Annual Disclaimer: Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.  This is my opinion.  Last Year These were the Draft Grades:

1. Mike: A+
2. Caleb: A
3. Ben: A
4. Stephen: B+
5. Max: B+
6. Quentin: B
7. Logan: B
8. Brad: B
9. Josh: C
10. Andy: C-

And these were the Final Standings:

1. Brad
2. Logan
3. Andy
4. Mike
5. Stephen
6. Ben
7. Josh
8. Caleb
9. Quentin
10. Max

So the playoff teams were ranked #1, #7, #8, and #10.  At least I called Mike having a good team last year.  Let’s see how I do this year!

1. Stephen.

Stephen gets the #1 Pick and goes with the smash Justin Jefferson pick.  Jefferson led the NFL in both catches with 128 and receiving yards with 1,809 last season.  He was the youngest player in NFL history to lead the league in both.  He is 24.  He is an LSU guy.  And I’m bullish on the Vikings offense this season.  18 picks later Stephen was up again at the 2/3 turn.  He went with Jaylen Waddle (WR#7 last year) and Chris Olave (WR#25 last year).  Olave is looking to make a sophomore jump in Year 2.  WR’s typically perform 101.4% in their second season comparing ppr points by the number of years in the NFL to players career baseline averages.  Waddle is the perfect fit in Mike McDaniels offense and I see no reason for him to not repeat his big play 2022 season.  This gives Stephen the best trio of Wide Receivers in the league by far.  In Round 4/5 turn Stephen went with two Vikings in TJ Hockenson and Alexander Mattison.  Hockenson finished as the #2 Tight End last year and I look for him to pick up where he left off last season (at least while Jordan Addison gets acclimated into the NFL).  Expect a little pep in his step after signing a 4 year, $66,000,000 contract making him the highest paid tight end in the league.  Evan Silva placed a large bet on Mattison to win the rushing title with 40:1 odds.  To quote the big dog himself, “Alexander Mattison inherits Dalvin Cook’s workhorse role after re-signing a two-year, $7 million deal, 91% of which is guaranteed.  Mattison possesses prototypical feature back size (5-foot-11/ 221) and has been treated commensurately by Vikings coaches in past opportunities to spell Cook; Mattison’s touch counts in his past five starts were 24, 32, 32, 25, and 16.  Last year, Mattison outplayed Cook on a one-to-one basis, finishing 16^th in PFF rushing grade compared to Cook’s 64^th overall placement… I’m willing to draft Mattison aggressively above his ADP this season.”  Mattison has had a small injury this offseason and Vikings have been rumored to want to sign another back for depth, but it sure looks like Mattison is in line for a Top 15 RB season.  In Round 6/7 Stephen was looking for depth pieces at RB and went with JK Dobbins and James Cook.  Great selections.  Dobbins knee looks disgusting but he’s playing and this is redraft, so I don’t have a problem with seeing what he can do in Todd Monken’s offense.  James Cook should take the lions share of the running back work for Buffalo now that Devin Singletary is a Texan, but look for Damien Harris and/or Latavius Murray to be an annoyance, stealing some goal line work (if Josh Allen doesn’t steal it that is).  I might have gone White over Cook, but that’s more conservative and with your zero running back approach to the first 4 rounds the swing for the fences appeal of Cook makes sense.  He’s certainly on a better offense.  In Rounds 8 and 9 you went David Montgomery and Gabe Davis.  Good depth pieces as Montgomery could be the Jamaal Williams of the Lions offense this season.   In Round 10 you went with Anthony Richardson and Courtland Sutton.  Sutton has Top 25 WR potential this year with the injuries to Jeudy and Sean Payton running the show.  Of course he is still at the mercy of Russel Wilson, so it’s good that he’s a depth piece and won’t be relied on.  As far as Richardson goes I predict he will finish the year as a Top 12 Fantasy Qb.  Like I said in the draft comparing Anthony Richardson to Derrick Henry.  Richardson is taller, heavier, and faster.  His head coach was Jalen Hurts’ head coach.  They are designing the offense around him.  In the preseason game against the Eagles he ran for 38 yards in the first half.  He had another run called back for holding.  His completion percentage was rough, but they drove down the field and scored on 3 possessions (17 points).  If you can look past completion percentage and look at fantasy stats then Richardson is going to be a great fantasy Qb in Year 1.  In Round 12 and 13 you and Michael had a weird moment where he made your pick for you?  He was like Rashod Bateman is available.  Are you taking him Stephen?  Stephen was hesitant and then said “yeah”.  Don’t know what that was all about.  I know Stephen Danley’s team name was famously “Your Sister’s Keeper” so his Michael trying to be named “My Brother’s Keeper”.  Super Weird.  Stephen also took Danny Dimes and Geno Smith.  He could have 3 Top 15 Qbs.  Good for depth, tough to choose a starter.

Draft Grade: A.  Stephen’s team is going to get so many freaking targets it’s going to be insane.  Drafting 1^st is a huge advantage and Stephen took advantage of the advantage.  Advantageous.  Stephen’s team is a contender.

