2011 Draft Class at a Glance- Offense
The draft is my favorite part of the SFL year. Every team feels like they can improve and every time is laying the foundation for their future either via trade by trading draft picks or via actual drafting of players. The draft also reveals the diversity of GM talent evaluations. Some GM’s value raw physical talent usually speed others value awareness or tackle or blocking skills. The entire draft process is inundated with this diversity which makes it fun. Although I may do a mock draft at some point, this article is just going to focus on the top talent at each position without reference to which team might draft them. We will start with the QB position.
Every year I think to myself why do teams draft QB’s so high. Breck has also vocalized his own philosophy around this and I think much like him. However this year I think most GM’s will have this same philosophy not necessarily because of the philosophy itself but because of the lack of talent at the position.
QB’s
Andy Dalton- 23 years old, 6’2”, 60 AWR, 88 THP, 89 THA, and 89 INJ
I believe that Dalton is the best of the QB’s in this draft class but I don’t love him as a high end QB prospect. He has the great throwing accuracy and the best awareness of this group of four but I’d like to see more throwing power in the top QB talent. With activity points and with first and second year progression he can be a decent starter in the league.
Blaine Gabbert- 20 years old, 6’5”, 58 AWR, 91 THP, 86 THA, and 83 INJ
Part of me wants to put Gabbert as the best QB prospect in this class because he’s 20 years old and will have three years longer of a career than the other guys. He’s also 6’5” with better throwing power and very serviceable throwing accuracy. My concerns are that his awareness is really low and that he likely going to be a scrambler.
Christian Ponder- 23 years old, 6’3”, 56 AWR, 91 THP, 88 THA, and 88 INJ
Ponder is a typical mid-round draft prospect. His awareness is dangerously low but throwing power and throwing accuracy are well within the range of a good starter in the league. I do wonder if he ends up being a scrambler as well.
Ryan Mallett- 23 years old, 6’6”, 59 AWR, 89 THP, 85 THA, and 95 INJ
I’ve always liked Mallett in madden leagues though he typically has more throwing power than this. Maybe it will skew up. The best attribute going for him is his 6’6” height. My concerns are his OK awareness and throwing accuracy combo.
Class Rating: Overall this is one of the weakest positions in the draft. And if you are looking to spend a high draft pick on a QB, I’d suggest a trade or whatever is left in free agency.
The HB class shows some promise, but this depends a bit on what the GM values in a HB. There aren’t the big bruising runners with great break tackle, but there are several speed guys that are quite intriguing.
HB’s
Daniel Thomas- 23 years old, 6’2”, 227 lbs., 92 SPD, 82 STR, 54 AWR, 93 AGI, 90 ACC, 75 CAR, 81 BTK, and 90 INJ
The consensus top HB available in this draft is Daniel Thomas. I’ve even seen him as high as #2 overall in mock drafts. He’s got the size, strength, and athleticism combo that really does make him a potential star. #2 overall might be a tad high for him but I think he’s a top 15 player in this draft.
Mikel LeShoure- 22 years old, 5’10”, 206 lbs., 92 SPD, 76 STR, 56 AWR, 93 AGI, 96 ACC, 73 CAR, 82 BTK, and 93 INJ
LeShoure is a smaller back but has great athleticism and good strength. He along with the rest of the HB’s are a step down from Thomas, but I suspect teams will value him highly enough to select him in the first couple of rounds.
DeMarco Murray- 23 years old, 6’0”, 214 lbs., 91 SPD, 81 STR, 57 AWR, 86 AGI, 91 ACC, 73 CAR, 76 BTK, and 91 INJ
Some GM’s might have Murray ahead of LeShoure and I understand that. But LeShoure is more athletic and a little more polished. Either of these guys will be good RB’s in a couple of seasons assuming they play. Murray is a bigger, taller back with slight more strength which GM’s may be prefer.
Steven Ridley- 21 years old, 6’0”, 226 lbs., 89 SPD, 81 STR, 59 AWR, 87 AGI, 92 ACC, 68 CAR, 78 BTK, and 88 INJ
Ridley is a guy I like. He’s got good size for a HB plus outstanding strength. He will easily get to 90 SPD assuming he doesn’t skew down and he’s one of the smarter HB’s coming out in this draft. The concern I think would be his low carry.
