The Georgia Swarm have continued with the same team management style that they have used since the Arlotta’s took over the team. The Swarm have accrued a great number of draft picks in the early rounds of this and a number of future drafts. This is something that the Swarm have become known for over the last number of years. The stock of picks are what I, personally, have come to call the Arsenal.
The Swarm have the first, third, fifth, and sixth picks in the first round. With those picks the Swarm will most likely try to get Lyle Thompson, Wes Berg and Jesse King. All three have the potential to light up the NLL as rookies. Thompson can probably be slotted as the number one pick, mainly due to the fact that the Swarm already have Miles Thompson on the roster. The Thompson’s are probably the hottest players in the lacrosse world right now. It also makes sense from a play aspect as well seeing as Miles and Lyle both play for the Can- Am Onondaga Redhawks. That leaves Berg and King on the top of the list for the Swarm. King may go before the third pick to the Rochester Knighthawks, although with Rochester’s offensive power maybe grabbing Graeme Hossack or Chad Tutton who are defense and transition respectively. If King is at three then the Swarm should grab him OR if Graeme Hossack falls to three they will have a good position to improve the offense and the defense in just two picks. That will leave options at the number five and six picks of the first round. They could go for Berg or for Derek Searle, who is a defenseman from the MSL’s Kitchener- Waterloo Kodiaks. Searle as the number five or the six pick will depend on whether the Swarm get Hossack just a few picks before and if Berg is still on the board.
The Swarm have two major concerns going into the draft, replacing Callum Crawford while also boosting the offense to the next level, and building up a defense that showed glimpses of being a very good corps in the NLL. The defense may be the more pressing matter but with the insanely high amount of pure offensive talent early on in the draft missing out on really any of the players in the first round and maybe into the second round.
The Swarm will not pick tell number 20 in the second round, after the number six pick. They will then pick at numbers 34, 43, and 50 in the late rounds of the draft. The Swarm will miss out on the third round as they currently have no picks. The team could have a high probability of moving things around through draft day trades.
The Swarm will be the team to watch during the draft.
