2003 PWFFL Draft Report

Answering the question "Who had the best PWFFL draft of 2003?" depends a lot on who you ask. While most of the game's top players were well under contract heading into draft day, plenty of breakout-players-in-waiting were ripe for the picking.

That said, we'll look at a few teams who might have fared better than the rest of the pack...but for different reasons.

When it comes to determining who had the best draft, we might want to start with the team that drafted first-- the Northern Michigan Yoopers. Owner Jon had a blank sheet of paper to work with, and he picked a lot of players that many fantasy experts have predicted big things for. RB Stacey Mack and WR Joey Galloway will provide leadership, plus there's plenty of young talent in RB Correll Buckhalter and WRs Peerless Price, Darrell Jackson, Ashley Lelie, Charles Rogers and Marc Boerigter to keep the Yoopers competitive for a long time.

But the real strategy lies in who's under center this year. Jon snagged four quarterbacks Saturday night; but only two will likely contribute this year. Patrick Ramsey and Jake Plummer will battle for the starting job while young studs Byron Leftwich and Carson Palmer wait in the wings.

At the other end of the spectrum is a team with an already powerful lineup that added some additional punch. Puck's Kalamazoo Vikings are poised to make a run at the Puck Bowl this year, and on draft night, Puck picked up RB Jamal Lewis in an apparent surprise attack on the Yoopers. Lewis, who was virtually ignored all last year, has apparently recovered from his injuries and was still on the board when the Vikings' sixth pick came up.

Lewis alone warrants Puck an award for the best draft, but the Vikings one-upped themselves a few rounds later with the addition of young wide receiver Andre Johnson. Beyond that, Puck was quiet for much of the night; but his pick of former Wannabes kicker Jason Elam was heard a state and a Great Lake away.

Besides Kalamazoo, the West Palm Beach Chads have the best chance of winning now...based on their 2003 moves. The Chads took RB Trung Canidate with their first pick then went on to quietly build a decent supporting cast for their young stars Matt Hasselbeck, Clinton Portis, and Koren Robinson.

Of course, the true test of how well a team drafted this year will be when and if they taste championship glory. Besides Northern Michigan, Detroit may have the best chance of reaping long-term success based on this year's draft. Drive owner Bob, still depressed from the injury to his star quarterback Michael Vick, scrapped any hopes of winning now in favor of drafting for the long term. The result: Potential starters in QB Kyle Boller, RBs Larry Johnson and LaBrandon Toefield, and what could be considered the steal of the draft in Round 19: Willis McGahee. Of course, he'll have to completely rebound in time for when the Drive are in contention for the Puck Bowl...but that could be years away.