2014 Mock Draft: Team Braineaters

Zack Purdy, Team Braineaters

Offense: Alan Kolick, Mark Lloyd, Danny Karlinsky, Josh Wiseman, Jordan Jeffery, Markham Shofner, Joel Schlachet

Defense: Ashlin Joye, AJ Nelson, Anatoly Vasilyev, Andrew Hagen, Frank Devin Barich, Sam Kanner, Jon Cox

Subs: Alex Kapinos, Kiran Thomas

A quick note before I get into my picks: yes, I picked a lot of Revolver players. I did this for two reasons (aside from the San Francisco bias I may carry).

First, Revolver is without a doubt the best open team in the last 5 years, and it’s not even close. Yes, it’s partially because they have an incredible system, but they also have superior talent, a fact which is often forgotten. Revolver is full of players who would be stars on other elite club teams but end up playing a smaller role because they are playing with Beau, Ashlin and Mac (all of whom went in the first two rounds of this draft).

My second point, which is very much related to my first, is that all these players are used to taking a smaller role than they would on some other team. We’re building all-star teams, and not everyone is going to be “the man” on every point. The Revolver players already understand this, and so chemistry-wise, I think Revolver players best fit on an all-star team like this.

Ok, without further ado, my picks:

1. Ashlin Joye: This pick was between Joye and Mickle, but I think Joye is actually the best thrower in the game right now. No one else has better control over the speed of release and the speed of the throw than Ashlin, which was on display when he completely shredded Sockeye’s zone in the finals of club championships. He also can play any position. He was a D-line player for Revolver at Worlds in 2012, and was a cutter for them for most of 2012 as well. Ultimately, I decided to put him on the D line, but I would switch him to the O-line after the O-line gets broken.

2. Mark Lloyd: Dominant statistically both receiving and throwing, he’s also one of those players who always seems to be open, even though he usually takes the other team’s best defender. He’s a playmaker and a good pair with Joye. He’ll be my “big man” on offense.

3. Alan Kolick: I’ve heard about how good Kolick is for a few years now, and I finally got to see some good footage of him playing for DC Current in 2013. He puts the disc to the most advantageous receiver on the field every time he touches the disc. He also does a pretty good job on defense and in the air when he gets the chance. When I made this pick, I hadn’t decided what I was doing with Joye yet, but I knew Kolick would be the centerpiece of my offense when Joye is not there.

4. Danny Karlinsky: He may not be a dominant athlete, but I feel like everybody missed that he threw zero turnovers at club championships this year. Zero. And he is as the main handler in a team that went to the finals. This feat is something Adam Simon (who was taken earlier in this draft) discussed as one of his goals as an ultimate player. This is especially important for the all-star teams we are drafting. In calm conditions, one or two turnovers will decide the game. It will be very important to have smart players on offense who simply don’t turn the disc over. He also DOES have sweet hucks, and pretty good defense to boot. He’ll be on the O-line paired with Kolick as a handler.

5. A.J. Nelson: I actually wanted to draft a D-line player here, but Elliot nabbed Russell Wynne a few rounds earlier, and A.J. Nelson was too much to pass up as 36th overall. He’s another big man, whom I eventually decided I wanted on defense. This is a bit of a risk, as I’ve haven’t seen him playing much defense (likely because he’s such a dominant offensive player), but I think he’ll be my “Beau defender,” a phrase lovingly coined by the drafters. This also allows him to be the main offensive cutter after a turn on the D-line.

6. Anatoly Vasilyev: I finally picked up a great D-line player. Toly is one of the best defenders in the division, and has the ability to run D-lines after a turn. He’ll be a D-line mainstay for my team.

7. Josh Wiseman: Again, I intended to pick a D-line player in Hatchett here (Bryan Jones picked him), but Wiseman was too good to skip over in the 7th round. He gets a TON of yards for Revolver, and is one of the fastest and smartest players in the division. He fits well into my no-turnover offense, and it seems like it will be hard to stop Mark Lloyd catching the disc under and hucking or throwing a big under to Wiseman.

