Snap Judgment – Instant Draft Hot Takes

The rookie draft is over and the results are in. We’ll know how we did in about three years when we see which players are worth offering the option year to. But who wants to wait that long? Not us. We’re going the rate the drafts right now, going on nothing more than draft capital, sparse training camp reports, and vibes.

Half of these guys won’t even make the 53-man roster, but that won’t stop us from dreaming of glory.

This draft was pretty interesting in that certain teams decided to dominate certain rounds. The Holley Hawks bought up most of the first round. The Pirates made a bunch of fourth round picks. And for some reason (fun?) the Cleveland Battery had 8 picks in a row in the 5th round.

Conventional wisdom says this draft isn’t that good, so maybe that’s why the (r)EvoLUtion only picked one player. Who can say?

Us, that’s who. We judged the hell out of everyone’s overall drafts and their individual picks. So lets get right into it.

Who Had a Good Draft (Based on Vibes?)

I could have averaged the individual pick scores to get a team grade, but not all teams had the same number of picks, and players drafted in later rounds are probably being scored more harshly than first rounders based on talent. So, which owners had a “good” draft? This can be based on anything. For example, maybe Fransburg was right to trade themselves out of it. Maybe Holley did the right thing by buying up the entire first round. Perhaps we might want to factor in some trades into the score.

Two winners emerge from the fray, based on the votes.

Team	Score/5	Percent
Madtown Marauders	4.00	80%
Holley Hawks	3.92	78%

This isn’t too surprising, given that the Marauders had the number one pick in the draft and the Hawks had the most picks in the first round.

Next, we had some teams that were given a pretty average grade. Solid if not spectacular.

Team	Score/5	Percent
Oregon Dream Team	3.83	77%
Linn County Lumberjacks	3.83	77%
Batavia Colliders	3.67	73%

Your fellow owners were not as impressed with the next group. A bit underwhelming, if you ask them.

Team	Score/5	Percent
North Point Chitons	3.42	68%
Marshfield Pirates	3.33	67%
Culver City Krakens	3.17	63%
Fransburg (r)EvoLUtion	3.17	63%
Bestine Banthas	3.08	62%

Haven’t read your team’s name yet? Oof. It’s pretty dire from here.

Team	Score/5	Percent
Cleveland Battery	2.92	58%
Tooz Town GIMB	1.83	37%

Looks like most people didn’t enjoy the Battery’s 5th round antics. Personally, I don’t mind taking flyers on corners, kickers, and punters in the 5th round. Would you get on their case for picking up these guys on waivers? For $1? I think not.

The GIMB – woof. Their draft was largely panned. Then again, they don’t care about your bullshit rules about when it’s okay to draft a cornerback. They play by their own rules.

I should also point out that Matt Matuszak, while incurring the wrath of his leaguemates, was by far the most generous owner when it came to grading others. Maybe we can all learn a lesson about rising above this petty vindictive backbiting.

Marcot was the toughest grader. He’s not impressed with your drafts. Hell, he’s not even impressed with his own draft. He scored his own draft low as well, even though it’s looking more and more likely that Dameon Pierce will emerge as a starting running back.

Which Players Were the Best Draft Picks?

We didn’t have any players come out in the traditional “A” range (90% approval). We did, however, find some solid B-players.

The Cream of the Crop

Pick	Pos	Name	Team	Score/5	Percent
1.01	RB	Breece Hall	Marauders	4.42	88%
1.08	WR	George Pickens	Chitons	4.33	87%
1.05	WR	Chris Olave	Hawks	4.17	83%
2.03	LB	Devin Lloyd	Dream Team	4.08	82%
1.04	RB	Kenneth Walker III	Hawks	4.00	80%

It’s not surprising that the best rated player was the one drafted first overall. Most of these players are first rounders, though Devin Lloyd snuck in from the second round. The Hawks are looking strong here with two players in the top-5. George Pickens might even have a higher score today since he’s been dominating in training camp.

That 70s Show

The next group are decently rated, but don’t outshine the competition like the top-5 does. However, since they actually will be playing games, these players may turn out to be studs.

Pick	Pos	Name	Team	Score/5	Percent
1.12	WR	Jameson Williams	Colliders	3.92	78%
2.01	DE	Kayvon Thibodeaux	Marauders	3.92	78%
1.10	WR	Skyy Moore	Marauders	3.83	77%
2.02	DE	Aidan Hutchinson	Lumberjacks	3.83	77%
1.02	WR	Treylon Burks	Lumberjacks	3.75	75%
1.03	WR	Drake London	Dream Team	3.67	73%
2.07	RB	Rachaad White	Colliders	3.67	73%
3.01	WR	Wan’Dale Robinson	Marauders	3.58	72%
1.07	RB	James Cook	Hawks	3.50	70%
2.06	WR	Christian Watson	Hawks	3.50	70%
4.03	DE	Jermaine Johnson	Pirates	3.50	70%

Most of these players hail from the first and second rounds, and we see running backs, wide receivers, and defensive ends, which gives us some clues about what positions we value the most in this league. The fourth rounder Jermaine Johnson snuck in as a solid value pick.

Picks We Hate

The bottom of the barrel is filled with Cleveland and Tooz Town players, so it’s no surprise they got ranked the worst. Here’s your bottom-five.

Pick	Pos	Name	Team	Score/5	Percent
5.09	RB	Tyler Badie	Battery	2.42	48%
3.10	WR	Khalil Shakir	GIMB	2.33	47%
4.10	RB	Kennedy Brooks	GIMB	1.83	37%
2.12	CB	Derek Stingley Jr.	GIMB	1.75	35%
5.10	QB	Matt Corral	GIMB	1.67	33%

The fans don’t like it.

If you want to see where the rest of the players landed, check out the spreadsheet where I collected the poll results.

Thanks again to everyone for filling out the survey. Now we can see just how wrong we are about all these picks.

REACH!

© 2022, Josh Hammond. All rights reserved.