Best Buy Dream Team League: Draft Grades Season 17

August 20, 2025 bradleybertoniere Draft Guide, Fantasy Football, NFL Fantasy Football, NFL, Preview

1. Steven T-BO

Welcome Back Steven! What better way to welcome you back than the #1 overall pick and rights to draft Jamarr Chase. In 2024 Chase won the WR Triple Crown, leading the NFL in Receptions (127), Receiving Yards (1708) , and Receiving TDs (17). Good for an average of 23.7 per game. Including games of 41.3, 58.9, and 41.1. Now obviously this is a rare feat. Unlikely to happen again. Last year the Bengals defense was horrific. Leading the Bengals to have to score in bunches just to stay in close games. Many of which they wind up losing. They are hungry and motivated to ensure they start out fast and strong this season. But there’s a couple of problems. Last season their weakness was offensive line and defense. In the offseason they signed Jamarr Chase and Tee Higgins to massive contracts. They did seemingly nothing to improve their secondary or defense. In fact, they may trade away their best defender in Trey Hendrickson. They did seemingly nothing to improve their offensive line. I believe we are going to see more of the same. Burrow having to throw a ton and Chase being the main benefactor. He’s the slam dunk WR1 and a great pick made by Steven.

In Round 2 Steven had back to back picks and goes Ladd McConkey and Jayden Daniels. Daniels is an absolute monster. I wasn’t as high on Ladd McConkey. Let’s start with Ladd. The Chargers lost their starting Left Tackle a couple of weeks ago in Rashawn Slater. It’s a bigger deal than people are letting on. They’ll shuffle their offensive line around and move Joe Alt to Left Tackle, but Lineman Expert, Brandon Thorn moved them from fringe Top 10 offensive line to #25 offensive line. It was that big of a loss. I downgraded all Chargers players as a result of this loss. Adding to the offensive line woes for McConkey is the additions of Keenan Allen, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, and Tre Harris. They also added Tyler Conklin and Orande Gadsen at TE. Last year they had Ladd and QJ and that was about it. They’ll have more options now. Don’t get me wrong. Ladd is still their #1 target. I don’t like his chances to replicate his 2024 finish of WR#13.

Now when it comes to Jayden. Love it. Lamar, Jayden, Hurts all went within 5 picks of each other while I went RB. Daniels is fun! QB#5 as a rookie. Showed incredible talent both rushing and throwing the ball. Let’s hope the Commanders work everything out with Terry McLaurin soon, so that he doesn’t miss a beat in Year 2.

At the 4/5 Turn Steven goes Davante Adams and Breece Hall. Adams left Green Bay and had a couple frustrating seasons with the Raiders. Then was traded to the Jets and had one frustrating season with the Jets. But even though it was frustrating he still finished as WR3, WR10 and WR11 in those three seasons. And last year he was WR11 despite missing 3 weeks. Now he replaces Cooper Kupp in Sean McVay’s offense in Los Angeles. Solid WR2 for Steven assuming I’m right about McConkey’s regression.

Breece Hall is Steven’s first RB taken. That’s a little scary. Hall is very talented and the Jets seem like they are going to run the ball a lot. Aaron Glenn has made it sound like it’s going to be a committee approach. Justin Fields can take off and run instead of checking it down as well. In 2023 after Rodgers went down Hall was a PPR monster. But in 2024 he caught 19 fewer catches in one less game. We’ll see if they go Braelon Allen on first and second down and use Hall as the 3rd down back. I’m very curious how this backfield shakes out, so having him as RB1 is a little scary.

In Round 6 Steven took Kaleb Johnson. Johnson is a very talented rookie, most known for carrying Iowa on his back. This season he gets to stay in black and yellow for the Steelers. Arthur Smith hasn’t been great for fantasy players as he uses an approach that’s called “how can I attack this defense where they aren’t expecting it?” Which results in the 3rd tight ends and backup RBs to score in random ways. I do think Jaylen Warren begins the season as the starting RB in some form of committee. We’ll see if Kaleb Johnson can be the one for one replacement for Najee Harris, who provided 3 1000 yard rushing seasons for the Steelers or if the rookie is going to be eased in and be more of a back half of the season asset.

In Round 7 T-Bo selects Travis Kelce. When it comes to Kelce, he had his worst season in 9 years. Catching only 823 yards and 3 touchdowns, a career low (ignoring his nonexistent rookie season). He still finished as TE#5. This is a bet on a rebound as father time is looking to end this hall of fame career in the near future. If this is his last ride, fans would love to see him recreate some of the numbers he’s put up in the past. I felt like this was an appropriate place to pick him.

In Round 8 Steven continued his nonchalant attitude towards running backs getting Javonte Williams. Williams had a catastrophic knee injury while in Denver and never recovered. Now it’s him, Rookie Blue, and Miles Sanders for Cowboys running duties, replacing the ghost of Zeke Elliot and Rico Dowdle, who is now a Panther. I’m avoiding this backfield as I see this as a pass heavy team who will rely on Lamb, Pickens, and Ferguson to move the football.

In Round 8 Steven took Keon Coleman, sophomore for the Bills and in Round 10 he took Trey Harris for the Chargers. In the later rounds he took Josh Downs (in Round 13) which is a great value and JJ McCarthy to backup Jayden. He got good value in Hunter Henry in Round 14 and Dicker the Kicker, which is fun to say.

Draft Grade: C+. Jayden and Chase are going to be soooo fun to watch and root for. Chase will probably win you Weeks 13 and 15. But will Week 15 be the first round of the playoffs or first round of the consolation bracket considering you only have 3 RBs on your roster, all looking to be part of committees? Welcome back T-Bo and Good Luck!

2. Katon.

Katon goes with Bijan Robinson to kick off his draft from the 2 spot. Bijan was just so damn steady last season. His lowest scoring week was 10.7. After the Week 12 Bye week he scored 25.5, 20.1, 14.5, 24.3, 24.8, and 31.30. (The last one was Week 18 and doesn’t really matter, but still). He’s a slam dunk pick, a slam dunk player, and a plug and play RB1 that you start and forget about. A Katon specialty. Immense volume for the Falcons. 304 rushing attempts, 1456 rushing yards, 14 rushing touchdowns, 72 targets, 61 receptions, 431 receiving yards and 1 receiving touchdown. All signs to a similar workload as the Falcons haven’t made any changes. One beat reporter who spoke to Bijan said he’s been working on his big play ability this offseason. He noticed other players taking it to the house more frequently. He was more of a death by a thousand cuts type of fantasy player. If he’s able to add some more explosive plays then the skies the limit for this entering third year stud. According to Warren Sharp the Falcons have the 4th easiest schedule in the NFL this season. Easy pick.

In Round 2 Katon took Trey McBride. McBride was TE#2 last season in ppr. The Arizona offense funneled through McBride in 2024. Marvin Harrison might have the NFL player legacy genes but he had a very quiet rookie season. McBride did this while only scoring 3 touchdowns. If he gets the same volume (147 targets, 111 receptions) then you can expect more touchdowns. Now Marvin Harrison looks jacked so there’s a chance he gets a larger piece of the pie, but they didn’t add any other threat so I see this as a condensed Receiver group and love this pick for Katon in Round 2 because of elite Tight End Scarcity (the reason I took Bowers one pick before).

In Round 3 Katon took Josh Allen. Josh Allen’s Fantasy QB Finishes in his Career:

2018- QB21

2019- QB8

2020- QB1

2021- QB1

2022- QB2

2023- QB1

2024- QB2

In Round 4 Katon took his first WR in DK Metcalf. I feel the same as Metcalf as Katon’s WR1 as I did about Breece Hall being Steven’s RB1. Ew. And I like Metcalf. But I don’t care for Rodgers, nor Arthur Smith’s play calling. This seems like a team that’s going to run two tight ends with Jonnu Smith, Pat Freirmuth, and Darnell Washington seeing a ton of snaps. Running the ball a ton with Kaleb Johnson and Jaylen Warren. And sure DK will be the deep threat/alpha X Wide Receiver just like he was in Seattle, but I predict the volume will be much less. I’m not high on Metcalf this season, but where his value lies will be in touchdowns. I don’t think you’ll get the steady 7-8 catches, but he’ll win some jump balls in the red zone from Rodgers. Adams caught 8 and Wilson caught 7 from Rodgers last season. They paid him like the alpha that he is. But drawing coverage away to open up the middle doesn’t count for fantasy points.

In Round 5 Katon took speedster Xavier Worthy. Chiefs WRs are a bit of a mess right now. You have 35 year old Travis Kelce. Rashee Rice who might be suspended and who is coming off of injury. Hollywood Brown who is oft-injured and currently working through an ankle injury. JuJu Smith-Schuster. Rookie Jalen Royals. And Tyquan Thornton, a young WR from the Patriots who couldn’t break out in New England. At the very least Worthy is a big play potential. He had a couple of boom weeks including towards the end of the season. Even in the Super Bowl he caught those two long touchdowns albeit when the game was over and Mahomes was just chucking it. He showed flashes of the potential of his upside. I wish Katon had paired a more steady WR1 with him, so he can ride the boom and bust weeks. Feel like Metcalf will be TD dependent and Worthy will be target share dependent. Might have weeks where they win you the week and other weeks where they both lose you the week.

In Round 6 he stayed in KC with Isiah Pacheco. He runs angry! And behind Kareem Hunt sometimes, which sucks. Pacheco should be the RB1 for the Chiefs this season, but Kareem Hunt pooped in his cheerios last season. I see them continuing to use a committee approach with Pacheco, Hunt, Elijah Mitchell, Carson Steele, and rookie Brashard Smith. One or two of these guys might have to practice squad it for a while. The clearest path for Pacheco is for Hunt to be injured or cut, but all signs look at another committee approach. Little worried about him being your RB2.

In Round 7 Katon took Jerry Jeudy. He exploded last year! In games where Jamies was slinging it and in games AFTER Cedric Tillman, the true #1 for Cleveland got hurt. You’ll have Joe Flacco throwing the ball, but the fact that Jeudy fell into Round 7 tells you there is consensus that last season’s WR12 finish was a fluke.

JK Dobbins in the 8th and Cooper Kupp in the 9th. Decent depth pieces in Tyjae Spears and Tyler Allgeier to shore up RB depth. Nice value in Colston Loveland in Round 13 and Keenan Allen in Round 11.

Draft Grade: B. Loved the start. Love the RB depth. WRs worry me a bit.

3. Brad.

Brad is coming off of his worst two season stretch in the 16 year history of this league, with two finishes of 10/12 in a row. Ouch. He’s hoping the RB#1 last season can help me do better this season. Gibbs finished RB#1 despite having 95 less rush attempts than Saquon and 75 less rush attempts than Derrick Henry. How? Gibbs caught 52 passes for 517 yards and scored 20 TDs last season. He averaged 21.35 ppr points per game which is about the same as Jamarr Chase. The Lions have one of the best offensive lines in football. They play in a tough division. I mean it when I say it. Gibbs is the best running back in the NFL. He is entering Year 3. Sure he’ll have Montgomery back from injury. Ben Johnson is gone. There are arguments against him repeating his 2024 success. It’s hard to score 20 touchdowns. But Gibbs is the truth and a slam dunk pick at #3.

In Round 2 Brad was handed a gift in Brock Bowers. There were 3 tight ends that could separate a team from the rest of the league. Brad got one of them in Bowers. Geno Smith is an upgrade at QB. He was unguardable last season. They add Ashton Jeanty who will automatically demand respect for the running game. We all knew Bowers would be a stud. But 112 receptions for 1194 yards and 5 tds? Nasty work. Set it and forget it pick for Brad.

Brad pulled a Brad in Round 3. Every year in this league he reaches on someone due to mental gymnastics occurring in his head. This year it was rookie TreVeyon Henderson. At Pick #27. His ADP was around 44. Bottom line, Brad knew he wasn’t making it back to him and he wanted to secure his RB2 before anything else. The more prudent and appropriate picks would have been Lamar Jackson or AJ Brown here. Brad’s QBs and WRs suffered as a result of the reach. But Henderson’s big play ability and solid floor due to PPR, made him a priority add for Brad in the draft. Rhamondre is going to be the grinder, but two minute drills and 3rd downs Henderson is going to eat. And any given touch he could take it to the house. He might eat into Rhamondre’s early down work if the evidence is clear that the offense moves a lot better with him in the game. I love this pick. It’s fun and hip. Patriots are going to play defense and run the ball with Mike Vrabel as head coach. Offensive line was improved a lot in the offseason with addition of LSU stud Will Campbell. Giddy up.

In Round 4 Brad finally takes his first WR in Mike Evans.

Mike Evans Fantasy PPR Finishes since entering the league:

2014- WR13

2015- WR22

2016- WR2

2017- WR17

2018- WR9

2019- WR15

2020- WR11

2021- WR9

2022- WR17

2023- WR7

2024- WR14

Brad picks him at Pick #46. The 17th WR to be drafted. Chris Godwin is hurt and will start the year on PUP most likely. One of the reasons Mike Evans is able to dominate defenders is because his arms are as long as Mr. Fantastic’s. AT 35 1/8″ it is 98th percentile. The NFL average for a wide receiver is 31-32 inches. A lot of people talk about how big Wide Receiver hands are. Seldom do they talk about the arms. This allows Evans to high point the ball better than your average player. He is 31, this might be the season he falls off a cliff. But I don’t think so. I think he gets another 1000 yard season to add to his Hall of Fame career. And he shouldn’t get ejected from the Saints games anymore because Lattimore is on the Commanders.

In Round 5 Brad double dipped WRs going Garrett Wilson. Wilson had his third year breakout and it’s like nobody even cares. He was WR10 last year after terrible finishes of WR21 and WR26 (when compared to his ADP). Talent has never been the problem with Wilson. It’s been the Quarterback play. Insert Justin Fields who has been a better runner than passer in the NFL so far. But Fields was Wilson’s QB at Ohio State, so the transition from Rodgers to Fields should be smooth. Fields ability to move around the pocket more than the 40 year old coming-off-of-achilles-injury Rodgers will help Wilson on broken plays get open and score more. I was tempted to go RJ Harvey here. In retrospect Brad would’ve been better off going Lamar Jackson in the 2nd and taking RJ Harvey in the 5th. Something I will monitor throughout the season on whether or not this was the decision that tanked my team. Can’t change the past, Wilson is Brad’s WR2.

In Round 6 Brad goes Jaylen Waddle. The Dolphins were horrific last season. Tua got hurt, the offensive line was bad, and the offense became this dip and dunk four yard gains to Achane and Jonnu Smith. Defenses started to play two high against them and cut off Tyreek and Waddle’s deep play abilities. But between the Tua, the offensive line, Tyreek’s wrist injury, and Waddle having JustGotPaidTheBag-Itus it was disgusting. Waddle was WR13 his rookie season and WR8 his sophomore campaign. But then WR34 in 2023 and WR46 last year. This is a bet on talent. The offensive line is still really bad. Injuries to their secondary have them bringing in scrubs to play the position. They’ll have to throw a lot to keep up with Bills. Patriots are improved. Jets have Fields and could improve. Evan Silva thinks this is the year Waddle overtakes Tyreek. If that happens this is a great value, if not, Brad took a flier for his WR3.

Round 7 Brad took another Jaylen in Jaylen Warren. Warren is going to be the starter for the Steelers to start the season. Kaleb Johnson is very talented and can usurp him at some point this season. Then again it’s Arthur Smith we are talking about. Rodgers is going to want the better pass protector in there with his old legs. That’s Warren. I’m pretty sure they aren’t allowed to throw the football in Iowa. It’s illegal.

In Round 8 Brad continued to get depth at RB with Zach Charbonnet. Kenneth Walker has a laundry list of soft tissue injuries. Charbonnet is a talented back and has stepped up in the past when needed. This gives Brad solid depth behind Gibbs, Henderson, and Warren. The concern here is the Seattle offensive line isn’t great so they’ll have to rely on Klint Kubiak’s system.

In Round 9 Brad finally takes his starting Qb in Drake Maye. This gives him the Maye-Henderson stack. Maye showed flashes last season. Josh McDaniels comes in and has always been a decent OC, which is shocking because as a head coach, not so much. Last season Maye took over the starting job in Week 6 and had two QB1 finishes in his first two starts albeit against bad defenses. In those games he started he had 54 rushes for 421 yards which was 7.8 yards per carry. Not too shabby. Looking at that over a whole season while adding Henderson, Diggs, improved offensive line. I’m looking for a big Year 2 leap here.

In Round 10 Brad chose Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Meritt. Ridiculous name, but people wouldn’t shut up about him. Rumors at time of the draft was the Commanders were looking to trade away Brian Robinson. They’ll most likely rely on a committee approach with Austin Ekeler and Bill to start the year.

In the late rounds Brad got decent WRs in Cedric Tillman and Wandale Robinson. Added Justin Fields to back up Maye and keep the rushing ability. Added DJ Giddens who looks to have locked up the RB2 spot behind JT.

Draft Grade: B. Reached on Henderson. WRs left some room to be desired. Love the RB depth and Bowers. If Brad is going to compete for a title he’ll need Bald Bowers to enter God-mode.

4. Tommy.

Battling a sinus infection, Tommy would not let that deter him. He showed up and showed out. He began going RB with Saquon Barkley. In other leagues I think Lamb or JJ would be better picks, but in Best Buy you have to go RB if you’re on the fence. Barkley had an incredible year last year. Rushed for career highs in 345 attempts, 2005 yards, and 13 tds. His receiving output shot down last year having the second least targets, receptions, and yards. But it didn’t matter. He’s on the cover of Madden, he’s the Super Bowl champion, and the Eagles have the best offensive line in football when healthy. Let’s hope the Madden curse doesn’t ruin an extremely talented and electric back who just balled out last year.

In Round 2 Tommy had Brian Thomas Jr. Fall to him at pick #22. Most teams tried to secure 1-2 RBs in the first two rounds, which pushed up Chase Brown, JT, Henry, Jeanty, Bucky, Jacobs, and Kyren all ahead of ADP. While most of these guys projected as Round 2 picks, three went in Round 1 and six went before Tommy’s second round pick. Someone had to drop. It was Brian Thomas. I haven’t seen many teams to get Barkley-Thomas, giving Tommy a sick duo. BTJ finished as the WR#4 last season. He scored 10 touchdowns. For perspective, Hall of Famer Andre Johnson had 0 seasons of double digit touchdowns. BTJ has 1 already. I view him as a JJ-level talent who should be drafted in Round 1 of fantasy drafts. I have him ranked above Nico Collins, Puka Nacua, and Drake London, all WRs he went AFTER in the draft. Lightning quick, underappreciated route running ability, and adds the big play potential. And that was all last season before the Jaguars add Liam Coen, a brilliant offensive mind. Trevor Lawrence is back healthy. They added Travis Hunter to keep people honest. Looking at preseason snaps BTJ lined up in the slot 42% of the time. Last season he lined up there 28% of the time and if he sees an increase this year… oh boy. Best Buy always shoots up when it comes to RBs but I think next season BTJ will be in the Lamb/JJ tier and going in the middle first. Tremendous value for Tommy in the 2nd.

In Round 3 Brad reaches on a RB and Tommy secures Lamar Jackson. Giving him the Jackson-Barkley-BTJ trio. A filthy start to this draft. Last season Jackson added Derrick Henry and the Ravens rolled on offense. Jackson had his best fantasy season ever. Throwing for a career best 41 touchdowns with only 4 interceptions. Josh Allen won the MVP award, but Lamar Jackson was the MVP. The team is relatively unchanged. The division is relatively unchanged. By taking Jackson you can go ahead and give Tommy two wins automatically this season. One in Week 13 and the other in Week 15. Where they square off against the Bengals. Last season Jackson averaged 33.1. Giddy up.

Tommy goes RB2 at the end of Round 4 and it was slim pickings. He chose Chuba Hubbard. Hubbard was great last season. Averaged 16.11 ppr points per game before sitting out the last couple weeks of the lost season due to an ankle injury. Last season they locked him down with a starter money contract. But in the offseason they added Rico Dowdle and drafted Trevor Etienne. For me this says that Chuba is still the starter, but probably won’t replicate the 79%+ of snaps he had in 9/10 weeks in the middle of the NFL season. It was a career year for him in terms of attempts (250), yards (1195), rushing touchdowns (10), targets (54) and receptions (43). I don’t see him replicating that this season. But can he be a solid RB2? Yes I believe he can. Just tough that Tommy had to take him over such talented WR’s like Mike Evans, Davante Adams, Xavier Worthy, Garret Wilson, Marvin Harrison.

Luckily for Tommy in Round 5 he was able to secure Marvin Harrison Jr. Last year was terrible. He’s super talented, got the genes. But man. The scheme does not bode well for his fantasy prospects. The offense is a ground and pound with James Conner and the passing game is Marvin running deep to open up the middle for Trey McBride to eat. I have seen nothing to indicate the scheme or plan is looking differently in 2025. Harrison did bulk up in the offseason, but it doesn’t matter how big your biceps are if you’re running go routes and your 5 foot 3 inch quarterback with lethargic tendencies can’t see that far down the field. Mediocre offensive line. Tough division. This is one of those I hope so, but not betting on it sort of story lines. I probably would have taken Courtland Sutton here to be more conservative and secure a more steady WR2, but betting on young talent before they hit is the upside play and I respect it.

In Round 6 Tommy took a risky Rashee Rice. This gives him a trio of BTJ-Marvin-Rice, which is solid. We’ll see if he gets suspended and for how long. I imagine it’s going to be more than 3 weeks given there was loss of life involved in his crash. But will it be beginning of year? Middle of year? End of year? We don’t know. Tommy will just roll with him while he has him because he can be Nico Collins level talent when he’s out there.

In the 7th Tommy took Rome Odunze. Improved offensive line. Improved head coach. Keenan Allen is gone. But now they add Colston Loveland and Luther Burden to the mix. Rome does have a year head start on those guys in terms of NFL experience, but the bigger concern is Caleb Williams. Can he make a large leap in terms of production and consistency in Year 2? Ben Johnson’s style is structure, execution, and discipline. Caleb Williams style is loose, creative, and reactionary. Stylistically they are like a peanut butter and sardine sandwich. Not great. But if I was them. I would set it up so that I can get the ball into DJ Moore’s hands as much as possible and let him work. Rome should be the #2 on the team, but we’ll see how everything shakes out. As the draft was going on Williams looked incredibly sharp in the 2nd preseason game and started the game looking dialed in and marching 90+ yards down the field and scoring a touchdown. Tommy has 3 sophomore WRs now.

In Round 8 he took depth piece Rhamondre Stevenson. He got a decent contract and will be used as the grinder this season. I think Henderson has a chance to eat away a larger share of the workload and to play more when the Patriots are playing from behind, but late in games Rhamondre is going to eat. The Patriots win/loss over under is set at 8.5 this season. That bodes well for Rhamondre and this pick could be a steal.

Tommy grabbed a couple of tight ends in Dalton Kincaid in Round 11 and Dallas Geodert in Round 12. They are starters. Kincaid hasn’t lived up to the hype so far, but maybe he can breakthrough in Year 3.

Draft Grade: B. Sick trio. Great WR depth. RB depth and starting TE worry me a little bit.

5. Jen.

While all of us are playing Redraft, Jen is playing Keeper League. She winds up with Justin Jefferson yet again. This is the 4th year in a row. And can we blame her? In those four seasons he’s finished as WR4, WR1, WR33 (hurt most of year and Cousins was hurt most of year, but still finished with 1000 yards), and WR2. He is a Top 2 WR in the league. Addison is suspended the first three weeks of the season. Three weeks where the Vikings face @ Chicago, Atlanta, and Cincinnati. 2-3 potential shootouts and an uptick of target share? Yes please. I’m sure some people have concerns about JJ McCarthy at QB this season. But I think people forget about 2023. Cousins gets hurt, JJ is hurt. But he comes back and puts up the following stat lines:

10 targets, 7 receptions, 84 yards

10 targets, 6 receptions, 141 yards, TD

10 targets, 5 receptions, 59 yards

14 targets, 12 receptions, 192 yards, TD

Those games were played with Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall at QB. So McCarthy needs to be AS good as Nick Mullens or Jaren Hall and JJ will be fine.

In Round 2 Jen locked up RB1 in Kyren Williams. I can’t say I would’ve done the same thing with Brian Thomas and Brock Bowers available. But the way this league does RBs I get it. Kyren was an undervalued Round 3 pick for me, so getting him in the middle of Round 2 is probably appropriate. He has been the PPR#7 RB the past two seasons and just got locked into a big boy contract. They did add Blake Corum in 2024 draft and Jarquez Hunter in 2025 draft. But they trust Kyren and he’ll get the most valuable touches again this season. I think they were just preparing in case he gets hurt by taking the talented college players. Some in Rams camp have said Hunter looks to have the most pop, so we’ll see.

In Round 3 Jen took Jalen Hurts. Giving her the Hurts-Kyren-JJ stack. Not too shabby. Hurts is coming off his Super Bowl winning season. He rushed for 14 touchdowns. And yet, only finished as QB8. He missed a couple weeks due to injury, but also, Barkley happened. They didn’t need to throw! He played super conservatively. He only threw 361 attempts! compare that to 538 in 2023 and 460 in 2022. There has to be some positive regression here right? I see him as a Top 5 QB, but he’ll need to throw at least a little more. We’ll see if losing Kellen Moore as OC hurts, but I don’t think it will. If anything it might help. Especially if they don’t run as much and try to save Barkley’s legs for later in the season in their quest to defend their crown.

Round 4 Jen took D’Andre Swift as her RB2. Swift is an interesting running back with an interesting history. He’s in Detroit with Ben Johnson as OC. He has some injuries and some controversy surrounding his availability. He gets doctors to sign off on snap counts for games. The relationship deteriorates and the next thing you know he winds up an Eagle. One season as an Eagle to replace Miles Sanders and he rushes for 1000 yards but doesn’t wow and finishes as RB23. Then Eagles sign Saquon and Swift winds up a Bear. Lions, Eagles, and Bear oh my! Last year he played in all 17 games (career best) and finished as RB19. He’s a RB2 (Top 24) guy. Insert Ben Johnson and more importantly, insert a whole new offensive line and you have a lot of potential. Swift has not played to his potential in his career. That’s true. The Bears also have Roschon Johnson and drafted Kyle Monangai in the 7th round of the draft. Monangai is more of a between the tackles bruiser type of back. On August 9th the Bears worked out Jamaal Williams. Williams rushed for 17 touchdowns his last year in Detroit. The same year he was paired with… D’Andre Swift. So here’s what we know. Swift will play two minute drills. He’ll be the third down back. He’ll probably finish as an RB2. Will he do more than that? Probably not. Ben Johnson knows who Swift is and what he is not. He’ll try to maximize what he is.

In Round 5 Jen takes Ricky Pearsall. I like Pearsall a lot this season. I fell like this was pretty early, taking him over Sutton, Ridley, and DJ Moore. ESPN PPR rankings had DJ Moore as WR#22 and Pearsall as WR#45. I think she could’ve potentially waited a round to get him and wind up with a better WR2/WR3 combo. I’m high on Pearsall, I’m guessing he winds up around here when it’s all said and down at the end of the season. 49ers are going to run through CMC, Kittle, and Pearsall to start the season. Perhaps a little Dermarcus Robinson. While Juaun Jennings comes back from minor injury and contract negotiations, and Brandon Auyik works his way back from the ACL he tore last season. So like the player, but don’t like the pick.

In Round 6 Jen took Quinshon Judkins. Judkins was a first round talent drafted at the beginning of the 2nd round in a loaded draft class. He played well at Ole Miss and Ohio State before getting drafted by the Browns. Then the legal trouble. He allegedly struck his girlfriend. Now looks like charges are all dropped, so that’s step one. But now he has to avoid a suspension from the Commissioner. He needs to sign his rookie contract with Cleveland. (As of this writing he remains unsigned) and even if he avoids those two things, he’s been away from the team all training camp. Losing reps. Both physical and mental. So if/when he does come back he’s going to take a while to get going. What a mess. This was another one where I like the player, but don’t like the draft position. Felt like a reach.

Jen goes Tight End in Round 7 with David Njoku. Flacco is named starter, so Njoku should be able to keep smashing. He did very well with Flacco as QB in 2023. Finishing as the TE#6. Last season he was great when healthy. Averaged 13.5 per game, but only played in 11 games. At first glance I had Andrews and Kraft ranked higher, but once I dug in. The more I liked this Njoku pick. He really smashed with Flacco. They did add Harold Fannin Jr this season. So he could eat into more reps than previous TE2s for the Browns.

In Round 8 Jen got great value in Chris Olave. Olave is an incredible talent. He’s just been injured. Now the QB situation for the Saints is a mess. That I agree with. But I can see this team needing to throw it a lot at the end of games. You have Tampa’s offense, Atlanta’s offense, and Carolina’s offense. There is value in WR1’s with questionable QB play. He doesn’t need to be a star, just be himself and he’ll play better than his draft position. I like this pick for Jen here.

Round 9 Jen got a backup QB in Justin Herbert. Round 10 she got handcuff RB Trey Benson. I especially liked her Bhaysul Tuten pick in Round 11. Great upside pick for a RB that could potentially carve a role for himself in a Liam Coen offense. Similar to Bucky Irving last season.

Draft Grade: B-. Jen started off strong with JJ pick. Kyren wasn’t great, but I get it. Hurts was great. With JJ-Pearsall-Olave you have a decent trio of WR. RB depth is good with some upside. Judkins pick might cost her this season, but we’ll see.

6. Scotty.

I need to talk about Scotty for a minute. He’s made the playoffs three out of the last four seasons. Made the Super Bowl last season. He has 6 Top 3 finishes. He found himself with the 6th pick, right in the middle of the draft in his attempt to do it again. He starts off with Christian McCaffrey. Typically you would see CeeDee Lamb go here, but with this being Best Buy League and we all reach on RBs so he goes CMC. Last year sucked for CMC drafters. Ask Tommy who took him at 1.01 last year. But this is a new year. He injected stem cells into his Achilles and is ready to go. Also, the entire backfield is hurt EXCEPT for him entering this season. They just signed Jeff Wilson it’s gotten so bad. CMC is going to be his old self and get a ton of touches. Can the 29 year old stay healthy the entire season? I do not know. But should that be a reason to avoid him in drafts? No. Especially in this league when RBs are always scarce.

