Nothing is better than IFL Draft Saturday. It is Christmas time in the IFL.

Everyone is a fucking expert. We all walk up to the podium and announce our selections. You never hear, “I am a stupid piece of shit. I have no idea what I am doing. The guy I’m drafting isn’t that good!” Hell no, we stand up and state how great the player we are drafting is. I can’t believe you fools let him fall to me. This guy is a stud. He is going to lead my team to the Super Bowl.

How stupid can a person be? It isn’t like we drafted Logan Hall early in the 1st round. It isn’t like we took Jeff Okudah 4 -5 rounds before he should have been drafted. It isn’t like we had 4 picks in a row in the 2nd round and took every linebacker still on the board. (It is true, though, that Troy Anderson should hit this year).

We all know the folklore about the 1.16. Someone keeps screaming to whoever will listen to him. You know; a short guy. Drives a black sportscar. Pulled a Smeagol in Vegas and lost his ring. “The 1.16 is worthless. You are a stupid son of bitch. Drink break!” (Hey dumbass, stop deep throating the bottle. It is empty).

Being a draft history buff, I thought it would be fun to write a new series where all of the picks in round one, are ranked. This article is all about the 1.16. I will get through the entire 1st round by the time the regular season starts. We have had 8 drafts since the IFL’s inception. This year the two players selected with the 1.16 are Drew Sanders and CJ Stroud. Only time will tell if those were good or bad picks.

Not counting this year, there were 14 total players selected by the AFC and NFC with the 1.16. I don’t know who all of the specific owners were since the start of the IFL so I am just listing the IFL team that selected the player. For players that have been in the league for multiple seasons I divided their points by the number of years in the league to come up with an average that I used to help rank them.

Since abuse and embarrassment is more fun, I decided to start with the best pick and end with the worst.

1 of 14: Deion Jones – LB – Drafted in 2016 in NFC by New York Giants.

Jones was the best 1.16 pick in IFL history. He has the highest average points of 225.13 spread out over 7 seasons. Jones has been highly consistent and has been near the top of IDP linebackers for several years. This was a fantastic pick.

2 of 14: Quay Walker – LB – Drafted in 2022 in NFC by Green Bay.

Walker was the 3rd LB picked in round 1 last year and he was the best. Devin Lloyd and Nakobe Dean were both selected by New Orleans before Walker went off the board. Walker landed in an ideal spot with Packers and he hardly came off the field. He had over 120 tackles and posted 266.85 points in the IFL. The future is looking bright for Walker who should be an IDP standout for many years.

3 out of 14: Kayvon Thibodeax – DE – Drafted in 2022 in AFC by LA Chargers

It was kind of a surprise that Thibodeax dropped to the 1.16 in the IFL draft. He may have been viewed as a player with a bad attitude or maybe a bit of tweaner. I remember Josh swooping him up and being very pleased with this value. Josh was correct. Kayvon battled some minor injuries early in the season and exploded the last several games of the year. Kayvon ended up with 204.35 points with some monster games. Moving forward Kayvon is the type of player who can put up 30 plus points on any week.

4 out fo 14: AJ Dillon – RB – Selected in 2020 Draft by Tamp Bay

Quadzilla has been in the IFL for 3 seasons. He has averaged 191.73 points over his 3 years. Each year we wait patiently for Jones to go away. Aaron Rodgers is gone and the Packers will be forced to run the ball more than ever. Now that Jones is almost 28 years old, this could be the year and Dillon takes over. While he will probably never been Derrick Henry, it isn’t out of the question that Dillon will soon get to 15 – 20 carries per game. He was a very solid pick and his potential has not been reached.

5 out of 14: Marquis Brown – WR – Selected in 2019 by Philadelphia Eagles

Brown entered the league with all of the flash and excitement that Tiff loved. The hope was that Brown would be the 2nd coming of Antonio Brown. During his first 4 years in the league, Brown has averaged 190.35 points. His average doesn’t warrant him being this high. I am factoring in that he is finally going to be the man in Arizona. I suppose that is like saying you are the best looking guy in uglytown, but who cares. You still get laid alot. Brown will see a shitload of targets so his potential moving forward should put him well north of 200 points per season.

