What a great 2016 SFL draft, it's come and gone already but always a blast. I love hearing after the draft is over that a GM really liked this picked, he was going to take this player here but he was taken right in front of him. Here is a brief look in at some players I liked, guys I target from the beginning in round 1 and how I ended up with the players I chose.
So let me start with the players that I initailly when the draft came out I was like oh hell yes I want those guys. There were 6 total players I was targeting since my pick was 10th overall at the time before I traded it to the San Diego Chargers.
6.) TE Nick Vannett- Ohio State
6'5" 256 lbs.
When I first started this class I thought for sure I'd get an offer I couldn't refuse for Bohanon since there was definite interest for the past 2 seasons so I was seeing a Bohanon replacement in Vannett that I instantly gravitated to, his size makes him a big target in the redzone, I thought for sure he'd be a top 10 pick in this draft (without even using a PW- I used 0 on players until 2 picks before my selection) class so I needed a top pick, I was completely shocked when he wen't 1.20, I thought he'd get hammered by the skew but when Neal announced his private workout I was really just baffled to be honest. I know the position isn't as prominent as a WR but they still can have difference makers especially since there was only 1 WR imo worthy of a top 10 pick.
5.) DE Deforest Buckner- Oregon
6'7" 290 lbs.
RE Datone Jones is in his final year, he's been solid for us but we unfortunately have too many 1 year players and he wont be able to be re-signed so Buckner was a player we were thinking might slip under the radar, a possible trade down from 1.10 to get this giant, we loved athletic traits, he skewed very nice athletically (86 SPD, 77 STR, 83 AGI, 85 ACC) at 290 lbs isn't bad at all. I would of course worked out both Bosa and Buckner before my 1.10 pick to make sure that would have been the best choice and I'm certain I would have went the route of Buckner.
4.) QB Nate Sudfeld- Indiana
6'5" 240 lbs.
The cool thing you can see in these is not only inside the mind of another GM but how all over the board I am as well lol from QB to DE to TE I hope it's not just me. First off I liked Wentz/Prescott/Goff in round 1 also but what I like most about Sudfeld is he's only 21 so that's huge imo, next he's eligible for training camp so he gets an extra +1 AWR, +2 THA which gives him 56 AWR/86 THA and may get another TC the following season but not sure. He'll also get 2 mentor years of Andre Woodson which will bring his AWR to 67 and 87 THA since I added +1 for sophmore progression and that's if Gary decides not to start Sudfeld in a single game, if he starts several games he'll get even more. I also like his size and 98 INJ is freaking awesome. I feel Gary found a gem here if he grooms him properly as I expect him to.
3.) CB T.J. Green- Clemson
6'3" 215 lbs.
It's pretty special to get a 6'3" 215 lbs, 99 speed, 99 agility, 99 acceleration corner, I wouldn'tt know what it's like but I hear it's pretty damn cool. I was most likely going CB at 1.10 in fact after I knew I had no shot really of getting 1.1 I scoured the draft board for that stud top dawg corner and Green was absolutely a consideration, I knew I'd have to trade up for him and I knew it would cost a pretty penny as it should for such a player. I have no doubt Green will be a stud and on top of it he's eligible for TC, the only reason I don't have him at #2 is the AWR and a big thing with me is INJ, 67 is almost taken right off my list but some players never feel the effects.
2.) CB James Bradberry- Samford
6'1" 210 lbs.
Bradberry is a complete stud, I think I could have traded up to pick 1.3 and selected here but it would have been close between both Bradberry and Ryan Smith (I liked Smith alot and would have traded back a few spots from 10). The size of Bradbeerry is exactly what most GM's look for. His 79 INJ will be an 80 by next year and is defintely less PTSD for me than 67 (TJ Green). I like the fact that he's in the 60's for AWR , his CTH isn't great but everything else is really solid.
2.) RB Derrick Henry- Alabama
6'2" 247 lbs.
So as I've stated several times RB Derrick Henry is the player who I thought was the clear cut top prospect in this class, I thought by quite a bit but there was definitely competition especially if you already had a RB. Henry is a big boy, we've had some big backs for sure (TJ Duckett and a few others come to mind) but i don't think any had the sheer size of Henry to go along with the power, the ability to run by you or over you is unreal. I was in talks with Gary for 1.1 that would have sent QB Chad Henne, nothing really transpired since I was pretty reluctant to trade him after he won the fountain of youth and to be honest talking to Apolo about how he has been waiting for this player for awhile I kind of felt like it would be a dick move to snatch a player away from him like that especially since it really isn't a huge need of mine so in the end i feel it all worked out for all parties involved. Also I forgot to mention that the season i landed Murray in FA I had a few GM's offer a decent amount for him but I was intent on winning so i decided to keep him,I thought he would be easy to deal had I landed 1.1 and drafted Henry but again it really does vary from season to season as far as some players or positions go.
