Rookie Draft Recap – 2017

It’s hard to believe we’ve already crushed the 4th Annual Eskimo Bros Football League Rookie Draft.  I believe this was the fastest draft in league history, with very few waits to pick.  That probably had a lot to do with it being a loaded draft and people wanting to hold onto and make picks.  Either way, it was a blast as always and of course, there were several surprises along the way.  Now it’s time for our annual draft commentary from around the league.

Following the same format as the previous Draft Recaps, we hit up GM’s across the league for their take on their own draft, as well as the picks of another team.   This year I matched teams up according to where they finished the previous year, so if you won your division, you recapped another division winner.  So without further adieu, your 2017 Rookie Draft Recap.

What Does John Fox Say 

Scott: WDJFS turned some wildcard picks (1.11 & 2 3rds) into an absolute stud and year after year performer in TY Hilton and everybody’s favourite overweight RB, Eddie Lacy. I still don’t know what Endzone was thinking, possibly Rookie Fever set in. Later I would end up with the biggest stud to arrive in Cleveland since Lebron in Myles Garrett and traded a 3rd for Beast Mode, Marshawn Lynch. I’m happy with the way things unfolded and once again I said ‘fuck rookies’.  A couple days after the draft I ended up coming away with Watson who would have been my pick if I hadn’t traded for Lynch. Chatter around the league says I won the draft by a landslide but because I’m humble I tell them that they are correct. WDJFS is on the rise and easily the favourite to win my shit division.

Rick (Nagintas): It’s not too often I’ll say this, but Scott made a good decision flipping those picks in order to add a couple win-now pieces. I don’t have his 18 first so I’m ok with his strategy, especially since he’ll likely crash back down to earth in 2018, making all those 19s I picked up from him gold. As far as actual picks go, Garrett may have been a reach at 2.13, but he’ll be a solid player for WDJFS (or more likely some other team after he’s traded), possibly as early as this year. Definitely better value than Clowney at 1.06, though.

Loose Bandits

Mo: While my draft lacked top picks I was able to target and acquire 3 players I wanted to get.  My draft included getting Haason Reddick, the highest pick in the NFL for an LB. Hopefully, he doesn’t have to rush the QB too much, allowing for more tackling opportunities. I also picked up Jake Butt, a TE who before his Orange Bowl knee injury was considered a top prospect. His landing spot in Denver is great for a TE as their offense likes to use them in the red zone offering a good opportunity for points. Malachi Dupre was another player I was targeting. LSU wideouts tend to do well in the NFL and he was considered one of the top WRs before his season started. He got no help from his QB in Baton Rouge. Hopefully, his skills can be used better with one of the top QBs in football, Mr. Discount Double-Check. With my last choice, I took a flyer on Ryan Switzer, a great slot receiver that has to try and carve out a role in Dallas with someone who is already good at that role (Cole Beasley). If 1 or 2 of these players hit and my team can stay healthy I will be in the mix again for a championship. My only regret is missing out on Gallman, who I had hoped would last until 4.06.

Scott (Dancers):

Endzone Dancers

Scott:

Shaun (Bananas): I actually really like the draft for McKay.  A lot of people had Mixon as the #2 RB in the class, so being able to grab him at 4 was great, and Mixon should have a chance to start Week 1. McKay hopped in at 1.11 and grabbed another Bengal in John Ross, who once again, could be a starter on offense for Cincy. A good value pick was made at 3.05, where he grabbed Aaron Jones, who is someone that could push to get snaps in the Packer backfield. At 3.09, he grabbed a solid and very athletic Peppers, but the question remains, what position will Peppers play? Overall, this draft could have a lot of positives for the Dancers, especially if Mixon can keep himself out of trouble off the field.

Fear Boners

Bryan: I feel I was able to address quite a few of my roster holes through this draft. Adding Foreman and Mack at RB with my first 2 picks gives me some much-needed depth, and since they will be playing behind Glassbones Miller and Old Man Gore respectively, they should contribute in year 1. Davis will immediately slot into a starting role with the Lions and will be a tackling machine. At some point, a WR from Tennessee will have to work out, and maybe it will be a prototypical slot guy. Stewart was good value in the late 4th for the rebuilding offense of the Jets. Needing to add some depth, I took the second DE in the draft, hopefully adding to my already strong D-Line. Lastly, I’ve heard rumblings that Gilchrist will not be brought back to the J-E-T-S JETS, so a flyer for the secoMack,ety they took couldn’t hurt.

