Doesn’t it just feel good to be back?
There’s a buzz in the air, a spring in my step, and that old familiar feeling of football season has gone and snuck right upon us once more. And for the first time in three years, I’ve been able to really dig into fantasy football prior to the draft. This represents a return to the glory days of the Outlaws, and I’m pretty sure I can speak for everyone when I say, the world just cannot wait. I think it’s really happening. I feel like that scene in Lion King when Simba finally comes back to Pride Rock, and shit is all messed, hyenas everywhere. We had a damn autodrafted team win last year! What’s happened these last three years? It’s time for some Febreze, Mr. Clean, and Miracle-Gro up in this Red Zone. No more elephant bones here, no sir. So now is the part where I’m supposed to rip y’all up, say your hard work was for naught, and essentially give you a good ol’ virtual spit in the eye. But you see, being a man of the healing arts (you should see my face as I write this), I have grown and transcended into a different plane of thinking. I am here to love, not divide. I am here to encourage, not dishearten. I am here to guide y’all on the path to excellency, and my hard work starts today. There is plenty of good for me to throw around. Honestly, all of y’all did a good job this year. I’m impressed. My nit-picking is extra nit-picky this year. We have ten good teams. Plus, I plan to just rip y’all up as I resume my rightful mantle as our weekly writer. So there’s that. Vitriol comes later, now it the season of optimism. And get a cup of coffee, because, as the bailiff in Deuce Bigalow would say regarding this post, "That's a huuuuuge bitch." Every year I try to make a new spin on how to start the season. What kind of analysis or comparison am I going to do this year?
I mean these things are just obvious. Some things cannot be ignored. But I don’t need to spell that nonsense out. This year, I have a novel idea. For those of you who are very into trashy US-Weekly style magazines, so therefore all nine of you, I am adopting our own version of “Who Wore It Better.” Though, since I can offer no viable critiques of any of y’all’s wardrobe, except you, my wonderful wife who I love ever so much, I have evolved this into… Who Drafted It Better Each team will be judged on its overall drafting strategy and compared to its “buddy” team this year, another one adopting a similar general strategy. Then we’re going to highlight the things each one did well, and the things each one did not so well. QBs are hats, WRs are tops, RBs are pants, TEs are shoes, bench players are accessories. Warning – my descriptions will make your eyes bleed. Leading us off, we have the Big City Hillbillies. BCH chose to utterly dominate one position group, perhaps to the point of reckless overkill, while also sinking a relatively small investment into the RB position, with two nice RB choices being complementary backs with upside, Coleman and Duke. Squint your eyes, and what do you see? That looks like the same strategy that IO employed. IO has an equivalent level of dominance, but this time at the WR position, and the overall RB investment was light, featuring upside guys like Michel and Chubb. So viewers, the question is, which team drafted it best? Evan, in your own way, you’re a pioneer. No one in Red Zone history has tried to amass talent at the TE position like you’re doing. In that same vein though, since we only start one TE weekly, the perception is that an advantage at that position is less valuable than dominating at either WR or RB. Because you invested $64 (!) into TE, clearly both the depth and elite talent at every other position (except QB) is going to be lacking. That could actually be okay, as Gronk can offer a massive PPG advantage over your nine opponents, but Kelce in the flex is the question mark here. WHAT WORKED: Gronk represents one of the best values in the draft, year after year. That $38 is usually worth every penny, even if it makes the drafter feel a little envious regarding other positional depth. I also love the Tevin Coleman pickup. As a potential free agent, he offers both RB1 upside and excellent keeper value. That was your best pick. I’m also a fan of the Hilton pick. With a healthy Luck, he offers top-5 potential. For $29, that’s an absolute steal. With two unspectacular-but-dependable RBs, the chance of an elite WR, and Gronk at TE, that team could compete with almost anyone. WHAT DIDN'T: I don’t want to belabor the Kelce pick, but that $26 investment could prove very costly. Don’t forget that Jordy Nelson also cost $12. With that kind of capital, BCH could have nabbed Mixon or Evans, or it could have