Tweet
We're back with a review of the picks at the top of this year's draft.
As with last year here are the notes accompanying this review:
1. I haven't looked at a players bars, just their FUT rating. Systems that GMs use make a huge difference and sometimes, for example, that 36FUT QB suits your offense more than that guy with a 54 FUT rating depending on your overall scheme and gameplans.
2. I haven't looked at what we each could have gotten at an alternative position with our pick.
3. Opinions are based on my scouts and their impressions of the players. If they're listed as better options or notable picks my guys see them as FUT 50+
4. Take it with a grain of salt and expect to see plenty of changes to the list after the next few sims. Misery, they say, loves company and we will all have something to complain about by the time TC2 has come and gone.
QB
Top picks: 1.1 Braxton Givgore (MON), 1.2 Bryan Cooley (TUL), 1.9 Zach Williamson (POR), 1.10 Will Politopoulos (NOR)
Better options: None, the best guys all went early (and often) in this draft with fours QBs taken in the first 10 picks.
When this draft class was first revealed we thought that this could be the year of the QB and while Givgore, Cooley and Williamson and even Politopoulos look to be a 50+ guys we'll need to see how these guys look post TC2 before passing judgement.
Other notable picks: Special shout out to Columbia for selecting Butch Arsenault at 6.14. At pick 174 he's (almost) at the Brady Line of 199 and is showing as a 50+ guy to my scouts but with a bench score of 7 you have to wonder if he's going to be the real deal. In any case he looks like a great pick up this late in the draft.
POST TC2 UPDATE: Givgore is the real deal with an 80FUT rating by my scouts with them also having Williamson as the next best rookie QB at 65FUT. Politopoulos and Cooley are both in the mid 50 range. Butch Arsenault was lookig as 50+ to me earlier but has come in at a respectable 40+ guy which is not bad for a 6th round QB not called Tom Brady.
RB
Top picks: 1.29 Luis Dillon (WVA)
Better options: 3.9 Lukas Bowzer (POR) and 2.20 Josh Mitchell (TEX)
Not a good year for RBs and FrozenFlame will have to be hoping for a big post TC jump by Dillon. Armic's pick of Bowzer in the 3rd could be the best value pick in this year's draft.
POST TC2 UPDATE: Axel Phillips (2.16, LVS) takes a great leap forward to be the best RB in the draft with Jordan Bulger (4.1 BOS) and Francisco Reinhold (6.32, IWC) only slightly behind him. Top drafted RB Luis Dillon actually got worse and is the lowest rated RB that was drafted this year. Armic's pick RB Bowzer doesn't hold up though and but looks like an ok backup.
FB
Top picks: 1.31 Kristopher Kahn (LRK)
It's not often that a FB gets selected in the first round so when it happens you better get a good one. Early signs suggest that we got it right in Little Rock with Kahn which is cold comfort for Armic who had hopes that this FB would slip into the 2nd round.
POST TC2 UPDATE: There's a sign of relief in Little Rock with Kahn holding up and showing a 72FUT.
TE
No 1st Rounders this year but Ira looks to have selected the best one in the draft with Ronnie Breeden at 2.6
POST TC2 UPDATE: Breeden regresses to a 46FUT and the award for best TE drafted goes to LAN with the selection of Larry Cintron at 3.17
WR
Top picks: 1.15 Pedro Winters (SLC), 1.16 Omar Kiesling (COL), 1.21 Isaac Hill (LON) and 1.24 Fernando Heath (ORL)
So far there's not much separating Winters, Kiesling and Hill who all look 50+ so far but Heath is a worrying 43 FUT to my scouts
Other notable picks: 3.6 Glen Fitzgerald (ARZ) looks like a great pick by Argot who has, by the way, had a fantastic draft this year.
POST TC2 UPDATE: Not a great year for WRs with the top three being barely in the 50s (Winters, Hill and Heath in that order). Heath had the biggest improvement but Kiesling drops to a 41FUT by my scouts. Argot's selection of Fitzgerald looked great earlier but doesn't hold up and slips to the 30s but with a decent set of bars he'll probably still see some action.
