Steel Balls

Benny Snell, picked 4-122

Zack Gentry, picked 5-141

Sutton Smith, picked 6-175

Isaiah Buggs, picked 6-192

Ulysees Gilbert, picked 6-207

Derwin Gray, picked 7-219

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Projected pick: #40. Actual pick #83.

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Projected pick: 4th round. Actual pick: #66.

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From Dane Brugler’s “2019 NFL Draft Guild” available via subscription to The Athletic, here is his view of the Steeler’s new #1 pick.

Dane rated Devin as top linebacker in the class and projected him as the #10 pick overall, exactly where the Steelers snagged him. Given the eerie accuracy of that prediction I need to give Dane’s impressive draft guide a lot of respect from here on out.

Click the items below to enlarge to a more readable size.

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I don’t know about yinz, but I’ve been licking my wounds for long enough and it’s time to get back to football. As you all know, the new Ballers season begins officially with our annual draft predictions contest, and it’s time to see if our defending champion Walsh can be unseated. With the draft coming up in less than two weeks we can drag our feet no longer.

I normally kick things off with my own set of predictions, but honestly I’m not ready yet (or to be more accurate, I’m even less ready than usual). So, I’ll let you guys jump in the fray first this time around. Remember, earlier date of predictions is a tie breaker, so get your predictions in as soon as you can.

As a reminder, the rules are posted below.

1. You will be granted one point for each pick correctly identified by name, regardless of when they are picked. For example, if you predict that John Doe will be picked in round 1 but he is actually picked in round 2, you will still get one point.
2. You will be granted one point for each correct position/round combination. The specific player need not be correct, and in fact need not be specified at all. For example, if you said the first round pick would be safety John Doe (or just safety), and the actual first round pick is safety D’Long Johnson, this would be one point. Note that if the first round pick is John Doe you will have two points, one for the correct name, and one for the correct position/round combo. If you select a multi-position player (such as S/OLB) where you did not pick the correct name you will gain a half point if the actual selection matches one of the positions of your guessed player but only if you identify both positions in the pick. For example if your pick is a DE that you project as playing OLB, then you should identify the position as OLB. If the Steelers then select a different player who is a true OLB you will get full credit. If you identify DE/OLB you will get half credit in that instance.
3. You may specify up to three UDFA picks.
4. You will gain a bonus point if you correctly predict a trade up or down.
5. In the event of a tie, the participant who entered his submission earlier will be the winner based on the time/date of submission.
6. You may revise your submission up to midnight before draft day, however such edits will change your submission time/date which could hurt you in a tie break situation.

Suggested format for submission is as follows:

• Round 1, D’Long Johnson, LS
• Round 2, George Cantu, P
• Round 3, Laquan Church, K
• Round 5-1, Demetri Jones, OT
• Round 5-2, Ethan Noonan, QB
• Round 7-1, Dra’Michael’La’Trillium Jenkins, WR
• Round 7-2, Nick Lavergne, RB
• UDFA, Antonio Morgan, CB
• UDFA, Ian March, TE
• UDFA, Irving Briggs, OLB

For full points potential, all of the above information types are needed (round #, name, position).

Good luck!

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Late but not forgotten, it is finally time to honor the winner of the 2018 Season Prognosticator award: malsor!Here are the tabulated predictions:

And here are the scores:

The winner is malsor by a landslide, with a low score of 7. There is a three way tie for second, at 10 points, between MWalsh26 (the defending champion), jeffmi, and EstimatedProphet. Dead last is your humble moderator, who was grievously disappointed by the Steelers and their diva superstars, the NFL in general, and the Football Gods who would allow the travesties that unfolded in 2018.

May all of us do better in 2019, including malsor who should be shooting for a perfect score of zero.

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Farewell Hue and Todd. Your tortured souls have been set free.

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And the reaction from Justin’s teammates:

Read the rest of this entry »

+2

The lure of the Steel Balls Trophy beckons you! Will MWalsh be displaced?

It’s that time of year where Steel Ballers put their reputations on the line to make their season predictions. Let me remind you of the rules of engagement:

Rules:

1. Lowest score wins.
2. Points are based on accuracy. An exact prediction yields zero points.
3. Categories include:
   • Final regular season record for each AFCN team.
   • Divisional positioning of AFCN teams.
   • Number of Steelers playoff wins (first round bye counts as a win)
4. Tie breaker: first, accuracy of game-by-game predictions, then earliest submission

If you are too lazy to provide predictions in any of the above categories, you will get maximum points for that category.

Predictions will be accepted until Midnight ET September 8. You may change your predictions up until that time without penalty.

Good luck!

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