[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes
Alright fans, here's a little peak into our draft day strategy in the IHOF 2008 amateur draft. Well, a review sort of strategy that is.

Okay, lets look at where we were at the start of the off-season, we were holding four 5th round picks, of which three were already promissed to be traded to the Anaheim Visigoths for safety Broderick Schultz. That left us with one 5th round pick. One pick and basically two big needs: a new backup running back and a young punter who can replace our Roscoe Corrales some day. One important change to previous drafts, we'd go more for experience than before, although potential would still be important, but much higher than we already had on roster.

The draft class was announced and I saw only one running back I liked: Scott Bagley. Why? Bagley was the only rookie with relative high hole recognition, high speed to the outside, not too high willigness to catch passes, sure handedness and endurance. An extra was his kickoff returning ability, but that wasn't what we were after at first. Additionally, this class had one all-world type of kid in Tony Amey. Knowing this league a bit better, I figured he would go early second, later third round. Second best punter was Albert Barreras, who could go as high as the mid to top second round. I didn't even look at other options.

In a trade with the Brooklyn Fightin' Bums, I traded us up to the 3.19 pick by trading away cornerback Carlos Mitchem. But wanting a mid-2nd rounder, we were far from done. In a big trade with San Luis Obispo Burn, I managed to talk them into letting me move up to 3.4 as part of the big deal that cost us a future 1st and 2nd for cornerbacks Xavier Clyburn and Sammie Kennedy. And after getting that pick, I got the Williamsburg Colonials willing to trade the 2.19 for the 3.4 and quarterback Shane Bower.

Okay, we were at 2.19 and I realized that trading up would cost too much. We had to settle for sitting in this position and hope to see Amey or Bagley fall. The draft started and we didn't see Amey get selected in the first about 15 picks. Time zone issues kicked in and yours truely took a little nap.

As I returned to the land of the awake, I found out that the top two punters were selected in the first 40 picks. Sitting at #51, we had to hope Bagley would be there, however the top three running backs were also off the board already. With iron nerves, I decided to wait and see. After a lunch break, it turned out that Bagley had landed with us!

Well, so far so good, but a further look at the draft class told me there was another punter worth picking up. As the 2nd round was coming to an end, I tried to acquire a mid to high 3rd round pick. Talks with Ann Arbor Anachronism for the 3.16 were almost done, until I realized they were up in three picks at 2.31. They wanted a future 2nd round pick and in the end I figured it was worth sacrificing our 2010 2nd round pick to get a younger punter now. Two other picks went by and Sean Smalley, the best punter left, became ours.

The draft looked succesful and I didn't seen any need to trade anymore. But, as the draft kept going on, I kept my eyes open for hidden gems, players that my scout gave good grades that would be good enough to make the final 53-men roster, even if they turn out to be a little bit less talented than we wanted. The idea was to go for guys with a bit of experience as these players would have a hard time becoming a starter and thus getting more experienced during the season.

The draft continued and as we stopped at the 5.22 pick, I found linebacker Bernie Surry, defensive Brenden Henderson and safety Wade Elliot as potential pickups. Seeing our depth at safety, Elliot would only be a consolation prize, but Henderson and especially Surry could make the final roster. I promoted my desire to trade, offered a 4th round pick in 2009 and started with waiting.

The North Plainfield Plague were interested and offer the 5.27. We talked and decided it would be a done deal. However, I was also talking with the Georgia Gridlock at 5.24 and had contacted the Miami Sharks, who were on the clock at 5.22. As the Sharks' manager returned, we made the deal (the 4th for the 5.22) and Surry was ours.

Having the line open with the Plague, we talked and I let known I had still one player I wanted. Brenden Henderson could fall, but all of a sudden he was the best end left in the class. We agreed to trade a 2010 5th rounder for the 6.10 pick under if-he's-there conditions. Henderson fell, wasn't picked by the Paris Musketeers at 6.9 and Henderson was ours as well.

After we picked Henderson, for the first time this draft I felt like the draft was done, the feeling was the same as the one after we completed the first round foursome in 2005, after the pick of Flannery in 2006 and after getting Andrew Rasmussen and Aaron Sherrill in the 6th round of the 2007 draft.

As of today, I've got no idea yet whether any of the four rookies will be a good or bad pick, but the scouting reports of the four rookies are promissing:
* Scott Bagley is scouted as 30/48
* Sean Smalley is scouted as 55/62
* Bernie Surry is scouted as 24/50
* Brenden Henderson is scouted as 22/42

Looking at our roster, Bagley would indeed be our second best RB and would be our second best KR guy. Smalley will challenge Roscoe Corrales (55/55) for the role, Henderson will be challenging 2007 starters Aaron Sherrill (20/38) and Omar Gougeon (23/39), while Surry will battle with Mitch Hoofkin (30/44) for a roster spot.

Looking at our previous class, the 2007 class looks like we had a lot of misspicks. Jerry Beyer, Shaun Shiroma and Aaron Sherrill were rookie leaders, while traded kicker Alvin Ladner set a new single-season points record for rookies. But the other side are the released Terror Norris and potential green-forever players Norman Holliday, Henry Poston and Andrew Rasmussen. The future plan is to avoid having green players who will never play. As of now, Poston, Holliday and Rasmussen project as inactive roster members. It's sad, but that's how things go...