XFL Announces Rookie Draft to be held on Friday June 16, 2023

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GregParks
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Re: XFL Announces Rookie Draft to be held on Friday June 16, 2023

Post by GregParks »

nick1091 wrote: Fri May 19, 2023 11:46 am
GregParks wrote: Fri May 19, 2023 8:45 am The draft being less than a month away also, you would think, means teams need to have their coaching staffs in order for next year. Without actually having team scouts, the assistants are doing a lot of the scouting along with the DPP, so it'll have to be all hands on deck. And certainly if any HCs move on, we'll have to know about it soon - it would be hard to draft players for a team that doesn't have a HC and/or coaching staff.
Beyond just the staff, you'd need to have some decent idea of what the players currently on rosters plan to do. MM said the contracts had mutual options, so it's hard to even determine where to begin when you're doing scouting (other than just scouting every position thoroughly which seems untenable) if you don't know who's coming back.
Depending on how many rounds there are, I think you just take best player available at this point. I'm not sure how many of the guys teams draft next month will break camp with the team next year anyway given they didn't even get signed into the NFL as UDFAs. They're going to be competing with players next year who either already have a season in the team's system or are players who got cut in NFL training camps this year. That's an uphill climb.

Maybe the fall veteran draft is where you have a better idea of what your numbers are (especially with players sticking in the NFL by that point) so that might be used more to patch any roster holes. Wondering if they'll do a supplemental draft again in early 2024, too, as by then options will have been picked up or decline for '24 and they'll have an even better idea of who is coming to camp.
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Re: XFL Announces Rookie Draft to be held on Friday June 16, 2023

Post by MGB01 »

This effectively replaces the summer showcases from a calendar standpoint now that the league is finally into an offseason. The DC showcase was June 17, and they were all basically longform drafts (minus the draft part) anyway.

Although you'll see more guys go this fall admittedly after they've already had their camp time, still a start. Plus it's also an acknowledgement of how big the 2022 rookie class was to the league this past year (Pearson, Smith, West, Rose and more).
GregParks
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Re: XFL Announces Rookie Draft to be held on Friday June 16, 2023

Post by GregParks »

MGB01 wrote: Sun May 21, 2023 2:01 pm This effectively replaces the summer showcases from a calendar standpoint now that the league is finally into an offseason. The DC showcase was June 17, and they were all basically longform drafts (minus the draft part) anyway.
Based on interviews the bosses have done, it sounds like they still want to do showcases this summer - although their partnership with American National Combines could theoretically replace the ones they hold on their own (Houston's DPP Marc Lillibridge Tweeted while at the one today: Or they could supplement their own with the ANC ones. Depends on how deep they want to dig for talent, I guess.
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Re: XFL Announces Rookie Draft to be held on Friday June 16, 2023

Post by MGB01 »

Just for clarification, they wouldn't go away. But now with the league into an actual offseason they wouldn't be the same calling card they were last summer (or the ones from 2019 for that matter)
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Re: XFL Announces Rookie Draft to be held on Friday June 16, 2023

Post by Coffeeeyes »

An attempt to keep XFL fans satisfied for a whole offseason, I don’t really know how this would work though, who are you going to draft? Obvious UDFA’s? Is it going to be like the USFL where you draft a bunch of players that will probably never touch the USFL due to pride and talent?
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Re: XFL Announces Rookie Draft to be held on Friday June 16, 2023

Post by GregParks »

Coffeeeyes wrote: Sun May 21, 2023 5:42 pm An attempt to keep XFL fans satisfied for a whole offseason, I don’t really know how this would work though, who are you going to draft? Obvious UDFA’s? Is it going to be like the USFL where you draft a bunch of players that will probably never touch the USFL due to pride and talent?
It was in the press release: They're drafting players who were eligible for the NFL Draft in April (rookies) but who are not under contract to any pro league. So, a lot of guys who were tryout players at rookie minicamps this past month is my guess. Some of the guys drafted may sign with NFL teams during training camp as the usual roster churn occurs/teams fill injury spots, but the majority of players, if they're not on a team right now, will probably still be available when XFL training camp begins. I can't see why they'd pass up that opportunity.
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Re: XFL Announces Rookie Draft to be held on Friday June 16, 2023

Post by 4th&long »

GregParks wrote: Sun May 21, 2023 6:01 pm
Coffeeeyes wrote: Sun May 21, 2023 5:42 pm An attempt to keep XFL fans satisfied for a whole offseason, I don’t really know how this would work though, who are you going to draft? Obvious UDFA’s? Is it going to be like the USFL where you draft a bunch of players that will probably never touch the USFL due to pride and talent?
It was in the press release: They're drafting players who were eligible for the NFL Draft in April (rookies) but who are not under contract to any pro league. So, a lot of guys who were tryout players at rookie minicamps this past month is my guess. Some of the guys drafted may sign with NFL teams during training camp as the usual roster churn occurs/teams fill injury spots, but the majority of players, if they're not on a team right now, will probably still be available when XFL training camp begins. I can't see why they'd pass up that opportunity.
It seems to me alot like the USFL draft. There the USFL had to guess who went unsigned... the XFL has the benefit of knowing who is not signed, Of course things can change when NFL camp starts.
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Re: XFL Announces Rookie Draft to be held on Friday June 16, 2023

Post by MGB01 »

Gotta appreciate the dedication, no matter how little it has to do with anything
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