Your Draft Has Been Judged

When you’re short on time then nothing is more handy than a Google form Likert Scale.

Once again I asked the collective brain power of the Immersion owners to weigh in on every draft pick. Armed with vibes, long running rivalries, biases, and maybe some pre-season game action, our intrepid owners formed a picture of the draft – through clicks and giggles, I’m sure.

When the dust settled, the average score given to a drafted player and/or owner was about 67%, or 3.35 out of 5 on the Likert Scale.

Our most generous graders were Matt Matuszak (94.44%) and Ryan Lindsay (80%). Our hardest professors were Jonathan Marcot (56.67%) and Tom Rothfus (56.39%). Don’t take their classes if you’re looking for an easy A (take Matt’s.)

So, what do we think? Which owners had a good draft (based on vibes?)

Draft Scores

The teams were much closer this year than in years past. In fact, we’ve got a 3-way tie for first place:

Team	Score	Percent
Tooz Town Gimb	3.83	77%
Marshfield Pirates	3.83	77%
Fransburg (r)EvoLUtion	3.83	77%

That’s quite the turnaround for the Tooz Town GIMB, who had the worst rated draft in 2022 at a meager 37%. All three of these teams still scored below last year’s top grade-earners of Madtown and Holley. New year, new vibes.

Next we have a solidly average middle class of owners:

Team	Score	Percent
Linn County Lumberjacks	3.75	75%
Batavia Colliders	3.58	72%
Culver City Krakens	3.58	72%

Not too bad, I guess. I mean, whatever. The next three teams all scored around the same, just a step below in favor:

Team	Score	Percent
Bestine Banthas	3.42	68%
Oregon Dream Team	3.42	68%
Cleveland Battery	3.33	67%

And finally, our bottom feeders, which aren’t as bottom-feedery as last year:

Team	Score	Percent
Madtown Marauders	3.25	65%
North Point Chitons	3.08	62%
Holley Hawks	3.08	62%

Interesting to see the league pull the Uno Reverse Card on the Hawks, who went from best draft to worst draft.

Enough About Owners, I Want Players

We’re seeing a similar distribution of scores, heavily favoring first round draft picks, which makes sense. Last year we had 5 players scoring at 80% or above, led by the first pick in the draft, Breece Hall. This year there are only 3.

The Cream of The Crop

I rise to the top. I never eat a pig ’cause a pig is a cop. Or better yet a Terminator, like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tryin’ to play me out like as if my name was Sega.

Pick	Pos	Name	Team	Score	Percent
1.01	RB	Bijan Robinson	GIMB	4.17	83%
1.02	RB	Jahmyr Gibbs	Lumberjacks	4.00	80%
1.03	WR	Jaxon Smith-Njigba	(r)EvoLUtion	4.00	80%

Guess we liked the expected first three picks of the draft. All chalk, there.

High C’s

These players are heavy in vitamin content:

Pick	Pos	Name	Team	Score	Percent
1.07	WR	Zay Flowers	Krakens	3.92	78%
2.04	WR	Marvin Mims	Marauders	3.92	78%
1.05	WR	Jordan Addison	Pirates	3.92	78%
5.07	LB	Drew Sanders	Colliders	3.83	77%
3.02	LB	Jack Campbell	Lumberjacks	3.83	77%

The Marauders reverted to their homer tendencies, but the rest of the league thought it was the right pick. Lots of Broncos love was to be had as a surprise fifth rounder made the list in Drew Sanders. He was rated as well as Jack Campbell who went two rounds earlier.

REACH!

There were lots of picks that came in under 60% so we’ll focus on the bottom four. Here’s who the fans hated:

Pick	Pos	Name	Team	Score	Percent
2.12	RB	Chase Brown	GIMB	2.67	53%
4.07	RB	Eric Gray	Krakens	2.67	53%
2.11	RB	DeWayne McBride	Colliders	2.58	52%
4.10	K	Jake Moody	Dream Team	2.17	43%

People did not like the strategy of reaching for a running back at the end of the second round in hopes of scoring an option year. McBride and Brown were both panned. Jake Moody earned the worst grade. I’m going to tell you right now that if he was selected in the fifth round I would have given him a 5. Even so, Moody still scored better than the bottom three players from last year, Kennedy Brooks, Derek Stingley Jr., and Matt Corrall.

Check out the rest of the players on the spreadsheet if you care to. What do you think? Any surprises?

© 2023, Josh Hammond. All rights reserved.