Post by MGB01 on Jul 5, 2006 21:23:23 GMT -5
Yes it's still too early, having been all of fifteen months--and won't carry near as much weight as even a year from now, but here's a look:
1. Memphis (from Kansas City)-Eric Shelton, RB, Louisville: The Maniax traded away three draft picks and three throwaway players to the Monarchs with the hope that hometown boy DeAngelo Williams would skip his senior year. It didn't happen, but with Shelton taking the league by storm in winning the rushing title as a rookie, and then on pace to do it again, we think things ended up working out.
2. Seattle-Shaun Cody, DT, USC: All the sudden the Reign have constructed themselves a pretty solid front four over the last couple years with Cody being a part of it. The Reign originally toyed with the idea of moving Cody to DE but eventually cancelled those plans, and acquiring Bryce Fisher and Erik Flowers in the 2005-06 offseason really put a stop to it.
3. Pittsburgh-Chris Canty, DE, Virginia: Much like Keyaron Fox the year before, Canty is a developing star, but with the Ironmen awful as they are, no one's noticing. Canty had eight sacks in '05, and leads the Ironmen with six in '06
4. San Francisco-Andrew Walter, QB, Arizona State: Came on the scene late in the 2005 season and releived a struggling Kevin Daft, nearly taking the Demons to the playoffs in the process. His 2006 season thus far hasn't nearly been as successful, as he's thrown ten INTs and has a sub-50% completion rate halfway through the season, but the Demons are willing to be patient.
5. New York-Lamont Reid, CB, North Carolina State: The Hitmen "settled" for Reid with this pick, initially wanting Michigan's Marlon Jackson. Reid ended up leading the Hitmen with six INTs and had a 100-yard INT return in the season opener against the Demons this season.
6. Carolina-George Gause, DE, South Carolina: Gause flew out of the gate with three sacks against the Washington Glory in the Colonels' 2005 opener, but teams took advantage of the rookie especially with the rest of the Colonels' defensive front showing its' age. So in the offseason the Colonels cut more dead wood than Ian McShane and went young on the D-line, with this year's first-round pick Manny Lawson starting at the other end and tackles Claude Wroten and Dusty Dvoracek both making impact. This could be one of the top defensive fronts in the league in a few years, and Gause was the starting point.
7. Kansas City (from Memphis)-Atiyyah Ellison, DT, Missouri: Had ten sacks as rookie and came in second to Michael Boley (Detroit) in XFL Defensive rookie of the Year balloting. Now part of the Monarchs' HEAT line along with DEs Reggie Hayward and Adalius Thomas, and DT Sam Adams. The Monarchs have given up a league-low 90 points.
8. Los Angeles-Adam Terry, OT, Syracuse: Trying to find a left tackle replacement--Damion Cook signed with Kansas City the previous offseason, the Xtreme went with the big guy out of Syracuse. Terry started nine games at left tackle and played well. The Xtreme switched him to right tackle after they signed Steve Edwards in the offseason, where Terry is currently playing.
9. Orlando-Reggie Brown, WR, Georgia: Brown had a decent if not spectacular rookie year and was thought to be moving up, maybe even becoming the Rage' #1 wideout, but the signing of Jeremaine Copeland changed all that. Brown ended up being the first of three wide receivers (Vincent Jackson, J.R. Russell) the Rage selected in the 2005 draft.
10. Jacksonville-Ray Willis, OT, Florida State: The then-Predators went nuts in the 2005 draft trying to upgrade the left side of their line, Willis got the first shot at left tackle, but ultimately the team liked what they saw out of fifth-rounder Michael Roos. They also thought Willis might be a better fit at guard, and he ended up replacing Ed Wilkins as the starter at left guard in the preseason and has been there since.
11. Dallas-Jerome Mathis, WR, Hampton: Second of three wide receivers the Vipers picked in the first round of each draft since 2004 is the most disappointing by far, since he followed up a so-so rookie season by getting in, what else, a motorcycle accident. Then he was found to have a stress fracture in his foot (unrelated to the motorcycle accident), a common injury among track athletes--he was a six-time champion in the state of Virginia--and was placed on injured reserve on May 31. His injury opened the door for this year's first-round pick, Santonio Holmes, who leads the league with seven touchdown receptions.