Anthony Allen- 23 years old, 6’0”, 231 lbs., 96 SPD, 55 STR, 42 AWR, 98 AGI, 98 ACC, 66 CAR, 79 BTK, and 99 INJ
Allen will be a polarizing player. If you want size and athleticism and don’t care about strength or carry then you will have Allen higher on your board, maybe even first round value. He reminds me a little of Darren McFadden taken 31st overall in the 2008 draft. I will be watching where he goes very closely.
Ryan Williams- 23 years old, 5’11”, 227 lbs., 94 SPD, 43 STR, 58 AWR, 89 AGI, 93 ACC, 71 CAR, 83 BTK, and 70 INJ
Williams is a similar back to Allen just not as athletic. On the flip side he’s more ready to play immediately with better carry and break tackle. I personally get worried about 43 strength but some GM’s don’t even consider strength so they won’t have any concerns at all.
Roy Helu- 22 years old, 6’0”, 215 lbs., 90 SPD, 85, 54 AWR, 88 AGI, 93 ACC, 69 CAR, 68 BTK, and 87 INJ
Helu is a more raw version of Steven Ridley but I do really like 90 SPD, 85 STR, and 93 ACC combo. It’s a very rare combo. However his attributes outside of those three leave something to be desired. I think Helu will be a good starter in the league if he is developed properly.
Allen Bradford- 23 years old, 5’11”, 235 lbs., 88 SPD, 71 STR, 50 AWR, 87 AGI, 90 ACC, 63 CAR, 81 BTK, and 96 INJ
If you are in the middle rounds and you want to take a flier on someone why not select Bradford? He’s a big back with decent athleticism. He just has terrible hands. In fact some of the worst this league has seen.
Class Rating: Overall this is a solid RB class. One elite player and then decent depth through the first few rounds. Again, it will depend a bit on what GM’s value at the position. I think it will be fascinating to see where each player goes.
I have almost nothing to say about FB classes. This year is no different There is one guy I would be vaguely interested in primarily because he is a good blocker who could get to 80 SPD with some work. Outside of that it’s not even worth your time to look. Converting a veteran TE or RB would be your best option.
FB’s
Bruce Miller- 22 years old, 6’2”, 255 lbs., 77 SPD, 79 STR, 55 AWR, 81 AGI, 83 ACC, 64 CAR, 52 PBK, and 66 RBK
Miller is a blocking FB and a good one. The concern is that he is fast enough to get to the block. His skew related to speed will be a huge deal in determining how good he can be.
Class Rating: Nobody cares about fullbacks.
The strength of the 2011 draft is the WR position. I have nine players highlighted but I could have had more, I just got tired of highlighting them. I fully expect a WR drafted in the fourth or fifth round to produce if given the right opportunity. It’s a deep, deep, class. However, there aren’t guys that are as polished as in other years, so that could keep some GM’s away. I would argue to the benefit of those GM’s who actually draft WR’s.
WR’s
Jonathan Baldwin- 22 years old, 6’5”, 99 SPD, 42 STR, 54 AWR, 99 AGI, 99 ACC, 77 CTH, and 84 JMP
He is the best player in the draft pre-skew. He reminds me a ton of Brandon Marshall taken by the Lions with the 1st overall pick in the 2006 draft. I think he’s even better than Marshall because he’s an inch taller and the agility and acceleration are higher than where Marshall started. The Colts have already stated that they are taking him with the 1st overall pick but that also could be a smokescreen. If it isn’t, it is a good pick.
A.J. Green- 23 years old, 6’4”, 206 lbs., 98 SPD, 31 STR, 57 AWR, 95 AGI, 97 ACC, 83 CTH, and 77 JMP
In many years Green would be the best WR in a draft class but Baldwin exists and so Green will have to play second fiddle. But teams in the top 5 who missed out on Baldwin will be very happen to see Green on their board at their pick. I don’t love low STR like 31 low, but we’ve now had enough experience in this league to see that it doesn’t really matter. Green is a top 10 talent maybe even top 5.
Kris Durham- 22 years old, 6’6”, 220 lbs., 95 SPD, 44 STR, 42 AWR, 86 AGI, 98 ACC, 69 CTH, and 87 JMP
So you are telling me that Baldwin isn’t the only 6’5”+ guy in the draft class with at least 95 SPD and 95 ACC. There’s actually a guy taller than him with these attributes? Yes, that would Kris Durham who is a younger rookie at 22 years of age and though his awareness and hands are terrible has the potential to dominate and be a better version of Matt Jones.