8. Andrew Hagen: I finally got back to picking defensive players, and I prioritized players who generate blocks. Hagen is just about the best there is in this category (Other than maybe Koss, Wynne and Lance, who were already drafted). He’s incredibly fast and explosive and has a good eye for the poach D. He also has big throws after the turn, although I’d want him to be role player with Joye and Vasilyev running the show on the D-line O.

9. Jordan Jeffery: Needed some height in general, only having Lloyd and Nelson, and Jeffery is another matchup nightmare. Right now, the entire O-line can huck or go deep, making them harder and harder to defend.

10. Frank Devin Barich: More height! Barich is another great tall defender who was a big part of Sockeye’s win over GOAT by taking Derek Alexander out of the game (something Ironside was unable to do in regional finals).

11. Kiran Thomas: Even though Kiran Thomas is an elite cutter, I actually think this pick was not a good one. He ended up on my bench, and I wish I had taken another great defender here. That said, he seems to be the one who always gets open under, and bails Doublewide out of tough situations.

12. Sam Kanner: I needed another D-line handler, and Kanner fit the bill pretty well. He’s another player who generates a lot of blocks.

13. Jon Cox. Wait, who? Just watch this video. Notice every ridiculous layout D? Yep. They’re all Cox. He was a sleeper I was hoping to get late in the draft and another guy who will generate blocks on the D-line

14. Joel Schlachet: It was about here that I realized that I didn’t have the six handlers I needed to form two lines. I also realized that I probably wanted Joye on the D-line, so I took Joel Schlachet as an O line handler/ utility player. He’s a speedster, and a very smart player. I’ll add him to my O-line full of fast people who can huck it and don’t turn the disc over.

15. Markham Shofner: I’ll admit, I’m quite biased here, but Shofner is probably the most underrated player in the entire division. A fun game for you: find any game on YouTube that the DC Current have played , and find a time when someone covers Markham for more than 1 second. Ok now, add the fact that he’s pretty filthy in the air, and has one of the biggest hucks in the open division (maybe after Kurt, Stubbs, and Tunnell).

So what do we do with Markham on my team? He’s an interesting fit, because his tight man-on-man defense is lacking, and his throw choices are aggressive, which doesn’t quite fit our offense. Nominally, he’ll be an O-line cutter, but if our D-line is struggling with the opposing team’s deep game, we’d switch him over in place of Kanner or Cox.

16. Alex Kapinos: Shoring up some more on the height front. He’ll go in on D-line when we’re struggling with the deep game and when it’s windy, and otherwise as an O-cutter sub.

O-Line:
Alan Kolick
Danny Karlinsky
Joel Schlachet
Josh Wiseman
Jordan Jeffery
Mark Lloyd
Markham Shofner

D-Line:
Ashlin Joye*
Anatoly Vasilyev
Sam Kanner
A.J. Nelson
Jon Cox
Andrew Hagen
Frank Barich

Subs:
Kiran Thomas
Alex Kapinos

*To reiterate, when a game gets tight, we’ll move Ashlin to play O-line in place of Schlachet.

Snubs

Derek Alexander: In retrospect I should have taken him instead of Joel Schlachet. He is one of the better pure O-handlers in the division, although he is lacking on defense. He still definitely should have been picked at some point. He’s better than Noah Saul and Alex Thorne who were picked in the 9th and 10th rounds respectively.

Tim Gilligan: Huge backhand huck and a huge pull, something that is pretty underrated for a D squad.

Andrew Brown: He’s been super solid for Madison Club this year and for Furious before that. He was also a big part in the success of the Madison Radicals last season.

Tom James: Yeah, I’m gonna throw another Revolver player on here. He’s been a defensive rock for Revolver for at least 4 years now. He has one of the better marks in the division.