The Draft
The
Captains from the 6 teams will now make their selections in the 2020 Virtual
Felix Bowl draft. Each team will have 6 selections. Drafting will be snake
style. The draft order is as follows:
1.
Hornets (Lena Ng)
2.
Fishes (Chico Pappas)
3.
Rockets (Jerry Rice)
4.
All-Stars (Randall Cunningham)
5.
Melonheads (Star Moonbeam)
6.
Wombats (Pablo Sanchez)
First Round
Hornets (Ng) select Barry “Barry”
Sanders
Analysis:
It’s a bit of an overlapping skill set with Ng who is also a speed based,
play-maker, but it’s hard to pass up a talent like Sanders.
Fishes (Pappas) select Keisha
“Flash” Phillips
Pappas
looking for complimentary piece to his offensive acumen with a defensive
stopper in Phillips. She was the top defensive player available, per Mel Kiper,
Jr. Jr. and there is expected to be a lot of depth at QB.
Rockets (Rice) select Steve “Lefty”
Young
In one
of the most predictable picks you will see, Jerry goes up and grabs his
neighbor Steve. The two have been running routes all during quarantine and are
expected to have great chemistry.
All-Stars (Cunningham) select
Dmitri “Paste” Petrovich
A bit
of a surprise pick here, but could still have real value. Petrovich is not only
a defensive stopper, but he also has arguably the best kicking league in the
bubble. It’s hard to know exactly how much field goal kicking will come into
play in this league, but Cunningham will be ready.
Melonheads (Moonbeam) select Pete “Wheelie”
Wheeler
The
Melonheads are clearly hoping that speed kills in this year’s Virtual Bowl.
Wheeler is the fastest kid we’ve got, but he also can’t tell the difference
between cats and raccoons.
Wombats (Sanchez) select Vicki
“Swan” Kawaguchi
Vicki
may look like a sweet little girl, but she’s also got great hands and
tremendous footwork.
Round Two
Wombats (Sanchez, V Kawaguchi)
select Zenon “Guy of the 21st Century” Estrada
The last
custom player available, Sanchez has used his first two picks on skill
positions. That makes it seem like the “Secret Weapon” is leaning toward
starting himself in the QB position rather than getting himself in space as a
receiver or a running back.
Melonheads (Moonbeam, Wheeler)
select Dante “Stretch” Robinson
Despite
eating Dmitri’s weight in food, Robinson is still (somehow) one of the fastest
kids available. The speed trend continues for the Melonheads who are saying
they plan to start the speedster Robinson at QB.
All-Stars (Cunningham, Petrovich)
select Luanne “Lulu” Lui
The
All-Stars continue to be the biggest wildcard in the league. Lui is the
youngest player in the league, but the speed is undeniable. Only Wheeler posted
a faster 40 time at the combine. The question is, will she be able to catch
passes out of the backfield if she is holding her teddy bear.
Rockets (Rice, Young) select Reese
“Big Toe” Worthington
The
Rockets look like they will be chucking it each week as Rice has used his first
two draft picks on a QB and another wide receiver. Worthington should be a
great second option as Rice can carry the load so Reese can utilize his inhaler
while staying fresh for the big moments.
Fishes (Pappas, Phillips) select
John “Comeback Kid” Elway
The
Fishes making sure to get a QB who can pass and run with the selection of
Elway. Although Pappas can catch, they still don’t have a go-to receiver to
play with him and the pressure will be on Phillips to carry the defense.
Hornets (Ng, Sanders) select
Jocinda “MVP” Smith
Not
necessarily as fast as some of the other QB options, but the Hornets went for a
well-rounded, confident player in Smith. We will see if the team takes a flyer
on another QB (still lots of options available) or if they are comfortable with
the bruising force.
Round Three
Hornets (Ng, Sanders, Smith) select
Lisa “Mad Dog” Crockett
One of
the oddest nickname choices given her relative even demeanor, Crockett is
projected to be a real defensive force this season. Young bubble draft expert,
Todd McShay thinks this is great value compared to Phillips who went almost two
full rounds earlier.