How the draft fell for me
My philosophy was exactly this headed into the draft.... My main priority 1 was finding a QB who I could groom for the future so 2.17 was always going to be QB unless they were all taken, I was hoping 1 of the 6 QB's would fall to me, Jared Goff, Nate Sudfeld, Dak Prescott, Carson Wentz, Christian Hackenberg or Connor Cook. Sudfeld is who I wanted over all the QB's which may or may not be why I left him off my first mock draft
but I'll let you decide which. After I knew he'd probably be gone I focused heavily on Cook and Hackenberg but in the end I decided the 99 THP was too good to pass up for me.
My next focus at 2.27 was more or less to fill the roster with solid depth players, BPA at positions of need, WR depth wasn't a huge need since our top 3 guys are already in place but I have been asking GM's about KR and getting denying or I'd just have to overpay for 1 so I just overpaid for 1 and now get him for at least 4 years at a reasonable deal. I think Tyreek Hill can be special if he stays healthy, he'll return kicks immediately. Some other players I was eyeing at this spot was OLB Corey Littleton and Bronson Kaufusi (No offense to the Vikinngs GM Neal Wintermute but I'm gald I didn't decide to go that route), Littleton was picked before us and I decided the need at KR/PR was more important than a backu DE.
Pick 3.9 I did a private workout on both OLB Devondre Campbell and Joshua Perry and decided Campbell was the better fit, decent size, attributes were solid and he was our guy. After OLB Wilber got injured for us last season for the entire year after game 4 it was a huge loss, we got a fill in to replace him and he did decent but Wilber was unreal in coverage, batted down a bunch of passes that normally all WR and TE catch over your LB's but he was having none of it, we had to get players who could come in and if called upon would be a force in some way and I feel Campbell is that guy and will back up Dawson not Wilber, We also worked out Kamelai Correa but like Campbell slightly better.
So as the 3rd round subsided the Colts added TE Lance Kendricks on the block which i thought would be an awesome TE 2, not the biggest dude but I love the athletic ability with decent hands as well, He's no Bohanon but that's why he's up for a 4th so i decided to pounce on it but what I thought was that I had another 4th round pick for some reason but apprently I made that up in my mind because it wasn't true at all. We ended up trading with the Dolphins for 4.25.
At 4.25 some players we were liking were still OLB Joshua Perry, I liked WR Demarcus Robinson to close out our WR depth, DE Dean Lowry was another we had our eyes on but ended up going 4 picks ahead of us. In the end we thought OLB Perry was the best fit for us and wanted toi shore up the LB group, we now felt like we had 4 starter quality LB in case of injury or if a guy is underperforming etc.
We then traded with the 49ers and landed pick 4.32, We were really hoping for WR Demarcus Robinson here but he was selected just 3 picks ahead of us by the Texans so I had 1 private workout left, as I was looking over my roster I noticed 3 of my backup OL were going into UFA next offseason. I wanted to make my OL count, so as I looked who was left at OT the first person i gravitated to was RT Germain Ifredi, I thought for sure his skew must be bad for a guy of his caliber to still be there and sure enough his skew was awesome, I like OT to be at least 6'6" and I prefer smarter but for a bottom of the 4th I felt like it was highway robbery.
With 5.5 after I drafted Ifedi , when I was doing a private workout on him, OT Jason Spriggs also caught my eye. The plan was to draft ifedi and come back and get Spriggs but the Colts had other ideas and drafted Spriggs 2 picks ahead of us. I again started looking at all OL because I had already traded my 2017 2nd, 4th and 5th round picks so I didn't want to be desperate for OL next season. I took long hard looks at Connor McGovern, Willie Beavers and Vidal Alexander but decided on McGovern.
At 5.26 ILB Jaylon Smith was sticking out for me, I wasn't a huge fan of the SPD, his AGI wasn't great but I don't feel that matters 1 bit for a LB, I loved the STR, anytime you get a ILB with 80+ STR it's a bonus imo. Then I loved the AWR, late 60's and should be a 70 by next season and 22 years old is really good. His ACC was really good and TAK is top notch, I was really excited and thought, damn this is my 4th ILB on the depth chart, this is a sick group I've collected here.
To close out my 2016 SFL draft class I made a vital error at 5.32, I made a pick soley for a draft gem. I knew that there was no way a 6'4" 227 lbs WR would be here at the bottom of the 5th round if he didn't skew downwards and he did which I anticipated, my brain said take WR Malcolm Mitchell, WR Jakeem Grant or OG Vidal Alexander but my heart said take the 6'4" waste of space so of course i did just that.
So there you have it, those were all my picks and my thoughts going into it and on draft day, I'd love to hear in the comments if something screwed you up on draft day, a player or players taken before you, what were some players you guys were targeting, just something fun to do why we wait for the next process to go through.
