Ultimate players are always looking for something to do on those long trips to and from tournaments. The other weekend, while the Philadelphia Spinners traveled to Buffalo to take on the Hunters, 10 of the players decided to do a 7 round mock draft. Like in the Huddle’s draft in 2009, the teams would be drafted as though they would compete in the 2012 USA Ultimate club series. They added one additional rule: no Spinners players could be drafted. I caught up with the Spinners afterwards to see the results. Here is the mock draft:
[spreadsheet 0AoHsej_RKFvMdE1FWU9MckVIZ0R1MEQyYmtzeTdoNXc 580 400]
I tried to channel my inner Mel Kiper Jr., but I don’t know how he does it. Grin’s team looks pretty damn good. With the first pick he took Sockeye alumnus Chase Sparling-Beckley and then still managed to get Will Neff at #20. Not a bad pair, especially compared with the other team’s first two picks. I think that Grin has a distinct advantage in the draft picking back to back in rounds 2-7 after the 1st pick.
Is Joel Wooten really one pick behind Will Neff? Maybe that’s a reach, but I think that the rest of his picks all help to round out a solid 7, especially with “The Kraken” as the last pick. Brando may have one of the weirdest teams, starting with his first pick, Brodie Smith as #2 overall; I don’t agree with him being taken over fellow University of Florida alumni, Kurt Gibson (as was recently debated on r/ultimate) because I’m don’t think he’s who you want in a big game. GOAT’s Lindquist, Revolver’s Kanner, and Sockeye’s Illian as the last three picks though round out a very solid team. I also would have thought Kanner to go before round 6. Trent started with Kurt Gibson, recently picked up by Revolver for their Worlds run, and the rest of this team speaks to Kurt’s style – hard defense, consistency and speed.
Tyler DeGirolamo and Jimmy Mickle on one team is a highlight reel waiting to happen for sure. Patrick and Stoddard both have solid teams, with a good mix of players, though out of the two, Stoddard was able to grab GOAT’s Yearwood and Chain’s Lokke in the later rounds. The fact that the two picked both of Revolver’s mainstays (Cahill and Watson) in the first round shows the respect Revolver has gained, even from their opponents. Trey picked in between those two, and his selections raise a few eyebrows. Stubbs as his first pick is no surprise; we’ve seen how great of a player he is. However, the rest of the picks by the Southpaw captain are a little strange. He ended up with three mixed players, while most other teams were gearing up with players that, in a bigger draft, could have been a round 1 or 2 pick in the open division. The steal of the draft may be his last pick, Rob Dulabon of Truck Stop, who is quietly having a great season for the Buffalo Hunters in the AUDL.
D. Baer and Aman also chose Revolver stars for their first picks (Kittredge and Taylor respectively). Baer ended up getting Dylan Freechild in the last round though, and with GOAT’s John Hassell, Ring’s Ken Porter, and Sockeye’s Simon Montague, he came out with a very strong team. Aman ended up with Ironside’s Seth Reinhardt with his third pick (#29 overall), and with his 6th round pick he got Alex Thorne, fresh off a college championship. Jake R. took Buzz Bullets star Masahiro Matsuno with his first pick, which is a solid spot for the international star. It would be interesting to see how he would play on an elite team like this in Sarasota. Colin Mahoney, Nick Lance, and Noah Saul all playing with Matsuno would present a matchup nightmare for any team. The last to pick was Jake H., who started things off with Ironside star Dan Glatt, and then, with the advantage of a back-to-back pick, was able to get Seth Wiggins in the 2nd round. Wiggins is arguably one of the best minds in the sport, and, playing with Kolick, Prial, Runner, Masulis, and Sullivan, he could potentially outsmart the other teams given so much talent.
A couple of additional thoughts:
- I would pick team #6 (drafted by Stoddard) as the winner out of these 10 teams. I think it is the most complete team in the draft and, after a weekend of play, would come out on top over team #4 in the finals.
- A lot of Revolver players were picked early on in the draft, and overall 7 players were chosen.
- On the other hand, Chain Lightning has 10 players in the draft, Sockeye has 9, and Ironside has 8.
- At the university level, Carleton and Colorado were tied for the most products in the draft with 4 each.
- No Machine/Madcow/Madison Club/Streetgang/Tanasi players were drafted.
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