- Tommy
CMC was correct. AJ Brown was a great pickup at the end of the 2nd round. Analysts I have read have expressed concern over Tennessee’s defense and believe Tannehill will be airing it out more this year. Having a hyper talented #1 on the team is very nice especially if the analysts prediction comes to fruition. Miles Sanders was an interesting pick to start the 3rd round. I understand the need to grab a second running back in this league, but to take him over DeAndre Hopkins, Justin Jefferson, Keenan Allen. Plus is Sanders the right pick? Is he better than a Swift, Montgomery, Carson, Dobbins, or Henderson? He’s been splitting carries with Bart Scott all preseason. They drafted a hell of a third down back in Gainwell. And they brought back Jordan Howard who wouldn’t give up his starting position to Sanders during his rookie campaign. I definitely think the Eagles should give Sanders the ball more, but I don’t know if they actually do it. Looking at the draft in hindsight now, you wind up with Sanders-Lockett in the 3rd and 4th round. That could’ve been Hopkins/Allen/Jefferson paired with Davis/Gaskins/Hunt. Lockett should be great and I think you got great value at the back of the 4th, but I do question the Sanders pick a bit. He is on the same tier as the Dobbins/Montgomery/Carsons so I won’t knock down the grade harshly, but just interesting decision. Ja’Marr Chase to start the 5th round. I hope he gets it going. He has looked awful in camp. Can’t separate from defenders, drops. It’s bad. With any rookie wide receiver, going to be important that you stay patient. Make sure not to drop him after a few weeks, right Trey? Hehe. Loved Brandon Auyik in the 6th round. I think you can circle this pick as one that you’ll go back to at the end of the year and everyone else in the league is going to question why the hell they didn’t pick him when they had the chance. Rodgers in the 7th is good pick. He was ridiculous last year. 48 passing touchdowns and 5 INTs? Are you kidding me? That’s why he won MVP. Can he repeat that efficiency? Or at least get close? Some regression is likely, but we’ll see. Conner for depth in the 8th. Goedert for starting Tight End. Good value in the 10th and 11th with Nyheim Hines and Marvin Jones. Hines might have earned the 3rd down back role in Indy despite JT’s late season emergence and Marlon Mack’s return. Marvin Jones is looking good paired with new Qb Trevor Lawrence. Loved Taysom Hill as the last pick in the draft. Probably will never use him with Rodgers, but heck, he could start and why not?
Draft Grade: B+
- Joe
Dalvin Cook was correct. Mahomes in the 2nd. Look I love Mahomes, but I don’t like where you drafted him. The next Qb didn’t go until the end of the 4th round. You could’ve gotten Kyler Murray in the 5thround. Last year Murray finished Qb#5 and scored 12.7 points less than Mahomes. Was 12.7 points worth 3 rounds of difference? AJ Brown, Keenan Allen, DeAndre Hopkins, Kittle. I love Mahomes, I think he’s fun to watch, but just don’t like his draft position here. When I drafted him last year it was at the end of the 3rd and even then it felt like I drafted him too early. You snagged Justin Jefferson in the 3rd, pairing him with Dalvin Cook for a couple of stud Vikings. I like JJ. I hope he has a great year and doesn’t regress with a sophomore slump. He’s fun to watch. In the 4th you got Julio Jones. See comment above on Tommy’s write up about the prospects of Tennessee throwing more this season, which could make this a really good pick. In the 5th you took Gaskins, which I didn’t care for very much. In preseason he was sharing time with Malcom Brown. I think he wins the job, but I had Mike Davis, Kareem Hunt, and Chase Edmonds ranked higher than him this season. In the 6th you went Robby Anderson. I think in normal drafts this would be a really good pick, but in this one when you still had Auyik, Claypool, Jeudy, and Cooks available I actually don’t like the pick. Darnold has chemistry with Robby, which is a good thing, but Robby and Darnold didn’t exactly tear it up back in New York. I think Joe Brady will get more out of the duo than Adam Gase ever did, but I liked the other wideouts a bit better for this season. Robert Tonyan in the 7th is something. Prime Touchdown regression candidate at the tight end position. 11 Touchdowns was awesome, but does he repeat that success with Randall Cobb back, Dillon coming on strong in potential goal line situations. I probably would’ve waited for a tight end until the very back of the draft after Kenny took Logan Thomas. At this point you are chasing touchdowns, so doesn’t matter if it’s Tonyan or Gerald Everette (who went undrafted) if you are chasing touchdowns. Passed on some valuable depth pieces in this round for Tonyan, so need him to repeat his success from last year. Might be a big ask. Antonio Brown in the 8th was okay. I really liked Jamaal Williams pick in the 9th. There is a reason he carved out so much usage from Aaron Jones workload the past couple seasons and why he’ll do the same for the Lions. Coaches love the guy. He blocks well, runs efficiently. If Swift gets injured or misses any time you should start Williams with confidence. You took a pair of Cowboys at 10 and 11 in Michael Gallup and Tony Pollard. If Cooper or Zeke gets injured you have a great player all of a sudden. Gallup will hold some stand alone value, but it’s going to be unpredictable (like Antonio Brown). -2 points for drafting Tebow.