2. Caleb.

Caleb goes Christian McCaffrey.  Run CMC looked great for the Niners.  He took over Deebo Samuel’s previous role as the Wide-Back.  I’m sure they will try to keep him fresh and sprinkle in an annoying amount of Elijah Mitchell, but I’m okay with the pick.  Looking at the Round 2/3 Running Backs I don’t blame you.  I still would have gone Ja’Marr Chase, but to each their own.  In the 2^nd you had Jalen Hurts drop to you.  Hurts averaged almost 30 points per game last year.  He only finished as Fantasy Qb#3 because he got injured and missed Weeks 16 and 17.  To the detriment of Andy last year.  In the 3^rd you stacked Hurts with Devonta Smith.  Smith has drawn Marvin Harrison comparisons and should continue to be 1B to AJ Brown’s 1A roll.  This stack could win you some weeks.  In Round 4 you went Kenneth Walker III.  Walker is Evan Silva’s RB#11 and he has him ranked higher than Gibbs, Jones, Etienne, and Mixon, so you might’ve sneaked in a Top 10 RB as your RB2.  Concern is the high draft capital used on Zach Charbonnet, but I see Walker as the true starter and Charbonnet as just a backup for now.  In Round 5 you went with Breece Hall.  This was a little early for me as I see him being in a time share with Dalvin Cook for most of the season, but he has late season breakout potential (and if you read my Mattison portion of Stephen’s grade you’ll see that Dalvin isn’t the Dalvin that he used to be).  Sometimes players coming back from ACL tears can have some soft tissue issues like hamstring pulls and things like that, so that’s the concern, but as a high risk/high reward RB3 I’m okay with it.  I probably would have gone conservative and gone with Dameon Pierce to secure the volume.  In Round 6 and 7 you drafted your WR2 and WR3 and both of these picks were horrendous and disgusting.  You have 30-year-old Tyler Lockett on a team that just drafted arguably the best wide receiver in the 2023 draft class JSN.  WR’s entering their 9^th season typically have a drop off statistically and do not hit their baseline average performance.  You went with Chris Godwin who gets a significant downgrade at Qb going from Brady to Baker.  The offensive line is atrocious, and you know what Brady was good at?  Quick release.  You know what Baker is bad at?  Quick release.  In Round 8 you went with Michael Pittman Jr.  He’s going to have some good weeks and could be Anthony Richardson’s #1 WR, but it’s going to be a frustrating ride.  When will Richardson’s accuracy be on and when will it be off?  Good luck.  In Round 9 you went with Isiah Pacheco.  Love the depth piece.  He could start for you some weeks in the flex and be a good running back to plug in if you have injuries.  Gibson, Toney, Chig, and Achane.  Gibson is a solid depth running back.  Toney is a gadget player.  He looked cool in the playoffs.  They drew up a lot of creative stuff for him.  If his injury history and off field issues can subside for a couple of freaking weeks we might be able to see what he can do because they’ve treated him like their #1 Wide Receiver all offseason.

Draft Grade: C+.  You are in the “Could potentially compete” category.  Your Wide Receivers are rough.  You would have been better off going with Chase-Smith and having your RB’s be Walker-Hall/Pacheco/Gibson instead of Smith-Lockett.  What a shame (in Gordon Ramsey’s voice)

3. Quentin.

Congrats again on your new addition Q!  You read the book!  Get the Top Tight End!  Travis Kelce.  He’s entering his age 34 season, but with his playing style he has a chance to extend his career beyond normal expectations.  He catches, runs smooth, and gets down gently.  He reminds me of Marvin Harrison sometimes the way he gets down to avoid injury.  I wouldn’t have taken him over Ja’Marr Chase, but this gives you a guy scoring Top 5 RB numbers while half of the league is going to be praying for 6-10 points from their Tight End spot.  It’s a huge advantage.  Also, at a celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe last month I saw him shotgun a beer and talk smack with a Niners fan about whether he’s the top tight end or not.  It was awesome.   In Round 2 you had 2022 WR#3 Davante Adams fall into your lap.  Adams proved last year Qb doesn’t matter as much.  He had 180 targets last year.  Jimmy G is comparable to Derek Carr in my opinion.  Also, I watched him play golf at the same celebrity golf tournament and he has a decent swing.  In Round 3 you went Patrick Mahomes who (you guessed it) I saw at that celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe.  This gives you a solid trio in Mahomes-Kelce-Adams.  Solid Qb1, WR1, and TE1.  Great start.  In Round 4 you took Keenan Allen.  I hated this pick.  He wasn’t at the golf tournament.  Just kidding just kidding that’s not why I hate it.  Allen wasn’t the best WR for the Chargers the last two seasons.  That was Mike Williams.  Allen is constantly hurt and they drafted Quentin Johnston for a reason.  You needed a RB1 and instead you chose a questionable WR2.  I like the Chargers this year, so maybe if he can stay healthy he can do something, but I feel like this was the pick that is going to bury you this season.  You could’ve taken Alexander Mattison and had a solid RB1.  Ouch.  In Round 5 you took Amari Cooper.  Cooper will be a better WR2 than Allen.  Cooper finished as the WR#10 last year and there is no reason to doubt he won’t repeat that success now that he’s had more time with Watson at Qb.  In Round 6 you took Cam Akers as your RB1.  What a crazy year last year for the Rams.  They were going to trade Akers, then no they weren’t.  Darrell Henderson starts.  Then they cut Henderson.  Akers was coming off the torn Achilles in 2021.  Which is normally a death sentence for running backs (see James Robinson, Marlon Mack, etc).  The offensive line sucks.  I haven’t touched Akers this season.  Only bright spot is he did finish 2022 with 3 straight 100 yard games.  I guess that’s some form of hope to build on this year.  In Round 7 you took your RB2 in James Conner.  I saw a meme online that said Conner is expected to score 100% of the rushing touchdowns for the Cardinals this season.  That’s right, all four of them.  Conner is a decent volume player.  Keontay Ingram isn’t going to outplay him.  But this team could be historically bad.  I would have gone Rachaad White over him.  Who is also a volume play, but on a slightly better team.  Slightly.  In Round 8 you took Raheem Mostert.  This was a good pick.  This gives you an actual running back to start in Week 1.  In Rounds 9 and 10 you took Michael Thomas and Skyy Moore.  Couple of sleeper wide receivers to give you some depth behind your starting trio.  I liked the Elijah Mitchell and Kenneth Gainwell picks.  Mitchell is a handcuff for CMC in Kyle Shanahan’s offense and Gainwell is rumored to be the 3^rd down and two-minute offense back for the Eagles.  These are lucrative roles.  A little bit better if we were full ppr, but I like the flier when you consider the injury histories of D’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny.