C
Top picks: 1.8 Shaquille Wolfe (ARZ), 1.28 Tracy Caldwell (LON)
Argot nailed this pick and selected not only the best centre but what looks like the best player in the draft. And in what could be called a twist of literal and poetic elegance, Wolfe joins the nominative Wolfpack.
Other notable picks: 2.9 Morris Dunlap (NFK)
POST TC2 UPDATE: Wolfe is the real deal and both Dunlap and Caldwell remain 50+ guys.
G
No 1st Rounders this year in what was a poor one for this position. New Orleans scored what might be the best one at 2.12 with Mario Summers
POST TC2 UPDATE: I have four guys in the 50+ range: Otis Sherman (2.15, CLB), Mario Summers (2.12 NOR), Owen Beekman (3.14, CLB again) and Johnny Kehl ((2.32, IWC). Great job by Iceman in drafting and his O-Line now boasts six players under 7 years of experience that are rated 50+
T
Top picks: 1.11 Tre Reynolds (ARZ), 1.18 Diego Perry (VER),
Another pick nailed by Argot with the undeveloped Reynolds projecting to be an elite tackle. With Reynolds and Wolfe joining last year's top pick RT Lamont Giordano Arizona now boasts one of the best young O-Lines in the IFL.
Other notable picks: 4.30 Alexander Burroughs (WVA)
POST TC2 UPDATE: Reynolds, like Wolf at C, confirms his status as the best player at his position. Perry holds up as 60+ but Burroughs slides back to 41FUT. Eric Blum (5.16, LAS) and Braden Wolfe (3.5, NOR) both emerge from the pack as 50+.
DE
Top picks: 1.3 Jeremiah Beyer (ARZ), 1.6 Daniel Lynch (HOU), 1.7 Broderick Schaaf (VER), 1.25 Shaquille Pietraszak (ANC) , 1.27 Collin Jennings (MUR)
Beyer and Lynch both look great (I'm getting tired of heaping praise on Argot's draft) and appear to be the cream of the crop at the position in this draft. Both Schaaf and Pietraszak are 60+ to my scouts but the auto-picked Jennings looks like a reach at this point.
POST TC2 UPDATE: It's 3/3 for Argot with his 1st round picks with Beyer coming in at 78FUT. Shaaf, Lynch and Pietraszak are all 60+ while Jennings and the surprising Angel Klote (6.28, NWK) are both 50+. Jenning's final numbers proves that even the AI can get lucky.
DT
Top picks: 1.17 Nicolas Bouy (LAN), 1.19 Burt Riepl (TEX), 1.22 Jalen Horibe (STL), 1.26 Jared Dotson (DAK), 1.30 Jim Jennings (LRK)
A good year to be hunting for a DT with eight players appearing to be 50+ by my scouts including all five players selected in the first round. The best DT so far however would appear to be Willie Everett selected at 2.7 by Argot (of course) who is 70+ by my scouts.
Other notable picks: 2.6 Willie Everett (ARZ), 2.26 Erik Salpala (MUR), 2.3 Connor McNeil (SLC)
POST TC2 UPDATE: Seven players are all 50+ including all the 1st rounders. The top three by my scouts are all 60+: Dotson, Everett and Horibe. Vito's pick at 2.31 of Connor McNeil rounds out the list of this year's top DTs.
OLB
No 1st Rounders this year!
POST TC2 UPDATE: Ushikawa moves ILB Joey Eloms to the outside and gets rewarded with a 67FUT OLB. Meanwhile Ben Gillespie (4.13, LVS) and AJ Douglas (3.26, CLB) come through TC2 as 50+ players.
ILB
Top pick: 1.23 Joey Eloms (VAN)
Better options: 4.2 Luis Prescott (MON)
Not looking good for Eloms pre-TC (showing 43 FUT to me) but he has the combine values to surprise. The only 50+ LB (inside or outside) was selected by Montreal in the 4th round so it's not like we all saw that.