scored Baldwin, Diggs, or Fitzgerald with plenty to spare. I like Marquise Goodwin, but relying on him as an every-week WR2 with Randall Cobb backing him up makes me nervous. I also don’t like passing on Tarik Cohen. Duke cost BCH $5, and Cohen was $4. That pick would offer more safety here. As for IO, the question of the season is whether IO can get reliable RB2-level play from its stable of RBs. With a trio of WRs rivaling BCH’s TE elitism, IO simply needs passable RB production to outpace its weekly competition. Do Drake, Ajayi, Miller, Michel, and Chubb offer enough consistency and upside? That remains to be seen. But with a pass-catching corps of Brown, Allen, Green, and Engram, the idea is that they won’t have to do much heavy lifting. WHAT WORKED: We have to start with Evan Engram for $2. That’s the early frontrunner for “Steal of the Draft.” Engram was last year’s TE5 as a rookie despite missing two games, and his youth suggests he may improve on that figure. Beyond that, I think that Drake at $17 represents excellent value. I’m a huge fan of Drake, and I would be surprised if his talent doesn’t allow for at least RB2 production. WHAT DIDN'T: Drafting Njoku was an error, plain and simple. That was the case of an “I’ll nominate so someone else pays,” strategy going wrong. No one bid, meaning a valuable roster space that could have been used to draft Nick Chubb, rather than having to use FAAB and losing the keeper option, was no longer available. That might end up being consequential. Also, Andrew Luck for $4 is a question mark. It’s a gamble, and one that doesn’t look as appealing as Cam Newton for $4, or Aaron Rodgers for $9. THE VERDICT: I think the Outlaws win this one. BCH has a mild edge at QB, top-end RB but not depth, and TE, but the WRs of IO are just devastating and can make up those smallish gaps. Engram is the key, offering IO “Gronk lite” production, the one area where BCH focused its talents. BCH is rocking a classic grey beanie with a pristine-condition vintage T-shirt…of Sum 41. He’s got a slightly too-baggy pair of svelte dark jeans, with Air Jordan I’s in the Royal color-scheme. There’s a chain wallet hanging from his belt. Meanwhile IO is going with the risky look of a cowboy hat, with a perfectly tailored coffee-colored leather jacket over a light blue oxford button up, with muddy, worn, straight-cut light (ew) jeans and a pair of Red Wing boots. He has a big belt buckle. Advantage IO. Next, we have the Northside Angels. NSA immediately focused on acquiring an elite RB for an astronomical pricetag (Bell for $74). That was paired with a nice third-tier RB talent, however with some serious question marks (McCoy for $33), forming an exciting duo. Grabbing another unexciting but starting RB (Collins at $18) offers a nice floor and stable flex play. Due to the huge investment at RB, there was a need for some bargain hunting to find viable WR options. This was successful, with the young Evans ($32) and old Tate ($15) offering potential WR1 upside. A sizeable investment in an aging TE followed (Olsen at $12), with the rest of the team being largely WRs with upside. Who else pulled from this exact playbook? Why that’s the 90 Degree Putters, of course! The Putters grabbed Elliot ($68) instead of Bell, Mixon ($37) instead of McCoy, and Crowell ($7) instead of Collins. They also took Diggs ($25) instead of Evans, Thomas ($12) instead of Tate, and Graham ($7) instead of Olsen. Who drafted it best? Both teams are quite balanced, but did employ a slightly RB-heavy approach for the starting lineup, with a WR-centric bench. Both will likely be starting 3 RBs at full strength, with very viable RB4s - Burkhead for NSA and Thompson for 90*. NSA’s outcome this season will obviously be tied to the health of Bell and McCoy, but the presence of Collins and Burkhead actually could be playoff-worthy under opportune circumstances. Evans has been THE WR1 before, but he’s trended downwards ever since. Can he rebound, especially with the QB turmoil in Tampa Bay and the presence of other talented pass-catchers (Jackson, Godwin, Brate, Howard)? I’m not so sure. WHAT WORKED: My favorite pick here was the Burkhead pick. I think Belichick will carve out a nice role for him, even with Sony Michel in New England. I also think the value of a $1 Ben Roethlisberger is fantastic. The combination of Bell and Ben is going to give NSA opponents nightmares. I’m guessing about six times this year, NSA will get double credit for TDs, which can swing a whole week. Bell is going to get a HEAVY workload this year in preparation for Pittsburgh cutting him loose. McCoy is still McCoy. The Bills sucking doesn’t change that. $33 is a great price. WHAT DIDN'T: The