Draft Grade: D+.  I loved your trio to start.  Mahomes-Kelce is going to be fun for you to watch.  Especially when they score a touchdown and you get the coveted 10 point swing against your opponent.  But your WR2 and running backs are atrocious.  I don’t see you being a contender this season unless you manage the heck out of this roster.  Trade, free agents, waivers.  Make it work.

4. Andy.

Ja’Marr Chase really fell to you at 4?!?  What a gift from the heavens.   Burrow to Chase should continue to be awesome.  Chase finished as WR#12 last year, but that was due to him missing a few games after he allegedly injured his hip celebrating a touchdown.  In the offseason it was reported that Chase has a woman stalker who is threatening him and his mother leading him to file a restraining order.  They hooked up one night and he wind up with a stage five clinger situation as a result.  This might explain the broken hip last year.  I digress.  He provides a great floor and robust ceiling each week for Andy in the WR1 position.  In Round 2 Andy goes with Garret Wilson over Davante Adams.  All my rankings had Adams over Wilson this season.  I understand the allure of Rodgers and the Jets.  Adams plays on the Raiders and have one of the hardest schedules this year.  Wilson reminds me of a young Julio Jones.  I still would have picked Adams here.  This was a bold move, so we’ll see if it pays off for Andy or if it bites him in the butt.  In Round 3 he went rookie running back Jaymr Gibbs.  I read somewhere that rookie running backs drafted in the Top 12 picks of the NFL draft have gone on to finish as RB1’s (Top 12) in their rookie seasons.  Andy is banking on that with the Gibbs pick for his RB1.  We’ll have to see how the Lions split the work with David Montgomery.  Khalil Herbert was able to rip the starting job away from Montgomery in Chicago last season.  So he’s lost work to a more talented back before.  Does it happen again?  In Round 4 Andy got his RB2 in Aaron Jones.  Jones finished as RB#9 last year with a 56% workload compared to AJ Dillon’s 44%.  He was Aaron Rodgers favorite.  He is getting up there in age for a RB, but look for the Packers to rely on the run while they work in Jordan Love into his new role as the franchise Qb.  I liked what I saw in his limited preseason action.  In Round 5 Andy went with Joe Burrow!  A top 5 Fantasy Qb and the stack with Chase.  Nice!  Love the 10 point plays anytime they connect for a touchdown.  In Round 6 Andy went with Diontae Johnson.  Johnson gets a lot of targets, catches, and yards, but never touchdowns.  I do think the Steelers are set up to do better this year.  Little bit better offensive line.  Little bit better schedule.  Solid WR3.  In Round 7 you took Dalvin Cook.  Meh.  He wasn’t very good last year.  Breece Hall will cap his potential.  If Hall misses time he’ll be a good starter for you.  But I see him as most handcuff and less of a flex then most people.  In Round 8 you took Javonte Williams.  Williams is coming off of that devastating knee injury.  18.5% of players that have this type of knee injury return to their previous skill level.  All reports have been positive and make it seem like Williams could increase that percentage.  But look for him to start slow as they ease him back in.  In Round 9 you took Marquise Brown.  He was balling to start the year last year, but then the Cardinals fell apart.  We’ll see if Kyler plays this year or not.  That will be the key for Brown.  In Round 10 you took Jamaal Williams.  Great pick.  Gives you a RB2/Flex to start the year.  In Round 11 you took Jaxon Smith-Njigba.  Top rated rookie in the 2023 class gets a pass happy Seahawks team.  Don’t sleep on JSN now.  In Round 12 you took your first tight end in Cole Kmet.  He just isn’t good.  I don’t get it.  He finished TE#7 last year but only because he fell into the endzone a couple times at the end of the season.  Liked the Sam LaPorta pick though.  He should start and play right away for the Lions and replace TJ Hockenson role.

