[GoldenCrest Games]

It’s draft day! ok, actually the draft is already over, but here’s how it went, pick-by-pick. (with the results spreadsheet)

Results Spreadsheet

Round 1

1. Oranges: With the top pick in the draft, the Oranges have a choice between 98 rated DL Cyril Provencher and 99 rated OL Bennie Murphey. The next best OL is rated 89, while there are 2 DL rated above 90 after Provencher. However, both these top guys are speed specialists and don’t have much strength. In the end, the elite pass blocking potential of Murphey wins out and the Oranges select him with the #1 overall. He won’t help in the run game, but he should be able to lock anyone up in pass protection.
2. Reds: It looks like DL is the most skilled position on the defensive side of the ball, and the Reds love the top 2 prospects. Provencher is an elite pass rusher, but 93 rated DL Billie Enoch is an elite run stopper. Provencher’s potential to disrupt the passing game is what tips the scales. They take him with the #2.
3. Yellows: The Yellows are scouring for BPA. None of the offensive skill positions have been taken yet, and there are some stars there. The top 2 QB are 95 and 92, there are 2 97 rated RBs and a 94 rated speedster, and there’s a 91 rated WR who has good speed. The problem is that none of these guys are 2-way players. There’s a sweet RB/WR/DL later in the draft, but he’s not worth the #3. The top RB Jacob Rooker might be the most talented offensive player in the league, and he can play just enough safety that he might crack the defensive lineup (46 rating). The Yellows take 97 rated RB Rooker.
4. Blues: They don’t mess around. The Blues quickly grab the top QB and run. 95 rated pure pocket passer Nick Melo.
5. Greens: I really want to grab a legit skill position, but the Purples are picking back to back and there’s no possible way Urquhart makes it to me in the 2nd round. Grrrrr……. Unfortunately, this is probably a bad pick because he didn’t gain any other skills in the offseason. In fact, he lost all his WR ability. He’s rated 44 at CB, so maybe he’ll be a CB3? The only other possible option is start him as a 33 rated QB. Ouch. We take KR Urquhart with the #5.
6. Purples: The Purples wouldn’t have taken Urquhart with this pick. The #2 QB is rated 84, has a 421 speed, and a 92 for scrambling. That’s a game-breaker if I’ve ever seen one. They take QB Jeremiah Ries with the last pick in the 1st round.

Round 2

1. Purples: Coming back around, it turns out that the Purples wouldn’t have taken Urquhart here either. L There’s a LB unicorn that is too interesting for them to pass up. The 2nd LB is rated 81 but has a 405 speed. (The max game speed is 425) That’s elite WR/CB speed in a LB. This should be interesting. The Purples take LB Kirk Hills.
2. Greens: I really liked that LB. I probably could have waited to grab Urquhart until my 3rd rounder. Oh well…. My best options are the last star QB (92), one of the 2 star RB (97 and 94), the only star WR (91), or someone on the line. This draft is pretty deep on line, so I think I need to grab a skill position. I don’t love the WR or QB talent after the top guys so it might be hard to build a full passing game. I’ll take the safe route and pick the speedster RB (94-408) Winston Dunaway. I can use him in a lot of different ways.
3. Blues: They took a QB in the 1st so it only makes sense to grab the lone WR star. Erin Dutcher (91-389)
4. Yellows: There are a lot of 1-dimensional players at the top of the board, so it’s hard to find the right fit here. However, Yellows ownership notice a guy a little farther down the board that’s perfect. While not elite in anything, Burt Putnam is top-5 in 5 different positions! (QB/RB/WR/DL/ST) He also has respectable speed (352). That’s a nice fit.
5. Reds: The Reds can’t believe that DL Billie Enoch (93) is still on the board! They take him and have the best pass rusher and the best run stopper in the draft
6. Oranges: That last pick really burns the Oranges. Grrr….. The last elite DL is close, but not quite Enoch’s level. Still, quite a bargain to find elite run stopping late in the 2nd. DL Brian Morley (91).

