After a disappointing 2036 campaign which saw the Phantoms take a step back from 10-6 to 6-10, the direction the team took in the 2037 draft was going to give important insight into the future of the team. At the start of the 2037 season, ACI had the following 2037 draft picks: 1-13, 2-12, 3-11, 6-12 and 7-11. Would they stay status quo and draft from their board? Would they be active in moving around in the draft collecting additional picks as a sign of another rebuild? Or would they trade picks for veteran players in a win now move and a run at an elusive playoff spot?

The first signs of the plan came just days before the draft as ACI completed three trades:

2037 2-12 to Arizona for 6th year CB Leo Pasquarella and a 2038 3rd round pick
2038 5th round pick to Atlanta for 2nd year RB Mark Pichietti
2037 7-11 to Durham for 6th year FB Toby Griffith

The message: Atlantic City was going to bring in veteran players to fill holes in hopes of getting to the playoffs in 1 to 2 years, not 3 to 4 years. The direction was made even clearer with rumors that ACI was very close to acquiring QB Marvin Tubbs but were outbid. With QB Rico Firth entering a contract year and 2nd year QB Amos Bradford still 2-3 years away from being a solid starter, the deal made sense. It was a near miss but a sign of things to come.


On draft day, ACI once again jumped into the trade waters as they made a deal with Boston that included their first round pick at 1-13:

2037 1-13 to Boston for 2037 2-2, 3-5, 5-3 and a 2038 3rd round pick

What was the logic behind the deal? ACI really liked four players on the board but pick 1-13 was too high for any of them. The hope was that one of them would drop to 2-2 while the additional picks acquired could be used as trade bait or used for drafting some solid mid-range players. After some investigative work, it was determined the four players were TE Bob Solano, TE Dusty Hawkins, G Sedrick Janjic and G Max Perroni.

The plan seemed to be going great as none of the target players were taken until pick 1-29, when Perroni was selected by Omaha. At pick 1-32, the CFL juggernaut known as Hartford grabbed Solano. With only one pick left until ACI’s selection, two players were left so the strategy seemed to be a success. Despite a late offer to move down in round 2, ACI stuck to their plan and stayed put. Durham traded into slot 2-1 and selected Hawkins (who would have been the choice if Hawkins and Janjic were still available at 2-2). Faster than you can say “Atlantic City is on the clock”, the pick was in and the Phantoms grabbed Janjic. Although a bit tense at the end, the trade down was a success.

As the Atlantic City scouts crowded around the draft board looking at options for 3-5 and 3-11, the GM and Head Coach went into a private meeting. Less than 2 hours later, a report surfaced that Atlantic City still wanted a TE and had contacted Shreveport about Carlos Polhemus. In his 4th year, Polhemus is one of the highest rated tight ends in the CFL and has been on the block for a few weeks.

As the scouts left the war room for a late dinner, the trade was announced.

2037 picks 3-5 and 3-11 plus ACI’s 2038 first round pick to Shreveport for TE Carlos Polhemus


Atlantic City is now left with two remaining picks: 5-3 and 6-12. You would think that they would stand pat and draft a couple projects but you never know.

_________________

Great read!

_________________