Fantasy Football

BBY Dream Team League Season 14: Week 1 Preview

bradleybertoniere Fantasy Football, NFL , ,

BBY Dream Team League Week 1 Preview   

Now that everybody has had a chance to swoon over their players they’ve drafted for the past week and half, it’s time for the season to start.  This is the time of year when we go from loving our players and the team we drafted to instantly doubting and hating it if we are to lose Week 1.  In my 22 years of fantasy football experience Week 1 is the most unpredictable week of the year.  It’s also one of the most fun because of this unknown.  It also makes it highly likely that this Week 1 Preview is going to be dead wrong.  So now is the time to stop jerking off to your team and actually play the weekly strategy/luck game that is… Fantasy Football.

 

Chase Division:

Chase vs. Mike

The defending and three-time winning Super Bowl Champion Chase will square off against Mike Grote in Week 1.  The first of the divisional games features a 50-50 win probability according to ESPN predictions.  Chase has Sophomore Trey Lance who gets the start against the Chicago Bears.  The 49ers weren’t able to find a trade partner for Jimmy G, so Lance has the previous starter there to help him through the game plan.  Chase compared Lance to Josh Allen last year and said he wasn’t ready yet.  Let’s see if he’s ready this year.  Chase has his first round pick Dalvin Cook against division rival Green Bay.  Last season Dalvin against Green Bay had one solid game of 21.0 fantasy points and one stinker with 2.8 fantasy points. Green Bay’s defense is very talented, but let’s see how the Vikings have prepared for this one.  Chase’s Rb2 J.K. Dobbins faces the New York Jets.  Dobbins should be active for Week 1, but it’s going to be interesting to see how much work he’s going to get early in the season.  He has bell cow potential but the Ravens might want to ease him back into game action considering he missed the entire 2021 campaign.  Chase has Michael Pittman Jr. vs. Derek Stingley and the Houston Texans.  He has Amon-Ra St. Brown against Philly’s defense who just got better in the secondary after trading the Saints for CJ. Gardner-Johnson.  Then he has a pair of Chiefs in a potential shootout with Arizona in Kelce and JuJu Smith-Schuster.  Mike has Qb Dak Prescott against Tampa Bay on Sunday Night Football.  He has Najee Harris against Cincy.  Last season Najee against Cincy had one solid game of 24.2 fantasy points and one stinker with 5.2 fantasy points.  Mike also has Javonte Williams against Seattle on MNF.  All eyes will be on Russel Wilson, so it might be a great opportunity for Williams to be featured in this revenge game for Seattle.  Tee Higgins plays against Pittsburgh.  He only faced them once last season, but performed well with 8 targets, 6 receptions, 114 yards, and a touchdown.  Darnell Mooney will most likely accumulate a lot of targets against the 49ers, but we’ll see if he can get catches that actually equate to fantasy points.  Dalton Schultz is in the Sunday Night Football  game against Tampa Bay and Josh Jacobs is starting @ LA Chargers.  It’s truly a toss up on who gets the win here.

Tommy vs. Joe

Tommy has Joe Burrow vs. Pittsburgh.  Joe is coming off of his appendectomy which caused him to miss a lot of valuable offseason reps.  In comes Pittsburgh’s defense.  Let’s see if the money spent on the new offensive line is able to protect Burrow’s surgically repaired mid section.  Derrick Henry faces the NY Giants.  Let’s see how his feet hold up.  Lenny Fournette faces off against Dallas in Monday Night Football.  Tyreek Hill gets Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots who are notorious for taking away an offense’s top weapon.  That’s easier said than done against the Manimal Tyreek Hill.  DK Metcalf is another specimen, facing off against Denver.  Kittle is against the Bears.  Kareem Hunt goes up against Carolina and his former Qb Baker Mayfield.  For Joe he has Russel Wilson in that Monday Night Football Game.  Cam Akers on Thursday Night Football on the kickoff game.  Clyde Edwards-Helaire @Arizona.  Ja’Marr Chase against Pittsburgh, Jerry Jeudy @ Seattle.  Mark Andrews @ NY Jets.  Tony Pollard vs. Tampa Bay on SNF.  And #1 Defense option for Week 1 the 49ers versus the Bears.  A lot of cross-threads in this matchup.  Tommy with Burrow and Metcalf, Joe with Wilson and Chase.  Both Tommy and Joe will be rooting for their Quarterbacks to do well, but hoping they throw it to different wideouts than the one residing on their opponents rosters.  Should be a great matchup. 

 

The Kenny Division

Kenny vs. JD

Big story in this matchup is at the Quarterback position.  Kenny has Kyler Murray and JD has Patrick Mahomes in their Week 1 matchup in the desert.  This game has the highest over/under total of the weekend at 053.5/u54.  Kenny has D’Andre Swift against Philly and Elijah Mitchell @ Chicago.  Davante Adams in another potential shootout against the LA Chargers.  Mike Williams in that same matchup against the Raiders.  Mike Gesicki against New England.  And Devin Singletary kicking things off on Thursday Night Football.  JD has Austin Ekeler vs. the Raiders.  Last season he went off both times against Las Vegas with games of 31.0 and 26.4.  Not a good sign for Kenny this week.  He also has Chase Edmonds, who I think will be a pass-catching phenom this year.  JD also has CeeDee Lamb in that Sunday Night Football Game.  Keenan Allen in the potential shootout with the Raiders.  This of course sets up the Mike Williams vs. Keenan Allen debate.  I gave JD crap about drafting Allen and Week 1 we get an instant preview on how right or wrong I was.  Williams scored 1.6 and 25.4 in his two games against the Raiders last season.  Allen scored 7.1 and 8.2.  Should be interesting to watch.  JD also has Diontae Johnson against Cincy.  Mitch Trubisky was named the starting Quarterback for this game, so there’s that.

Jen vs. Katon

Jen features Aaron Rodgers and Justin Jefferson in the Packers-Vikings game.  Katon features Stafford and Diggs in the Thursday night Football game.  Jen has James Conner against KC and Antonio Gipson against Jacksonville.  Katon has AK Alvin Kamara against Atlanta.  Last year AK had 18.4 and 20.2 against Atlanta, which bodes well for Katon.  Very evened Wr 2 matchup with Katon having underrated Brandin Cooks and Jen having underrated Terry McLaurin.  Jen has Rookie phenom Breece Hall against the Ravens and Katon has Zeke in the Tamp game on Sunday Night Football.  Should be a fun opening weekend for these two teams, but look for Jen’s Darren Waller to be the difference maker as Katon is rolling out Hunter Henry at Tight End for some reason. 

 

The Trey Division

Trey vs. Scotty

The number one overall pick versus the team that auto-drafted.  What could go wrong?  Trey has Lamar Jackson in a sexy matchup against the Jets.  Johnathan Taylor @ Houston.  Last season JT had 31.3 and 27.3 against Houston, scoring two touchdown in each contest.  Trey also features Travis Etienne Jr, who will get his first real game action as a pro against the Commanders.  He gets Allen Robinson against Buffalo on Thursday Night Football and Allen Lazard against the Vikings.  Kyle Pitts gets New Orleans in Week 1 where he struggled last season with paltry games of 7.7 and 1.8.  Scotty has Justin Herbert in a potential shootout with the Raiders.  Herbert scored 21.2 and 30.3 fantasy points in his games against the Raiders last season.  Scotty has Joe Mixon vs. Pittsburgh and Cordarelle Patterson vs. the Saints.  Mixon had games of 9.9 and 33.3 against the Steelers last year.  Patterson had games of 19.6 and 1.7 against the Saints.  Scotty is hoping to have Deebo Samuel against the Bears in week 1.  He has a bruise behind his knee, which is said to be very painful.  He seems like he is a “go” but we’ll have to monitor this week.  Mike Evans has Dallas on SNF.  DJ Moore gets a revenge storyline for his new Qb Baker Mayfield, who will try to knock out his former Browns team in Carolina.  TJ Hockensen gets Philly.  Should be a great game. 

Brad vs. Mustafa

6 Titles collide in this Divisional matchup.  Brad has Jalen Hurts @ Detroit in what could be a very fun Week 1 game.  He also has #2 overall pick Christian McCaffrey against Cleveland.  Aaron Jones against the Vikings and Nick Chubb vs. the Panthers in Carolina.  Last season Aaron Jones only faced the Vikings once and only had 8 rushing attempts.  He ran for 76 yards with those 8 rushes and caught 5 passes for a total of 13.1 fantasy points.  This game will most likely come down to Monday Night Football with Brad having Courtland Sutton against a motivated Seattle team, out to prove that they are more than their Qb position.  Brad also has Jaylen Waddle against New England.  Last year Waddle had respectable games against the Pats with games of 14.1 and 11.2.  Brad’s peripherals are all the Bills this season.  Which is usually going to be advantageous.  This week is not one of those weeks considering the Bills open the season in the Nationally Televised kick off game on Thursday Night Football against Matthew Stafford and the Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams.  We’ll see if Brad can get anything from Knox, Bills D/ST and Tyler Bass.  Moose has a couple of darlings in the same game.  Qb Josh Allen and Wr Cooper Kupp.  It will bring Moose great pleasure watching Cooper Kupp score a touchdown against Brad’s D/ST.  Moose also has Saquon Barkley @ Tennesee and rookie Dameon Pierce vs. Indianapolis.  Not great matchups for Moose’s starting Running Backs.  Moose has AJ Brown and Dallas Goedert against Detroit which will counteract Brad’s Jalen Hurts who will be looking at throwing the football to Moose’s pass catchers.  Moose also has Michael Thomas returning to game action against division rival Falcons.  Look for the Saints to dial up something special to MT to get him back into game action in a big way.  Should be a great matchup. 

 

Thank you for reading and as always.  Good Luck!

Signed, The Commish.            

 

BBY Dream Team League Draft Grades 2022

bradleybertoniere Draft Guide, Fantasy Football, NFL ,

BBY Dream Team League Draft Grades 2022

  1. Trey

Trey had to make his choice of two players pretty much.  The transcendent Johnathan Taylor that had a monster year last year for Trey or the back-to-back disappointment CMC.  ESPN ADP shows Taylor as 1.4 and CMC 3.2, so Trey decides to run it back with JT.  He did a disservice to the stud RB last season, and he is hoping to make up for it.  A mere 22 picks later and Trey was on the clock again.  He was targeting Mark Andrews but had to pivot when he was snatched by Joe a few picks prior.  Trey had some Round 3 and 4 targets, but I think the Andrews pick messed him up a little.  He winds up going with Kyle Pitts and Travis Etienne.  I like both players this season, but I don’t like them at this draft position.  I think Trey reached a bit for both players.  I had Pitts last year and I think Mariota coming to town and Drake London being there to take away some pressure will help for sure.  But the draft capital given up was passing on Chubb, Tyreek Hill, AJ Brown, Tee Higgins, Zeke, etc.  I agree in the fact that neither guy was coming back to Trey, so if he is high on these two then I can understand him taking his shot.  But Etienne’s ESPN ADP was 55.  Yahoo’s ADP was 47.5.  FantasyPros ADP was 42.7, which is a little better.  Trey took him at 25.  It’s only a reach if you’re wrong Trey.  At the end of the 4th round he went Miles Sanders and then Lamar Jackson.  I like the Lamar Jackson pick, but I think Trey could’ve gone wideout here.  Miles Sanders has been a huge disappointment.  This is the last season on his rookie contract, so the motivation is there, and the Eagles have one of the best offensive lines in football right now.  Lately I feel like players on contract years haven’t played hard, rather they have sat out a lot and tried to do everything in their power to protect themselves to try and be healthy for a new contract.  Back in the day players would go nuts trying everything to earn that second contract.  Those days might be gone as the priority has shifted from prove it to secure it.  In Rounds 6 and 7 Trey goes Allen Robinson and Allen Lazard.  Respect for the Double Allen picks.  I like the Robinson pick.  Kupp will get the top corners.  Robinson should thrive in the previous Robert Woods role in the Rams offense.  Stafford will be by far the best Qb he’s ever played with.  Career year in store?  He was a huge disappoint for me last season, but again he was on the final year of his contract, so it appeared that he gave bare minimum effort.  Hard to know if it was just horrific Qb play, effort, or a bit of both.  Lazard appears to be Rodgers new #1 WR.  We’ll see if he spreads it around more now that Adams is gone, but Lazard should receive a fair share of targets.  Does he have the talent to play against top CBs though?  In Rounds 8 and 9 Trey goes back-to-back wideouts again with Tyler Lockett and Elijah Moore.  Trey loaded up on Wr in the back half of the draft, drafting a total of 8 Wrs compared to 4 Rbs.

Draft Grade: C-.  His core of Lamar Jackson, JT, and Pitts will be a good floor, but Wide Receiver room and Rb depth is bad.  Not Trey’s best performance.

  1. Brad

Coming off his impressive failure of a season at 3-11, Brad was rewarded with the 2nd overall pick in this year’s draft.  CMC was the correct choice.  In games he played and finished last season he was his normal fantasy monster-self averaging 20.1 fantasy points.  In the 2nd Round Brad was also targeting Mark Andrews, but when Joe picked him, Brad had to pivot.  His consolation prize was GB Rb Aaron Jones.  Jones was serviceable for Brad last season, but not as a Rb1.  Some analysts are very high on Jones this season, thinking the Adams target share will be divided up with the running backs seeing the biggest increase.  If that comes to fruition, then Jones floor might pick up a bit and help to eliminate many of the single digit fantasy contests he had last season (5).  In the 3rd round Brad was torn between Nick Chubb and Tee Higgins.  Knowing this league and the proclivity of Rb shortages throughout the season, Brad went conservative, hoping that he can get some decent wide receivers in the middle rounds.  This gives Brad a solid three-headed monster at Rb with CMC, Jones, and Chubb.  At the end of the 4th round Brad new he had to go wideout and had his choices of Sutton, Jeudy, Waddle or Amon-Ra.  After going Sutton banking on AFC West shootouts, Brad got Waddle in the 5th.  Jaylen Waddle finished as WR#14 with 141 targets, 104 receptions, 1015 yards and 6 touchdowns in his rookie debut.  That was against CB#1’s.  This season Tyreek Hill joins the Fins squad and will draw much attention away from Waddle, who fits perfectly into new head coach Mike McDaniel’s offense.  I loaded up on Waddle in Best Ball this offseason.  At the end of Round 6 Brad’s target was Dameon Pierce, but Moose snagged him 5 picks ahead of me.  So I went with Gabe Davis who had fallen passed his ADP and seemed like a good value at that drafting position.  If he can pick up where he left off in the playoffs then this would be a steal for Brad.  In Round 7 Brad gets his Qb in Jalen Hurts.  I wanted to secure a running Qb in this year’s draft to try and get a higher floor at the Qb position.  The addition of AJ Brown should help Hurts fantasy value.  By drafting Hurts Brad passed on Dalton Schultz, TJ Hockensen, and Dallas Goedert at tight end, a decision that might come back to bite him in the ass this season.  Once those three went Brad had to wait on TE.  So at the back of the 8th round he went oft-injured Rashad Penny.  Seahawks resigned Penny and drafted Ken Walker.  I believe Walker was drafted as a replacement for Chris Carson.  As usual look for the Seahawks to start the healthiest of their backs throughout the season.  In Round 9 Brad reached for rookie wideout George Pickens.  He has looked like a monster this preseason, so this was more of a flier/instinct type of pick.  In Round 10 Brad went Bills D/St.  There are a couple of start and forget defenses out there and the Bills are one of them.  They are favored in 15 out of 17 games.  If teams are playing from behind against the Bills it opens the possibility for more sacks and interceptions, sticky stats for fantasy defenses.  In Round 11 Brad finally drafted a tight end in Dawson Knox.  Knox was very effective in the red zone last season.  He recently lost his brother and I believe the Bills are going to rally around Knox and try to get him a touchdown in Week 1 as a sign of support and love for the tragedy his family is currently going through.