Tandon Doss- 22 years old, 6’3”, 198 lbs., 93 SPD, 45 STR, 53 AWR, 95 AGI, 97 ACC, 74 CTH, and 92 JMP
Stop me if you have heard this before: Tall WR with good speed and great athleticism. Now some might argue he’s too high with only 93 SPD, but you can work on his speed with activity points and in reality 93 SPD is actually pretty good to begin with. You can’t teach that agility and acceleration combo and I think that matters a lot at WR.
Vincent Brown- 23 years old, 6’0”, 195 lbs., 98 SPD, 62 STR, 57 AWR, 90 AGI, 93 ACC, 74 CTH, and 96 JMP
Brown can easily get lost in this draft class because he’s not the tall guy, but he is a true speed receiver who has both good strength and great jump. For GM’s that like a little more ready from day one type of a player Brown fits the bill.
Randall Cobb- 23 years old, 5’11”, 188 lbs., 97 SPD, 46 STR, 52 AWR, 93 AGI, 99 ACC, 70 CTH, and 84 JMP
Cobb is the type of WR that has proven to be very effective in this league. He’s shorter but he’s quick and he can get in and out routes against almost any CB. His hands aren’t great so we will have to see how that factors into the amount of drops he has but he’s still a high quality receiver.
Titus Young- 22 years old, 5’11”, 170 lbs., 99 SPD, 25 STR, 52 AWR, 98 AGI, 96 ACC, 77 CTH, and 77 JMP
Young and Cobb are very similar. Young is a little better athletically but his 25 STR is awfully low plus he’s only 170 lbs. But GM’s should love a 99 SPD, 98 AGI, and 96 ACC combo. And his hands are decent at 77 CTH too.
Kealoha Pilares- 23 years old, 5’11”, 200 lbs., 99 SPD, 44 STR, 47 AWR, 98 AGI, 97 ACC, 68 CTH, and 79 JMP
Pilares is the final three WR’s that look very similar. I could make a case that he is the best of the bunch or in this case that he is the third of the three. They are all close together in terms of talent. A key factor with Cobb, Young, and Pilares could be the skew which generally doesn’t favor players that are already 99 SPD.
Niles Paul- 22 years old, 6’1”, 242 lbs., 94 SPD, 68 STR, 48 AWR, 89 AGI, 92 ACC, 75 CTH, and 86 JMP
I could continue this list for another 3 or 4 players but Paul will be the last. He’s not an elite receiver but he’s a big WR with great strength and good athleticism. I’d like to think that 242 lbs. makes a difference but I don’t think I can for sure say that.
Class Rating: This is an elite WR class. If you want a WR who could be a #1 this is your year. I think it’s possible to have 8 WR’s go in round 1. I think the only thing that prevents 8 WR’s going in round 1 is a potential lack of demand.
TE’s
TE’s are definitely a trendy position in the SFL. There are a couple of highly athletic TE’s that are almost physically talented enough to play WR. Some actually might play #3 WR position. This year’s class has another guy like that plus some more.
Jordan Cameron- 23 years old, 6’5”, 245 lbs., 88 SPD, 70 STR, 54 AWR, 82 AGI, 85 ACC, 68 CTH, 63 PBK, and 62 RBK
Cameron is another one of those Gary Barnidge types. Great athleticism, tall, and in this case an outstanding blocker too. His weakness is his hands, 68 CTH may cause a GM to pause on taking him so early in the draft when his other attributes scream top 10 talent.
Larry Donnell- 22 years old, 6’6”, 265 lbs., 84 SPD, 81 STR, 50 AWR, 87 AGI, 84 ACC, 67 CTH, 52 PBK, and 53 RBK
Donnell, while not in the category of Camerson, can still very much be a great starter is this league. He’s still got good speed, agility, and acceleration plus he has elite strength. He has a similar weakness to Camerson and that is poor hands.
Allen Reisner- 22 years old, 6’3”, 255 lbs., 83 SPD, 68 STR, 51 AWR, 80 AGI, 82 ACC, 68 CTH, 49 PBK, and 53 RBK
Resiner has flaws for sure and I don’t think he will get drafted in round 1 or probably round 2 but he can develop into a good pass catching TE. He needs some work blocking and like Cameron and Donnell, he lacks good hands but he is athletic.
Luke Stocker- 23 years old, 6’6”, 240 lbs., 80 SPD, 71 STR, 59 AWR, 84 AGI, 79 ACC, 75 CTH, 47 PBK, and 57 RBK
Stocker is a mid-round talent with the best hands of this group. His two weaknesses are his acceleration and pass blocking. I would be careful not to overlook Stocker, with a favorable skew in acceleration his talent and value substantially increases.