Mark (Snappers): > Fear Boners is perfectly named after watching him attack the 2017 draft. Time and time again, season after season, GM’s around the league have talked about Boners being more like a limp dick. Well, something most have scared him this year cause he attacked the start of the draft with some real gusto! At 2.01 he jumped on the fat kid. In drafting Foreman he gets a runner with a high-level size movement combo and behind one of the most lackluster starters in the league. A slight overdraft at this spot as I would have looked at TE in this range. However, Foreman was a solid pick! Kudos! #GotWood.

Now if only Boners had just stopped there. From that point on the draft was nothing but a flaccid wanker. At 2.08 Boners selected Marlon Mack, who I’m not a fan of Mack at all, but maybe he can be a flip player for boners. Had a good combine and Immersed in a very favourable depth chart. 2.08 of the draft became kind of a dead zone. Players I liked a lot more had just gone: Williams, Jones, Conner. Players that went right after I also had rated higher than Mack – McNicols, Godwin. Would have liked to see him do a little more with this pick. On to the next pick. At 3.04 Jarrad Davis was the selection. He will score in IDP and that’s the name of the game. Good metrically but doesn’t play that instinctively. The worst part of this pick is some LBs at least as good as he were picked up on waivers after the draft. #SoggyNoodle

With his next 2 picks, Boners grabbed a couple of WR’s at 3.08 Taylor Taywan and 4.08 ArDarius Stewart. Taywan can definitely compete for WR 2/3 spot. Corey Davis caps his upside, however. Stewart lands in one of the murkiest spots in the NFL. Boom/bust profile and likely not even a flip potential candidate. His worst picks of the draft IMO. Between his 3.08 and 4.08 I actually like every player better then Taylor Taywan whom he drafted at 3.08. #ErectileDysfunction

Finally with his last 2 picks he drafts a couple IDP …..landing DE Barnett and Safety Maye. Barnett lands in a nice spot. Should produce. As for Maye, this pick symbolizes Boners draft with one pick. Maye is a hard hitting kid with a Neanderthal gene. Just a concussion waiting to happen. #DickSplint

If I had to grade the draft in its entirety, the best grade I could give it would be a C+. Only Foreman receives a plus grade in my books. On to 2018 for Boners. Put this draft behind. #TeamNeedsViagra

Tom Selleck’s Moustache

Ryan: I only had three picks in my draft this year as I traded a lot of them away for championship glory.  Needed to shore up the D and went with a safety with my first pick. Like Hooker a lot and he should be impactful for me. Hoping my second pick lives up to his brother and I will have a good LB. Went with a WR with my last pick hoping for lightning in a bottle. Overall happy with my draft since I’m the defending champ suckas.

Commish (Rexes): Jack Elliot had a quiet and uneventful draft with only 3 picks. With the first pick (2.12) Matthew Quigley selected a Safety from Ohio St., Malik Hooker. Dot the I everyone cause Hooker is an elite safety prospect comparable to Ed Reed. I would argue that selecting a Safety in round 2 is a little high, but at least Magnum didn’t trade up to take him. The next 2 picks were both in the 5th round selecting a LB TJ Watt and a WR Chad Hansen. Peter Mitchell might have got the best Jets WR in this draft, the only problem is how far down the depth chart is Hansen. And more importantly who will be throwing him the ball.  Not real splashy picks and we will have to see how well Hooker plays after his injury. I give Dr Richard Burke a C+ grade.

Chalupa Batman

Sean:  I went in to the draft looking to draft BPA and to try and acquire some younger talent. I acquired 2 RB who their coaches love in Hunt and Williams, grabbed 2 of the best D players available and used Watson in a package to acquire potential WR2 Cam Meredith. Overall, I patched some holes, got younger at QB and didn’t sacrifice my 2018 draft.

Smitty (Stache): Laker had 9 picks in the draft with which he could select a player that will stay on his team for maybe a month before he trades them.  With his selections he had a very balanced draft trying to fill holes at all his different positions other than DB.  His selection of Kareem Hunt in the first round I like a lot as I see him taking over the reigns sooner than later. He took a gamble with his 5th pick in Rueben Foster but I think the reward is too high not to gamble. He sniped Dede from me with his second last pick which could end up being a really nice selection.  Overall a pretty solid draft from the 2nd place finisher overall. Let’s see how long they stay on his team.

Long Snappers

Mark: Not much to talk about here. Our draft consisted of 3 picks. Started the draft with the 1.07 and 4.11. Had lots of guys we liked throughout entire draft but tough to make move when u don’t have the assets or too reluctant to overpay.

