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In a draft of this nature it is inevitable that everybody is going to have a team that is going to look amazing on paper but I separated the owners into groups based on two philosophies. The first is to draft the best athlete or player on the board at the time and then figure it out later. The second is to draft for skills or positions in a some logical order. Either philosophy there can be judged as to the relative success and that is what will be graded here.

Teams I viewed drafting for positions: Steven Trainor, Cultimate, The Huddle, Ryan Thompson, and Taylor Pope.

Ryan Thompson: Grade A
This draft had a system and a plan to build a team for that system. Having the wheel helped a lot because while lots of players went off the board everything fit into the system well when they were taken.

The owner drafted the precious dynamic big man first in Grant and the explosive athlete in Gabe right after. Four athletic big defenders next seemed to be the best value on the board at the time. The first pure handler in round 7 seems about right and then international star power and a few more sick athletes to play D / get open.

At this point the draft shifted to shore up spots that were a little light like big throwers and then a few back-ups.

Jasper and Simpson feel like a steal here in this round but I probably would have taken Hodges here rather than Steets if I felt I need another Jam guy for chemistry. That being said this was the Moneyball version of the Ultimate draft with good value at each spot. I can only imagine that Ryan would buy low and sell high if there had been more trades.

The Huddle: Grade A-
The draft cast the widest net and didn't have any real homebase despite claiming a few homer picks. Seth is solid as an impact player and balanced nicely by Oscar as another early pick. Rounds 6-9 were all good picks for their positions and fill roles nicely on a starting squad.

Hensley was a nice find late as a nice pairing with Hughes for bouncy defenders and Wigsy is a beast from the UK if you have never played him. For seeming to fill in role players the team overall seems to lack a quarterback so if the O gets stalled it may come back to bite them. I am not sure that they are going to have the pure throwers to take advantage of MC, Kiran and Nield's cutting.

The D-line is pretty darn scary and will fast break early and often off of the turnovers. I would probably switch Tom James and Oscar on the O/D-lines for Oscar's flick huck.

Steven Trainor: Grade B+
Solid picks early and I like the fact that Derek Alexander is back on the field and as sick as ever. I think that the Swede Wesley was a nice snag and showed some breadth of knowledge early.

Negatives include taking both Shank and Roberts as well as 6 GOAT players in a row. Both Shank and Marc have been amazing players but I think at this point it is likely that at least one of them would be less than true form or dealing with the effects of a long time playing Ultimate. We can't all be Al Bob.

While critical of the 6 player run I will note that if you are going to go for a bunch of homer picks then the late rounds is the time to do it. I think that GOAT is on the rise and that while maybe not the absolute best players at these positions in the draft they are solid picks that will round out the team. It is an interesting story / prediction on the fencer and I like the fact that there is some upside on a new face in the sport, fun last round pick.

Taylor Pope: Grade B-
A lot of local talent on this team but again like CanadianUltimate drafting known quantities is a safe bet. Getting Dylan in round two must have been a nice surprise as he has been a dynamic workhorse for whatever team he has been on, including Team USA. I think after that the draft started going for local talent too early. Canadian Ultimate got a slightly better grade because he saved his local picks till later and benefited by picking up some more name brand players in the middle of the draft.

I do like the local squirrelly handlers that ended up on the squad as they should create some fast disc movement. I think that the D-line might have a harder time getting blocks against the speed and height of some of the other O-lines.

Rook was a nice find toward the end as he is probably not very well known on the coasts. I would have preferred to see an international player on the team as talent like Nas went undrafted. My strategy would have been to pick that name brand slot fairly early and then pushed a few of the local players down a round or two because I bet they would have been there.

Cultimate: Grade C
I alluded to this in the Halverson write-up but I clearly did not like the strategy that led to the trade move. If the goal had been to get Gibson and Timmy these owners should have drafted Gibson in round two recognizing that nobody had taken a pure handler yet. This would have allowed them to save Hassel and then had all 3 of these picks. It was an interesting maneuver to salvage their strategy but at a high price. Danny Clark is a good piece to replace some of what was lost for Hassel but the big big throws are hard to come by.

With that out of the way I thought that the rest of the draft was actually reasonably solid by filling in the roles with some of they best players on the board for the position that they were picking for. Ritcher, Crockford, Cochran and Popiel all fit this description.

Aaron Richards is a nice NW find in the middle who will give the other team fits much like Kiran Thomas does on DW. Also Kubiak and Hodges were late round steals that filled in some nice D positions for this team. I would probably move Salad to the D-Line and use Safdie as a utility player where you need it because he can adjust to any role at this point in his career. The early mistake resulted in the low grade from me as it is hard to be that much better in the second half to make up for it.