Class Rating: It’s a good not great TE class. There isn’t as much depth here as with other positions, but there is talent here and you should be able to grab one in any of the first three rounds.
Move over WR’s because the offensive tackle class is here and it’s competing for the deepest position in the 2011 draft. There are two studs in this draft plus a ton of great depth linemen. I feel like there may not be as much demand for the depth linemen but those two elite tackles are going to go high.
OT’s
Tyrone Smith- 21 years old, 6’6”, 292 lbs., 69 SPD, 97 STR, 61 AWR, 74 AGI, 82 ACC, 88 PBK, and 86 RBK
Smith is elite in every attribute. He’s off-the-charts great in athleticism and he has great blocking skills right out of the gate too. He’s the perfect RT and though he might give up a few sacks in year one he is going to be a great one in the league. I should probably point out that there may be a GM or two that passes over him due to his size. Now I don’t think it matters when you have his attributes but it should be noted.
Anthony Castonzo- 23 years old, 6’7’, 295 lbs., 65 SPD, 98 STR, 57 AWR, 76 AGI, 85 ACC, 86 PBK, and 87 RBK
Castonzo is very similar to Smith. He’s got all the physical attributes you want and he is a little bigger than Smith. Some will argue and rightly so that he is more athletic than Smith with his 76 AGI and 85 ACC. But his AWR is 57 and I think that’s put him just a little bit behind Smith.
Byron Stingily- 23 years old, 6’5”, 318 lbs., 69 SPD, 89 STR, 57 AWR, 74 AGI, 79 ACC, 78 PBK, and 83 RBK
I debated about whether to flip Stingily and Ijalana but I’ve stayed with Stingily because of his advantage in AWR. Stingily will be a 70 SPD, 90 STR, 75 AGI, and 80 ACC offensive lineman after his first year of progression. That’s pretty good numbers.
Ben Ijalana- 21 years old, 6’4”, 322 lbs., 66 SPD, 94 STR, 50 AWR, 71 AGI, 78 ACC, 82 PBK, and 82 RBK
Ijalana is another great offensive lineman in terms of his physical attributes. The issue for him is the 50 AWR and low 80’s pass and run blocking. He’s going to need some time to develop but once he does he will be dynamic.
Derrick Sherrod- 22 years old, 6’6”, 305 lbs., 63 SPD, 95 STR, 57 AWR, 67 AGI, 73 ACC, 85 PBK, and 85 RBK
Sherrod and Love are kind of a dead heat in my eyes. It will be up to the GM which one they prefer and maybe the skew will help to separate the two players. Sherrod is a powerful blocker with good blocking skills.
DeMarcus Love- 23 years old, 6’5”, 315 lbs., 66 SPD, 96 STR, 54 AWR, 67 AGI, 74 ACC, 83 PBK, and 86 RBK
Love is a powerful run blocker. He’s the type of offensive lineman you want on the left side of the line. He’s a little low in awareness but he’s good everywhere else and he is going to be a starter in this league for several years. Perhaps even in his rookie season as long as it is on the left side.
Jah Reid- 22 years old, 6’7”, 326 lbs., 66 SPD, 96 STR, 49 AWR, 71 AGI, 72 ACC, 82 PBK, and 85 RBK
Reid continues the depth of this offensive line class. He’s a good sized, powerful lineman who just lacks awareness, actually a lot of awareness, but he will for sure get his two years of progression due to that low awareness. He might not be a starter year one but he can be a starter in the league.
Marcus Cannon- 23 years old, 6’6”, 335 lbs., 61 SPD, 99 STR, 55 AWR, 70 AGI, 68 ACC, 80 PBK, and 75 RBK
Cannon is the strongest tackle in the draft and he’s huge as well. While he is not super athletic he’s not terrible either. I know there are GM’s that couldn’t care less about acceleration in which case Cannon will be higher on their board.
Nate Solder- 23 years old, 6’9”, 302 lbs., 61 SPD, 88 STR, 62 AWR, 70 AGI, 74 ACC, 86 PBK, and 86 RBK
Solder is the guy that some GM’s love. He’s fairly smart and a good blocker as a rookie. He’s good enough everywhere else so that GM’s that care primarily about the non-physical attributes will pull the trigger on him earlier than other GM’s who focus on physical attributes.