Greg Olsen pick at $12 is arguably my least favorite of the entire draft. Not only do I not believe in Olsen coming back fully from his injury this year, he was going to do color commentary and retire…until Jason Witten was offered his job at the network. Adapting to the auction is critical, and there was value to be mined at tight end this year. Olsen was a gross overpay. I also dislike the Tate pick. Yes, there are targets to spare from Ebron’s absence, but those are mainly red zone targets that will go to the emerging Kenny Golladay and also Marvin Jones. Tate is leaving after this season; I think he’s being phased out. On top of that, he has an undeserved reputation of being consistent. Strangely, Tate is about as boom-bust as anyone. Check if you don’t believe me. I have no idea where he got the reputation. Between Evans, Tate, Stills, Ginn, Jackson, Miller, and Amendola, I really don’t see one single “dependable” WR of the bunch. There’s upside to be sure – Stills or Amendola could be the Dolphin’s primary target, Miller could play the Mohammed Sanu to Robinson’s Julio Jones, and Jackson and Ginn can blow up any week. But is there a single guy that’s “safe?” I’m not sure. *Of note, Amendola just got dropped for Donte Moncrief as I wrote this. My point is made even stronger, I believe.* As for 90*, I see them taking an overall riskier approach, if that’s even possible. This team is incredibly risky, though I do genuinely like the choices. Let’s break it down. WHAT WORKED: Grabbing Chris Thompson for $4 is one of my very favorite picks of the draft, and is one of the "Steals of the Draft." This guy established himself as a bonafide RB1 last year prior to injury, and he’s almost an afterthought on your team. Taking the Julian Edelman ($4) gamble is a cheap, worthwhile lottery ticket. He could be an every-week flex play for 90*, depending on Crowell, Thompson’s, Watkins’ ($7), and Fuller’s ($3) production. This bench is DEEP. The combination of Fuller and Watson ($7) pretty much won IO like three games alone last year. That could be a fun ride for the Putters, and the investment was minimal. WHAT DIDN'T: I want to like Joe Mixon. I really do. I watch him play and enjoy the flashes of his clear talent. But he really, really doesn’t show it often enough. I know the Bengals revamped their offensive line, which I’m excited about for my own AJ Green, but I think Mixon still could struggle this year with his maddening inconsistency. Also, Elliot’s offensive line is suddenly not the top-end unit it once was. How will that affect him? I personally dropped him down my board a bit due to Travis Frederick, to the point where I would consider (gasp!) Saquon Barkley and Melvin Gordon over him. Hot take indeed. Every major position player on this team has questions. Elliot and Mixon have been covered. Diggs is incredibly injury prone. Thomas may be washed up. Crowell is…Crowell. Graham frankly didn’t run like his old self last year. Watson played SIX GAMES. This may be a powderkeg. At least the bench is solid. THE VERDICT: Though I cannot stand the TE decision, and I am wholly underwhelmed by the bench, I have to give the slight edge to NSA. Bell > Elliot, McCoy > Mixon, Evans > Diggs, and Collins > Crowell, and frankly that’s enough for me to make my call. If any injuries hit either team though, count on 90* weathering the storm while NSA flounders. NSA is wearing an ushanka with a stand collar green military jacket, dark brown khakis, and Teva Hudsons. He’s wearing dog tags. 90* is wearing an ascot cap with a brown checkered knit sweater, with olive chinos and blinding white espadrilles. He’s holding a baguette that he brought from home. Advantage NSA. Next, we are on to the Troll Hunters! Because of TH’s semi-expensive keepers, they were essentially limited to acquiring just two additional impact players, none of them elite, making an equivalent value corps of 2 RBs and 2 WRs – Cook and Hunt, Jones and Cooks. This offers nice stability, though it is lacking any big-name, blue chip talent. This stretched the TH dollars a bit further, allowing for some intriguing complementary pieces. Is there another team that followed that plan? There sure is, the River Gypsies. The Gypsies also acquired a safe four-man corps missing that (potentially overpriced) blue chip talent, though in typical Gentry fashion, he favored the RB side of the equation just slightly. His core players are Fournette, McCaffrey, Adams, and McKinnon. He did have the luxury of a less expensive keeper, JuJu Smith-Schuster, allowing for a little bit more WR flexibility than TH had, which perhaps explains his RB-favoring. So who drafted it best? The Troll Hunters staked their claim on