Draft Grade: B+.  Can’t get an A if you are the first team to draft a defense.  Those are the rules.

  1. JD

Dizzle goes Ekeler at 3rd overall.  I probably would have gone JJ or Kupp here, but if you are going to strategically go RB I had Ekeler as my 3rd back after JT and CMC.  Chargers defense got a lot better this offseason with the addition of Khalil Mack and they have a legit chance to make a deep playoff run.  Getting their star Rb isn’t a bad start to the draft.  In Round 2 JD got CeeDee Lamb.  Phenomenal pick.  Lamb should be busy this season with Amari Cooper now a Brown, James Washington out for the season, and Michael Gallup rehabbing an injury.  His main target competition in the offense is Dalton Schultz and rookie Jalen Tolbert.  Lamb has Top 5 wideout potential.  In the 3rd JD went Keenan Allen.  Sticking with the Chargers theme.  I didn’t like this pick as much.  I think Mike Williams quietly overtook Allen last season and seems to fit a little better in this offense.  I had Tyreek Hill, AJ Brown, Tee Higgins, and Mike Evans all ranked higher than Allen this season.  In the 4th JD went Diontae Johnson.  He read that the shoulder injury he sustained in the preseason game was minor and that he could have finished the game if it was a real game, so JD felt confident in picking him.  I’m less confident considering the Steelers offensive line looks like crap and there is a very real chance Mitch Trubisky is the starting Qb.  Johnson got a ton of targets from dead-armed Big Ben and I don’t think a younger arm will have that many short throws this season.  In Round 5 JD went with Patrick Mahomes.  I’m surprised he didn’t go Herbert to just go all in with the Chargers, but Mahomes was a good pick to diversify his team a bit.  Chiefs offensive line is looking strong and their defense isn’t.  A good sign for Mahomes potential this season.  In Round 6 JD goes Chase Edmonds as his Rb2.  I think Edmonds will start for the Dolphins and catch a lot of passes.  Decent value at this point in the draft.  In Round 7 he went Drake London, rookie for Atlanta.  I don’t really have an opinion about Drake London except that he should get a decent amount of targets.  In Round 8 JD got his tight end in Zach Ertz.  Ertz could see an uptick in targets to start the year with Hopkins suspended and Marquise Brown having a weird offseason (had a small hamstring injury to start camp and then got arrested earlier this month for ‘criminal speeding’).  My favorite late round pick for JD was Khalil Herbert in Round 12.  I could see him overtaking Montgomery as the lead back in the Bears offense this season.  He looked great last year.  And you took him one pick before me, which hurt a lot.

Draft Grade: C.  I just really didn’t like the Allen pick.  Weakness is Wr2, Flex and Tight End.

  1. Joe

Joe starts off by going with LSU legend Ja’Marr Chase at 4.  I love Burrow and Chase, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t like this pick over Kupp and other LSU-stud Justin Jefferson.  Bengals offensive line improved, but their schedule draw was brutal.  In the 2nd Round Joe goes with Mark Andrews.  Great pick.  Andrews may have already surpassed Kelce as the best route-running tight end in the league.  He surely passed Kelce last season finishing as Tight End #1.  It’s like having a Top-5 Rb in a spot where people are chasing a miracle touchdown.  Difference making pick right here.  In Round 3 he goes Cam Akers as his Rb1.  I loved Akers in the summer of 2021 before he tore his achilles.  He was able to come back from it and looks poised to start for the SB Champion Rams.  I think Henderson will get a decent amount of work and the Rams will go with the healthiest back each week.  Both Akers and Henderson had to deal with soft tissue issues this offseason, but both look on track to be ready for week 1.  In Round 4, part of the rounds that many fantasy experts have titled “The Running Back Dead Zone” Joe takes a Running Back in Clyde Edwards-Helaire.  He had a rough year last year.  Unbeknownst to many people he had gallbladder surgery in the offseason, which caused him to lose a bunch of weight.  He then had ankle, knee, and shoulder injuries throughout the season.  The Chiefs offensive line is good.  But they signed Ronald Jones via free agency and drafted Isiah Pacheco albeit with pick number 251.  We’ve passed cutdown day as I’m writing this and it looks like the Chiefs are going to roll with CEH, Jones, McKinnon and Pacheco.  We’ll see if CEH can get the lions share or if he takes more of a third down, hurry up offseason type of role.  In Round 5 Joe goes Jerry Judge Jeudy as his Wr #2.  Jeudy has a legit chance at a third-year breakout with Wilson under center and I could see him having a better season than Sutton.  I was torn on which Denver Wideout to take and wind-up going Sutton.  Will be interesting to see how Wilson slings it.  Loved Joe’s 6th round pick in Tony Pollard.  Many teams are going with RB rotations now-a-days to keep their star Rb’s fresh.  Pollard was right there with Zeke last season.  In Round 7 Joe goes Adam Thielen.  He is trending towards the end of his career but I could see another double digit touchdown season out of him before he fades into the sunset.  While everyone is focused on JJ, it could happen this season.  Good repour with Cousins.  Good red zone skills.  Not a bad Wr3.  Russ Wilson in Round 8 and Justin Tucker in Round 9.

Draft Grade: C+.  Really didn’t like Joe taking Chase over JJ and Kupp.  Running Backs are gross but could also work out in a weird way.  I could see this team competing for a playoff spot.

  1. Tommy

Shocker.  Tommy takes Tennessee Titan Derrick Henry at 5.  He’s coming off a foot injury that ended his 2021 campaign early.  He was touching the ball a ridiculous number of times before his injury.  I’m a little concerned with the state of the Titans.  Traded away AJ Brown.  I don’t think Robert Woods, Treylon Burks, and Austin Hooper are going to demand the same respect as AJB, but if Henry can pick up where he was last season this could be a great pick.  In the 2nd Round Tommy goes Leonard Fournette.  Uncle Lenny is an okay pick.  He should receive all the goal line work, could catch a lot more check downs this season.  Big concern is the offensive line for the Bucs.  Losing their center and then another center and then their left guard.  Interior pressure is Brady’s weakness.  They will need to get that shored up fast.  I probably would have gone Andrews here but can understand the rationale of going second Rb in this league.  In Round 3 Tommy gets his Wr#1 in Tyreek “The Freak” Hill.  I’ve had Tyreek a few times in this league because of the 50+ yard touchdown bonus.  We all know he can take it to the house at any time with his blazing speed.  Let’s see how Tua does with his new weapon.  In Round 4 Tommy went DK Metcalf.  There have always been talented wideouts with bad Qb’s.  Metcalf is no different.  In Round 5 Tommy gets the oft-injured Kittle.  I wrote about Kittle in the draft grades last year when Chase took him.  I described how his playing style is conducive to injuries.  He is a super-aggressive, old school football player who loves contact.  It makes him a beast when he is running with the football after catch.  But he does typically miss a good bit of time.  I like Kareem Hunt in Round 6.  Rumored to be a potential trade candidate, Hunt was trending as a Top 10 Rb before getting hurt last season.  Will be interesting to watch if he does move or if he sticks with his 1B role with Chubb in Cleveland.  Tommy goes Bateman in Round 7 and Joe Burrow in Round 8.

Draft Grade: B-.  I like Tommy’s starters.  Worried about lack of depth, but he drafted a super talented roster.

  1. Jen

Love the Justin Jefferson pick at 6.  Some analysts have put him over Cooper Kupp to finish as Wr #1 this season based on talent, scheme-fit, and schedule.  Great pick.  In Round 2 Jen goes James Conner.  I like Conner a lot.  I don’t think I would have taken him over Leonard Fournette or Aaron Jones, but he has a lot of potential.  Chase Edmonds is now a Dolphin and Conner was a touchdown machine last season with a whopping 15 tuddies.  In Round 3 Jen takes Jets rookie Breece Hall.  This was a little early in my opinion.  Hall is very talented, but it looks like he’ll split time with Michael Carter at least to start the season. Taking him over Zeke and some of the stud wideouts that were available was egregious.  In Round 4 Jen goes Terry McLaurin, which I liked a lot.  McLaurin might have his best Qb in Carson Wentz this season, which isn’t saying much.  He’s a super talented wideout that should be a great Wr2 for Jen.  In Round 5 Jen went Darren Waller the Baller.  Waller was injured last year and I thought he was injured much of this offseason too.  But I didn’t realize that Waller wasn’t practicing because his contract didn’t become fully guaranteed until Week 1.  He didn’t want to risk getting hurt prior to the season starting.  Look for him to be his normal self when coming back, he just must compete with Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow for targets.  In Round 6 Jen goes Ken Walker at Rb.  I thought this was a miss.  He had just gone through Hernia surgery and might miss some time to start the season.  He’ll be competing with Rashad Penny to start at Rb on a potentially bad Seahawks team.  Jen drafted him over Kareem Hunt, Tony Pollard, and Chase Edmonds, all Rbs who I had ranked much higher than Ken Walker.  In Round 7 Jen takes Antonio Gipson.  Gipson has had a weird career.  Rookie year he balls out.  Sophomore year he breaks his leg but plays through it.  Now in his third year he appeared to lose his starting gig to rookie Rb. Brian Robinson, only to have Brian Robinson get shot in a robbery the day before our draft.  Robinson seems like he’ll be okay, but just super weird and I don’t know how to rank Gipson this season.  In Round 8 Jen gets Aaron Rodgers.  In Round 9 Chris Olave.

Draft Grade: D.  I don’t like being harsh on draft grades, but I felt like Jen was drafting a round-ahead on every pick after Round 1.  She has some potential with very talented Wr1 and Wr2 a bunch of young rookies, but I feel like this team could have been a lot better from this draft position.

  1. Mustafa

Well what’s up, Cooper Kupp? At 7?! How do you do?  2021 Fantasy Wr #1 had an incredible season that helped fuel Chase’s Super Bowl run.  He now finds himself in 4-time champion Moose’s squad.  In Round 2 Moose got Saquon Barkley.  I was enjoying drafting 3rd round Barkley in Best Ball this summer as he slowly climbed up draft boards.  In my other league he went 12th overall pick.  Solid Rb#1 for Moose.  Only concern is Daniel Jones.  The Giants declined his fifth-year option and he’s looked like crap this preseason.  In Round 3 Moose goes AJ Brown.  I like Brown’s fit on the Eagles.  Very talented and a bit jaded, I could see him putting some monster numbers.  Moose shocks the free world by going Qb in Round 4.  Josh Allen has MVP potential being the leader of the Super Bowl favorite Buffalo Bills.  He runs, he passes, and he is tough.  A-okay with the pick here.  In Round 5 Moose goes Michael Thomas.  Slantboy is a high risk/high reward pick.  I liked Amon-Ra over him this year, but if he can come back to his previous self, the Saints offense can be scary.  They weren’t going to wait for him though, adding rookie Chris Olave and free agent Jarvis Landry this offseason. Turning a big-time weakness from 2021 into a big-time strength in 2022.  In Round 6 Moose took my target in rookie Dameon Pierce.  Evan Silva was high on Pierce after the NFL draft believing he had the best path of any rookie running back to become an early season starter.   As fate would have it, it certainly appears Silva was correct as the Texans just released Marlon Mack and will move forward with Pierce and Rex Burkhead as their top two backs.  In Round 7 Moose goes Rhamondre Stevenson, which is a great pick.  The Patriots backfield has begun a consolidation process that has left it down to Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson and I would prefer to have Stevenson this season.  In Round 8 Moose took my target again with Dallas Geodert, getting him a solid tight end on a good Eagles team.  Then Moose got some running back depth and rookie wideouts to build his bench.

Draft Grade: A.  If I had drafted at 7 my team would have looked very similar to this team.  Only exception being Michael Thomas.  Well executed draft by the league Super Bowl victory leader.

  1. Mike

Najee Harris at 8.  I probably would have gone Dalvin Cook in this position, but I can see the allure of Harris, who is looking to have another year with a very large quantity of touches.  My biggest concern is the Steelers offensive line.  Brandon Thorn, offensive line analyst and expert, ranked the Steelers in the “Bottom Feeders” category and dead last 32/32 in his rankings for this season.  Add the fact that there could be a rookie Qb or Mitch Trubisky starting for this team and I’m out.  The day after our draft news came out that Harris was battling through a Lisfranc foot injury this offseason.  He is a stud, but I would start lessening your expectations now and hope to be pleasantly surprised if he finishes as a Top 10 back.   In Round 2 you went Javonte Williams, talented Rb for the super hyped Broncos.  I had Barkley and a few wideouts ranked higher than Williams, but I can respect you going Rb-Rb to start the draft in this league.  In Round 3 you went Tee Higgins and I loved this pick.  I almost took him 7 picks prior at pick #26.  Very talented and was right there with Ja’Marr Chase towards the end of last season.  In Round 4 you went Josh Jacobs.  I’m going to give you the exact same rant I gave my younger brother who drafted Josh Jacobs in the 4th round in my other league.  The Raiders offensive line is not great (ranked 27/32 according to Brandon Thorn).  They drafted Zamir White in Round 4 of the NFL Draft.  They have Brandon Bolden and Ameer Abdullah for 3rd down and hurry up offense snaps, which are valuable in fantasy.  Josh McDaniels is the new head coach.  They declined Jacobs 5th year option.  They could run him until his wheels fall off since they don’t have to resign him next year.  Back in the day I feel like contract year players played better as they were trying to earn it.  But recently I’ve seen players milk smaller injuries or not play as hard to protect themselves so that they can get a new contract and gain more security as I mentioned in Trey’s section.   I can stomach Jacobs as a Rb#3 but drafting him over some very talented wideouts that were available like McLaurin, Sutton, Jeudy, Metcalf, Waddle was pretty bad.  In Round 5, Mike went Darnell Mooney. He should receive the Lions share of the Bears targets this season considering he is the only wideout who’s name I know on that team.  I’m bearish on the Bears this season.  I’m BEARISH.  I loved the Chris Godwin pick in Round 6.  I think there is tremendous value there.  He is coming back from injury but miraculously might have a shot to play Week 1.  I look for him to start off slow and then pick up as the season progresses especially with Gronk gone.  I loved what you did in Rounds 7 and 8 drafting Dalton Schultz and then pairing him with Dak Prescott.  Gives you a solid Qb-Te combo.  Schultz should get a lot of targets this year.  Brandon Thorn ranked the Dallas offensive line as #6/32.  Of course, that was BEFORE their starting Left Tackle Tryon Smith tore his hamstring, which will sideline him for a couple of months at least.  Thorn reduced the Cowboys line ranking from #6 to #20.  I really liked Mike’s late round picks this season.  Skyy Moore, Nico Collins, James Cook, and Jerick McKinnon.