Draft Grade: B+.  Tight End is rough, but solid core and depth.  Andy is a contender.

5. Ben.

Austin Ekeler.  #1 Fantasy RB last year.  Helped Logan make it to the Super Bowl.  He is capped a little bit in the lack of rushing volume, but his efficiency is just crazy.  There were 8 games last year where he had 12 or less carries.  But he scored 18 touchdowns and caught 107 passes on 127 targets.  I like Ekeler to repeat as a Top 5 RB even with some touchdown regression.  In Round 2 you went with CeeDee Lamb.  I’m okay with this pick.  Lamb is a beast.  Finished as WR#6 last year.  Brandin Cooks on the outside should help him find room in the middle.  Dalton Schultz is gone.  I see him repeating his Top 10 WR success from a year ago.  In Round 3 you took Josh Allen.  This bummed me out. I wanted Allen for the Allen-Diggs stack.  Plus I yelled “Farm Strong!” at Allen at the celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe and he turned around and laughed.  Solid trio to start in Allen-Ekeler-Lamb.  In Round 4 you took Najee Harris.  Harris is thunder to Jaylen Warren’s lightning.  Warren could Tony Pollard Najee’s ass, but I don’t think it happens this season.  The offensive line is better and the schedule is better, so I think Najee is an okay RB2.  Will depend on his touchdown total on whether he was the better pick over Aaron Jones, Kenneth Walker, and Alexander Mattison.  I would’ve taken those three over him personally.  Round 5 you took DeAndre Hopkins.  We’ll see how much he has left in the tank.  Between Hopkins, Burks, and Chig Onkonwo the Titans have some very athletic pass catchers.  Let’s see if Ryan Tannehill’s ankle is finally healed and if he can get his playmakers the ball.  It’s an interesting pick and not one I would’ve made.  In Round 6 you took Miles Sanders.  Sanders was RB #13 last year for the Eagles and he won a lucrative contract to join Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.  The Panthers ran pretty good some weeks when Steve Wilks had taken over as the interim head coach so I like Sanders this year.  I’m a little worried about the groin issue that has kept him out of most of the offseason program, but if he’s cleared he could repeat his Top 15 success.  I liked him over Akers, Dobbins, and Cook, so good job.  In Round 7 you took injured Terry McLaurin.  Washington looked good and I’m bullish on Sam Howell this season (as evident of me taking a backup Qb in a 10 man league).  But McLaurin has turf toe.  These injuries can linger.  He avoided IR, so we’ll see if it’s a 1 week or multiple week injury.  In Round 8 you took Jeudy.  Almost like you have a hurt wide receiver fetish or something.  Three straight picks of players with injuries.  Old Fashions, Chris Herron Documentaries, and players injured in the preseason.  We’re finally learning more about the mysterious Ben Hogan as time goes on.  In Round 9 he took D’Andre Swift ensuring his IR spots will be full this season.  In Round 10 he took Evan Engram.  He took a pair of Browns in Rounds 11 and 12 with Elijah Moore and David Njoku.  Those were good value picks.

Draft Grade: D.  Allen-Ekeler-Lamb is phenomenal.  Great start.  Then you tanked.  Straight to the bottom.  I have you in the Bottom and not contending for a title this season.