acquiring their four critical pieces, with one lesser flex play (Henry), and foregoing the TE and QB position until late, for cheap. Generally, that’s the most advantageous strategy. In this auction though, TE and QB were pretty alarmingly undervalued, and a small increase in budget could yield a huge increase in return. Choosing Brees and Doyle for $2 total kind of pales in comparison to grabbing Wilson for $3 and Engram or Rudolph for $2. There was an opportunity there, but the strategizing didn’t hold up. WHAT WORKED: In general, I love the aggression. Your keepers were a little pricy (but still valuable of course!), so TH started with less cash. That didn’t curb the spending appeal, with TH immediately grabbing Jones ($47) and Hunt ($57) for what I see as decent values. Jones especially. I think the Jamison Crowder pick was a savvy one, especially in the context of your strapped budget. You had very little wiggle room, and you still managed to secure two dependable WR3-4s (Garcon and Crowder) and your all-important Latavius Murray handcuff ($1). Excellent late-auction nomination discipline. WHAT DIDN'T: As I alluded to earlier, I don’t like the Doyle pick at $1. But really, it stems from the Derrick Henry pick at $18. At that point in the draft, you had ten unfilled spots and 31 dollars left in your budget, for a max bid of $22. TH spent $18 on Derrick Henry. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind Henry, but that was too big of an allocation of your budget, especially in this specific auction with QBs and TEs going for as cheap as they were. That’s when you pivot, spend a little less at flex (Dion Lewis for $11, Lamar Miller for $10), and sink those savings into buying both an elite QB and elite TE. That was actually possible. Brees has a big ol’ name at this point, but with the Saints transitioning to a run-heavy team last year, Brees’ numbers suffered. How’s that going to go this year? Is that really a good bet? As for the Gypsies, they pretty much employed the exact late-game pivot that I just described. They spent a total of $14 to acquire the best QB in football and a TE that has been a top-3 guy multiple times before. That, along with their main core four players, makes it tough to see how this team doesn’t make the playoffs. WHAT WORKED: Grabbing Rodgers for $9 is amazing value. This is another strong contender for “Steal of the Draft.” I also love the two choices for RB – Fournette and McCaffrey. Those are both guys that I was considering (until I opted for a WR-loaded strategy), and I watched MN bid feverishly to try to acquire both of them, so you’re in good company. Fournette’s ankle makes me just the tiniest bit wary, but the improved offensive line and game scripts basically dictates him being monster. Great value at $55. Lastly, I like the decision to keeper JuJu for $6 instead of Tyreek Hill for $12. It’s a bit of a toss-up value-wise, but I think JuJu, while not a safe investment per se, is a safer investment. WHAT DIDN'T: I kiiiiiind of hate the McKinnon pick. I’m sorry Gentry, I know I told you by text it was good value but I was kiiiiiind of being nice. I don’t like the value, don’t like the player, and don’t like the choice for your roster construction. Davante Adams, while undeniably a beast, is about one concussion away from being Jordan-Reed-status. You’ve got Josh Gordon backing him up with JuJu, and then Robby Anderson. I can make arguments for every one of those guys, but I can also make a hell of a lot of arguments against each one. Spending $30 on McKinnon that could have procured Doug Baldwin, TY Hilton, Tyreek Hill (lol), Mike Evans, Larry Fitzgerald, or Stefon Diggs makes me think you swung and missed. You got two stud RBs; go and grab their handcuffs, an upside satellite back (Cohen, nice work), and sink the rest of that money into pairing elite WRs with Adams, not grabbing another equivalent value to your keepered JuJu, like Josh Gordon. Hayden nailed the mindset – no blue chips, two stud RBs, two stud WRs. You fractioned your last WR into a crappy RB and a dangerous gamble at WR. Why’d you do that? As a last note, I was never going to buy Josh Gordon. I knew y’all would make me overpay. You think I’m that dumb? THE VERDICT: If it weren’t for Rodgers, I’d honestly give this to TH. We have to acknowledge that RG had a very nice head start keeper-wise, and since both had great drafts, I’d give TH a lot of credit here. But nope, RG securing the #1 QB for $9 tips the scales. TH is wearing a coon-skin cap (ironically, of course), with a long sleeve white shirt covered by a fashionable black puffy vest. He has dark skinny jeans and soccer cleats (unironically). He has an eyebrow piercing. RG