Fishes (Pappas, Phillips, Elway)
select Brett “Country Boy” Favre
Back to
back QB selections for the Fishes seemed like an odd choice, but the like the
upside of Favre at Wide Receiver, plus they think his speed and defense makes
him a mult-faceted plug and play type of football player.
Rockets (Rice, Young, Worthington)
select Ricky “Fella” Johnson
The
sweet, shy Johnson is ready to roll with what is quickly becoming a
high-powered offense. Johnson, who has solid speed a good foot, is looking like
the possible running back in the Rockets offense. One side of the ball is
setting, but defensively there are real question marks.
All-Stars (Cunningham, Petrovich,
Lui) select Annie “Flipper” Frazier
Frazier’s
best asset may be her sandal clad foot (which overlaps with Petrovich), but
captain Randall said he just wanted to get people he knows can play football
out on the field. This is a balanced team, but they will be relying heavily on
Lui for explosiveness. Still unclear if Randall plans to play QB or not.
Melonheads (Moonbeam, Wheeler,
Robinson) select Tony “Vec” Delvecchio
A team
that went total speed with the first three picks now goes for the brawn. Tony
is a bruise on the offensive and defensive line and looks like the kind of guy
who would become a mob boss one day.
Wombats (Sanchez, V Kawaguchi,
Estrada) select Kimmy “Twinkie Toes” Eckman
A bit
of a surprise pick from the Wombats as they pick a defensive-focused player
without a ton of multi-dimensional skills. She does carry candy though. I like
candy. Everybody likes candy.
Round Four
Wombats (Sanchez, V Kawaguchi, Estrada,
Eckman) select Maria “Pinky” Luna
One of
the surest sets of hands in the game, this will be another receiving option for
what looks more than ever like a Pablo-quarterbacked offense. While Luna is a
friend of Vicki’s, she was admittedly calling for her brother to be selected in
this spot and Pablo ignored her. Unclear if he was being mean or just didn’t
understand.
Melonheads (Moonbeam, Wheeler,
Robinson, T Delvecchio) select Ernie “Funnybones” Steele
Another
sure handed player who is taller, and arguably faster than Luna. Maybe just an
oversight from Sanchez there or maybe he liked the kicking upside of Luna.
Regardless, this seems like a nice steel for the Melonheads, especially as a
second receiving option behind Moonbeam.
All-Stars (Cunningham, Petrovich,
Lui, Frazier) select Kenny “K-man” Kawaguchi
The
kids weren’t sure if Kenny would even be allowed to come to the bubble
considering he’s a high risk kid, but now that he’s here, he’s expected to make
plays in the passing game for the All-Stars offense. Still surprised his
nickname isn’t “Wheels”.
Rockets (Rice, Young, Worthington,
Johnson) select Mikey “Nugget” Thomas
Although
Mikey looks like he’s sick (don’t worry he’s been tested for Corona), Thomas
actually has a great skill set. He’s a tough defender (something the Rockets
really needed), can throw (if needed) and can catch. He doesn’t have speed, but
this could prove to be a steal for a strong looking Rockets club.
Fishes (Pappas, Phillips, Elway,
Favre) select Achmed “Axeman” Khan
There’s
no clear skill for Achmed, but he definitely has talent and the Fishes think
they can fit him into their defense and potentially their offense. Chico did,
admittedly, have to yell his name a few times before he heard them and came over
to their sideline.
Hornets (Ng, Sanders, Smith,
Crockett) select Ashley “Little Smokey” Webber
An
interesting pick, especially when you consider the fact they are picking back
to back …
Round 5
Hornets (Ng, Sanders, Smith,
Crockett, A Webber) select Sidney “Little Smokey” Webber
It’s
hard to say whether Lena liked the upside of having both Webber sisters playing
together or if she just couldn’t tell them apart so she picked them both. I
mean even their nicknames are the same.
