Preseason Extravaganza

Only the Bears left with less than three players in their top ten and that was due to their 2 QB drafting strategy. Both the Coroners and Devils left with 4 players, but that was due to their specificity rather than their success. The Coroners were the only team that had Janakowski, Wheatley and Harrison and the Devils were alone in having Boston and Stover. The Envy and Coroners were the only teams to get their top two picks. The Envy was also the only team to select two defensive players. As noted before, Rod Smith was mentioned on all 8 submitted draft lists. Curtis Martin and Lamar Smith were mentioned on 7 with the Devils leaving them to other teams. 10 players showed up on only one list and all were selected by that team except Brad Johnson and Tiki Barber. Fittingly, Martin was the most sought after player - he was named number one on three draft lists and number two twice. Lamar Smith and Brian Griese also received multiple number ones. So there you have the draft in raw numbers, but how did it compare to last year's draft?

1 Edgerrin James, Ind RB Walnut Creek Mountain Devils
2 Kurt Warner, StL QB Einar's Lambeau Leapers
3 Peyton Manning, Ind QB Big Bad Bretts
4 Stephen Davis, Was RB San Francisco Cubists
5 Marshall Faulk, StL RB MMMMM Them Ripon Cookies are Weaselicious
6 Sebastian Janikowski, Oak K County Coroners (Go Raiders!!!)
7 Steve McNair, Ten QB P-Miss Envy
8 Terrell Davis, Den RB Peaks Island Wookies
9 Marvin Harrison, Ind WR Bull City Bears
10 Donovan McNabb, Phi QB Syracuse 44's

For a more accurate comparison, we should look at last year's fourth round. There were three keepers - Stewart, Culpepper and Brooks and two failed QB's with Bengal ties who weren't even drafted this year - Blake and Kitna. Only Curtis Martin stayed in the same round. Watters and Carter moved to round two in 2001. Kearse and Robinson were drafted but further down the list.

31 James Stewart, Det RB Syracuse 44's
32 Daunte Culpepper, Min QB Bull City Bears
33 Ricky Watters, Sea RB Peaks Island Wookies
34 Cris Carter, Min WR P-Miss Envy
35 Jevon Kearse, Ten DL County Coroners (Go Raiders!!!)
36 Marcus Robinson, Chi WR MMMMM Them Ripon Cookies are Weaselicious
37 Curtis Martin, NYJ RB San Francisco Cubists
38 Jeff Blake, NO QB Big Bad Bretts
39 Jon Kitna, Sea QB Einar's Lambeau Leapers
40 Derrick Brooks, TB LB Walnut Creek Mountain Devils

The first three picks of the draft were former Cubists - which should tell you something about their dominance in 2000. The Losers and Envy also had two former players selected in the first round. All of the teams, except for the Brents were represented in the first two rounds. The former Brents had to wait in the green room until round 5, when an unprecedented 4 former Brents were taken. No round had more than 6 teamless players from last year. Most surprising was Round 6 during which only four players were on a roster at the end of last year and only one of them was a rookie. The Cubists had the most players selected 15 of 17 (only Gus Ferrotte and Donald Driver were still out there), followed by the Bears with 14 of 16 (Cade McNown and Marco Coleman). The Devils had a good year in 2000 but it wasn't due to outstanding depth. Only 8 former Devils were selected, followed by 9 former 44's who ended the season with an Orange laden line up.

On what surprised people about the draft, both the Cookies and Coroners mentioned that they were surprised the draft took two days - but no one was sure if they were being sarcastic or not. The Coroners added more confusion to their response by saying how impressed they were with all of the teams who seemed to have a plan of attack. Well, we'll take praise where we can get it. The Brents slammed the Envy's choice of taking two linebackers in the first two rounds. Our guess is they will both be headed full force toward the inbred moron like nothing he has seen before. The Envy was surprised that no one took Dorcas Levens. His value is certainly diminished by being an awful Packer, but he was a high round draft pick just last year. Speaking of lousy runners, the 44's were surprised and not bemused by the last Coroner selection of excitable runner (and most times fumbler) Brian Mitchell. The Losers were upset with their own picks of running backs in the later rounds. I guess that serves notice to Terrell Fletcher, Kevin Faulk and Sammy Morris to get ready for the unemployment line. Finally, the Cubists were surprised that the Bears took a QB in the first round, since they have Daunte Culpepper in the fold. There were some nice runners in available in the first round, but Randy Chambers knows how susceptible QB's are to injury. The choice of Mark Brunell was questioned by some as he is sure to fall to injury sooner rather than later, but he knows the playbook.

