So when the Desert News did a fantasy draft of BYU football players from all years and eras, I was 100% in. Choosing one player over another is the ultimate way to put your money in your mouth or whatever that weird phrase is. With pick 5, who do I take? My favorite player of all-time, Austin Collie? The best quarterback available, Max Hall? The most talented lineman, Jason Buck? A draft forces you to answer this question: who and what do I value?
The problem with the Desnews draft was they only had 4 participants. How hard is it to do a draft with only 4 teams? It isn’t! You can wait forever for a running back and still end up with Jamal Willis or Curtis Brown. You can wait til round 15 to draft a quarterback and still walk away with Robbie Bosco. So I decided to redo their draft with a couple of tweaks, the first of which is I needed at least 14 drafters.
After a few vain attempts at internet recruiting, it became obvious I didn’t have 13 friends or internet acquaintances willing to join me in this pursuit. I downsized to 10 drafters and even that was a challenge. I became so desperate that I internet cold-called fans I knew only by reputation. I also reconnected with a cousin I haven’t talked to in 11 years. Hi Newt! Thanks for joining. And while we’re at it, thanks to myfantasyleague.com for being the only fantasy site I found on the ENTIRE internet that allowed to me to input custom players (like say a list of 200 BYU players past and present) into their draft database. Believe me, I looked. The myfantasyleague interface is horrendous, but it’s also making this whole thing possible so kudos.
As far as roster positions are concerned, I wanted this to be a 13 round draft where we select 1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 TE, 2 DLs, 2 LBs, and 2 DBs. I apologize to all offensive lineman, kickers, and punters who have been deemed unworthy of this competition. Let’s face it, drafting offensive lineman is not fun for anyone. And yes, in retrospect, I probably should have changed from 3 WRs to 2 WRs and 1 flex, but dang it all that didn’t occur to me at the time. Plus I’m not sure if myfantasyleague is sophisticated enough to allow flex positions (I’m half joking and I’m half not).
Anywho, with that long intro behind us, let’s get to the round 1 draft recap. I'm hoping to recap each of the 13 rounds as they develop (we'll see lol).
Round 1 Recap
1.1 Jim McMahon (drafted by Jay Drew)
Behold, the OG, he who finished 5th and 3rd in Heisman voting his junior and senior years. He also set a few thousand records, won the most dramatic BYU bowl game of all-time, and brought a swag to a religious school that would last for another 20 years. A respectable #1 overall pick, no questions asked.
1.2 Ezekiel Ansah (drafted by BRoyalBlueCoug)
Uhhh … what? I have two theories as to how this shocking pick occurred. First, maybe BRoyalBlueCoug met Ziggy on his mission or had a class with him at school and became an unabashed fan. Second, perhaps BRoyalBlueCoug was forever touched by the horrible New York Giants team that won two super bowls thanks solely to an unconquerable defensive line. If you subscribe to the theory that defensive line trumps everything else, I guess this pick becomes 11% defensible.
1.3 Ty Detmer (drafted by Cousin Newt)
Out of respect for the Heisman legend, I will refrain from making any jokes about his two-year run as offensive coordinator. “Cough – Umass – cough”. It’s a great pick, and somewhere my cousin is smiling knowing he got one of the top two overall players with the 3rd pick.
1.4 Steve Young (drafted by Tax Commissioner Danny)
My favorite player of all-time is Austin Collie. I’ll probably repeat that 3,000 times over the course of this draft. But even still, I was worried I’d be torn at pick 5 between having to choose between my favorite player and the 3rd best QB in BYU history. Thankfully Tax Man Dan saved me from such a conundrum.
1.5 Austin Collie (drafted by me)
All hail the GOAT receiver. Welcome to my team. What do you not know about AC? He is 2nd all-time at BYU in kickoff return average.
All hail the GOAT receiver. Welcome to my team. What do you not know about AC? He is 2nd all-time at BYU in kickoff return average.
1.6 Luke Staley (drafted by Odyseuss)
And there goes my second favorite player of all-time. I still haven’t decided who I think is best between Staley, Unga, and Jamaal, but I do know Staley is my favorite of the three.