In Round 2 Scotty goes Drake London. London enjoyed a 3rd year breakout last season. Finished as WR#5. In the last three weeks of last season he had 39 targets. I think the WR specific schedule is harder this season, so he might not be able to replicate his Top 5 finish, but Top 10 is definitely reasonable. I liked Bowers, BTJ, and McBride more than London, but Top 5/10 WR is a great asset.

In Round 3 Scotty takes James Cook. Freshly signed to a new deal he’s ready to rock for the explosive Bills offense. Cook scored 16 rushing touchdowns last season. He did this by playing less than 60% of the offensive snaps in every game except for Week 1. That week? 61% of snaps. Buffalo ran a committee, which helped keep Cook healthy and fresh. He finished as the RB8. Can you imagine if they uptick that to 70-80%? Dynamite. My guess is it’ll be more of the same as last year. Explosive, but annoying when he comes out for a Ray Davis touchdown or if Allen takes it in himself. This gives Scotty a decent RB duo.

Round 4 he takes Tyreek Hill. Which is where he goes in terms of ADP. Scotty was staring at a large list of veterans. He had his choice of Mike Evans, DK Metcalf, Davante Adams. He instead chose to go with Tyreek Hill. Tyreek devastated my team last season. Tua got hurt, Tyreek hurt his wrist, and the Dolphins offense was a disaster. (with the exception of the God-King Tight End Jonnu Smith) Hill had his worst statistical season in his career other than his injury riddled 2019 season. He finished as WR#21 but failed to break 1000 yards receiving. He’s 31. He has seven confirmed children with rumors of three more. He could have a major bounce back season this year. But the Dolphins offensive line got worse. If Tua is healthy then he has a chance. Especially with the Jonnu Smith vacated targets. Evan Silva thinks this might be the year Jaylen Waddle overtakes Tyreek as the WR1 in Miami. But Silva has historically been bullish/higher on Waddle than consensus. I would have gone Evans or Adams here but we’ll see if we can get a glimpse of the Tyreek of yesteryear again. That would make this pick look like a steal. Went from 4th overall in 2024 to 4th round in 2025. Life comes at you fast.

LOVED the Round 5 pick of RJ Harvey. I would’ve taken him over Garrett Wilson if I hadn’t of already reached on Henderson in the 3rd which put me behind at WR. Harvey was handpicked by Sean Payton. This running back draft class is historic. They added JK Dobbins as a veteran presence, but please. One knee Magee is going to play second fiddle to Harvey much earlier than people think. The Broncos defense is nasty. Look for Harvey to outperform his draft position and be a 2nd or 3rd round pick next season. Great RB3 for Scotty. He did sacrifice his ability to draft Courtland Sutton, DJ Moore, and Calvin Ridley, which could hurt his WR position if Tyreek doesn’t hit, but I like the pick still.

In Round 6 I was planning on taking Mahomes. Figure he is due for a bounceback year, but Scotty had other plans. The truth about Patrick Mahomes. In the past two seasons he’s been a great NFL quarterback. But he has not been a great FANTASY quarterback. 2024- QB11, 2023- QB8. Now that doesn’t sound too bad, right? Well it’s bad if you look at his ADP. Now this year Scotty got him in Round 6. That is better. That makes it more palatable. Especially if he can overperform his ADP and have one of those Top 5 finishes like he had in 2018 (1), 2020(4), 2021(4), and 2022(1). He just hasn’t been crisp the past couple of seasons and hasn’t needed to throw because Steve Spagnuolo’s defense has been so dominate on the other side of the ball. Decent value in the 6th. I like how Scotty navigated this draft.

Round 7- Scotty goes Mark Andrews at Tight End. I love MAndrews and think this was a slam dunk pick. I actually love Andrews this year. He received a lot of haterade due to the drop in the postseason. Isaiah Likely is injured to start the year. Lamar is playing at a God level. Andrews was TE6 last year scoring 11 touchdowns in the final 12 games of the season.

Round 8 Scotty takes Travis Hunter. Yes indeed. I couldn’t believe people drafted TMac and Matthew Golden over Travis Hunter. I think he outperforms McMillan. I did a large analysis on WR duos this offseason. I think Hunter is going to be just fine. If he plays 75-80% of snaps it’ll be like having 75% Justin Jefferson. This guy is a unicorn. He won the Heisman, The Biletnikoff and the Bednarik for God’s sake. And people are like “Oh he’s going to get hurt”. Steal in Round 8. Why? Yards of separation. Hunter= 5.9 Yards (91% percentile. 5.9 yards of separation! People are like, no thanks. I wouldn’t be surprised if your lineup is Mahomes-CMC-Cook-Harvey-London-Hunter-Andrews by Week 3. Damn I like the sound of that.

In the 9th he took a flier on Stefon Diggs. He should be the #1 WR the Patriots have been searching for. We’ll see if he can stay healthy and come back full strength from his acl injury last season. They paid him like they aren’t worried about it at all.

Great value in Rashid Shaheed. You picked Eagles D/ST right before I could.

Draft Grade: A-. Can’t be okay with the London over BTJ pick, but I can be okay with all the other decisions. Scotty’s team is going to be a problem this season and I’m glad he’s not in my division.

7. Trey.

T-Money! Derrick Henry nonchalantly rushes for 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns and it’s like no one even cares. He hasn’t rushed for less than 10 touchdowns since 2017. He set his career high in yards per carry at 5.91 last season. 5.91! At Age 30! WTF! He’s finished as a Top 5 Fantasy RB 4 times in his career, but he was only able to do it in back to back years once. Can he do it again? In this league you almost have to take the RB otherwise you risk not getting one in the 2nd. Now in Trey’s case he wind up having Josh Jacobs availbe in the 2nd, but hindsight is 20/20. Going Lamb here would’ve given him the Jacobs-Lamb combo, which is sick. But he didn’t know how the 2nd would shake out.

In Round 2 Trey went Jacobs. Jacobs is a monster. When the weather got cold in Green Bay, they POUNDED the rock. Jacobs was the main beneficiary scoring 12 rushing touchdowns in the final 8 weeks of the regular season. All offseason he’s talked about how he feels great. This gives Trey the best RB duo in the league. A coveted advantage in this league. But at what cost? Passing on Lamb then BTJ and Bowers. At what cost?

Round 3 came and Trey didn’t have to worry about RB 2, so he went Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Over AJ Brown. Over Tee Higgins. Yeah that’s a big no from me dog. JSN.  DK Metcalf is gone.  Tyler Lockett is gone. Geno Smith is gone.  Insert Klint Kubiak as OC, Sam Darnold at QB, Cooper Kupp, Marquez Valdez-Scantling, and rookies Tory Horton and Elijah Arroyo.  JSN is talented but I don’t view him as a fantasy WR1.  He should be WR1 for his team, but I worry about this team. Their offensive line is ranked 29th according to Lineman Expert Brandon Thorn.  And that’s with the addition of Greg Zabel, a talented guard they added in the first round of the draft.  But taking a gander at the division foes’ draft and you’ll see teams committed in bettering their defense and defensive line.  We’ve seen the Rams defensive line become a fearful group with Jared Verse and Braden Fiske.  But now the 49ers drafted Edge Mykel Williams, DT Alfred Collins, and LB Nick Martin.  Prioritizing defense in the draft.  And Arizona started their draft with DT Walter Nolen, CB Will Johnson, and Edge Jordan Bunch.  All seemingly trying to recreate what the Rams did.   We’ve seen Kubiak’s potential when the Saints started off 2024 going 2-0 and scoring 91 points against the Panthers and Cowboys.  But we also saw what happened when injuries started to occur to key team members.  JSN is talented. Another caveat worth mentioning is Sam Darnold’s struggles when there is interior pressure.  Also, I don’t view Darnold as an upgrade over Geno Smith.  Smith is underrated and Darnold is a bit overrated.  So there’s a non-zero chance we see Jalen Milroe at some point this season. It’s one thing to pass on Lamb and BTJ in Rounds 1 and 2. It’s another thing to draft JSN over AJB and Higgins. Absolutely not. JSN finished as WR#9 last season. I’ll give you that. But that was with Geno and with a banged up DK Metcalf for most of the season after he suffered an LCL sprain. Metcalf still drew the #1 corners and was mainly decoy after coming back. We’ll see if JSN can be “the man” or if my bearish prediction rings true.

In Round 4 Trey went Jameson Williams. Williams broke out last year and showed his potential getting over 1000 receiving yards and finishing as the WR#22. Jamo is his dynamite. Can go for 70 yard touchdowns any given moment. I love Jamo in this league where we get bonus points for long touchdowns. Some of his TDs last season included 52 yarder Week 1, 45 yarder Week 6, 82 yards in Week 16, 41 yards in Week 17. And in the playoffs he had the 61 yard rushing TD on the trick play against the Commanders. This is a fun pick. There might be a couple of weeks where they don’t target him very much, but on those BOOM weeks he could win you the week. Fun flex player. Have to worry about offense being less gimicky without Ben Johnson and the emergence of rookie Isaac TeslAa.

Round 5- Trey goes third straight wide receiver, but this time a more conservative choice in Courtland Sutton. Sutton is solid. He had his best year of his career last season, setting career highs in targets and receptions. He was rewarded with a new contract this offseason. Bo Nix’s #1 Target. Only concern would be Broncos not needing to throw much later in games. Their defense looks dominant. I’m bullish on the Broncos Super Bowl odds this year. Big part due to their defense, but Sutton is the move the sticks type you want and a great WR2 for you.

In Round 6 Trey took Bo Nix to get the stack. Some might worry about a Sophomore slump. I don’t think so. I think we’ll see him rush a bit less and keep the same throwing numbers. Nix was QB#7 last year as a rookie. In comes Evan Engram, RJ Harvey, and rookie Pat Bryant. More toys for Payton to play with. I loved this pick for Trey and hated it for me because I was aiming for him or Mahomes in this round and couldn’t get either.

Round 7 Trey took Joe Mixon. Gross, puke, disgusting. We’ll see if he can come back healthy at some point this season. Foot/ankle issue sounds bad. We’ll see if he starts the season on PUP. If he does he’ll be out 4-8 weeks from the get go. On top of that, even if he does come back. The Texans offense line sucks. Like, really really bad sucks. Dead last in lineman expert Brandon Thorn’s rankings. The OC is new and should help from a scheme standpoint. But this looks like Mixon getting eased back in midseason into a 2-3 yards per carry situation. Just no thanks. The Texans defense could provide some goal line opportunities but we’ll see if they go with Mixon, Chubb, Marks, or Pierce in those situations. Taking him over DeVonta Smith, Zach Charbonnet. Nope nope nope. Gross. Bad. Bad Trey.

In Round 8 Trey takes Tyler Warren. OOOOOHHHH HEEEEELLLL YEEAAAAHHHH. This will be the 4th time I go on this rant about Tyler Warren. I’ve gotten him in zero fucking leagues. So love the pick for Trey’s team, and I fucking hate it because I didn’t get him:

Just watch the play against Maryland at the 7:34 mark:

Tyler Warren | 2024 Highlights

Early in the 2nd Quarter Against Maryland. The QB takes the snap. Warren stays with his block, giving the Qb a chance to step up. He runs behind QB. QB tosses it back to Warren. Snapped at the 48 yard line, by the time the QB pitches it back to Warren he catches it at the 40. Then he stiff arms one defender at the 45, hurdles a defender at the 47. Breaks another tackle at the opposite 40. Sprints down the sideline and gets tackled at the 21 yard line for an official 31 yard rush, that he ran for 39 yards. Breaking 3 tackles after blocking the DE enough to give QB a chance to escape. You drafted a Kittle. A Manimal. The Colts offense will funnel through him and JT this season. Last thing. TE 1 in 2023? Rookie Sam LaPorta. TE1 in 2024? Rookie Brock Bowers. Does the trend continue in 2025? (We drafted prior to news of Daniel Jones starting, but when it comes to Warren it didn’t matter who the starter was. Offense is going to run through JT and Warren).

In Round 9 got decent value in Jakobi Meyers. WR2/3 who is historically underrated. With an improvement at QB. In Round 10 you took Khalil Shakir. High ankle sprain will have him start slow, but later in the season he should go back to being Josh Allen’s most consistent target. Nice pick with Dylan Sampon in Round 14. Yes sir.

Draft Grade: B+. I didn’t like where this was going when he took JSN in the 3rd. But Sutton-Nix stack in rounds 5-6 and then Warren in Round 7 combined with some nice later picks resulted in this grade shooting up. Overall Scotty and Trey did a phenomenal job in the middle of the rounds this draft.

8. Joe!

Go Joe Go! No Joe No! Not Jeanty in the first! Ashton Jeanty looked like a cheat code in college. Big plays, unable to be tackled. And he landed in a great spot with the Raiders where his volume is assured. Now the Raiders play in a division with the Chiefs and Broncos whose defenses scare me. But he’ll get the goal line work, the two minute drills, the 3rd downs. He’ll play a ton and he has that breakaway ability. Geno Smith is an upgrade at QB for the Raiders and teams can’t overcommit to stopping Jeanty otherwise they’ll let Brock Bowers eat them alive. (Something I hope happens for my teams sake). Now the concern here is the offensive line. Brandon Thorn has them ranked 26th in the NFL and well below average. Their over/under on wins is set at 6.5, so can’t expect Jeanty to get a bunch of rushes late in games. It’s a volume and talent bet. I still liked Chase Brown and Jonathan Taylor more than Jeanty, contrarian to most fantasy “professionals”. I think the right pick would’ve been to go Lamb here and then take Jacobs or best RB available in the 2nd.

In the 2nd Round Joe takes De’Von Achane. Prior to the draft we learned Achane suffered a lower leg injury that would take him out days to weeks. Later we learned it was a calf injury (but not during draft time). Achane was a surprising pick for me. Achane was RB6 last season despite the Dolphins being horrific. Their offense was so terrible it makes me want to puke just thinking about it. Tua got hurt. Their offensive line sucks. So they just completely ignored Tyreek and Waddle and let them run to open up short game where they just peppered Achane and Jonnu Smith for 4 yard gains repeatedly. So gross. The offensive line didn’t improve at all. Tua is healthy, so that helps, but picking Achane over Jacobs, BTJ, Bowers. Gross. Nope. Nope nope nope. Normally going RB-RB is a good thing in fantasy drafts especially in Best Buy Dream Team League. But not if you choose the wrong ones Joe! God almighty.

In Round 3 Joe was rewarded by the Fantasy Gods with a gift from the heavens. AJ Brown, going in the 2nd round of every best ball and redraft league I’ve been apart of, magically fell to Joe due to a little minor hamstring injury. I love AJB. He is one of the best WRs in the NFL. Every WR metric you can track he is one of the guys on the top of the list. The only reason he isn’t higher is because of the Eagles being such a good team and don’t have to pass much. You don’t have to throw a lot if you’re winning late in games. But he is one of those players where you feel better knowing he is in your starting lineup. You never have to question, should I start him? The answer is always yes. Start and forget. And let’s be real. There will probably be some positive regression coming his way after missing 4 games and finishing as ppr WR#20 in 2024. Incredible pick that might have saved Joe’s season.

In Round 4 Joe took Joe Burrow. Nice. Burrow was the QB3 last year throwing for 4918 yards and 43 touchdowns. The defense did not improve in the offseason. The schedule is roughly the same. The team is roughly the same. Why is the Top 3 QB who might throw for 5000 yards and 50 touchdowns this season going a round after Allen, Jackson, Daniels, and Hurts? Rushing? The concern for Burrow is injuries. The offensive line still sucks. He’s won comeback player of the year twice. He’d much rather win the Lombardi. But the Bengals did not improve the offensive line. He takes a ton of sacks with his aggressive play style. Look for more of the same. When he plays, fire. If he gets banged up, yikes. Great value here.

Round 5 Joe continued with his delusions of grandeur about his Round 1 and 2 RBs going Sam LaPorta. LaPorta is talented and a TE1, no question. Can he replicate his TE1 finish? Probably not, but super talented a solid TE. But you’re going to need to RB depth and you took him right before the last slew of RB#1’s on their teams went. Pollard, Tracy, even Monty would’ve been good.

Round 6 you took George Pickens. I like it. He could easily have his best career season now that he’s off the Steelers. Cowboys are going to throw a ton. He went 41st overall in my other league. You get him at 65. Great value. Talent is there, only 24. Dak will be the best QB he’s played for. This is one where people will look back and be like… how did he fall to the 6th?

In the 7th you finally took a third RB, oh wait just kidding you took Chris fucking Godwin who had his leg ripped off last year. Jesus MF Christ Joe. HIS FOOT WAS FACING THE WRONG WAY. Do you think he’s going to magically heal and start running go routes? My guess is Godwin will come back back of the year and slowly. He won’t be the Godwin of last year. Maybe in 2026 he can return to a glimmer of his old safe, but this is a get better year and you took him over DeVonta Smith and RB’s that could have helped your team. So bad.

In Round 8 Joe takes Cam Scattebo. AASDFAJDF:ASLDJF Halle-fucking-leuh. Finally he chooses a RB3, a backup for the Giants. Scattebo is a great story and a great back. I think Tracy starts the year as the starter and they eventually work out a time share. If Tracy gets hurt I could see Scattebo smashing as a RB2 level. More of a grinder and hit him hard Mike Alstott type, but with more speed. Not a terrible pick, but I had Charbonnet being a better asset at this stage.

In Round 9 Joe takes Austin Ekeler. It might be his saving grace. With alll the noise surrounding the Commanders backfield and them shopping Brian Robinson, it sounds like the best RB to own in the Commanders backfield is Austin Ekeler. Because he’ll be the veteran who they trust in passing downs. He’ll let the young guys take the first and second down ground and pound, but he’ll still provide value.

Took a kicker in the 10th. Took a 3rd string RB in the 12th when the backup was available. Christian Kirk pick in Round 15 was great.

Draft Grade: C-. This was an F grade after two rounds. An F. Then AJB fell into your lap. You took Burrow. Pickens was a great value at 65. You took Ekeler. This team could’ve been so much better. But you did enough or lucked into enough to put forward an okay team. Definitely behind Trey and Scotty in your division and very possibly behind Kenny, so we’ll see what happens. Yowzer.

9. Kenny.

K-Dub! The fan favorite and our beloved Super Bowl 12 Champion. After making back to back Super Bowl appearances in 2020 and 2021 and coming up a little short. He’s missed the playoffs two out of the last three seasons. He’s looking to compete and get back to the top this season, but was dealt an unfortunate hand with the 9th pick. Can’t control the hand you got dealt, only what you do with it. Picking after him is the defending two time champ JD, Mike Grote, and four time champ Chase. Intimidating drafting position.

In the 1st Kenny goes with RB Jonathan Taylor. I personally wouldn’t have been able to draft JT over CeeDee Lamb, but looking at the RBs after him and knowing you had 6 picks before you went again, I get it. Had you not gone JT you would’ve had to choose between Achane and Jacobs most likely. And I agree I would’ve rather JT over them. Lamb-Jacobs might be better than JT-Amon-Ra, but it’s close enough that we’ll have to wait and see on that one. Decent pick. I think no matter who wins the QB competition in Indy JT is going to eat. He exploded last season too. 39.8 in Week 16 and 27.6 in Week 17. Delicious. He’s a stud. He’s healthy. Let’s ride.

In Round 2 you got great value in Amon-Ra St. Brown. He has finished as PPR WR#3 two years in a row and was WR#7 the year before that. In his four NFL seasons he has 430 receptions. Averaging 107.5. In the last two seasons he’s averaged 117. That’s gorgeous in PPR leagues. Ben Johnson is gone, but I think he’ll be okay. Lions are still a great team. Teams have to respect the backs, LaPorta Jameson Williams. So Amon-Ra should be able to continue eating. This new OC might not dial up as many trick plays as Ben Johnson, but we’ll see. Solid start to the draft.

In Round 3 Kenny takes Terry McLaurin. Scary Terry. F1. Whatever you want to call him isn’t happy. He wants a new contract. Kenny is banking on him and Commanders getting the business part done and McLaurin looking to replicate his best season of his career as LSU sensation Jayden Daniels enters Year 2. As we get closer to the season and as the business side gets worked out you’ll see Terry McLaurin rising up draft boards and going early to mid 4th round and not into the 5th where is Average Draft Position is. But Kenny took him the 3rd. Over Tee Higgins. Over George Kittle. I love McLaurin, but I think he could’ve waited a round. If he had grabbed Kittle then McLaurin in the 4th it would’ve been better. McLaurin should be a WR1 if he rejoins the team, but the clock is ticking. He wants DK Metcalf money, but he’s 3-4 years older than Metcalf. Might be a tough sell.

In Round 4 Kenny goes Aaron Jones Sr. I actually don’t hate this pick in PPR. Looking at the other RBs available I get the allure of Jones. He’ll play two minute drills and 3rd downs. He was RB#15 last year rushing for 1,138 yards and catching 50 balls. Jordan Mason is going to get more than Kenny would like, but overall not a terrible RB2.

In Round 5 Kenny took DJ Moore. I like DJ Moore in Ben Johnson’s offense. I think he is most likely to take on the Amon-Ra St. Brown role. He has been a solid WR2 every season in his career minus his rookie year and has one WR1 finish in 2023. The concern is target distribution with the Bears bringing in Colston Loveland and Luther Burden to pair with Rome Odunze. And the bigger concern is Caleb Williams. Can he make a large leap in terms of production and consistency in Year 2? Ben Johnson’s style is structure, execution, and discipline. Caleb Williams style is loose, creative, and reactionary. Stylistically they are like a peanut butter and sardine sandwich. Not great. But if I was them. I would set it up so that I can get the ball into DJ Moore’s hands as much as possible. So despite the major concerns, I like DJ Moore and could see him being Kenny’s best wideout.

In Round 6 Kenny took Tyrone Tracy Jr. I like it. Appropriate pick to give yourself a solid RB3. Tracy has looked great this preseason while Cam Scattebo has missed a lot due to injury. It’ll take longer for Scattebo to catch up an potentially overtake Tracy now. They can’t commit to stopping the run when they have Malik Nabers out wide. I really like this pick for Kenny in the 6th.

In Round 7 he took Tucker Kraft. Kraft was banged up for most of last season but still finished as the TE 9. All of the Packers WRs not named Matthew Golden are injured right now. A TE1 in Round 7 is about right. Not a bad pick.

In Round 8 Kenny took his QB1 in Dak Prescott. Dak was QB#3 in his last full season. Last year he got the big contract and proceeded to start slow then tear his hamstring OFF OF THE BONE. But he’s back now and has a new weapon in George Pickens. Jake Ferguson should be back from his sluggish season last year where he battled an LCL injury all season. Dak should be throwing a lot as their running backs are hot garbage.

Kenny took Jauan Jennings who is trying to get a new contract and is banged up in Round 9. In Round 10 he took Tank Bigsby, not a bad flier to see who winds up leading the Jags rushing attack. Steelers D/ST should be nasty and he got Boswell and Jonnu Smith so he can make a peripheral stack. Does Kenny read my blog?

Draft Grade: B-. Kenny’s team wind up with no weaknesses and no strengths. Just a solid team. Qb1, RB1, RB2, WR1, WR2, TE1, Flex is WR2, RB depth. It’s average, but competitive. He’s in a really tough division, but solid drafting job from K-Dub.

10. JD.

Our DEFENDING CHAMPION OF THE WORLD. The whole league pushes RB’s up their draft boards. JD looks at everyone zigging and he said, “watch this zag mother F@#$ers”. Going CeeDee Lamb (incredible value) and then Malik Nabers in Round 2. He was the only person to start the draft WR-WR other than T-Bo. CeeDee was the WR#1 in 2023, the last season he had a healthy Dak Prescott for the full season. This team projects to have a bad defense and a bad run game. That means pass-happy and that means I’m bullish on Lamb this season. WR#1 is within the range of outcomes, despite Chase seeming like he can’t be touched. Last year Lamb wasn’t pretty. He was working through a shoulder injury for most of the year. Catching passes from Cooper Rush for most of the year. Despite all of that and missing the last two games of the season he finished as WR#8. Can’t think of worse scenarios than last season and yet he still finished Top 10. Stud. Great pick.

In Round 2 he takes Malik Nabers. Malik Nabers is going to eat. I see 140+ targets and 1500 yards when I see Nabers. He is going to be a problem this season. Russ Wilson should be an upgrade over Daniel Jones. Jones is a terrible quarterback who shouldn’t be anywhere near a starting NFL roster. Wilson was okay for the Steelers. He’s going to pepper Nabers day in and day out given JD the best WR duo in the league hands down.

In Round 3 JD took his RB#1 in Omarion Hampton. I love Hampton as a prospect and was excited he went in the first round and to the run-happy chargers. But like I mentioned about JSN, the Slater injury is tough. (Chargers starting Left Tackle Rashawn Slater tears his patellar tendon and is lost for the season. They’ll move Joe Alt to Left Tackle and try to make RT work, but this lessened it a little bit more….Brandon Thorn moved them from fringe Top 10 offensive line to #25 offensive line. It was that big of a loss. I downgraded all Chargers players as a result of this loss.). I love Hampton, but I’m not sure if he’ll be good enough as an RB1. Plus the Greg Roman offenses always run a committee. I know Najee blinded himself, but I don’t think he’s dead and his legs still work. This could be a frustrating season especially when they get to the goal line and you see Hassan Haskins rush it in for no good reason other than for Greg Roman to troll fantasy football managers.

Round 4 you got tremendous value in Alvin Kamara. Finally we’ll have JD rooting for the Saints. Alvin Kamara Finishes In His Career:

2017- RB3

2018- RB4

2019- RB9

2020- RB1

2021- RB8

2022- RB16

2023- RB11

2024- RB9

Those numbers also don’t reflect the fact that AK has missed 1-3 games every season of his career except for his rookie campaign. His 18.95 ppr points per game last season would’ve been good for RB5 pace. Saints might be bad again this year. Qb situation is looking ugly. But drafted an offensive lineman in the first again. Maybe Kamara can keep the magic going for another season.

Round 5 you take Calvin Ridley. Volume-Volume-Volume. WR trio of volume. Calvin Ridley was WR28 last year with horrific and I mean horrific QB play. Insert the #1 pick Cam Ward, a gunslinger and a terrible group of Wideouts and you have the making of a WR who is going to get a ton of volume. The WR room consist of Tyler Lockett, a few rookies, and Van Jefferson. Ridley is gonna smash this season.

Round 6 you took Baker Mayfield. I would’ve taken Bo Nix of Mahomes over Baker, but not because I don’t like him. Baker is like the new Drew Brees. Scrappy. Accurate. I don’t think he’ll throw over 40 touchdowns again this season, but he did last year and with his main WRs hurt for a big chunk of the year. Evans is healthy and they added Egbuka from Ohio State, which is a great talent in the Olave/JSN/Marvin Harrison tier. Godwin should come back at some point. I think the Bucs will be without their starting Left Tackle Wirfs for the first four games, so they’ll have to get creative. Also the loss of Liam Coen is a little concerning. I like Baker, but TD regression is probable.

In Round 7 JD took DeVonta Smith. What an incredible value. He is boom or bust and on a run first team. But very talented. When AJ Brown misses games his average goes up from 14 fantasy points per game to 17 fantasy points per game. That’s WR1 level. And AJ Brown is nursing a sore hamstring right now. Great depth piece, flex, and bye week filler with upside.

In Round 8 you took Evan Engram. They have Courtland Sutton as the #1. Engram will have some boom weeks where he is a major contributor in the game plan. But I don’t anticipate him being consistent. Boom/Bust. Just have to get the Booms right. He flashed some of his potential in the preseason, catching a long ball from Bo Nix along the sideline. We’ll see if that’s a sign of things to come. Jd continued his onslaught of WR depth with Addison in Round 9 and Pittman in Round 10. We get it JD. You wanted the best WR group in the league. And you got it.

Later round picks of Jaydon Blue, Braelon Allen were good RB depth pieces. The Jets won’t shut up about Braelon Allen and all indications are looking like it’ll be on a time share. Fields hurts the RBs a little in PPR because instead of going through progressions and checking it down he goes zoom zoom zoom.

Draft Grade: B+. Nobody is touching his Top 5 WRs. If Baker doesn’t regress and Hampton hits, look out.

11. Mike.

Mike wasn’t worried about Stafford’s back. Rams have Jimmy G and Stetson Bennett. No I’m sure Stafford will come back and be alright. (I love how all the analysts are like, oh hes just old and has to manage the back now when he’s 37, literally my age lol). Mike takes Puka Nacua. Puka came into the league on fire his rookie season. Smashing the rookie receiving record. Last season he battled knee injuries but when he played he was money. Towards the end of the season he just completely blocked out Cooper Kupp like an eclipse. One of the reasons why I think Cooper Kupp is a Seahawk now. Although that sounds great for Puka’s targets… in comes Davante Adams. Adams is still playing at a very high level. He’ll demand his own targets. It’s great for the Rams, but might hurt Puka a little bit. But don’t get me wrong. Adams was able to finish as WR#11 last season despite being on the same team with Garrett Wilson who finished as WR#10. Could he go from a team with two #1 WR’s to another team who produces two #1 WRs? He might. It might come down to a disc in Matthew Stafford’s back. Mike chose Puka over Malik Nabers and Amon-Ra. I had those two ranked higher. But he’s a stud I don’t hate that much.