6. Josh.

Oh boy.  Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.  I hope your wedding goes smoother than this fantasy draft did for you because… whew!  Just kidding (or am I?).  In Round 1 you took Tyreek Hill.  I love it!  Great pick Josh!  He has been vocal about his goal of getting 2000 yards receiving this season.  Hill is just crazy enough to do it too.  When he says that.  I believe him.  Loved this pick.  Stop the count!  Grade his draft now!  A!  Great job Josh!  If only these drafts were one round, am I right?  In Round 2 you took Josh Jacobs.  Jacobs isn’t happy about being franchise tagged and was threatening to sit out since a long-term deal wasn’t reached.  I don’t blame the guy, he set career highs last year in attempts (340), rushing yards (1653), receiving yards (400), average rush (4.9) and tied his high rushing touchdown number (12).  Jacobs is a victim of the running back market.  They have a short career and are highly replaceable.  Jacobs put it all out there last season.  Played hurt.  Overcame adversity and put on dazzling performances including that 33 rush, 229-yard, 2 touchdown performance against the Seahawks in November.  Once running backs get paid it’s not pretty.  (See Le’Veon Bell, Ezekiel Elliot, Todd Gurley, etc.)  Jacobs did end his holdout and report and they worked out a 1-year deal that is a little bit better than the franchise tag like similar to Saquon Barkley’s contract for this year.  But Jacobs reported and looked a bit overweight if I’m being honest.  And will he be willing to play through injury like he did last year?  Now that the Raiders have shown their hand, should he risk injuring himself further for a team that might not be competing later in the season for a playoff spot with their brutal schedule this year?  Over CeeDee Lamb, Davante Adams.  Hell I would have preferred you go Jaylen Waddle and just rename your team the Miami Dolphins.  Every offseason I crap on Josh Jacobs and then he balls out.  Maybe that will happen again.  Maybe.  In Round 3 you went Deebo Samuel.  I give up.  This is the scene from Liar Liar when Jim Carrey is drinking water then spits it out and yelling “Come On!”.  Last year he was mad about his contract because of the “wide-back” position he held in 2021.  Then he got hurt.  Then they traded for Christian McCaffrey.  Auyik began to ascend.  Deebo should be healthy this year, but what is his role?  CMC took the wide-back.  Kittle was catching the redzone TDs.  Auyik was moving the sticks on 3^rd down.  What’s left for Deebo?  He does have the potential to take a screen pass to the house and this offseason he is reportedly looking very healthy.  So, we’ll see.  Over Metcalf and Higgins though.  Lord.  In Round 4 you went with Travis Etienne Jr.  Tank Bisby is the backup and looks good, but I believe in Etienne.  I think he’s a solid RB2 for you.  I’m not buying the hype on Bisgby and see him more of a handcuff.  Jags offense looks killer this year so solid pick Josh.  In Round 5 you went Alvin Kamara.  Suspended for 3 games, but the Saints have the easiest schedule this year.  Not terrible.  I would have gone Fields or Waller or Pierce or Herbert or someone else, but it won’t be as bad as a pick as people might suspect.  In Round 6 you took George Kittle.  Kittle is hurt.  A lot.  But when he played with Purdy last year he caught a lot of touchdowns.  (To end the year last year he caught 7 touchdowns in 4 games).  He took me out in the Best Buy league playoffs.  Jerk.  In Round 7 you took Christian Kirk.  Kirk was WR#11 last year.  But that was before the Jags added Calvin Ridley.  Kirk is the slot wide receiver and so he’ll have value, but this preseason in two wr sets the Jags had Ridley and Zay Jones lined up.  So if Kirk loses snap percentage that could hurt his ceiling even more then the fact that Ridley is there to steal catches and targets from him.  I could see him being Top 30, but not Top 15 again.  In Round 8 you reach for Tua Tagovailoa giving you the Tua-Tyreek stack.  Nice.  Like the stack, but not really how early you drafted him.  In Round 9 you took Jakobi Meyers.  Meyers might be the 4^th best pass catching option on a Raiders team with Jimmy G at Qb with the toughest schedule.  Over Addison.  Over Dotson.  Over Burks.  Over Flowers.  Over Cooks.  Stop the count.  I can’t do it anymore.

Draft Grade: F.  I hope I’m wrong.  I want Josh to succeed in fantasy football.  I’m sorry you were travelling during the draft and were probably beat down and tired.  If there’s a consolation to my brutal grade it’s that your team has a lot of talent and is very explosive.  You could manage this team.  Trades, waiver, etc.