12. Detroit-Matt Roth, DE, Iowa: Roth is the kind of high-motor guy Al Lugenbill likes on defense, thus this pick. Roth ended up tied with the Mustangs' other rookie gem, Michael Boley, for the team lead with seven sacks and has three so far this year.
13. Washington-Antonio Perkins, CB, Oklahoma: Was thought to be a wasted pick since Perkins was regarded a nickel back at best, but he actually ended up in the starting lineup early in the 2005 season with Dyshod Carter injured. Moved back to the nickel role after the Glory traded for Ronyell Whitaker and Carter returned.
14. Las Vegas-Brandon Browner, CB, Oregon State: The Outlaws were looking at the likely offseason departures of Brian Williams and Bobby Sippio so they went with Browner--son of former NFL DE Keith Browner and nephew of former NFL LB Joey. They were rewarded with stellar play by Browner, who beat Sippio out for the job as the nickel back, during the season and Browner also ended up making one of the biggest postseason plays during the Outlaws' X-Bowl championship run: A 57-yard interception return that set up a huge late touchdown in the win at Orlando. Browner has moved into the starting lineup this year with Williams' departure.
15. Birmingham-Roscoe Parrish, WR, Miami(FL): His disappointing 21 catches were good for a mere seventh on the team in 2005 and the bust talk began to arise during the 2005 offseason, but the Bolts made a few changes to their wideout corps and lo and behold, Parrish is already near his season total of last year and is also tied for the Bolts' team lead with three touchdowns starring with fellow former Hurricane Sinorice Moss.
16. Chicago-Justin Miller, CB, Clemson: Like 2004 first-rounder Matt Ware, Miller is stuck in a logjam at the position. But depending on how things shake out this offseason Miller could find himself in the starting lineup next season. In the meantime, Miller led the league in punt returns in 2005, averaging 12.9 yards per return and returning two for scores. He's also averaging 12.3 yards per return this season.
1. Memphis (from Kansas City)-Eric Shelton, RB, Louisville: The Maniax traded away three draft picks and three throwaway players to the Monarchs with the hope that hometown boy DeAngelo Williams would skip his senior year. It didn't happen, but with Shelton taking the league by storm in winning the rushing title as a rookie, and then on pace to do it again, we think things ended up working out.
2. Seattle-Shaun Cody, DT, USC: All the sudden the Reign have constructed themselves a pretty solid front four over the last couple years with Cody being a part of it. The Reign originally toyed with the idea of moving Cody to DE but eventually cancelled those plans, and acquiring Bryce Fisher and Erik Flowers in the 2005-06 offseason really put a stop to it.
3. Pittsburgh-Chris Canty, DE, Virginia: Much like Keyaron Fox the year before, Canty is a developing star, but with the Ironmen awful as they are, no one's noticing. Canty had eight sacks in '05, and leads the Ironmen with six in '06
4. San Francisco-Andrew Walter, QB, Arizona State: Came on the scene late in the 2005 season and releived a struggling Kevin Daft, nearly taking the Demons to the playoffs in the process. His 2006 season thus far hasn't nearly been as successful, as he's thrown ten INTs and has a sub-50% completion rate halfway through the season, but the Demons are willing to be patient.
5. New York-Lamont Reid, CB, North Carolina State: The Hitmen "settled" for Reid with this pick, initially wanting Michigan's Marlon Jackson. Reid ended up leading the Hitmen with six INTs and had a 100-yard INT return in the season opener against the Demons this season.
6. Carolina-George Gause, DE, South Carolina: Gause flew out of the gate with three sacks against the Washington Glory in the Colonels' 2005 opener, but teams took advantage of the rookie especially with the rest of the Colonels' defensive front showing its' age. So in the offseason the Colonels cut more dead wood than Ian McShane and went young on the D-line, with this year's first-round pick Manny Lawson starting at the other end and tackles Claude Wroten and Dusty Dvoracek both making impact. This could be one of the top defensive fronts in the league in a few years, and Gause was the starting point.