is wearing a motherfucking straw boater hat with a light blue seersucker suit jacket over a plain white shirt with a questionable red paisley tie. He has the matching seersucker suit pants, perfectly cut over some scuffed brown leather loafers. He’s holding a parasol, because he’s a bitch. Advantage RG. Here comes the Mullynation. It’s important to get the keeper situation out of the way from the start. Like RG and 302, MN had an elite keeper situation. That always changes how teams draft from start to finish. So as usual, let’s compare like-with-like, and pit the two teams with the best keepers against each other to see how their strategies fared. We’re leading with the Mullynation, and the partner simply has to be the 302 Cadets. The Mullynation spent $17 on Alvin Kamara and Ty Montgomery, while the 302 Cadets spent $18 on Mike Thomas and Zach Ertz. MN doubled down on that RB strength and spent big to land David Johnson, then grabbed Kamara’s running-mate and RB#6 last year, Mark Ingram. The RB love continued, grabbing Montgomery’s running-mate, Aaron Jones, along with Kerryon Johnson and Marlon Mack. Clearly MN favored RB, as she usually does. She, like NSA and 90*, aimed for a ~$30 value for her WR1, with some bargain hunting to fill out the rest of her WR corps. WHAT WORKED: The trio of David Johnson, Alvin Kamara, and Mark Ingram will give MN an RB corps that theoretically should rival the WR corps of IO and the TE corps of BCH. In their most recent seasons, that’s an RB#1, RB#3, and RB#6. $74 is a great deal to spend, but I personally think people have forgotten a little bit too quickly about how dominant David Johnson last was. Gurley cost $9 more. I also love the moves to get Ingram ($14) and Jones ($5), effectively locking up those backfields. Jamaal Williams is a terrible runner, don’t ask me to consider him. I wont. Amari Cooper is great value at $17. Both he and his QB were injured last year, and the two years prior he had 1,000 yards each year. I was targeting him myself as a backup plan if I lost out on AJ Green. I believe. Kyle Rudolph for $2 is, in my opinion, a better pick than every TE drafted except Engram and maaaybe Walker (I’m not counting Ertz since he was keepered). Kirk loves TEs, and you can’t get much cheaper and safer than $2 for Rudy. WHAT DIDN'T: First of all, MN went pretty hard after the RBs. I get that. But maybe instead of a Marlon Mack pick at the end, she could have parlayed that last roster spot and that $5 into another nice WR bench piece like Cooper Kupp or Mike Williams. I value Mack higher than those guys, so I understand why she went that direction, but there are only four WRs on MN’s roster: Baldwin, Cooper, Davis, and Agholor. There’s risk baked into every one of those guys, except Agholor really. On the same note, I’m tentative about Baldwin. If he’s healthy, great, MN got a little bit of value with the price. If he’s not, MN certainly overpaid, given the other available WRs in that tier. We’ll have to see. Now we have the 302 Cadets. As was mentioned, they also had one hell of a head start on the Red Zone by having Thomas and Ertz for $18. Once again, the Cadets fell under the spell of the Autodraft. Derek peaced out after buying Gurley ($83), Wentz ($5), and Tyreek Hill ($31). That five-man group cost $137, leaving plenty of money to grab another starter-quality RB, maybe two. Autodraft finished the job, six WRs, one QB, and one single solitary RB - Dion Lewis for $11. Oof. Maybe Autodraft felt Derek wasn’t appropriately thankful for its bountiful harvest last year? Either way, this looks a bit rough. This team is not remotely balanced, though I admittedly don’t hate the WRs that Autodraft picked (JUST LIKE HOPKINS LAST YEAR DAMN YOU AUTODRAFT DAMN YOU RIGHT TO HELL). WHAT WORKED: I like the Tyreek Hill pick for $31, especially in the context of the other WRs 302 ended up with, who are all more “stable-floor” than “high-ceiling” guys. Hill will have at least one 30 point game this year, and that’s going to win 302 the week. This is weird; do I give 302 credit for autodraft picks that I liked? Is that kosher? I’m going to do it anyway. I really like the Jarvis Landry ($8) value, though obviously as 302’s SIXTH WR drafted, the roster construction is lacking. Wilson ($3) and Richardson ($1) represent good value, with Richardson having a nice potential breakout, but again, they’re somewhat wasted on this roster. WHAT DIDN'T: I really think Gurley ($83) was a bit of an overpay, unfortunately. With that cost, he’s pretty much required to both stay injury-free and replicate his 2018 efficiency and usage in the year’s #1 offense to validate his $9 premium price above both Bell and Johnson, and $15 (!) more than Elliot. That’s a lot of risk tied to that money. Obviously I could pick apart the Autodraft mess, but that’s kind of low-hanging fruit. The damage is done; the lack of RBs is clear. I would suggest trading Wilson + WR for a bench RB piece, but as usual, those are clutched pretty tightly. And furthermore, everyone already seems to have a pretty good QB option. This one will have to be mended via some aggressive wire moves, methinks. But then why didn’t you grab Nick Chubb?! THE VERDICT: This one doesn’t seem all that close, tipping in MN’s direction. MN built a safe team with immense upside, while 302 built a team absolutely reliant on Dion Lewis getting heavy usage with no real backup plan. MN is wearing a backwards solid blue baseball cap, with a black throwback Adidas Kevin Garnett jersey (you know the one I mean), perfect…woman jeans (?), and some reliable white Adidas Superstars. She’s holding a venti Starbucks caramel macchiato, light ice, skim milk. 302 is wearing a black balaclava (full QB coverage), a luxurious and slimming black Merino wool turtleneck, with black men’s Soffe cotton shorts (yes they make them), and a pair of charcoal Arc’Teryx Norvans. HE’s GOT A KNIFE!!! Advantage MN, unless nighttime burgling is involved. And finally, we have reached our final pairing. We begin with the Veg-Heads (sometimes I forget that’s actually your team name, like for real). The Veg-Heads were at a bit of a disadvantage, especially compared to the two preceding teams, in terms of the keeper situation. Demarco Murray hung like a $27 lead balloon, so clearly, we’ll have to keep that in mind. How did VV build their team in response? Quite reasonably, I’d say. VV spent big on one elite RB and one elite WR, grabbed mostly a mix of established veterans to fill out the remaining spots, with reliance on one rookie RB to provide some potential breakout upside. Aaaand how did their partner in crime do it? TC2, let’s see what you did! TC2 grabbed an elite RB (rookie, but I mean come on, it’s Saquon), elite WR, grabbed a mix of established veterans, and then also grabbed (another) rookie RB for the starting lineup to offer some upside. Two peas in a pod, those Cats and Veggies. So, the Veg-Heads opted for a more robust-WR approach, much like myself, and for that I’ve got to give them all the credit in the world. I mean it’s clearly the correct strategy, right? It insulates from injury. Sure, there isn’t the big allure of having bellcow backs, but that’s okay, isn’t it? Anyway, I appreciate the strategy. WHAT WORKED: OBJ for eleven fewer dollars than my own Antonio Brown makes me feel bad. That’s a good chunk of cash. Well done, VV. Also, locking up both elements of the Seattle backfield for a total of $13 is a pro move. I like Penny, but it’s clear that Carson will have a significant role. Getting both is a cheap way to find an RB2…if one of them is able to take control. If neither can, you’re left with a headache. But no risk, no reward! Fitz ($24) and Hogan ($9) are both criminally undervalued here. Fitzgerald has been a WR1 year after year, despite people always moaning about his age. Hogan is the fourth contender for “Steal of the Draft” this year, along with Engram, Rodgers, and Thompson. I adore that pick. Hogan was an every-week WR1 last year before his injury. People apparently have forgotten. I also like the Cam Newton pickup for $4. His accuracy may be abysmal, but his legs still work, at least for now! WHAT DIDN'T: Honestly, not a lot. This was a good draft. I don’t love the Marqise Lee ($2) and DeVante Parker ($3) picks, just because of VV’s lack of viable RBs, but you’ve already dumped Parker and grabbed two additional RBs (Adrian Peterson and Corey Clement) from FAAB. The only thing I will say is that your RB situation is hanging on a bit of a cliff. I am a believer in Melvin Gordon, so that’s not the issue. But with the RB2-RB5 spots on your team being occupied by two pieces of a backfield (and not exactly Kamara/Ingram here), Peterson, and Clement, there’s a very real possibility of you having to start a complementary back as an every-week RB2. If Penny or Carson emerges, you’ll be alright. If neither does, your team won’t make the playoffs. The WR talent is great, but not spectacular enough to overcome that. Now we have the Twin City Tree Cats. Between VV and TC2, their starting lineup strategies are mirror-images of each other, and that extended to the bench as well. TC2 went pretty light on bench RB options, grabbing just Royce Freeman ($15) and Jamaal Williams ($1). Like VV, TC2 has already regretted going that light, and dumped Josh Doctson ($1) for James White from FAAB. Let’s break it down. WHAT WORKED: If I’m going