Fishes (Pappas, Phillips, Elway,
Favre, Ac Khan) select Gretchen “Jabberjaw” Hasselhoff
Things
are starting to slim out a bit here toward the end of the draft and the Fishes
clearly felt they were lacking a bit in speed. Hasselhoff can bring some while
also having some defensive upside.
Rockets (Rice, Young, Worthington,
Johnson, Thomas) select Stephanie “Bubbles” Morgan
Although
she brought her baseball mitt to the bubble (when are we possibly going to play
baseball, Stephanie?) this is yet another steal for the Rockets. Yes, she
doesn’t have one defining skill, but Morgan can literally do everything decent
(besides kicking – and the Rockets already have two of those).
All-Stars (Cunningham, Petrovich,
Lui, Frazier, K Kawaguchi) select Amir “Sticks” Khan
For the
second straight round the All-Stars select the worse of two siblings as they go
Amir rather after the K-man. It will be interesting to see how they work Amir
into the system, but as we get into these later rounds, most of your line-up is
already set.
Melonheads (Moonbeam, Wheeler,
Robinson, T Delvecchio, Steele) select Angela “Sugar Pop” Delvecchio
Tony
lobbied hard to get his sister on his team (keep her under his overprotective
watch during the bubble), but his clumsy sister has a big foot and can be an
extra blocker when needed. It seems like the Melonheads loaded up on speed
early and now may be trying to get a powerful offensive line prepared to
protect it.
Wombats (Sanchez, V Kawaguchi,
Estrada, Eckman, Luna) select Sally “The Boss” Dobbs
Sally
probably isn’t thrilled to be selected this late, considering she was the lead
organizer behind the bubble. That said, she is an interesting wild card as a
fairly speedy, decent throwing weapon. Perhaps Sanchez is giving himself an
option if he needs to switch out of the QB role.
Round 6
Wombats (Sanchez, V Kawaguchi,
Estrada, Eckman, Luna, S Dobbs) select Marky “Cootie” Dubois
Marky,
who learned how to play football by tackling goats (I swear, that’s what it
says) can block and catch so it feels like the Wombats can find a spot for him.
He’s a bit of a New Orleans Neville Longbottom type, but Neville ended up
having his day in the end.
Melonheads (Moonbeam, Wheeler,
Robinson, T Delvecchio, Steele, A Delvecchio) select Jorge “Bonkers” Garcia
Bonkers
doesn’t like to get dirty and he’s not a super talented guy which, for the
Melonheads, they see as a perfect combination. The Melonheads drafted Jorge to
sit on the bench which is his favorite position (I swear, that’s what it says)
and, unlike some of the other players left, they knew he would like this role
and not create locker room issues.
All-Stars (Cunningham, Petrovich,
Lui, Frazier, K Kawaguchi, Am Khan) select Billy Jean “Crazy Legs” Blackwood
A real
surprise here from the All-Stars who had the chance to choose between a number
of back-up QBs and went with Blackwood. She could potentially be a better
blocker than the other options, but the All-Stars are really putting a lot of
pressure on Randall to be the QB.
Rockets (Rice, Young, Worthington,
Johnson, Thomas, Morgan) select Dan “Dan the Man” Marino
There’s
no two ways about it, the guy can chuck it. Not sure they will need him much
given the expected Young-Rice chemistry, but as a bench player, you have to
like what you see.
Fishes (Pappas, Phillips, Elway,
Favre, Ac Khan, Hasselhoff) select Drew “Go Long” Bledsoe
Another
big armed chucker, Bledsoe actually has a surprising ability to catch as well.
That said, there could be a real QB controversy in Invincible as they drafted
three guys who dream of one day playing QB in the NFL.
Hornets (Ng, Sanders, Smith,
Crockett, A Webber, S Webber) select Ronny “Spud” Dobbs
The
last pick in the draft, Ronny is pretty bad and this is the logical spot for
him. It’s unclear how much he will help the Hornets, but maybe he can have a
“Rudy” esque moment in a big spot for the squad.
