I hadn't noticed that you made your picks. It's interesting that most of the same players rose to the top of the list for both of us, especially in the 5th round. But even above that, most of the guys you picked were guys I was considering as well.

The Fresno Refugees accepted the Alex Smith trade very begrudgingly. I can't stand the trade for the actual real Chiefs, but the reality was that going into this draft, I could not anticipate what situation any of the rookie QBs would be drafted into on their real life teams. So the only way to have near-certainty that my team would have a QB who is actually starting in the NFL was to accept a trade for a QB who I am not excited about. That won't stop me from continuing to swing and miss at this position until our franchise QB is found.

In addition to the Alex Smith trade, we are trading our 1-1 pick to the Cardinals, along with our 4-99 and 7-207, and receiving the Cardinals' 1-7 and 2-38 picks in return.

The Fresno Refugees 2013 Draft Class:

1-7: Tavon Austin, WR (Rams)
2-38: Geno Smith, QB (Jets)
3-63: Travis Kelce, TE (Chiefs)
3-96: Tyler Wilson, QB (Raiders)
5-134: Jesse Williams, DT (Seahawks)
6-170: John Boyett, S (Colts)
6-204: Jordan Poyer, CB (Eagles)

To answer all of your questions - YES, Rainman stole most of my picks by pre-emptively reading my mind and posting before I could. Seriously, though, first four were no-brainers for me given how much I liked those two QBs. I just don't believe the negativity about this quarterback class and am insisting that I be proven wrong the hard way. Was also glad to see the Chiefs take a TE I like. Was not sure he was my favorite, but seemed like a good time to go with the flow.

Williams and Poyer at first seemed like fantastic coincidences that we both drafted, but then again those are two players who fell pretty far from where they were projected, so not surprising that they caught the attention of multiple armchair GMs who have limited visibility to the other players taken in late rounds. I did not see them on Rainman's list prior to selecting.

So three of us have independently selected Jesse Williams in the fifth round. How fascinating. I wonder what NFL teams were reluctant about relative to what we know.

The three drafters so far have an uncanny amount of overlap. Frankly, I drafted Kelce begrudgingly for need more than anything, so others see more than I do, and I was also hesitant about Geno but decided he was worth the risk. It'll be interesting to see how these guys turn out.

I was influenced pretty heavily by Mayock's ratings on NFL.com. When scrolling through picks fifth round and farther, Williams stood out as being pretty much without peer, which led me to investigate further and figure it was a pretty good value.

I drafted Geno on general principle. I would have spent first overall. In fact even today I'd happily trade Fisher to the Jets for Geno straight-up. All of the criticism was cause for some pause, but bottom line is he was clearly the best QB in the draft, and our team desperately needs a franchise QB. Gotta roll the dice. Without a top QB everything else we do is just window dressing.

With Kelce, I wasn't a fan when I first saw the pick, but it grew on me after I learned more. I've been struggling at that spot ever since agreeing to the disastrous Tony Gonzalez trade. The fact that he is in a good situation and was drafted by the Chiefs made it an easy decision.

I'll get to this soon. I swear I'm not just waiting so I can copy off of the three of you.

If you sign Jesse Williams and Geno Smith, we'll know that you're either copying or you're doing due diligence.

As I said before, I accepted the trade for Alex Smith, but that Jets trade is too good to pass up so I'm doing the same thing.

Here are my picks, sorry it's so late:

1.13 (13) - Sheldon Richardson DT (Jets)
2.07 (39) - Cornellius Carradine DE (49ers)
3.01 (63) - Terrance Williams WR (Cowboys)
3.10 (72) - Terron Armstead OT (Saints)
3.34 (96) - Knile Davis RB
4.02 (99) - Josh Boyce WR (Patriots)
5.01 (134) - Sanders Commings CB
5.08 (141) - Oday Aboushi OT (Jets)
6.02 (170) - Ryan Swope WR (retired)
6.36 (204) - Vince Williams LB (Steelers)

I know Ryan Swope is retired, but I was high on him so I would have taken him if I'd done this right after the draft.

I'm also adding these guys to my roster:

Chase Daniel QB
Tyler Bray QB
Ryan D'Imperio FB
Donnie Avery WR
Anthony Fasano TE
Demetrius Harris TE
Marcus Dixon DE
Mike DeVito DE
Frank Zombo LB
Akeem Jordan LB
Edgar Jones LB

And cutting:

Eric Winston
Kevin Boss
Steve Breaston
Matt Cassel
Brady Quinn
Ricky Stanzi
Nate Eachus
Peyton Hillis
Ryan Lilja
Abram Elam
Stanford Routt

Armstead and Aboushi were two guys I was giving a long look at, and I finally went with Menelik Watson in the second. It'll be interesting to see if Armstead or Watson ends up being the keeper.

Yeah, Menelik Watson was my first thought for OT help, but I didn't like the fact that he was drafted by the Raiders. It's a new front office and coaching staff so it's probably unfair, but I couldn't get over (my perception of) their history of difficulty drafting and developing offensive linemen. And I needed defensive line help so I went that direction instead.

So here's a thought. How hard would it be to use the Sandbox Simulations engine to rate our final 53 man rosters?

Hmm, now that's an interesting thought. And then we could throw the current Chiefs roster in there as a baseline.

I suspect it might be a fair amount of work right now, but when we crank up another league I might be able to talk cdcox into it.

Oh wait - do we have to cutdown to 53 tonight?

Edit: Delete my previous response. I was thinking this was Sandbox.


Yes! Good point!