7. Logan.  

Logan recovering from the asterisk bowl and the sick burn Brad dropped on the group text message the day before the draft.  Comes in hot and takes the Prince that was Promised.  Bijan Robinson.  He played very limited action, but boy did he look good in it.  Bijan Robinson, rookie out of Texas and newest addition to the Atlanta Falcons.  Couple Bijan’s talent with Atlanta’s run first mentality, #2 easiest strength of schedule according to Warren Sharp, the wide-open NFC South, and their offseason additions on their defense and offensive line, I’m bullish on Bijan to waste no time in being a fantasy superstar.  CMC was going in the 3^rd round of redraft his rookie season and he didn’t disappoint.  Their previous starter Tyler Allgeier rushed admirably last season, breaking Atlanta’s rookie rushing record while ranking #2 in the NFL in EPA/attempt among all RBs with 100+ carries.  Excerpt from Warren Sharps NFL Preview book, “Arthur Smith’s scheme last year allowed his Falcons RBs to rank: #1 in rushing yards, #1 yards per carry, #1 rushing first downs, #2 in EPA/rush, #3 in success rate.”  They also drafted Matthew Bergeron in the 2^nd round who will most likely move to guard and was a much better run blocker than pass blocker at Syracuse.  They also signed a ton of defensive free agents like Jessie Bates III (Safety), David Onuemata (DL), Kaden Ellis (LB), Calais Campbell (DL), Jeff Okudah (CB), and Bud Dupree (Edge).  Arthur Smith is also sporting a mustache.  He is going to pound the rock and play defense.  Bijan can be a Top 5 fantasy running back.  If he gets 275+ touches I believe he does just that.  They will rotate a bit.  But the potential is there.  Great pick by Logan.  In the 2^nd Round you went RB again with Derrick Henry.  Henry is 29 years old and has lots of mileage on those tires.  BUT.  He’s a beast and he plays the Texans twice in the final three weeks including in the Fantasy Football Super Bowl.  So if Logan can make it, can Henry be the one that brings home the title for him?  In Round 3 you went Trip RB with Joe Mixon.  Mixon is much better in games where the Bengals are ahead.  He goes from Top 10 RB in those games to outside of the Top 25 when they are trailing.  A huge discrepancy.  But the Bengals are favored by an average of 5 points each of the first five weeks of the regular season, so not a bad RB3.  In Round 4 he took his first WR in Cooper Kupp.  Love the gutsy call here.  Kupp was a Top 10 pick a couple weeks ago before a hamstring injury was re-aggravated and it went from bad to worse.  He went to go see a specialist.  According to Dr. Jamie Jakes on twitter/x he summarized it as “My translation/speculation: the way the injury occurred does not match up with a typical hamstring strain and or the hamstring is not responding to treatment the way a typical hammy strain does.  My best guess it is a sciatic nerve issue that has been misdiagnosed as a hamstring strain.  Best case scenario it’s something like piriformis syndrome and he’s back in a week.  Worst case is a lumbar spine/disc issue that requires surgery and will likely end his season.”  That is a big range of outcomes.  We’ll see what the diagnosis is when the news drops.  In Round 5 you took Justin Fields.  LOVE IT.  He saved my season last year after I traded for Lamar Jackson and he got injured.  Fields exploded with over 1000 yards rushing.  This offseason he gets an upgrade at Offensive Line and the addition of DJ Moore, which should help a lot.  I like Fields to repeat his Top 10 Fantasy performance this year.  You got good value in Mike Williams in Round 6.  Williams is the #1 on a team that could explode this year.  I’m bullish on the Chargers passing attack (as evident of me drafting Herbert).  This gives you a solid WR1 if Cooper Kupp is out for a long time.  In Round 7 you committed the Cardinal Sin of drafting Kyle Pitts, thus dooming your season.  Pitts is very athletic.  On a run-first team.  With Drake London and Bijan Robinson and unproven Desmond Ridder at QB.  Over Dallas Goedert.  What a shame.  What a shame.  Tsk Tsk Tsk.  In Round 8 you took Mike Evans “in case he gets traded”.  I like it.  Decent starter to throw in if Cooper is out.  Baker sucks, but Evans has gotten 1000 yards in 9 straight seasons to start his career.  Why wouldn’t they rally around that and try to make it 10?  Especially if they aren’t competing in the NFC South this year.  I liked it.  Love Jordan Addison in Round 9.  Takes Adam Thielen’s targets and rookie wide receivers have great back half of the years.  His ceiling is capped by JJ and Hockenson but an injury to either of those two can propel him into WR2 territory.  Decent depth building pieces in Pat Freiermuth, Zach Charbonnet, Jerick McKinnon.

Draft Grade: A.  Your Rb-Rb-Rb strategy was bold.  I like bold.  Fields-Bijan-Henry-Mixon gives you an incredible floor to start the season.  Mike Williams gives you a solid WR1.  If Kupp’s injury is minor you are the favorite to win the super bowl.  If it’s major I still think you can contend.  Contender.