We tried to trade down from 1.07 but it became obvious that no one was going to overpay to move up. As everyone knew this was the start of a new tier. With 1.07 it was down to 3 guys in our minds. Kamara , Howard and JuJu. Liked the talent of the TE’s in this draft but 1.07 was too early to pounce on one. Ultimately after looking at the tape, it was clear JuJu was the pick to be made. He is the youngest wideout in the NFL, and was a phenomenal 17yr old producer! #JuJuOnThatBeat #JuJuOnThatBeat

Knowing we had no picks until 4.11 we sat patiently and watched bad pick after bad pick. Offensive targets began to fall and fall. We wanted to move in for certain guys but prices became too expensive. Ultimately we waited until late 3rd to strike. Adam Shaheen, who has an incredible size-movement combo and a wide open landing spot in Chicago, continued to get overlooked. Clearly the Rodney Dangerfield of the 2017 drafts. Sending 2 future 3rds for the 3.12 was a no brainer. We scooped up Shaheen and couldn’t be happier.

Knowing we had one pick left , it was apparent lots of guys would be there and into the 5th Rd. As IDP selections became the name of the game. We decided to avoid the ‘want’ of trying to move in and instead just sat back patiently waiting for Jake Butt, Everett or Jonnu Smith to be around. When 4.11 came around Gerald Everett was there. Doubling up on TE’s wasn’t a plan but way more value in the two we got then most of the Wrs that were being drafted in this range. Everett only has to beat out Higbee to be Wk 1 starter. #HigBeeGone

Only 3 picks were made but very happy with the 3 quality selections. If I graded our draft I’d give a B+. Obviously, I would have liked to move down from 1.07 and who wouldn’t want more picks. However, simply grading on what selections we made with picks we had, we nailed it!

Rob (Ballers): Surprisingly, when looking at Snappers’ draft, he didn’t take the most talented TE at 1.07 but reached for JuJu instead (who had an ADP of 1.10-.11 and falling as far at 2.05 in other drafts I’ve looked at). Howard is clearly Cameron Brate’s replacement, who Snappers currently own, so it was just a head scratcher for me. Obviously Snaps needs a little more depth in the WR sector, running on only 2-3 every week starters if Watkins can stay healthy, and taking the Ju a couple picks earlier than expected isn’t terrible for his team. Once JuJu becomes coachable he could become a force.

Snappers’ next two picks are attempts at finding his next starting TE. Shaheen @ 3.12 and Everett @ 4.11. After trading two 2018 3rd rounders to jump back into the 2017 3rd round he went with DA BEARS 2nd rd pick, Shaheen. He’s an insanely large man and clearly a pass-catching TE.  Chicago tends to like their TEs too. While under the Fox coaching staff Chicago tight ends have accumulated 13 TD in the last two years (That’s with complete shit QBs too). I imagine he’s hoping Shaheen makes a big splash in Chicago, as do I.

Knuckle Ballers

Rob: After the NFL draft my draft plan went from wanting a big body receiver (Mike Williams) to wanting a RB. I knew going into our draft I was going to have the choice between Cooks, Mixon, & McCaffery. I took PPR into consideration and took McC. I honestly feel if McC is used to his fullest he could wind up in the top three top two ROTY voting and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won.

With my 2nd round pick, I took Zay Jones. Z-Jay (insert Beerfest joke here) is inevitably Watkins’ replacement. He’s fast-ish, sure-handed, and not a band-aid. If he doesn’t make his mark in his rookie year, year two in Buffalo will surely put him on the map with Watkins’ gone.

In the 3rd round, I took who I feel can be the Defensive Rookie of The Year, Jamal Adams. It might be the earliest a DB has been taken in the EBFL and I’m happy with my decision. My safeties are less than head turners, so hopefully, he becomes an every week starter for the Ballers.

Bryan (Boners): It was a short and efficient draft for the Ballers. Adding talent at positions of need is always the goal of draft day. Adding a talent like McCaffrey in the first round should give him solid RB for the next 5yrs. Jones should do a decent job of filling in for Watkins when injured, but may only be a marginal starter when the WR2 of the run first Bills. The final pick of the draft may have been a bit of a reach, but I guess when you only have 3 picks, and need a safety, taking the best of the bunch is not a bad thing. Overall a very solid draft by adding a potential fantasy stud and a couple quality starters (potentially).

Greg Schiano is an Idiot

Dan: I only made 4 picks this draft. All of them are dart throws. Took Gallman and Hood at RB hoping injuries take down the starters on those teams. Golladay is a size/speed guy that was drafted on day 2 of the NFL draft so I’ll stash him on the TS and see what happens. Hodges crushed the combine but fell really late in the draft. Hopefully, the coaches up in Minnesota figure out how to use this freak.