Round 3

1. Oranges: Both OL and DL could start to get pretty thin in a couple rounds. The next few guys up on the OL and on the DL lists are fairly close in talent. The top DL left has an edge because he can play a little OL if it comes to that. Oranges take another run stuffing DL Angel Smalls (86)
2. Reds: Reds are pretty good at DL for now and shift their attention to other positions. The top prospects are LB Billy Grove (81), CB Jason Hershberger (90), S Kyle Correa (90) and S Glen Silva (88). Silva and Grove are by far the fastest guys out of this group, so it comes down to them. Silva ends up being the pick.
3. Yellows: The Yellows are looking for high-end talent that can play multiple positions, and there’s only 1 of those left. S Kyle Correa might not be the most electric runner, (257) but he’s savvy. He also is the 2nd best KR in the league at 96. The Yellows hope his quick decision making is a difference maker.
4. Blues: The Blues have the top QB and WR. They make it a clean sweep by taking the top rated RB (97) Morris Noah.
5. Greens: I missed out on my favorite LB, but I can grab the next best thing. LB Billy Grove (81) isn’t as fast as Hills, but Grove can play a little WR. I might need that, the way the draft is shaping up.
6. Purples: The Purples are going to load up on special teams here. There’s not a ton of talent in the pool, and they don’t want the pesky Greens to snap any more of it up. They grab the top K (92) Francesco Stoll.

Round 4

1. Purples: The Purples come back around the grab the speedy ST specialist Isidro Ivory (94-419). He can also play a decent game of CB (74).
2. Greens: We laugh at the Purples! There’s no way we would have taken either of those guys in the next 2 picks! (well, maybe Ivory…) We need to cover our investment in RB Dunaway by getting him some blocking. We grab a pretty good balanced OL (86) with legit ST skills. (89). Hiram Hylton.
3. Blues: The Blues have leaded up on skill positions, but need some blocking. They grab the top OL left (89) Luigi Testa.
4. Yellows: The Yellows make a bit of a reach and grab another 5-way player in RB/WR/OL/DL/ST Harley Lumpkin
5. Reds: The Reds took a long look at CB Hershberger (90) last round, and are happy to see him still on the board. That’s the pick.
6. Oranges: The 3rd rated OL is still on the board, so this is an easy pick for the Oranges. OL Augustine Bigler (87).

Round 5

1. Oranges: The oranges probably could stand pat with the OL and DL they have right now. They have 2 star DL, 2 star OL, and one serviceable OL. It looks like they still might be vulnerable against the run with only 2 DL, so they fill that hold with another run stuffer Tommie Macmillan (79). Now they are dominant on the DL.
2. Reds: The Reds can’t pass up an opportunity to have to two most skilled CB in the draft (by quite a margin). They take CB Reginald Paulk (88)
3. Yellows: The Yellows find another gem in WR/DL/CB/K/ST Dominique Cofield. He even has legit speed.
4. Blues: The Blues start to make the other teams’ defensive coordinators nervous by taking another fast and skilled WR. While not the top WR left on the board, he’s by far the fastest. WR (74-354) Carmelo Alford.
5. Greens: Ugh! I wanted that guy to fall for a couple more rounds. He looked like a gem. I might as well load up on run blocking. Let’s commit to the running game! OL Kelly Jamerson (82).
6. Purples: Purples find another special teams star in ST (97) Robt Word. He also happens to have massive strength. Should help out the return game a lot.

Round 6

1. Purples: Speaking of the return game, the Purples have yet to select a returner! They take KR (95) Rich Mosley.
2. Greens: There’s really only 1 more high-end run blocker left, so I might as well get that taken care of. OT (83) Anthony Lo. Now we can move on to other things. The running game is set.
3. Blues: The Blues need to round out their offense with line now. They take OL (84) Foster Dressler
4. Yellows: They Yellows find another multi-skill player to fill line positions on both sides of the ball. They take OL/DL/K Andrea Fix
5. Reds: The Reds biggest hole on the defense is at LB now. They fill that hole by drafting #3 rated LB (78) Mark Henshaw
6. Oranges: The Oranges could have made it through the season with the OL3 (52) they have right now, but there is still OL talent out there. They fill the last line position with OL (80) Forrest Haggard