My roster (I'm running short, doing a poor job):

QB
Alex Smith
Brock Osweiler (Broncos)
Geno Smith (Jets)
Tyler Bray
Tyler Wilson (Raiders)
Chase Daniel
Mark Sanchez (Jets)

RB
Jamaal Charles
Anthony Sherman

WR
Dwayne Bowe
Donnie Avery
Tavon Austin (Rams)
Rishard Matthews (Dolphins)
AJ Jenkins

TE
Travis Kelce
Anthony Fasano
Chase Coffman (Falcons)

OT
Branden Albert
Eric Winston
Donald Stephenson

G
Jon Asamoah
Geoff Schwartz
David DeCastro (Steelers)

C
Rodney Hudson

K
Ryan Succop

P
Dustin Colquitt

S
Eric Berry
Geroge Iloka (Bengals)
Hasain Abdullah
Quintin Demps

CB
Brandon Flowers
Sean Smith
Dunta Robinson
Jordan Poyer (Eagles)

OLB
Tamba Hali
Justin Houston
Ricky Sapp (Jets)

ILB
Derrick Johnson
Vontaze Burflict (Bengals)
Frank Zombo

DE
Allen Bailey
Mike DeVito

NT
Terrence Cody (Ravens)
Cam Thomas (Chargers)
Alameda Ta'amu (Cardinals)
Jesse Williams (Seahawks) - IR

My 53-man roster. Cuts are shown below.

QB
Russell Wilson (Seahawks)
Geno Smith (Jets)
Tyler Bray
Tyler Wilson (Raiders)

I was hoping to see more out of the rookies, but they have time to develop behind my sophomore phenom. We're young here, but with potential.

HB
Jamaal Charles
C.J. Spiller. (Bills)
Denard Robinson (Jaguars)

We'll see how Robinson develops, but I'm incredibly strong here.

FB/H-Back
Travis Kelce (Chiefs)

It may have been a mistake to not draft a fullback. Let's see what you can do, Travis.

WR
Dwayne Bowe
Kendall Wright (Titans)
WR Donnie Avery
Leonard Hankerson (Redskins)

I like my starters in Bowe and Wright, and Avery will fit right into the slot. Hankerson is a good fourth receiver but it would be nice to have a fifth receiver.

TE
Tony Gonzalez (Falcons)
Anthony Fasano
Kevin Brock

Lots of depth here. Maybe Tony can split out wide sometimes.

OT
Branden Albert
Eric Winston
Menelik Watson (Raiders)
Geoff Schwartz

We're okay here since Winston is starting. And Watson may be an up and comer at the position.

G
Wade Smith
Alex Boone (49ers)
Brian Waters
Jason Pinkston (Browns)

Good talent and depth. Wade was a pro bowler last year. No problems at all here. And my patience with Brian Waters has paid off, oddly.

C
Rodney Hudson (Chiefs)

I hope he develops. Worst case, if he doesn't or if he gets hurt I can move Wade Smith easily into this position.

K
Alex Henery (Eagles)

Perfectly fine.

P
Dustin Colquitt

Pro bowler.

FS
Baccari Rambo (Redskins)
Kendrick Lewis

Wow! I got a new starter to replace Kendrick Lewis, and I got him cheap!

SS
Reshad Jones (Dolphins)
Quinton Demps

I'm very strong here as Jones is a rising star. Depth? Demps will do.

CB
Brandon Flowers
Alphonso Dennard (Patriots)
CB Sean Smith
CB Dunta Robinson
D.J. Moore (Bears)
Jordan Poyer (Eagles)

We're strong here, and I'm pleased with my drafting.

OLB
Tamba Hali
Zach Brown (Titans)
Dekoda Watson (Buccaneers)
LB Frank Zombo
Chris Carter (Steelers)


This unit is coming together. Hali and Brown are strong starters, and Watson is now a starter. Plus Zombo and Carter are solid backups.

ILB
Derrick Johnson
Rey Maualuga (Bengals)
AJ Klein (Panthers)


I like Klein as a backup and my starters are strong.

DE
DE Mike DeVito
DE Alex Carrington (Bills)
Da'Quan Bowers (Buccaneers)
Ropati Pitoitua
Jonathan Massaquoi (Falcons)

We're going 3-4 this year with DeVito and Carrington as decent starters. My depth is pretty weak.

NT
Star Lotulelei (Panthers)
Brandon Williams (Ravens)
Jesse Williams (Seahawks)
Anthony Toribio

Lots of rookies. Moving Star into a starting role.

Overall, I think we're pretty strong. Our strengths are the offensive backfield and LBs, and I've managed to put together a good defensive backfield with a small investment. However, the offense is the focus of the team right now with a fair amount of speed, youth, and firepower.

Our weaknesses are the defensive line, which is pretty unproven and thin despite numerous high draft pick investments, and our OL is okay but no great shakes. I'm hoping that my three rookie defensive linemen will make a fast transition to the pros.


Hard Cuts:

FS Hasain Abdullah
TE Steve Maneri
OT Tommie Draheim
OLB Dezmon Moses


Easy Cuts:

QB Mark Sanchez (Jets)
QB Chase Daniel 3 years
QB Jimmy Clausen (Panthers)
HB Shaun Draughn
HB Nate Eachus
FB Ryan D'Imperio
FB Peyton Hillis
WR Mardy Gilyard
WR Greg Salas (Rams)
WR Steve Breaston
TE Kevin Boss
RT Bruce Campbell (Raiders/Panthers)
LG Lilja, Ryan
FS Charles Mitchell (Falcons)
FS Travis Daniels
SS Abram Elam
SS Tysyn Hartman
CB Stanford Routt
OLB Andy Studebaker
OLB Chad Kilgore
ILB Brandon Siler
DE Ronnell Lewis (Lions)
DT Marcus Dixon
DT Ron Edwards
WR Chad Hall
TE Sean McGrath
NT Jaye Howard
OLB Josh Martin
ILB James-Michael Johnson
CB Marcus Cooper
CB Ron Parker