Draft Grade: C+. Team will compete with Mahomes-Dalvin-JJ and JJ, but will need to manage the team well to have a shot at the playoffs and beyond.
- Mike
Mike I think you might have done it again. I think Henry regresses a bit this year due to Tennessee’s defense being poo poo. Oh Mike… I hope I’m wrong and he’s a beast like he was for me last season. I would’ve gone Kamara here because he’s probably going to get 25 touches per game. Henry doesn’t play 3rd downs or in the hurry up offenses. DK Metcalf is a monster, I don’t blame you for drafting him in the 2nd. I personally think Hopkins and AJ Brown were better picks, but what do I know? DK was 7th best WR last year, but he did have a few dud weeks with four games under 9 points including Weeks 15 and 16. But those abs… D’Andre Swift in the 3rd. I don’t have a problem going second running back. I don’t know how I feel about Swift. I just know I like Jamaal Williams a lot this year as a good backup. Swift could bust out, he’s talented, but he also has lingering groin issues that pop their ugly head from time to time. In Round 4 got great value in Adam Thielen. Strong Wr #2 for you. In the 5th you went Chase Edmonds which I like. I think the Cardinals are going to be good this year. I do think James Conner will get work, but I like Edmonds in the passing game. I liked Mike Davis and Kareem Hunt better here, but Edmonds should be fine. 6thRound Javonte Williams. I like it. Gordon is supposedly still starter for right now. He was able to fight off Philip Lindsay, but can he fight off a fresh rookie with some explosiveness? We shall see. Russel Wilson in the 7th is a great pick. I love stacks. Wilson to Metcalf will give you 10+ point plays, which makes fantasy so much more fun. That is the reason we play right? Right? In the 8th round you took my beloved Will Fuller. He’s suspended for Week 1, and then you can use him until he gets injured. I think he’ll do well this season, but you have to pick the correct weeks to deploy his talents. In the 9th and 10th you took a pair of Patriots. Jonnu Smith and Jakobi Meyers. I like the latter pick better. Smith and Henry are going to be inconsistent I believe. And I’m not sure which one is better. Lindsay in the 11th was meh and I liked Washington D/ST in the 12th. That D Line will give Qb’s nightmares before they even take the field. I liked the flier pick of Marlon Mack in the later rounds.
Draft Grade: B. It’s one of those situations where I would’ve chosen different people at almost every pick you made, but almost every pick you made was in the same tiers as the guys I would’ve picked, so I can’t knock you too hard, but also I don’t like your team very much. Weird.
