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Paper Tigers
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General Thoughts
- This draft was pretty loaded at the top and there were few surprises early. League has come a long way from the days of Chris Markey and PJ Hill. Round 1 went as predicted.
- There were a ridiculous number of enticing players from one team last year. I don’t remember exact statistics but I think the main reason the first round was so strong was because that team could only keep two.
- The SportsGuru-JonBlaze turn wasn’t as disastrous as expected. Thought we’d be on Round 7 around now.
- As someone noticed there were a lot of runs on positions. Like QBs in rounds 2 and 5 and very few taken in between. I think I ended up on the front end of 1 or 2 and the back end of 1 or 2.
- Good that we had almost everyone back.
Analysis of Own Team
First off I had to make the decision between Bryce Young and Brennan Armstrong. Most rankings and such have Young higher than Armstrong. With Young its definitely just one more year. Maybe Armstrong plays two more. I like his schedule and he returns his WRs which Young does not. Maybe he’ll run a bit more in new offense. I know they won’t throw quite as much. As far as the draft, I knew I needed stronger WRs than last season. Biggest swing pick was 4th round Ibrahim vs Mingo, A lot depends on Spencer Sanders. I think he’s numbers can improve Year 1. Took mostly QBs who will put up some meaningful running numbers. At RB, the strategy was for the bellcows. Thomas, Garwo, Ibrahim and Bigsby should all get good # carries for their teams. At WR, not as strong as I’d like, Cedric Tillman should not bust if healthy but maybe Hutchinson was too early. They have so few weapons that I figure he gets a lot of targets again. Beyond that, tried to take a few low floor guys on decent offenses to make up for the disaster last year having WRs like Bo Melton, Cam Johnson, Ty Fryfogle on miserable offenses. Feel decent about the team if Armstrong/Sanders stay healthy.
Favorite Picks of Own Team
- This draft was pretty loaded at the top and there were few surprises early. League has come a long way from the days of Chris Markey and PJ Hill. Round 1 went as predicted.
- There were a ridiculous number of enticing players from one team last year. I don’t remember exact statistics but I think the main reason the first round was so strong was because that team could only keep two.
- The SportsGuru-JonBlaze turn wasn’t as disastrous as expected. Thought we’d be on Round 7 around now.
- As someone noticed there were a lot of runs on positions. Like QBs in rounds 2 and 5 and very few taken in between. I think I ended up on the front end of 1 or 2 and the back end of 1 or 2.
- Good that we had almost everyone back.
Analysis of Own Team
First off I had to make the decision between Bryce Young and Brennan Armstrong. Most rankings and such have Young higher than Armstrong. With Young its definitely just one more year. Maybe Armstrong plays two more. I like his schedule and he returns his WRs which Young does not. Maybe he’ll run a bit more in new offense. I know they won’t throw quite as much. As far as the draft, I knew I needed stronger WRs than last season. Biggest swing pick was 4th round Ibrahim vs Mingo, A lot depends on Spencer Sanders. I think he’s numbers can improve Year 1. Took mostly QBs who will put up some meaningful running numbers. At RB, the strategy was for the bellcows. Thomas, Garwo, Ibrahim and Bigsby should all get good # carries for their teams. At WR, not as strong as I’d like, Cedric Tillman should not bust if healthy but maybe Hutchinson was too early. They have so few weapons that I figure he gets a lot of targets again. Beyond that, tried to take a few low floor guys on decent offenses to make up for the disaster last year having WRs like Bo Melton, Cam Johnson, Ty Fryfogle on miserable offenses. Feel decent about the team if Armstrong/Sanders stay healthy.
Favorite Picks of Own Team
- Round 5 – Spencer Sanders – I think he is primed for improved stats this year. He runs a lot so upside is there. Defense should not be as good and games he plays in should be higher scoring.
- Round 10 – Joseph Ngata – Clemson’s passing game has to improve somewhat. Dabo seems to want this guy to succeed. His numbers are unimpressive in his first few years. If the passing game improves, someone should be a starting-quality WR. I also like some of the ACC opponents he will play as defenses.
- Round 3 – Xavier Hutchinson – From other mock drafts I’ve seen I guess he’s going later. Perhaps the feeling is his upside is limited and the new QB will struggle. My thinking is that Purdy wasn’t really that good and the other main weapons at RB and TE are gone. If ISU’s offense is still decent, Hutchinson should be a Soul-starter quality player. Probably a too-safe pick for Round 3.