6 and 7 out of 14 is Christian Kirk WR – Selected by New England and Carolina in 2018.

Christian Kirk is one of two players who were selected by the AFC and NFC in the same year at the 1.16. Kirk first four years in the league started out slow. He picked up steam as he moved from Arizona to Jacksonville. Kirk has averaged 200.5 points over his 5 year career in the IFL. He signed that surprisingly large contract with the Jaguars a year ago and performed well. With Trevor Lawrence coming into his own, I would expect Kirk to continue his average of 200 points per year. The only question is how much Calvin Ridley takes targets from Kirk. Kirk won’t give win you a Championship but he certainly isn’t a bust. He is steady. That is why I have him in the middle.

8 and 9 out of 14 is Evan Engram – TE – Selected by Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints in 2017

It sucks to draft a tight end and see him do very little for you until year 6 in the league. Despite the frustrations with Engram, he has averaged 195.52 points over his 6 years in the league. This is a bit misleading since his monster year last year boosted up his average. Engram has been frustrating hard to start. He could get you 20 points or 2 points per game from week to week. For most of his career he is a questionable start. For the lucky owner of Engram now, he is a solid player, just not so much for the team that drafted him.

10 out of 14 is Noah Fant – TE – Selected in 2019 by Houston Texans

It was a better pick than Logan Hall. When Fant came out of school there was debate if he would be better than TJ Hockenson. Over the last 4 years Fant has averaged 190.72 points in the IFL. He may be startable in the AFC West, but he won’t win you any Championships. Everyone was hoping the trade to Seattle would be a good thing, but he just doesn’t get many opportunities.

11 out of 14 is Jeremiah Owusu Koramoah – LB – Selected in 2021 by the Las Vegas Raiders (Future 2023 IFL Champ, I hope)

JOK is undersized and he seems to always be hurt. Sometimes he gets 10 tackles and sometimes he disappears. During his first two years in the league, JOK has averaged 163.75 points per game. I would classify him as an average LB. If he could stay on the field, he would score over 200 points per game. He still has potential but patience for him is waning.

12 out of 14 is Trey Lance – QB – Selected by New York Giants in 2021 (Yes it will be worse in AFC here later in the summer)

The 49ers traded so many picks to move up and get their guy. Lance is a great athlete but can he actually read a defense and throw a football. Can anyone flourish in the Shannahan system? We may never know. Lance suffered season ending injury at the beginning of the season and he may have lost his job permanently to Mr Irrelevant. This pick has a high potential to be a complete bust.

13 out of 14 is Keshawn Vaughn – RB – Selected by Las Vegas Raiders in 2020.

I have said it before and I will say it again, “Fuck you Dave!”. I had Joe Burrow all queued up and ready to go. You took him with the 1.15. In desperation, I went with the IFL scoring system and the Bucs offense and selected My Vaughn. I will always hear Matt in my head, “Nice job in Franchise Tag Auction, How is the 1.16 doing for you?” Vaughn has averaged 27.58 points over the last 3 years. He is a complete bust. That was a sad moment in my life.

14 out of 14 is Leonte Carroo – WR – Selected in 2016 by Jacksonville Jaguars.

I will guess that half of the people in this league don’t even remember this name. I had to do some research, as well. Carroo was drafted in the 3rd round in 2016 by the Miami Dolphins. He struggled and found himself near the end of the depth chart. After Devante Parker got hurt, he caught about 3 balls over 10 games. During his second year he had some medical issues and he never really played after his second season. He averaged 9.58 points over his 3 years in the league. He is the biggest draft bust in the history of the IFL with the 1.16.

There you have it. As you can see, overall the selections with the 1.16 weren’t horrible. I would say Deion Jones is the only historically really great pick with the 1.16. There are a couple of young players who are looking pretty good. Only 3 players are probably leaning toward bust category. As I move up the draft positions, we will see bigger successes and busts because of the draft capital used. Stay tuned for more articles to come in this 16 part series.