to give props to VV for landing OBJ for $55, then I’ve got to give props to TC2 for landing Hopkins for $56. Though I may believe that Brown is in his own tier at the top of the WR pyramid, putting all three guys there is perfectly acceptable, and the cost differential helped TC2 grab some nice additional players. Good value there. I’m a big fan of the Marshawn Lynch for $12 pick. People have been assuming that he’s washed up due to his age, but watching him play late in the 2017 season was fun. He’s still got it. Running behind a nice Raider offensive line, too? That’s an easy RB2 pick for peanuts. Royce Freeman ($15) is already looking like a great pick. I like the $1 lotto Matt Ryan pick, as well as Cameron Meredith for $1. Those are dirt cheap ways to buy into great offenses, and that flexibility is what allowed TC2 to spend “big” earlier and grab Freeman. WHAT DIDN'T: Saquon for $72 seems a bit insane, no? I mean I know he’s a generational prospect, but aren’t we essentially hoping that he can produce like Bell, Gurley, Johnson, and Elliot? That’s the goal, right? Yet one of those guys went for less than Saquon! And two of them were only $2 more expensive! That’s one hell of a gamble. I’m lukewarm on the Trey Burton ($5) pick. I know he’s got potential, and Matt Nagy is supposed to turn everything around, but $5 for an unproven TE in that particular auction? That was an overpay. I’m not exactly sure why you’re carrying two QBs (Mahomes for $1), but I can’t really fault the choice in players. I like both Ryan and Mahomes this year. Maybe you’re trying to mitigate risk? I guess I could buy that. Anyway, this was another draft, like your partner VV, that I overall enjoyed. I think TC2 made many more smart decisions than bad ones. THE VERDICT: While TC2 has three RBs I really like (Saquon, Lynch, Freeman), VV has three WRs I really like (OBJ, Fitz, Hogan). Overall, I’m going to give it to TC2, because frankly that Thielen keeper pushes your team over the edge. Don’t feel bad, VV. Murray for $27 vs. Thielen for $7 makes this a hard one to overcome. VV is wearing a bright yellow hardhat with neon reflective safety vest (no shirt, obviously), paired with grey cargo pants and some 34 year-old steel-toed boots. He has a whistle in his mouth that he never lets go of. TC2 is wearing a boondocker (boonie, if you will) with one of those “outdoors” long-sleeve shirt/jackets with hella pockets. On the bottom, TC2 is wearing some olive green waders, buuuut he’s wearing socks inside them for some reason. He’s holding a pack of Griz. Advantage TC2, but both are suitable for their respective environments. So now that we’ve established IO outdrafted BCH, NSA outdrafted 90*, RG outdrafted TH, MN outdrafted 302, and TC2 outdrafted VV, how do we align all of these teams into one mish-mash of a rankings? Leave it to me. Post-Draft Power Rankings:
In general, I see a tier break after the top four and after the top seven. MN, RG, IO, and TC2 are somewhat interchangeable, same with TH, VV, and NSA, and unfortunately also with 302, BCH, and 90. We will see! Lastly, our Steal of the Draft! The nominees:
For real, I think it should go to Aaron Rodgers. That would be the defacto “right” call. He’s Aaron freaking Rodgers, and he cost nine dollars. But actually, considering he *was* the most expensive QB drafted (second place at $5), does that make him a steal…? I’m not sure how to quantify that. I love the Chris Thompson pick, and I think he offers immense upside. I'm not sure if the injury scared people off, or Adrian Peterson, or what. Maybe I just believe in him too much. Furthermore, despite the fact that I think Hogan will be a WR1 until Edelman returns, and even then, continue as a high-end WR2 (Edelman is washed, in my opinion), I’m giving it to the ol’ IO player. When in doubt, give the award to yourself, right? Engram was essentially the second-cheapest TE drafted. Only Jack Doyle cost less out of all the teams’ starters. Because of that, I’m going with Engram. Kudos Andrew, you’ve done it again.
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By: Hayden HansonMr. Hayden Hanson (Editor in Chief) is an Accountant-extraordinaire, as well as an aspiring writer. He has written several moderately-successful self-help books, the most famous of which is "What Do You Mean You Can Smell My BO?" Gustav Travers of the New York Times praised the book as "A vulnerable, courageous look into the mind of a man who has literally no sense that other people exist. And also no sense of smell. Nope, he definitely doesn't have that either. Just musk, like a hog that's gotten into the cabbage." Archives
September 2019
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