After building a coaching staff, starting our roster with the expansion draft, and adding free agents, the 2024 NFL Expansion Series concludes with the 2024 NFL Draft. Thank you to those that wait all year for this annual series—your interest is greatly appreciated. And to those of you that are new to the series, I hope you’ve enjoyed exploring what a 33rd NFL team might look like in its inaugural season.
In case you missed it, here are the first three parts of this year’s series:
Part I: City, Branding, Staff
Part II: The Expansion Draft
Part III: Free Agency
And as a refresher, the current Toronto Stars roster looks like this ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft:
QB: Marcus Mariota
RB: Joe Mixon // Isaiah Spiller // Sean Tucker
WR: Mike Williams
WR: Terrace Marshall Jr.
WR: Kyle Philips // Ben Skowronek
TE: Taysom Hill // Charlie Kolar
OT: Chukwuma Okorafor // Prince Tega Wanogho
OG: Bradley Bozeman
C: Mitch Morse
OG: Sua Opeta
OT: James Hudson III
EDGE: D.J. Wonnum // Bud Dupree
DL: Jonathan Allen // Lawrence Guy // Dean Lowry
DL: Poona Ford // Neil Farrell Jr.
EDGE: Josh Uche // Shaq Lawson
LB: Devin White // Mack Wilson Sr.
LB: De’Vondre Campbell // Grant Stuard
CB: Tre’Davious White
S: Kevin Byard // Adrian Phillips
S: Jordan Poyer
CB: Isaiah Oliver
NB: Avonte Maddox // Tremon Smith
K: Randy Bullock
P: Pressley Harvin III
LS: Jake McQuaide
2024 NFL Draft
As usual, knowing where players go off the board, I will mostly follow Wolf Sports’ big board for the 2024 NFL Draft to help avoid cheating things. Heading into the draft, I had my eye on adding multiple wide receivers (which did not work out), offensive line help, and secondary pieces given those areas of strength in this year’s draft class.
Round 1, Pick 1: QB Caleb Williams, USC
The Stars take a special talent with the top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, with Caleb Williams being mentioned in Part I as someone that our offensive coordinator Chip Kelly could not be higher on. The Williams-Kelly partnership has massive upside to light up the scoreboard when it gets clicking.
Assuming a monstrous offer comes, I would probably move back and take Bo Nix. We are an expansion team that could use all the assets we can get, and I believe that Bo Nix was an undervalued elite prospect we could comfortably get a few picks later. However, it would get a bit crazy determining what that looks like in terms of compensation, and sticking in the draft slots instead of navigating the board keeps things more realistic with the selections.
Round 2, Pick 34: WR Ladd McConkey, Georgia
Keon Coleman going at the No. 33 pick made this pick much easier (and we probably could have gotten both if trading back from No. 1), with Ladd McConkey now being my definite top receiver on the board. McConkey can play any receiver spot, and I love the combination he forms with Mike Williams as our top two receivers.
Round 2, Pick 52: OT Kingsley Suamataia, BYU
It was incredibly tempting to take Florida State cornerback Renardo Green or Missouri cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. here, but given the superb depth of the cornerback class we settled on offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia. The BYU product can play either tackle spot, but he profiles as our long-term blindside protector.
Round 3, Pick 68: S Kamren Kinchens, Miami
It was surprising that Kamren Kinchens didn’t get more early-Day 2 buzz, but we’ll happily take the all-around playmaking safety to begin the third round. He’ll see immediate playing time, but long term Kinchens can fill in for veteran Kevin Byard.
Round 3, Pick 88: CB T.J. Tampa, Iowa State
It’s fair to take some liberties here with draft intel, knowing that Tennessee cornerback Kamal Hadden can be had a little later (likely because of his season-ending shoulder injury and surgery last year, as that’s the only explanation that makes sense). But T.J. Tampa is an instinctive defender that brings more talent to our cornerback room.
Round 4, Pick 105: S Malik Mustapha, Wake Forest
Another defensive back with tremendous instincts, Malik Mustapha was a flash player at Wake Forest. He also fits as a team leader as a former captain that’ll continue boosting our inaugural locker room.
Round 5, Pick 142: CB Kamal Hadden, Tennessee
We stop Hadden’s slide here, as he’s too good to risk dropping much further (despite going much later in real life). Hadden has confidence and playmaking ability to develop into an outstanding starting cornerback.