8. Michael. 

Tony Pollard?!?!  In this economy.  This pick threw me off big time.  I was expecting you to take Saquon or Chubb so I wasn’t prepared to choose between the two.  Pollard was RB#7 last season and now Zeke is gone.  Reminder that Zeke ran 231 times for 876 yards and 12 touchdowns last year.  Mike McCarthy is also taking over play calling duties with Kellen Moore gone to LA and McCarthy has been vocal in his plans to run the ball more.  All these factors spells “smash spot” for Tony Pollard.  Only concern is the fact that he’s coming off a fractured left fibula.  These injuries can take 3-6 months to heal.  The injury occurred in January in the NFC Divisional playoff game against the 49ers.  He was also a free agent heading into the offseason, but the Cowboys invested the franchise tag cost of 1 year $10 million dollar deal to keep Pollard on and unlike some other backs in the league he accepted it and signed.  Almost a little too quickly.  Hopefully the ankle healed up okay.  The fibula isn’t as load bearing as the tibia.  I knew drafting in the back of the draft it was paramount to grab at least 1 running back.  I didn’t expect Mike to go with Pollard, but he secured his RB1 and I’m okay with that.  In Round 2 he went AJ Brown.  Loved AJB.  AJB caught career best 88 catches, 1496 yards, and 11 touchdowns in his first season as an Eagle.  This included WR1 (Top 12) or WR2(Top 24) finishes in 12 out of 17 weeks last year.  He helped me win a championship.  Funny thing that Brad went Diggs and Mike went AJB is that last year Mike had traded Logan for Diggs and Brad had AJB.  So in essence this year they swapped.  I digress.  Excellent start to get a RB1 and WR1.  In Round 3 Mike took Mark Andrews.  Although I traded for Andrews the last two years I was down on him coming into this season.  I think Monken is going to pass more.  But they added Zay Flowers and Odell Beckham Jr.  And Mark Andrews got injured in the preseason.  This has me concerned and I dropped him in my rankings.  I was relieved when Mike took him, because I wanted Waller in the 5th, but I didn’t think he would fall to me.  More on that later.  Mike then went Calvin Ridley in the 4^th.  He has been getting so much hype this offseason.  The 28-year-old who will be playing his first ball in almost two years after having an injured riddled fourth season then being suspended all last season for betting on games.  Ridley did finish as PPR WR #5 back in 2020 in his third season/breakout year.  My concern is the crowded weaponry in Jacksonville as much as the rust that may need to be shaken off.  Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, and Evan Engram all had career seasons last year for Jacksonville.  I don’t know how the target share and production is going to be sliced up this year which is cause for concern.  But I do think Ridley is the #1 and I think he’s a solid WR2 for Michael.  In Round 5 you went Christian Watson.  Watson has all the makings of a great wide receiver.  The only question mark is Love.  Seeing Love play in preseason has me more bullish on the Packers then I was.  He looked efficient and sharp.  Watson could have as much as of a sophomore leap as Olave who went 3 rounds earlier.  Could be a big time pick for Michael.  In Round 6 he took T-LAW.  Trevor Lawrence-Calvin Ridley stack is what I did in Best Buy league.  Going to be fun as the Jags have a favorable schedule and should repeat as AFC South Division Winners.  I expect Lawrence to set career highs in passing yards and touchdowns.  In Round 7 you sniped me by taking Rachaad White.  White is going to get volume.  The concern is the offensive line and Baker Mayfield.  But White did well as a rookie.  Leonard Fournette was there and took a lot of work in the passing game at the end of the season, but White should recoup those snaps with Brady and Fournette both gone.  Checking down will be Baker’s specialty this season.  In Round 8 you took Brandon Auyik.  Auyik was WR#15 last year.  That might surprise some people, but with Deebo injured for a lot of the season Purdy looked to Brandon to move the sticks.  Deebo is fully healthy, so I don’t know if Aiyuk regresses or if he is there to stay, but great value.  Round 9 you sniped me again!  Jahan Dotson.  I have a bold prediction that he will catch 12 touchdowns this season.  (If you place a season long bet on that and it cashes make sure to send me a few bucks).  I’m bullish on the Commanders passing attack (as evident of me selecting Sam Howell late). In Round 10 Mike went back to back Commanders with Brian Robinson Jr.  In half ppr I had Gibson ranked higher, but I get wanting to get a starter as one of your backups.  In Round 11 you took Jaylen Warren.  Good handcuff with flex potential.  Round 12 Tank Bigsby.  Another handcuff.  Lots of backup running backs.

Draft Grade: B.  Solid team.  Reached for Pollard, little concerned about Andrews, but lots of depth at RB and WR, which is where it matters.  Having 3 Top 15 WR is in the range of outcomes here.

9. Brad. 

Back-to-Back Champion seeking the coveted Three-Peat.  It’s never been done before.   There’s only been two other chances for it to happen at all in our 22 previous seasons.  Wade in 2017 and Michael in 2020.  Can Brad do it in 2023?  Probably not.  In the 1^st round he wanted to secure a top RB and he went with Saquon Barkley.  Barkley was RB#6 last year and the Giants look to repeat as a playoff team with the addition of Darren Waller.  The deciding factor for taking Barkley over Chubb was Barkley’s 76 targets and 57 receptions in his first season in this offense.  We’ll see if it works out.  In Round 2 Brad went with Stefon Diggs.  Pretty good.   29 years old coming off ppr wr finishes of #4, #7 and #3.  As Allen goes, Diggs goes.  Of course, I’ll never forgive him for the Minnesota Miracle.  I already hate the pick and regret it.  But it gives me a solid RB1-WR1 to start.  In Round 3 I was tested with another tough choice.  DK Metcalf or Tee Higgins.  Wind up going Metcalf due to favorable early season schedule, positive touchdown regression probabilities, and because he’s a manimal.  There’s a funny video online of players reading the NFL script for this season and he reads that he’s going to have a no handed catch when he catches it with his abs.  It’s pretty funny if you haven’t seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlNDNrfwZr0