- Kenny
The Champion! Kenny went with ZEKE. I like Zeke for a bounce back year this year, but I don’t have him ranked higher than Kamara. Either way I’m fine with the pick. In the second round you went Josh Jacobs and I hate it. I absolutely hate this pick. Scored 13.3 or less in 9 games last season. They added Kenyan Drake. He doesn’t catch the ball. Doesn’t do hurry up offense or 3rd downs. But he did get 18 carries inside the 5 yard line last year. So basically you are banking on him repeating his 12 touchdown year. I had basically all the running backs that went after him in the 3rd round ranked higher than him and you drafted him over DeAndre Hopkins, Keenan Allen, AJ Brown, George Kittle, Justin Jefferson. Blah. In the 3rd round you “righted the ship” drafting DeAndre Hopkins. Getting Hopkins in the 3rd is a felony and everyone responsible should be held accountable. Phenomenal Pick. Josh Allen in the 4th. I’m okay with the pick. I like Allen, if he can build on the season he has last year then he will be in MVP discussion. Chris Godwin in the 5th was another stellar pickup. Creating a Allen-Zeke-Jacobs-Hopkins-Godwin core that will make you compete. I like Logan Thomas as a consistent Tight End scorer this season. In the 7th you took Damien Harris. With Zeke-Jacobs-Harris I have to ask if you just have something against 3rd down running backs? Something about seeing the big guys slam into lineman for 2-4 yards just do it for you? If you are looking for a team name you can try “Hands Free Service”. In Round 8 you took Deebo Samuel. I was high on Deebo this offseason then when he pulled up with a glute injury I dropped him a bit. He’s got lots of potential. Loved Rojo and Mike Williams for some depth pieces. Could provide flex value and if injuries shake out a certain way can be big time providers. Butker! Devontae Booker might start Week 1 if Saquon isn’t a full go. Really liked your late rounds.
Draft Grade: A. Didn’t care for Jacobs pick, but overall a very good job.
- Mustafa
KAMARA. Can’t believe these idiots let Kamara drop to you. Nailed it. In the 2nd round you went Waller, which is a great pick. Waller is a target vacuum. People don’t realize how much of a cheat code it is to have a Top Tight End. Last Year Kelce was a Top 5 Rb in my lineup in a spot where most people are chasing 6 points. Waller could finish TE#1 this year and I wouldn’t be surprised. The offense funnels to him. In the 3rdyou went Keenan Allen who has caught 102-97-104-100 balls the last 4 years. Averaging a hyper consistent 101 catches per year. That’s typically a good thing in an half ppr league folks. In the 4th round Moose took Diontae Johnson, which was interesting. I had Julio, Lockett, Thielen ranked a little higher. I think Johnson is very talented and will have some strong weeks, but I worry about consistency. He’s explosive, so maybe Moose was going for some dynamite to go with the Keenan Allen rock. In Round 5 Moose went Mike Davis. It’s a solid pick. Davis is the #1 for the Falcons. He played really well in CMC’s absence last year. It’s strange to see a #1 Rb who appears to be in line for a workhorse type role taking over for Gurley who finished 25th last year after scoring 9 touchdowns. In Round 6 Moose went Odell. Not a bad flex. In Round 7 he took Michael Thomas for an IR stash. In Round 8 he went Jaylen Waddle for Miami. It’ll be interesting to see how Miami’s offense shakes out this year. Watching Tua’s progression as well as how the targets wind up going with Fuller, Waddle, Parker, and Gesicki. In Round 9 Moose went Gus Edwards. In the 10thhe took Ryan Tannehill, who could ball out this year with the addition of Julio Jones. Loved Hardman in the 12th. Who doesn’t love a Hardman.
Draft Grade: B+. I don’t feel like this is the normal Moose team. Some boring Running backs like Davis, Gus, James White. Waller-Odell-Johnson is more like it.
