Hammers 2044 Draft Class:
Summed up, quite ****
1.24 DB Herbert MacIntosh, -13: A swing for an impact player at a position where three players 31 are currently starting/going to see a lot of snaps. Huge bust but most of his stats combined with his intangibles will let him stay on the roster for the foreseeable future.
1.27 WR Thomas Dills, -16: Mega bust. He was supposed to become playmaker #1 and form a lethal combo with Kondo. Now he will be lucky to ride the bench this season as he gets ZERO increase on his current skills. Combine the fact this pick is from a trade where a stalwart exceptional MLB went to a conference rival and this will be a bust ownership thinks about a lot.
2.23 WR George Sayles, -7: Another bust, see a trend? This one though gives us a player I have zero qualms about starting/playing at RB though so he will be converted to make use of his good pass catching, route running, and avoid fumble.
3.24 LB Harry Johnson, -5: A disappointing bust as he would have had great speed and coverage skills had he boomed. With the bust his tackle ability means that he will likely never start but he will be a warm body with > 80 speed so he can make the defensive roster since we have so many aging defenders. Also A+ name
4.23 LB Cory Bailey, +5: Finally a boom and it's a slower LB but we'll take anything we can get from this draft. Slower but will have exceptional coverage skills that mean he can play any LB position and given his pass rush might get overridden to be a great pass rusher off the blitz.
5.24 OL James Hafford, -15: Late round swing on a high vol OL prospect with good intangibles. Had he boomed he likely could have manned any position on the line after a season or two to develop his pass blocking. Since he busted he will be cut.
5.27 OL Donald Murphy, +6: A swing and a hit. Not a home run but should develop into a good player who can start in the coming seasons. Likely does not have the short snapping to develop into a long term C but could be a spot starter if needed.
6.23 OL Mark Cunningham, +5: Another hit this time with better intangibles but likely worse run blocking, but who needs that in 4.6. He will need another season or two to get used to the speed of the game but a great pickup in the 6th round if I say so myself.
6.27 DL Joseph Hanson, +5: A boom but at the position I value the least and with awful intangibles. Unlikely to make the roster
7.24 DL Michael Oliva, -4: Late round gamble on one of the few prospects who were fast enough to be of any value whether it was DE or LB. Bust likely sentences him to the waiver wire.
Overall, ****. Sucks that my late round picks couldn't boom as hard as my early round picks bust but what can you do. I still stick by my strategy of drafting ignoring vol and by drafting in rounds based mostly on position. I highly recommend to anyone not drafting OL in the 1st/2nd round if you can help it as you can grab decent/quality starters with a boom or two from the 4th round and on. Do it for a couple of seasons and you'll have too many OL to keep. I'm still out on how impactful DL are outside of RDE