Draft Grade: B-  If offensive lines didn’t matter this might be an “A” team.   I’m really torn on this grade.  On one side I see Dak/Schultz stack, Najee, Tee Higgins, Godwin and I think wow Mike did a great job.  On the other I see Najee, Josh Jacobs and I’m like, man Mike really bombed this.

  1. Scotty

Man I don’t know what got into Scotty, but he crushed his draft this season.  In the first round he went Joe Mixon who I’m very high on this season after the Bengals signed Ted Karras at Center, Alex Kappa at Guard, and La’el Collins at right tackle via free agency.  They went heavy defense in the draft and you know teams will have to respect the passing game, opening up lanes for Mixon to replicate his 2021 career year.  In Round 2 Deebo Samuel was a big time reach for me.  This is when the autodraft can come back to bite you in the ass.  The ESPN autodraft went on a Wide Receiver and Qb tear for Scotty loading up with 6 wideouts and 3 quarterbacks compared to 3 running backs.  I know Scotty was beat up inside for having to miss the draft, so I’m not going to sit here and ream him for it.  Sometimes life gets in the way and he was going through a dinner involving his company being acquired by another and I completely understand.  Take care of your business man.  With that being said, this team has a sick trio of wideouts in Deebo-Evans-Moore.  Solid Rb1, Solid Qb1, Solid TE1.  And your Rb2 isn’t even that bad if he can replicate some his success from last season.  (Cordarrelle Patterson).  This may not be the team you drafted, but this is your team.  Manage the hell out of it and see what you can do with it.  This team is like life.  You can’t control the hand you got dealt, but you can control how you play the hand.

Draft Grade: N/A

  1. Chase

The Defending Super Bowl Champion drafts from the 10 spot.  Dalvin Cook drops to him like a gift from the heavens. A sure-fire Top 5 Rb this season.  In the 2nd he gets Travis Kelce.  In the post-Tyreek Hill era of the Chiefs the offense will go through Travis Kelce.  Love this pick.  I took him at the 10/11 turn in my 10-man league.  In Round 3 he went JK Dobbins over Zeke, which I thought was interesting.  I have Zeke higher than Dobbins this season.  In Round 4 he gets his Wr#1 in Michael Pittman.  Pittman should replicate his success from last year even with the Qb change from Carson Wentz to Matt Ryan.  Defenses have to respect JT and the running game, should open up Pittman to scoring opportunities.  In Round 5, Chase selected the Sun-God, Amon-Ra St. Brown.  Going to be fun to watch these two young stud wide receivers this season.  In Round 6 Chase drafts JuJu Smith-Schuster.  It’s hard to know where JuJu is these days.  He was just catching balls from an old statue with a noodle arm for the past two seasons and now he goes to Patrick Mahomes.  He’ll play from the slot, so between Kelce and JuJu Chase has the middle of the field covered.  In Rounds 7 and 8 Chase goes AJ Dillon and DeAndre Hopkins.  Hopkins is a stash and Dillon is a Flexcuff.  Top 10 potential if Jones goes down, but stand-alone value if needed in a pinch.  In Round 9 he goes Trey Lance, getting him a running Qb and in Round 10 he goes Alexander Mattison to backup Dalvin Cook.  Favorite late round picks were Darrell Henderson and Kenneth Gainwell.

Draft Grade: B+.  I think highly of this draft, but the Dobbins over Zeke pick befuddles me.

  1. Kenny

K-Dub rolled up at pick #9 when he picked at #11.  Classic.  He goes D’Andre Swift in the first.  Most analysts had him as a 2nd rounder, but if you liked him more than the other 2nd round running backs I get the rationale to pick him at #11.  In the 2nd you go Davante Adams.  I think Adams is going to be his normal self.  He might have a little more competition for targets with Waller the Baller and Renfrow there, but he is still Adams.  His connection with Derek Carr should be shown immediately since they played college ball together at Fresno State.  In the 3rd Kenny went Elijah Mitchell.  Always good to get the starting Rb for the 49ers.  Mitchell had a few different injuries last season, but when he was on the field he was a solid fantasy producer.  I would have drafted Zeke over him here though.  In Round 4 Kenny goes Mike Williams.  I love this pick.  Could easily finish as a Top 12 wideout and gives you a solid Wr duo in Adams-Williams.  In Round 5 Kenny goes Kyler Murray to get him a Top 5 Qb.  In Round 6 he goes Devin Singletary.  I can see Singletary being a fringe Top 25 Rb if he picks up where he left off last season.  Depends on how much action James Cook takes from him.  Bills are favored in 15/17 games this season, so probably not a bad thing to have their starting running back for when they are trying to run out the clock at the end of games.  In Round 7 Kenny took talent over situation with Amari Cooper.  It’s not pretty.  But Cooper is a pretty good wideout.  Yes Jacoby Brissett will be passing him the football the first 11 weeks of the season, but he could have a strong finish once Deshaun Watson comes back from suspension at the end of the year.  He is the sure fire #1 wideout on a run first team.  In Round 8 Kenny takes the other NE Rb in Damien Harris.  If Stevenson goes down this could be a huge value pick for Kenny.  Will be interesting to watch how they split the work this year.  I loved the MVS pick in Round 9.  Chiefs signed him for 3 years hoping to stretch the offense like he did in Green Bay, opening up the middle for Kelce and JuJu to work.  I don’t know how much fantasy value he’ll have this season, but if the AFC West has as many shootouts as I think they could, then having a bomb-catching guy in the flex won’t be a bad thing some weeks.  In Round 10 you drafted Mike Gesicki as your starting Tight End.  I don’t like this pick at all.  Gesicki should be the third pass catching option on the Dolphins behind Tyreek Hill and Waddle, but word from Dolphins camp has been that he hasn’t fit into Mike McDaniels offense very well.  At one point there were trade rumors involving Gesicki because of this lack of fit.  They have decided to keep him, so we’ll see how it works out.  McDaniels came from the 49ers and Gesicki is no George Kittle when it comes to physicality and blocking.

Draft Grade: A-.  Solid draft by Kenny, will compete like he has the past couple of seasons.  Can he make 3 Super Bowls in a row?

  1. Katon

Nice of Katon to take a break from opening Amazon fulfillment centers and impregnating his wife to draft in our fantasy league.  Katon starts out with Alvin Kamara and Stefon Diggs giving him a solid Rb#1 and Wr#1.  All signs point to Kamara’s suspension being next season due to delays in court dates from the incident at the Pro Bowl in Las Vegas where he beat a guy resulting in the man’s hospitalization.  In the 3rd round Katon goes David Montgomery, my least favorite pick of his and then in the 4th round he goes Zeke, which was a great pick in my opinion.  Montgomery doesn’t fit the new offense that well, the Bears offense looks rough and they’ll be playing against the Packers talent-packed defense and the competitive Viking and Lion teams this season.  At the end of Round 5 Katon got tremendous value in Brandin Cooks.  He is consistently a top 25 wideout and gets zero respect because he doesn’t go off like some of the super stars at the position.  But he is a solid producer.  You paired him with Hunter Renfrow.  He did great at the end of last season, but with Adams coming over and Darren Waller’s return I could see his volume reduce dramatically.  In Round 7 he drafted Christian Kirk.  I loved this pick.  Jacksonville believes in his abilities, and they paid him like he is Trevor Lawrence’s new Wr#1 (4 year, $72 million).  This contract reset the Wide Receiver market and set off a chain of events that led to Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, and AJ Brown all being traded.  I’m bullish on the Jaguars and I’m guessing Kirk averages double digit targets per game.  In Round 8 you took Devonta Smith, which I don’t care for.  He is a very good route runner and reminds me of Marvin Harrison at times, but Jalen Hurts is no Peyton Manning.  AJ Brown could open things up for Smith, but Hurts has to get him the ball.  I don’t know if Smith will be relevant in fantasy this season other than a bye week flier in the flex or if the team is devasted by injuries.  In Round 12 Katon took his shot and drafted Brian Robinson.  Nothing wrong with shooting the moon for running back depth.  Katon didn’t want to miss his shot.  Do you know who didn’t miss their shot either?  The robber that shot Brian Robinson multiple times mere hours before we drafted.  In all seriousness I hope Brian is okay.  Signs point to him being able to return to football at some point this season, which is great.

Draft Grade: B.  Really didn’t like the Montgomery pick but made up for it with the Zeke and Christian Kirk picks.

Draft Grades in Order:

Mustafa: A

Kenny: A-

Brad: B+

Chase: B+

Katon: B

Tommy: B-

Mike: B-

Joe: C+

JD: C

Trey: C-

Jen: D

Scotty: N/A

If Travis Etienne and Breece Hall finish as Top 10 Rb’s this season, I’ll write Trey and Jen an official apology.

Thanks for reading and good luck!

-The Commish

Mary Anne Smith League 2022 Draft Grades

bradleybertoniere Fantasy Football, NFL, Rankings ,

Draft Grades By Bradley:

  1. Quentin

Quentin trades his entire draft to Michael Kelly for the 8th pick drafting position except for the 7thround where Quentin gets Mike’s pick for his 12th.  Insane!  Who gives up the 1st overall pick!  Quentin with the 8th pick takes Ja’Marr Chase.  I famously gave Andy a ton of crap last season for taking Chase in the 5th round.  I said it was a reach and he looked rusty during the preseason.  Little did I know.  Here he is as a first-round pick.  In the 2nd round Quentin takes Alvin Kamara.  He gets to root for LSU and the Saints this season.  Loved the AK pick.  His trial will most likely be after the season, giving Quentin first round value in the 2nd round.  In the 3rd round Quentin takes James Conner.  All signs point to Conner be a stud this season now that Chase Edmonds is playing with the fishes in Miami.  Love Quentin’s first 3 rounds.  In the 4th round he gets great value with the Mike Evans pick.  I passed on Evans due to emotional reasons not rational reasons.  I just don’t want to root for the guy.  He always fights with the Saints cornerbacks.  Great player, great value, not interested.  I’m glad Quentin remained emotionally intelligent for this pick, even if it isn’t aesthetically pleasing for me.  In Round 5 Quentin takes Elijah Mitchell.  49ers run game is always a good buy in fantasy.  The concern here is Elijah has had some injury concerns.  Quentin’s message to him this season? “Elijah, I’m looking for a mind at work.”  Q goes Justin Herbert in the 6th getting him a stud Qb.  He gets great value in the 7th and 8th with JuJu and Dalton Schultz.  The Schultz pick shored up Quentin’s team to not have any weaknesses and ensuring he is going to compete this season.  He reached on a kicker, but he wanted his guy and he got him. 

 

Draft Grade: B.  His team is solid, but I can’t give out an A when you have the coveted first overall pick and you cast it aside like yesterday’s garbage. 

   

  1. Josh

Josh had the most Josh draft I could imagine.  He started off with my Super Bowl darling Johnathan Taylor after Mike passed on him.  Josh then went Tyreek Hill in the 2nd round.  I like Tyreek the Freak, don’t get me wrong, but it was egregious to pick him before CeeDee Lamb, Aaron Jones, Deebo Samuel, Tee Higgins and even Kyle Pitts.  CeeDee is projected to go nuts this season after Amari Cooper was shipped to Cleveland.  Michael Gallup isn’t 100% yet and James Washington is out for the season (he took Cooper’s spot this offseason).  Tyreek is a unique player and his speed is ridiculous.  But from a player value stand point I didn’t like this pick.  I liked Deebo Samuel in the 3rdround.  Even if he doesn’t play wide-back as he called it, he was balling out from a WR standpoint last season.  He can take it to the house after catch and I know Shanahan will be dialing up plays to get him open in space.  Just need Trey Lance to get it there.  Next you went Cam Akers.  Cam was able to come back after tearing his achilles.  Word from Rams camp is they are going to split Cam and Henderson this season, but both are working through soft tissue injuries right now.  It may not be a matter of splitting, it might be a matter of playing the healthier of the two any given week.  Akers was high on my draft sheet last year before he got injured.  Let’s see how he looks this year, but I like him as a Rb2.  Josh goes Patrick Mahomes after a trade with Max.  Mahomes-JT-Deebo is a nice core to build this team around.  The obvious weakness of Josh’s team is Tight End where he had to snag Zach Ertz and Cole Kmet.  Ertz might not be a bad value in the 10th round.  With D-Hop out to start the season and Marquise Brown having a weird offseason (had a small hamstring injury to start camp and then got arrested earlier this month for ‘criminal speeding’).  Ertz might get an uptick in targets to start off the year.  For Cole Kmet, I imagine he too will get a lot of targets considering the Bears Wide Receiver Room is complete and utter trash. 

 

Draft Grade: C.  Tradition is tradition Josh.  JT, Tyreek and Deebo can take it to the house at any moment.  Little concerned about Rb depth. 

 

  1. Ben

Big Ben goes Derrick Henry with the 3rd pick.  Henry is a monster.  He’s coming off a foot injury that ended his 2021 campaign early.  He was touching the ball a ridiculous amount of times before his injury.  I’m a little concerned with the state of the Titans.  Traded away AJ Brown.  I don’t think Robert Woods, Treylon Burks, and Austin Hooper are going to demand the same respect as AJB.  Ben is so obsessed with Chris Herren he had to draft a player with a last name with similiar letters as him with his first pick.  In the 2nd round he went D’Andre Swift and I have no quarrels with this pick.  Swift is a very talented running back and the Lions are going to be fun to root for this year.  Then he went Nick Chubb.  That’s a nasty three headed monster at running back.  I’m sure he will receive lots of trade requests during the season and I’m sure he is going to ignore all of them.  When everyone in this league tries to hit their ball over a hill to the left, Ben hits his shot to the ditch to the right.  For the win.  Then Ben goes Mike Williams in the 4th round.  Williams has arguably passed up Keenan Allen as the number one wide receiver for the LA Chargers who are looking like a Super Bowl contender this season.  Then he went George Kittle to try and shore up a difficult tight end position that seems to fall off of a cliff after the top 2 or 3.  In Rounds 6 and 7 he tried to shore up his wide receiver room with Jerry Juedy and Darnell Mooney.  I’m bullish on the Broncos and bearish on the Bears… I’m BEARISH.  I like the Jeudy pick a lot.  Ben got his starting Qb in Round 8 with Joe “Big D” Burrow.  And in Round 13 he got Dak Prescott.  Tremendous value for Ben there.