POST TC2 UPDATE: Eloms switches to OLB and looks like a great pick while Preston Dumbrowski (2.28, LON) and Andrew Blackwell (2.14, SLC) both come through as 50+ as well.
CB
Top picks: 1.4 Damon Branch (BOS), 1.13 Tyrell Wagner (LVS), 1.14 Stan Camara (LAS), 1.32 DeAndre Patterson (VER)
Coldheat gets it right with Damon Branch as the top CB in this year's draft while Wagner, Camara and Patterson all project at 50+ as well. Special shut out to Iceman who found Omar Gregg (60+ by my guys) in the third round.
Other notable picks: 3.18 Omar Gregg (CLB), 2.1 Alfred Andrews (TUL),
POST TC2 UPDATE: Not a good year for the Corners. Branch and Camara both come in around 60 with the next best player (and the only other one that is 50+) being Bill Large (3.11, LON). Wagner falls the furthest, tumbling into the 30s and Omar Gregg comes back to earth with a 42FUT rating.
S
Top picks: 1.5 Joe Carstens (HAR), 1.12 Heath Deshaies (GEO),
Hartford's auto-pick will be good but Georgia's selection at 1.12 looks to be significantly better and will make Donlooky a happy man.
Other notable picks: 3.1 Adrian Podolyak (PEN), 3.13 Logan Reese (LVS)
POST TC2 UPDATE: The top picks look fantastic with Carstens being the best safety in the draft with a 70+ rating. LVS continues to find quality payers outside the 1st round with Reese coming in at 50+ as does the unheralded Everett Rodgers (4.32, IWC). Podolyak looks pretty good but comes in just below the 50 cutoff.
P
No 1st rounders and nothing amazing in the draft pool so far
POST TC2 UPDATE: NFK gets the top P in this year's draft with Hardy Conover at 3.10
K
No 1st rounders and not a good year for Kickers in back to back drafts.
POST TC2 UPDATE: Three 50+ kickers this year but none of which look really special: Kaden Pilchta (2.11, GEO), Carter Pinella (Undrafted, POR) and Caden Leaf (2.29, LRK)
Fire away with your comments!
As with last year here are the notes accompanying this review:
1. I haven't looked at a players bars, just their FUT rating. Systems that GMs use make a huge difference and sometimes, for example, that 36FUT QB suits your offense more than that guy with a 54 FUT rating depending on your overall scheme and gameplans.
2. I haven't looked at what we each could have gotten at an alternative position with our pick.
3. Opinions are based on my scouts and their impressions of the players. If they're listed as better options or notable picks my guys see them as FUT 50+
4. Take it with a grain of salt and expect to see plenty of changes to the list after the next few sims. Misery, they say, loves company and we will all have something to complain about by the time TC2 has come and gone.
QB
Top picks: 1.1 Braxton Givgore (MON), 1.2 Bryan Cooley (TUL), 1.9 Zach Williamson (POR), 1.10 Will Politopoulos (NOR)
Better options: None, the best guys all went early (and often) in this draft with fours QBs taken in the first 10 picks.
When this draft class was first revealed we thought that this could be the year of the QB and while Givgore, Cooley and Williamson and even Politopoulos look to be a 50+ guys we'll need to see how these guys look post TC2 before passing judgement.
Other notable picks: Special shout out to Columbia for selecting Butch Arsenault at 6.14. At pick 174 he's (almost) at the Brady Line of 199 and is showing as a 50+ guy to my scouts but with a bench score of 7 you have to wonder if he's going to be the real deal. In any case he looks like a great pick up this late in the draft.
POST TC2 UPDATE: Givgore is the real deal with an 80FUT rating by my scouts with them also having Williamson as the next best rookie QB at 65FUT. Politopoulos and Cooley are both in the mid 50 range. Butch Arsenault was lookig as 50+ to me earlier but has come in at a respectable 40+ guy which is not bad for a 6th round QB not called Tom Brady.
RB
Top picks: 1.29 Luis Dillon (WVA)
Better options: 3.9 Lukas Bowzer (POR) and 2.20 Josh Mitchell (TEX)
Not a good year for RBs and FrozenFlame will have to be hoping for a big post TC jump by Dillon. Armic's pick of Bowzer in the 3rd could be the best value pick in this year's draft.
