Hawai'i Wayfinders 2059

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ALOHA OHANA!

Our Wayfinders came back down to earth a bit last year, bringing an end to a brilliant streak of playoff appearances featuring the first two bowl wins in franchise history. The team has been plagued by missed starts over the last two seasons, including a suspension earned by LT Bobby Padron, and in 2058 the missing talent became too much to overcome.

So begins a bit of retooling in Hawai'i. With their longtime offensive coordinator finally leaving for greener pastures as a head coach, the time was ripe for trying a new approach. It appears that the Wayfinders will be transitioning from the West Coast offense and into a spread. While this move is has generally lauded by older fans who remember the glory days of the June Jones Run & Shoot, the front office assessed that the move would not work without an injection of talent at the receiver position. WR Willie Green, who has been an offensive staple in the islands since he was drafted in the third round many years ago, is beginning to show his age, and while the young WR Malachi Strickland is a quality player, he alone is not enough to properly run a spread offense. Adding talent at WR became the immediate priority of the front office, and it showed when it came to draft day--more on that later!

The Wayfinders also reinforced their offensive line by trading away a future pick for one of the league's best guards in RG Ken Washington. Washington's arrival in Honolulu, along with Padron's long-awaited return to his customary position at LT, means that Hawai'i now boasts one of the most talented offensive fronts in all of football. The team has also quietly added some pieces on defense to bolster both the secondary and the defensive front. All in all, it looks like it will be an interesting season in paradise--especially if the new talent on offense can gel quickly!

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DRAFT DAY 2059

1.15 - WR Trevor Azumah
6'3" - 202 lbs - Kentucky
The general consensus was that there was a lack of top-end elite talent at WR in this year's draft, which is how Hawai'i managed to pick the first receiver in the draft at 15th overall. While some were surprised that Hawai'i picked Azumah over Barreras, the Wayfinders front office thought that Azumah's crisp routes and consistency on third down made him the best receiver this year's class. Azumah's imposing size should translate into a commanding presence in the red zone. The Wayfinders said that they were committed to adding talent on the outside of the offense, and they've proven it with this pick.



1.17 - WR Chad Gomez
6'0" - 195 lbs - Oregon
If OSFL GMs were mildly surprised that Azumah went ahead of Barreras, they were even more surprised when Hawai'i added another mid-first pick to take Gomez at 17th overall. "Our assessment was that there are 4-6 quality receivers at the top of this class," said Hawai'i GM nexttwelveexits of the pick, "and so we wanted to add another pick in the bottom half of the first round to make sure we got two of those guys. We got a good offer to add 1.17 without giving up our second round pick this year, so we got out pick of the receivers and we're really happy about that." It remains to be seen whether Gomez's 4.40 40 will translate into explosive big-play ability at the professional level, but even if it doesn't, he projects to be another consistent pass catcher with strong hands who can work the entire field.