 

Draft Grade: A.  Team is smooth as a Herbsaint Old Fashioned

 

  1. Max

We are less than 48 hours since we concluded our fantasy draft at Lots of Luck Bar in New Orleans.  I’m sitting at the Dallas airport with two hours to kill before my flight to Sacramento.  Since we drafted Max has had one running back get shot and another running back come out with foot injury concerns.  Max’s horrendous luck continues from last season.  I will do my best to grade these based on my thoughts heading into the draft and not the most recent updates which were unbeknownst to Max at the time of the draft.  In the first round he went Najee Harris.  I had Ekeler, Jefferson, and Kupp ranked higher than Najee and I read that the Steelers offensive line isn’t that great.  I personally would not have taken Najee.  But I get it.  300 touch guy with Derrick Henry off the board at 3.   I can see the allure of a running back here.  I probably would have gone Dalvin Cook over Najee too.  In the 2nd round I loved the Mark Andrews pick.  He was the real reason I won the title last year.  Max knows this and he isn’t going to make the same mistake twice.  Solid pick of Tee Higgins in the 3rd.  I don’t think I would’ve been able to pass on Javonte Williams here, but Tee is a monster.  Max went with Terry McLaurin in the 4th.  I’ll never complain about someone taking a great wideout with a bad qb that is a solid producer.  In Round 5 he traded with Josh to move up and snag Michael Thomas.  Every Saints fan is hoping Mike Thomas is healthy this season, but the Saints weren’t going to wait for him as they shored up the WR room with the additions of Chris Olave and Jarvis Landry.   In Round 6 he went Lamar Jackson to pair with Mark Andrews.  LOVE IT.  That is an awesome stack.  The 10 point touchdowns are going to be devastating for the teams you face this season.  In the next couple rounds he added Miles Sanders and Kareem Hunt.  Miles is in a contract year and the Eagles have the best offensive line according to Brandon Thorn, offensive line expert.  I like the pick.  The Eagles refuse to unleash Miles Sanders, so now that his contract is on the line, let’s see what type of effort they get out of him.  Kareem Hunt is a good value.  Last season he was a Top 10 running back until he got injured.  The Browns were beat up and couldn’t get right.  Max snagged a couple of Robinson’s in the back half of the draft in Brian and James.  Both have the potential to start for their teams to start the season. 

 

Draft Grade: B+.  Max is going to compete this season.  He just needs a couple running  backs to pan out.  Lamar Jackson-Mark Andrews stack.  Epic.

 

  1. Logan

When other people are gently massaging their draft, Logan decided to fold his four times and whoof it down.  The Mary Anne Smith League Pizza Eating Contest Champion Went Austin Ekeler over the big 3 wideouts.  I’m okay with it.  I personally would have gone JJ or Kupp in a 10 man league, but to each their own.  He was rewarded with his Rb decision in round 2 when he got Stefon Diggs to fall to him giving him a solid Rb1 and Wr1. Javonte Williams in the mid-3rd was a great pick.  Williams is very talented and defenses will have to worry about the passing attack more so than in previous years.  In Round 4 he went Josh Allen giving him the Allen-Diggs stack.  In Round 5 he went Diontae Johnson who recently landed on his shoulder and got roughed up a bit.  Tomlin came back and said he would have gone back in if it was a real game.  So not much of a concern.  The bigger concern is who will be throwing the football and the abhorrent offensive line.  Also, Big Ben targeted Johnson so much because his arm was dead.  I think Johnson’s volume goes down with a younger arm running the offense.   In Round 6 you doubled down on Bills wideouts with Gabe Davis.  If Allen misses time I guess you are just done this year.  Next two picks you started to get your 2nd and 3rd running backs in David Montgomery and Damien Harris.  Montgomery should start for the Bears, but don’t be surprised if the carries are split pretty evenly with Khalil Herbert.  Herbert has shown flashes last season and I could see him overtake Montgomery.  Damien Harris was a decent pick.  The Pats backfield is starting to take shape into a two-horse race with Harris and Stevenson.  If Stevenson misses time you have a solid Rb2.  Next two picks you went with smaller shifty wideouts in Allen Lazard and Hunter Renfrow.  We will see if Lazard can take some of the Adams vacated targets.  Will be interesting to see how the Packers do this season with a solid defense and no Adams.  Hunter Renfrow should be decent.  With defenses having to worry about Adams and Waller, Renfrow could replicate some of his last season success.  Glaring hole in this team is tight end and lack of diversity. 

 

Draft Grade: B for Bills.  Tight end is weak and if Josh Allen misses any time your team will struggle big time. 

 

  1. Andy

After 5 Running Backs come off the board first, Andy got his pick of the 3 big Wideouts.  I didn’t know if he was going to get his beloved Ja’Marr Chase back or what.  He wind up going with 2021 Fantasy Wr #1 in Cooper Kupp.  Can’t argue with that.  In the 2nd Andy went Davante Adams over Stefon Diggs, D’Andre Swift, Mark Andrews.  I think Adams is going to be his normal self.  He might have a little more competition for targets with Waller the Baller and Renfrow there, but he is still Adams.  In Round 3 Andy went Keenan Allen.  I didn’t like this pick at all.  I could stomach the Adams pick, but Allen is getting older now and Mike Williams arguably took over the #1 WR spot on the LA Chargers offense last year.  He also did this over Pitts, Conner, Zeke.  Big miss in my opinion.  In Round 4 Josh Jacobs as Andy’s RB1.  The Raiders offensive line is not great.  They drafted Zamir White in Round 4 of the NFL Draft.  They have Brandon Bolden and Ameer Abdullah for 3rd down and hurry up offense snaps, which are valuable in fantasy.  They declined Jacobs 5th year option.  They could run him until his wheels fall off since they don’t have to resign him next year.  Back in the day I feel like contract year players played better as they were trying to earn it.  But recently I’ve seen players milk smaller injuries or not play as hard to protect themselves so that they can get a new contract and gain more security.  For this to work out as a Rb1 Andy needs touchdowns.  A lot of them.  With defenses having to worry about Adams, Waller, and Renfrow running around, maybe it will open the possibility.  But this looks rough on paper.  Andy started peppering running backs after this pick.  With Breece Hall in Round 5 and JK Dobbins in Round 6.  In Round 7 he made a phenomenal pick in Jalen Hurts.  In Round 8 he got a decent value RB in Cordarrelle Patterson.  He is Atlanta’s #1 rb on the roster and if he can repeat last season could be a serviceable RB2 for Andy.  Andy got DeAndre Hopkins as a stash for when he comes back from suspension.  Then got Pat Friermuth as his TE1. 

 

Draft Grade: C-.  Andy could have started Kupp-Swift-Zeke-Williams and looked a hell of a lot better than Kupp-Adams-Allen-Jacobs.  I was wrong about Andy’s pick Ja’Marr Chase last season.  Am I wrong about Jacobs?

 

  1. Caleb

Love the Justin Jefferson pick in the 1st.  Some analysts think he could finish as this season’s top wideout looking at talent, schedule, and fit.  In the 2nd you went Leonard Fournette.  Uncle Lenny is an okay pick.  He should receive all the goal line work, could catch a lot more check downs this season.  Big concern is the offensive line for the Bucs.  Losing their center and then another center and then their left guard.  Interior pressure is Brady’s weakness.  They will need to get that shored up fast.  I personally would have gone Swift, Diggs, or Andrews here, but I know some fantasy websites have Lenny as a borderline first round pick.  We’ll see how it all shakes out.  In the 3rd Caleb trades with Stephen.  Stephen moves up to snag Kyle Pitts and Caleb gets Zeke.  Giving him a solid Rb duo.   In Round 4 he got Michael Pittman.  I enjoyed having Pittman last season.  He’s a beast.  In Round 5 he got Allen Robinson.  I like this pick.  Kupp will get the top corners.  Robinson should thrive in the previous Robert Woods role in the Rams offense.  Stafford will be by far the best Qb he’s ever played with.  Career year in store?  Caleb goes DK Metcalf, the Manimal with Geno Smith throwing to him this season.  His talent has to have some fantasy value even with the bad Qb situation, right?  In Rounds 7 and 8 Caleb shored up Rb depth with AJ Dillon and Rashad Penny.  In Round 9 he went flier Wideout depth with Toney.  And in Round 10 he got a solid starting tight end in Dallas Goedert.  He gets his starting Qb in Round 12 with 45 year old Tom Brady. 

 

Draft Grade: A.  Solid team.  Will compete.  I don’t care for Brady this season with the offensive line worries.  He is not as mobile at 45 and loses his safety net in Gronk.  But in the 12th round?  The value is there. 

 

  1. Mike

After we all participated in an epic and controversial coaster game, a pop a shot contest, a pizza-eating contest, a punt, pass, kick competition, a field goal competition, and a mini putt tournament for added entries to win the first overall pick; Mike just trades up to get it.  I know those events were fun and we all had a great time, but I love that after all that effort the coveted draft position we were all competing for is just traded away.  Mike sacrificed his 7th round pick for it.  Let’s see how it shakes out.  With the 1st overall pick Mike goes CMC.  Most analysts had JT or CMC here.  Most had JT.  But Mike got his boy.  After two years of Andy not taking care of him, Mike hopes to rekindle the old flame that had him winning titles a few years ago.  At the Round 2/3 turn Mike goes Aaron Jones and CeeDee Lamb.  These two could easily combine for over 200 targets this season.  Aaron Jones will split drives with AJ Dillon, but his potential to load up on receptions this season with the loss of Davante Adams is legitimate.  CeeDee is the star on the Dallas offense now that Cooper is a Brown and Michael Gallup is still rehabbing.  In Round 4 he goes Courtland Sutton and In Round 5 he goes Darren Waller.  I love the Sutton pick, I’m bullish on the Broncos this season.  Waller over Kittle was interesting.  Both have had recent injury concerns.  I didn’t realize that Waller wasn’t practicing because his contract didn’t become fully guaranteed until Week 1.  He didn’t want to risk getting hurt prior to the season starting.  Look for him to be his normal self when coming back, he just must compete with Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow for targets.  In Round 6 Mike got the Sun-God, Amon-Ra St. Brown.  Stud on the Lions will be a fun WR3 for Mike this season.  In Round 8 he goes Tony Pollard and in Round 9 he goes Trey Lance, securing a running Qb for added fantasy value.  In Round 10 he gets Rhamondre Stevenson, which was just a fantastic pick.  Mike loaded up on depth in the back half of the draft.

Draft Grade: A+.  RB is studly and deep.  WR is studly and deep.  Waller was high risk/high reward.  Lance was high risk/high reward.  QB and TE can be managed via free agency in a ten-man league.     

 

  1. Stephen

After the big 3 wideouts were off the board Stephen goes Dalvin Cook.  Slam dunk Top 5 running back pick right there.  In Round 2 he goes Saquon Barkley, giving him a solid Rb duo to start his draft.  Barkley should get more catches in this offense.  My only concern is Daniel Jones not looking great this preseason and the state of the Giants wide receiver room.  In Round 3 he got aggressive and traded up to snag Kyle Pitts.  Pitts will be a target monster for Atlanta.  In Round 4 he went Travis Etienne, aiming for his own 3-headed monster like my previous Fire and Blood team that had Le’Veon, Gurley, and CMC.  In Round 5 he drafts his first Wideout in Marquise Brown.  In Round 6 he pairs him with Kyler Murray.  He then went on a Wide Receiver tear drafting Brandin Cooks, Rashod Bateman, Drake London, Treylon Burks, Johan Dotson.  Then in Round 13 he got Cook’s handcuff Alexander Mattison. 

Draft Grade: B+.  Nelson Sousa would give Stephen an A+ for this draft, but I’m not Nelson Sousa.  If he can figure out the best two wide receivers to start each week he’ll be a playoff team.  I can imagine this be frustrating throughout the season if he chooses incorrectly most weeks.  The Rb’s might not make it matter but might be hard to manage this team from a psychological standpoint with so many different wideouts on the roster (9). 

  1. Brad

            Brad with the last pick in the draft but got to take two picks back-to-back.  Not a bad spot to be in.  He goes Joe Mixon to lock up his Rb1 and Travis Kelce to get an elite Tight End.  The Bengals added Ted Karras at Center, Alex Kappa at Guard, and La’el Collins at right tackle.  Addressing the offensive line in free agency they were able to focus on defense in the draft.  According to Warren Sharp’s analysis the Bengals drew one of the harder schedules this season with only 5 teams having harder pulls.  The Bengals rushing attack has a favorable schedule to start the season and average OPRK rank for the back half of the year.  In the 3rd and 4th he goes Wideout-Wideout with the DJ-AJ combo.  DJ Moore has 3 seasons of 1100+ yards with random Quarterbacks and AJ Brown was traded to the Eagles, favorites to win the NFC East.  After the DJ-AJ combo Brad goes Jaylen Waddle and Dameon Pierce.  Jaylen Waddle finished as WR#14 with 141 targets, 104 receptions, 1015 yards and 6 touchdowns in his rookie debut.  That was against CB#1’s.  This season Tyreek Hill joins the Fins squad and will draw much attention away from Waddle, who fits perfectly into new head coach Mike McDaniel’s offense.  Dameon Pierce was a huge reach in this draft.  Being drafted ahead of AJ Dillon and David Montgomery.  Evan Silva believes Pierce is the starting running back for the Texans.  I don’t’ think Montgomery survives Khalil Herbert, who Brad snagged a few rounds later.  Brad then went Chris Godwin and Chase Edmonds getting tremendous value.  Godwin’s rehab has look miraculous this offseason and Edmonds was paid like an RB1 for Mike McDaniels, the mastermind behind the 49ers run scheme that has been very successful over the past few seasons.  In the 9th round Brad tried to aggressively trade up and nobody would take the bait.  No problem as the guy Brad wanted dropped to him at the end of the 9th round.  Christian Kirk.  Jacksonville believes in his abilities, and they paid him like he is Trevor Lawrence’s new Wr#1 (4 year, $72 million).  I’m bullish on the Jaguars and guessing Kirk averages double digit targets per game.  In the 10th round Brad shored up his Tight End depth with TJ Hockensen.  Hockensen was a monster last season before being injured.  Brad got Russel Wilson and Matt Stafford to hold down his Qb spot. 

 

Draft Grade: B.  Not a typical Brad team.  Strategy was exposed to be heavy on two things: talent and targets.  We’ll see if the defending Super Bowl champ puts another solid season together or we’ll see if his smaller pass-catching backs are his downfall.        

 

Draft Grades in Order:

  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-

 

Bullish on Hogans and Kelly’s this season.  Thanks for reading and good luck! 

BBY Dream Team League: Super Bowl 13 Preview

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I’m alive!  I want to thank everybody for your patience this season.  I haven’t done a write up since the Week 3 Preview/ Week 4 Recap.   And just like that in a blink here we are closing out another year of our fantasy league.  Like many folks out there I lost a few coworkers to what some are calling “The Great Resignation”.  As a leader of people, I jumped in and took on a very difficult task of covering the largest geographical area for my company while maintaining my duties as Manager.  This resulted in a brutal two month stretch that had me questioning why I was even working in the first place.  Add in Benjamin being 3.5 and Anna being 1.5 and you can imagine my 5am to 9pm day of responsibilities took its toll on me.  I also still strive to work on my personal development which includes a daily workout and reading books to further my knowledge and maybe even obtain some wisdom as I go.  With all that being said, I just want to say I appreciate all of you, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to do the weekly write up this season, and am excited to present the Super Bowl Preview for our 13th Season.