Round 7

1. Oranges: Now that all 6 positions of the line are full, the Oranges need to fill every other position with the remaining 6 picks. Ouch. They are going to need a few multi-skill players, or just deal with subpar talent. There’s a decent WR (78) who can play S (70). There’s also a serviceable LB (64) / QB (60). In the end, they probably make things worse by taking the #2 QB in the draft, who is amazingly still on the board. They take QB (92) Doug Keith, who now has something to prove against every other team in the league.
2. Reds: The Reds have filled out most of the defensive starters. They could use a S2, LB2, and a DL3, but should probably look to fill some other positions. If they can find an offensive player with a 50ish rating on defense, that should be good enough. They already have 2 guys who can fill in at WR and one OL, so that’s a good start. WR (78) Alonzo Stringfellow is a nice WR who also would make an excellent 2nd safety (70). They grab him and fill 2 spots.
3. Yellows: The Yellows need OL, LB, CB help. Saul Mohler looks like a good fit. He can play OL (62) and LB (53) and is as strong as a dump truck.
4. Blues: The Blues need to look at the defense now. Luckily, there is some talent left. They grab S (85) Moshe Mercado
5. Greens: We sold out on the running game, so now we’re kind of in a hole with the rest of our roster. I think we’re in “most talented player” mode right now. There’s an athletic multi-position player that looks like a good fit. We take the speedy CB(71)/S(65) Lou Kersey, and we’ll see where he fits later.
6. Purples: The Purples really need line help. They take the best lineman with the highest ST rating. OL (64) Nathan Bartz with ST (82)

Round 8

1. Purples: They follow that pick up with DL (62) Danial Gall with ST (73)
2. Greens: Oh boy, I almost took a kicker here. J We find another talented specialist in the defensive secondary. We’re going to pay for this with incredibly weak depth, but we take CB (78) Sherman Toner.
3. Blues: The Blues grab a starter at LB (73) Normand Nutter
4. Yellows: They grab the top CB left on the board. (72) Mikel Spires
5. Reds: They grab the most talented offensive player left. RB (74) Wally Pennell
6. Oranges: Oranges grab WR (81) Courtney Soper to help out their new angry QB. Soper is pretty dang slow, but he should be reliable.

Round 9

1. Oranges: Oranges also grab WR(71) Fritz Grayson. He’s a lot faster than Soper and should help the Oranges capitalize on the lucky QB pick.
2. Reds: The Reds are mad right now. The Oranges WR Soper was also the top QB on the board. Now the Reds have to take QB (60) Rick Mccowan before someone snaps him up to play LB (61).
3. Yellows: Yellows grab another solid OL (62) Dalton Camp
4. Blues: Blues grab DL (68) Antone Kiger
5. Greens: Guess who the last team to look for a QB is… L The top QB left is rated 46, so there’s really no point now. I didn’t think Mccowan would go. The Soper pick kind of messed everything up. Ugh…. I take K(68) Andreas Dickenson and hop my running game + kicking gets me through.
6. Purples: Not a lot of pure talent on the board, so the Purples stay true to form and draft for ST. They take ST (83) Kraig Hazlett

Round 10

1. Purples: They follow that up with ST (78) / WR (68) Grant Beals
2. Greens: 3 picks left. As it turns out, my 4th rounder OL Hylton can play a little QB. I don’t love that, but it give me options. I still need: QB1.5, WR1, WR2, OL2.5, DL1, DL2, S1. O.M.G. There’s an ok run blocking OL on the board I could take and play Hylton at QB. There’s an ok run stopping DL. Safety looks like garbage, so that’s out. I’m going to grab OL (58) Clint Venable and see if I can get some QB flexibility with the next pick.
3. Blues: DL (66) Deangelo Montero
4. Yellows: LB(64) / CB (68) Moshe Acuna
5. Reds: OL (51) Shaun Garza
6. Oranges: LB(51) Jamal Cornejo

Round 11

1. Oranges: ST (76) Kelley Steed
2. Reds: K (50) Jerry Zuber
3. Yellows: S (62) Lionel Fontaine
4. Blues: 4-pos player Johnathon Jacob
5. Greens: We reach WAAAAAAY deep and take QB (12) Earl Christopherson. He has no skills, but he has a speed of 395 and a scramble rating of 76. If my OL-at-QB experiment doesn’t work, I can always go to the option!
6. Purples: ST (70) Doyle Bloomer

Round 12

1. Purples : Randall Messick
2. Greens: Bret Troyer . Nothing special, just the fastest guy left.
3. Blues: Dewey Houser
4. Yellows: Chet Peel
5. Reds: Elliot Schaffer
6. Oranges: Colby Kimball