POST TC2 UPDATE: Axel Phillips (2.16, LVS) takes a great leap forward to be the best RB in the draft with Jordan Bulger (4.1 BOS) and Francisco Reinhold (6.32, IWC) only slightly behind him. Top drafted RB Luis Dillon actually got worse and is the lowest rated RB that was drafted this year. Armic's pick RB Bowzer doesn't hold up though and but looks like an ok backup.
FB
Top picks: 1.31 Kristopher Kahn (LRK)
It's not often that a FB gets selected in the first round so when it happens you better get a good one. Early signs suggest that we got it right in Little Rock with Kahn which is cold comfort for Armic who had hopes that this FB would slip into the 2nd round.
POST TC2 UPDATE: There's a sign of relief in Little Rock with Kahn holding up and showing a 72FUT.
TE
No 1st Rounders this year but Ira looks to have selected the best one in the draft with Ronnie Breeden at 2.6
POST TC2 UPDATE: Breeden regresses to a 46FUT and the award for best TE drafted goes to LAN with the selection of Larry Cintron at 3.17
WR
Top picks: 1.15 Pedro Winters (SLC), 1.16 Omar Kiesling (COL), 1.21 Isaac Hill (LON) and 1.24 Fernando Heath (ORL)
So far there's not much separating Winters, Kiesling and Hill who all look 50+ so far but Heath is a worrying 43 FUT to my scouts
Other notable picks: 3.6 Glen Fitzgerald (ARZ) looks like a great pick by Argot who has, by the way, had a fantastic draft this year.
POST TC2 UPDATE: Not a great year for WRs with the top three being barely in the 50s (Winters, Hill and Heath in that order). Heath had the biggest improvement but Kiesling drops to a 41FUT by my scouts. Argot's selection of Fitzgerald looked great earlier but doesn't hold up and slips to the 30s but with a decent set of bars he'll probably still see some action.
C
Top picks: 1.8 Shaquille Wolfe (ARZ), 1.28 Tracy Caldwell (LON)
Argot nailed this pick and selected not only the best centre but what looks like the best player in the draft. And in what could be called a twist of literal and poetic elegance, Wolfe joins the nominative Wolfpack.
Other notable picks: 2.9 Morris Dunlap (NFK)
POST TC2 UPDATE: Wolfe is the real deal and both Dunlap and Caldwell remain 50+ guys.
G
No 1st Rounders this year in what was a poor one for this position. New Orleans scored what might be the best one at 2.12 with Mario Summers
POST TC2 UPDATE: I have four guys in the 50+ range: Otis Sherman (2.15, CLB), Mario Summers (2.12 NOR), Owen Beekman (3.14, CLB again) and Johnny Kehl ((2.32, IWC). Great job by Iceman in drafting and his O-Line now boasts six players under 7 years of experience that are rated 50+
T
Top picks: 1.11 Tre Reynolds (ARZ), 1.18 Diego Perry (VER),
Another pick nailed by Argot with the undeveloped Reynolds projecting to be an elite tackle. With Reynolds and Wolfe joining last year's top pick RT Lamont Giordano Arizona now boasts one of the best young O-Lines in the IFL.
Other notable picks: 4.30 Alexander Burroughs (WVA)
POST TC2 UPDATE: Reynolds, like Wolf at C, confirms his status as the best player at his position. Perry holds up as 60+ but Burroughs slides back to 41FUT. Eric Blum (5.16, LAS) and Braden Wolfe (3.5, NOR) both emerge from the pack as 50+.
DE
Top picks: 1.3 Jeremiah Beyer (ARZ), 1.6 Daniel Lynch (HOU), 1.7 Broderick Schaaf (VER), 1.25 Shaquille Pietraszak (ANC) , 1.27 Collin Jennings (MUR)
Beyer and Lynch both look great (I'm getting tired of heaping praise on Argot's draft) and appear to be the cream of the crop at the position in this draft. Both Schaaf and Pietraszak are 60+ to my scouts but the auto-picked Jennings looks like a reach at this point.