Class Rating: I would argue that the offensive tackle class is the second or third strongest position in this draft. This could mean quality takes make it into the mid-rounds of this year’s draft. A really good class overall.
The offensive guards are next up on the list. There are some guys worth checking out and a few other guys that are projects that could work out.
OG’s
John Moffit- 24 years old, 6’5”, 323 lbs., 64 SPD, 97 STR, 49 AWR, 69 AGI, 80 ACC, 84 PBK, and 90 RBK
Moffit is an another elite offensive lineman when you look at his physical attributes. And on top of that he has good blocking skills, particularly run blocking. What concerns me is his age and and his awareness. Because he is such a good blocker he should be able to progress quickly in awareness. I don’t love the idea that he’ll already be 25 next season.
Clint Boling- 22 years old, 6’5”, 310 lbs., 64 SPD, 98 STR, 54 AWR, 73 AGI, 76 ACC, 79 PBK, and 77 RBK
Boling has good to great physical attributes, not quite at the level of Moffit. But unlike Moffitm Boling will struggle blocking out of the gate. Both blocking attributes are below 80. And while his awareness is better than Moffit it’s still below 55.
Caleb Schlauderaff- 22 years old, 6’4”, 302 lbs., 62 SPD, 96 STR, 60 AWR, 67 AGI, 71 ACC, 87 PBK, and 87 RBK
The next three guards are all slightly above average guards. Schlauderaff in addition to having a cool name has great strength and blocking skills. His agility and acceleration aren’t great but again some GM’s don’t really care about those attributes.
Rodney Hudson- 22 years old, 6’2”, 288 lbs., 62 SPD, 92 SPD, 55 AWR, 69 AGI, 75 ACC, 84 PBK, and 89 RBK
Hudson is on the small side, but we’ve seen where certain smaller guards work in this league. His blocking skills are really good and I anticipate him finding a home in the middle rounds of the draft.
Andrew Jackson- 25 years old, 6’5”, 295 lbs., 66 SPD, 99 STR, 54 AWR, 73 AGI, 74 ACC, 81 PBK, and 80 RBK
Jackson is the strongest offensive guard in this class and you don’t get better than 99. Jackson’s physical attributes aren’t bad either. His non-physical attributes are below average and he’s already 25 which might actually be burying the lead in his evaluation. I’m not sure you have enough time to develop him.
Michael Jasper- 22 years old, 6’4”, 375 lbs., 65 SPD, 90 STR, 52 AWR, 67 AGI, 73 ACC, 79 PBK, and 79 RBK
Jasper didn’t make it in my first couple passes but then I noticed that he’s 375 lbs. and so he’s on this list. He is going to be a interesting test case on whether on not size matters at the position.
Class Rating: The guard class here is average. It provides options and a couple of players that will be really good players but it’s not anything outstanding. GM’s can also draft offensive tackles and convert them to guards.
The final position to look at in this draft class at a glance article is center. There are three guys that I think are worth mentioning.
C’s
Tim Barnes- 22 years old, 6’4”, 310 lbs., 68 SPD, 93 STR, 57 AWR, 70 AGI, 75 ACC, 82 PBK, AND 83 RBK
Barnes has legit star potential at the center position. I really love his speed, strength, agility and acceleration. In one sense, I don’t love the awareness and blocking skills but what it will do is ensure that Barnes gets his second year of progression which will only make Barnes better long-term.
Stefan Wi?niewski- 23 years old, 6’3”, 298 lbs., 63 SPD, 89 STR, 58 AWR, 68 AGI, 74 ACC, 86 PBK, 85 RBK
Wisniewski îs more SFL ready than Barnes but also has a lower ceiling. He can be a starter in this league right away though he is a little on the small side.
Jason Kelce- 22 years old, 6’2”, 310 lbs., 64 SPD, 95 STR, 56 AWR, 66 AGI, 71 ACC, 83 PBK, and 86 RBK
Kelce is a strong center, strongest of this group of three. He lacks the athleticism that I would like to see at the position but he’s still starter worthy.
There are couple other players who if they weren’t under 260 lbs. would have made this list. I seem to remember other draft classes with that type of player and they did not fair well, but I could be wrong.
Class Rating: Typical of most center classes not much depth but in reality there’s not much depth needed.
Overall the offense will definitely see its fair share of players drafted. I think you will see WR’s go early along with the two tackles. There will likely he a RB in the top 10 and also a TE. Depth is there in the WR and OT class too. The next article will focus on the defense.
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