I also added 3 future 2nds and some later picks to help me in the future

Scott (WDJFS): The Idiots drafted some depth guys who will likely not make huge impacts this year but could pan out due to their landing spot. Golliday will have a chance to be #3 WR in Detroit in an offense that’s slings it around like Brycey slings dick on a Friday night in the Falls.  Gallman only has to beat out some plugs for snaps in New York. Since the Idiots are one of the teams I am still in good standing with and a trade partner of mine I don’t want to shit on them too much.

San Juan Bananas

Shaun: I’m actually quite happy with the draft I had…with no 1st, 2nd, or 3rd round picks…I wasn’t expecting a lot…but after seeing a piece that I really liked still available mid 3rd, I attempted to move in…was lucky enough to grab back to back picks at 3.06 and 3.07 for two WR, Carlos Henderson, and Cooper Kupp. I was very happy with the value in both picks, as I projected both guys to be gone in the 2nd. With my 2 original picks in the 4th and 5th, I used them on two QB’s that I’m able to stash, Trubinsky & Kizer. And once again, I was surprised that both were available.

Mo (Bandits):  What I liked: picking up 2 WRs rated higher on the board than their draft slot. What I didn’t: picking two QB’s in a weak QB class for a 1 QB league when there were better players on the board at more important positions. I feel Gallman over Trubisky and Jonnu Smith over Kizer would have been wiser. I can understand the need for a developmental QB for a roster carrying 3 QB’s nearing fantasy retirement(Rivers age, Big Ben injuries, Flacco performance) but neither of these two moves the needle for me. I think a roster space for another TE is warranted with 2 great TE’s that both carry significant injury concerns. Maybe the Banana can find one using one of the WRs as a trade chip before the bye week of the non-injured TE! We all know there is a 0% chance both currently rostered TEs play injury free for 16 weeks!

Deadly Nagintas

Rick: If you told me in February that I’d end up with the 4 guys I did at the top of the draft, I’d have been all over it, as they were the top 4 on my board at the end of the college season. That said, I was a little disappointed as I was hoping to end up with 3 of the top 4 RB once we got closer to the draft. Hopefully, Williams ends up getting healthy, as he can be a real difference maker when he is. I was quite surprised to end up with both of my top 2 TE, as it’s been rare for any of the top 3 to get as low as 2.04. Following each of those guys up with RB that could be starters for their squads by mid-season was a no-brainer, considering my lack of RB options pre-draft. Hopefully, those 4 runners end up working out as well as my first 4 WR in the loaded WR draft of 2014. In the lower rounds, I went for some guys I think ended up in great situations, even if they weren’t household names. On the defensive side, Cunningham and McMillan are both serious thumpers, but may not see much of the field until year 2.

Dan (Idiots): This draft will be remembered for a long time as the Roddy draft. He was able to draft 6 of the first 9 players off the board and 13 players total. At the top, to the shock of no one, he selected the 2 best players in the draft in Fournette and Davis. He then doubled down by taking another RB and WR at 5/6. Both Cook and Williams were easy picks as they have tremendous upside. Next Roddy takes the best TE, of the class (on the world’s greatest team no less). He would double down on TE getting my second favourite TE in Njoku in the early 2nd. Between Njoku and Howard Roddy should have his TE of the future. He also added a couple high-end RBs in Perine and Jamaal Williams who both have a strong chance to start for their respective teams. In the later rounds getting a QB who was drafted in the top 10 was a great pick as he should be in the league a long time. Next, he took a couple of fliers on some WRs with open depth charts who have a chance to pan out long term. He then finished the draft by selecting 2 good LBs who can be starters for him for a long time.

During the draft he only made one trade moving up from 2.13 to 2.05 to select Williams. If he wins the starting job at some point this year that will be a huge win. The other trade Rick made was trading 1.11 for Scotty’s entire 2019 draft class which would be damn near impossible for that not to work out in Rick’s favour.

All in all, Rick was very smart to collect all these draft picks and he ended up making the most of them, which is bad news for the rest of our league.

Rex in the City

Mike: Going into the 2017 rookie draft my main focus was on RB’s and WR’s and going with the best available. My reasoning is this. I remember drafting an RB by the name of Bishop Sankey and we all know how that ended up. Why try and draft a player from each position and hope for them to be great, odds are only a percentage of them will hit. So I was going to draft 3 or 4 and hope one or two sticks. But plans change and when Evan Engram is available at 2.02 you take him. I know a lot of the GM’s lost money on me not taking Jets players in this draft, but I stuck to my guns. I give myself an A- for a draft grade.

Sean (Chalupas): I am impressed with the draft that Rexy had. He has some good veterans but lacked youth, and this draft will really help with that.  I am not sure if it was intentional, but he targeted players going to explosive offenses, like Kamara, Engram, and the Tampa rookies. Players who are going into really good situations.  Overall, really like the draft. Sets him up for a nice future with this haul of picks.