- Chase
Nick Chubb in the 1st. We disagree here. If I laid out all the Rb’s that went after Chubb I would probably have ranked Chubb middle of the pack after Aaron Jones, Austin Ekeler, Antonio Gipson, Najee Harris, and before Johnathan Taylor, Mixon, Barkley, & Clyde. Chubb is 1A in Cleveland and Cleveland does look to be very good again this year. Chubb doesn’t get many catches at all. And he doesn’t get overutilized either. He got 10-23 touches every game last year, but no more. If they are making another post season run they’ll probably strive to keep him fresh. It’s a situation where his floor isn’t bad, but his ceiling is capped. I understand given the way this league drafts that you had to make a choice at Rb. You made your choice, now we’ll see how it turns out. I’m usually wrong on these grades, so no reason to believe I’m not wrong again this year. I LOVE Calvin Ridley in the 2nd. I was very high on Ridley and you got him at the just right spot. Going to be a target machine. I like Kittle in the 3rd. Tight End is such a difference maker if you have a top scorer. Kittle has the potential. He is oft-injured because of how aggressive he plays. When Kelce catches the ball, he goes down (in Marvin-Harrison fashion), so that he can live to play another down. When Kittle catches the ball, he goes looking for the next guy to hit down the field. A true gritty old-school footballer who unfortunately winds up injured as a result of that. If he can stay healthy for an entire season though, would be a tremendous value. Cooper Kupp in the 4th round was solid. Could easily see him getting over 90 catches this year and become a favorite of Matthew Stafford. In Round 5 you took Kyler Murray, which surprised me a bit. Chase going Rb, Wr, TE, Wr, Qb to start the draft was not what I expected. Kyler is primed to have another great year. I’m high on the Cardinals this year. (Despite me only getting their kicker) In the 6th you took your second Rb in Raheem Mostert. If he’s healthy and starting he is a force and we all know his big play capability. Round 7 you took Chase Claypool who I really like. He’s a big baller and I think he’s going to get his this season. In Round 8 you took Michael Carter. Rookie should start for the Jets, but he may take awhile to get going (similar to Antonio Gipson last year). In Round 9 I liked the Marquez Callaway pick. #1 Wideout and people are sleeping on Jameis/Taysom. Rest of the draft was solid.
Draft Grade: B+. Didn’t seem like a normal Chase draft, but I liked it.
- Jen/Mel.
Austin Ekeler in the first. I love Ekeler. He’s got an improved Offensive Line, he’s elusive. I hope he can hold up this season. Last year he had a very serious hamstring injury. Hoping he’s 100% healthy and electric like he should be. Some analysts have him ranked as high as #5 Rb. We’ll see. Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the second. I understand snagging running backs in this league when you can. CEH has a minor ankle strain, but bigger than that, he needs to win over his own backfield. Chiefs could turn true running back by committee with Darrel Williams and Jerick McKinnon. All 3 of their backs strengths are pass catching. In Round 3 you went Terry McLaurin which is a safe Wr #1. He should enjoy having Ryan Fitzmagic at the helm. Amari Cooper in the 4th is a good value. Cooper is the #1 Wideout on a high volume offense. If Dak can return to early season form from a year ago and both him and Cooper stay healthy, they can combine for big things this season. Lamar Jackson in the 5th gets you a dual threat Qb, which is a prized possession in this league. We are seeing a transition of mobile Qb’s sliding up the fantasy rankings every year. Noah Fant at Tight End. I like Noah Fant, I think he has a lot of potential, we’ll see what he does this season. Brandin Cooks is a good value in the 7th round. Tyrod Taylor is starting Qb, Will Fuller is gone. Everybody is looking the other way when it comes to the Texans and it could be a hidden cache for value this fantasy season. Jen built depth pieces over the next few picks with Leonard Fournette, Jarvis Landry, and Mike Gesicki.
Draft Grade: B. Overall a decent team that will compete. Love the trio of LSU players on the squad.
- JD
JD you’ve had some terrible luck with draft locations over the years. 10, 7, 7, 8, 11, and now 8 again. Barkley?!? I wasn’t this thigh on him. Hehe. I think they are going to start him off slow, but by end of the year he’ll be back to Top Rb form. It might be painful during the first month or so of the season though, so I wouldn’t have gone this route, but I get the potential. Getting Stefon Diggs at 16th overall was a great pickup. Diggs could be Top wideout this year if his connection with Allen continues to get better. Diggs might be the best route runner in the league. CeeDee Lamb in the 3rd. I’m high on CeeDee this year. It probably would’ve been better to snag a Rb here since there were so many wideouts in this area to choose from, but CeeDee has tremendous potential. Slot wide receiver that is Julio-esque on a high scoring offense? That’s a good recipe right there. Etienne in the 4th. This one was a bit of a reach for me. We don’t know what the Jags offense is going to look like. They have some pieces to compete, but James Robinson and Carlos Hyde are both there. I think Etienne will be more 3rd down back and gadget player then true Rb, making this pick a little risky. I would’ve snagged another great wideout in this round or chosen a different running back like Edmonds or Mike Davis. Dak in the 5th to stack with CeeDee. Now that could be fun to watch. I liked the Tee Higgins and Jerry Jeudy picks in the next two rounds. Getting some young and talented wideouts. I was eyeing Jeudy in the 7th when you snagged him from me. Melvin Gordon in the 8th was good value. I liked Tyler Higbee in the 9th as well.