In Round 2 Mike went RB in Bucky Irving. Over Nabers, Amon-Ra, Achane, Jacobs, and BTJ. I agree with taking Bucky over Achane on that list. But that’s it. Irving was RB#13 last season. How many games did Bucky Irving play over 60% of snaps? 3. Now. He was explosive with 5.42 yards per rush. He caught 47/52 targets which is excellent. But I don’t see the committee approach going away. I see Irving as more of a James Cook level and less of a Jacobs/Nabers/Amon-RA/BTJ level. He’s become a bit of a cult sensation on fantasy platforms like Sleeper. But we have to look at the facts. Bucs lose Liam Coen. Won’t have Wirfs the first four weeks, their stud Left Tackle. And they still have White and Sean Tucker to form a committee. This draft position assumes he makes a big leap and starts getting 70% of snaps. I haven’t heard anything to indicate that he does. Now Rachaad White is a little banged up with a groin injury, but he’s day to day and the season is still three weeks away. Fun player. I like him. I just think this was too high for me. Give me Jacobs or one of the stud WRs. Or even Bowers.

In Round 3 Mike goes Kenneth Walker III. Kenneth Walker? More like Needs A Walker. Am I right? Am I right? (silence befalls the crowd). Another oft-injured player. I’m high on Walker this season. I like the scheme fit with Klint Kubiak’s system. The offensive line is terrible. Sam Darnold makes this team worse. But I think they are going to pound the rock. A LOT. If Kenneth Walker is able to stay healthy for an entire season he’ll be in Top 5 RB discussion. He’s a home run hitter and a monster when healthy. But man this guy cannot stay healthy. He’s dealing with a foot injury right now that is taking it’s time to heal. We shall see if he can be healthy this season. Charbonnet looked damn good in this past preseason game too. Damn good.

In Round 4 Mike takes James Conner. Getting 3 RBs in the first four rounds. Conner is solid. He’s not a sexy pick, but he’s a solid RB. All signs point to him repeating as the lead back with a mix of Trey Benson behind him. This is one of those solid picks that seems boring, but helps a roster. I would’ve taken Kamara over him personally, but not bad.

In Round 5, Mike takes Zay Flowers. I like Flowers a lot. He moves the sticks. He was playing well last season until an ankle injury tripped him up at the end. When Lamar rolls out on third downs he’s looking for Flowers. Not a terrible WR2 although I like him better as a WR3.

In Round 6 Mike goes TJ Hockenson. He was right to get a TE here because there was a run on them in Round 7. Rookies love checking down to Tight Ends. JJ McCarthy will play like a rookie at times with his first healthy season as a starter. Also, Jordan Addison is suspended the first 3 weeks of the season. Hock could get peppered early and help Mike get off to a fast start. Last season was all about getting back to healthy status for Hockenson but he showed flashes of his former self. We’ll see if he can regain the magic and have a Top 5 finish like he did in 2022 and 2023. Will be interesting to see if he outperforms Kelce, Njoku, and Andrews who all went a round later.

In Round 7 Mike takes Kyler Murray. Murray is a decent starting QB. He was healthy all of last season and was a QB1 in fantasy, finishing as QB#10. He set a career high in yards per carry at 7.33 which is great. We’ll see if he can get Marvin Harrison going a little more to get some big plays as opposed to just grinding with Conner and dunking to McBride all day. Solid pick.

Mike took Matthew Golden in Round 8. I liked Travis Hunter here better, but Golden has a lot of potential too. Packers never use first round picks on Wide Receivers (ask Rodgers), but they broke their 22 year streak to select Golden. It helps knowing that all their other WRs are hurt right now. Meaning he could get a lot of action early, which is great from a fantasy standpoint and his development.

Mike took fliers on Travis Etienne in the 9th and Jordan Mason in the 10th. Man I love me some Jordan Mason. How do you support a rookie Quarterback? RUNNING THE FOOTBALL. Mason is going to be the goal line back. He was incredible last year for the Niners. He’s going to eat. He’s a great pick. I want Mason this season and I’ve gotten him in zero leagues so far. So frustrating. Great pick.

In Round 11 Mike took Broncos D/ST. Normally I don’t care about defenses, but when someone selects the best one I pay attention. Decent fliers later with Cam Ward, but your kicker is GAY.

Draft Grade: C. I don’t know how to grade this draft. I would’ve taken different players in almost every pick, but all the picks he made are around ADP. I probably would’ve gone Chase Brown to secure him before Chase picked. Then Malik Nabers. In Round 3 I would’ve taken George Kittle or TreVeyon Henderson. In Round 4 if I had gone Henderson I would’ve gone Burrow. I just see me not drafting this team if we were to simulate this draft 1000 times. If I’m good at fantasy football that’s a bad omen for Mike. If I’m bad at fantasy football that might be a good omen for Mike. But what do I know I peaked in 2009.

12. Chase.

Four Time Champion Chase leads up the rear, just like he likes it. (winky face) Got that baseball playing ass. Chase starts the draft with Nico Collins and Chase Brown. A tail of two picks. One I love and one I don’t. Let’s start with Nico. This guy is a monster and criminally underrated. When healthy he’s up there with the Lamb’s and JJ’s and Amon-Ras of the world. My concern with Nico is the soft tissue injuries, but also the Texans offensive line. It was bad last season and got worse. Terrible offensive line. Stroud will be running for his life. Also, they drafted Jayden Higgins (Nico Collins clone), Jaylin Noel, and brought in Christian Kirk. Kirk will most likely take the Tank Dell roll and Higgins will take the Diggs role. But I don’t know how much time Stroud will have to throw. They did get a new OC this offseason, so that could help get more time with a little scheme help, but with Joe Mixon hurt I don’t see teams respecting the run very much. Nick Chubb is a shadow of his former self and Woody Marks is an unproven rookie. Texans are favored to win the division, but we’ll see.

Nico Collins Games Played In By Season:

2021- 14

2022- 10

2023- 15

2024- 12

Can you afford a first round pick with a history of not giving you a full season? I hope he stays healthy because he’s incredible when he plays.

Now the pick I like. Chase Brown was 100% the correct pick at this position and in this league. Rant time. Last season Chase Brown started out in a time share with Zach Moss, playing 20-40% of snaps as the secondary option during the first five weeks of the season.  The next two weeks Brown averaged 50-62% of snaps.  Zach Moss got hurt and Brown kept performing.  It wasn’t until Week 9 where Brown began getting 80%+ snaps from Weeks 9-17.  In that stretch he averaged 20.63 PPR points per game. For perspective, Bijan Robinson, PPR RB #3, averaged 20.1 PPR points per game.  Now one might argue that Samaje Perine could take over some 3rd down snaps and 7th round rookie Tahj Brooks could give Brown some much needed rest sprinkled into the game.  But Brown is the man and Top 5 RB is within his range of outcomes. Chase takes him as the 8th RB drafted. Ahead of ADP, but right where he deserves to be drafted. I would’ve gone Nabers or Amon-Ra and Brown at the turn. But I get the Nico argument because he’s so good. We just haven’t seen it the whole season.

In Rounds 3 and 4 Chase goes Tee Higgins and George Kittle. Excellent picks. Here’s why. When healthy Tee Higgins puts up WR1 numbers. He has one season where he played in 17 games. He’s played in 16, 14, 17, 12, and 12. He is known for random soft tissue injuries. He also was being conservative on the backend of his rookie contract wanting to ensure he gets the big second contract. Well he got it. To the tune of 4 years, $115 Million with $30 Million fully guaranteed at signing and a $20 million dollar roster bonus for 2025. He also has incentives in his contract that include $2 million dollars roster bonus if he is active on game days. Meaning if he misses a game he’ll lose 1/17 of the $2 million dollars or $117,647 per game. This gives him incentive to be less conservative on those soft tissue related injuries and play on Sundays. Now this could be a good thing if he’s active and effective. Or it could be a bad thing, for if he rushes back too early he risks exacerbating the injury and possibly missing more. His 18.51 ppr points per game over the course of a 17 game season would have put him at WR#4. As I mentioned in my grade about Joe Burrow and Jamarr Chase, the Bengals are going to throw the ball. A LOT. Brown- Higgins are two great assets. The worry will be if Burrow goes down. He’s won comeback player of the year twice for a reason, his offensive line sucks and he takes a lot of hits. But they have a capable backup in Jake Browning, so at least him going down won’t be an automatic eliminator.

George Kittle. Kittle was TE3 last year in PPR and TE2 in half PPR over McBride. Auyik is injured (found out post-draft it’ll be around Week 6 return). Jauan Jennings is hurt and seeking a new contract. Deebo Samuel is in Washington. Kittle has finished as a Top 5 Fantasy TE four years in a row. He’s Brock Purdy’s favorite target in the red zone. In the fantasy playoffs last season he went for 8-106 and 8-112. The offense will run through CMC and Kittle this year. I have him in the same tier as McBride and Bowers, but Chase was able to get him in the 4th whereas Bowers and McBride went in the 2nd. Chase was lucky to get him in the 4th and should be stoked about. Also, I saw him at the celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe this past summer and the dude’s pecs are bigger than my entire body above the waist.

At the Round 5 and 6 turn Chase gets some serviceable running backs. Tony Pollard and David Montgomery. Tony Pollard is not an exciting RB. As a member of the Titans last year he was RB21. But he was a solid RB21. And that was with abysmal QB play. Spears is a little banged up to start the year, so Pollard is the #1. Another year removed from his ankle injury that he suffered in Dallas. New QB that is a HUGE improvement. He was just a solid pick for an RB2/3.

Then you have David Montgomery. Montgomery was his normal touchdown scoring self until an injury prematurely ended his 2024 regular season campaign. He should be healthy coming into 2025 and looks to pick up where he left off. He scored 12 touchdowns last year and averaged 15.84 points per game. Gibbs is more explosive, but Monty is the grinder and will be used to keep Gibbs fresh. Sonic and Knuckles!

In Round 7 and 8 he took Tetairoa McMillan and Brian Robinson Jr. All the breaking news on Sunday was about the Commanders looking to trade Brian Robinson. Chase didn’t give an F. Not a bad, let’s see what happens move. Now when it comes to T-Mac. 10 inch hands baby. Bryce Young will sling it to the former volleyball player. Now I will tell you. I drafted Travis Hunter over him in dynasty. Why? When watching McMillan I saw too much Courtland Sutton. Too much Drake London. You might be thinking, what the hell is wrong with those guys?!?! Nothing, but Sutton’s best finish in his career in terms of fantasy was last season where he finished as ppr WR 15. Last season was his 7th NFL season. London finished as WR 5. That was in season 3. First season was WR31 and second season was WR37. Maybe McMillan can smash as a rookie. But last year the Panthers spread the ball around. Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette, Hunter Renfrow, Jimmy Horn, and Jalen Coker represent his target competition. He has a lot of potential. But will he smash in Year 1? I’m not convinced. It might take him a minute. [By the way the final nail in the coffin for me in deciding between T-Mac and Travis Hunter was yards of separation. TMac= 2.8 Yards (20th percentile). Hunter= 5.9 Yards (91% percentile). 5.9 yards of separation!] That can blow up in my face if Canales funnels the offense through McMillan, but I have a feeling defenses are going to game plan for him and open things up for the slice and dice slot guys. We shall see who is right!

In 9/10 Chase wins the QB pissing contest, being the last time team to draft a QB, beating out Brad who picked Drake Maye 9 picks before him. In Round 10 he got a steal in Emeka Egbuka. Let’s put Chris Olave or JSN on a team with Baker Mayfield, hurt Chris Godwin and see what happens. Everyone is going to feel really really dumb for passing on Egbuka 9 times each by the end of the season. Myself included.

Decent fliers in Chubb, Caleb Williams, Auyik in later rounds. Although I have low expectations for Chubb with that Texans offensive line. Plus Mixon could come back right when Chubb starts to get going and muddy the situation up. But respect for one of the best pure runners in NFL history. Love the Chubbster. Probably irrelevant in fantasy this season. Probably…

Draft Grade: B+. Team would’ve looked a little different had I drafted, but not much. Chase Brown, George Kittle, Tony Pollard. Unique features/things to keep an eye on will be Nico over Amon-Ra, Nabers, and BTJ, and McMillan over Hunter. Can have some fun debates on these guys prior to season start.

Draft Grade In Order of Draft:

Steven- C+
Katon- B
Brad- B
Tommy- B
Jen- B-
Scotty- A-
Trey- B+
Joe- C-
Kenny- B-
JD- B+
Mike- C
Chase- B+

In Order of Draft Grade:

Scotty: A-

T2. Chase: B+

T2. Trey: B+

T2: JD: B+

T5: Brad: B

T5: Katon: B

T5: Tommy: B

T8: Jen: B-

T8: Kenny: B-

10: Steven: C+

11: Mike: C

12: Joe: C-

Overall, nobody got a D and only one A. Goes to show how evened up this league is. This is truly anybody’s year this year. Except for Joe probably. Good luck!

-Commish B-Razzle Dazzle AKA Fantasy Football Brad AKA Peaked In 2009

The Maryanne Smith League Draft Grades: Season 25 Edition

August 12, 2025 bradleybertoniere Draft Grades, Fantasy Football, NFL Fantasy Football, Mike Evans, NFL, Preview, Recap

A quarter of a century. That is how long ago we gathered around the Kelly table at 1205 Glen Arbor Drive to draft the first teams of Mandeville Kelly Fantasy Football League, now Maryanne Smith League. Over those two and a half decades we’ve seen some incredible seasons and players and have had some historically awesome and historically terrible drafts. Through many of those seasons I’ve provided draft grades. For a while I was doing weekly recaps and predictions until ESPN made character limits on the league message board so heinous I had to move to a blog. Through all this time we’ve grown up. Many of us have gotten married. Many now have children of our own. Many are highly successful in their respected profession. All seem to be doing pretty well from my vantage point. I can’t describe how happy I am that we all get to reconnect on an annual basis and I hope that we are all able to get together this time next year to celebrate another year alive and another year of Fantasy Football. Enough nostalgia. Let’s get to what you came for.

Draft Grades! As always I’d like to remind you this is my opinion. I’ll defend my opinion with the pieces of information I have in my brain. That doesn’t make me right. I’m not the best with deep analytics and data. I’m knowingly ignorant about most things, fantasy football included. My hopes for these grades is to educate but also to help you in other league you might be drafting in, in the near future. I might not be able to convince you on players that I’m high on, but if I give you something to think about it’ll make me happy.

1. Quentin.

Tied with the most championships in league history (4) Quentin begins his quest for #5 with the #1 overall pick and the rights to draft Jamarr Chase. In 2024 Chase won the WR Triple Crown, leading the NFL in Receptions (127), Receiving Yards (1708) , and Receiving TDs (17). Good for an average of 19.9 per game. Including games of 36.3, 49.9, and 38.1. Now obviously this is a rare feat. Unlikely to happen again. Last year the Bengals defense was horrific. Leading the Bengals to have to score in bunches just to stay in close games. Many of which they wind up losing. They are hungry and motivated to ensure they start out fast and strong this season. But there’s a couple of problems. Last season their weakness was offensive line and defense. In the offseason they signed Jamarr Chase and Tee Higgins to massive contracts. They did seemingly nothing to improve their secondary or defense. They did seemingly nothing to improve their offensive line. I believe we are going to see more of the same. Burrow having to throw a ton and Chase being the main benefactor. He’s the slam dunk WR1 and a great pick made by Quentin.

At the turn Quentin did what I expected him to do. I had created mock drafts in an excel document and I predicted Quentin to take Bucky Irving and a QB. I guessed Josh Allen, so I was wrong on the QB, but right on the concept.

Bucky has become a bit of a cult sensation on Fantasy Football platforms like Sleeper. He averaged 12.99 points per game in half ppr last year as a rookie. The impressive thing about him was he did this while only playing 30-57% of snaps in every game except for Weeks 6 and 18. Both weeks he faced New Orleans and where he played in 64% and 72% of snaps. Rachaad White is a little banged up. Sean Tucker is being hyped up. And also Liam Coen is gone, now head coaching Jacksonville. Will the new OC, Josh Grizzard, keep the same RBBC approach of Coen? He was the passing game coordinator under Coen last season in Tampa. Before that he was a quality control and WR coach in Miami, more recently under Mike McDaniels. He helped the Dolphins in the 2023 season when Miami achieved the NFL’s top offense in yards per game. Losing Coen could hurt, but seems Grizzard is an up and coming who has a chance to be the next young coach in the McVay, McDaniels, Coen molds in the future. Also, I have to mention he selected Bucky over Chase Brown and Jonathan Taylor. Quentin had JT last year too when he won it all.

In the 3rd Quentin took Lamar Jackson, recreating his 2024 QB who helped him win a title. Last season Jackson added Derrick Henry and the Ravens rolled on offense. Jackson had his best fantasy season ever. Throwing for a career best 41 touchdowns with only 4 interceptions. Josh Allen won the MVP award, but Lamar Jackson was the MVP. The team is relatively unchanged. The division is relatively unchanged. By taking Jackson you can go ahead and give Quentin two wins automatically this season. One in Week 13 and the other in Week 15. Where they square off against the Bengals. Last season Chase averaged 43.1 and Jackson averaged 33.1. 76.2 points on average from two players in those matchups. Giddy up.

At the 4/5 turn Quentin missed out on a lot of great talent in Round 4 and at the end of Round 3, but that’s the disadvantage of drafting at 1. He secured one boring, but solid pick in James Conner as his RB2. A bit of a reach, according to the rankings, he selected George Pickens to start the 5th. Conner rushed for a thousand yards and finished as RB#11 in half ppr. All signs point to him repeating as the lead back with a mix of Trey Benson behind him. This is one of those solid picks that seems boring, but helps a roster.

Most rankers had Pickens behind the likes of Davante Adams, Marvin Harrison, Terry McLaurin, Courtland Sutton, etc. Quentin knew he probably wouldn’t come back to him, so he took his guy. Pickens has always been talented albeit a bit of a headcase. Last season he was the Alpha WR1 on the Arthur Smith-led Steelers, but couldn’t breakout while catching balls from Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. A change of scenery to Dallas should help. With a Cowboys team projected to throw a ton in Brian Schottenheimer’s first season as the head coach. I’m bullish on Pickens, but I don’t think I could’ve taken him over the list of wideouts above.

In Rounds 6 and 7 Quentin selects Aaron Jones and Travis Kelce. The Vikings will be starting JJ McCarthy at QB, a sophomore with the experience of a rookie given he missed all of 2024 after tearing his meniscus. How do you help a rookie Quarterback? By running the football. Insert Jones and offseason addition Jordan Mason. Jones should handle 3rd downs and two minute offense. Mason should handle bruiser duties and goal line back duties. In games that the Vikings are winning I expect more Mason. In games they have to score a lot I see more Jones. According to Warren Sharp Vikings have one of the hardest schedules when looking at Vegas projected win totals. Which makes sense when you look at the division featuring the Lions, Packers, and Bears. The Bears brought in Ben Johnson and overhauled their offensive line. I like Jones as a RB3. It should provide flexibility in the event Conner gets hurt or starts to lose volume to Trey Benson.

When it comes to Kelce, he had his worst season in 9 years. Catching only 823 yards and 3 touchdowns, a career low (ignoring his nonexistent rookie season). He still finished as TE#6. This is a bet on a rebound as father time is looking to end this hall of fame career in the near future. If this is his last ride, fans would love to see him recreate some of the numbers he’s put up in the past. One of the reasons Quentin won last year was the deadly combo of Kittle and Bowers. Kelce is a downgrade from those two obviously.

In Round 8 and 9 Quentin started a bit of a fall in terms of draft grade. Taking Khalil Shakir and Najee Harris. Two players who are currently injured. Shakir is the most consistent WR on the Bills. He has potential, but it seems it’ll be a very slow start to the season for him why he works his way back from a high ankle sprain. Those injuries tend to linger, so look for the Bills to take the cautious approach to start the year. Najee was the free agent RB to have. When the Chargers signed him to a one year deal. I said here we go baby. 1000 yard season streak is secured. Then the draft happened and the Chargers selected Omarion Hampton of North Carolina in the first round. Najee’s fantasy value plummeted but wasn’t looking too bad. More of a 1A/1B sort of thing where he would be a decent fantasy asset at the beginning of the season at least. Then on the 4th of July he had a fireworks incident that injured his eye. He’s been unable to practice ever since. That is over a month ago, so to cause a running back who uses their legs for a living to not be able to practice at all tells me it was more serious than we thought. He falls further. Then, the Chargers starting Left Tackle Rashawn Slater tears his patellar tendon and is lost for the season. They’ll move Joe Alt to Left Tackle and try to make RT work, but this lessened it a little bit more. We’ll see if Najee can overcome all these negatives to have a positive season. But more frustrating than all of what I just wrote about is when Greg Roman and Harbaugh roll out Hassan Haskins at the goal line just for shits and giggles.

Later rounds I liked Isaac G and Jaydon Blue. They are both injured right now, but young, talented RBs. Isaac G being a handcuff and Blue being a potential late season starter, with only one knee Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders to overcome. Shadeur Sanders is a 4th string QB and shouldn’t be owned in a 10 man fantasy league, but I get people are trying to make him a thing and it made for a funny pick. If he winds up being relevant this season then we’ll know one of two things are true. Either the NFL is rigged or we are living in a Computer Simulation.

Draft Grade: B-. He will be competitive and I hope I don’t face him in Weeks 13 or 15.

2. Andy.

Andy Bo Bandy. Gibbs was RB#2 last season despite having 95 less rush attempts than #1 Saquon and 75 less rush attempts than #3 Derrick Henry. How? Gibbs caught 52 passes for 517 yards and scored 20 TDs last season. He averaged 19.8 half ppr points per game which is about the same as Jamarr Chase. The Lions have one of the best offensive lines in football. They play in a tough division. I mean it when I say it. Gibbs is the best running back in the NFL. He is entering Year 3. Sure he’ll have Montgomery back from injury. Ben Johnson is gone. There are arguments against him repeating his 2024 success. It’s hard to score 20 touchdowns. But Gibbs is the truth and a slam dunk pick at #2.

In Round 2 Andy went AJ Brown. I love AJB. He even has the same initials as Andy! He is one of the best WRs in the NFL. Every WR metric you can track he is one of the guys on the top of the list. The only reason he isn’t higher is because of the Eagles are such a good team and don’t have to pass much. You don’t have to throw a lot if you’re winning late in games. But he is one of those players where you feel better knowing he is in your starting lineup. You never have to question, should I start him? The answer is always yes. Start and forget. And let’s be real. There will probably be some positive regression coming his way after missing 4 games and finishing as half ppr WR#18 in 2024.

In Round 3 Andy takes Josh Jacobs. Over JT and Chase Brown. For me, Chase Brown was the pick. An argument can be made for Jonathan Taylor as well. But Jacobs in half ppr makes a lot of sense as well. Once the weather gets cold in Green Bay they pound the rock. And Jacobs smashed last season after the bye week. Rushing for an incredible 12 touchdowns in the final 8 games of the season. Weather gets cold, Andy’s team will get bold. Jacobs was RB #5 last season and I have no argument as to why he can’t replicate that. Prefer Brown, but okay with Andy taking Jacobs.

In Round 4 Andy took Mike Evans. Criminally underrated for 11 seasons.

Mike Evans Half PPR Finishes In His Career:

2014- WR12

2015- WR23

2016- WR1

2017- WR19

2018- WR9

2019- WR12

2020- WR10

2021- WR8

2022- WR16

2023- WR5

2024-WR9

Average: WR11. Godwin is banged up to start the year. One of the reasons Mike Evans is able to dominate defenders is because his arms are as long as Mr. Fantastic’s. AT 35 1/8″ it is 98th percentile. The NFL average for a wide receiver is 31-32 inches. A lot of people talk about how big Wide Receiver hands are. Seldom do they talk about the arms. This allows Evans to high point the ball better than your average player. He is 31, this might be the season he falls off a cliff. But I don’t think so. I think he gets another 1000 yard season to add to his Hall of Fame career.

In the 5th Andy goes Jameson Williams. Williams broke out last year and showed his potential getting over 1000 receiving yards and finishing as the WR#19. If AJ Brown and Mike Evans are Andy’s “Steady Eddies”, then Jamo is his dynamite. Can go for 70 yard touchdowns any given moment. This trio of WRs paired with Andy’s duo at RB gives him a solid core.

In Round 6 he got the steal of the round. I was looking at Ridley, but couldn’t pass on Joe Burrow in the 6th. Calvin Ridley was WR27 last year with horrific and I mean horrific QB play. Insert the #1 pick Cam Ward, a gunslinger and a terrible group of Wideouts and you have the making of a WR who is going to get a ton of volume. The WR room consist of Tyler Lockett, a few rookies, and Van Jefferson. Ridley is gonna smash this season.

In Round 7 Andy went DK Metcalf. I didn’t care for this pick. I felt Andy should’ve gone TE, QB, or backup RB. Getting a 5th WR in half ppr when you already landed 4 studs seemed like a bad idea in my book. I dropped Andy’s grade when he did it. And I like Metcalf. But I don’t care for Rodgers, nor Arthur Smith’s play calling. This seems like a team that’s going to run two tight ends with Jonnu Smith, Pat Freirmuth, and Darnell Washington seeing a ton of snaps. Running the ball a ton with Kaleb Johnson and Jaylen Warren. And sure DK will be the deep threat/alpha X Wide Receiver just like he was in Seattle, but I predict the volume will be much less. I’m not high on Metcalf this season, but where his value lies will be in touchdowns. I don’t think you’ll get the steady 7-8 catches, but he’ll win some jump balls in the red zone from Rodgers. Adams caught 8 and Wilson caught 7 from Rodgers last season.

In Round 8 Andy takes Brian Robinson. Another underrated player. Robinson is another one of those boring picks like James Conner. He’s a solid 8-10 points. If something happens to Gibbs or Jacobs, Andy will be able to survive in the short term by plugging in the RB#1 on the Commanders.

In Round 9 Andy took Tyler Warren. I loved this pick and hated this pick. Loved it because I’m very high on Warren. Hated it because Andy prevented me from getting him. Just watch the play against Maryland at the 7:34 mark:

In Round 10 Andy takes Jordan Addison. Love this value. Andy will have trade ammunition to better his RB situation in the event of someone getting hurt. In the offseason I did a big analysis on WR2s. And how they performed when the WR1 was out. Addison had games of 21.4, 26.2, and 35.3 last season. Another boom or bust Andy can throw in due to injuries or bye weeks. Andy might be the deepest WR team and it’s not particularly close.

In later rounds Andy took Cam Ward, Anthony Richardson, and Rashid Shaheed. Great value in the Shaheed pick. He has looked better than Olave at times when healthy. Ward is a gunslinger, but I imagine there will be the normal rookie growing pains. Richardson should start for the Colts, but we’ll see if they do it. Richardson is 3 days older than Cam Ward. You read that correctly. Richardson and Cam Ward are the same age as Richardson enters his third NFL season. It’s not a bad strategy. And Andy can easily pick up a QB via waiver wire if they don’t work out. Loveland might hit, but a lot of mouths to feed in Chicago. Ford might be okay in Cleveland depending on Judkins/Sampson/QB play etc.

Draft Grade: B. Andy’s strength is core of Gibbs-Jacobs-AJB-Evans-Ridley and depth at WR. I think Warren will be just fine at TE. Andy will have to figure out WR and hope his two RB studs don’t go down because the RB depth is thin/non existent.

3. Michael

Michael had the nice 3 spot in the draft, ensuring he got one out of Chase, Gibbs or Bijan. Andy went Gibbs and Bijan fell into Michael’s lap. Bijan was RB#4 last year with immense volume for the Falcons. 304 rushing attempts, 1456 rushing yards, 14 rushing touchdowns, 72 targets, 61 receptions, 431 receiving yards and 1 receiving touchdown. All signs to a similar workload as the Falcons haven’t made any changes. One beat reporter who spoke to Bijan said he’s been working on his big play ability this offseason. He noticed other players taking it to the house more frequently. He was more of a death by a thousand cuts type of fantasy player. If he’s able to add some more explosive plays then the skies the limit for this entering third year stud. According to Warren Sharp the Falcons have the 4th easiest schedule in the NFL this season. Easy pick.

In Round 2 Mike took Trey McBride. McBride was TE#3 last season in half ppr. The Arizona offense funneled through McBride in 2024. Marvin Harrison might have the NFL player legacy genes but he had a very quiet rookie season (Trust me I know). McBride did this while only scoring 3 touchdowns. If he gets the same volume (147 targets, 111 receptions) then you can expect more touchdowns. Now Marvin Harrison looks jacked so there’s a chance he gets a larger piece of the pie, but they didn’t add any other threat so I see this as a condensed Receiver group and love this pick for Mike in Round 2.

Round 3 Mike takes Josh Allen. The Brad Killer.

Josh Allen’s QB Finishes in his Career:

2018- QB21

2019- QB8

2020- QB1

2021- QB1

2022- QB2

2023- QB1

2024- QB2

Top 2 QB for 6 seasons in a row. Now interestingly he started out a little boom and bust last year. 31.1, 9.6, 30.8, 7.3. Then he settled down was putting up 18.2-28.3 in Weeks 6-13. Then Week 14 happened. 51.8 fantasy points against me. 342 passing yards. 3 passing touchdowns. 82 rushing yards. 3 rushing touchdowns. The following week he scored 41.2 fantasy points. Mike starts the draft with three players who could realistically finish as the QB1, RB1, and TE1. Now I can see an argument being made for my beloved Chase Brown (see Logan’s grade for more information) or Jonathan Taylor before the massive tier break for RBs. But I can’t blame Mike too much on a Top 2 QB. Lock him in and forget about it. Mike didn’t even draft a backup QB. Didn’t need to.

In Round 4 Mike takes his first WR with Tee Higgins. When healthy Tee Higgins puts up WR1 numbers. He has one season where he played in 17 games. He’s played in 16, 14, 17, 12, and 12. He is known for random soft tissue injuries. He also was being conservative on the backend of his rookie contract wanting to ensure he gets the big second contract. Well he got it. To the tune of 4 years, $115 Million with $30 Million fully guaranteed at signing and a $20 million dollar roster bonus for 2025. He also has incentives in his contract that include $2 million dollars roster bonus if he is active on game days. Meaning if he misses a game he’ll lose 1/17 of the $2 million dollars or $117,647 per game. This gives him incentive to be less conservative on those soft tissue related injuries and play on Sundays. Now this could be a good thing if he’s active and effective. Or it could be a bad thing, for if he rushes back too early he risks exacerbating the injury and possibly missing more. His 15.47 half ppr points per game over the course of a 17 game season would have put him at WR#3. As I mentioned in my grade about Burrow and Quentin’s grade about Jamarr Chase, the Bengals are going to throw the ball. A LOT. At first glance Tee Higgins as your WR1 doesn’t look great. The further you look and the more you like and are okay with it.

