Most people will tell you it’s tough to judge a draft right away, and we won’t know the true value of how a team did until several years down the road. The General Managers around the league have put their thoughts together on the current class, so we at the Commish’s Office, decided to grade the picks of the 2014 EBFL Rookie Draft. Teams are in order of when they made their first selection in the draft.
*Note: The numbers in parentheses are the April ADP for the offensive players, and the current rank of defensive players at their position.
Deadly Nagintas
1.01 – Mike Evans (7)
1.02 – Sammy Watkins (9)
1.07 – Brandin Cooks (16)
2.02 – Allen Robinson (5)
4.05 – Isaiah Crowell (153)
4.06 – James White (259)
5.01 – Storm Johnson (N/A)
The Nagintas crushed this draft at the top, nabbing 4 guys who are currently going 2.04 or better in start ups, and using them to put together the foundation of their team. Only one of the 4 was part of the squad’s 2015 championship, however. It’s probably a good thing for the rest of the league the Nagintas are wheelers and dealers, as that would be a pretty sick line up of pass catchers going into this year had they held course. Crowell looks to be a solid contributor heading into year 3 as the early down/goal line back in a committee in Cleveland. Storm Johnson was interesting for about 2 weeks in 2014, and James White was involved in the Patriots mix at points in 2015.
Rex in the City
1.03 – Bishop Sankey (256)
1.12 – Jace Amaro (218)
4.03 – Calvin Pryor (DB9)
4.07 – Anthony Barr (LB30)
5.03 – Jeff Janis (137)
The Rexes draft is a bit of a mixed bag with a pair of useful defensive players, a guy that had one monster play-off game, and a pair of 1st round busts. In Commish’s defence, TE usually take some time, Janis was a major project, and Sankey could work out with a change of scenery. At this point though, you have to think it’s a good thing the Rexes won the inaugural Igloo Bowl, as they may not see another one for a while with more drafts like this.
Loose Bandits
1.04 – Jordan Matthews (26)
1.09 – Eric Ebron (98)
2.09 – Blake Bortles (96)
3.02 – Andre Williams (N/A)
3.04 – Ka’Deem Carey (210)
4.11 – Jerick McKinnon (112)
5.04 – CJ Fiedorowicz (N/A)
This was a pretty solid draft for the Bandits, landing them a trio of top 100 players 2 years later, plus a couple RB that could be an injury away from being much more relevant. Matthews is currently the go to guy in Philly, Ebron looks ready to take the next step and be a focal point of the Lion offence and Bortles has racked up some serious garbage time stats over the past couple seasons. McKinnon is likely the future in Minny, and is already the go to guy there when trailing. While there isn’t currently a bunch of star power in this draft class, there are some solid contributing players.
Knuckle Ballers
1.05 – Davante Adams (111)
2.05 – Johnny Manziel (N/A)
3.05 – Troy Niklas (N/A)
5.05 – Shaq Evans (N/A)
This is probably the worst 2014 draft class in the league, with only Adams currently having a pulse, and even then, he’s had the opportunity to step up and hasn’t done so, so that ADP likely continues to drop. When all is said and done, there probably isn’t a single contributor among this group in 2017. This draft will be a key component if/when the Ballers miss the playoffs for the first time in 2016.
San Juan Bananas
1.06 – Jadeveon Clowney (N/A)
2.10 – Martavis Bryant (95)
2.12 – Jarvis Landry (20)
3.12 – Justin Gilbert (N/A)
A couple of brutal defensive picks, sandwiching some pretty solid offensive picks. Clowney has probably been the biggest draft reach in EBFL history, and with his injuries, he hasn’t really lived up to expectations. Bryant and Landry appeared to be set to be key components of their offenses and high start up picks, prior to Bryant’s failed drug tests dropping him down boards. I don’t think any of these players are even on the Bananas roster any more, so despite a mixed bag of draft results, it shouldn’t affect the squad’s future chances. Mind you, had he taken Cooks at 6, he’d potentially still have Hopkins as well, and be poised to roll the division.