Draft Grade: C. This team has a lot of potential, but they really need to get fully healthy. I see a lot of Questionable designations in your future. Running Backs, both starters and depth appear lacking significantly.
- Brad
I was targeting Davante Adams, Travis Kelce or Tyreek Hill here. I was fully prepared to snag whichever one fell to me. Then there were 8 straight Running Backs taken. Then after doing some arithmetic I realized if I didn’t take a Rb now, then I would be left with just injured CEH or no Rbs after the turn. I had to sacrifice Adams and Kelce to secure a Rb, knowing I could get a top Wr in the 2nd. I chose Aaron Jones. He’s finished Top 5 Fantasy Rb in back to back seasons despite Jamaal Williams stealing a large percentage of the backfield market share. Insert AJ Dillon and I don’t see the percentage of carries going down. Jones is the superior pass-catching back, which makes him more valuable in my opinion. In the 2nd after the Kelce’s and Adam’s and slew of Rb’s were taken I was left with Tyreek Hill. Some analysts have Tyreek ranked as high as #3 Overall given the targets vacated by the departure of Sammy Watkins. There might be some Touchdown regression from his 15 from a year ago, but we all know the Cheetah can add some Big Play Bonus points this season. Jones-Hill is a solid Rb-Wr combo to start the draft. Chris Carson in the 3rd is a boring pick. Picking Carson over Darrell Henderson, David Montgomery, and JK Dobbins might come back to haunt Brad. Henderson is #1 on the Rams, Montgomery finished Rb#4 last year and Dobbins was Brad’s guy last year. Carson has been solid, but just a boring, safe pick for Rb#2. Speaking of boring safe picks, Brad gets Allen Robinson in the 4th for his 2nd Wr. This gives a solid core of Jones-Carson-Hill-Robinson. Little explosion, decent floor. Not bad. In the 5th Brad chose Browns 1B Rb Kareem Hunt. The most talented backup Rb in the league. If Chubb gets injured Hunt turns into a Top 10 Rb, if Chubb stays healthy, Brad has a decent Rb3/Flex player. Flexcuff I believe is the term. I don’t think anyone would have a problem with Kyle Pitts in the 6th round. Rookie Tight Ends typically struggle in their first year, but we know Pitts was a monster at Florida. Tyler Boyd in the 7th was another boring pick. He will probably be the least explosive, but most consistent Wideout for the Bengals this season. Looking forward to those 5 catches for 60 yards games in my flex spot on occasion. AJ Dillon in the 8th round. At worst he’s a handcuff to Aaron Jones, at best he is another Flexcuff. He’s a big dude, so we’ll see what happens. More boring picks with Corey Davis and Kenyan Drake on new teams. Matt Stafford at Qb. Went safe with Baltimore D/ST.
Draft Grade: A. Solid team. Don’t see a weakness.
- Katon
Travis Kelce. Yes 100% yes. From a value based drafting standpoint this was the correct decision. In the 2nd you were able to snag Joe Mixon as your Rb #1. Everyone is saying this is the year. Maybe it actually will be with Gio Bernard gone? In the 3rd round you took David Montgomery as your Rb2. I don’t hate it. Mike Evans in the 4th as your first wideout isn’t bad. When Tom Brady gets inside the Red Zone he’s looking for Evans. Their connection on fades last year was crazy. James Robinson in the 5th was okay. Little risky and maybe too early in my opinion. They have Etienne and Carlos Hyde, so I don’t know if Robinson will be a fraction of what he did last year. But we’ll see. JuJu in the 6th was an okay choice. He’s in the slot which typically helps with floors due to it being half ppr. But with Johnson and Claypool his ceiling is pretty capped. Zach Moss in the 7th could be a good value. Starting Running Back in Round 7 sounds legit, but we’ll see how he does this year. I really like Laviska Shenault in the 8th. Some analysts have compared him to a young Brandon Marshall. In Rounds 9 and 10 you snagged Bucs stack of Tom Brady and TB D/ST. Way too early for a defense, but the Brady-Evans stack is pretty cool. Snagged some decent backups.