POST TC2 UPDATE: It's 3/3 for Argot with his 1st round picks with Beyer coming in at 78FUT. Shaaf, Lynch and Pietraszak are all 60+ while Jennings and the surprising Angel Klote (6.28, NWK) are both 50+. Jenning's final numbers proves that even the AI can get lucky.
DT
Top picks: 1.17 Nicolas Bouy (LAN), 1.19 Burt Riepl (TEX), 1.22 Jalen Horibe (STL), 1.26 Jared Dotson (DAK), 1.30 Jim Jennings (LRK)
A good year to be hunting for a DT with eight players appearing to be 50+ by my scouts including all five players selected in the first round. The best DT so far however would appear to be Willie Everett selected at 2.7 by Argot (of course) who is 70+ by my scouts.
Other notable picks: 2.6 Willie Everett (ARZ), 2.26 Erik Salpala (MUR), 2.3 Connor McNeil (SLC)
POST TC2 UPDATE: Seven players are all 50+ including all the 1st rounders. The top three by my scouts are all 60+: Dotson, Everett and Horibe. Vito's pick at 2.31 of Connor McNeil rounds out the list of this year's top DTs.
OLB
No 1st Rounders this year!
POST TC2 UPDATE: Ushikawa moves ILB Joey Eloms to the outside and gets rewarded with a 67FUT OLB. Meanwhile Ben Gillespie (4.13, LVS) and AJ Douglas (3.26, CLB) come through TC2 as 50+ players.
ILB
Top pick: 1.23 Joey Eloms (VAN)
Better options: 4.2 Luis Prescott (MON)
Not looking good for Eloms pre-TC (showing 43 FUT to me) but he has the combine values to surprise. The only 50+ LB (inside or outside) was selected by Montreal in the 4th round so it's not like we all saw that.
POST TC2 UPDATE: Eloms switches to OLB and looks like a great pick while Preston Dumbrowski (2.28, LON) and Andrew Blackwell (2.14, SLC) both come through as 50+ as well.
CB
Top picks: 1.4 Damon Branch (BOS), 1.13 Tyrell Wagner (LVS), 1.14 Stan Camara (LAS), 1.32 DeAndre Patterson (VER)
Coldheat gets it right with Damon Branch as the top CB in this year's draft while Wagner, Camara and Patterson all project at 50+ as well. Special shut out to Iceman who found Omar Gregg (60+ by my guys) in the third round.
Other notable picks: 3.18 Omar Gregg (CLB), 2.1 Alfred Andrews (TUL),
POST TC2 UPDATE: Not a good year for the Corners. Branch and Camara both come in around 60 with the next best player (and the only other one that is 50+) being Bill Large (3.11, LON). Wagner falls the furthest, tumbling into the 30s and Omar Gregg comes back to earth with a 42FUT rating.
S
Top picks: 1.5 Joe Carstens (HAR), 1.12 Heath Deshaies (GEO),
Hartford's auto-pick will be good but Georgia's selection at 1.12 looks to be significantly better and will make Donlooky a happy man.
Other notable picks: 3.1 Adrian Podolyak (PEN), 3.13 Logan Reese (LVS)
POST TC2 UPDATE: The top picks look fantastic with Carstens being the best safety in the draft with a 70+ rating. LVS continues to find quality payers outside the 1st round with Reese coming in at 50+ as does the unheralded Everett Rodgers (4.32, IWC). Podolyak looks pretty good but comes in just below the 50 cutoff.
P
No 1st rounders and nothing amazing in the draft pool so far
POST TC2 UPDATE: NFK gets the top P in this year's draft with Hardy Conover at 3.10
K
No 1st rounders and not a good year for Kickers in back to back drafts.
POST TC2 UPDATE: Three 50+ kickers this year but none of which look really special: Kaden Pilchta (2.11, GEO), Carter Pinella (Undrafted, POR) and Caden Leaf (2.29, LRK)
Fire away with your comments!
Comment