The Elite Football League 2012 - Discussions

DrawABlank · Joined: 27 Dec 2009 Posts: 1753 Location: London, UK

Great pick crazyfalcon - my highest rated player left (except the one I've just picked!)

I feel a bit silly picking DeCastro at #3 considering I could have had Richardson, Brockers and Zeitler.

Ah well, DDC fits a ZBS better anyway.

scar988 · Joined: 05 Apr 2005 Posts: 28736 Location: Charleston, SC

nice pick. I was hoping for Mercilus to drop. he was on my pair of guys... now I have to change it up.
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scar988 · Joined: 05 Apr 2005 Posts: 28736 Location: Charleston, SC

yeah try covering my 5 WR set of nastyness.
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DrawABlank · Joined: 27 Dec 2009 Posts: 1753 Location: London, UK

As Promised, analysis on all the teams after the veteran draft round I.

Feel free to respond and tell me I'm an idiot!

GrimeyKid – Zero Alliance

Overall Approach:
Pass rush first (JPP, Miller), then pass coverage (Haden, Webb) then completing the offensive line. Neglected in the veteran draft were the skill positions, other than the #1 overall used on Ray Rice, although three top rookies are available.

Biggest Steal: Kevin Williams, DT (12th round)
Getting an All Pro under tackle to pair with Seymour this late was a great move. While the loss of Pat Williams has affected his individual statistics, he still gets enough interior pressure to allow Jared Allen to have a huge year.

Biggest Reach: Ray Rice, RB (#1 overall)
As I’ve said before, I can’t justify taking him over Rodgers with McCoy and Foster going in the 6th and 7th respectively.

Quick Appraisal:
I like this draft in general. Concentrating on the lines appears to have paid dividends with a fierce pass rush on paper. The value on a few picks seemed strange – quite often I thought the back-to-back picks contained by far the BPA and then a strange selection (examples include Haden/Myers, Weddle/Blalock and Williams/DeCoud). However, as a unit this looks to be one of the stronger ones, dependent on the QB acquired.

JGoldIsCool - The Knights of Valhalla

Overall Approach:
Offensive Line (first 4 picks!) then defense – starting with the front seven. Skill positions again neglected.

Biggest Steal: Trent Cole (10th round)
My #5 defensive end, who I ranked just marginally below Mario Williams in a 4-3, in the 10th? Yes please. I wasn’t wild about the Orakpo pick but this made up for it.

Biggest Reach: Brandon Mebane (5th round)
A good player and one of my higher rated 4-3 DT’s, but considering players like Peppers, McCoy, Asomugha and Wake went around here, I can’t see the value.

Quick Appraisal:
I’m not wild about the “OL to the exclusion of all else” strategy, but you made up for it with some great value defensive selections. If Leon Hall is healthy, you got one of the better corner duos in the 13th and 14th rounds, which is very good. Again, the skill positions are deep in the draft so you should be able to pick up value later on. A clear strength, but will you be able to hold off more balanced teams?

matt2roddy - La Verne Trojans

Overall Approach:
Relatively balanced (BPA) with a slight bias towards younger prospects (Tyron Smith, JJ Watt, Geno Atkins) with high upside. No secondary players selected other than Earl Thomas in veteran draft.

Biggest Steal: Aaron Rodgers (#3 overall)
While there are a couple of good ones here (Marshall in the 13th stands out) getting Rodgers without a trade from number 3 is just brilliant. A no-brainer but still a steal.

Biggest Reach: Tyron Smith (3rd round)
I like the guy and talk him up a lot, but he hasn’t played left tackle since High School and had a number of concentration errors last year. I appreciate you didn’t want to miss out on him, but this was too high.

Quick Appraisal:
I liked the strategy of pairing up players from the same team (Rodgers/Finley, Foster/Andre, Ware/Ratliff, Beason/Kuechly), and feel it’s a balanced lineup. However, I’d be slightly worried about your defensive line against power running teams, as other than Watt they are all quite undersized players. I found it interesting that you are probably the only team who will start two rookies (in that you got two players who are amongst my top 8 at their position). Overall, strong team, but corners and a centre are needed asap.

CrazyFalcon84 - Dirty Birds

Overall Approach:
Defense! Other than Calvin Johnson and the no brainer pick of Trent Richardson as your rookie starter, almost all resources were dedicated towards defense (picks 1, 3-8, 11-12). Linebacker corps is brutally strong, and a high upside but unpredictable QB.

Biggest Steal: Nnmadi Asomugha (5th round)
He was misused last year (and I’ll address this more later) but he’s still got shutdown ability in a press-man scheme. Pairing him with Peterson gives you the potential for two lockdown man corners.

Biggest Reach: Dwight Freeney (6th round)
He’s 32, not a force against the run, and didn’t play all that well last year. And while you got great value on Tuck to pair with him, I wasn’t a fan of this selection.

Quick Appraisal:
First of all, I must address your last pick. Asante Samuel is a great player and good value there for the other seven teams. But you saw what happened when Asomugha, Samuel and a man-coverage former Arizona corner were paired up last year – no one could play the slot, Samuel struggled in press-man, Asomugha struggled in off and zone, and the safeties couldn’t cover up for it. While Juan Castillo is a terrible DC, I still really hate this pick. Otherwise, your back 7 looks very strong and while challenge the passing games of most teams. Risky choice with Cam, but it could pay off.

