[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: ]2109 Draft recap

The 2109 IHOF draft concluded and other than the blockbuster trade for the #2 pick to select the top prospect of this class (in our opinion), it was quite quiet in our war room. We closed out our remaining picks with a bunch of possible make the team picks.

At 4.2 DT Leslie Jeffries, a run stopper with football intelligence and stamina.

At 4.16 G Tutan Shapiro, a strong run blocker with endurance.

At 5.18 LB Xavier Hoover, a smart run defender with endurance and special teams potential.

At 6.17 DE Steve Aber a fast pass rusher, with stamina and decent run stopping potential.

At 7.16 RB Mo Ellison, a fast, ball catching, elusive kid with endurance.

Yes, apparently we felt that endurance is a thing. DT Leslie Jeffries isn't per se an insurance for the free agent DT Mitch Potchynok, they are different types of D-Linemen. One is a running downs guy, the other passing downs. We can use them both. DE Steve Aber will battle with the 2nd year guys for a roster spot. RB Mo Ellison will likely fail to beat one of the guys already on team, but at RB you can never have too many guys going into training camp. G Tutan Shapiro will likely make the team as a new project, replacing G Nathaniel Robbins, who was on team to mentor one of our starters, which is a role now to be taken by starter Brett Stickney. LB Xavier Hoover fills a need as we said goodbye to long time starter LB Abraham Desimone.

Abrham Desimone was a 3rd round pick for us in 2100, but quickly developed into a starter on our team. His zone defense skills were crucial, but his endurance and run stopping ability made him not just a passing downs player, but an all downs LB2. For the upcoming season I didn't see anything more than a LB3 role for him, hence not offering him the kind of contract he was looking for. He left for the Williamsburg Colonials, who signed him pretty cheap at $14M this season, i bet he'll be their LB1 or LB2.

Finally, the rumors are also true that we're in the market for QB Billy Russell, a free agent, former League MVP and two-time Offensive Player of the Year. Our QB Harrison Singleton has a similar skill set and with the expected departure of QB Evan Drake (he wants to get traded and most likely I'll be forced to release him to make cap space available for other investments), it would be an interesting player to have as a backup plan. Kick holder QB Drake Bishop will stick around to mentor Singleton anyway. But it would be a bit of a luxury to sign a player like Russell, so, we'll have to see how that plays out.