In Round 5 Mike took Terry McLaurin. Scary Terry. F1. Whatever you want to call him isn’t happy. He wants a new contract. Mike is banking on him and Commanders getting the business part done and McLaurin looking to replicate his best season of his career as LSU sensation Jayden Daniels enters Year 2. As we get closer to the season and as the business side gets worked out you’ll see Terry McLaurin rising up draft boards and going early to mid 4th round and not into the 5th where Mike snagged him. Another solid pick.

In Round 6 Mike takes D’Andre Swift as his RB2. Swift is an interesting running back with an interesting history. He’s in Detroit with Ben Johnson as OC. He has some injuries and some controversy surrounding his availability. He gets doctors to sign off on snap counts for games. The relationship deteriorates and the next thing you know he winds up an Eagle. One season as an Eagle to replace Miles Sanders and he rushes for 1000 yards but doesn’t wow and finishes as RB23. Then Eagles sign Saquon and Swift winds up a Bear. Lions, Eagles, and Bear oh my! Last year he played in all 17 games (career best) and finished as RB19. He’s a RB2. Insert Ben Johnson and more importantly, insert a whole new offensive line and you have a lot of potential. Swift has not played to his potential in his career. That’s true. The Bears also have Roschon Johnson and drafted Kyle Monangai in the 7th round of the draft. Monangai is more of a between the tackles bruiser type of back. On August 9th the Bears worked out Jamaal Williams. Williams rushed for 17 touchdowns his last year in Detroit. The same year he was paired with… D’Andre Swift. So here’s what we know. Swift will play two minute drills. He’ll be the third down back. He’ll probably finish as an RB2. Will he do more than that? Probably not. Ben Johnson knows who Swift is and what he is not. He’ll try to maximize what he is.

Mike takes Xavier Worthy in Round 7. Not a bad WR3. Cheifs WRs are a bit of a mess right now. You have 35 year old Travis Kelce. Rashee Rice who might be suspended and who is coming off of injury. Hollywood Brown who is oft-injured and currently working through an ankle injury. JuJu Smith-Schuster. Rookie Jalen Royals. And Tyquan Thornton, a young WR from the Patriots who couldn’t break out in New England. At the very least Worthy is a big play potential. He had a couple of boom weeks including towards the end of the season. Even in the Super Bowl he caught those two long touchdowns albeit when the game was over and Mahomes was just chucking it. But for a flex play or depth piece in case someone goes down? Why not?

In Round 8 Mike took Chris Olave. Praying he stays healthy and avoids concussions this season. His QB play might be rough again, but the Saints could be very bad again and they’ll have to throw the ball a lot late, which could help. Olave is a great wide receiver when he’s healthy and should be drafted closer to JSN than he is. All Saints are discounted due to the cloud hanging over this season. AKA It aint looking good.

Mike then loaded up on RB fliers for depth. Javonte Williams, Travis Etienne, JK Dobbins, Tyjae Spears, Bhayshul Tuten. Honestly it’s not a bad strategy. Williams, Etienne, and Dobbins are in muddy situations where they very well could be the Week 1 starters for their teams. Or they could be part of some nasty committees. But those committees can become valuable if one is outplaying their teammates or if one of those teammates gets injured, etc.

Draft Grade: B+. Mike didn’t take a backup QB or TE, so he’s an Allen or McBride injury away from being very mediocre, but which team wouldn’t be if they lose their 2nd or 3rd round pick? He’ll have to figure out his RB2 if Swift underperforms and bye week streamers, but overall pretty solid job drafting.

4. Stephen

I was actually shocked by Stephen taking Barkley. Madden Curse. #1 RB last season. This offseason they lost some key pieces on defense (although they added Jihad Campbell in the draft for God’s sake) and they have a tougher schedule this year (29th according to Warren Sharp)With that being said their Vegas projected win/loss line is at 11.5. They are the favorite to repeat as winners in the NFC East. And with their core in tact are looking like strong contenders again this season. Barkley ran behind the best offensive line in football. With a solid QB and awesome wideouts where the defense couldn’t commit to just stopping the run. By the end of games Barkley was exploding for long touchdowns having asserted his will against them. His season was healthy and honestly, a little God-like. No better example of his reverse hurdle that is now in Madden. That’s one of those plays that no matter how many times you watch it you still can’t believe it. It defied physics and probability at least. I thought Stephen was going to go Lamb here. Dallas looks like they are going to throw a ton and a lot of pundits have Lamb ranked right behind Chase. In half ppr I get the allure of going RB to play it safe.

In Round 2 Stephen had Jeanty unexpectedly fall to his lap. Here is where the Lamb pick in the 1st would’ve paid off. But still. Barkley/Jeanty ensures Stephen has a high volume rushing attack. Ashton Jeanty looked like a cheat code in college. Big plays, unable to be tackled. And he landed in a great spot with the Raiders where his volume is assured. Now the Raiders play in a division with the Chiefs and Broncos whose defenses scare me. But he’ll get the goal line work, the two minute drills, the 3rd downs. He’ll play a ton and he has that breakaway ability. Geno Smith is an upgrade at QB for the Raiders and teams can’t overcommit to stopping Jeanty otherwise they’ll let Brock Bowers eat them alive. Now the concern here is the offensive line. Brandon Thorn has them ranked 26th in the NFL and well below average. Their over/under on wins is set at 6.5, so can’t expect Jeanty to get a bunch of rushes late in games. It’s a volume and talent bet. I still liked Chase Brown and Jonathan Taylor more than Jeanty, contrarian to most fantasy “professionals”. But even still I’m not going to lie, I thought about Jeanty in the 2nd. But couldn’t do it.

In Round 3 Stephen chooses Ladd McConkey as his WR1. Ouch. As I mentioned in Quentin’s grade on Najee Harris, losing Rashawn Slater is a bigger deal than people are letting on. They’ll shuffle their offensive line around and move Joe Alt to Left Tackle, but Brandon Thorn moved them from fringe Top 10 offensive line to #25 offensive line. It was that big of a loss. I downgraded all Chargers players as a result of this loss. Adding to the offensive line woes for McConkey is the additions of Keenan Allen, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, and Tre Harris. They also added Tyler Conklin and Orande Gadsen at TE. Last year they had Ladd and QJ and that was about it. They’ll have more options now. Don’t get me wrong. Ladd is still their #1 target. I don’t like his chances to replicate his 2024 finish of WR#12. I go back to Round 1. Had you taken Lamb, you could’ve gone JT or Chase Brown here. Having a JT/Jeanty/Lamb trio or a Jeanty/Brown/Lamb trio, I like a lot better than the Barkley/Jeanty/McConkey. Hindsight is 20/20 but in my mocks I had you passing on Barkley.

Round 4 you got Alvin Kamara. Similar to Mike Evans he’s been criminally underrated the past few seasons.

Alvin Kamara Finishes In His Career:

2017- RB3

2018- RB4

2019- RB13

2020- RB1

2021- RB8

2022- RB18

2023- RB14

2024- RB11

Those numbers also don’t reflect the fact that AK has missed 1-3 games every season of his career except for his rookie campaign. His 16.52 half ppr points per game last season would’ve been good for RB5 pace. Saints might be bad again this year. Qb situation is looking ugly. But drafted an offensive lineman in the first again. Maybe Kamara can keep the magic going for another season.

Round 5 Stephen got good value in Davante Adams. More like Davante Auras. (He dressed slick at the celebrity golf tournament I attended last month at Lake Tahoe) Adams left Green Bay and had a couple frustrating seasons with the Raiders. Then was traded to the Jets and had one frustrating season with the Jets. But even though it was frustrating he still finished as WR3, WR11 and WR14 in those three seasons. And last year he was WR14 despite missing 3 weeks. Now he replaces Cooper Kupp in Sean McVay’s offense in Los Angeles. Honestly I think Adams might finish higher than Ladd McConkey this season and will be Stephen’s best wideout. That is assuming Matthew Stafford’s back injury is nothing serious and just more maintenance and caution for a 37 year old Quarterback. He looked fine when he golfed with Bryson Dechambeau in the offseason on Bryson’s Youtube show “Break 50”. Stafford is a much better Quarterback than Golfer. But I love how they say things like “have to be cautious with such an old Quarterback” and he’s literally the same age as me.

Stephen selected Chuba Hubbard in Round 6, providing nice depth at RB. Chuba was awesome last season. Now they added Rico Dowdle and drafted Trevor Etienne this offseason, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Chuba was run down by the end of last season. But they paid the man starter money and he’s the #1 on the offense. I think it was a great value pick while at the same time expensive because you had to pass on Calvin Ridley to get him. I’m high on Ridley this year.

In Round 7 you took Tetairoa McMillan. 10 inch hands baby. Bryce Young will sling it to the former volleyball player. Now I will tell you. I drafted Travis Hunter over him in dynasty. Why? When watching McMillan I saw too much Courtland Sutton. Too much Drake London. You might be thinking, what the hell is wrong with those guys?!?! Nothing, but Sutton’s best finish in his career in terms of fantasy was last season where he finished as half ppr WR 13. Last season was his 7th NFL season. London finished as WR 5. That was in season 3. First season was WR36 and second season was WR39. Maybe McMillan can smash as a rookie. But last year the Panthers spread the ball around. Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette, Hunter Renfrow, Jimmy Horn, and Jalen Coker represent his target competition. He has a lot of potential. But will he smash in Year 1? I’m not convinced. It might take him a minute. [By the way the final nail in the coffin for me in deciding between T-Mac and Travis Hunter was yards of separation. TMac= 2.8 Yards (20th percentile). Hunter= 5.9 Yards (91% percentile). 5.9 yards of separation!]

Round 8 Stephen took Patrick Mahomes. The truth about Patrick Mahomes. In the past two seasons he’s been a great NFL quarterback. But he has not been a great FANTASY quarterback. 2024- QB11, 2023- QB8. Now that doesn’t sound too bad, right? Well it’s bad if you look at his ADP. Now this year Stephen got him in Round 8. That is better. That makes it more palatable. Especially if he can overperform his ADP and have one of those Top 5 finishes like he had in 2018 (1), 2020(4), 2021(4), and 2022(1). He just hasn’t been crisp the past couple of seasons and hasn’t needed to throw because Steve Spagnuolo’s defense has been so dominate on the other side of the ball. Decent value in the 8th.

In Round 9 Stephen took Travis Hunter. I think he outperforms McMillan. I did a large analysis on WR duos this offseason. I think Hunter is going to be just fine. If he plays 75-80% of snaps it’ll be like having 75% JJ. This guy is a unicorn. He won the Heisman, The Biletnikoff and the Bednarik for God’s sake. And people are like “Oh he’s going to get hurt”. Steal in Round 9.

Round 10 Stephen gets his tight end in Evan Engram. He also added DAvid Njoku in Round 12. Solid tight duos and great value. With Engram I worry about consistency. Broncos defense is scary. They are going to run. They have Courtland Sutton as the #1. Engram will have some boom weeks where he is a major contributor in the game plan. But I don’t anticipate him being consistent. Boom/Bust. Just have to get the Booms right. Njoku should be fine despite the QB drama.

Like the Golden and Higgins picks and flier on Nick Chubb with Joe Mixon’s injury.

Draft Grade: C+. I would have gone differently in Rounds 1, 2, and 3. Felt like he got good value in the middle rounds. Going to be one of those teams were you have to get the start/sit decision correct and those can be frustrating. While doing mock drafts my favorite position to draft from was 4th. I could get everybody I wanted there. Felt like Stephen didn’t execute as well as he could have.

5. Caleb

Caleb goes with CeeDee Lamb. CeeDee was the WR#1 in 2023, the last season he had a healthy Dak Prescott for the full season. This team projects to have a bad defense and a bad run game. That means pass-happy and that means I’m bullish on Lamb this season. WR#1 is within the range of outcomes, despite Chase seeming like he can’t be touched. Last year Lamb wasn’t pretty. He was working through a shoulder injury for most of the year. Catching passes from Cooper Rush for most of the year. Despite all of that and missing the last two games of the season he finished as half ppr WR#8. Can’t thing of worse scenarios than last season and yet he still finished Top 10. Stud. Great pick.

In Round 2 Caleb followed Brad and Josh’s lead as the only three teams to start the draft WR-WR. Caleb selected Drake London who had a third year breakout last season and finished as WR#5. In the last three weeks of last season he had 39 targets. I think the WR specific schedule is harder this season, so he might not be able to replicate his Top 5 finish, but Top 10 is definitely reasonable. I liked McBride, AJ Brown, and Chase Brown more than London, but Top 5/10 WR is a great asset.

In Round 3 Caleb got his RB1 in Jonathan Taylor. Last season I gave a lot of people crap for not drafting Jonathan Taylor. Quentin drafted Jonathan Taylor. Quentin won the Super Bowl in big part due to drafting Jonathan Taylor. JT scored 39.8 and 27.6 in the fantasy playoffs last season. So naturally he falls to the middle of the third round this season… Caleb got a stud. His 16.84 half ppr points per game would have put him as the RB5. But he missed a few weeks and finished as the RB9. But he played when it mattered most for Quentin. The Colts offense will run through JT and Tyler Warren. Love the pick even if I had Brown an edge higher.

Round 4 came and Caleb was staring at a large list of veterans. He had his choice of Mike Evans, Tee Higgins, Terry McLaurin, Davante Adams or he could’ve gone Alvin Kamara to secure his RB2. He instead chose to go with Tyreek Hill. Tyreek devastated Josh’s team last season. Tua got hurt, Tyreek hurt his wrist, and the Dolphins offense was a disaster. (with the exception of the God-King Tight End Jonnu Smith) Hill had his worst statistical season in his career other than his injury riddled 2019 season. He finished as WR#21 but failed to break 1000 yards receiving. He’s 31. He has seven confirmed children with rumors of three more. He could have a major bounce back season this year. But the Dolphins offensive line got worse. If Tua is healthy then he has a chance. Especially with the Jonnu Smith vacated targets. Evan Silva thinks this might be the year Jaylen Waddle overtakes Tyreek as the WR1 in Miami. But Silva has historically been bullish/higher on Waddle than consensus. I would have gone Evans or Higgins here but we’ll see if we can get a glimpse of the Tyreek of yesteryear again.

In Round 5 Caleb took David Montgomery as his RB2. Montgomery was his normal touchdown scoring self until an injury prematurely ended his 2024 regular season campaign. He should be healthy coming into 2025 and looks to pick up where he left off. He scored 12 touchdowns last year and averaged 14.55 points per game. Gibbs is more explosive, but Monty is the grinder and will be used to keep Gibbs fresh. Sonic and Knuckles!

In Round 6 Caleb got great value in Garrett Wilson. Wilson had his third year breakout and it’s like nobody even cares. He was WR11 last year after terrible finishes of WR19 and WR32 (when compared to his ADP). Talent has never been the problem with Wilson. It’s been the Quarterback play. Insert Justin Fields who has been a better runner than passer in the NFL so far. But Fields was Wilson’s QB at Ohio State, so the transition from Rodgers to Fields should be smooth. Fields ability to move around the pocket more than the 40 year old coming-off-of-achilles-injury Rodgers will help Wilson on broken plays get open and score more. If Tyreek has another bad season Caleb will still have a decent trio in Lamb-London-Wilson at WR.

Round 7 Caleb takes Isaih Pacheco. Pacheco should be the RB1 for the Chiefs this season, but Kareem Hunt pooped in his cheerios last season. I see them continuing to use a committee approach with Pacheco, Hunt, Elijah Mitchell, Carson Steele, and rookie Brashard Smith. One or two of these guys might have to practice squad it for awhile. The clearest path for Pacheco is for Hunt to be injured or cut, but all signs look at another committee approach. Not a bad flier and RB depth piece, but I liked Tony Pollard better here. Felt like that was a miss.

Caleb goes TJ Hockenson in Round 8 to secure his TE1. Rookies love checking down to Tight Ends. JJ McCarthy will play like a rookie at times with his first healthy season as a starter. Also, Jordan Addison is suspended the first 3 weeks of the season. Hock could get peppered early and help Caleb get off to a fast start. Last season was all about getting back to healthy status for Hockenson but he showed flashes of his former self. We’ll see if he can regain the magic and have a Top 5 finish like he did in 2022 and 2023.

Round 9 Caleb goes with Tank Bigsby. Worth a shot. I think he’s the best pure runner on the Jags. He didn’t catch a lot of passes. I think Coen is going to go with the hot hand approach and it certainly can be Tank. Etienne is probably the smartest RB. Tuten is most explosive but had fumble issues and pass protection issues in college. Early in the season I think they are going to feel it out and who knows. They might all have a role in the offense similar to the Bucs did last year with Irving and White both being fantasy relevant and Sean Tucker coming in every now and then with decent production.

Later rounds Caleb got good value in Justin Fields, Jaylen Warren and Trevor Lawrence. He even got Kyle Pitts for free.

Draft Grade: B+. Didn’t care for Tyreek and Pacheco picks but the team is solid. Love the Fields pick as QB1 and the stack with Wilson. RB depth is good enough. Solid draft for Caleb.

6. Logan

Logan got burned in 2024. He kept drafting WRs. He went CeeDee Lamb, AJ Brown, Davante Adams, Mike Evans, Brandon Auyik to start. This season he went with an opposite approach. Christian McCaffrey at 1.06. Evan Silva and Mike Leone had a big debate about CMC in their Man vs. Machine podcast recently. Silva had CMC as his 18th ranked player and Leone had CMC as his 7th. Silva’s argument was he wasn’t taking a 29 year old running back with injury riddled history and career touches north of 4000 (pro and college) over a stud 25 year old Wideout like BTJ or Nabers. Leone’s perspective was he’s CMC. We can’t assume injury. He’s healthy and the offense runs through him. He has RB1 in his range of outcomes. Their 7th rated player was them being extremely conservative. I leaned a little more towards Silva’s side of the debate. I was going to take Nabers at 7 if Logan took JJ at 6. CMC is CMC. Jordan Mason is gone. Isaac G is hurt. Niners schedule looks favorable. There’s no argument against the pick here I just liked the WRs a little bit more.

In Round 2 Logan took Derrick Henry. The last time Henry rushed for around 2000 yards was in 2020. He rushed for 2027 yards and 17 touchdowns. The next season he was injured and only played in 8 games. Last season he was able to rush for 1921 yards but on only 325 carries. He was half ppr RB3. This is the same argument as CMC. Henry is 31 and his usage is astronomical. But we can’t assume injuries. So it appears Logan starts the draft out with two Top 5 RBs and two studs to ensure he doesn’t repeat his 2024 draft.

Then Round 3 happened. Last season Chase Brown started out in a time share with Zach Moss, playing 20-40% of snaps as the secondary option during the first five weeks of the season.  The next two weeks Brown averaged 50-62% of snaps.  Zach Moss got hurt and Brown kept performing.  It wasn’t until Week 9 where Brown began getting 80%+ snaps from Weeks 9-17.  In that stretch he averaged 18.25 half PPR points per game.  For perspective, Bijan Robinson, half PPR RB #4, averaged 18.3 half PPR points per game.  Now one might argue that Samaje Perine could take over some 3rd down snaps and 7th round rookie Tahj Brooks could give Brown some much needed rest sprinkled into the game.  But Brown is the man and Top 5 RB is within his range of outcomes.  In fact, in the second round I was debating taking Chase Brown over Brian Thomas, but couldn’t pass on BTJ who I see as a JJ-level talent in a Liam Coen offense where his slot play percentage is likely to increase a bit from his rookie season.   In the first preseason game he lined up in the slot 42% compared to last year where he averaged 28%.  Logan nailed this pick.  This is one of those picks that has the Top 5 in draft order look silly for passing on him twice in Rounds 2 and 3.  

In the 4th Logan took his first WR in Jaxon Smith-Njigba.  DK Metcalf is gone.  Geno Smith is gone.  Insert Klint Kubiak as OC, Sam Darnold at QB, Cooper Kupp, Marquez Valdez-Scantling, and rookies Tory Horton and Elijah Arroyo.  JSN is talented but I don’t view him as a fantasy WR1.  He should be WR1 for his team, but I worry about this team. Their offensive line is ranked 29th according to Lineman Expert Brandon Thorn.  And that’s with the addition of Greg Zabel, a talented guard they added in the first round of the draft.  But taking a gander at the division foes’ draft and you’ll see teams committed in bettering their defense and defensive line.  We’ve seen the Rams defensive line become a fearful group with Jared Verse and Braden Fiske.  But now the 49ers drafted Edge Mykel Williams, DT Alfred Collins, and LB Nick Martin.  Prioritizing defense in the draft.  And Arizona started their draft with DT Walter Nolen, CB Will Johnson, and Edge Jordan Bunch.  All seemingly trying to recreate what the Rams did.   We’ve seen Kubiak’s potential when the Saints started off 2024 going 2-0 and scoring 91 points against the Panthers and Cowboys.  But we also saw what happened when injuries started to occur to key team members.  JSN is talented. Another caveat worth mentioning is Sam Darnold’s struggles when there is interior pressure.  Also, I don’t view Darnold as an upgrade over Geno Smith.  Smith is underrated and Darnold is a bit overrated.  So there’s a non-zero chance we see Jalen Milroe at some point this season.  An exceptionally talented runner with a mixed bag of inconsistent and seemingly impossible throws.  We’ll see if scheme (Kubiak) and talent (JSN) can overcome weakness (OL, Division). But there’s a chance Logan replicated some of his 2024 woes by going with three straight RBs to the detriment of his WRs.

In Round 5 Logan takes Marvin Harrison Jr. A more appropriate place to pick him than the first round like I did. Last year was terrible. He’s super talented, got the genes. But man. The scheme does not bode well for his fantasy prospects. The offense is a ground and pound with James Conner and the passing game is Marvin running deep to open up the middle for Trey McBride to eat. I have seen nothing to indicate the scheme or plan is looking differently in 2025. Harrison did bulk up in the offseason, but it doesn’t matter how big your biceps are if you’re running go routes and your 5 foot 3 inch quarterback with lethargic tendencies can’t see that far down the field. Mediocre offensive line. Tough division. This is one of those I hope so, but not betting on it sort of story lines.

In Round 6 Logan takes DJ Moore. I like DJ Moore in Ben Johnson’s offense. I think he is most likely to take on the Amon-Ra St. Brown role. He has been a solid WR2 every season in his career minus his rookie year and has one WR1 finish in 2023. The concern is target distribution with the Bears bringing in Colston Loveland and Luther Burden to pair with Rome Odunze. And the bigger concern is Caleb Williams. Can he make a large leap in terms of production and consistency in Year 2? Ben Johnson’s style is structure, execution, and discipline. Caleb Williams style is loose, creative, and reactionary. Stylistically they are like a peanut butter and sardine sandwich. Not great. But if I was them. I would set it up so that I can get the ball into DJ Moore’s hands as much as possible. So despite the major concerns, I like DJ Moore and could see him being Logan’s best wideout.

In Round 7 Logan changed the trajectory of my entire draft and drastically reduced my percentage chance of winning the title. This one pick was so consequential to my team’s draft that it reverberated throughout the next four rounds with me unable to recover. The entire league owes Logan a debt of gratitude. For there is nothing worse than an overly cocky Brad winning the title. And he did his job drafting next to him. The Chase Brown steal was one thing. Brad expected that. But this steal was a arrow hitting Achilles level. Tony Pollard is not an exciting RB. As a member of the Titans last year he was RB21. But he was a solid RB21. And that was with abysmal QB play. Spears is a little banged up to start the year, so Pollard is the #1. Another year removed from his ankle injury that he suffered in Dallas. New QB that is a HUGE improvement. He was just a solid pick for an RB3. Logan’s RB4.

In Round 8 after Brad panicked and took Tyrone Tracy as a result of the Pollard pick, Logan had Devonta Smith fall into his lap. Smith is a boom/bust WR 2/3. Except. If AJ Brown is hurt. His points per game shoots up from around 12 to 15 per game. Only Andy and Caleb have a better WR4.

In Round 9 Logan takes Jordan Mason, stealing another late round RB I was targeting. How do you support a rookie Quarterback? RUNNING THE FOOTBALL. Mason is going to be the goal line back. He was incredible last year for the Niners. He’s going to eat. He’s a great pick. With this pick Logan took 3 RBs I was prioritizing. THREE OF THEM. This secured Logan’s RB room as the best in the league and it’s not even close.

In Round 10 Logan takes Bo Nix. Nix was QB#7 last year and they added Evan Engram and RJ Harvey in the offseason. I’m bullish on Bo and the Broncos. Bull, Bo, Broncos.

Later rounds Logan takes Jake Ferguson and Zach Ertz at tight end, his only weakness.

Draft Grade: A+. Logan has the best RB room in the league. But I fear he might have overcorrected a little bit. JSN had Metcalf pulling coverage as an alpha x. Kupp is not an alpha x. Harrison needs a Trey McBride injury in order to ascend. Logan’s pass catchers aren’t great. But he has five very even ones. Meaning he’ll be playing the same game he played last season. Which WRs should I start this week? We’ll see if the RBs are good enough so that it doesn’t matter. But looking at past champions, Logan still hasn’t learned the importance of the TE position. The scarcity is more important than you think.

7. Brad

Last season Brad drafted next to Quentin. Quentin took Kittle, Bowers, Jackson, JT and won the damn thing. This season Brad drafted next to Logan. I’m legitimately changing all of my passwords because I don’t see how all my players can be stolen one pick before me unless someone has access to my ESPN and/or Fantasy Pros accounts to see the mock drafts I was doing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for Logan and his upcoming wedding. But also, F#$% you Logan. This sucked. My nickname for Logan is the ASSassin. RB-RB-RB start and then STILL taking my RB targets in Rounds 7 and 9, one pick before me. I digress.

In Round 1 Brad goes with Justin Jefferson. I was a bit surprised that JJ fell to me. He is a Top 2 WR in the league. Addison is suspended the first three weeks of the season. Three weeks where the Vikings face @ Chicago, Atlanta, and Cincinnati. 2-3 potential shootouts and an uptick of target share? Yes please. I’m sure some people have concerns about JJ McCarthy at QB this season. But I think people forget about 2023. Cousins gets hurt, JJ is hurt. But he comes back and puts up the following stat lines:

10 targets, 7 receptions, 84 yards

10 targets, 6 receptions, 141 yards, TD

10 targets, 5 receptions, 59 yards

14 targets, 12 receptions, 192 yards, TD

Those games were played with Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall at QB. So McCarthy needs to be AS good as Nick Mullens or Jaren Hall and JJ will be fine.

In the 2nd Round Brad debated Chase Brown. Thought about Ashton Jeanty’s volume for a minute. But eventually stuck with the stud Brian Thomas Jr. I view him as the next JJ. Liam Coen is going to make him even better with the scheme. As a rookie he finished as the WR4 and that was with Mac Jones throwing him the football for most of the back half of the year. Insert Travis Hunter to keep people honest and boom goes the dynamite. Two LSU studs to start the draft and a dynamic WR1-WR2 combo.

In Round 3 Brad was almost able to double dip the chip, but Logan unexpectedly took a 3rd RB. Brad had to settle for the underrated Kyren Williams. He was the RB 6 in 2023 and RB7 in 2024. McVay trusts him. He’s the goal line back. He catches passes. They added some juice in Jarquez Hunter to get a home run element. But then they locked down Kyren with a big RB contract this summer. My guess is Kyren finishes as the RB7-ish. Of course Matthew Stafford’s back injury is concerning. We’ll see if it’s just maintenance or if we are going to start the year watching Jimmy G throwing murder balls to Davante Adams. With the defense and offensive structure I see Kyren as a safer bet than some of the Rams pass catchers.

In Round 4 Brad takes George Kittle, a priority add for me. I wasn’t able to get the RB1, RB3, or RB4 that I wanted thanks to Logan, but nobody stopped me from getting the best pick in Round 4. Kittle was TE2 last year in half ppr (better than McBride). Auyik is injured (found out post-draft it’ll be around Week 6 return). Jauan Jennings is hurt and seeking a new contract. Deebo Samuel is in Washington. Kittle has finished as a Top 5 Fantasy TE four years in a row. He’s Brock Purdy’s favorite target in the red zone. In the playoffs last season he went for 8-106 and 8-112 for Quentin. The offense will run through CMC and Kittle this year. I have him in the same tier as McBride and Bowers, but I was able to get him in the 4th where as Bowers and McBride went in the 2nd. In many of my mocks I added Kittle in the 3rd.

Lucky to get him in the 4th. Stoked about it.

In Round 5 Brad goes Trey’Veon Henderson. This is the opposite of a conservative RB2. This is lightning in a bottle, home run hitter. Rhamondre is going to be the grinder, but two minute drills and 3rd downs Henderson is going to eat. And any given touch he could take it to the house. He might eat into Rhamondre’s early down work if the evidence is clear that the offense moves a lot better with him in the game. I love this pick. It’s fun and hip. Patriots are going to play defense and run the ball with Mike Vrabel as head coach. Offensive line was improved a lot in the offseason with addition of LSU stud Will Campbell. Giddy up.

In Round 6 Brad had Joe Burrow unexpectedly fall to him. Burrow was the QB3 last year throwing for 4918 yards and 43 touchdowns. The defense did not improve in the offseason. The schedule is roughly the same. The team is roughly the same. Why is the Top 3 QB who might throw for 5000 yards and 50 touchdowns this season dropping to the 6th round? With 5 QBs being drafted ahead of him for that matter? The concern for Burrow is injuries. The offensive line still sucks. He’s won comeback player of the year twice. He’d much rather win the Lombardi. But the Bengals did not improve the offensive line. He takes a ton of sacks with his aggressive play style. Look for more of the same. When he plays, fire. If he gets banged up, yikes. Great value here.

