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My draft philosophy from the beginning was to draft players that fit into a certain system, a way of playing ultimate that embodies how I prefer all of my teams to play.

On offense the hallmark is cutters being able to throw to cutters, abusing matchups downfield. If, on the off chance something stagnates, handlers must be able to create something from nothing, getting the disc and keeping it moving, either with breaks or hucks. The personnel required are 3 mammoth deep threats, able to sky any defender and put up hucks or long passes of their own, 1 speedster who cuts incisively but always looks to strike for the endzone, and 3 handlers with a mix of being able to get open at will on the dump (the reset), or the ability to put up the big hucks and breaks (the throwers). At least 1 thrower and 1 reset plays alongside another handler, preferably someone to run the offense. I took O line defense into a consideration a little, but with the group of players I've assembled, it's hard to imagine them not being able to get back the disc the few times they do turn it over.

On defense, I drafted first and foremost to make the other team's expected easy options difficult. It's imperative to make the reset wait until stall 9 for the disc two times before getting looked off the third time. We must shut down the unguardable in-cutter who may not be the first option but is always open when a bailout is required. And the throwers need to be thrown off their game with big, active marks who may not get point blocks, but alter the timing and placement of throws so downfield defenders can get D's. That leaves the athletes downfield, who ordinarily have their men looked off when they're playing good defense because a 60-40 shot on the open side isn't worth it when an open in cut is 99% or the reset is 100%. With the other options made much less attractive, 60-40 shots start going up, whether hucks or defended open side passes. And that's when the athletes guarding athletes will get their D's, and the defense will generate turnovers. Afterwards, there need to be at least two *dynamic* players who can make the offense run on their own, with everyone else feeding of them for break throws, opportunistic cuts, etc. Defensive O often has problems because they try to run the same offense as the O team, but with much less practice. So cutter to cutter passes are few and far between, and the handlers have to be relied on more and hold the disc longer, which in turn leads to a much different offense. Dynamic players who get open at will and can break the mark can run a D team O effectively and with a high scoring percentage.

So that's the system. Before the draft I compiled a draft board in a Google spreadsheet of who I thought the best players were in each of the positions, along with a separate column of sleeper picks. There were over 100 names on the board - only 18 went unpicked, most of them in the bottom rungs. Only 3 "high-profile and high-ranked" players on my board remained - Mauro Ortiz, Idris Nolan, and Anthony Maley. Drafting 10th meant that I was in the somewhat enviable position of drafting twice in a row 4 times, then 4 times in a row twice. Except that 18 quality players would be taken off the board between my picks, and 36 in the later rounds. This meant that I was sometimes forced to hedge my bets taking my must-have role players a round or two earlier than I could have. That's why I almost second-guessed my first two picks, Mike Grant and Gabe Saunkeah, to take Jeff Eastham and Mark Sherwood, who were my must-have D line players. I was lucky that they slipped so far, but if I'd passed up two huge well-rounded players like Mike and Gabe, I'd have been unable to get athletic throwing cutters later on in the draft (except Aussie Matt Dowle, who slipped nicely down to the 8th round).

Throughout the draft I continued to examine other teams' potential offensive lines, and I realized that my D line needed tall and athletic defenders, not just guys who could get layout D's. That's why I went with Brodie and Shane in the 5/6 rounds - they offered pure athleticism and defense, enough to make any O-line veteran more than a little nervous. As the draft went on, I carefully slotted players in to the roles above, making sure not to draft any handlers too early. It paid off, as I got all three O-line handlers in the last couple rounds, and they were all up at the top of my draft board.

Finally, with my 16 players, here's how I slotted them into the O and D positions:

On offense, Mike Grant, Gabe Saunkeah, and Matt Dowle fill the three slots for cutters who can sky and throw. Andrew Fleming is the fourth cutter who can strike for the endzone with his speed, but easily come under if his defenders catch on. Eric Halverson and Steve Rouisse are the big throwers, but they shouldn't have to force anything. Jasper Hoitsma is the main reset, using his explosiveness and quick accelerations to get open at will behind the disc.

On defense, Brodie, Shane, and Steve Kolthammer will guard the other team's main deep threats, while Jeff Eastham-Anderson will be matched up primarily on other teams' best lane cutter and make life difficult for him. Jaeger, Sherwood, and Savage will cover the handlers aggressively, putting stress on resets, breaks, and hucks. Jaeger's huge mark is a great asset, as is Sherwood's savvy and tenacious smothering defense. Ask Tim Gehret about that one.

The subs can play offense or defense, and depending on the height of the opposing offense, Jason Simpson might swap in and out for Kolthammer.

Overall it's a system designed to score efficiently and exploit matchups and space on the field, while forcing the other team to hit their second and third options on defense. The draft was a lot of fun and a huge timesink for a week. Two of the picks I thought were really good and wanted myself: Mike Whitaker, to anchor the D line, and Danny Clark to score tons of goals on offense.

Ryan Thompson currently plays for Stanford's Bloodthirsty.