 

Congratulations to Scotty for winning $200 for Points Leader!  Scotty edged out Kenny 1687 to 1686.9.  That’s right.  Scotty wins $200 by 0.1 Fantasy Points!  

Reminder of Super Bowl Payout unless Teams agree to a different amount: 

Super Bowl Champion: $750

Super Bowl Runner-Up: $200 

 

  1. Chase vs. 3. Kenny

 

Two-time Champion Chase returns to the Title Game for his 4th Super Bowl.  His most recent appearance was the epic Super Bowl 10 where he fell to now Four-time Champion Mustafa.  Of course, he already took care of Mustafa this season in a blowout win in the Final Four match (157.1 to 84.5).  On the other side of the bracket Kenny also blew out his opponent JD (163.3 to 85.7).  Both Bye week playoff teams were ousted in the Semi’s this season.  Kenny is the Defending Super Bowl 12 Champion and returns to the Super Bowl with a chance to repeat.   

 

How They Got Here:

 

Kenny had the 4th pick in the draft and being the Champion he drafted his own Division 1.  He went Zeke-Jacobs-Hopkins to start his draft.  Looking at that on paper you wouldn’t think he would make it to the title game.  Zeke has had a banged up knee and given up a lot of work to Tony Pollard, but despite it all, finds himself ranked #6 Running Back.  Jacobs is 18th Rb and Hopkins is no where to be found due to injury.  Kenny went #1 Qb Josh Allen next then #9 Chris Godwin after that.  Then Logan Thomas.  In the title game Kenny won’t have Hopkins, Godwin, or Logan Thomas.  His picks in Round 7 and 8; however, were pretty damn good.  He snagged Damien Harris in 7 and Deebo Samuel in Round 8.  Harris is Rb #14 and Deebo is WR #2.  In Rounds 9 and 10 he went Ronald Jones and Mike Williams.  That’s #15 Wr Mike Williams and Rojo looks like he’ll be a factor in the Championship game.  Add in #4 Tight End Dalton Schultz who Kenny smartly won in FAAB for $22 way back in early October and you see how he’s constructed a winning team.  First few picks weren’t great, but his middle rounds he just nailed it.  And here we are.

 

Chase had the 6th pick in the draft and wind up in Division 3 where he faced Brad, Mustafa, and Joe.  He went Nick Chubb with the 6th overall pick and Chubb hasn’t disappointed as a Top 10 Running Back despite a slower start with Kareem Hunt’s early season snap percentage.  A couple of injuries for Kareem paved the way for Chubb to take over as the only “A” Running back against a stellar running blocking line in Cleveland.  His 2nd Round Pick Calvin Ridley unexpectedly stepped away from Football, 3rd Rounded George Kittle missed a big portion of the season due to injury, but he came back with a fiery passion, helping Chase end the season strong and jettisoning him into playoff and championship contention.  In Round 4 Chase made one of the best picks of the draft in Cooper Kupp.  I’ll always remember drafting Allen Robinson over Cooper Kupp this year.  Ouch.  He went Kyler Murray and then Raheem Mostert.  The rest of his draft wasn’t very special, but we all know Chase is one of the best managers in the league.  And this season he continued to display his skills of picking up players that have potential if certain scenarios arise.  It’s this probability analysis that makes Chase a great fantasy manager and why he has made it to his 4th Super Bowl.        

 

Super Bowl Matchups:

 

Chase will feature Kyler Murray in a big time NFC matchup against the red hot Dallas Cowboys.  He’ll have Nick Chubb on MNF against Division rival Pittsburgh, with both teams having only desperation chances of making the postseason.  Steelers are OPRK #26, setting Chubb up nicely in a game they could easily lead for most of the night.  He also has Rashad Penny.  I dropped Penny because he kept getting hurt again and again, but with Alex Collins getting injured they decided to give Penny a shot and of course he starts going freaking nuts.  He’s always been talented; he’s also always been hurt.  He’s been averaging 19.1 fantasy points a game the last 3 weeks and gets Detroit’s #31 OPRK defense, which just pisses me off. (Bitter Carson owner and Penny dropper).  He’ll also have #1 WR Cooper Kupp @ Baltimore who just got sliced and diced to the tune of 525 yards from Joe “Big Dick” Burrow with all three wideouts going off.  #3 TE George Kittle gets Houston’s #25 OPRK defense.  Look out for Amon-Ra St. Brown for Chase, who is in the middle of a breakout season in Detroit.  He’s averaging 18 fantasy points over the last 4 games, including 11-12 targets every game, at least 8 receptions every game and 4 touchdowns.  Fantasy Football is supposed to be fun and Amon-Ra St. Brown is fun. 

 

Kenny will feature #1 Qb Josh Allen versus #31 OPRK Atlanta, with Buffalo needing to keep winning in their efforts to claim the AFC East Title, since NE and them share the same record.  Allen has surpassed 30 fantasy points in 5 games this season including 2 games of over 40.  #6 Rb Zeke faces a tough Arizona Rush defense who held Jonathan Taylor touchdown-less last week.  #18 Josh Jacobs faces Indy defense who gave up 8 receptions to Chase Edmonds last week.  Ronald Jones gets the #32 OPRK Jets.  We’ll see if the Bucs try to feed Rojo’s confidence going down the stretch with Lenny Fournette nursing a hurt hamstring.  #2 Wr Deebo Samuel gets a decent matchup against Houston.  #4 TE Dalton Schultz is in that tight Arizona game, they’ve been solid against Tight Ends, only giving up the #2 OPRK worth to opposing tight ends.  Kenny will have some decisions to make at Running Back with 4 viable starters and at Wide Receiver depending on Mike Williams COVID status. 

 

Key Thinks To Look Out For:

  1. Jimmy Garoppolo’s status and how a Trey Lance start could impact Kittle and/or Deebo Samuel.
  2. Who Kenny chooses to start this week.
  3. Any COVID issues that might arise unexpectedly to the detriment of one or both of the teams.

 

Looking at the matchups I would say Chase is favored, but anything is possible in fantasy.  Can Kenny repeat as Champion and win his second title?  Or will Chase claim his 3rd Championship?  Should be a great matchup!

 

Bottom Bowl Notables:

 

12. Brad vs. 8. Trey. Winner gets 6 balls in next year’s lottery. Loser gets 5 balls.

11. Tommy vs. 10. Joe. Winner gets 4 balls. Loser gets 3 balls.

9. Mike vs. 7. Jen. Winner gets 2 balls.Loser gets 1 ball like the rest of the 6 playoff teams.

 

Best of Luck to Kenny and Chase and to all those striving to get more balls in the draft lottery of 2022. 

 

-Commish

BBY Dream Team Season 13: Week 3 Recap & Week 4 Preview

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Week 3 Recap:

Division 1:

Kenny (2-1) 125.0 vs. Katon (2-1) 122.9

Heading into Monday Night Football Kenny was down 99.9 to 122.9 with only Ezekiel Elliot left to play.  Zeke had scored 4.9 and 16.7 in his first two weeks, so it wasn’t looking good for Kenny.  Then the Cowboys fed him early and often on his way to 17 carries, 95 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns, and 3 catches for 21 yards. (25.1 fantasy points).  This game was very top heavy with most of the scoring coming from only a few players on each team.  Kenny had 6 players score 7.7 or less, but had three players Josh Allen (40.1), Zeke (25.1), and Mike Williams (32.7) combine for 97.9 points.  Katon had 5 players score 11 or less, but had four players Tom Brady (33.6), Mike Evans (17.6), Travis Kelce (16.9), and James Robinson (22.4) combine for 90.5.  An epic end to the Division 1 first round of games.  Look forward to seeing these teams meet again in Week 14.  

Scotty (2-1) 145.3 vs. Trey (0-3) 102.9

Scotty outscored Trey in nearly every category, Qb, Rbs, Wrs, and Tight End.  Scotty had big weeks from Justin Herbert (30.8), Najee Harris (24.2), Davante Adams (28.2), DJ Moore (19.5), and Mark Andrews (16.4).  Trey wind up with 23.5 from Jalen Hurts on MNF, but this game was already out of reach.  Big disappointments for Trey this week including Johnathan Taylor (7.7), Robert Woods (5.3), Courtland Sutton (6.2), TJ Hockensen (2.0).  His lone bright spots were Den D/ST (19.0), Brandon McManus (16.0) and Antonio Gipson’s 18.9.  But 15.3 of that came on one 73 yard reception.  On the flip side Scotty should be optimistic about his team’s prospects considering Najee Harris had 14 receptions and 102 yards receiving.  That’s right, a running back had 14 receptions this week. 

Division 2:

Jen (2-1) 106.8 vs. Tommy (1-2) 86.9

Low scoring affair for Jen vs. Tommy this week.  Jen had four players score between 18.9 and 19.7, which accounted for 72% of her point total this week.  Lamar Jackson (19.2), Ekeler (19.7), CEH (18.9), and Brandin Cooks (19.2).  Biggest story for Tommy this week was injuries.  CMC exited the Thursday Night Football game with a hamstring injury.  AJ Brown left Colts game with a hamstring injury.  Rob Gronkowski missed some time in the Rams game due to a shot to the ribs.  Tyler Lockett missed some time in the Minnesota game.  One note of positivity was Tommy’s top scorer, Jamar Chase (20.5), who has now scored at least 1 touchdown in every NFL game he’s ever played in.  (Geaux Tigers).

Mike (1-2) 115.2 vs. JD (2-1) 120.9

Mike had scored a respectable 115.2 after the Sunday games.  Got solid production from most of his starters Wilson (16.5), Henry (20.9), Edmonds (11.0), DK Metcalf (22.7), Adam Thielen (14.0), D’Andre Swift (20.2), Carlson (12).  The only two players that underperformed were his Tight End Jonnu Smith (0.9) and his D/ST Washington (-3.0).  JD came into MNF having scored a respectable 92.9 with Barkley (18.4), Melvin Gordon (14.7), Diggs (8.0), Higbee (12.5), and Alexander Mattison (23.1).  He needed 22.3 from Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb to overtake Mike and claim victory.  With Zeke’s early involvement it appeared JD might now get there, but Dak kept being aggressive into the second half throwing for 3 touchdowns and 20 points, with CeeDee adding 8.  Enough for JD to move to 2-1 and drop Mike to 1-2.  

Division 3:

Chase (2-1) 119.9 vs. Brad (2-1) 119.1

There are two ways I can take this loss.  I can say I was less than one point from being 3-0.  OR.  I can say I was less than one point from being 1-2.  Both are true statements.  This was a phenomenal game.  Chase had advantages at Wide Receiver, Tight End, and D/St.  Brad had advantages at Quarterback and Running Back.  Interesting tidbit, both teams’ kickers missed long field goals.  There was a myriad of ways this game could have been less close.  Chase had 3 players finish with 90+ yards, but less than 100 including Claypool (9 catches, 96 yards, 14.1 points), Kittle (7 catches, 92 yards, 13.6 points), and #1 Wr Cooper Kupp (9 catches, 96 yards, 2 touchdowns, 26.1 points).  I spent up to pick up Panthers D/ST which resulted in a 2-point difference from my team’s total score.  Also, I was torn on who to start in the flex.  I liked Hunt despite the poor matchup against the Bears.  Matthew Berry went on a long speech about why I should start Kenyan Drake against his former team the Dolphins.  Fantasy Pros Who to Start told me put in Tyler Boyd over Hunt.  But I just like having him in the Flex.  I know what he’s capable of.  I made the right calls and still lost on Sunday Night Football with some last-minute catches from Kittle at the end of the game.  Kittle had a 9 yard rush in that game, so losing by 0.8 one could say was a direct result of that running play.  You can make all the right calls and still fall just short.  Sometimes fantasy is like that sometimes.  Looking forward to the rematch in Week 14!           

Joe (0-3) 94.6 vs. Mustafa (2-1) 121.0

Rough week for Joe.  He got solid production from Patrick Mahomes (22.9), Justin Jefferson (25.3), and Justin Tucker (16), but everyone else scored 8.9 or less including his Tight End Robert Tonyan (1.1) and D/ST San Francisco (1.0) combining for 2.1 points.  Normally a defense shitting the bed isn’t a death sentence, but this week one could argue it was close.  That’s because Moose got 21.0 points from NO D/ST.  That’s a 20 point swing in a 26.4 point game.  Moose got 21.4 from Ryan Tannehill, 19.3 from Alvin Kamara, 15.0 from Keenan Allen, 11.2 from Odell Beckham Jr, and 14 from Tyler Bass.  Total Peripherals?  Joe- 18.1, Moose- 42.9.    

Week 4 Preview:

Katon (2-1) vs. Chase (2-1)

This is what the people want to see.  Two heavy weights going at it.  This looks to be a phenomenal matchup.  There are so many story lines I don’t even know where to begin.  Katon has scored the most after 3 weeks with 399.1 Points For, Averaging 133 per game.  Chase has scored the 3rd most with 372.5, Averaging 124.2.  Katon has #1 Fantasy Qb Tom Brady in his return to New England on SNF.  Oh boy. Chase has #2 Kyler Murray @ LA Rams in a battle for first place in the NFC West.  Katon has 11. Joe Mixon vs. Jacksonville on TNF and 18. David Montgomery vs. Detroit.  Chase has his Chubb Duo, 10. Nick Chubb @ Minnesota, and new starter Chuba Hubbard @ Dallas, who looks to take the bulk of the work with CMC once again on the mend.  Katon has 18. Mike Evans @ NE, JuJu @ GB.  Chase has Calvin Ridley vs. Washington and Chase Claypool @ GB.  At Tight End there are juggernauts.  Katon with #1 Travis Kelce @ Philly.  Chase with 9. George Kittle vs. Seattle.  In the Flex, Katon has 18. James Robinson on TNF.  Chase has #1 Wr Cooper Kupp vs. Arizona.  Biggest games for this matchup are obviously Arizona vs. Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay @ New England on Sunday Night Football.  Great freaking matchup.     

 Jen (2-1) vs. Brad (2-1)

Great game in Week 4 between Jen and I.  Brad comes in after scoring his most points so far this season but losing his first game by 0.8.  Jen comes in eking out a win a low scoring affair after scoring her least points so far this season.  Jen has been a little up and down this season scoring 117.9-141.4-106.8.  Brad has been hyper consistent scoring 117.5-115.1-119.1.  This week Jen has a few tough matchups including 9. Lamar Jackson @ #1 OPRK Denver, 5. Brandin Cooks @ #3 OPRK Buffalo, and 19. Amari Cooper vs. #7 OPRK Carolina.  She also has some positive matchups like 5. Austin Ekeler vs. #19 OPRK Las Vegas, 25. CEH @ #21 OPRK Philly who just gave up a big game to Zeke Elliot.  A couple key difference makers for Jen are her peripherals.  13. Noah Fant gets #32 OPRK Baltimore and 5. Bills D/ST gets Davis Mills at Qb.  Brad’s “Big 3” all have tough matchups in this one.  6. Matt Stafford faces #8 OPRK Arizona, 2. Aaron Jones faces #4 OPRK Pittsburgh, and 13. Tyreek Hill is @ #1 OPRK Philly who did a good job limiting Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb in Week 3.  Brad will need his supporting cast to step up in this one.  13. Chris Carson has scored 11.2, 15.1, and 15.2 to start the season.  Allen Robinson has scored 6.5, 9.4, and 3.7 to start the season.  Potential bounce back game against Detroit, but who will be throwing him the ball?  I need A-Rob to step up.  Can’t rely on 9. Kareem Hunt boom weeks every week for victories.  