In Round 7 Logan ruined Brad’s plans that set off a chain reaction over the course of the next four rounds. Brad was taking Tony Pollard here. Once Pollard was gone Brad didn’t like any of the RBs. At least not over Jaylen Waddle and Devonta Smith. So Brad goes Waddle in case Evan Silva is right and he overtakes Tyreek and has a bounce back year with the Jonnu Smith departure. Then in the next round Brad needed to secure a RB3 so he goes with Tyrone Tracy. Tracy should start the season as the starter and will most likely be in a time share with Cam Scattebo by years end. Tracy did well as a rookie and looks good in his limited preseason action. I’m not bullish on the Giants, but Russ Wilson and/or Jackson Dart should be better than Daniel Jones. Giants defensive line is nasty too. So possible to have some quick touchdown scoring opportunities if they are able to generate turnovers. Not a bad RB3, but not as good as Pollard.

In Round 8 Brad takes Ricky Pearsall as his WR4. Target concentration in San Fracisco is looking to be condensed early in the season. CMC, Kittle, Pearsall are going to be the main beneficiaries with Auyik out and Jennings injury/contract situation.

The next three rounds Brad prioritzed RB depth with Rhamondre Stevenson, Braelon Allen, and Ray Davis. STevenson could be startable if he maintains the first and second down and goal line duties. Allen is said to be in a time share with Breece Hall. And Ray Davis had some stand alone value even with James Cook playing last season. Cook is unhappy with his contract, so we’ll see how that works out leading up to the regular season, but Davis represents a flexcuff. Someone who could be a beast if Cook is lost due to injury. (Don’t think he has leverage to hold out, so don’t view that as likely). But also has some stand alone value if the RB position gets bleak.

Brad got decent value in later rounds with Tucker Kraft and Drake Maye. Kraft was banged up for most of last season but still finished as the TE 9. Maye has rushing td potential and could sneak into QB1 status looking at the schedule.

Draft Grade: B+. Brad’s Strengths are QB1, WR1, WR2, TE1, TE2. His weaknesses are RB1, RB2, RB depth. Logan did that. That’s Logan’s fault. The ASSassin. This team could make the playoffs but needs to stay healthy and get some favorable scheduling luck. We’ll see!

8. Josh.

I have figured it out. I know why Josh drafted the way he did this season. Pity. He has pity on me while he deals with a high demanding job and lifestyle. He jumped on the grenade for a lot of players so that I wouldn’t draft them. While Logan sniped all my targets one pick ahead of me, Josh let my targets flow down to me. It was like he gave up hit seat on a lifeboat during the Titanic disaster. If Logan is the ASSasin then Josh is my Savior. Healing my team and giving me an outside chance of a title. Thank you Josh. Thank you.

In Round 1 Josh takes Nico Collins. This guy is a monster and criminally underrated. When healthy he’s up there with the Lamb’s and JJ’s and Amon-Ras of the world. My concern with Nico is the soft tissue injuries, but also the Texans offensive line. It was bad last season and got worse. Terrible offensive line. Stroud will be running for his life. Also, they drafted Jayden Higgins (Nico Collins clone), Jaylin Noel, and brought in Christian Kirk. Kirk will most likely take the Tank Dell roll and Higgins will take the Diggs role. But I don’t know how much time Stroud will have to throw. They did get a new OC this offseason, so that could help get more time with a little scheme help, but with Joe Mixon hurt I don’t see teams respecting the run very much. Nick Chubb is a shadow of his former self and Woody Marks is an unproven rookie. Texans are favored to win the division, but we’ll see.

In Round 2 Josh takes Puca Nacua. Puca is amazing and deplatformed Cooper Kupp last season. Just emasculated him into dust. Puca is also banged up a lot because of his aggressive play style. He’s always willing to put his body on the line to make the play. In addition to Puca’s injury risk there is the Matthew Stafford back issue. Everyone is hoping it s a non-issue come Week 1. Otherwise Rams will have to turn to Jimmy G or Stetson Bennett at QB which would lead me to downgrade all pass catchers. If Stafford plays AND Puca stays healthy? Josh will look very smart for this pick.

In Round 3 Josh goes Kenneth Walker. Another oft-injured player. I’m high on Walker this season. I like the scheme fit with Klint Kubiak’s system. The offensive line is terrible. Sam Darnold makes this team worse. But I think they are going to pound the rock. A LOT. If Kenneth Walker is able to stay healthy for an entire season he’ll be in Top 5 RB discussion. He’s a home run hitter and a monster when healthy. But man this guy cannot stay healthy. He’s dealing with a foot injury right now that is taking it’s time to heal. We shall see if he can be healthy this season.

In Round 4 Josh takes James Cook. Cook scored 16 rushing touchdowns last season. He did this by playing less than 60% of the offensive snaps in every game except for Week 1. That week? 61% of snaps. Buffalo ran a committee, which helped keep Cook healthy and fresh. He finished as the RB8. Can you imagine if they uptick that to 70-80%? Dynamite. My guess is it’ll be more of the same as last year. Explosive, but annoying when he comes out for a Ray Davis touchdown. He’s also disgruntled and demanding a new contract. We’ll see if they work something out or if the relationship detiorates. He has to know he didn’t play more than 60% of the teams offensive snaps last year. He was very efficient when he did play, but tough to argue for more money when the offense didn’t miss a beat without you.

In Round 5 Josh takes Rashee Rice who is looking at a possible suspension in the 6-8 game variety. When healthy he is a monster, up there with Nico Collins and Pat Mahomes #1 target. Last year he tore his ACL, but that was early enough where he looks good to go. So for those keeping score Josh started out his draft Injury Concern, Injury Concern x2, Injury Concern, Holdout, Possible Suspension. ALL RISK ALL REWARD BABY.

In Round 6 Josh made the most head scratching move I’ve ever seen. Taking Kyler Murray over Joe Burrow. I think Josh took pity on me. He saw Logan bullying me and thought, “man Brad loves this game, maybe I should throw him a bone and let Joe Burrow fall to him. But I need a QB, Kyler is next, I’ll take him.” Or the more likely scenario. Josh didn’t see Joe Burrow was still available. There is no scenario where I see Murray being better than Burrow. Unless it’s an injury. Even then Kyler missed a big chunk of 2022 and 2023 because he was injured… I don’t know what else to say but Thank you Josh and then dock his draft grade a full letter grade.

In Round 7 Josh got his TE1 with Mark Andrews. I actually love Andrews this year. He received a lot of haterade due to the drop in the postseason. Isaiah Likely is injured to start the year. Lamar is playing at a God level. Andrews was TE5 last year scoring 11 touchdowns in the final 12 games of the season.

In Round 8 Josh takes Rome Odunze. Improved coach, improved offensive line, Keenan Allen is gone. They added Colston Loveland and Luther Burden, but Odunze has a year head start on them when it comes to NFL playing experience. I like Rome to have a better sophomore campaign, but I don’t like him more than Devonta Smith, who Josh could’ve had.

In Round 8 Josh got Kenneth Walkers backup in Zach Charbonnet (great pickup). And then took Rachaad White (terrible pick). White is hurt and is proably going to be the RB3 in Tampa. Stevenson, Javonte Williams and Jaylen Warren would’ve been better picks in my opinion.

Decent bench pieces late with Goff, Aiyuk and Trey Benson.

Draft Grade: C-. I would have made different picks in 6/8 of the first 8 rounds. Nabers over Nico. BTJ over Puca. Kittle over Walker. Sutton, DJ Moore or Ridley over Rice. Burrow over Kyler and Devonta Smith over Odunze. Josh could’ve had Nabers, BTJ, Kenneth Walker, Kittle, Sutton, Burrow as his core and we are talking about an A grade and a bow from yours truly. Some positive injury luck and this team can compete, but another year where we are singing, “What might have been…”

9. Ben

Drafting 9th is like getting the middle tee time of a golf tournament where you don’t get to get an early start on either Round 1 or Round 2, meaning you don’t get any soft greens. Bad draw. Ben impressed me in Round 1 after his 15 minute tardiness thanks to his tee time, but he piped one down the middle with his first pick. Malik Nabers is going to eat. I see 140+ targets and 1500 yards when I see Nabers. He was my choice at 7 if JJ and Lamb were both gone. He is going to be a problem this season. Great pick and impressive given you were drafting while playing golf. A game which allows you to shut your brain off and only focus on the game while you play it. Birdie on the first hole.

After Max took Amon-Ra and Bowers Ben selects Achane. Achane was a surprising pick for me. Ben must’ve hit it into the water before he made this selection, because his draft grade certainly DROPPED. Achane was RB6 last season despite the Dolphins being quadruple bogey level bad. Their offense was so terrible it makes me want to puke just thinking about it. Tua got hurt. Their offensive line sucks. So they just completely ignored Tyreek and Waddle and let them run to open up short game where they just peppered Achane and Jonnu Smith for 4 yard gains repeatedly. So gross. The offensive line didn’t improve at all. Tua is healthy, so that helps, but picking Achane over Henry, BTJ, Jeanty, Chase Brown. Gross. Terrible slice into the water. +3 through two.

In Round 3 Ben took Jayden. Fun pick. Love it. He is legitimate. I watched that 2022 LSU team. I knew he was special. Hopefully Washington gets the McLaurin contract dispute figured out so Jayden can roll with the same crew as last year plus Deebo Samuel. If they trade McLaurin that would knock Jayden down a peg or two, but I don’t think that happens. Enjoy the ride Ben. Jayden-Nabers, Geaux Tigers. Birdie. +2

In Round 4 you took Breece Hall. Kittle was the correct choice here. But Hall should be an okay RB2. He’s looking at a committee approach. New coach. Justin Fields doesn’t check it down, he takes off for runs. But Hall is in a contract year, so maybe he pops off. I think he was an avoid for me. If Kittle was gone I could understand because round 4 looks gross in general, but you had a chance at Kittle who is screaming high target volume for a committee back. Bogey. +3

In Round 5 you took Joe Mixon. The fantasy community is leaving him for dead. He has a mysterious foot injury. He might not be ready for Week 1. But I imagine at some point he’ll be good to go. Maybe provide a back half of the season push for you. Taking him over Sutton, RJ Harvey and others was kind of gross though. Bogey. +4

In Round 6 you took Sam LaPorta. He is awesome. Solid Tight End. Hopefully a change at OC won’t negatively impact him. I don’t see him getting back to TE1 status like his rookie season, but Top 10 is a safe bet. Par, +4.

In Round 7 you took Zay Flowers. I like Zay, but not as a WR2. Maybe a WR3 or 4. Target share just isn’t good enough. Lamar can run, Henry, Andrews, Bateman, they added D-Hop. He’s the chain mover and is a better ppr asset than half ppr asset. Bogey. +5

In Round 8 you took Quinshon Judkins. Judkins is the only rookie who hasn’t signed his rookie contract. Ownership is waiting to see what happens with his trial. He allegedly struck his girlfriend. A few days later she reported it. His lawyer isn’t looking for an expedited trial. Which doesn’t bode well for him. I’m pretty sure the second he signs his contract the NFL is going to put him on the Commissioners exemption list and not let him play. There were several running backs on actual NFL rosters you could’ve chosen or an actual WR2 like Devonta Smith. This is like that viral video. You were playing slow on the course, someone hit into you, then a fight ensued. Another quad-bogey. +9 through 8.

In Round 9 you took Jerry Jeudy. He exploded last year! In games where Jamies was slinging it and in games AFTER Cedric Tillman, the true #1 for Cleveland got hurt. You’ll probably have Joe Flacco throwing the ball, but the fact that Jeudy fell into Round 9 tells you there is consensus that last season’s WR15 finish was a fluke. Bogey. +10

Round 10 you took Deebo Samuel. Not a bad flier given the McLaurin contract issue, but I don’t see Deebo being the same Deebo he was in his prime. More of a boom/bust WR4 for me. You do get the Jayden-Deebo stack which might be fun some weeks. Bogey. +11

Baker in the 11th was great. Par

Ekeler in the 12th was meh. Bogey +12

Keon Coleman was a birdie pick. With Khalif Shakur injured he could have a decent start to the season. +11

Corum meh, Likely was good.

Draft Grade: D+. Played this draft like an 15 handicapper. You broke 100 but only because you didn’t count mulligans and dropped a few balls that were lost out of bounds while your buddies weren’t looking. This team is God awful Ben. Jesus, how you do book a tee time during a fantasy draft? Are you used to an assistant managing your schedule for you? What would Chris Herron think? “YOU JACKASS!” – in the Happy Gilmore Jackass guy voice

10. Max

Max didn’t have the patience for our annual shenanigans this season, but he was a good sport and tried to make the best of drafting 10th. In my mock research time I thought 8th and 9th picks were the worst and 10th was a little better because you at least got the back to back. I was right. Max starts out with Amon-Ra St. Brown. A boring Top 10 WR. Goff’s number one and a grinder. I liked BTJ more, but Detroit is the more likely playoff team and scores in bunches to the benefit of Amon-Ra. Sometimes its not about the sexy pick though. Sometimes the grinder is who you want.

Then Max took Brock Bowers. There were 3 tight ends that could separate a team from the rest of the league. Max got one of them in Bowers. Geno Smith is an upgrade at QB. He was unguardable last season. They add Ashton Jeanty who will automatically demand respect for the running game. We all knew Bowers would be a stud. But 112 receptions for 1194 yards and 5 tds? Nasty work. Set it and forget it.

In Round 3 Max takes Jalen Hurts. Hurts is coming off his Super Bowl winning season. He rushed for 14 touchdowns. And yet, only finished as QB8. He missed a couple weeks due to injury, but also, Barkley happened. They didn’t need to throw! He played super conservatively. He only threw 361 attempts! compare that to 538 in 2023 and 460 in 2022. There has to be some positive regression here right? I see him as a Top 5 QB, but he’ll need to throw at least a little more. We’ll see if losing Kellen Moore as OC hurts, but I don’t think it will. If anything it might help. Especially if they don’t run as much and try to save Barkley’s legs for later in the season.

Having secured his QB1, WR1, and TE1 he needed a Running Back. He goes with Omarion Hampton. I love Hampton as a prospect and was excited he went in the first round and two the run-happy Chargers. In college, Hampton rushed for 1504 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2023 and 1660 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024. It was for North Carolina and it was in the ACC, but still. Incredible consistency. But like I mentioned in Quentin’s and Stephen’s grades, the Slater injury is tough. (Charges starting Left Tackle Rashawn Slater tears his patellar tendon and is lost for the season. They’ll move Joe Alt to Left Tackle and try to make RT work, but this lessened it a little bit more….Brandon Thorn moved them from fringe Top 10 offensive line to #25 offensive line. It was that big of a loss. I downgraded all Chargers players as a result of this loss.). I love Hampton, but I’m not sure if he’ll be good enough as an RB1.

In Round 5 and 6 Max did great with Courtland Sutton and RJ Harvey. A pair of Broncos. Courtland Sutton had his best season of his career last year with Bo Nix at the helm and Sean Payton as head coach. I see no reason why Sutton doesn’t repeat as a solid WR2. RJ Harvey might be a monster as well. Hand picked by Sean Payton to replace Javonte Williams. Giddy up. They brought in JK Dobbins as a veteran, but Harvey will smash this season.

In Round 7 Max takes Chris Godwin and follows it up with Kaleb Johnson, keeping up with the rookie running back trend. I worry about Godwin. A lot. I think Devonta Smith was more prudent of a pick and would’ve given you the Hurts-Smith stack. Godwin’s ankle was completely broken. Gruesome, terrible injury. One of those injuries where he might never get back to where he was. Certainly not in the first half of this season. Kaleb Johnson is another back where I see him taking back seat to Jaylen Warren for awhile before getting his own chunk of plays earned consistently. Arthur Smith loves committees, running three tight end sets, and he hates fantasy players. Except Jonnu Smith, he loves Jonnu Smith.

In Rounds 8 and 9 he took two more injured players. Cam Scattebo and Jennings. He wanted Ricky Pearsall and I stole him from him, so I won’t knock his grade too bad. Skattebo should carve out a role for him back half of the season. Jennings, we’ll see.

In later rounds great value in Brock Purdy, Cooper Kupp, and Dalton Kincaid. Providing good depth pieces.

Draft Grade: B. First 5-7 weeks Max will be in survival mode. He needs to get a few lucky breaks when it comes to scheduling. If he does that, I see him as being able to make a late season run. The most likely scenario is Max misses the playoffs and plays spoiler to other teams who are trying to make a run. Maybe he can knock me out with a huge week from Cam Scattebo and RJ Harvey in Week 12.

There you have it folks! Best of luck this season!

Draft Grades In Order:

1. Logan: A+

T2. Michael: B+

T2: Brad: B+

T2: Caleb: B+

T5. Max: B

T5: Andy: B

7: Quentin: B-

8: Stephen: C+

9: Josh: C-

10: Ben: D+

Maryanne Smith League Season 24 Draft Grades

August 26, 2024 bradleybertoniere Fantasy Football, NFL Fantasy Football, NFL, Preview, Recap

Here we are again. Drafting fantasy football teams together for almost a quarter of a century. The draft was a ton of fun. I love it when we all get together whether in person or virtually. Hopefully the fates will smile down upon us and give us an opportunity to get together in person soon. But even a zoom call made for a fun and entertaining couple of hours. Thank you to all that joined.

Now that the sentimental BS is over with let’s get to what you came here for. Grades. As always I’ll give my thoughts on players, teams, and give a subjective, arbitrary grade that means nothing. Last year my grades went like this:

Contenders:

Stephen: A
Max: A
Logan: A

Can Compete:

4. Andy: B+

5. Michael: B

6. Brad: B

7. Caleb: C+

Better Luck Next Year:

8. Quentin: D+

9. Ben: D

10. Josh: F

Now the playoff teams wind up being Stephen, Brad, Caleb, and Josh, with Stephen winning it all. He got the highest grade and won it all. Is that how it works? No. But I’m building credibility so you believe what I say next.

1. Michael.

Mike gets first pick and took the “manimal” Christian McCaffrey. CMC was on Mike’s Super Bowl winning teams in 2019 and 2018. He was also on Brad’s Super Bowl winning team in 2017. Since then he hasn’t won a super bowl for his team. Can Mike turn it around? CMC was on Caleb’s roster last year and that was good for a 3^rd place regular season and 3rd place final standing finish. Last season CMC averaged 22.36 fantasy points per game in half ppr. San Fran has a high implied scoring total estimation during the playoffs this year. This was the correct pick and Mike didn’t hesitate come draft day.

At the end of Round 2, Mike’s plan of drafting Isiah Pacheco was disrupted by Max taking the Chiefs bellcow one pick before him. Instead Michael selected Drake London at 2.10. He wasn’t sure who take after that, so he turned to the league for assistance. Brad took the call and moved up 3 spots via trade. A saavy move by Mike that would pay off for him in the 4^th round. Now when it comes to Drake London going ahead of Davante Adams, Chris Olave, Deebo, Mike Evans, Jaylen Waddle, DJ Moore, etc. London has finished as WR#36 and WR#39 in two NFL seasons. The Falcons have the easiest schedule this season according to Warren Sharp and other than Kyle Pitts and Darnell Mooney, London should have the lion’s share of targets. Michael plants his flag and says London WILL breakout in Year 3 and will be better than all of the wideouts I mentioned. He’s talented. Let’s see if Captain Kirk can make the vision become reality. Mike wind up trading Brad’s pick with Quentin to acquire Jalen Hurts at 3.5. I like Hurts and think he should be a Top 5 fantasy QB with Kellen Moore calling the plays for the Eagles. Having Barkley helps too.

In Round 4 Mike had the benefit of that earlier trade with Brad, so he was drafting from the 4.7 spot. The perfect spot to take Malik Nabers. Nabers looks like a monster, and I can see him being taken in the late first next year. IF he gets some consistent QB play. Daniel Jones is in a prove it year (like every year of his career I feel like), but they have Drew Lock backing him up. Nabers should get a ton of targets and I thought this was a slam dunk pick. I consistently selected Nabers at 4.7 in my mocks.

In Round 5 Mike traded back with Josh, trading 5.1 and 6.10 for 5.6 and 6.5 and swapping 12ths. Mike takes Trey McBride at 5.6. Love this pick. Think McBride is helped by the added Marvin Harrison weapon for the Cardinals and Kyler is healthier than ever. In the 6^th Mike takes Rashee Rice. Big pick here. Rice has several potential felony charges involved with a car accident with injuries where he allegedly fled the scene. This dug up some earlier scouting reports that had concerns with Rice and who he hung out with during his time at SMU. As of right now there is no indication from the league if/when he will be suspended for this accident. Which means Mike has a Top 2 target for Patrick Mahomes and the back-to-back Super Bowl winning Chiefs to start the year. With Hollywood Brown missing time due to an injured shoulder, Rice will be competing with Travis Kelce and rookie phenom Xavier Worthy for early season targets. We’ll see if Rice plays the whole season or if this incident comes back to bite. High risk/high reward type of call here.

In Round 7 Mike took good value in Rhamondre Stevenson. He got paid this offseason like the now and future starter. One must worry a little bit about Antonio Gibson’s role. Gibson can be a decent 3^rd down back. The other thing to worry about is the Patriots might be terrible again. They have one of the hardest schedules in the NFL this season looking at implied win total. The hope is volume with Rhamondre. In Round 8 Mike took Chase Brown. I think Zach Moss is a perfect fit in that offense. Everyone keeps saying Brown is the guy, but unless Zach Moss is dead, I don’t think Brown is as big a thing as people are letting on. We’ll see though. He had that great 50+ yard touchdown last year on a screen pass.

In Round 9 Tony Pollard. Seems like the Titans are going to be an electrifying offense and have two pass catching backs that are going to split time evenly. Pollard is now a full year and a half removed from his broken ankle and his main competition Tyjae Spears has no knee cartilage.

Mike got good value late with Jameson Williams, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rico Dowdle, and Jaylen Wright.

Draft Grade: B+. Mike was trading all over the place but the end result was good. Hurts-CMC-Nabers-McBride is a great core. Mike has depth at RB and some high upside WR depth too. The path to the playoffs for Mike will be if London’s 3^rd breakout happens according to plan, if Malik Nabers can overcome potentially inconsistent QB play, and whether or not the NFL cracks down on Rashee Rice at some point this season. Solid job.

2. Max.

Last year Max got an “A” draft grade, but it didn’t work out. Injuries plagued him and he struck out on Tee Higgins and Dameon Pierce. But this is a new year. Max got a monster with Breece Hall. He finished last season with games of 37.1-23.1-28.0 fantasy points. If he can carry that momentum into this year, a year further removed from his knee injury. Look out.

At the end of the 2^nd round he went Isiah Pacheco. Pacheco finished as RB#16 last year. The Chiefs defense got worse in the offseason in my opinion. And all signs point to them passing more and having more shootouts. With that being said, Pacheco is the starting running back on a very good football team. That’s a good asset to have.

At pick 3.2 Max went trips RB with PPR machine Alvin Kamara. He missed 3 games to start the year last year and sat out Week 18, but finished as RB#14. 15 half ppr points per game average though. Expanded over the whole season he would’ve finished RB #5. He caught 75 catches on 86 targets for 466 yards. It was his worst Yards per catch of his career, but the Saints added no new running backs. We drafted an OT with our first pick. The offense is virtually the same. It’s not crazy to think he keeps up this PPR pace. If he played the whole season with the reception average he had he would have had 98 catches last year.

In Round 4 Max goes DJ Moore. LOVED this pick. Caleb Williams is an upgrade at QB. Last year he was WR#6. How he fell to you at 4.9 is a mystery. They did add Keenan Allen and drafted Rome Odunze. But DJ Moore and Rome are locked in long term. Keenan Allen is a one year rental. DJ Moore is the wideout to have on the Bears and this was a great pick.

In Round 5 you got tremendous value in Devonta Smith. Smith was WR#20 last year, regressing a bit from his sophomore campaign, but in comes Kellen Moore for OC. The same Kellen Moore that led to Keenan Allen’s blow-up last year. Will AJ Brown remain X and will they put Smith in the valuable move him all around role? It’s possible, which means Smith could smash his ADP.

In Round 6 Max took Kyler Murray. This was a little early for QBs this year for me personally, but I think Kyler is locked in to be a Top 10 Fantasy QB this season. I’m high on the Cardinals this season.

In Round 7 you took George Pickens. He is the #1 WR on the Steelers. Arthur Smith. Russ Wilson or Justin Fields. Toughest schedule in the NFL according to Warren Sharp. But someone has to catch passes. Pickens wanted to be the alpha with all his complaining last couple of seasons. Well here is your chance hot shot. Max even said when he drafted him that he wanted an asshole on his team lol.

In Round 8 you took Javonte Williams. Meh. I am avoiding the Broncos backs for the most part. But this was decent value in case he can return to his pre knee injury form from a couple years ago. 9^th Round Taysom Hill. This might be sneaky good. TE finishes last 4 years: TE#4, #13, #5, #10. But just in case you took Dallas Goedert with the next pick. Good value picks with Austin Ekeler, Keon Coleman in the later rounds.

Draft Grade: A. I think Max did a great job again. This team scares me more than some others in the league. I’m glad Max isn’t in my division.

3. Stephen.

The King Slayer Stephen Kelly returns to defend his crown. The league was staring at a potential Brad three-peat. God knows what would have happened if Brad had won it all. The White Knight Stephen took him out. Stephen’s first five picks were phenomenal. In Round 1 he starts with Bijan Robinson. Bijan has the easiest schedule, has a better QB. And the passing game coordinator for the Rams that made Kyren Williams a thing is now the Falcons OC. Bijan was RB#9 last year but missed two games that he was active for due to a headache and flu-like symptoms. But Arthur Smith kept him active like a dick. The skies the limit for this back.

In Round 2 Stephen took Puka Nacua. Puka’s ADP dropped due to a bursa sac knee injury. All signs point to him being ready for Week 1, although they might be a bit cautious with his snap count. Cooper Kupp is also back and healthy so we’ll see if Puka can repeat his rookie phenom season or if he backtracks a bit in Year 2. When they were both on the field at the end of last season there were some games where they were split down the middle, others where Puka disappeared and others where Kupp disappeared. They are going to be a problem for opposing defenses.

In Round 3 Stephen goes Deebo Samuel. Little early looking at ESPN ADP, but right on the money if you look at competitive best ball tournaments. The San Fran offense goes through Deebo. That was obvious last year. When he was healthy, they won. When he wasn’t they didn’t. Despite missing 3 weeks last year he finished WR#12 and averaged 14.25 points per game. Solid.

In Round 4 Stephen took Nico Collins. 3^rd year breakout last year was great. Finished as WR#9. The concern for a repeat this season is the addition of Stefon Diggs in the offseason. But Nico got a contract extension and he’s the #1. I think Diggs provides depth and a true 2^nd wideout for 2 WR sets opposed to Tank Dell who is like a mighty mouse/speedster. Diggs started last year strong but then played horribly to finish the year. He might be dust.

In Round 5 Stephen takes James Cook. My word. In my other leagues Cook was a 2^nd round pick. Stephen gets him in Round 5. This is nuts! Cook was the bell cow last year when Joe Brady took over play calling for the Bills. Only problem was Latavius Murray. Cook would be used to get to redzone then they would take him out. I’m banking on some of that, but maybe less now that his backups are all rookies? Maybe? I think Bills defense takes a big step back this year and Cook can catch more passes out of the backfield, we’ll see.

In Round 6 Stephen doubled up on Bills with Dalton Kincaid. I don’t have issues with Kincaid. But Dawson Knox is still there and will take TE snaps away. Kincaid could play more slot, but that is where new addition Curtis Samuel specializes. They have MVS and Keon Coleman as weapons on the outside. It’s a bit of a mess, but maybe Kincaid can earn the lion’s share of targets? I liked Evan Engram and Jake Ferguson over Kincaid this season. More on that later.

In Round 7 Stephen took Joe Burrow. Geaux Tigers! Everyone hopes that Joe is back to 100% after a scary surgery involving his hand ligaments. Good value in a pair of panthers Diontae Johnson and Jonathan Brooks. Then just for shits and giggles Stephen got the scary Mahomes new toy in Xavier Worthy.

Draft Grade: A+. Stephen crushed this draft. I don’t give out A+’s often. His team has no weakness. He has a legitimate shot to repeat. Wow. Just blown away by this.

4. Brad.

24 years ago a nervous Bradley leaned over to Michael not knowing who he should pick. Michael was chewing on one of his mechanical pencils as he always did. Leaned over and pointed to the ESPN sheet I was holding. “He’s really good.” I nodded in agreement and selected my first fantasy football player ever. “Marvin Harrison”. Now here we are. Adults. And I had an opportunity to draft Marvin Harrison’s son, Marvin Harrison Jr. I know sentiment and feelings shouldn’t be considered when making logical decisions. It takes more than good juju to win in fantasy football. But I was willing to sacrifice this entire season for nostalgia and to be able to honor the memory of that faithful day 24 years ago. Moments matter.

With all that being said, Marvin Harrison Jr was a terrible first round pick. His ADP was 21 according to ESPN. But he was born to play this game. He’s built like CeeDee Lamb or AJ Green, much bigger than his father was. I’m bullish on the Cardinals this season. Kyler is healthier. MHJ should get high targets immediately. He’ll get going early and often this season.

In Round 2 Brad selects Kyren Williams. Kyren finished as RB#6 last year despite missing 3 weeks. His average fantasy points per game (19.9) was #2 amongst Running Backs only behind CMC. Now the passing game coordinator of the Rams is now the OC of the Falcons. And the Rams did draft Blake Corum from Michigan. Corum of course scored 27 touchdowns last year and helped end Nick Saban’s career with this run:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NBDegpbe90

And Kyren was dealing with a foot injury this offseason. But if he can stay healthy and hold off Corum he should continue to smash.

