Silver Dragon Draft Results

Head Coach Ray Rhodes did an excellent job of adjusting to the flow and pace of the CDFL draft, held Saturday Aug 9. GM Mark Trollinger and Rhodes met Saturday afternoon to discuss Hayashi's plan of attack - a plan focusing on speed and mobility. As the draft unfolded, Rhodes had to adjust the team's plan slightly, but overall stayed true and assembled a competitive team in an extremely deep league. Based on reports Apex would draft RB Priest Holmes with the league's first pick, Rhodes only had to concern himself with the Steubenville Snails possibly stealing his first round prize. The Silver Dragons have always had a tradition of a top featured running back such as Barry Sanders, Edgerrin James and Bo Jackson. When the Snails, somewhat surprisingly, selected QB Rich Gannon with its pick, Rhodes took his main target of RB Ricky Williams. Rhodes next targets were somewhat lofty - he was hoping the numbers would fall his way and secure QB Mike Vick, WR Marvin Harrison and WR Randy Moss. Operating in a snaking draft, there would be many picks between Ricky Williams and Hayashi's second pick, however holding the third draft position Rhodes could select his #2 and #3 picks in close proximaty. Hayashi's hopes of stealing the targeting trio quickly disappeared when Vick was nabbed by Martins Ferry and Harrison soon followed. The league was focusing heavily on the running back positions, which allowed Rhodes to select Randy Moss at number 2. As Hayashi's number 3 spot quickly approached and the league began taking QB's, Rhodes took QB Chad Pennington from the team's want list. With a star RB, top notch wide receiver with goods hands and speed and a young QB with a good arm and high passing percentage in tow, Hayashi began to round out it's team based on their pre-draft shopping list. Despite a dismal finish to last season, the Silver Dragons were not looking to totally clean house. Rhodes hoped team Captain Edgerrin James would slip into the middle rounds due to injury concerns. However the Silver Dragon brass faced deja vu as rival Aaron Kauffman and the Tempe Tantrums signed James the way it did Barry Sanders in the 1991 draft. Trollinger eventually was able to trade for Sanders that season. Will he be able to do the same with James? Also targeted were long time Silver Dragons Steve McNair and Frank Wycheck. Both would have played key backup jobs and provided leadership to new Silver Dragon players. In the end, the only returning player from last year's team was RB T.J. Duckett. Rhodes did pick a handful of former Silver Dragons. Returning to Hayashi are TE Byron Chamberlain, QB Kordell Stewart and former first round selection QB Jake Plummer. Rhodes complimented Randy Moss with rising stars Koren Robinson and Chad Johnson, then later speedsters MarTay Jenkins, Shawn Jefferson and sure handed Kevin Dyson. Gambeling Hayashi's opponents might face injuries to their key personnel, Rhodes selected backup RB's Larry Johnson and Olandis Gary. Afterwards, Trollinger was pleased. "Even with the loss of some of our main targets, we were able to generally stick with the game plan. We picked up four quality QB's, a stud and powerhouse at RB and a core of speedy WRs. With the depty of this league and the scattering of stars across the board, I like our chances with anyone."