And there goes my second favorite player of all-time. I still haven’t decided who I think is best between Staley, Unga, and Jamaal, but I do know Staley is my favorite of the three.
1.7 Jason Buck (drafted by Brian Henderson, he who once helped me get a ticket to the 59-0 UCLA game)
Two defensive lineman go in the first round? Who would have thought? Honestly, maybe this is a shrewd strategy given the drop-off from Buck and Ziggy to the next best d-linemen is probably much steeper than the dropoff at other positions.
1.8 Taysom Hill (drafted by Andrew Metcalf)
Our group’s youngest drafter goes with a recent player. Can you blame him? Taysom’s statistical passing profile is lacking compared to other remaining QB options (Max, Beck, Sark), but at his peak Taysom was unstoppable in a Jimmer-like way. His first half against Nebraska – coming off of an injury, playing on the road, in front of 90,000 fans – was as good of a performance as I’ve ever seen from a BYU QB. Stupid injuries. We were robbed.
Two defensive lineman go in the first round? Who would have thought? Honestly, maybe this is a shrewd strategy given the drop-off from Buck and Ziggy to the next best d-linemen is probably much steeper than the dropoff at other positions.
1.8 Taysom Hill (drafted by Andrew Metcalf)
Our group’s youngest drafter goes with a recent player. Can you blame him? Taysom’s statistical passing profile is lacking compared to other remaining QB options (Max, Beck, Sark), but at his peak Taysom was unstoppable in a Jimmer-like way. His first half against Nebraska – coming off of an injury, playing on the road, in front of 90,000 fans – was as good of a performance as I’ve ever seen from a BYU QB. Stupid injuries. We were robbed.
1.9 Max Hall (drafted by Devon “Lasersheep” Smith)
I love Max Hall. I’ve said it before and will say again: he is the most underappreciated player in BYU history. I salute Devon for the pick. I also begrudge him the pick, as I was dreaming Max might fall my way in round 2.
I love Max Hall. I’ve said it before and will say again: he is the most underappreciated player in BYU history. I salute Devon for the pick. I also begrudge him the pick, as I was dreaming Max might fall my way in round 2.
1.10 Brandon Doman (drafted by Magathisll)
Blast it all! I love Brandon Doman and thought he’d be available at pick 16. To call the dude a gamer undersells his career, IMO. He was a better passer than he gets credit for, not to mention a dynamic pocket presence, an absolute clutch performer, and the leader of a team that had the #1 offense in the country in 2001.
Parting Thoughts from Round 1
Obviously the appearance of two defensive lineman surprised me, but when you think about it both Ziggy and Buck were legendary talents. Ziggy’s college contributions were minimized by a coach who valued grit more than talent, but when he was on the field he was monstrous. I remember when he first popped up on our radar in that 2012 Washington State opener. He just jumped off the screen, you know?
I expected Jamaal to make a first round appearance, especially given the concept of recency bias, but our drafters clearly valued QBs, with 6 of the first 10 off the board being passers. I had my eyes locked on Collie as my first round selection since the origin of this project, so I was more than pleased with my round one outcome.
Blast it all! I love Brandon Doman and thought he’d be available at pick 16. To call the dude a gamer undersells his career, IMO. He was a better passer than he gets credit for, not to mention a dynamic pocket presence, an absolute clutch performer, and the leader of a team that had the #1 offense in the country in 2001.
Parting Thoughts from Round 1
Obviously the appearance of two defensive lineman surprised me, but when you think about it both Ziggy and Buck were legendary talents. Ziggy’s college contributions were minimized by a coach who valued grit more than talent, but when he was on the field he was monstrous. I remember when he first popped up on our radar in that 2012 Washington State opener. He just jumped off the screen, you know?
I expected Jamaal to make a first round appearance, especially given the concept of recency bias, but our drafters clearly valued QBs, with 6 of the first 10 off the board being passers. I had my eyes locked on Collie as my first round selection since the origin of this project, so I was more than pleased with my round one outcome.
Final thought? Man I wish I would have been alive to watch Jim, Steve, and Ty play.
Round by Round Recap:
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