In Round 3 Mike asked if anybody wanted to move up to 3.1. Seeing Travis Etienne Jr there I had to take the bait. It cost me Malik Nabers in the next round, but I was happy to get Etienne. Etienne was RB#3 last year. His efficiency was terrible as he only averaged 3.8 yards per carry, but he caught 58 passes on 73 targets, scored 12 total touchdowns, and played in every game. The Jaquars offensive line should be better this year. And Trevor Lawrence played through multiple injuries last year and should be healthy and ready to go. They’ve also swapped out weapons Calvin Ridley and Zay Jones for Brian Thomas Jr. and Gabe Davis. An improvement in my opinion.

In Round 4 I missed out on Malik Nabers but was able to take Joe Mixon at 4.10. Why Mixon? Mixon seems to have a lock on RB1 duties for a good-looking Texans team. He could smash this season. He was RB#5 last year in a similar fashion to Etienne. High volume, low efficiency, played every game. Going Kyren-Etienne-Mixon for Brad is like the pioneers that crossed the Oregon Trail. They had mules. They aren’t pretty or graceful like horses. But they get the job done.

In Round 5 Brad goes DK Metcalf. Metcalf’s last four years of fantasy finishes: 6, 11, 18, 16. He’s consistently a WR1/WR2. The new Offense Coordinator is Ryan Grubb, who served as OC for the University of Washington that saw 574 pass attempts out of 985 total plays (58%). Now was that a product of having Penix, Odunze, Polk, and McMillan? Or will Grubbs bring that passing rate to the Seahawks? So far Metcalf is my most rostered player for 2024. Just a solid choice who can score at any time. One of my main reasons for drafting him? I don’t want to play against him.

Round 6: Terry McLaurin. Another boring veteran. He’s typically a fringe WR2/WR3. Last year he finished as WR#28 on a terrible Washington team. The O Line was a disaster. Sam Howell was a disaster. But everything is different. Jayden Daniels is a cheat code. Could McLaurin have a career year? I certainly think it’s a possibility. Daniels should be the best QB he’s had in his career. Boring pick, but a tickle of upside here. Think Kliff Kingsbury’s first year in Arizona and what he did for DeAndre Hopkins.

Round 7 Brad takes Evan Engram. Seems like good value. He was TE#2 last year and caught 114 passes. I do expect some regression in that department with the additions of Gabe Davis and Brian Thomas Jr., but even the year before he was Tight End #6.

In Round 8 Brad continued his onslaught of Honda Civic players with Chris Godwin. Godwin will move back into the slot this season, which is where he thrived a few years ago. In Round 9 Brad made his crucial error of the draft. More egregious than MHJ in the first. He took Brian Robinson Jr. He should have taken Jayden Daniels. With everyone having their QB locked in Brad got greedy thinking he can wait one more round for Daniels. Caleb had other plans. Now Robinson was RB#22 last year despite missing a couple games and they added the talented but aging Austin Ekeler. This coaching staff is new. Brad went RB depth over upside starting QB. The error could cost him big time.

In Round 10 Brad takes Jake Ferguson. Ferguson should be the #2 target on the Cowboys. He smashed in the playoff game against the Packers last year, catching 3 touchdowns. He could easily finish a Top 5 tight end this season and jump over aging super stars in the category like Kelce and Kittle. After missing on Daniels Brad decided to double up on Tight End, knowing there were still several good Qbs out there.

In Round 11 Brad’s consolation prize was Jordan Love. Love was QB#5 last year. His weapons are legit. He got paid like a Super Star. Can he repeat his Top 5 Fantasy finish? Late picks were meh and will probably all get dropped at some point. Although Gabe Davis is always fun for a Boom/Bust spot start.

Draft Grade: -1 Letter Grade for MHJ in first. -1 Letter Grade for whiffing on Jayden Daniels. This looks like a typical Brad team. Going to put up 85-105 points. Not going to pop off for 150 any weeks. But will be consistent and solid and make you show up to beat them. I swear I stared at this roster for an hour after our draft not knowing what to make of it. It’s not like any I’ve seen before. I believe the correct Gen Alpha vernacular is “It’s Mid”. Draft Grade: C

5. Quentin.

After Brad got sentimental, Quentin got back to business taking Justin Jefferson. Many rankers have Tyreek, Chase, and Lamb over JJ this season, but they all have some issues. Chase and Lamb are holding out for new contracts. Tyreek has a little wrist injury he’s working through. JJ’s concern is his QB is Sam Darnold and his other stars Addison and TJ Hockenson are banged up to start the season. The worry with the Vikings right now is this. If they are terrible, they may shut down their super star so he doesn’t get hurt later on in the year. I think it’s premature to say stuff like that and love the upside of the stud who averages almost 100 yards per game in his career so far.

In Round 2 Quentin gets Jonathan Taylor. WTF is the back half of the draft doing? In fact every single team that drafted from Picks #6-10 is getting docked a letter grade for passing on Jonathan Taylor twice. You idiots! I swear Quentin if you would have passed on him and I would have gotten him yall would have erased my penalty for taking MHJ. JT has a legit chance to lead the league in rushing yards this season. I can see him rushing for 1800 yards. People just like… Nah! Great pick Quentin.

In Round 3 Quentin did the weird trade thing with Mike but landed on Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes fantasy finishes every year being a starter: 1, 7, 4, 4, 1, 8. Last year was his worst year as a starter. They still won it all. Now they lost some key people on defense. And they added Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Xavier Worthy. He should be back as a Top 4 fantasy QB this year with an outside chance of breaking passing records this season. He doesn’t run, but look at the finishes. It doesn’t really matter.

In Round 4 Quentin got great value in Jaylen Waddle. Waddle is a stud and if Tyreek Hill wasn’t in Miami Waddle would be a late 1^st/early 2^nd round pick. Now he had a down year last year while Tyreek was trying to get 2000 yards. (He finished with 1799). But this year Tyreek has said that is not his goal this year because it would be selfish. I think that says they are going to spread it out a little more evenly and Waddle’s numbers go up. They paid him like they will anyway.

In Round 5 the head scratcher. Lamar Jackson. It’s a 10-team league Quentin. There are 12 starting Qb’s available via free agency right now post-draft. My strategy was to wait as long as possible to draft a QB. Quentin has two after five rounds. Lamar Jackson averaged 21.14 points per game last year for his QB#4 finish. Jordan Love, who I drafted in Round 11, averaged 19.42 points.

In Round 6 George Kittle after a trade with Stephen. Kittle was quiet last year and yet still finished as TE#5. That gives him 3 seasons in a row finishing as a Top 5 Fantasy Tight End. With his playing style he has played exactly 1 full NFL season in 7. But he does tough it out and suits up for most of them. Also, if you watched Receiver on Netflix you know he isn’t afraid to get an injection and go back out there and throw his body around to help his team win.

In Round 7 Quentin finally takes his 2^nd RB with Aaron Jones. He was banged up last year and is going to be 30 in December. Reports out of camp is the plan is for him to handle 15-18 touches per game, which is solid. But will the Vikings be good with Sam Darnold at the helm? Doubling up with Vikings means you think so. At least Jones should play well in his two Packers revenge games.

In Round 8 Quentin took Keenan Allen. Keenan Allen who I shat on last year right before he popped off for a WR#8 finish in only 13 games of action, averaging over 17 points per game. We’ll see how Caleb Williams distributes the ball for the Bears, but with Rome and DJ Moore locked in long term it seems Allen is just a 1-year rental. Do you throw him the ball a bunch to use and abuse him or do you work on your rapport with your buddies that will be with you long term?

In Round 9 Nick Chubb. We’ll see if Chubb can return to former glory after having his leg nearly break off last year in Week 2. He’s a grinder so I won’t bet on him not coming back, but if I’m the Browns I’m not giving him 30 carries any time soon.

Loved Gus Edwards in Round 10. Should be the starter for Greg Roman’s offense for the Chargers. They want to pound the rock. Insert Gus Bus who rushed for over 800 yards and 13 touchdowns last year.

Draft Grade: C+. Love the core of Mahomes-JT-JJ-Waddle-Kittle. But RB2, Flex, and WR depth concern me. You know, might have been a good time to address one of those areas around Round 5 when you were taking YOUR 2^ND QB IN A 10 TEAM LEAGUE.

***Every Team Drafting 6^th-10^th lost 1 letter grade as a result on passing on Jonathan Taylor twice***

6. Josh.

Tyreek again! Tyreek smashed last year. He had an offseason goal of getting 2000 yards and the crazy bastard almost did it (He finished with 1799). But Tyreek has said that is not his goal this year because it would be selfish of him. But he’s still Tyreek. Even if he gets 1500 yards instead of almost 1800 I think you’ll be okay. My concern with him is Week 17 they play @ Cleveland. So if you make the Super Bowl he might have another Frozen game like in Kansas City last year when they couldn’t do anything. But that’s a long ways away.

In Round 2 you took Derrick Henry. Now I would have loved this pick. I’m big on Henry this year on the Ravens. If Gus Edwards can get 800 yards and 13 touchdowns then surely Derrick Henry can do more than that right? But taking him over Jonathan Taylor was ludicrous. Last year was a mess. I get that. He had the contract crap, the ankle crap, then randomly he broke his hand and missed a few more games. But heading into the year he’s healthy, he’s happy, he’s signed long term. He’s ready to SMASH. Love Henry, but not over JT. No way.

In Round 3 you took Pfizer spokesperson Travis Kelce. He’s 34 and obviously dating Taylor Swift. He’s back on a two year deal hoping to do the unthinkable. Win a third championship in a row. Kelce who despite missing a couple games last season still finished as TE#3 extending his streak of consecutively Top 3 TE finishes to 8 seasons. Can he make it 9?

In Round 4 Josh takes Josh. Jacobs that is. When this offseason signing happened my initial thought was it was a good fit. I do think Josh Jacobs will be better in Green Bay than Aaron Jones was last year. Jacob’s signed on for a few years and should be ready to roll. The Packers offense looks scary and Jacobs should do well, especially when the weather gets colder. I had Mixon and Cook ranked higher than him in my rankings, but I could certainly see Jacobs outscoring both of them.

In Round 5 you traded with Michael to obtain a Michael. Pittman Jr that is. Pittman finished as WR #15 last year despite Gardner Minshew throwing him the ball for most of the season. Anthony Richardson is back, so a bigger arm could help Pittman’s prospects. Great value in Round 5 I think.

At the end of the 6^th round Josh got his QB in… Brock Purdy. Over Burrow, Dak, Jayden Daniels. Purdy was QB#6 last year. That’s true. Did you need to take him here though? Tough to say. I think you should have waited. Especially considering you were able to get Caleb Williams in Round 10.

In Round 7 Josh takes Tee Higgins. I’m down with it. He has all the potential in the world, but it hasn’t materialized yet. Maybe if Burrow and him are both healthy this year and Chase is a little slower due to his contract disputes maybe Tee can make the magic happen. He’s on the franchise tag and is looking to secure a huge contract in the offseason. Great pick.

In Round 8 Josh takes Tulane stud Tyjae Spears. I think the answer to Tony Pollard versus Tyjae Spears is “Yes”. Spears showed flashes of brilliance last year while backing up Derrick Henry. Spears hype train was derailed a bit this offseason when the Titans signed redundant Tony Pollard to a 3 year $21.75 milly contract. Pollard is a better catcher than runner and Spears last year caught 52/70 targets for 385 receiving yards and a TD. All offseason I’ve seen it’s a 1A and 2A situation where they will be interchangeable. But if Brian Callahan splits the work and airs it out more than previous Derrick Henry/Mike Vrabel seasons then it should be a fun show to watch. And if one of them gets hurt, look out.

In Round 9 Josh goes Calvin Ridley sticking to the Titans theme. I think he’ll be used in a similar fashion as he was in Jacksonville. The Titans new OC was the Jaguars passing game coordinator last year. Stick with who you know I guess. DeAndre Hopkins has a knee injury which should help Ridley. It’s all up to Will Levis.

In Round 10 Josh got Caleb Williams. High upside pick. Great value with Jakobi Meyers late.

Draft Grade: B-. Passing on JT and reaching on Purdy should’ve been enough to get you to your normal C to D range, but your team is solid. Two manimals at RB. 4 Solid Wideouts. Some depth. Josh. I see the improvement and I appreciate you. Remember Stephen drafted you into his division. Make him pay.

7. Logan.

CeeDee Lamb! #1 WR’s from previous seasons don’t normally fall to 7^th. Lamb’s contract situation needs to be worked out sooner rather than later, but he’s a stud. I remember when he was drafted into the NFL. Falcons were on the clock and passed on him for a Cornerback. Dallas took him despite already having Amari Cooper because they drafted on talent not on need. Falcons suck. Dig the pick.

In the 2^nd round you had quite the dilemma. AJ Brown, who was going in firsts for most drafts. Or secure that first RB. I would have taken AJB over Henry and Kyren like you did. But over JT? I don’t think I could’ve done it. But AJ Brown is a stud. His two seasons in Philly he’s finished as WR#5 and WR#7. Insert Kellen Moore as the OC and look out.

In Round 3 Logan goes Davante Adams. Adams ADP was late 2^nd/early 3^rd. Another value pick for Logan. Adams finished WR#11 last year despite having horrific QB play for most of the year. Gardner Minshew is an improvement and helped Michael Pittman finish as WR#13 last year. Probably would have been prudent to go RB here, but the Lamb-AJB-Adams trio is straight nasty.

In Round 4 you did it again. Now it’s getting ridiculous. But Evans is an underrated beast every year. Here are all of Mike Evans fantasy finishes starting from his rookie season to now: WR#12, 23, 1, 19, 9, 12, 10, 8, 16, 5. Does that sound like someone that should be going in the 4^th round to you?

In Round 5 you took Brandon Auyik. His finishes the past two years were WR#15 and WR#14. He has been holding out for a new contract this offseason as well. The Steelers are interested in trading for him. But the 49ers are in win now mode. Its an interesting dilemma for both team and player. I think the Niners want to see how Ricky Pearsall is before pulling the trigger on a trade, but Pearsall has been hurt all training camp with a shoulder issue. I predict Auyik stays a 49er and has another WR2 finish. If he gets traded to the Steelers I would downgrade him to a WR3.

In Round 6 you finally got a RB. James Conner. Career year last year in terms of rushing yards for Conner and he finished as RB#18 despite missing a few weeks. He’ll have to fend off Michael Carter and Trey Benson to keep the lead job. I like Conner, but not as a RB1.

In Round 7 you took Raheem Mostert. Mostert balled out last year. RB#2 due to his 18 rushing touchdowns. I don’t think he hits 18 again, but I do think he gets a lot of work in that Dolphins time share at RB. Decent RB2.

In Round 8 Logan takes Zamir White. High volume bruiser who will get plenty of opportunities for Antonio Pierce’s Raiders. White should be the bellcow for the Raiders this season as they only brought in Alexander Mattison and drafted Dylan Laube as his competition. Laube could carve a 3^rd down role for himself, but White should be Jacobs straight up replacement.

Logan gets Dak in Round 9. QB#3 finish last year and he gets the Dak-Lamb stack which is nice. Prescott is also working on finalizing a contract extension with the Cowboys. They may decide to clean house if they don’t win it all this year. But solid starting fantasy QB in Round 9.

Logan got great value in Jayden Reed and Jerome Ford and David Njoku. Reed should be the most consistent of the Packers wideouts. Njoku was a monster last year and Ford should get a lot of work as Nick Chubb works his way back from his knee injury.

Draft Grade: B-. The Wideouts are SO GOOD. The RBS are so mediocre. Depth is great.

8. Andy.

Chase at 8? Come on. Great value. He’s been holding in all summer. Where he shows up to practice but doesn’t practice. He wants a new contract, but he’s a year too early. He is supposed to hold out next summer. The Bengals want to try and win a Super Bowl this year then lock him down and let Tee Higgins Walk. It’s been their obvious plan for awhile now. Chase needs to show up and ball out.

In Round 2 Andy chose Gibbs. Gibbs over JT is legit. I think it’s a solid argument. Gibbs has the talent to be a Top 5 fantasy RB. He just needs the opportunity. David Montgomery kind of blocks that opportunity. But even with Monty there Gibbs finished as RB#10 last year. And that’s with Gibbs missing 2 weeks too.

Andy stuck with the Lions theme in Round 3 going Sam LaPorta. The Iowa product came into the NFL in a BIG way last year with his TE#1 finish. He should remain the 2^nd target behind Amon-Ra in the Lions passing attack.

In Round 4 Andy goes with Rachaad White. White got all the volume last year. He wasn’t the most efficient with it, but volume is volume and he finished as RB#7. 3.64 yards per carry isn’t going to do it though. Word from Tampa Bay camp is that Bucky Irving’s skill set fits better into the OC’s running scheme/system. If White repeats his volume from last year great pick. If he doesn’t…

In Round 5 Andy goes Tank Dell. This is an Andy pick. Tank is a little speed devil. He was great last year prior to breaking his leg. But I think the Texans learned their lesson. Don’t run your fast 165-pound wide receiver up the middle at the goal line. Little concerned about a dip in targets due to Stefon Diggs signing. Also, don’t sleep on John Metchie III.

In Round 6 Andy went with CJ Stroud. This allowed him to not have to change his team photo. Clutch. An impressive rookie with 499 pass attempts last season with only 5 interceptions. That is freaking nuts. They add Stefon Diggs and Joe Mixon to his weapons arsenal. Does he continue to transcend? Or does he experience a little sophomore slump?

In Round 7 Andy takes Stefon Diggs. I don’t think Diggs is startable unless Nico Collins and/or Tank Dell gets hurt. I just don’t see a path where all three WR’s are consistent. Nico is the most likely to be consistent. Taking Diggs over Amari Cooper was a terrible pick in my opinion. Why have a #1 WR that scored a 50+ point game last year when you could have a WR3 that might be dust!

Andy got decent value in Round 8 with D’Andre Swift. Starter for what looks like a very potent Bears offense. Khalil Herbert will probably take more snaps than you’d like, but Swift has been explosive in years past. He’s been a Lion, an Eagle, and now a Bear, oh my!

Love. Love. Love. The Brian Thomas Jr. Pick. While doing my film watching I saw an absolute stud. Many people think he played second fiddle to Nabers and couldn’t do all the things that Nabers could do. But man. His jump balls for touchdowns, his jukes in the middle. Dude can play. Nabers/Thomas have a legit chance to replicate Chase/JJ. JJ had a NFL prospect score of 6.46 and went #22 overall to the Vikings. BTJ had a NFL prospect score of 6.47 and went #23 overall to the Jaguars. I don’t think BTJ is JJ. But does he have the potential to ascend to that level? I think there is a chance. He takes Ridley’s WR18 role right away. Ridley did that with a lot of close misses and with T Law banged up most of the year. What can Thomas do with a healthy T-Law?

The rest of Andy’s draft was some great depth pieces like Addison, Hopkins, Allgeier, and Allen.

Draft Grade: B-. Loved his early picks, loved his late picks. Just don’t care of the Dell-Diggs-Swift middle rounds. 7 decent wideouts. Who do you start? RB2 might be a problem at times. At least you drafted a team that you like and will have fun rooting for them.

9. Ben.

Sun God! Amon-Ra St. Brown. CMC-like energy after watching Receiver on Netflix. Very impressed by his grind. WR#3 last year despite being hurt and missing a game. Gutsy player. A-ok with the pick here.

In Round 2 Ben went Barkley. Saquon! I personally would have gone JT here but to each their own. Barkley has always been a stud, just on a bad team. But now he’s a stud, on a good team. His best fantasy performance was during his rookie season where he finished as RB#2. Since then it’s been a mixed bag with finishes of #10, 114, 32, 6, 12. 2020 was the ACL year I think and 2021 was the ankle. But for the last couple years he’s put up RB1 numbers. Miles Sanders was RB#13 his last year in Philly. Swift was RB#23 last year in Philly. Time to see what Barkley can do.

Ben got great value in Round 3 when Chris Olave fell to him. His ESPN Average Draft Position (ADP) is 19. Ben got him at Pick#29. That’s legit. He’s been WR #25 and #19 in his two NFL seasons so far. Will he have a third-year breakout? Or will Derek Carr’s inconsistencies cap his ceiling?

Round 4 you took Josh Allen. Why not? Josh Allen’s QB finishes the past 4 seasons: Qb#1, 1, 2, 1. That’s pretty fucking great. There are concerns for his weapons after losing Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, but they added Curtis Samuel, Keon Coleman, MVS. I still think he finishes Top 5 QB though because their defense has lost a TON of players. I think they’ll be throwing a lot and that will help Allen despite not having the same weapons.

Ben took Zay Flowers in Round 5. Flowers is a shifty cat. Should build on his solid rookie season. He isn’t going to kill anyone, but he’ll get decent production most weeks.

David Montgomery was a solid pick in Round 6. Loved it. RB#13 last year despite missing 3 weeks. 13 touchdowns. He’s a solid RB 2 to snag in Round 6.

In Round 7 Ben goes Christian Kirk. Kirk was doing pretty well last year in his 2^nd season with Jacksonville until he tore his groin. The additions of BTJ and Gabe Davis hurt Kirk’s value in my opinion. It wasn’t a good sign that BTJ and Davis were lined up in 2 WR sets in the preseason games. Kirk might be slot specialist/WR3 on the pecking order. Taking him over Amari Cooper was pretty bad in my opinion.

In Round 8 you got Kyle Pitts. I sent you a funny meme about Pitts always busting. (see below) Well like I’ve mentioned before. The Rams passing game coordinator is the new OC for Atlanta. And it’s not like Tyler Higbee was smashing. But 8^th round it’s worth the upside as long as you draft someone else in case he busts again.

In Rounds 9 and 10 you got two veteran running backs on new teams. I think both start to start the year. Devin Singletary for the G Men who is familiar with Brian Daboll’s system from his time in Buffalo. And Zach Moss who showed brilliant flashes last year for the Colts. His ability to run from the shot gun fits beautifully into the Bengals offensive scheme.

Great value in Round 11 Hollywood Brown, Round 12 Blake Corum, and Round 13 Courtland Sutton. I’m bullish on Corum this season.

Draft Grade: C+. This is one of those situations where someone drafted value picks but created a team that I hate. Like if you had pretty-looking puzzle pieces and they looked like they created a beautiful piece of art. But once assembled they made a picture of dog poo. It’s like this horse meme where the first pane is ADP value. The second pane is potential. And the third pane is actual results.

10. Caleb.

Oh boy. Wow. Where to begin? Let me start with a quick run down of Caleb’s selections and how I feel about them then I’ll go into who and why.

Bad
Terrible
Great
Great
Good
Great
Great
Good
Good
Great
Good
Bad
Good
Bad
Good
Good

Lets dive in.

Round 1: Bad. Garret Wilson is a rich guy’s Drake London. He has had two years of bad QB play and flashes of brilliance. His two finishes were WR#19 and WR#32 last year. You are banking on him not only securing the third-year breakout, but outscoring AJ Brown (WR#7) and Puka Nacua (WR#4). Aaron Rodgers is 40, coming off a torn Achilles and was recently considered to be RFK Jr’s running mate. I get hesitation over Puka’s knee, but taking Wilson over AJB is just dumb.

Round 2. Deep breathes Brad. Deep breathes. You took De’Von Achane over Jonathan Taylor and Jahymr Gibbs. You took… Achane over JT and Gibbs. You took a backup RB who is always hurt over JT and Gibbs. Mostert ran for 18 touchdowns last season. They drafted Jaylen Wright. In Weeks 3-5 last year Achane scored 99.8 fantasy points and was RB#1, 5, and 4 those weeks. Then he got hurt and missed 4-5 weeks. When he came back from Weeks 13-18 he scored 87.5 points was RB#3, 24, 29, 52, 8, 21. Mostert is re-signed on a two year deal. Drafted Jalen Wright. Here are Achane’s snap %s for every game he played in: 10%, 41%, 60%, 48%, 4%, 61%, 46%, 39%, 55%, 48%, 63% and the playoff game 38%. Over 25% of his entire fantasy output came in that freak Denver game where the Dolphins won 70-20. RB’s I have ranked over Achane this season: CMC, Hall, Bijan, Gibbs, JT, Barkley, Kyren, Etienne, Henry, Kamara, Cook, Mixon. You took him 11 overall. “Terrible” in a Charles Barkley voice.

Round 3. Great pick! Cooper Kupp is healthy and looks great. Even when he was playing with Puca at the end of last season they were both doing great. Think this was as huge value and a solid WR2 for your squad.

Round 4 you took Kenneth Walker III. GREAT RB2. Love love love it. High volume, explosive. He’s missed two games each of his first two years in the league, but he’s a Chris Carson clone and he took up the mantle seamlessly.

Round 5 you took Mark Andrews. Andrews missed a couple games in 2022 but was fighting injury all year and finished TE#4. Last year was same story, missing 7 games and finishing as TE#13. His per game fantasy point average is there (11.29). He just needs to stay on the field.

Anthony Richardson baby! Love me some Anthony Richardson. Dude is huge and flashed his potential last season. Let’s hope they figure out how to keep him healthy because the sky is the limit.

Phenomenal value in Amari Cooper in Round 7! Cooper finished WR#18, but missed a couple games. He also had that 15 target, 11 catch, 265 yard, 2 touchdown game against the Texans in Week 16.

Great value with the Steelers duo at RB in Rounds 8 and 9. Najee and Warren. Najee Harris is solid for 1000+ yards and 8 touchdowns, which he has done every year of his career so far. Only concern with the duo is Arthur Smith bringing in Cordarrelle Patterson.

Then. It happened. Caleb ruined my draft. Jayden Daniels in Round 10. It was my own fault. But great, high upside pick. He is very similar to Richardson. High upside, high injury risk due to running ability. The difference is Daniels BMI is 25.6 and Richardson’s BMI is 29.7. And Richardson STILL got hurt last year. I’m rooting for both because they will make football and fantasy football more fun. Good luck choosing the right starter each week.

Good value in later picks as well. Christian Watson, who supposedly found out why his hamstrings kept getting hurt. He saw a specialist and they determined one of his legs were bigger than the other. They adjusted his strength training and workouts to strengthen the hamstrings the right way. I hope he stays active all year, he is a promising young talent. Great value with Jaleel and Herbert too.

Draft Grade: C+. I hated your first two picks so much. It might work out, but I hate it. Then you did an incredible job building depth and finding value in later rounds. I don’t hate your team. Hate the first two picks. Don’t hate your team.

There we have it folks. Here are the draft grades in order of picks:

Michael: B+
Max: A
Stephen: A+
Brad: C
Quentin: C+
Josh: B-
Logan: B-
Andy: B-
Ben: C+
Caleb: C+

Here are the draft grades in order of grade:

Stephen: A+
Max: A
Michael: B+
Josh: B-
Logan: B-
Andy: B-
Quentin: C+
Caleb: C+
Ben: C+
Brad: C

And here are ESPN’s draft grades that they emailed out to everyone post draft:

Stephen: A
Michael: B
Andy: B
Ben: B
Josh: B
Brad: C
Quentin: C
Logan: C
Caleb: C
Max: C

Good Luck This Season!

Dynamo Dynasty Mock Draft #1 (Pre NFL Draft)

April 19, 2024April 19, 2024 bradleybertoniere Draft Guide, Dynasty, Fantasy Football, Mock Draft, NFL, Quarterbacks, Rankings, Wide Receivers Dynasty League, Fantasy Football, Mock Draft, NFL, Preview

Andy- Marvin Harrison Jr., Wide Receiver, Ohio State, 6’4″ 205 lbs, Age: 21.7

As close to a slam dunk prospect as you can imagine. Andy won the lottery last year by winning the consolation bracket thanks to CeeDee Lambs explosion to end the 2023 season. CeeDee Lamb is skipping voluntary OTAs wanting a new contract so Andy gets someone who is comped between AJ Green and CeeDee Lamb. Only way Andy doesn’t go Harrison is if Nabers goes to Chargers and Andy might get the Herbert-Nabers stack. Son of a hall of famer is so confident in his abilities he didn’t waste time training to run a 40 yard dash or running around cones. He’s been working on his route running and preparing for his first NFL season.

2. Cuz- Malik Nabers, Wide Receiver, LSU, 6’0″ 200 lbs, Age: 20.7

Many argue Nabers was robbed for the 2023 Biletnikoff as he had the better statistical season than Harrison. (89, 1569, 14) vs (67, 1211, 14). I’m sure people rationalized it by saying LSU had more offensive opportunities because our defense was Swiss cheese. Nabers has been comped to Jamarr Chase. But it’s going to be fun to watch which of these two wideouts wind up the better pro. Slam dunk pick. Cuz was offered a franchise altering trade offer from Fantasy Football Brad including multiple 1sts for this spot to which Cuz denied. And I don’t blame him.

3. Ian- Brock Bowers, Tight End, Georgia, 6’4″ 240 lbs, Age: 21.4

If Ian actually exists he has two first round picks in a deep wide receiver class. That makes me lean Bowers here. The two time Mackey award winner is a hybrid between George Kittle, Rob Gronkowski, and Travis Kelce. Meaning he’s just Brock Bowers. The concern would be if he winds up with the injury history of a Kittle or Gronk as he played through an ankle injury in his last college season. He also didn’t do athletic testing which historically has been a key predictor of tight end NFL success. I think the film speaks for itself.

4. Dan- Rome Odunze, Wide Receiver, Washington, 6’3″ 216 lbs, Age: 21.9

In conversations with Dan this pick could go way differently depending on how the first three shake out. He’ll have his choice to a player that is comped with Mike Evans, Larry Fitz, and Davante Adams or the pick of Top QB or LSUs Brian Thomas. I’ll go conservative here and say he takes best wideout available in Odunze. A lot of mocks have him going to Chicago at 9 which would severely limit his rookie season production potential seeing as the Bears added Keenan Allen to a receiver group led by DJ Moore. Dan is a bit of a wildcard at pick #4 so I wouldn’t be surprised if he shakes up the draft here, but for now I’m going to say he drafts based on talent and takes Odunze who can seemingly do it all.

