this season. Of those nine, six of them are from their active player pool. That means this team has a grand total of 14 players who are either inactive and no longer earning, on the edge of retiring, or will start seeing skill reduction in S19. That leaves their future on the shoulders of just four players. Four players have to carry this retirement home forward and I don’t even know where they are going. The situation is pretty desolate and I think they are going into rebuild now mode. This isn’t something that gets better fast and they’re going to have to make some big splashes in this draft if they want to be competing come S20. They need help at pretty much every position. Some are more vital than others, but I can’t look at a single position group and say they’re set for the future. This may be a long season coming up.
Austin Copperheads
Quarterback
JKortesi81 aka Easton Cole S16 - 524 TPE - Active - Easton Cole is one of the young bucks at quarterback in the league. He’s entering his third season and should be at least one more season out of his prime as he develops. Still, he has been a solid performer and we should see him get better as he develops over the next season. He won’t begin to regress until S23 and will probably stick around until the end of S24 at a minimum before calling it quits. Cole was arguably the worst quarterback in the league in S16 with his 52.2 percent completion rating, 2351 yards, nine touchdowns and 21 interceptions. It resulted in a humiliating 55.3 quarterback rating on the year. I think a lot of people were surprised by his quick recovery. S17 saw his completion percentage come up to 55.7 as he threw for 3106 yards, 18 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions for a 89.8 quarterback rating on the season. His development is coming along quickly and I think in two seasons, Cole might be a monster.
Positional Need Grade: F - Easton Cole is a young guy who has a lot of development still in front of him. He has shown massive season to season improvement and there is no way Austin ever even considers moving away from him. Cole likely has this spot locked up for the Copperheads for no less than six seasons and I could potentially see him staying for up to eight. He’s a spectacular talent, a great locker room leader, and he’s always striving to better himself. When you have a guy like that, you don’t go looking for his replacement this early. They might look for a development guy in S24, but that is still a long time off.
Running Back
Mooty99 aka Mako Mendonca S16 - 439 TPE - Active - Mako Mendonca is the oldest member of an active two headed running attack for the Copperheads. Mako is entering his third season after a sophomore season that saw him hit the ground running. He’s been a solid earner and when he hits regression in S23, I think he is more than capable of slowing the bleeding. I could see him sticking around until S24 before retirement comes up. Mendonca’s rookie season in S16 only saw him string together 555 all purpose yards and three touchdowns in the whole campaign as he backed up Dick Wizardry. After a position switch from Dick, he saw his role increase dramatically on the team. 1458 all purpose yards and nine touchdowns had him put together a massive year for the Second Line as he’s now the veteran back on the team and he’s been filling the role nicely.
run_CMC aka Ashley Owens S17 - 357 TPE - Active - Ashley Owens has become a star in his rookie campaign. He is one of the top earners in his entire draft class and he has more than showed his value on the field. He doesn’t even have to think about losing progress until S24 and when that rolls around, I think he’ll be more than ready and be fully capable of sticking around and having impact into S27 if he so desired. As a first year rookie, Owens really showed what he is capable of. His 1420 all purpose yards and seven touchdowns were massive for this team and was surprising production from a guy sharing a backfield with another back. He’s working his way into the feature guy role as he’s on pace to pass Mendonca within the next season or so and he should produce for this team for a long time yet.
Positional Need Grade: F - There is a good chance that Austin has the best running back situation in the entirety of the NSFL. Mako Mendonca is only heading into his third season as an active player who earns at a decent rate and showed what he can do with more opportunities this season. He should continue to improve and as he does, the dual threat he has going with backfield partner Ashley Owens should only get more explosive. In his first season, Owens set the league on fire as he produced big numbers for this team week after week. He’s been a top earner and while I think he might pass Mendonca on the depth chart from a skill perspective, I think both get more than their share of carries. Their production as a dual backfield is incredible and I think Austin will get to see more of this for at least six seasons before they’ll need to start discussion replacements for these guys. Running back should be completely scratched off the list for this team.
Wide Receiver
tik742 aka Django Anoa’i S12 - 770 TPE - Active - Django Anoa’i is about to hit the last year of his prime here in S18. He’s active and can fight against the coming S19 regression for another two or three seasons, but by the time S21 comes to an end I think it will be about time for his career to come to a close. He’s still showing an ability to improve though. After hauling in 63 catches for 848 yards and five touchdowns in S16, he decided to one up himself by catching 65 balls for 956 yards and four touchdowns in S17. He’s showing an improved process on making the most out of every chance he gets and going into S18, he should have his best season yet before finally starting to head down hill.
SDCore aka Rod Tidwell S15 - 603 TPE - Active - Rod Tidwell is a star in the making as he enters his fourth season of play. He’s been the number two guy for a while, but as he enters his prime the guy opposite of him is hitting regression. I can see him taking over duties as the number one guy before long and with him not hitting his own regression until S22 he could hold that spot until at least the end of S24 before someone else comes in and does the same to him. Tidwell’s first year as a starter saw him catch 39 balls for 515 yards and two touchdowns in S16. This season he seemed to gain a bit more rapport with Cole as he was able to haul in 52 passes for 606 yards and three touchdowns. He hasn’t been a big play guy, but he’s been a consistent underneath target as the number two weapon in this offense.
Positional Need Grade: C - Receiver is not an immediate concern for this roster. Rod Tidwell is a young star in the making who should lead this receiving corps for a long time and Django Anoa’i still has a couple of solid seasons ahead of him as he only starts regression at the end of this campaign. That said, they have no one currently filling the slot and often have their running backs fill the role instead. There is potential to pick up a solid number three guy and have him develop behind Tidwell and Anoa’i to take over as Anoa’i regresses in a few seasons, but it isn’t a rush and shouldn’t be completely emphasized for this team.
