2048 Predator's Lair, where the hunted become hunters, if they are strong enough..
This year Phoenix had thirteen picks, with two coming in the 2nd round and four coming in the 3rd round. There was a focus to replenish defensive skill players and to stock up on offensive skill players to help mitigate the aging of several standout players. The amount of picks though in the later rounds led to a glut of young OL who will be fighting for roster spots.
1.28 LB -> DB Thomas Reyes 84 vol, +4: An overweight LB who now has exceptional coverage abilities and makes the argument to start from day 1. A position change will be in his future to get the most out of his speed as he looks to be an impact player for the next decade.
2.19 WR Mark Sager 86 vol, +6: Another overweight player who booms to be an exceptionally skilled player. While Sager is much slower than ownership would like, he has drawn comparisons to the now departed Mark Sellers and the hope is like Sellers, Sager becomes a consistent 1000 yard WR. We can talk about breaking the Predator's all time receiving mark later.
2.28 DB David Smothers 100 vol, +4: I might seriously only draft overweight players because *** is this luck. Smothers stuck to his diet in camp and it paid off as he booms and looks to fight for significant snaps. Holding him back currently is low B&R coverage and low Punish although ownership believe he will be able to improve with time.
3.17 WR Kenneth Ong 78 vol, +5: An underweight player who had a decent camp getting free from bump coverage while struggling to break free on intermediate routes. Assuming he continues to improve his route running like he did with his B&R avoidance he will see the field this season but it likely will be when giving a starter a breather.
3.18 LB Carl Pettit 100 vol, +5: A good find in the 3rd round for a player who will likely be LB depth once he loses some weight. His poor coverage skills will limit his playing time currently, but he is a sure tackler who will be a menace on special teams.
3.28 DL Nicholas Matias 26 vol, -1: Our first bust but it is on the lowest vol player drafted this year. Nicholas still has 87/89 run defense and looks to be a 79 speed guy at 300 pounds and should start immediately as ownership looks to transition to defense front focused on speed.
3.32 OL Julio Napoli 42 vol, +2: The main reason I hate drafting guys with 50 vol who aren't already studs is that when they boom, it feels like they don't improve much at all. Napoli got a boom, but might not improve enough to make the cut on the Predators given we have an aging QB to protect and Julio is a weak pass blocker compared to his drafted compatriots. On the block and can be had for whatever you want to send
4.16 OL John Courtemanche 100 vol, +11: Took the award in camp for coolest name, then worked his tail off to make the team. He won't see any snaps except in an emergency, but profiles to be an excellent C when he reaches his potential in a couple of seasons.
5.1 K Rocco Hobbs 60 vol, -4: An attempt to replace our current aging kicker before we need to fails. Hobbs was consistently not rocc-ing his attempts in practice and preferred to rocc all night in the greater Phoenix area. He's finding out you might only get one shot to make it in the XFL and he squandered his.
5.28 OL Enrique Davis 74 vol, +6: Hard working guy who focused more on being explosive and light on his feet in camp than sweating it out in the weight room but it paid off. Davis profiles to be only a RT given his issues in the run game but should have ample time to improve before needing to worry. Editor's note: Ownership has not even touched the depth chart this offseason so he might not make the cut if he can only play RT
6.28 OL Edward Parker 78 vol, +6: A boom for a guy with good intangibles but poor raw skill currently. If he reaches his ceiling he would be a solid starter, the problem for ownership is that they might not be able to wait around for an if. On the block and could be had for a later round pick
7.14 QB Luis Phillips 54 vol, +4: Again with the mid 50s vol not booming much. Luis could eventually be the starter depending on how the Rodriguez experiment pans out as Luis has better intangibles across the board. His main problem will be improving his accuracy, look off, and FoV to more acceptable levels.
7.28 WR Ronald Pritchett 100 vol, -9: That's what we're used to seeing, big busts, and I'm not talking tiddies. Had Pritchett boomed he would have been a slower WR who might not have even made the team even with his Courage being so high. Now he is just an instant cut
Overall extremely successful camp for the Predators who walk away with plenty of pieces to play with for the foreseeable future. The only worry is if we used up all of our luck before the season started