- Round 9 – Michael Mayer – Weird for me to take a TE cause that’s not my thing. All I’m looking for is last year’s numbers again but that might be asking too much for a TE. With a new QB perhaps his numbers fall and also with a new coaching staff. I would definitely have taken Theo Wease above him if I thought of it.
- Round 3 – Drunk Jocks – WR Zay Flowers – This is one of those guys I really wanted but draft position didn’t allow it. Woulda been too early at pick 15 and he didn’t make it to my pick in Round 3. If Jurkovec stays on the field, he should be much more successful and in some high scoring ACC games. Read they will still be looking to get him the ball.
- Round 4 – Drunk Jocks – WR Jonathan Mingo – Another Drunk Jock WR. He seems to be the next great Rebel WR if he can stay on the field. I wonder if it actually ends up being one of the transfers and that’s what led me to take Ibrahim over him. May regret it though.
- Round 9 – Orgy of Evil – RB Eric Gray – Maybe he lives up to his billing this year. The OC usually spreads ball around to many RBs and that’s why I passed on him in the couple rounds prior to this pick. But in Round 9 to get the guy who will probably be OU’s top rusher is good. Also the QB shouldn’t steal many carries/TDs.
- Round 9 – End Zone Divas – WR Theo Wease, Oklahoma – When reading more into it I couldn’t figure out how we let this guy get this far down. Maybe it doesn’t work out and maybe he doesn’t stay healthy but Oklahoma doesn’t seem super-deep at WR and only real proven guy is Mims. Wease could certainly turn out to be their WR1. Just has the feel of a guy who could potentially be a top 5 WR if things go right.
- Round 12 – Heisman Hopefuls – QB Hunter Dekkers – I don’t think I realized he ran the ball as much as he did in HS. I put him too far down on my list then really didn’t think about him again. But Iowa State’s gonna need to score a bit and I don’t think they’ll have the same running game to rely on. He may end up being a nice pass-rush balance guy who runs in some scores at his size. For Round 12, he seems to have legitimate starter potential.
Others Receiving Votes: Round 4 – End Zone Divas – RB Dominic Richardson; Round 5 – Waxy Frogs QB Jordan Travis; Round 11 – Drunk Jocks – WR Lorenzo Styles; Round 12 – Smurf Turfers - QB Payton Thorne; Round 21 – Skeet Shooters - RB Jalin Mitchell
Least Favorite Picks of Other Teams - Round 2 – Winsley’s Warriors – QB Aiden O’Connell – Ton of yards passing last year but a QB who doesn’t run at all and loses his top 3 wide receivers concerns me this earlier. A pretty tough defensive schedule in the B1G West. I don’t have him much above some of the Round 5 type QBs that can run.
- Round 3 – Waxy Frogs – RB Chase Brown, Illinois – Yes, Illinois will run but they are pretty deep at RB and Brown didn’t get in end zone often last year. Seemed inconsistent. Don’t dislike the player but in early 3rd I had him rated more closely to some of the Round 5-7 RBs.
- Round 3 – Smurf Turfers – WR De’Zhaun Stribling – I understand that he’s in the position that you want a WR for that offense but the QB is new and I’m not confident enough this is the guy on the offense for a Round 3 pick. I guess upside is here but there’s also the potential he’s not the No.1 guy here after all.
- Round 4 – Dawgfathers – WR Keyteon Thompson – Odd that Billy Kemp went like 18 rounds later. We know some of these UVA targets are going to have reductions in numbers with less passing and Davis returning. I’d think Thompson would be toward top of the list. Unique player that new coaching staff might not use in same way.
- Round 11 – Skeet Shooters – RB Dontae Smith – I want nothing to do with this Georgia Tech team. To make matters worse, Blaze took another GTech RB in Round 13. GT RB is not the position I’d be loading up on, even in the middle rounds.
- Others Receiving Votes: Round 2 – Dawgfathers, QB Devin Leary , Colorado; Round 4 – California Raisins, WR Mitchell Tinsley; Round 6 – Heisman Hopefuls – WR Broc Thompson; Round 11 – Waxy Frogs – RB Ramon Brown; Round 16 – Drunk Jocks – Drew Allar