7. Kansas City (from Memphis)-Atiyyah Ellison, DT, Missouri: Had ten sacks as rookie and came in second to Michael Boley (Detroit) in XFL Defensive rookie of the Year balloting. Now part of the Monarchs' HEAT line along with DEs Reggie Hayward and Adalius Thomas, and DT Sam Adams. The Monarchs have given up a league-low 90 points.
8. Los Angeles-Adam Terry, OT, Syracuse: Trying to find a left tackle replacement--Damion Cook signed with Kansas City the previous offseason, the Xtreme went with the big guy out of Syracuse. Terry started nine games at left tackle and played well. The Xtreme switched him to right tackle after they signed Steve Edwards in the offseason, where Terry is currently playing.
9. Orlando-Reggie Brown, WR, Georgia: Brown had a decent if not spectacular rookie year and was thought to be moving up, maybe even becoming the Rage' #1 wideout, but the signing of Jeremaine Copeland changed all that. Brown ended up being the first of three wide receivers (Vincent Jackson, J.R. Russell) the Rage selected in the 2005 draft.
10. Jacksonville-Ray Willis, OT, Florida State: The then-Predators went nuts in the 2005 draft trying to upgrade the left side of their line, Willis got the first shot at left tackle, but ultimately the team liked what they saw out of fifth-rounder Michael Roos. They also thought Willis might be a better fit at guard, and he ended up replacing Ed Wilkins as the starter at left guard in the preseason and has been there since.
11. Dallas-Jerome Mathis, WR, Hampton: Second of three wide receivers the Vipers picked in the first round of each draft since 2004 is the most disappointing by far, since he followed up a so-so rookie season by getting in, what else, a motorcycle accident. Then he was found to have a stress fracture in his foot (unrelated to the motorcycle accident), a common injury among track athletes--he was a six-time champion in the state of Virginia--and was placed on injured reserve on May 31. His injury opened the door for this year's first-round pick, Santonio Holmes, who leads the league with seven touchdown receptions.
12. Detroit-Matt Roth, DE, Iowa: Roth is the kind of high-motor guy Al Lugenbill likes on defense, thus this pick. Roth ended up tied with the Mustangs' other rookie gem, Michael Boley, for the team lead with seven sacks and has three so far this year.
13. Washington-Antonio Perkins, CB, Oklahoma: Was thought to be a wasted pick since Perkins was regarded a nickel back at best, but he actually ended up in the starting lineup early in the 2005 season with Dyshod Carter injured. Moved back to the nickel role after the Glory traded for Ronyell Whitaker and Carter returned.
14. Las Vegas-Brandon Browner, CB, Oregon State: The Outlaws were looking at the likely offseason departures of Brian Williams and Bobby Sippio so they went with Browner--son of former NFL DE Keith Browner and nephew of former NFL LB Joey. They were rewarded with stellar play by Browner, who beat Sippio out for the job as the nickel back, during the season and Browner also ended up making one of the biggest postseason plays during the Outlaws' X-Bowl championship run: A 57-yard interception return that set up a huge late touchdown in the win at Orlando. Browner has moved into the starting lineup this year with Williams' departure.
15. Birmingham-Roscoe Parrish, WR, Miami(FL): His disappointing 21 catches were good for a mere seventh on the team in 2005 and the bust talk began to arise during the 2005 offseason, but the Bolts made a few changes to their wideout corps and lo and behold, Parrish is already near his season total of last year and is also tied for the Bolts' team lead with three touchdowns starring with fellow former Hurricane Sinorice Moss.
16. Chicago-Justin Miller, CB, Clemson: Like 2004 first-rounder Matt Ware, Miller is stuck in a logjam at the position. But depending on how things shake out this offseason Miller could find himself in the starting lineup next season. In the meantime, Miller led the league in punt returns in 2005, averaging 12.9 yards per return and returning two for scores. He's also averaging 12.3 yards per return this season.