Draft Grade: B+. This is a Katon team.
- Scotty
Davante Adams. Yes 100% yes. What a value to have the best wide receiver in the league fall in your lap at the 11th pick, with 3+ rb’s left, so you knew you would be able to snag a good one after the turn. Najee Harris is due for a bazillion carries this season, so between Adams and Najee you probably have the best combination in the entire league when it comes to Rb-Wr to start the draft. Phenomenal. Darrell Henderson in the 3rd was a great pick. Rams with Stafford, solid defense, Sean McVay, the sky is the limit if he can stay healthy this season. Mark Andrews in the 4th was okay. I’m not so high on him, but with all the injuries to the Ravens wide receivers, I don’t judge you for this pick. He could start off the season on fire. DJ Moore was a good value in Round 5. Justin Herbert in Round 6 was okay. I think the team will be more balanced this year, but he flashed his talents for the world to see last year during his OROY. I didn’t care for your picks in Rounds 7, 8, 9 and 10 with Trey Sermon, DJ Chark, David Johnson and Marquise Brown. Sermon was a decent pick, but I’m not high on Chark with Shenault getting better, and Marvin Jones coming on strong. I loved the Michael Pittman pick in Round 11 and I think he will have a much better season than Chark or Brown. Rams D/ST was solid.
Draft Grade: A-. Later rounds were bleh, but hell of a core. Rb Depth is a problem. (Which is normal in this league)
- Trey
Trey had options at the 12/13 turn. He could’ve gone Hill-Diggs, Rb-Wr, but knowing the Wr talent that falls to the back of the 3rd/4th he went Rb-Rb-Wr-Rb getting a trio of Sophomore Studs in Johnathan Taylor, Antonio Gipson and JK Dobbins. Best Rb trio in the league? Bob Trees was a good pick as a Wr#1. He’s consistent, he’s solid, Stafford is going to love him. In Rounds 5 and 6 it made out like poetry. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I love the TJ Hockensen pick. I think Goff is going to target him A LOT this season. I was hoping he would fall back to me, but you snagged him. Kenny Golladay was.. blah. I just don’t see it. Golladay is a talent, but he’s an entitled talent on a Giants team with Daniel Jones at Qb, with the presence of Sterling Shepherd, Darius Slayton, Evan Engram, Kyle Rudolph and rookie Kadarius Toney. That’s a lot of mouths to feed on a potentially really bad team. I didn’t care for the Sutton or Devonta Smith picks in Rounds 7 and 8 either. Now in Rounds 9/10 I really liked the Jalen Hurts-Darnell Mooney picks. Mooney is going to be a better than the previous three wideouts you chose I believe. Hurts, as long as the Watson rumors get squashed and he truly starts for the Eagles would be a good value. Dual threat Qb’s tend to have better floors. Gage and Tua was a similar strategy the next round. Seems like after drafting the 3 Rb’s in your first 4 picks you might have panic bought up on crappy wideouts instead of building depth at Rb.
Draft Grade: B. Should be a fun, young team to watch, but picking which wide receivers to start each week is going to be a nightmare for you.
Draft Grades In Order:
- Kenny- A
- Brad- A
- Scotty- A-
- Katon- B+
- Tommy B+
- Mustafa B+
- Chase B+
- Trey- B
- Jen/Mel- B
- Mike- B
- Joe- C+
- JD- C
*Remember, my grades are never correct. Also, with the divisions set the way they are anything can happen. Best of Luck this season!
fantasyfootballbrad 