DrawABlank · Joined: 27 Dec 2009 Posts: 1753 Location: London, UK

Scar988 - Charleston Man of War

Overall Approach:
Best talent available, regardless of position (or, arguably, scheme fit!), with the honourable exception of Falcons players, who seem to be higher up your board than the public’s consensus.

Biggest Steal: A.J Green (10th round)
Has a chance to be the consensus #4 receiver in the league after the coming year, so that’s great value in the 10th round. Was the BPA on my board at that point.

Biggest Reach: Matt Ryan (8th round, 3rd QB selected)
I’m not a Ryan “hater” (as they call it on the AFMB) - in fact I often compare him to Tom Brady. But to take him over Roethlisberger and Eli Manning is indefensible to me at this stage of his career.

Quick Appraisal:
I’ve already talked about the defensive scheme fits, but the O Line is also an interesting mix with three monsters in Iupati, Long and Glenn and an athletic RT who’s not a great pass blocker but is great in the outside zone game. Love the passing game options but worry about the OL’s pass blocking combined with Ryan’s pocket presence – it could look like a slightly improved 2011 Falcons offense against these stacked defenses, which probably puts you behind the eight ball. I do like several of your picks though - notably Gronk, Allen and Dareus at the top of the draft, and Moore, Byrd and Washington lower down as underrated players who were nice value.

Gfalcon - AIR TRAFFIC TROLLIN FALCONS

Overall Approach:
Defensive line first, but then reasonably balanced. Rather like Dimitroff, Isn’t afraid of being called the Jacksonville Falcons. Lots of good options in the passing game, and a good pair of safeties.

Biggest Steal: Daryl Smith (11th round)
With all these teams running the 4-3, the shortage of high quality OLB’s for that scheme will soon begin to bit. I think Smith is a better player than Spoon (right now, although Spoon has a higher ceiling) and so to grab him 3 rounds later is good value.

Biggest Reach: Eugene Monroe (12th round)
Maybe this is just a failure of my scouting (I’ve never really watched Jacksonville concentrating on their OL) but I didn’t have him as a top 10 LT. Considering only 5 teams had taken OT’s before, that spells a reach.

Quick Appraisal:
As a quick note, I found the reaches and steals section most difficult for your team, as I felt you got solid value throughout but without many outstanding selections. I like the assortment of options for your QB, and the secondary is looking promising. However, I feel that the lack of real difference makers outside of Suh (even Williams is only my #4 DE) will hold this team back.

Olympia Martin - Sparta

Overall Approach:
BPA within a set scheme. Lots of veteran leadership and little regard for youth on defense. Willing to take injured players.

Biggest Steal: Drew Brees (10th round)
He may be holding out through training camp, but this guy broke Marino’s record last year and has shown remarkable consistency over the last few years. Almost unbeatable in a dome.

Biggest Reach: Ray Lewis (8th round)
Hard category to choose a player in, but this was the only occasion when I didn’t let out a curse and kick the cat when you made a pick, so it must have been (comparatively) bad. I also thought that considering you already had Polamalu for veteran leadership, some of Lewis’ value was unnecessary for your particular team.

Quick Appraisal:
As a 1 year team for 2012, it’s going to be very hard to beat this. However, the elephant in the room is the long-term potential and likelihood of several of your players falling off a cliff. 8 of your 15 starters (Polamalu, Woodson, Lewis, Pouha, Smith, Harrison, Brees, Peppers) are over 30, three are 34+, and Peterson and MJD have been heavily used over the last few years. While you’ve addressed this to an extent with your rookies, having that many players so close to the end strikes me as a SB or bust type plan.

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An just for fun, my team:

Biggest Steal: Antonio Gates, TE (14th)
Biggest Reach: Duane Brown, OT (8th)

DrawABlank · Joined: 27 Dec 2009 Posts: 1753 Location: London, UK

Nice pick there JGold - a good complementary fit with Mike Wallace.

GrimeyKid · Joined: 01 Feb 2012 Posts: 902

I love your analysis man. Sounds exactly how i was thinking after your first one.

CrazyFalcon84 · Joined: 30 Jul 2011 Posts: 172 Location: New Jersey

I already hav pouncey m2r...so do I pick or should I wait 4 him 2 pick someone else?
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Thanks Walter for the Sig!

Adop-A-Falcon 2012 Akeem Dent:
18 Tackles

DrawABlank · Joined: 27 Dec 2009 Posts: 1753 Location: London, UK

DrawABlank · Joined: 27 Dec 2009 Posts: 1753 Location: London, UK

matt2roddy · Joined: 21 Dec 2011 Posts: 922

Shoot my bad. Im staying for 2 days at Disneyland hotels as part of my graduation present so I'm using my phone, which doesn't have control F. Ill change it to Kerrigan
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My 2011 Adopt-A-Falcon: 1st Team All Rookie Linebacker Akeem Dent!!!
2012 Adopt-A-Falcon: CB Asante Samuel

Jgoldiscool · Joined: 29 Sep 2009 Posts: 3990 Location: Chandler, AZ

Nooooo!!! I wanted to reunite the 2 Redskins DE's.

Also, nice write up DrawABlank

I am a strong believer in the trenches and always will be. However, Even I am aware of the fact that the NFL is changing, especially regarding the o-line. I believe teams are finding ways to circumnavigate a weak o-line and thus the importance of the o-line has slightly diminished. I still believe that the front 7 is very important regarding the defense.

Edit || Forgot to say have fun M2R!!!