While there is a fair amount of randomness to it, you can get a good idea of which direction your players are going to develop starting with their first training camp. I thought I'd share how Denver fared with our picks - feel free to jump in with your own team's analysis!

1-16 Shawn Carter - SLB - future jumped from 83 to 88, which was a pretty nice gain. Pleased to see our first round at least initially shows no signs of being a bust!

2-15 Matthew Dinges - TE - future dropped from 71 to 69. Not a good sign. This was a BPA selection, we aren't hurting for tight end, and it's a good thing because unless his development changes course we may have wasted this pick.

3-14 Anthony Green - RB - We chose a RB here, again more of a BPA, and also to start grooming the heir to Clyde Hodge. He jumped from 66 to 72 for his future, which means that he is showing promise. Hopefully he'll continue on this trend.

4-13 Fernando Nigro - WLB - We needed some more depth at LB, Nigro looked promising. His future didn't move, implying that he is what we thought he was.

4-19 John Crew - CB - We traded up to snag Crew in the 4th round, and so far it looks like he might be a sleeper. Jumped from 67 to 72 in his first training camp. He could be the steal of our draft if he keeps that up.

6-17 Rodolfo Kirk - CB - Not content with just one CB, we grabbed a 62-future CB to see if we could get lucky on at least one of the two. As promising as Crew looks after his first camp, Kirk looks just as disappointing. Dropped from 62 to 54. With a drop like that, he probably won't make the team.

7-16 Paul Sykes - LT - The Colorado version of Mr. Irrelevant, Sykes moved from 45 to 46, which means nothing in terms of what his long term direction prognosis would be, except that he probably won't boom. Like most 7th rounders, he will probably not see any regular season time and probably won't even see pre-season time.

This would be a good feature to implement.

The info is available on the "Progress" section of the player page - I didn't do any data mining that no one else has access to. I do have it on the list to display this information on the actual roster page so you don't have to go to the progress graph to see - but it wasn't too bad, I just opened each drafted player in a new tab in my browser and translated what I saw. Hover over the red line (for newly drafted players there are just two points to hover over right now) and you'll see what your player did.

FWIW, it's also probably a good idea to investigate this graph before closing on a trade for a player.

Here is how the Green Bay draft shaped up.

1-19: Gerald Foster - SS - future jumped from 84 to 88. This was a definite pick based on need and so far we are not disappointed. Hopefully he can become a starter by next season.

2-19: David Boger - WR - future jumped from 77 to 85. Boger could end up being the equivalent of a first round pick if he continues his current development. This was a BPA selection as the last few 70+ players were disappearing quickly.

3-19: Thomas Lockwood - RT – This was a depth pick as our right tackle situation is nothing to be overly happy about. Lockwood flat lined and remained at 62 which means that he is neither a bust or a steal. For a third rounder, we have to be honest and say that we are a bit disappointed so far.

4-19: (to Denver) We accepted Denver’s trade off of our 4th round pick for their 5th round pick.

5-18: (from Denver) Gregory Costello - C – Another depth pick to help shore up the center position. Costello also flat lined at 52 which may indicate that he will remain as a backup/depth player.

5-19: Felipe Beverage - SS – He certainly has a unique name. His future took a slight bump from 60 to 63 which was a pleasant surprise. Beverage may add some much needed depth to the strong safety position.

6-19: Richard Wright - FS – Wright was another depth pick to help bolster the secondary. Wright also flat lined at 52 which means that he will have to battle for playing time.

7-19: Glen Puryear - QB – Our Mr. Irrelevant. Puryear inched up from 38 to 40, which means that we will have to continue our search for a 3rd string QB. He is a definite cut.

Overall we are mildly happy with our draft. We may have 2 future starters and also have added some much needed depth to the offensive line and secondary.

Here is how the Kansas City training camp turned out.


1) 81 James Robinson TE climbed quickly from a current rating of 38 to 50 and a future rating of 98 to 99. So definitely not a bust for our first pick.

2) 35 Frank Hepp RB went from a future of 75 to 69, so much for a backup RB. At that rate, this was a wasted pick.

3) 17 Wiley Beard WR went from 65 to 67, not a lot of change so maybe in a few seasons he might make a difference in our aging WR core.

4) 42 Eric Smith RB went from 52 to 51, not quite what we were looking for in this pick. Running backs just not panning out for us.

5) 83 James Yates TE, this pick falls in the I wouldn’t have picked him if I had been there to monitor it. However he is showing some modest progress going from a future of 59 to 63.

6) Irrelevant pick 1, 15 Victor Wilson QB, 43 to 42 won’t make the team with that performance.

7) Irrelevant pick 2, 14 Cornelius WR, made no change in his future progress so he won’t be hanging around long either.

"Waterboy!"