In the 4^th round Brad took Rhamondre Stevenson as his RB2.  Stevenson is coming off of his RB#11 finish.  Damien Harris is replaced by the ghost of Ezekiel Elliot.  I wasn’t concerned about the Zeke signing, but I was concerned about the schedule.  I went with Rhamonster due to his 69 receptions a year ago as I see him able to repeat that success this year.  The core of Barkley-Rhamondre-Diggs-Metcalf is solid.  In Rounds 5 and 6 Brad continued his balance build approach with Darren Waller and Justin Herbert.  Waller looks like he might have 150 targets from Daniel Jones this season.  All offseason Jones has been peppering him with targets.  To the point where a beat writer had said that they took Waller out of practice for a few drives, not because he was hurt or winded, but because they wanted to see Daniel Jones throw to somebody else.  I bought into the hype and I was thrilled he fell to me in the 5^th round as I have him finishing as TE#2 behind Travis Kelce this season.  For Herbert, I see Kellen Moore as the key to unlock Herberts potential.  They are going to throw it deep.  I think Ekeler sees regression in terms of rushing touchdowns and Herbert sees positive regression in terms of passing touchdowns.  Last year he was hurt with a lingering and painful rib injury.  He should be healed up and ready to go for his 4^th season.  Look for Herbert to lead the league in passing yards this season.  (My bold prediction).  In Round 7 after Mike took White I was stuck.  Since I went with a balanced approach and had my Qb, Rb1, Rb2, Wr1, Wr2, TE I had the flexibility to absorb the risk associated with Johnathan Taylor.  Obviously, Taylor means a lot to me given our 2021 season success together, but I understand that this could be 100% a dud pick.  JT is hurt, disgruntled.  It’s not good.  The hope is that he plays for the minimum games to accrue a season towards the franchise tag OR that he gets traded prior to the deadline to a better team.  I’m not alone in wanting to see what Anthony Richardson and JT could do together, but it’s looking more and more likely like that won’t happen.  High risk pick in the middle of the rounds that could cost Brad big time or secure him a deadly flex play later.  In Round 8 I doubled up on Herbert with Khalil.  The Browns have a VERY favorable schedule down the stretch.  Herbert is better than D’Onta Foreman and Roschon Johnson.  The questions are: can he stay healthy? And how much does Justin Fields take away?  In Round 9 Brad took Treylon Burks.  Burks has the potential to break out this year in his sophomore season much like Olave and Watson.  Burks dropped due to a minor LCL sprain, but he’s already back practicing.  If he misses only a couple weeks it gives Brad a decent WR3/Flex play.  In Round 10 I went with Brandin Cooks.  Cooks on the Cowboys sounded good to me.  He’s like DJ Moore, gets 1000 yards receiving a few touchdowns on any team he goes on.  Just cheaper.  In Round 11 I went AJ Dillon.  Dillon came on strong when the weather got cold for the Packers last year.  Handcuff mostly, but we’ll see if Brad turns to him at some point in the season if he is battling through injuries.  Justin Tucker in the 12^th round.  Ridiculous.  I didn’t like anyone here so I reached on a kicker.  Stupid.  Missed out on decent RB depth like Bigsby, McKinnon, Gainwell.  What an idiot.

Draft Grade: B.  Could have been an A.  But you had to get cocky and reach for a kicker.  Stupid.

10. Max. 

Max drafting from the 10 spot.  Meaning each time he picked we ALL passed on every single one of his players at least once.  Ultimate ability to rub it in our faces if any of them go off this season.  At the Round 1 and 2 turn he went with Nick Chubb and Amon-Ra St. Brown.  Love it.  Chubb is the best pure runner in football and Kareem Hunt who was siphoning off 3^rd down and hurry offense snaps is GONE.  Amon-Ra is a target machine.  I expect big things out of the Sun God this season.  I had AJ Brown ranked higher, but I get it.  In Round 3 and 4 you had Tee Higgins drop to you.  You also selected Lamar Jackson.  Higgins would be a WR1 on at least ten teams in the league and this is a contract year for him.  Look for big things out of Tee.  Lamar could realistically win MVP again this season.  Todd Monken is designing an offense with Lamar, side by side.  They added Odell.  Zay Flowers.  Bateman is back.  Look out.  In Round 5 and 6 you took DJ Moore and Dameon Pierce.  Moore took a wobbly screen pass with a broken play on defense to the house in preseason and jettisoned himself up the rankings.  Prior to last season Moore was an automatic for 1100 yards receiving and I think he can get there again.  Does he bring the career high 7 touchdowns with him?  Or does that regress to his average of 4 each year?  Still good for a flex.  Pierce should be a workhorse and he graded very well in breaking tackles last season.  I think this a solid RB2 for Max.  In Rounds 7 and 8 you got good value in Drake London and Dallas Goedert.  I passed on London because I worry about the lack of pass volume in Atlanta.  The hope is he scores a bunch of touchdowns, but with Bijan and Tyler Ageier I think Arthur Smith is going to pound it.  Not a bad depth WR to throw in.  Goedert is on a great offense.  But his volume is a concern.   Better TE then most in the league, but I would still expect more boom or bust weeks out of him.  Rounds 9 and 10 you took Zay Flowers to stack with Lamar and Samaje Perine.  Perine I like.  They invested him in the offseason with Williams coming back from that knee injury.  Solid RB depth piece for you.  Loved Tyler Algeier in Round 11.  Odell in Round 12 is fun.  I don’t think you’ll use him, but who knows maybe he gets hot for a stretch.  Overall exceptional job with drafting.

Draft Grade: A.  Max did a great job picking players that dropped to him.  This gives him a solid core, good depth, and makes him a contender this season.

Draft Grades in Draft Order:

1. Stephen: A
2. Caleb: C+
3. Quentin: D+
4. Andy: B+
5. Ben: D
6. Josh: F
7. Logan: A
8. Michael: B
9. Brad: B
10. Max: A

Draft Grades in Grade Order with Tiers:

Contenders:

1. Stephen: A
2. Max: A
3. Logan: A

Can Compete:

4. Andy: B+
5. Michael: B
6. Brad: B
7. Caleb: C+

Better Luck Next Year:

8. Quentin: D+
9. Ben: D
10. Josh: F

I hope you all enjoyed and best of luck to you this season!

-Brad