Round 5, Pick 160: RB Tyrone Tracy Jr., Purdue
The dual threat ability of Tyrone Tracy Jr. is very exciting in Coach Kelly’s offense, as the former receiver can do similar things to what Demetric Felton did for Kelly at UCLA. While Tracy will turn 25 this season, the former receiver can be a Year 1 contributor.
Round 6, Pick 185: QB Devin Leary, Kentucky
The value of Devin Leary at this point in the draft was too enticing to pass up, as he certainly could have been taken in the second or third round of the draft. I’ll note that Peyton Manning called Leary a future NFL quarterback when he was at Louisville at couple of years ago.
Round 6, Pick 200: LB Kalen DeLoach, Florida State
Perhaps undrafted in real life because of his size, Kalen DeLoach brings strong depth at linebacker. We could have messed with the board a bit and taken Jeremiah Trotter Jr. earlier and waited on Hadden—but again, trying to play it straight.
Round 7, Pick 231: G Javion Cohen, Miami
Former Alabama guard Javion Cohen had his draft stock dip at Miami, but he has the type of upside that’s worth gambling on at this point in the draft.
Round 7, Pick 268: DL Fabien Lovett Sr., Florida State
We’ll take another member of Florida State’s defense to complete the 2024 NFL Draft. Surprisingly undrafted, Fabien Lovett Sr. is another talented big man on our defensive interior.
Recap
1.1: QB Caleb Williams, USC
2.34: WR Ladd McConkey, Georgia
2.52: OT Kingsley Suamataia, BYU
3.68: S Kamren Kinchens, Miami
3.88: CB T.J. Tampa, Iowa State
4.105: S Malik Mustapha, Wake Forest
5.142: CB Kamal Hadden, Tennessee
5.160: RB Tyrone Tracy Jr., Purdue
6.185: QB Devin Leary, Kentucky
6.200: LB Kalen DeLoach, Florida State
7.231: G Javion Cohen, Miami
7.268: DL Fabien Lovett Sr., Florida State
Final Roster
The roster now stands at 51 players, so we will have to do some slight contract adjustment to be cap compliant and field a 53-man roster eventually. We’ll look into beefing up the offensive line, will certainly add another tight end (Logan Thomas, who is still available, might be a fit), and will potentially add another wide receiver (Hunter Renfrow?) to the mix. But I think this is a fantastic start to the roster.
It was an uncommon NFL offseason with all the cap savings teams were doing. This led to, I believe, the best expansion draft player pool we’ve ever had—and, in turn, I believe the best inaugural expansion roster yet.
Salary cap: $255,400,000
Total payroll: $254,823,807
Cap space: $576,193
QB: Caleb Williams // Marcus Mariota // Devin Leary
RB: Joe Mixon // Isaiah Spiller // Tyrone Tracy Jr. // Sean Tucker
WR: Mike Williams
WR: Ladd McConkey // Kyle Philips
WR: Terrace Marshall Jr. // Ben Skowronek
TE: Taysom Hill // Charlie Kolar
OT: Kingsley Suamataia // Prince Tega Wanogho
OG: Bradley Bozeman // Javion Cohen
C: Mitch Morse
OG: Sua Opeta
OT: Chukwuma Okorafor // James Hudson III
EDGE: D.J. Wonnum // Bud Dupree
DL: Jonathan Allen // Lawrence Guy // Dean Lowry
DL: Poona Ford // Neil Farrell Jr. // Fabien Lovett Sr.
EDGE: Josh Uche // Shaq Lawson
LB: Devin White // Mack Wilson Sr.
LB: De’Vondre Campbell // Kalen DeLoach // Grant Stuard
CB: Tre’Davious White // T.J. Tampa
S: Kevin Byard // Kamren Kinchens // Malik Mustapha
S: Jordan Poyer // Adrian Phillips
CB: Kamal Hadden // Isaiah Oliver
NB: Avonte Maddox // Tremon Smith
K: Randy Bullock
P: Pressley Harvin III
LS: Jake McQuaide
Summary/Expectations
The cap situation for 2024 is tight due to our aggressiveness in picking up big contracts during the expansion draft, but we’ll have flexibility in future years. For Year 1, the Stars should at least be a solid team considering Bill Belichick is our coach and we have plenty of pieces and depth on all three levels of the defense—but the play of the offensive line will likely determine how far this team can go.
Overall, while a championship may be unlikely, we anticipate playing football into January this season. Our upside to play in Super Bowl LX in a couple of seasons and compete for titles beyond that will come down largely to whether Caleb Williams becomes a superstar quarterback to complement what should eventually be an elite Belichick-coached defense.