Tight End
Tomasnz aka Peter Larson S16 - 388 TPE - Active - Peter Larson is an active guy and overall an above average earner. He’s done well since joining the league and as he reaches his third season in S18, he’ll be looking to make a bigger in game impact for his career. He’s still got a lot of years left in front of him as his regression won’t begin to impact him until S23 and he could potentially even hold out until the end of S25 before considering retirement with his current rate of gains. His S16 rookie campaign saw him make minor impacts for this team with 37 catches for 259 yards, but then he found a bit more production in an improved S17 season. 54 catches for 359 yards and a score made him one of the more reliable receivers underneath. He was able to shiftily make consistent five to six yard gains when it was asked of him. He can only get better from here.
Positional Need Grade: F - Most teams only keep one tight end on their roster and some don’t carry any at all. Peter Larson is a very solid prospect from the S16 draft who has been a consistent earner since entering the league. He’s going to continue to be a star for Austin going forward and this isn’t usually a position you look to train a replacement for. More often than not, it is plug and play so I feel like it will be six or seven seasons before the Copperheads look at a new player in this position.
Offensive Line
Beaver aka Edmond Beaver-Dantes S15 - 388 TPE - Active - Edmond Beaver-Dantes is the only active offensive lineman in the entire NSFL. He’s done enough to get himself up to start over a bot as he heads into his fourth season and he has plenty of room for growth as he won’t see regression until S22. He hasn’t been getting max training, but I think he’s done enough that he should be able to fight regression for a season or two before seeing himself retire by S24. Beaver-Dantes had a rough S17 season. After his 60 pancakes and only two sacks allowed in S16, he only managed 51 pancakes and allowed four sacks in this last campaign. Taking a step backwards is an awful look for the only active guy at the position.
Positional Need Grade: F - I hate to put this here. I really do. I will probably get some flack for it, but no team really needs offensive linemen. GMs prefer the bots well enough and even as someone like Beaver tries to prove he can compete, he’s just barely top 20 in the league. 388 TPE isn’t bad for a player who is ending his third season, but it simply isn’t enough to compete at a high level at this position. I hope some of the new blood coming into S18 can prove me wrong because I love our offensive line players, but I don’t expect to see any team taking a chance on an offensive lineman early in the draft.
Defensive Line
WannabeFinn aka Grayson Kuusela S12 - 524 TPE - Active - Grayson Kuusela will be trying to put together a solid campaign in S18 before seeing his first season of regression coming up in S19. His earnings despite being active has been limited and I’m not sure how long he can fight off the hits he’ll be taking. I’m not sure how hard Kuusela plans to fight and we might see him retired as early as S20 but probably not later than S22 kickoff. After having a modest S16 with 42 tackles and only three sacks, Kuusela decided to explode in S17 and really show his value to this team. His 48 tackles didn’t speak too much, but his 15 sacks made this an absolute breakout season for him. He still has at least one more year of prime production for this team and hopefully he can keep it up.
uncleleo’skomrade aka Joseph Henry S14 - 218 TPE - Inactive - Joseph Henry is an inactive fringe player who may still be on the roster for a while yet. He doesn’t see regression until S21 and might can survive on the roster until then. There is a good chance that his second regression takes him from the league though and we see him depart in S22. Despite being a lower overall defensive lineman, Henry has at least produced some numbers for this team. In S16 we saw him make 35 tackles, grab nine tackles for a loss, and put up six sacks. With Wizardry coming in in S17, he saw some of his production drop but he still had impact plays. 21 tackles, nine tackles for a loss, and two sacks are numbers indicative of a guy who can still get into the backfield. Maybe he still can do a bit for this team in the next couple of seasons.
AdamS aka Dick Wizardry S12 - 1097 TPE - Active - Dick Wizardry in an incredibly active player at an essential position who is entering his impact year. In S18 he is going to be a maxed out monster who should set the tone early. He will be entering the twilight of his career starting in S19 as regressing kicks in, but he has absolutely stacked training and should take it with grace as I see him continuing for a while in the league before hanging them up. By S22’s end though we should be seeing him getting ready to move on and there will be a massive hole left in this team that the Copperheads will be forced to try and fill. How big of a hole? In just his first season after a position change, Wizardry put up 32 tackles, five tackles for a loss, and five sacks as he plugged the middle of this defense. His impact went much deeper than the stat line as he caused terror beyond the line. A lot of position changes can fall short, but Dick made this one work and he should be looking to make an even larger impact as he moves into his second season on the defensive line.
eighthroundpick aka Nick Snider S15 - 124 TPE - Inactive - Nick Snider is unfortunately inactive and didn’t spend much time in the training room before going that way. He fills a small role on the Copperheads’ defensive line and he will likely find some use on the team until S22. That first regression should be enough to drop him entirely though. Either way it doesn’t look to be a real asset or loss to Austin. S16 saw him man a campaign where he made 15 tackles, four tackles for a loss, and two sacks. S17 saw him up his game a bit with 26 tackles, four tackles for a loss, and five sacks. Much of that addition success can be amounted to the improvement of this line with Wizardry on it, giving Snider more room to work with. Either way, Snider seems expendable.
Positional Need Grade: B - The need at defensive line is pretty big for this team, but it may not be primary. They have two very solid guys on the line who will be entering regression in S19, but both have the capabilities to fight it. I think Dick Wizardy fights his for a bit longer than Grayson Kuusela, but I believe both have another three seasons of production at the minimum. Then you have Nick Snider and Joseph Henry who are both inactives that won’t see regression for a long while. Replacing one of those guys now to eventually prepare for the departure of Kuusela at a minimum might not be the worst idea. Especially in a class that has a few pot
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