In the category of which team had the best draft, three teams were mentioned twice and another team got a single vote. The Cookies and Losers came to an uncommon concensus in picking the Envy as having the best draft. One can only wonder if they are trying to curry favor with the media darling in their neverending dispute. The Envy and Cubists tabbed the 44's for using their early round advantage wisely. The team rebuilt itself by taking the best player available in each round and put together a great corps of linebackers. The Envy were even able to overlook the awful pick of Bubba Franks (who should be cut fairly soon) in the later rounds. The Coroners agreed with the Brents own estimation of their draft by placing them number one. It was thought that Coroners only did so because the Brents snuck Charlie Garner away from them - although the Brents did lead off with three tough runners - Garner plus Lamar Smith and Ricky Watters - but tailed off substantially after that. Finally, the 44's thought the Losers had the best draft. The Losers do have an impressive group of receivers in Keyshawn, Easy Ed and Keenan McCardell to go along with Isaac Bruce. LaDainian Tomlinson might also be a nice pick up, but something tells us the picks of Olindo Mare and Rob Burnett may have been enough to sway Syracuse.

Now, to true bulletin board material - teams were asked to name which team they thought would fall in the toilet in 2001. Most teams shied away from objectivity and went for personal vendetta in this category. So it will come to no surprise to anyone that the Losers and Cookies named each other. Their hatred is as old as Genesis (Sega, that is). Unfortunately for Dan Weitz, the Einar had one team agree with him. The Envy was unimpressed by the odd drafting of the Cookies. Yes, they still boast Marshall Faulk, but three QB's in the first two rounds, followed closely by some kickers was not impressive. Neither was the drafting of Terry Glenn and Patrick Jeffers. The Coroners took aim at their rivals across the Bay and named the Cubists to have an off year. I guess that's what happens when you are 1-4 against your greatest rival. The Brents didn't like that the Envy took two line backers in the first two rounds and didn't like the Chicago Bear heavy rest of the draft. They predicted the Envy would have a rebuilding campaign. That will not be forgotten. The 44's tabbed the Coroners for an off year, which is what the media thought was going to happen last year. Yet, the plucky Raider-led Coroners held their own. If the Raiders have an off year, look out below! Finally, the Cubists decided to take the high road and give a polite, "no comment" to the question. We can only wonder if Owner Jason Moore simply did not want the other teams gunning for the Cubists any more than they already take aim at a champion or did not dare to deign who might be so far behind the standings from his team.

The final question of the draft survey let us know who is the preseason favorite for the 2001 championship. Surprisingly, it is not the Cubists who have taken the Missner beating twice in three years, although the Losers tabbed them as the favorite. With Stephen Davis, Terrell Owens and Tony Gonzalez added to Corey Dillon and a promising Michael Bennett, they have a lot of pieces in place. Of course, they have yet to win consecutive championships and until they do, they will be known as the Steve Trachsel of the league. He was an all star once, you know. The Coroners selected the Devils and Wookies as co-favorites. Interesting, very interesting. The Cookies nominated themselves for one vote as did the Brents. The 44's mentioned the Losers which makes sense since they thought the Einar drafted well. Yet the burden of preseason hype and potential falls of the Randy Chambers-led Bull City Bears. They were mentioned by the 44's, Brents, Envy and Cubists as being the preseason favorites. The Bears were on the doorstep last year, but lost a crucial second half match up with the Cubists in which QB Daunte Culpepper did not play well. With Culpepper, Moss and Harrison being complemented by Jimmy Smith and Jerome Bettis, this team could be a wrecking ball to the league. Another reason for optimism in Bull City is that the Bears returned more players (5) from their final roster in the draft than any other team. That means half their squad was on the roster last year. They know each other and have built a camraderie that may lead to championship beatings in 2001.

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