Teams I viewed as drafting more based on best talent available: Adam Halverson, Michael Kiyoi, Joanthan Neeley, Jacob Goldstein, and Mike Nash.

Adam Halverson: Grade A+
The draft position worked out well and Adam used it to the max. Starting with the best athlete in the game today is never a bad idea and following it up with 3 picks that are all complete player big-men creates an almost a lock on the draft winner as well as hell for match-ups against them. Adam clearly saw that there was a premium on big men and chose to take some of the best off the board early as they wouldn't be around late.

BVH and Grobe were solid later round picks to round out the athletes on the lines.

The main negative that I would have is related to picking two pure handlers in the same round as plenty of handler types were still available late. It is possible that at least one of the two handler picked in this round would have been around much later. With so many all-around players I would have chosen the best D-line player here to help get blocks, Nate Castine, Brodie Smith and Tom James would have all been candidates.

I have to admit that looking at the final team here makes me wonder what happened and how it all went down. Then I remember that this team was helped by a Paul Gasol type trade that puts it over the top. Any time that you can take a 1st rounder and replace it with a 3rd rounder somebody smiled on you.

Jonathan Neeley: Grade A-
It is hard to argue with taking a great athlete first and then one of the most solid thrower / QBs in the game. The combination of Matsuno downfield and Damien behind would be terrifying to try and deal with. This was a case of taking what was there in the first and then adding the perfect compliment to it in the second.

Mac, Castine and Runner are sick young players who already make impact plays for their teams. They will only get better in 2009. the middle part of the draft has some hits and misses with players who can be hot or cold depending on the day. With a relatively small roster taking too many high/low fantasy players might be risky but on a good day it is hard to stop.

Having watch Damien on Jam 2008 I believe that this team would end up in the top half as the streaky players would all be in tune to get the job done and feel the vibe listening to a few inspirational words from preacher Reverend Bell.

Jacob Goldstein - Grade B
Certainly a solid start with two players who have been to the top of the game and can anchor your O-line. A former captain told me, "If the O can't score who cares how good the D is because they won't ever get on the field." I have to believe that going for a big man next was a reaction to what was happening on the board and a good one.

My complaint with this draft is that the D-line is going to be solid but not amazing at getting blocks. I think that this could be offset by the fact that they will probably score more often than not when they get the disc but I see a lot of contain defense trying to force a hurried throw or decision. In my mind this is the prevent defense for Ultimate.

Later round pick-up of Masulis is solid as he is a top cutter and Siegs is a nice find in the last.

Mike Nash: Grade B-
Love Zip and CK as the anchors to the team. Great picks and certainly among the best talent in the game. Along with that Ray Illian is one of the most athletic players you will see and that is inline with the draft strategy here.

The big complaint here is that the draft started to pitch a lot of Midwest talent in the middle and like our GOAT drafter some of these picks could have been saved until later. I think that with big men in need on this team and players like BVH and Boo still around Kanner could have been delayed.

Like the The Huddle this team is going to be in an interesting position on offense as there are not that many pure handler types. Love the fact that the athletes will get to ball and flow will be good but I see this team having a hard time generating a ton of offense from the throwers.

Dusty as a late round wildcard is interesting because you will have to deal with a media circus should you ever decide to let him talk to the media.

Michael Kiyoi: Grade C
I think that this draft was all over the board and people can debate the first pick but like any draft you are going to get a solid player here and should enjoy the position. Chase has been in more big games than most and performed well in them so no complaints from me.

I didn't really agree with taking two primary handlers on the wheel between the 2nd and 3rd round as the draft seemed to be unfolding to place a premium on athletic game changers early in the draft. The next few picks were solid role players with proven smarts and success but again not the dominant players who can create match-up issues that seemed to be filling other people's boards.

Rehder has long term upside as a new young gun and maybe 2009 will prove me wrong but it seems a little early to pick up the eventual youngest player in the draft. Picking up the speed of Wiseman and Lindsey was a good direction for a team with throws and smarts and makes this team look like early Revolver 2007 with speed hucking being a big part of the game plan.

Kyle Smith was a nice find late. I would have like to have seen another international athlete with one of the last two picks who could help guard the other athletic lines in the draft rather than two more handlers, even if they are a dynamic duo of backhands.

Best overall goes to Halverson for solid picks and then of course picking up Hassel in a silly trade. Ryan Thompson came in second in my view for taking great players at the right time who fit into the system that he was trying to build.

Josh Greenough is an Oregon Ego alum, and he currently plays for the Bay Area's Revolver.