Kenny (2-1) vs. JD (2-1)   

The last matchup of two winning teams squaring off this week.  Very evened matchup on paper.  You have two mobile quarterbacks in 8. Josh Allen vs. Houston for Kenny and 14. Dak Prescott vs. Carolina for JD.  Both teams have first round Running Backs that have been underperforming the first two weeks of the season that came back and had their best games last week with Kenny’s 7. Zeke Elliot vs. Carolina and JD’s 26. Saquon Barkley @ New Orleans.  Both teams have solid Wide Receiver combos.  Kenny has 8. Godwin @ NE, 2. Mike Williams vs. LV on MN.  JD has Stefon Diggs vs. Houston and 17. CeeDee Lamb vs. Carolina.  We’ll have to keep an eye out on the injuries in this matchup.  Kenny will be keeping an eye on Josh Jacobs who has missed the past two games with several ailments.  JD will be looking at the statuses of Tee Higgins on TNF against Jacksonville, Dalvin Cook (since JD has Mattison), and Elijah Mitchell who missed last week due to a shoulder injury.  

Moose (2-1) vs. Trey (0-3)

Don’t let his record fool you.  His team is bad too.  Trey has had a rough start to 2021.  Johnathan Taylor is ranked Running Back #31.  Antonio Gipson is ranked Rb #17, but take away one play from last week and he’d be in the 30’s as well.  Robert Woods has scored games of 10.9-9.5-5.3 while Cooper Kupp has been going crazy.  Courtland Sutton is 37th and hasn’t scored a touchdown.  TJ Hockensen is good!  #4 Tight End!  But last week he only scored 2 points.  ESPN gives Trey a 6% chance of making the playoffs.  It doesn’t help when your points against is sitting at 424.7 after 3 weeks.  Averaging 141.6 against him each week.  Can he get a spark this week?  Moose has Ryan Tannehill @ NY Jets.  It’s a good matchup, but will they need to throw?  Alvin Kamara gets the G-Men.  Moose has an interesting decision to make at Rb #2.  He has Mike Davis vs. Washington, Ty’Son Williams @ Denver, or maybe Cordarrelle Patterson who is currently Running Back #12.  Waller is Tight End #3 in a key divisional game on Monday Night Football against the LA Chargers.  Which brings us to Keenan Allen for Moose.  Looking like it’s going to be a good game, but Trey need his playmakers to start making some plays.   

Joe (0-3) vs. Mike (1-2)

Joe couldn’t get things going without Dalvin Cook in Week 3.  Combine being last place in the league in points scored, 4th worst in terms of points against, add some bad luck, and Joe finds himself 0-3.  On the flip side Mike has had terrible luck the last two weeks.  He is currently #2 Points Scored with 391.0, averaging 130.3 and yet has 1 win to show for it.  That’s what happens when you lose 142.7-156.3 and 115.2-120.9.  On paper this week Mike looks heavily favored.  10. Russell Wilson and 16. DK Metcalf gets San Fran, 1. Derrick Henry is at the Jets.  3. D’Andre Swift is @ Chicago who just got fleeced by Kareem Hunt (similar skillset).  9. Adam Thielen faces Cleveland.  Even #1 Kicker Daniel Carlson has a good matchup for Mike.  Joe has 3. Mahomes @ Philly who gave up a solid 20 to Dak Prescott last week, 20. Dalvin Cook and 10. Justin Jefferson is versus Cleveland, Julio Jones is @ Jets with AJ Brown slated to miss the contest.  A lot of things will need to go right for Joe to win this.  This is a matchup of two teams with very bad luck so far this season.  Will one of their lucks change?  Will Jefferson or Thielen score more?  Will the Titans ram Derrick Henry down the Jets throat or will they try to get their struggling passing game going to the benefit of Julio Jones?  Could this week be a pivotal moment in the season for one of these teams?   

Scotty (2-1) vs. Tommy (1-2)

Interesting matchup in Week 4.  Scotty comes in riding high after a killer Week 3.  Tommy comes in after being killed in Week 3.  Scotty hopes to have D. Henderson back for his matchup against Arizona.  Tommy is looking to be without #1 Draft Pick CMC and AJ Brown.  I’m sure Gronk will be questionable, Lockett might be questionable.  This team is just beat up.  Scotty has 13. Justin Herbert vs. LV on MNF, 8. Najee Harris @ Green Bay, Trey Sermon vs. Seattle, 6. Davante Adams vs. Pittsburgh, 11. DJ Moore @ Dallas.  Tommy has Aaron Rodgers vs. Pittsburgh, Miles Sanders vs. KC, 4. Jamarr Chase vs. Jacksonville.  Things don’t look good for Tommy.  It’s fantasy football, anything can happen.  

Best of Luck this week! 

-Commish B Razzle Dazzle

BBY Dream Team Season 13: Week 2 Recap & Week 3 Preview

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Week 2 Recap:

Division 1:

Katon (2-0) 143.3 vs. Trey (0-2) 111.0

Arrrgh!  Captain Katon rode his Tampa Bay Stack against Atlanta in dramatic fashion.  Brady (29.6), Evans (22.0) and TB D/ST (21.0) combined for 72.6 points.  Katon had four players that swabbed the deck scoring 9.4 or less, but his first mate, Travis Kelce, scored 23.4.  Walking the plank was Trey, who wind up with four players in single digits.  Despite being banished to Davey Jones’ Locker he should have some hope on the horizon with Courtland Sutton scoring 23.4 in his first game without Jerry Jeudy.  A good sign for calmer seas ahead.  Hopefully Katon doesn’t let the 2-0 record allow him to get ARRRR-ogant.

Kenny (1-1) 102.8 vs. Scotty (1-1) 116.5

A great Week 2 matchup with both teams getting solid production from most of their players.  Kenny got 16.5 from Josh Allen compared to 17.6 from Justin Herbert for Scotty.  Allen did have a touchdown called back, which could have helped Kenny make the game a tad bit closer.  Kenny’s Zeke (16.7) and Damien Harris (12.9) combined for 29.6 compared to Scotty’s Najee (16.6) and D. Henderson (15.7) who combined for 32.3.  Similar story at Wideout with Kenny getting Hopkins (13.4) and Godwin (14.2) compared with Scotty’s Adams (19.1) and DJ Moore (17.9).  Scotty slightly outpaced Kenny’s peripherals by 10.2 points while Kenny outscored Scotty in the flex Deebo Samual (13.1) versus DJ Chark (2.4).  Scotty edged out Kenny in a close one, evening both teams’ records to 1-1.

Division 2:

JD (1-1) 83.3 vs. Jen (1-1) 141.4

Turning to D2, we had the most lopsided game of the week, with Jen outscoring JD by 58.1 points.  That was due to JD underperforming with Dak getting 7.4, Barkley getting 7.9, new acquisition Elijah Mitchell getting 6.3, Tight End Tyler Higbee getting 1.3 and his kicker getting a flat 0.  His lone bright spot was NE D/ST who got 20 points.  Jen had 3 players score 5 or less, but she also had 5 players score at least 18 points.  Lamar Jackson had over 100 yards rushing and 35.1 total points in a thrilling SNF matchup against Kansas City.  Austin Ekeler got a solid 18.  Terry McLaurin got the best of James Bradberry on TNF to the tune of 11 catches, 107 yards and a touchdown (25.2 points).  Brandin Cooks continued his great start to the season with 18.3 and Buffalo D/ST got 22.0.  Dominant effort by Jen this week.

Mike (1-1) 142.7 vs. Tommy (1-1) 156.3

Nothing like a good ole fashion shootout in Week 2!  Mike’s 1st round pick Derrick Henry showed out with a crazy second half performance against his Seahawks to the tune of 49.7 fantasy points.  Unfortunately for Mike it also meant his beloved Seahawks losing the game.  In addition, he also lost his fantasy matchup.  This biggest story on this one was Metcalf vs. Lockett.  Mike’s Russell Wilson (26.2) delivered 8.3 points to Metcalf and 32.8 to Tyler Lockett, a huge difference in Tommy’s favor in this game.  Another big difference was at tight end where Mike got 4.2 from Jonnu Smith and Tommy got 17.9 from Rob Gronkowski who starts the year with 4 touchdowns in 2 weeks.  I couldn’t leave this matchup without mentioning the fact that Mike’s kicker, Daniel Carlson, got 17 points and Tommy’s kicker, Graham Gano, got 22 points.  For perspective, Gano’s 22 points would have been the top scoring player on 4 teams this week.  That’s right.  Moose, JD, Kenny, and Scotty’s top scorers scored less than Tommy’s kicker.  Can’t wait to see the rematch in Week 13.

Division 3:

Moose (1-1) 97.4 vs. Brad (2-0) 115.1

Speaking of lucky SOB’s.  Moving to D3 we have Brad who yet again pulls off a Monday Night Football victory.  Heading into MNF Brad needed 20.8 from first round pick Aaron Jones.  ESPN put Brad’s odds at 34% and IBM Watson said that Aaron Jones had a 7% chance to score over 18.1 points this week.  The Packers had something else to say, force feeding the Sombrero to the tune of 4 touchdowns and 38.5 fantasy points.  Brad didn’t have many bright spots beyond that with 5 players scoring in single digits.  Carson got a Pair of TeeDee’s (hehe) and Matt Prater got a solid 12.  On Moose’s side he wind up with 5 players in single digits as well including first round pick Alvin Kamara who only wind up with 5 fantasy points.  Moose did wind up getting 9 points off yardage bonuses due to Tannehill (17.5) throwing for over 300 yards in a comeback victory, as well as Keenan Allen (15.8) and Diontae Johnson (18.0) getting 100 yard receiving bonuses.  Johnson sacrificed himself at the end of the game to get his bonus, but initial looks appear for the injury to be minor.

Joe (0-2) 117.5 vs. Chase (1-1) 142.5

ESPN continues to troll Joe with him finishing with 117.5, the exact amount that Brad scored against him in Week 1 to win by 0.2 points.  1 week too late for Joe unfortunately.  Joe had a solid week with Mahomes (26.9), Cook (18.8), Jefferson (15.5) and Julio Jones (18.8) doing their thing.  Chase also had a solid week, but he also had 2 players go off.  Kyler Murray threw for 400 yards and scored 4 total touchdowns for 38.1 points.  Cooper Kupp hauled in 9 catches for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The surprise for Chase this week was Devin Singletary’s 16.1, most of which came on a 46-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.  Joe outscored Chase when it comes to peripherals 28.7 to 7.7, but Chase’s Kyler-Cooper Combo was just too much for Joe this week.

Week 3 Preview:

Division 1:

Kenny (1-1) vs. Katon (2-0)

Battle of the K Names.  Will Katon sweep the Division?  Or will Kenny even the score to 2-1 for both teams?  The matchup looks extremely even on paper with Kenny projected 118.8 and Katon projected 120.2.  Both Qb’s face nasty defensive lines with Kenny’s Josh Allen facing Washington and Brady travelling to the West Coast to battle Aaron Donald the LA Rams.  Great matchups across the board here.  The two big games to watch on this one is Katon’s Buccaneers at LAR.  Evans most likely gets the Ramsey shadow creating space for Gronk, Godwin, and AB to work through the rest of the secondary.  Godwin has done well against the Rams the past two seasons hauling in 7 catches on 10 targets for 53 yards and a touchdown in 2020 and 10 catches on 14 targets for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2019.  Kenny has 4 Top 13 Wideouts after two weeks (Hopkins [11], Mike Williams [9], Godwin [13], and Deebo Samuel [3] and will have to chose which 3 to start against Katon.  The second game to watch here will be LAC @ KC game.  Kenny has Mike Williams and Jared Cook he could deploy while Katon has his 23-point averaging Travis Kelce.  Kelce is a cheat code.  Can the Super Bowl Champ overcome?

Scotty (1-1) vs. Trey (0-2)

Trey has opened the season with some awful luck, with the highest points against after two weeks at 279.4, an average of 139.7.  Trey has scored 233.1 for an average of 116.6 (for perspective, Lucky Ass Brad has scored 232.6 and is 2-0).  Scotty bounced back nicely after losing by over 30 in Week 1 with a solid victory over quality opponent Kenny.  Scotty strives to make it two in a row while Trey tries to get on the board.  Let’s dive in.  Scotty has Herbert @ KC.  Slow start for Herbert but should have plenty of need to throw the ball vertical against the lightning Chiefs who are coming off of a loss.  Trey has Jalen Hurts who has produced games of 28.6 and 21.8 including rushing yardage of 62 and 82 yards to start the year.  This week he gets Dallas in a Monday Night Football showdown.  Najee Harris has a favorable matchup against Cincinnati for Scotty while Johnathan Taylor hopes to get things going against Tennessee who just gave up a pair of TeeDee’s to Carson last week.  The wideout front Scotty looks to have a slight advantage with Davante Adams @ SF and DJ Moore @ Houston.  Trey is hoping Bob Trees can get some of that Cooper Kupp action against Tampa Bay.  Courtland Sutton did not disappoint in his first game back sin Jerry Jeudy, he looks to build on big week 2 against the terrible Jets.  Don’t sleep on Trey with him having Den D/ST against the Jets and turnover prone rookie Zach Wilson.

Division 2:

Jen (1-1) vs. Tommy (1-1)

Both teams coming off explosive Week 2 victories and look to finish the first round of divisional games with a winning record.  There can only be one.  Jen has Lamar Jackson @ Detroit.  Jackson is coming off of a high after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs while Detroit will be coming off a MNF spanking by the Packers.  Speaking of the Packers Tommy has Aaron Rodgers who rebounded nicely from his Week 1 stinker with 4 touchdowns and 26.8 fantasy points in Week 2.  He takes his talents to San Fran where he’ll look to get a victory in his home state.  A big storyline to watch will be Amari Cooper for Jen.  He has bruised ribs and he plays on MNF.  Will have to monitor as the week progresses.  Tommy has #1 WR Tyler Lockett @ Minnesota and AJ Brown vs. Indianapolis who got torched by… Tyler Lockett in Week 1 and Cooper Kupp in Week 2.  Will AJ Brown make it continue in Week 3?  This will be a great matchup to watch from TNF with Jen’s Brandin Cooks vs. Tommy’s CMC all the way to MNF with Jen’s Amari Cooper (maybe) vs. Tommy’s Miles Sanders.