5. Colton- Brian Thomas Jr., Wide Receiver, LSU, 6’3″ 205 lbs, Age: 21.5

Colton couldn’t have had worse luck last season. Every running back busted. Players got hurt. Young potential studs busted. It was borderline a nightmare. The bright spots were Jordan Love, AJ Brown, and David Njoku. Now that a lot of his running backs have switched teams it allows him to continue to build the team by drafting best player available. I think Thomas is the 4th best wideout in this draft class. It’s hard to comp Thomas. There haven’t been many with his athletic testing and production COMBINED with playing second fiddle to a stud like Nabers on LSUs potent offense. It was glorious watching him catch long balls for touchdowns last season. (17). Some were beautiful catches too. His stock could shoot up or down depending on landing spot but you can’t argue against the talent.

6. Brad- Caleb Williams, Quarterback, USC, 6’1″ 216 lbs, Age: 21.4

You have got to be kidding me? Is this asshole really going to roll with Mahomes-Richardson-Williams on a dynasty roster for a 1 QB league? Look. I draft best player available. Period. Williams can fall into success with Allen, Moore, and potentially another stud wide receiver weapon added via the draft. There was scarcity at QB last season. Scarcity means leverage. Brad is #1 in QB category according to KTC and this would ensure that won’t be changing for the next decade.

7. Adam– Adonai Mitchell, Wide Receiver, Texas, 6’2″ 205 lbs, Age: 21.5

This is a tough choice but looking at Adam’s roster and how he traded away Tank Dell last season I could see him taking the bigger td threat versus Worthy. Adam has Josh Allen and Amon-Ra St Brown. Adam Schefter reported in a podcast with Establish the Run cofounder Adam Levitan that scouts and mock drafters are too low on AD Mitchell and he thinks he goes in the middle of the first round. So basically an Adam spoke to an Adam about an Adonai that gets picked by an Adam. Say that five times fast.

8. Ian (via Mike B)– Jayden Daniels, Quarterback, LSU, 6’4″ 181 lbs, Age: 23.4

Ian traded away Tajae Spears and Pick 2.03 to move up. I think he takes that kid Jayden. The Heisman winner falling to 8th pick would be a gift from the Fantasy Gods for Ian. With Murray out for most of the year last year Ian had Daniel Jones who busted then he scooped up Gardner Minshew and Bryce Young. But he doesn’t want to keep playing that game. Drafting Jayden would allow him to drop or trade away Daniel Jones, Gardner Minshew, and Bryce Young to acquire more draft capital or roster space to take some fliers later in the draft. If he comes away with a Daniels-Bowers stack to partner with his JJ-Adams-Deebo trio at wide receiver he’d be a contender category FOR SURE. He also has 2 picks in the third to try and take swings at potential stars.

9. Mike D– Xavier Worthy, Wide Receiver, Texas, 6’1″ 165 lbs, Age: 21.0

Achane. Waddle. Why not add another speedster? If Dickinson has a type it’s SPEED. Scouts are worried that Worthy is too small at 165 lbs and that he is John Ross 2.0. That’s a lazy comparison. Worthy did set the record for the 40 yard dash with a 4.21. But if you watch his film. He played fast. There’s a reason he caught 20 more balls than AD Mitchell last season. Every curl route he was wide open. Corners couldn’t hang with his speed. And his production profile was much better than John Ross or previous undersized speedsters who failed. Plus the NFL is different now. Devonta Smith (170), Jordan Addison (175), and Tank Dell (165) have proven it could work if schemed correctly. Depending on landing spot Worthy has a wide range of Dynamo rookie draft outcomes.

10. Ollie- Troy Franklin, Wide Receiver, Oregon, 6’3″ 187 lbs, Age: 21.2

Franklin is tough to comp like Thomas. There’s a flavor of Jameson Williams, but what we do know is he is fast. Oregons offense didn’t throw it deep, like at all. Bo Nix threw it short, a ton. But Franklin did a great job getting separation and was a reliable target for Nix. He has the height 6’3” and the college production profile. He’s just a little skinny like the wideouts mentioned in previous pick (175). But a lot of mocks have him going to Chiefs or Bills at the end of Round 1, but there are teams drafting QBs at the beginning of Round 1 that might take him at the beginning of Round 2 and that could be a good situation for him. Ollie could be tempted to take the top RB of the class but let’s be real. Ollie needs wideouts not more RBs.

11. Dom- Ladd McConkey, Wide Receiver, Georgia, 6’0″ 185 lbs, Age: 22.5

Another tough choice for me, so I know it will be for Dom. He could elect Brooks who is comped as a potential Jamaal Charles. But Brooks tore an ACL in November and will have a slow start. Dom is in win-now mode having shipped Tyreek away for Breece Hall and then Warren away for Pittman. He is getting a bit younger but the competitor in Dom takes over. I think he denies delayed gratification and goes with the craziest footwork wide receiver in the draft. McConkey didn’t produce much, but he is a phenom in the middle of the field. Depending on landing spot he could be a Top 5 wideout in this draft class. And let’s be real. Dom is driven by envy of Mike B. Knowing Mike B landed Puka a late round flier turned Top 10 dynasty asset we all know Dom wants to beat Mike by getting someone with Cooper Kupp level footwork.

12. Oscar- Jonathan Brooks, Running Back, Texas, 6’0″ 207 lbs, Age: 20.8

The champion built his roster on young/in their prime RBs and older wideouts. Why stop now? Because he has Jacobs-Pacheco-Mostert-Najee-Ford he can A-fford to wait on Brooks and draft based on potential. Brooks will be slow to start but will probably get going around the time Chubb comes back and starts taking away Fords playing time. This just feels like an Oscar type move. He could elect to go wide out, but what’s better the 9th best wide out or the #1 best running back prospect?

Thanks for reading guys. I know these are mostly wrong, but why not have a little fun in our offseason?!

-Fantasy Football Brad

BBY Dream Team League Season 15 Week 5 Recap & Week 6 Preview

October 11, 2023November 21, 2023 bradleybertoniere Fantasy Football, NFL, Quarterbacks, Wide Receivers Fantasy Football, NFL, Preview, Recap

Week 5 Recap:

Katon (4-1) 124.1 vs. Brad (2-3) 119.2

Brad loses in a nail biter. Katon had solid performances except from his Cardinals as James Conner got hurt and only got 4.6 and Matt Prater only scored 1 fantasy point. He was carried by Ja’Marr Chase’s 49.7 points. Went HAM on Brad. For Brad the big story was Anthony Richardson getting hurt… again. This time a bad shoulder injury that will include an IR stint and possibly be season ending. The other big story for Brad is he wasn’t out of this going into Sunday Night Football with his tight end Jake Ferguson playing and only being down 9.2 points. But the Niners decided to make an example out of the Cowgirls and well here we are.

Scotty (4-1) 119.8 vs. Mike (1-4) 110.8

Scotty bounces back from his Week 4 loss to Brad with a victory over Mike. Tyreek Hill got back to his normal self, scoring 33.1 points. Tua added 19.8 and Alvin Kamara got 17.2. Scotty also had big performances out of Steelers D/ST (19) and his kicker Butker (10). For Mike he got a huge 37.5 from Zach Moss despite JT being back in the lineup. Gutsy call and it paid off, but no one else on his team stepped up. He wind up with 5 players in single digits and the loss. He should be getting reinforcements back next week since he had 4 starters on a bye and 1 missing due to injury. Admirable effort to almost overcome those adversities.

Joe (3-2) 128.1 vs. Chase (3-2) 88.0

Sam LaPorta > Travis Kelce?!!? LaPorta got 18.2 from 2 touchdowns with Amon-Ra out of the game for the Lions. Kelce hurt his ankle and missed part of the game, but came back in and scored a touchdown. But as of this writing Sam LaPorta is the #1 Fantasy TE, not Kelce. (Yes I know Kelce missed Week 1). Joe got his best performance of the season out of Joe Burrow with 26.3. Ja’Marr Chase said he’s always fucking open and Burrow heard him loud and clear. Joe got only 12.8 from CMC, but almost everyone got double digits except for his kicker. Just a solid week. For Chase Josh Allen went off in London to the tune of 30.6 points. But Khalil Herbert got hurt on TNF and everyone else kind of shit the bed. 7/9 players scored less then 8 points. Ouch.

Jen (0-5) 113.1 vs. Trey (1-4) 154.1

Something had to give. Both teams entered week 5 0-4. Someone had to win. Jen put up a good fight with Brock Purdy getting 26 and Travis Etienne Jr. going off in London to the tune of 37.4 points. But her beloved JJ got injured and is now on IR. Terribly luck for Jen who has had injuries to Deshaun Watson, Javonte Williams, Tee Higgins, and now Jefferson. 0-5 is a tough hole to climb out of, but anything can happen. For Trey the big story was his Fields-DJ Moore stack on TNF. They finally arrived to the tune of 84.9 points. With DK Metcalf on bye Trey turned to Zay Flowers who put up a solid 9.8 and his Niners defense shut down the Cowboys with 17 fantasy points. Sneaky start Jaleel McLaughlin put up 16.4 points. The new Darren Sproles for Sean Payton?

JD (2-3) 88.8 vs. Kenny (4-1) 116.1

K-Dub gets the Dub against the defending champ. JD is still without Saquon Barkley and had his other two running backs out on bye. So he filled in with Free Agent Darling Kyren Williams and backup Devin Singletary. Singletary goose egged and Williams had his lowest scoring game of the season. You should have known better than to start K. Williams against K. Williams. Adams also didn’t do much on MNF for you. Going into MNF JD was down by 33.8, which is within Adams’ range, but it wasn’t meant to be. It wind up being a defensive battle. Pickens and Kittle both balled out with 26.6 and 26.2 points respectively. But these two accounted for 59% of JD’s total point output. Kenny had big games from Jalen Hurts (30.2), Stefon Diggs (23.1), and Gabe Davis (22). Davis has scored a touchdown in 4 consecutive weeks and is now WR#13 on the season so far.

Moose (5-0) 149.1 vs. Tommy (1-4) 111.1

Remember when I lost to Moose by 0.3? Pepperidge Farms remembers. Moose moves to 5-0 despite shit games from Lamar Jackson (9.9) and Tony Pollard (6.4). He was carried by Breece Hall’s big day where he rushed 22 times for 177 yards and a touchdown for 31.9 fantasy points. Also rookie phenom De’Von Achane got 26.0. Puka kept Puka’ing with Kupps return and they both got solid outputs. He also added 24 from Saints D/ST who beat up the Pats. Of course Moose did wind up losing Achane to a knee injury in this one, but with the news of JJ’s departure he could easily plug in Jordan Addison who should see an increased target load. Tommy’s team did pretty good with 111.1, but no one went off. His top scorer was DeAndre Hopkins who had his best game of the season, scoring 21 points, but Moose had three players who scored more. Tommy can’t wait to have Austin Ekeler back next week to see if he can turn this thing around.

Week 6 Preview:

Brad (2-3) vs. Joe (3-2)

These teams are very evenly matched entering this Week 6 matchup. Brad scored a total of 572 points. Joe scored a total of 569.7 points. With Anthony Richardson heading to IR Brad turns back to his Week 1 starter Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence is Qb#16 on the year and has done alright, scoring more points in each of the past 4 weeks. He gets an Indy defense that can be passed on. For Joe he has Joe Burrow who looks like his old self. We’ll see if he gets Tee Higgins back this week or if the team plays it safe since their bye week is next week and let the fractured rib get a couple extra weeks to heal before putting him back out there. Seattle is #22 OPRK against opposing fantasy quarterbacks, but they looked great against the Giants prior to their Week 5 bye. At RB Brad has #23 Dameon Pierce with a tough matchup against the Saints and #7 David Montgomery against a middle of the pack Tampa Bay Bucs. Montgomery has scored a td in every game he’s played so far this year and has 6 total on the season despite only playing in 4 games. He seemingly took over that Jamaal Williams role like Brad was hoping and praying for when he drafted him. For Joe he has “He Who Remains” #1 RB CMC. One of the few non-injured first round picks still around. He does get a really tough Browns defense, but the way the Niners are playing it doesn’t really matter. Browns might not have their starting Qb again and might have to turn to PJ Walker, which can be deflating for the defense. Joe also gets Alexander Mattison vs. the Bears #30 OPRK. With JJ’s injury look for the Vikings to try and Establish the Run and start with Mattison. Cam Akers has been creeping though and 29% snap share last week against KC. Joe will also feature a third RB in Raheem Must-Start. With Achane’s injury #3 Mostert is set up for success, but Jeff Wilson might be returning from IR to steal the fun. They have a CAKE matchup against the Panthers defense who have been decimated by injury and currently sit at #31 OPRK. At WR (Brad’s strength) Brad has #7 AJ Brown versus Sauce Gardner and the Jets, #10 Adam Thielen against Miami, and #19 Amon-Ra St. Brown vs. Tampa Bay. Brad’s hoping to have Amon-Ra back at least otherwise he’ll have to turn to #16 Calvin Ridley against Indy who he scored a touchdown against back in Week 1. For Joe he has Jaylen Waddle against Carolina and #22 Christian Kirk vs. Indy. A weakness for Joe but Kirk has been coming on strong and Waddle is due for a blow up game. Brad’s peripherals are nothing special with Ferguson against LA Chargers, Philly D/ST against Zach Wilson’s Jets, and McManus in the Indy game. Joe has #1 TE LaPorta against Tampa Bay, Cincy D/ST against Seattle, and Justin Tucker @ Tennessee. Should be a great Super Bowl 5 rematch.

Jen (0-5) vs. Kenny (4-1)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Look it doesn’t look good for Jen. But she has #7 Qb Brock Purdy vs. Cleveland, #5 RB Travis Etienne versus Indy. That’s what we know. We’ll have to monitor to see if she has Javonte Williams on TNF (he practiced fully today and all indication he’s good to go), Tee Higgins (like I said in recap they may elect to sit him since next week is bye week just to not risk him getting more hurt. But he’s a free agent after this year, so they could say eff it, play hurt, I don’t know we’ll see), Darren Waller (popped a NP today due to groin, but I think its more maintenance related), and Roschon Johnson (is in the concussion protocol, but has a chance to be cleared prior to Sunday’s game). For Kenny he has #2 Jalen Hurts against the NY Jets. He also has #9 RB D’Andre Swift in that same game. Jets are better defending the pass then the run, but we’ll see. #13 RB Brian Robinson JR is @ Atlanta who have shut down enemy backs (#3 OPRK). #2 WR Stefon Diggs gets the NY Giants on Sunday Night Football. How many prime time games do we have to endure watching the Giants get blown out by teams? Jesus! #17 Deebo Samuel is the in the Cleveland game. #15 Mike Evans gets Detroit. Cowboys D/ST gets LA Chargers coming off of a bye week. If Jen wins this one it would be a huge upset. Anything can happen.

Scotty (4-1) vs. Trey (1-4)

1 Loss versus 1 Win. Both are at pretty much full strength. Scotty has his Dolphins stack of #3 QB Tua and #1 WR Tyreek in juicy ass matchups against the Carolina Panthers. They better get their combined 50 points in the first half otherwise they aint getting it. Scotty will also have his patience duo of Alvin Kamara and Johnathan Taylor both in this matchup. JT gets a tough Jacksonville assignment, but tougher still is whether or not he can win a snap share over Zach Moss who has been playing out of his mind. AK has a juicy matchup against the Texans. For Trey he has his own stack of #5 Justin Fields and #3 WR DJ Moore. He also gets DK Metcalf back from his bye week. #8 RB Bijan Robinson gets Washington Commanders defense that just got shredded by the Bears. At RB2 Trey has Jaleel McLaughlin in right now but with Javonte Williams back it’ll be tough to determine how many opportunities he gets, but he’s certainly been maximizing the opportunities he’s received so far. His other option will be to pivot to another rooke in Emari Demercado. With James Conner on IR it’ll be a fight between Keontay Ingram and Demercado. Ingram has been injured, so his status will have to be monitored. Unfortunately for Trey McLaughlin plays on TNF, so he’ll need to decide before then. Scotty has #18 WR Marquise Brown vs. LA Rams and Rhamondre Stevenson vs. Las Vegas. AJ Dillon was able to run okay against the Raiders, but the Pats offense has been atrocious. Where is the Rhamonster from last year? Will he make a cameo this week? As of this writing Scotty doesn’t have a D/ST so we’ll have to see who he goes with since #4 Steelers are on a bye. Good looking matchup.

Moose (5-0) vs. JD (2-3)

Can the Super Bowl champ do what no one else has been able to do so far this season? Can JD beat Moose? Moose has #10 Qb Lamar Jackson coming off of a rough game against Tennessee’s pass funnel defense. The thing about Jackson’s “bad game” last week is the Wideouts had a ton of drops. He actually looked pretty good. I think he bounces back with a 20 point game this week. At RB Moose has #12 Tony Pollard on MNF against LA Chargers. Dallas is hoping their second prime time game on the West Coast in a row goes differently then their first one when they were beat down by the Niners in San Fran. He also has #16 Breece Hall against the #1 OPRK Philly Run D. Jalen Carter has been a monster in the middle and the Jets’ just lost a star lineman to IR. But Hall has the explosive firepower to rip one at any moment. With Achane going to IR, he’s a must start. At Wide Out Moose has #5 WR Puka Nacua and his 1^st round pick Cooper Kupp going up against a Cardinals secondary that just gave up 15 receptions on 19 targets for 192 yards and 3 touchdowns to Ja’Marr Chase last week. So look for them to split that and get 20-25 each? Moose also gets Jordan Addison in an increased role. #3 Saints D/ST get Houston and #7 Kicker Jake Moody gets Cleveland. Did I even mention Mark Andrews? #4 Tight End against Tennessee? For Dizzle he is hoping, praying, wishing that Barkley is back, but with him playing SNF he’ll need to know ahead of time otherwise he has to deploy his other trio of Top 10/25 running backs. He has #10 Kenneth Walker @ Cincy, #6 Kyren Williams vs. Arizona’s #29 OPRK run d, and #25 Rachaad White against Detroit’s solid run defense. At Wideout he’ll have #11 Davante Adams against New England and #25 Devonta Smith vs. Jets. I feel like the Jets matchup is a great opportunity for Smith to breakout. He’s been quiet the past few weeks and is due. AJ Brown might be dealing with Sauce, so look for Smith to get an uptick in targets. JD also has #6 George Kittle, #2 Bills D/ST against the Giants in a smash spot, and #6 Kicker Tyler Bass in the same SNF game. Can JD do it? Will it be the Defending Champ or the “Future Defending Champs”?

Katon (4-1) vs. Tommy (1-4)

The Battle of the two men who could crush me with one hand! #9 Qb Patrick Mahomes will get things started against Denver on Thursday Night Football. Joining him will be Katon’s #11 RB Isaih Pacheco. He runs angry and Denver has been getting demolished from the running game. Start Pacheco, McKinnon, Clyde, if they active La’Michael Perine start him too. Katon also has #19 RB Joe Mixon who did a great job watching Ja’Marr Chase score touchdowns last week. Speaking of Ja’Marr Chase, Katon also has the #6 WR going up against Seattle and their 30^th OPRK against fantasy wide receivers. I will say the secondary looked great against a Giants team without an offensive line or a notable wide receiver. Katon also has Michael Pittman against Jacksonville and as of right now Jakobi Meyers in a revenge game against New England. Of course New England didn’t resign him they gave the exact same contract to JuJu Smith-Schuster. I’m sure Meyers isn’t motivated to beat his former team. Or his Quarterback who is also a former patriot. I’m sure these two aren’t going to draw up something special. Look for #5 TE TJ Hockenson to get an uptick in targets with JJ on IR. So does Tommy have a chance? YES! Why? He gets the prodigal son back! Happy Austin Ekeler week Tommy! Ekeler has said on his podcast there is a 99% chance he is playing on Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys. Tommy also has #4 Qb Kirk Cousins against a porous Chicago defense. Losing JJ hurts, but Cousins can make the throws. It’s up to Osborn, Addison, and Hockenson to make the plays. OF course Tommy is hoping Hockenson isn’t the one catching passes this weekend. Tommy also has #15 Josh Jacobs against New England. Jerry Jeudy in that TNF game against KC. DeAndre Hopkins gets Baltimore in London. Don’t sleep on Dolphins D/ST against rookie Bryce Young and the Panthers. Especially if they get Jaelan Phillips back, the star pass rusher who has missed time due to an Oblique injury. Katon is heavily favored. What does Tommy need to win? He needs Cousins to go off in a shootout but to direct most of his targets to Addison, Osborn, and his running backs. He needs Ekeler to play great on his first game back. Then he just needs to pray that Katon’s team doesn’t pop off. Good luck!

Mike (1-4) vs. Chase (3-2)

This matchup is all about PRIME TIME. We have BIG players playing on Sunday Night Football for Chase and BIG players playing on Monday Night Football for Mike. We won’t crown a winner until the fat lady sings. We even have a player on TNF for Chase and a player in the London game bright and early on Sunday. Let’s dive in. Mike has #5 Justin Herbert on MNF against Dallas. Brock Purdy did pretty well against them. Herbert did break his finger on his non-throwing hand. He’ll also be targeting #8 WR Keenan Allen in that MNF game. Mike will have #4 Zach Moss against Jacksonville but with the news of JT getting more carries Mike will have to limit his expectations. With that being said… Moss has been balling. I don’t know how they bench this guy. He just tore up the Titans defense who were pretty good against the run. Mike also has #13 Derrick Henry against Baltimore in that London game. He has Garrett Wilson against Philly. #9 WR Nico Collins gets New Orleans and possibly some Marshon Lattimore coverage. Mike also Zach Ertz against the Rams which is a pretty good matchup. Lions D/ST is ranked 13^th and play Baker Mayfield. Mike is deep at WR, but he has the wrong Lions Running Back 😉. Chase’s turn! #1 Qb Josh Allen faces Giants on SNF along with #17 RB James Cook. Word on the street is Travis Kelce is a “GO” tomorrow night against Denver. Look for him to be his normal self. With Herbert’s injury Chase will be rely on Jerome Ford to lead his RB2 spot against a tough San Fran defense. This feels like a trap game for the Niners. Going to the Midwest after embarrassing the cowboys on national television. Emotions running high. Then they get into a mud fight/drag out defensive battle against the Browns. Deshaun Watson isn’t looking good to play so PJ Walker might be in at Qb. Which also impacts Chase’s Amari Cooper. Niners should be fine. Speaking of Niners Chase has #14 WR Brandon Aiyuk. He should be ranked higher as he missed a week, but he’s averaging 16.6 points per game and he looks good doing it. Kittle caught all the tds last week but that won’t happen every week. So there you have it. Mike. Chase. Two men enter, one man gets the win. And for Mike’s case, he needs to start getting some if he wants a chance to make the playoffs.

Thanks for reading and good luck!

Commish

BBY Dream Team League Season 15: Week 3 Recap & Week 4 Preview

September 27, 2023September 27, 2023 bradleybertoniere Fantasy Football, NFL Fantasy Football, NFL, Preview, Recap

Week 3 Recap:

Division 1:

JD (2-1) 173.4 vs. Jen (0-3) 96.6

JD went batshit insane this week, blowing out Jen by 76.8 points. He got 23.3 from Brock Purdy, 29.1 from Kenneth Walker, 38.7 from Davante Adams, and a crazy 33 from Bills D/ST. Jen had good games from Watson (21), Travie Etienne (15.8) and a big one from her JJ (29.4), but she had 4 players score 4 or less points and 6 in single digits. Not enough to hang with JD’s teams explosion.

Mike (1-2) 120.2 vs. Katon (3-0) 129.6

Game of the Week! Rivalry Week! Mike was top heavy with a large percentage of his scoring coming from his top 2 players. Katon was evenly distributed with more of a solid game all around with the exception of his kicker. Mike had Justin Herbert to Keenan Allen connection with their combined 75.6 points which is just ridiculous. Keenan Allen had 18 receptions for over 200 yards receiving and threw a freaking touchdown. Mike started Derrick Henry and Gibbs and they combined for 10.7 while Zach Moss went off on his bench. Nico Collins after starting off hot, cooled down in Week 3. For Katon his top scorers were Patrick Mahomes with 25.6 and Ja’Marr Chase with 23.1. Better luck next time Mike.

Division 2:

Scotty (3-0) 133.9 vs. Kenny (2-1) 110.4

Both teams entered Week 3 undefeated and looking to stay that way. Alas, one team had to lose. This time it was Kenny. Scotty was carried by his Tua to Tyreek stack which combined for 62.4 points. Kenny stayed competitive with solid outings from Hurts (19.8), Deebo (25.1), Diggs (18.1) and Swift (17.3), but ultimately his downfall was his peripherals. Scotty’s TE, D/ST, and Kicker combined for 30.6 versus Kenny’s 8.6. This was a 22 point difference in a game that was decided by 22.7 points.

Tommy (0-3) 123.3 vs. Joe (1-2) 143.0

Something had to give! Both teams entered Week 3 defeated and in the dreaded 0-2 hole. Neither wanted to start 0-3. Tommy had great games from Kirk Cousins with 28.6, Mike Wiliams for 24.6, and Evan McPherson on Monday Night dropped 18 points on Joe. Joe was carried by CMC’s solid 20.4, Mattison’s 15, and above all… Raheem MUST-START and his 41.7 fantasy points. Joe also got Sam LaPorta’s breakout game of 18.4 points and sealed the deal on Monday Night Football with Bengals D/ST shutting down the Rams and scoring 15 points. Tommy’s Super Bowl hangover continues and so does his injury luck. He lost Mike Williams for the season due to a torn ACL. With Ekeler hurt, Jacobs and Najee underperforming, Tommy might try a desperation trade or start spending heavy in free agency to acquire some starters because it aint looking good.

Division 3:

Moose (3-0) 99.3 vs. Brad (1-2) 99.0

Heading into Monday Night Football Moose was up 89.6 to Brad’s 65.4. Moose had Puka Nacua left and Brad had AJ Brown and Eagles D/ST. The game started out with a bit of optimism for Brad as AJ Brown wore bright yellow cleats that will surely get him fined and he hauled in two big plays in the first drive. Brown would finish with 20.6 points despite dropping a would be touchdown. Puka was tame for Moose and sat at only 5.5 fantasy points late into the 4^th quarter. On the Rams last drive they threw a long pass to Puka and he gained 37 yards. Brad was up by 3.9 at the time. This catch at the very end of the game was the difference between Moose moving to 3-0 and Brad moving to 1-2 versus both teams being 2-1. Sometimes in life you lose at the last minute in devastating fashion. You pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and question why you play fantasy fucking football because it’s stupid and I hate it! Calvin Ridley keeps dropping balls and Moose left De’Von Achane’s 56.3 on the bench. If Brad had started Jerick McKinnon over Tyler Allgeier he would have won. I’ll be patiently waiting for the stat correction to drop on this one. (spoiler alert it wont, this is the denial stage of grief).

Trey (0-3) 86.3 vs. Chase (2-1) 130.9

Chase did indeed spend all his money on a Ford. Jerome Ford did decent against a tough Tennessee run defense getting 18.1 points most of which came from two touchdowns (12). Everybody else for Chase was just solid. No one exploded and no one did terrible. Just a solid 130 points performance. This included a touchdown catch for Travis Kelce, which apparently wasn’t the biggest catch for him this week. Taylor Swift was in attendance and rooted hard for Kelce mouthing “Lets Fucking Go!” after he scored the touchdown. Are they for real or are they trolling the world? Kelce jerseys were up 400% in sales and Swift would get breakup song ammunition. Seems like a business deal to me. For Trey he continued to miss JK Dobbins and Jamaal Williams. He replaced them with Kendre Miller but the Saints couldn’t really get anything going on offense against the Packers. Fields and DJ Moore have been a huge disappointment. Olave and Metcalf both got respectable 17 point weeks, but the 22.1 combined points from Fields and DJ Moore just isn’t enough.

Week 4 Preview:

Scotty (3-0) vs. Brad (1-2)

Brad is facing the Tua-Tyreek stack in both his 23-year-old league and this league, so you can go ahead and slam those over props as I’m sure they’ll continue their records paces against me. I used up all my karma points in the offseason when I wrote that fake book, autographed it, and sent copies to all my league mates because I’ve won back-to-back titles. Scotty also conveniently gets back Alvin Kamara this week against me as I’m sure he’ll be very motivated to hit the ground running after his 3 game suspension. 20^th ranked Miles Sanders gets Minnesota’s run defense. Scotty could also be getting Christian Watson back on Thursday Night Football against Detroit. If not, Scotty can turn to Marquise Brown who has looked pretty good for the Cardinals that just upset the Cowgirls. Brad is also terrified at Steeler’s D/ST going up against the Texans. The Texans starting offensive line has 4 members on IR and the left tackle has missed games as well. It’s a shit show. This could be a bloodbath for Brad. Speaking of injuries that’s what Brad is looking at. He’s hoping to have David Montgomery back from injury for TNF against the Packers, but we’ll see if his thigh bruise cooperates or not. Brad is also monitoring Anthony Richardson and his concussion. If he can’t go or is a Game Time decision Brad might elect to go with Trevor Lawrence in London against Atlanta. Brad has Dameon Pierce against a Steelers team that has given up a lot of rushing yards, but again he doesn’t have a line to run behind. If Brad is going to pull this upset he needs Calvin Ridley and AJ Brown to not drop passes. I don’t think Scotty finishes the season undefeated, but I do think he finishes this week undefeated.