Tom Selleck’s Moustache
1.08 – Odell Beckham (1)
2.08 – Devonta Freeman (33)
3.08 – Paul Richardson (N/A)
4.08 – Logan Thomas (N/A)
5.08 – Colt Lyerla (N/A)
Smitty ended up with the top receiver (not to mention top player on most start up draft boards), and the top runner from the 2014 draft. The rest of the picks have been completely irrelevant, but this still has to be considered a great haul. Maybe year 3 is when finally when Smitty gets over the hump and into the play-offs with these two as his foundation.
Endzone Dancers
1.10 – Carlos Hyde (57)
3.10 – Charles Sims (106)
4.01 – Josh Huff (N/A)
4.10 – Lache Seastrunk (N/A)
A pretty ho-hum draft from the Dancers. They did get a future #1 back in Hyde at the end of the first, who’s ADP is more based on potential in a Chip Kelly offence than actual production thus far. Sims is currently a passing down back in a run first offence, so he’s at least contributing, and possibly an injury away from a huge boost in ADP.
Fear Boners
1.11 – Kelvin Benjamin (24)
2.03 – Marqise Lee (278)
2.11 – Tre Mason (268)
3.03 – Khalil Mack (LB11)
3.11 – Bruce Ellington (231)
4.04 – Derek Carr (101)
5.11 – De’Anthony Thomas (N/A)
The Boners draft features 3 guys that are key contributors, one guy that looked like he was set for stardom, then had the rug pulled out from him by Jeff Fisher, and a pair of WR that haven’t really had the opportunity to get on track, but could be potential 3rd year break-out guys. Then there’s De’Anthony Thomas…who is fun to watch, but isn’t exactly fantasy relevant as mainly a special teamer. Kelvin Benjamin at 11 may be one of the top picks of the draft.
Greg Schiano is an Idiot
2.01 – Teddy Bridgewater (181)
3.01 – Jeremy Hill (73)
4.12 – Tom Savage (N/A)
5.12 – Robert Herron (N/A)
The Idiots had one of the better picks in the draft, with Jeremy Hill falling all the way to the 3rd round, even if his popularity has waned in recent months. Teddy Bridgewater is at least NFL relevant, even if he’s not much of a 1QB league contributor. Herron was the first Mr. Irrelevant in EBFL history, and has definitely lived up to the title.
Long Snappers
2.04 – Cody Latimer (N/A)
3.09 – Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (DB6)
4.02 – CJ Mosley (LB5)
5.02 – Devin Street (N/A)
The Snappers like to refer to their first season as a lost cause, and this draft was definitely a part of that, despite adding a couple studs on the defensive side of the ball. Latimer joins a long line of WR busts from the Big Ten, and the best you can say about Devin Street is that he’s no Terrence Williams, which unfortunately isn’t a compliment in this case. We’ll see if Mark/Greg feel they’ve improved on their draft skills since then, but they appear to have the squad pointed in the right direction.
Chalupa Batman
2.06 – Terrance West (N/A)
2.07 – Austin Seferian-Jenkins (90)
3.06 – Donte Moncrief (30)
3.07 – Ryan Shazier (LB12)
5.06 – Zach Mettenberger (N/A)
5.07 – Jared Abbrederis (253)
5.10 – John Brown (45)
Despite not having a 1st rounder, and whiffing on their first selection, the Chalupas came away with some solid middle and late round picks, highlighted obviously by John Brown as the 3rd to last pick. Grabbing 4 players that are set it and forget it starts 2 years later has to be considered a great draft.
What Does John Fox Say
4.09 – Darqueze Dennard (N/A)
5.09 – Aaron Donald (DL6)
Donald was a great pick, and that’s pretty much all you can say about this draft. Trader Scott left himself with only a couple selections, and has to be thrilled he nailed one of them.
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