Mike (1-1) vs. JD (1-1)

On the other side of D2, we have two teams that suffered different types of losses in Week 2..  Mike put his best foot forward and still lost whereas JD laid a stinker.  Both looking to bounce back, but one will drop 2 in a row.  Russell Wilson @ Minnesota for Mike, Dak Prescott vs. PHI for JD.  Derrick Henry gets Indy coming off his near-50 burger.  This could be a pivotal moment for JD and Saquon Barkley.  Barkley has started off slow, but his usage on TNF against Washington was reason for optimism.  Now a long rest and he gets Atlanta.  This could be a spot where he gets going.  Great Rb2 matchups with Mike’s Chase Edmonds @ Jacksonville and JD’s Elijah Mitchell against Green Bay.  Then Wideout talent galore.  Mike has DK Metcalf @ Minnesota and Adam Thielen vs Seattle in the same game.  JD has Stefon Diggs vs. Washington who gave up decent production to Sterling Shepherd and Darius Slayton last week.  He also has CeeDee Lamb in the MNF Philly matchup.  Can Mike build a big enough lead to hold off JD’s Cowboys on MNF?  Or will JD’s Prescott-Lamb stack come through?

Division 3:

Brad (2-0) vs. Chase (1-1)

The difference between Brad and Chase’s teams are that Brad is lucky, but Chase’s team is good.  Chase is averaging 128.8 vs. Brad’s 116.3.  Brad has enjoyed the second lowest Points Against at 214.7 or 107.4/game, which explains his 2-0 record.  Chase’s #1 Qb Kyler Murray, #4 Rb Nick Chubb, and #2 Wr Cooper Kupp have started the season off strong.  Murray gets Jacksonville, Chubb vs. Chicago, and Kupp gets Cincy.  Brad’s #12 Matt Stafford, #3 Aaron Jones, and #4 Tyreek Hill have started off good as well.  Stafford gets a potential shootout against Tampa Bay, Jones is @ San Fran, and Tyreek faces LAC.  Brad has an advantage at Rb2 with Chase having #19 Devin Singletary vs. Washington’s D Line while Brad has #16 Chris Carson @ Minnesota.  WR #2 looks even with Chase having Chase Claypool vs. Cincy and Brad having Allen Robinson @ Cleveland.  Flex is a big advantage for Chase with Calvin Ridley @ NYG with James Bradberry whereas Brad has Kareem Hunt vs. Chicago or Tyler Boyd @ Pittsburgh.  Given Chase’s Big 3 have better matchups this week and George Kittle has been quiet and gets the Packers who gave up 8 catches, 66 yards, and a touchdown to TJ Hockensen last week.  This looks like D3 will have at least two 2-1 teams after this week.

Joe (0-2) vs. Mustafa (1-1)

Joe is still fighting for that first win and Moose is looking to bounce back after a disappointing Week 2.  On paper this looks like a close matchup with Joe projected to lose by… oh come on!  0.2!  ESPN are just jerks at this point.  Joe has #2 Qb Patrick Mahomes against LAC, #5 Rb Dalvin Cook vs. Seattle.  Moose has Tannehill vs. Indy, Kamara @ New England, Mike Davis @ NYG, Keenan Allen @ KC, D. Johnson vs. Cincy, and Darren “The Baller” Waller against Miami.  Joe has Antonio Brown vs. LAR and Julio Jones versus Indy.  Joe has some pieces, but he hasn’t quite been able to get the puzzle together.  Sometimes fantasy is like that sometimes.  I like Moose in this one.

Best of Luck!

-Commish B-Razzle Dazzle

BBY Dream Team Season 13: Week 1 Recap & Week 2 Preview

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Week 1 Recap:

Division 3:

Joe (0-1) 117.3 vs. Brad (1-0) 117.5

I must start here after Monday Night Football.  My goodness.   Both teams deserved to lose this one.  Joe decided to start Michael Gallup over Julio Jones and Antonio Brown, which I thought was a questionable decision going into the NFL opening game on Thursday night.  I had it ranked Julio-AB-Gallup.  Of course, by him choosing Gallup he got 1.2 more points than Julio (5.6 versus 4.4).  Brad decided to start Kareem Hunt in the flex over Corey Davis.  Jamison Crowder was ruled out and Davis’s projections went up slightly.  Then Keenan Cole was ruled out and Davis’s projections and volume of targets was locked in.  Yet I decided to keep in Kareem Hunt because I liked the symmetry of Joe and I both starting flex players in revenge games.  Robby Anderson versus the Jets and Kareem Hunt versus Kansas City.  Speaking of Robby and Kareem, Robby scored a 57-yard touchdown for his lone catch of the game.  1 Catch, 14.2 points, not too shabby.  Kareem found the endzone and got 15.6.  Of course, the stars of this matchup were Joe’s Patrick Mahomes who went off for 36.2, but unfortunately for Joe many of those passes went to Brad’s #1 Wideout Tyreek Hill who matched Mahomes with 36.6.  Tyreek saw 15 targets, 11 receptions for 197 yards and a 75-yard touchdown.  Joe’s #1 pick Dalvin Cook delivered a solid 17.4, whereas Brad’s #1 pick Aaron Jones got curb stomped by a Saints defense and team that sent a message to the world on Sunday.  Then of course there was the Monday Night Football game.  Brad went into MNF with a 6.2-point lead and Raven’s D/ST and Joe had Justin Tucker.  With 0:42 seconds left in the game Justin Tucker hit a 47-yard field goal to bring Joe within 0.2.  The Raiders then drove the field quickly and Daniel Carlson hit a 55-yard field goal with 7 seconds remaining to send the game into Overtime.  Brad was up by 0.2 and the Raiders had 27 points scored.  Raven’s D/ST was at 5 points at the time, meaning if the Raiders scored 1 more point it would move Raven’s D/ST into 28 points allowed, which would have dropped them by 2 points.  In the first drive of Overtime the Raiders drove the field quickly.  Carr hit Edwards for a 33-yard touchdown meaning Joe would win the game by 1.8 points.  But a replay showed Edwards was down at the one-yard line.  Setting up a First Down and Goal.  On first down Carr was stuffed on a Qb sneak up the middle.  On second down and goal Leatherwood jumped, causing a false start to happen.  Replaying second down it was an incomplete pass.  On third down and goal Carr passed it to Willie Snead but it was hit far in the air and intercepted by Averett for a touchback.  Brad gets 2 points bringing his lead to 2.2.  A field goal by Justin Tucker would win the game for Joe.  Lamar Jackson starts to get the drive going.  Then on 3rd and 7 from the Baltimore 33-yard line, Jackson is sacked and fumbles the football.  The Raiders get the ball, Brad, who had been rooting against the Raiders offense all game, now started cheering for them to score.  On the 3rd play of the drive Derek Carr hits Zay Jones for a 31-yard touchdown and the Raiders win the game.  Brad defeats Joe by 0.2.  Holy shit what a roller coaster.

Mustafa (1-0) 130.4 vs. Chase (0-1) 113.1

Kyler Murray had a great game for Chase with 33.4 points compared to 14.1 from Moose’s Ryan Tannehill who couldn’t get it going against the Cardinals defense.  First round picks Nick Chubb for Chase got a respectable 21.1 points and Alvin Kamara for Moose got 16.6.  Chase lost Raheem Mostert who chipped a bone off his knee.  Marquez Callaway couldn’t get away from Jaire Alexander and finished with 1.9 points.  On Sunday Night Football he got a great performance out of Cooper Kupp who scored 25.3 points.  Moose got 8.7 from Mike Davis who disappointed most likely due to negative game script.  Diontae Johnson went out of the game briefly before returning and scoring a touchdown for Moose and getting 12.1 points.  Chase went into Monday Night Football with a 24.1 lead.  Moose had Darren Waller and Ty’Son Williams left.  Waller was enough, scoring 24.5 points.  Williams’ 16.9 was lagniappe as Moose defeats Chase by 15.3 points in Week 1.

Division 1:

Kenny (1-0) 136.1 vs. Trey (0-1) 122.1

Things were looking okay for Kenny after Thursday Night Football.  Zeke had gotten only 4.9 points, but Godwin got 22.0 for a decent combination of 26.9 points.  Trey’s stack of Jalen Hurts and Devonta Smith worked out well as they combined for 44.7 points.  TJ Hockensen performed as expected catching 8 passes on 10 targets for 97 yards a touchdown. (21.7 points).  Courtland Sutton disappointed for Trey only getting 1.9 points.  In comparison Kenny’s Wr#1 and #2 combined for 45.3 compared to Trey’s 12.8, which ultimately decided this game.  Trey did hold a slim lead of 2.5 heading into MNF with Josh Jacobs holding a questionable designation due to illness.  But Jacobs played and scored 2 touchdowns, closing the Week 1 victory for the defending champion and highest draft grade earner, Kenny.

Scotty (0-1) 98.3 vs. Katon (1-0) 132.9

Katon did not disappoint.  An interesting note on this matchup, prior to Week 1 games both had a surprise inactive at Running Back.  Scotty had 49ers Trey Sermon and Katon had Bills’ Zach Moss.  Despite having four players score 7.2 Katon took care of business.  His Mixon-Montgomery combination combined for 47.3 points, compared to just 20.6 from Scotty’s Najee Harris and Darrell Henderson combo.  Both teams wide receivers disappointed with Scotty getting 20.5 from Adams and Moore and Katon getting 11.1 from Evans and Smith-Schuster.  Katon did; however, get 22.6 from Travis Kelce who picked up where he left off last year.  And that was more than enough.

Division 2:

Mike (1-0) 133.1 vs. Jen (0-1) 117.9

Jen started this matchup off with a bang!  Amari Cooper got 35.4 points on Thursday Night Football.  On Sunday Mike evened the score with strong performances from Russel Wilson (26.9), Adam Thielen (25.7), and D’Andra Swift (20.4).  Mike was surely disappointed by first round pick Derrick Henry’s paltry 9.2, but a negative game script can do that for Henry and the Titans O.  Jen had a solid week, but after Cooper, no one else on the team exceeded 18.7 and 5 players scored in single digits.  Going into MNF she needed Lamar Jackson to outscore Daniel Carlson by 22.3, but Carlson delivered a strong performance of 11 points including a 55 yarder to send the game into overtime.

JD (1-0) 132.2 vs. Tommy (0-1) 107.8

Despite all the injuries JD’s team delivered in week 1.  On TNF JD got a whopping 55.2 points from his Dak Prescott-CeeDee Lamb stack.  He was disappointed by Saquon Barkley’s 3.2 points, but Melvin Gordon made up for it, scoring 24.3 points (most of which came from a 70-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter).  Gordon wind up outscoring Tommy’s #1 Overall Pick Christian McCaffrey who finished with 23.2 points.  Tyler Lockett also showed out with 4 catches for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns, an incredible 29 points on only 4 catches.  Tommy’s downfall was Aaron Rodgers getting 1.2 and getting benched after the Saints crushed the Packers.  Brandon Auyik didn’t receive a single target in the game and finished with 0 points.  ESPN says this is due to a lingering hamstring injury.  Graham Gano also finished with 1 point.  It was impressive that Tommy broke 100 points with 3 players combining for 2.2 points.

Week 2 Preview:

Division 1:

Kenny (1-0) vs. Scotty (0-1)

Kenny has a combination of some tough matchups and some really favorable ones.  He has Josh Allen at Miami, Zeke at LA Chargers, Jacobs at Pittsburgh, and Harrison Butker @ Baltimore.  He also has Hopkins vs. Minnesota, Godwin versus Atlanta, which is a smash spot, and Deebo Samuel @ Philly.  Scotty has Justin Herbert versus a Dallas team that just gave up 30 fantasy points to Tom Brady.  Najee Harris versus Las Vegas who gave up a couple touchdowns to the likes of Ty’Son Williams and Latavius Murray last week.  Davante Adams and the rest of the Packers are coming for blood after a disappointing opening week.  They get Detroit on Monday Night Football.  Looks to be a great matchup in Week 2!

Katon (1-0) vs. Trey (0-1)

Katon has come very favorable matchups and enters Week 2 the heavy favorite to move on to 2-0.  Brady, Evans, TB D/ST stack faces swiss cheese defense Atlanta.  Mixon and Montgomery face each other in the CIN @ CHI matchup.  Kelce gets Baltimore who couldn’t stop Darren Waller in Week 1 to save their lives.  Trey’s Jalen Hurts and Devonta Smith stack is vs. San Fransisco, Johnathan Taylor vs. Aaron Donald and the LA Rams D/ST, Antonio Gibson faces a decent D line of the Giants on TNF.  Trey will need big games from his Hurts to Smith stack, Den D/ST against rookie Trevor Lawrence (who threw 3 INT in Week 1), and Courtland Sutton to show up this week after Jerry Jeudy went down to an injury that will have him sidelined for multiple weeks.

Division 2:

Mike (1-0) vs. Tommy (0-1)

Biggest game of the week for this matchup is Seattle versus Tennessee.  Mike has Russell Wilson, Derrick Henry, and DK Metcalf.  Tommy has AJ Brown and Tyler Lockett.  Mike also has Chase Edmonds vs. Minnesota and Adam Thielen vs. Arizona.  Tommy has a juicy matchup for Gronk against Atlanta.  Tommy’s Rb’s do have tough matchups with CMC vs. NO and Sanders vs. SF.  Ultimately this game will look to come down to Monday Night Football where Mike will have D’Andre Swift @ GB and Tommy will have Aaron Rodgers versus Detroit.  Who scores more Metcalf or Lockett?  Henry or Brown?  Swift or Rodgers?  Great Week 2 Matchup here.

JD (1-0) vs. Jen (0-1)

Biggest game of the week for this matchup is Dallas versus LA Chargers.  JD has Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.  Jen has Austin Ekeler and Amari Cooper.  Every single player for JD is playing on the road except for his kicker.  Dak and Lamb is in LA as previously mentioned, Barkley is at Washington on TNF, newly acquired $71 Rb Elijah Mitchell is at Philly.  Diggs-Higgs and Higbee (should make a team name out of this somehow) are all away as well.  Jen has Lamar Jackson vs. KC on SNF.  Ekeler in the Dallas matchup.  CEH in the SNF matchup, and Terry McLaurin versus the Giants on TNF.  Someone to watch for Jen is Brandin Cooks who had an impressive 18.7 in Week 1 on 7 targets from Tyrod Taylor.  Cleveland opened favored by 13 points, meaning Cooks could be in line for even more targets in Week 2.

Division 3:

Joe (0-1) vs. Chase (0-1)

Both teams coming off their loss on MNF and looking to avoid the 0-2 start to the season.  A phenomenal matchup on paper starting with the field generals on both teams.  Joe has #1 Qb Patrick Mahomes @ Baltimore who just got carved up by Derek Carr.  Chase has #2 Qb Kyler Murray versus Minnesota who gave up a respectable 18.6 to Joe “Big Dick” Burrow.  Joe’s Minnesota stack of Cook and Jefferson square off with an Arizona defense that looked surprisingly good against the Titans in Week 1.  This game also features a couple of wideouts facing each other with Joe having Antonio Brown vs. Atlanta and Chase having Calvin Ridley vs. Tampa Bay.  I’d be remiss to not mention the incredibly disgusting matchup of these teams Running Back #2’s who also face each other this week.  Joe has Myles Gaskin vs. Buffalo and Chase has Devin Singletary @ Miami.  And I just puked in my mouth.

Brad (1-0) vs. Moose (1-0)

Brad and Moose feature the only matchup with two winning teams this week.  Moose has Ryan Tannehill who is in the Pacific Northwest to face the Seattle Seahawks, Alvin Kamara @ Carolina, Keenan Allen vs. Dallas, Diontae Johnson and Darren Waller will square off against one another in the LV-Pittsburgh matchup.  Heading into Week 1 I imagine not many people have Vegas versus Pittsburgh being a 1-0 vs. 1-0 matchup, but here we are.  Brad has Matt Stafford at Indy.  Stafford looks solid in Week 1 against the Bears secondary, but the Colts secondary is a lot stronger.  Chris Carson has Tennessee, TyFREAK Hill is @ Baltimore.  Allen Robinson is coming off of his 11 targets, 6 catch game versus Jalen Ramsey and the Rams and is now facing a Bengals Defense that gave up a pair of touchdowns to Adam Thielen, but held Justin Jefferson to 5 catches on 7 targets and 71 yards.  Ultimately this game looks to be decided on Monday Night Football where Brad will have Aaron Jones as his last hope to top Moose and move on to 2-0.  Will the Packers come out flat again?  Will AJ Dillon get more work than Jones?  Who gets to 2-0 in D3?  We’ll see.

Thanks for reading and best of luck this week!

-Commish B-Razzle Dazzle

BBY Dream Team League Draft Grades 2021

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  1. 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+

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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)

  1. 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:

  1. Kenny- A
  2. Brad- A
  3. Scotty- A-
  4. Katon- B+
  5. Tommy B+
  6. Mustafa B+
  7. Chase B+
  8. Trey- B
  9. Jen/Mel- B
  10. Mike- B
  11. Joe- C+
  12. 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!

BBY 2020: Super Bowl 12 Preview

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BBY 2020 Super Bowl 12 Preview      

3. Mike (Regular Season: 8-5, Playoffs 2-0) vs. 1. Kenny (Regular Season: 9-4, Playoffs 1-0)

Preview: The last Super Bowl to feature two teams that had not won a title was 2017 when Jen faced Trey in Super Bowl 9.  This is Mike’s second Super Bowl appearance, but first since 2009 in Super Bowl I.  This is Kenny’s first Super Bowl appearance.

How They Got Here:

Kenny- 6th Pick.  Dalvin Cook fell to Kenny with contract and injury concerns.  5 Running Backs were drafted ahead of him and yet entering the Super Bowl week Dalvin Cook is the #1 Fantasy Running Back.  In the 2ndRound he was fortunate to have Tyreek Hill fall to him after Joe took Mike (hehe) Evans before him.  That would be #1 Fantasy Wide Receiver Tyreek Hill.  In the next two rounds Kenny took veteran running backs on different teams in 22. Todd Gurley and 17. Melvin Gordon III.  These picks weren’t sexy, but Melvin Gordon scored 5 touchdowns against me in our three matchups this season and I hate him for it.  He then took #6 DK Metcalf in Round 5 and #5 Stefon Diggs in Round 6.  For those keeping track: #1 Rb, #1Wr, #22 Rb, #17 Rb, #6 Wr, #5 Wr.  The rest of his draft sucked, but that didn’t matter.  You go 6/6 in your first six rounds and you’re going to compete.  Adding Rookie Phenom #8 Qb Justin Herbert for $21 was a superb move for a team that seemed to be a Qb away from making a run at this thing.  Kenny wind up scoring 1676.4 regular season points on his way to $200 and a Points Leader winner.  

Mike- 1st Pick.  Mike is in the Super Bowl despite not having his #1 Overall Pick Christian McCaffrey in all but three games this season.  Mike smartly bid $63 for Mike Davis once McCaffrey went down.  Davis has filled in admirably for CMC, but he’s #15 Running Back.  At the 2nd/3rd turn Mike went George Kittle and David Johnson.  Kittle has been effective when playing, but he too was injured, missing 9 games this season.  He averages 14.3 when he actually plays.  #27 Rb David Johnson also missed 5 games due to injury.  In the 4th Round Mike selected #14 AJ Brown who missed 3 games earlier in the season.  In Round 5 Mike busted with TY Hilton.  Hilton scored single digits for the first 11 weeks of the fantasy season.  In the 6thround Mike took Deebo Samuel, who you guessed it… missed 6 games due to injury.  Then in the 7th round Mike struck gold with #2 Qb Kyler Murray.  Mike’s greatest pick though came in Round 11.  He took Justin Jefferson out of LSU.  The rookie is Wide Receiver #7.  Incredible value in Round 11.  The rest was crap.  A saavy move for Mike was picking up Corey Davis for $0 from Free Agency.  He somehow is the #20 Wide Receiver. 

Summary: Kenny was healthy and crushed his first 6 rounds.  Mike was extremely injury riddled this season, but was fortunate to have BY FAR the lowest Points Against (1298.8) the next closest team was Katon with 1407.2.  A difference of 108.4 points.  Would you rather by lucky or good?  

With all that said… none of it matters.  All that matters is what happens in Week 16.

Matchups:

Mike- Mike has #2 Kyler Murray versus San Francisco on Saturday after Christmas.  He last faced San Fran all the way back in Week 1 to the tune of 26.3 fantasy points including 91 rushing yards.  #27 David Johnson faces #17 OPRK Cincinnati with Duke Johnson out of the contest.  This bodes well for DJ from a volume standpoint, which is the reason why he was drafted at the beginning of the third round to begin with.  #15 Mike Davis faces #5 OPRK against that NASTY Washington defensive line.  I’m not sure how effective he’ll be in what might be a defensive affair.  #12 AJ Brown and #20 Corey Davis is against a solid Green Bay secondary on Sunday Night Football.  Star Rookie #7 Wide Receiver Justin Jefferson faces a tough Saints defense in the Dome on Christmas Day.  George Kittle has been activated from IR in time to face an Arizona defense that has been racking up sacks lately.  We’ll have to see if Kittle if Full Go or if he is on a snap count.  As of right now Mike has Indy D/ST versus Pittsburgh instead of Tampa Bay versus a Detroit offense who will have a play caller that hasn’t called plays in forever because their coaching staff got hammered with Covid procedures this week.  Mike has darling #1 Kicker Younghoe Koo versus Kansas City.  Kickers like Koo make fantasy fun.  

Kenny- Kenny has #8 Justin Herbert versus Denver.  In Week 8 Herbert scored 21.1 throwing for 278 yards and 3 touchdowns with a couple interceptions.  #1 Rb Dalvin Cook has a tough matchup against a stout Saints defensive line.  But he’s virtually matchup proof as evident from his 27.4 against Chicago last week to spank Brad’s ass back to 1 Ball Land.  #17 Melvin Gordon faces LAC.  He only managed 7.7 fantasy points in their first outing against the Chargers.  #1 Tyreek Hill gets 32nd ranked Atlanta OPRK.  A virtual smash spot yet Kenny will have to watch as Hill gets the Questionable designation.  Hill faces the worst defense guarding receivers and Kenny’s Wide Receiver #2/3 #6 DK Metcalf faces the best defense at guarding receivers.  LA Rams with #1 OPRK.  Metcalf had BY FAR his worst game of the season going up against Jalen Ramsey and the Rams secondary for a measily 3.8 fantasy points.  We’ll see if he gets shut down again or if he gets revenge for the first outing.  At tight end, Kenny’s only weakness, he has either #18 Dallas Goedert or #17 Tyler Higbee.  Goedert gets Dallas who he scored 2 fantasy points against in Week 8 and Higbee gets Seattle who he scored 7.5 against in Week 10.  Kenny is flipping a coin and hoping one of them catches a TD in this one.  #5 Stefon Diggs Monday Night Football matchup at New England isn’t as daunting given their top Corner Stephon Gilmore landed on IR and NE is out of the playoff hunt.  #3 Dolphins D/ST against LV or #4  Rams D/ST against Russel Wilson and Seattle.  Right now Kenny has Dolphins in his lineup against a Las Vegas team that has nothing to lose as they are out of the playoff hunt.  Kenny has old Mr. Reliable #6 Kicker Justin Tucker.  

Final Thoughts:

This was shaping up to be a David vs. Goliath matchup.  Kenny looks unstoppable scoring 150.3 during the bye week and 142.6 in the Final Four.  Mike had scored 106.8 in Round 1, but then exploded in Round 2 with 151.0 points.  Kenny has the better team.  We know this.  But in Fantasy it’s all about strategy and luck.  Anybody can start the right person or the wrong person.  Last year I started the wrong Wide Receiver after losing my top Rb and top Wr and I lost by 1 point.  Whoever wins will win their first title, will win cash, and have the trophy shipped to them by Moose.  I don’t know who will win, but I’m sure we are in for a fun Super Bowl, that’s stretches over Christmas Day game, Saturday games, Sunday Night Football, and Monday Night Football.  Best of luck to both of you.  May the odds be ever in your favor. 

Bottom Bowl:

Joe vs. Moose:

Winner gets 6 balls, Loser gets 5 balls.  Congrats guys you already “won”

JD vs. Chase

Winner gets 4 balls, Loser gets 3 balls.  Not too shabby.

Scotty vs. Tommy

Winner gets 2 balls, Loser gets 1 ball and the shame of being the worst fantasy player this season.  Come on Scotty, don’t take my high draft grade all the way down man.  My ego can’t take it.  

Thank you all for a wonderful season everyone.  God Bless and I look forward to the draft lottery next season!  Now let’s enjoy Mike and Kenny in Super Bowl 12!

BBY 2020: Round 2 Playoffs

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BBY Dream Team League 2020 Playoffs: Round 2

Quick Recap:

4. Brad defeated 5. Katon in a shootout 160-142.5 and 3. Mike defeated 6. Jen 106.8-82.2.  Bracket still appears to be lopsided setting up a potential David vs. Goliath Super Bowl.  Kenny, Katon, and Brad combined to score 452.8 (average of 150.9) as opposed to Jen, Mike, and Trey combining to score 272.6 (average of 90.9).  Of course anyone can beat anyone any given week.    

Final Four Resume’s:

Kenny: 0-1 in Final Four matchups

Brad: 5-2 in Final Four matchups

Mike: 1-2 in Final Four matchups

Trey: 1-1 in Final Four matchups

Round 2:

Round 2 brings us a beautifully symmetrical bracket.  1-2-3-4 seeds advanced for BBY Supremacy.  Also, the four remaining teams represent the contiguous United States.  Mike represents the North in North Dakota, Brad the West in California, Trey the East in South Carolina, and Kenny the South in Louisiana.  It’s kind of like Game of Thrones.   Mike is the Starks representing the North.  Which of course would make his sigil a Dire Wolf.  Kenny being from the South would make him the Lannister’s who controlled King’s Landing for most of the show.  His sigil would be a Golden Lion, which also equates with all those Points he scored.  Trey would be House Baratheon whose house traditionally rules the Stormlands on the Eastern coast of Westeros and who’s sigil is a Mighty Stag.  And Brad would be House Greyjoy because this fantasy group’s perception of a small surgery that he had on a dilated vein running from his kidney to my left testicle is the equivalent of having his dick chopped off like Theon Greyjoy.  I digress.  

4. Brad vs. 1. Kenny

Preview: Kenny beat Brad twice in the regular season, edged out Brad for Points Winner, and is more handsome.  Brad has the #1 Quarterback, #2 Running Back and #1 Tight End.  Kenny has #1 Running Back, #1 Wide Receiver, AND the #3 Wide Receiver, AND the #4 Wide Receiver, and #2 Defense.  

Matchup Notables:  Brad’s #1 Patrick Mahomes and #1 Travis Kelce (along with Kenny’s #1 Tyreek Hill) face a tough Saints Defense.  This game is being played in the SuperDome where Tyreek Hill may be able to crack the sound barrier on a deep route.  Brad’s #2 Derrick Henry faces OPRK 31st Detroit, setting up an on-paper smash spot.  Kenny’s trio of wideouts have tough(er) matchups in #1 Tyreek Hill vs. #8 OPRK New Orleans, #3 DK Metcalf vs. #4 OPRK Washington, and #4 Stefon Diggs vs. #10 OPRK Denver.  #1 Rb Dalvin Cook hasn’t done great against #8 OPRK Chicago’s defense.  But Kenny has a Diamond in the Rough in #2 D/ST LA Rams versus #32 OPRK the hapless New York Jets.  That is going to be a slaughter and Kenny could easily get north of 20 points there. 

Final Thoughts: Brad would need to have a lot of fortunate chain of events to take place to defeat the Top Seed in the playoffs.  

3. Mike vs. 2. Trey

Preview: Trey defeated Mike 113.4 to 109.7 in Week 10.  This is their first playoff matchup.  Trey has #4 and #8 Running Backs.  Mike has #2 Quarterback and #8 Wide Receiver.  

Matchup Notables: Mike has #15 Rb Mike Davis vs. #29th OPRK GB Packers on Saturday, and his Titans Stack of #13 AJ Brown and #25 Corey Davis face #27th OPRK Detroit Lions.  Trey has all matchups which feature middle of the pack OPRK’s with the exception of TY Hilton who faces #24 OPRK Houston Texans.  TY has been on a tear the last 3 weeks averaging 21.1 points per game.  

Final Thoughts:  This matchup could go either way.  Interesting note to add is Mike’s #2 Qb Kyler Murray facing Rookie Jalen Hurts in a game against one another.  Who wins between Sophomore and Rookie?  

Bottom Bowl:

Game 1: Moose vs. Chase: 

Super Bowl 10 Rematch sets friends against one another.  Winner is guaranteed 5-6 balls in Game 1 of Round 3. Loser is guaranteed 3-4 balls in Game 2 of Round 3.

Game 2: Joe vs. Tommy

Friends become enemies.  Enemies become friends.  This is the most important and volatile game in the Bottom Bowl.  Game 2 of Round 2.  The winner is guaranteed 5 or 6 balls in Game 1 of Round 3.  The loser; however, shoots down to Game 3 of Round 3 and can either win 2 balls or only have 1 ball like the playoff teams.  Since it’s so volatile it would be a perfect time for a… kicker bowl?

Game 3: JD vs. Scotty

Winner moves on to Game 2 of Round 2 and is guaranteed 3 or 4 balls.  Loser moves on to Game 3 of Round 3 and will either win 2 balls or only get 1 ball.  

Best of Luck Everyone!  I certainly hope Justin Herbert doesn’t go to Overtime and instead of finishing with 19.7 fantasy points hit a bomb and go over 300 yards and then rush for a game winning touchdown in overtime to give Kenny a 30.8 point head start against me this week!