Trey (0-3) vs. Tommy (0-3)

Something has to give! The good news is that one of these teams are going to get their first win of the season. The bad news is that one of them is going to drop to 0-4 and most likely already be out of playoff contention. Not statistically, but probabilistically. Who is it going to be? Trey has 3 Wide Receivers that are Top 14 and that doesn’t include DK Metcalf (22) DJ Moore (36) or the impressive Zay Flowers who is averaging 6+ targets and 10.3 fantasy points per game. But who to start? At Running Back he has Bijan looking amazing, but has yet to get a rushing touchdown. He’s still a Top 10 RB, but he was drafted #1 overall. He needs the tuddies. AT RB2 Trey has Kendre Miller, Dalvin Cook, or someone else out there. If I was Trey I would be burning my phones looking for someone that needs a wide receiver or flex player and is willing to deal a RB. With Kamara coming back and Zach Wilson’s ineptitude it would behoove Trey to find a new RB2. He has Justin Fields going up against a Denver defense that was embarrassed by the Dolphins. Does Fields take advantage or does Denver take out their revenge on a struggling offense? For Tommy. He’s got #2 Qb Kirk Cousins @ Carolina. This game could be up in pace. Look for him to continue his high bolume passing attack At RB Tommy still doesn’t have Ekeler so he must turn to Josh Jacobs @ LA Chargers and Najee Harris @ Houston. Texans have given up a rushing touchdown to opposing backs each week this season including 3 in Week 1 against Baltimore. Maybe Trent Richardson 2.0 can fall into the endzone for Tommy this week. At WR its rough. He has Jerry Jeudy vs. Chicago, DeAndre Hopkins vs. Cincy and DJ Chark vs. Minnesota. He could go dumpster diving into the free agent pool or he can try to trade. I don’t know who he would trade though. I don’t know who is going to win, but I want you both to know. We are all thinking about you. Good luck!

Chase (2-1) vs. Katon (3-0)

Great Week 4 matchup here. Both teams last week were solid. Got solid production on their way for solid wins. Does it happen again? Chase has #13 Qb Josh Allen vs. Miami. Miami has been en Fuego and they get them in Buffalo. Allen was solid as hell against the Dolphins in all three matchups last year. Scoring games of 26.7, 35.86, and 24.08. Seems like a slam dunk for 20+ points this week. Chase also has #13 RB James Cook in that same matchup. He has #11 Jerome Ford who impressed me last week against a tough Tennessee run defense. He didn’t rush for shit, but he fought hard and scored 2 touchdowns. Gutsy. Chase has #21 WR CeeDee Lamb against New England and #17 WR Amari Cooper against Baltimore. It’ll be interesting to see who Chase starts in the flex as he has a few different options that are intriguing. For Katon he has #4 Patrick Mahomes vs. a tough Jet’s defense. Because the Jets offense is so bad Mahomes will have plenty of scoring opportunities. Katon just needs to hope he throws it to his backs and receivers and not to Travis Kelce who Chase has. Hopefully he isn’t hitting Taylor like a wrecking ball or whatever pop reference would be appropriate to add into the write up right here. #15 RB Joe Mixon gets that tough Tennessee rush defense. This is a Ja’Marr Chase week. Speaking of which, Katon has Chase. He also has #18 WR Michael Pittman and #23 Isaih Pacheco. #1 TE TJ Hockenson gets Carolina which could be a shootout. The records and matchup set this up to be an early season classic.

Jen (0-3) vs. Moose (3-0)

Despite the record disparity these two teams are more evenly matched than meets the eye. Moose has scored 30.1 more points this season than Jen. But he has had 98.1 less points scored against him. In fact, as of this writing, Jen is currently favored to win. Let’s dive in. Jen has #14 Qb Deshaun Watson coming off his best game of the season so far. He gets Baltimore, which can be tough, but their secondary has been hurt to start the year. She also has #14 RB Travis Etienne vs. Atlanta, #26 RB Roschon Johnson vs. a Denver defense that was just embarrassed by the Mostert/Achane combo. She has #3 WR Justin Jefferson going up against a Carolina defense that has a ton of injuries. Tee Higgins gets pass funnel Tennessee in a boom set up game for him. Darren Waller will be deployed on Monday Night Football as Jen tries to take this one home. With Jen having Packers D/ST she’ll have someone playing on TNF, London 830am game on Sunday, and MNF. Pretty nice weekend. For Moose he has #7 Lamar Jackson against a really tough Cleveland defense. They’ve been playing lights out. But Lamar seems to be getting more comfortable into the new system. Moose will deploy his newly minted Top 5 RB Duo of Tony Pollard vs. New England and rookie phenom De’Von Achane @ Buffalo. Look for Achane to come back to Earth in a big way much like I came down from the first time I ever went into a bar. I was 18 and we lied saying it was my birthday despite it being St. Patty’s day and they made me the honorary judge of the bikini contest and things got wild. At WR Moose has #6 Puka “Beat Brad by 0.3 in the closing moments in Week 3” Nacua with a decent matchup against Indy. He also has #23 Jordan Addison in the up temp game against a banged up Carolina defense that could see a lot of points. Cleveland shuts down tight ends, but can they shut down Andrews? Breece Hall gets KC’s defense that has done well at stopping the run since Week 1. Saints D/ST and Jake Moody combo has been a silent cheat code for Moose. Combined they have been averaging 25.3 points per game.

JD (2-1) vs. Joe (1-2)

JD is playing the streaming Quarterback game and has dropped Brock Purdy for Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo is in the concussion protocol but has a juicy matchup against the LA Chargers if he’s able to clear. If he can’t JD can pivot to Danny Dimes who gets Seattle on Monday Night Football. JD has #4 RB Kenneth Walker in that same MNF game. He will hope to have Saquon Barkley back, but with him playing Monday Night and coming off of injury JD can afford to wait a week and see what happens. He also has #6 RB Kyren Williams against Indy and for shits and giggles has Rachaad White against New Orleans if he gets in a bind. (If Trey is reading this then JD would be a team I’d be reaching out to inquire about RB availability. White and Kyren Williams volume has been insane and when Barkley comes back he won’t need all 4). JD also has #4 Davante Adams in that Chargers matchup to complete the stack and #13 DeVonta Smith against Washington. He has #19 George Pickens vs. Houston’s Stingley-less secondary. Joe says this year will be better. I don’t know if that’s true, but this week must feel better after getting his first win of the season last week. He will try to make it two in a row. First step is to see if Aaron Jones can go against Detroit on TNF. If he can then Joe has a tough decision to make between #22 Alexander Mattison, #1 Raheem Mostert, or Jones in an important divisional game. (Trey if you are reading this then Joe would be a team I’d be reaching out to inquire about RB availability.) Joe will have one legged pocket passer Burrow against Tennessee who happens to suck against the pass (lucky you). Joe will also hope that Jaylen Waddle can clear the protocol in time for the big divisional matchup against the Bills. #2 Sam LaPorta continues to impress and will look to continue his awesome rookie season against the Packers on TNF.

Mike (1-2) vs. Kenny (2-1)

Mike has a little squad now. The #1 Qb Justin Herbert to #2 WR Keenan Allen combo has proved all the haters wrong. (To be clear. I hated the Allen pick and loved the Herbert pick, so I’m only half wrong). Derrick Henry has been hampered by an injury and hasn’t seemed right. Spears has been taking a lot of snaps. Is Father Time finally catching up to the Big Dog? Mike also has Jahmyr Gibbs against Green Bay and #12 RB Zach Moss vs. LA Rams. Mike’s suffering from the Garret Wilson demise, but is competing each week. For Kenny he’s coming off is first loss and looks to bounce back here. Having 3 Top 8 Wide Receivers gives him the chance to do just that. He has #9 Jalen Hurts vs. Washington. #10 RB D’Andre Swift who started singing songs from the hit musical Hamilton when Kenny Gainwell went down in Week 2. “I am not going to miss my shot!” He gets Washington as well. AT RB#2 he has #7 RB Brian Robinson against that tough Philly defense. Kenny has #8 Stefon Diggs against Miami and #7 Deebo Samuel against Arizona. Don’t forget about #5 WR Mike Evans in the coveted Lattimore matchup. The touchdown or throwing a punch bets are getting slammed right now. Dallas D/ST is ranked #2 despite only scoring 2 points last week. We’ll see if the loss of start cornerback Travon Diggs will continue to hurt this team or if it was just a fluke. On deck is the Patriots and Zeke Elliots revenge game.

Thanks for reading and good luck everyone!

Commish B-Razzle Dazzle

BBY Dream Team League Season 15 Week 1 Recap & Week 2 Preview

September 13, 2023 bradleybertoniere Fantasy Football, NFL Fantasy Football, NFL, Preview, Recap

Week 1 Recap:

Division 1:

JD (0-1) 73.9 vs. Katon (1-0) 80.8

A low scoring affair. JD went into Monday Night Football down 26.9 with Bills D/ST and Tyler Bass. They combined for 20, leading to our Super Bowl Champion falling short. The rest of his starters all scored 14.2 or less including 6/9 players scoring in single digits. Katon’s team didn’t do much, but his 19.5 from Patrick Mahomes on TNF was the highest scorer in this matchup. He was able to overcome his D/ST Baltimore scoring 12 points as his second highest scorer. Both teams had a fluke week as they move on to their second division game in Week 2.

Mike (1-0) 101.6 vs. Jen (0-1) 91.2

Mike was down by 1.5 points with Garret Wilson left to play on Monday Night Football. Wilson got 11.9 most of which came from an incredible touchdown catch. Of course that touchdown was thrown by Zach Wilson and not Aaron Rodgers who left the game with a season ending Achilles injury just 4 snaps into his season. The big story for Mike’s team was his kicker Jake Elliott who went 4/4 on field goals and scored a whopping 17 points. Most of the match was evened up but his peripherals outscored Jen’s 35.8 to 24.3. For Jen she started out rough on TNF with Skyy Moore only getting 0.4 points. Also Tee Higgins was a huge disappointment as he had an impressive 8 targets and 0 catches. There will be better days ahead for Tee Higgins.

Division 2:

Tommy (0-1) 89.0 vs. Scotty (1-0) 92.1

An incredibly close game to start the year as Tommy suffers the dreaded Super Bowl hangover. His first round pick Austin Ekeler picked up right where he left off with a solid 27.4 points rushing for over 100 yards and a score. Kirk Cousins tried to keep him in the game with 19.3, but he had 3 turnovers. Tommy had 6 starters in single digits including 3 players that scored less than 5 points. Scotty’s team didn’t do much better. His Qb Dak Prescott got 6.2 points. He had 5 players score in single digits and 2 players score 0. One of the 0’s was from Christian Watson who was ruled out before kickoff. This gave Scotty enough time to swap out his lineup and worries me about Scotty’s overall engagement. Are we losing Scotty everybody? How in the hell did Scotty win you might ask? TYREEK HILL. Tyreek accounted for an incredible 47.8% of Scotty’s entire team point total this week. That’s what happens when you catch 11 balls on 15 targets for 215 yards and 2 touchdowns. Crazy to think that Tommy almost pulled this one out.

Joe (0-1) 100.7 vs. Kenny (1-0) 126.1

Joe had a mixed bag in Week 1. On one hand he had his 3 running backs combine for 67 points. On the other Joe Burrow scored 3.1 and his two starting wideouts combined for 11.2. There are sure to be better days ahead for Joe (both Burrow and Weiser), but don’t be surprised if he tries to trade a running back out to upgrade at wide receiver. For Kenny he had a balanced game with one big exception. Hurts got 12.5, Nick Chubb got a respectable 17.7. Mike Evans looked good with 6 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown against Minnesota. But really the story was all about Sunday Night Football and Dallas D/ST. My goodness. 37 points! 10 points for shutout, 8 points for blocked fg for touchdown, 6 points for turnovers, 7 points for sacks, and another 6 points for the pick six. Heading into Monday Night Football Kenny was up 1.2 and had Stefon Diggs left to play. Didn’t even need his 24.2 to beat Joe, but it was nice and jettisoned Kenny to #1 in Points For after 1 week.

Division 3:

Trey (0-1) 102.5 vs. Brad (1-0) 110.3

#1 overall pick versus the last pick in the draft and Brad sneaks out a victory. The biggest story line for Brad was Trevor Lawrence and Calvin Ridley’s connection. Lawrence threw for 241 yards 2 passing tds and an interception. Of those Calvin Ridley caught 8 passes on 11 targets for 101 yards and a touchdown. Getting the coveted 3 points 100-yard bonus. As expected Brad got a paltry 5.7 from his RB1 and David Montgomery got him a respectful 13.4 on Thursday Night Football. Brad’s “Brown-Brown” combo combined for 27.5 as both got into double digits. For Trey it was a weird week. Justin Fields and DJ Moore got blown out by the Packers. Bijan Robinson scored his first touchdown of his young career, but Tyler Algeier stole the show. Trey also lost JK Dobbins to a torn achilles. Justice Hill took over for Dobbins when he was out and scored two touchdowns meaning it was Dobbins injury that most likely sealed Trey’s fate in Week 1 and handed Brad an early season victory.

Chase (0-1) 77.4 vs. Moose (1-0) 92.6

Love when these two get together. Moose held the lead heading into Monday Night Football. He was up 92.6 to Chase’s 60.1. This means Moose’s 32.5 point lead versus Chase’s Josh Allen and James Cook on the Bills. ESPN predicted Chase at 93.5 and gave him a 53% chance of victory. Of course Monday Night Football didn’t go as planned with Josh Allen having four turnovers and James Cook failing to find the end zone as they both combined for a total of 17.3 points. Moose’s team was carried by Tony Pollard’s 2 touchdown day, Jake Moody’s impressive 14.0 points and Jordan Addison’s first career touchdown catch. Moose had 4 players score 6.5 or less including Lamar Jackson, which is rough. Chase had underwhelming days from most of his starters with Herbert rushing for only 27 yards, Cooper only receiving 37 yards, Sutton with only 32 yards receiving, but he did score a touchdown. CeeDee caught a ball late in the game in garbage time and wind up with 4 catches and 77 yards. Brandon Aiyuk went off on Chase’s bench with 8 catches, 129 yards, and 2 touchdowns. I’m betting we’ll see him more in the starting lineup sooner rather than later.

Week 2 Preview:

Division 1:

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

Dizzle heads to Mike Grote to try and get his first victory of the season. At Qb he’ll hope that Daniel Jones does a bit more than he did against the Cowboys (4.3 fantasy points). He should since the Cardinals are one of the worst teams in the NFL. For Mike he’ll have Justin Herbert @ Tennessee. Tennessee’s secondary is atrocious, and I like Herbert to repeat with another 20 point outing. At Running Back JD has Barkley @ Arizona who gave up 75 yards rushing on the ground and a receiving touchdown against the Commanders last week. JD also has Rachad White vs. Chicago. Aaron Jones ran all over Chicago prior to pulling his hammy. A good sign for White on the surprising 1-0 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For Mike he’ll have Derrick Henry vs. LA Chargers and Jahmyr Gibbs vs. Seattle. Henry didn’t do much against the Saints run defense, but an alarming stat was how much Tajae Spears played. Henry played 48% of the snaps while Spears played on 54% of snaps. Gibbs also didn’t play as much as David Montgomery. Gibbs played on 27% of snaps compared to Monty’s 79% snap rate. Remember what I always say, for wide receivers bet on talent, for running backs bet on opportunity. Now we all know that Gibbs snap count will increase as the season goes on. Gibbs was obviously a monster in the limited snaps he played. Looked bigger, stronger, faster and he kept hitting the spin move. If Mike is gonna hang with JD he needs his backs to play more. For Wide Receivers JD has Davante Adams vs. Buffalo and DeVonta Smith vs. Minnesota. We might get a TNF shootout with two high potent offenses going at it. Smith will be fine. Adams will go against Buffalo who did a pretty good job shutting down the Jets passing attack, but with Zach Wilson at Qb it’s tough to know whether Buffalo’s secondary is going to be really good or if it was just Wilson. Jacobi Meyers kind of stole the show in Week 1 and looked like Jimmy G’s go-to receiver. Adams should be fine. Mike has Garrett Wilson @ Dallas and Keenan Allen @ Tennessee. Zach Wilson going up against Dallas D/ST. I would lessen your Garrett Wilson expectations, but he’s so talented you also have to start him. Tough. Keenan Allen could feast on the Titans. At Flex JD has Kenneth Walker III @ Detroit. Detroit was decent against the run and Seattle lost both of their starting left tackles to injury in Week 1. They just signed 41-year-old Jason Peters, which is not a good sign. Mike will have Chris Godwin vs. Chicago. Godwin had 5 catches for 51 yards on 6 targets in Week 1, which is about what I would expect. For Peripherals JD has Kittle vs. LA Rams, Bills D/ST vs. Las Vegas, and Tyler Bass vs. LV. Kittle averaged 31.5 yards receiving against the Rams last year making him a more td dependent option this week. Bills should be fine. For Mike he has Pat Freiermuth vs. Cleveland, Commanders D/ST vs. Denver, and Jake Elliot against Minnesota on Thursday Night Football. Freiermuth only had one catch last week, but it went for a tuddy. He’ll be limited in practice this week but is expected to play.

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

Jen vs. Katon will get started on Thursday Night Football with Katon’s TJ Hockenson and Jen’s Justin Jefferson and finish up on Monday Night Football with Jen’s Deshaun Watson. At Qb we have Jen’s Watson going up against a Pittsburgh defense that underwhelmed in Week 1. Christian McCaffrey ran all over them and Brock Purdy threw a couple of touchdowns to Brandon Aiyuk. I think Watson will be fine. For Katon he’ll have Patrick Mahomes vs. Jacksonville. This looks like it could be a high scoring and fun game. Mahomes is hoping to have Kelce back and hoping his wide receivers don’t repeat that terrible performance from week 1. At Running Back Jen has Travis Etienne Jr. vs. the Chiefs and either Javonte Williams vs. Washington or AJ Dillon vs. Atlanta. Etienne should do fine against a Chiefs defense who gave up 74 yards rushing to David Montgomery in week 1. Chiefs do get Chris Jones back who ended his holdout and rejoined the squad. Katon will roll with Joe Mixon vs. Baltimore and James Conner vs. the Giants. Mixon can’t do much worse then last week, but Baltimore did a good job stopping the Texans rush attack in Week 1. Conner faces the Giants team that gave up a pair of touchdowns to Tony Pollard. At Wide Receiver we have Jen’s Justin Jefferson vs. it doesn’t matter. No it’s Philly who low key got torched by the Patriots terrible wide receivers. JJ should be fine. Tee Higgins should bounce back from a historically bad Week 1. 8 targets and 0 catches is insane. Last year against Baltimore Higgins wasn’t great, but they have some injuries to their secondary that are worth monitoring. Regardless, everyone is starting Tee Higgins. Katon has Ja’Marr Chase against Baltimore and Terry McLaurin vs. Denver. Katon famously picked Chase over JJ in the draft and now here we are in Week 2 and we get to see if he’ll regret it or not. At flex it’s looking like Jen will have Skyy Moore, or Javonte/AJ Dillon, or Romeo Doubs perhaps. We’ll see as it looks like she has a few options. Katon has Samaje Perine or Pacheco. At Tight End Jen should have Darren Waller in her lineup vs. Arizona. Katon will rock with TJ Hockenson against Philly. Hunter Henry caught a touchdown against Philly in Week 1. Jen has Packers D/ST against Atlanta and Katon has Raven’s D/ST vs. Cincy. Should be a great matchup and best of luck to both of you!

Division 2:

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

Tommy has to be scared shitless for this matchup. Two very big things to watch in this one. One is Austin Ekeler’s ankle. The other is Kenny’s Dallas D/ST against Zach Wilson. They could repeat their 30+ point performance from Week 1. Some good news for Tommy is his Kirk Cousins will play a banged up Eagles secondary who might be without James Bradberry and their starting safety. More bad news is he is going up against Jalen Hurts like he didn’t in the Final Four matchup last year you lucky bitch. Hurts plays Minnesota on TNF. At RB Tommy will either have Ekeler, Jacobs and Najee or just Jacobs against Buffalo and Najee against Cleveland on Monday Night Football. For Kenny he has Nick Chubb on MNF and Brian Robinson Jr. against Denver. AT WR Tommy has DeAndre Hopkins against a Chargers secondary that gave up 200+ receiving yards to Tyreek Hill in Week 1. And Mike Williams @ Tennessee. Mike Williams left the game in Week 1 for a head injury but wind up returning and catching a couple more passes. Might be something to monitor as the week progresses. K-Dub has Stefon Diggs against the Raiders and Deebo Samuel @ LA Rams. In my draft grades I said I was worried about Deebo’s role and Week 1 proved me right. But he’s a bet on talent play that can take it to the house on a single slant route. We’ll see if it happens this week. Peripherals are advantage Kenny because Dallas D/ST might outscore all of Tommy’s Evan Engram, Vikings D/ST, and Evan McPherson.

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

Joe vs. Scotty. Looks like this party is going to get started on Thursday Night Football with Joe having Alexander Mattison and Scotty having Dallas Goedert. Joe will have Joe Burrow finishing things off on Monday Night Football. Scotty will have Tua going up against New England. At RB Joe has Run CMC against LA Rams and he’s hoping to have Aaron Jones depending on the severity of his hamstring injury. Scotty has Rhamondre Stevenson against Miami and Miles Sanders against the Who Dats on Monday Night Football. At WR we have the battle of the Dolphins with Joe’s Jaylen Waddle and Scotty’s Tyreek Hill. Both Wide Receiver 2’s kind of suck in Joe’s Christian Kirk and Scotty’s Marquise Brown. At Flex Joe will either have Aaron Jones or maybe Raheem Mostert, Jahan Dotson, or Treylon Burks. Peripherals I give the advantage to Scotty with Steelers D/ST against Celveland and Harrison Butker against Jacksonville. Joe has Justin Tucker against the Bengals D/ST and Kyle Pitts who doesn’t get any targets.

Division 3:

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

Great matchup on paper! Chase has Josh Allen looking to rebound against the Raiders. Brad has Trevor Lawrence in a potential shootout with Kansas City. KC is hoping to have Kelce back and will get Chris Jones back on defense, which could impact Lawrence’s production. KC isn’t the only one hoping to have Kelce back as Chase would love to deploy the stud against Brad’s Chig Okonkwo. At RB Chase has James Cook in the Las Vegas game and Khalil Herbert going up against Tampa Bay. Herbert is looking dicey after only one week of play as Roschon Johnson looked good in limited action, albeit at the end of the game when the Packers were already up big. Khalil should be fine, but Tampa Bay did a decent job stopping Alexander Mattison the Vikings rush attack in Week 1. For Brad he has two plodders in Dameon Pierce against Indy and David Montgomery vs. Seattle. Both have favorable matchups in games they should win. No clear advantage. At wide receiver Chase has Amari Cooper @ Pittsburgh. Last week Brandon Aiyuk carved up the Steelers defense and Cooper will hope to replicate on Monday Night Football. Last season against Pittsburgh Cooper had one boom game and one bust game. The boom was in Week 3 where he went 7 receptions on 11 targets for 101 yards and a touchdown. The bust came in Week 18 when it didn’t really matter. He caught 2 balls for 51 yards. Chase has Brandon Aiyuk fresh off the two touchdown game going up against the LA Rams. Metcalf got an early touchdown against this secondary buy Aaron Donald took over and Seattle couldn’t get much going. Chase will also deploy CeeDee Lamb against the Jets. Stefon Diggs was able to carve them up on Monday Night Football, so look for Lamb to have a decent outing. For Brad he too will deploy trips wide receivers. He has Amon-Ra St. Brown against Seattle who made Puca Nacua look like Cooper Kupp with 10 catches on 15 targets for 119 yards. Brad has AJ Brown against the Vikings on Thursday Night Football. And Calvin Ridley against the Chiefs for the T-Law/Ridley stack. Peripherals show a clear advantage Chase with Travis Kelce against the Jags, Browns D/ST against Pittsburgh now without Diontae Johnson, and Jason Myers in a dome against Detroit. Brad has Chig Okonkwo vs. LA Chargers, Eagles D/ST against a Minnesota team that turned it over 3 times against the Bucs in week 1, and Brandon McManus against KC. Should be a great game.

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

T- Money is hoping to bounce back from the Week 1 defeat, but must face the juggernaut 4-time champion Moose to do it. Moose has been decimated by injuries to his 1^st round, 3^rd round, and 6^th round draft picks. He’ll be without Cooper Kupp and Diontae Johnson at least in this game, with the possibility of missing out on Mark Andrews and Kenny Gainwell as well. Trey will deploy Justin Fields against a Tampa Bay team that caused Minnesota to turn the ball over frequently. Fields didn’t look great in Week 1 and only scored a respectable 14.5 points after scoring a late touchdown in garbage time. Moose will have Lamar Jackson who also had a dud in Week 1. He posted on social media that they had rust. He travels to Cincy to go up against division foe Joe Burrow. At RB Trey will have Bijan Robinson against Green Bay and Jamaal Williams @ Carolina, both favorable matchups. Moose will have Tony Pollard against the Zach Wilson led Jets and Breece Hall against the juggernaut Dallas team. At Wide Receiver Trey will have Chris Olave vs. Carolina, DK Metcalf @ Detroit, and DJ Moore @ Tampa Bay. Moose will go double rookies Jordan Addison in the TNF matchup against the Eagles secondary that made Kendrick Bourne look like Davante Adams and Puka Nacua who did his best Cooper Kupp impression in Week 1. In the Flex we’ll have to see who Moose goes with if Kenny Gainwell is out due to his rib injury. Most likely Joshua Kelley (depending on Ekeler’s status), Michael Thomas, Elijah Moore or Zay Jones. Peripherals look even with Trey having Juwan Johnson @ Carolina, 49ers D/ST against the Rams, and Younghoe Koo against Green Bay. Moose will feature Mark Andrews (if he plays) or Luke Musgrave against Atlanta. Saints D/ST against Carolina and Jake Moody @ LA Rams. Still a lot in the air for injuries this week, but it should be a big time Week 2 matchup.

Thanks for reading and best of luck this week!

Maryanne Smith League Season 23 Draft Grades

September 5, 2023 bradleybertoniere Draft Guide, Fantasy Football, NFL, Quarterbacks, Rankings, Sophomores, Wide Receivers Fantasy Football, NFL, Preview

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

Mike: A+
Caleb: A
Ben: A
Stephen: B+
Max: B+
Quentin: B
Logan: B
Brad: B
Josh: C
Andy: C-

And these were the Final Standings:

Brad
Logan
Andy
Mike
Stephen
Ben
Josh
Caleb
Quentin
Max

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

Stephen.

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

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

Caleb.

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

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

Quentin.

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

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

Andy.

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

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

Ben.

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

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

Josh.

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

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

Logan.

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

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

Michael.

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

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

Brad.

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

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

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

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

Max.

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

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

Draft Grades in Draft Order:

Stephen: A
Caleb: C+
Quentin: D+
Andy: B+
Ben: D
Josh: F
Logan: A
Michael: B
Brad: B
Max: A

Draft Grades in Grade Order with Tiers:

Contenders:

Stephen: A
Max: A
Logan: A

Can Compete:

Andy: B+
Michael: B
Brad: B
Caleb: C+

Better Luck Next Year:

Quentin: D+
Ben: D
Josh: F

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

-Brad

BBY Dream Team Season 15 Week 1 Preview

September 5, 2023September 5, 2023 bradleybertoniere Uncategorized Fantasy Football, NFL, Preview

Let’s Ride!

JD (0-0) vs. Katon (0-0)

Super Bowl Champion JD! All Hail! Battle of two men who could crush me with their pinky fingers. JD has Daniel Jones against Dallas on Sunday Night Football and Katon has Patrick Mahomes on Thursday Night Football against Detroit. Mahomes plays like a God in Week 1. Him and Jared Goff had that epic Mexico City game that ended 54-51 or something crazy like that. Could this be another lightning and explosive game? Jones didn’t do great against Dallas last season so I give the advantage to Katon. At Running back JD has Barkley also against the Dallas Cowboys on SNF and Rachaad White vs. Minnesota. White is a volume play but the offensive line is bad and Baker Mayfield is the Qb. Katon has Joe Mixon against the Browns and James Conner against the Commanders. Mixon should perform well. Conner is a volume play but the offensive line is bad and Clayton Tune might be the Qb? Gross. At Wide Receiver JD has Davante Adams and DeVonta Smith. Love the combo. Adams plays Denver and Smith is @ New England. Katon has Ja’Marr Chase @ Cleveland and he currently has Terry McLaurin in at WR2, but I don’t know if he’s going to be ready to go with that turf toe injury he suffered in the preseason. At TE JD has George Kittle, but rumor is he won’t be able to play in Week 1 due to injury. JD does not have a backup TE, so he might have to move Kittle to IR and pick up a free agent to start in Week 1. Katon has TJ Hockenson who just signed a massive contract to become the highest paid tight end in the league. Target monster post trade last season, look for him to pick up where he left off while Jordan Addison is getting acclimated to the NFL. I don’t know if they’ll have to throw a lot against Tampa Bay though. In the Flex JD has Kenneth Walker against the Rams. Last year he got hurt in the first game against the Rams. In the second game he rushed 29 times for 114 yards. Katon has Isiah Pacheco against Detroit. Detroit’s run defense was actually pretty good to end the season last year. Let’s see what they can do against the Chiefs. JD has Bill’s D/ST and Tyler Bass playing on Monday Night Football against Aaron Rodgers’ Jets. Katon has Ravens D/ST against CJ Stroud who bombed the S2 Cognitive Test and plays on one of the worst rosters in the NFL. Ravens have injuries to their secondary so this could be a shootout, but I see Baltimore smashing the Texans in Week 1. Katon has Matt Gay against Jacksonville in the Dome.

Mike (0-0) vs. Jen (0-0)

Battle of the 0 Super Bowls! (Sorry guys). I love this matchup. Mike has Justin Herbert in a shootout against Miami. Herbert regressed last year in Season 3 due to rib and cartilage injuries. His rushing stats dropped tremendously, and his touchdowns went down. I like them to shoot back up this year with Kellen Moore as OC. Look for his big arm to be highlighted on Sportscenter consistently and I think he starts off big with 3 touchdowns in week 1. Jen has Deshaun Watson against division rival Cincy. Watson has looked a little shaky this offseason, so I’m curious to see how he performs Week 1. Mike has Derrick Henry against New Orleans and Jahymr Gibbs vs. Kansas City. Will be interesting to see how the Lions backfield shakes out as it has a huge implication on Mike and I’s RB2 spot this season. Henry should do his normal thing unless the Saints go up early and game script Henry out of the game. (Could happen with Tennessee’s defense being hot garbage). Jen has Travis Etienner Jr. against Indy and Javonte Williams vs. Las Vegas. Jacksonville should beat Indy easily in Week 1 because they are the better team. Etienne should be used to run out the clock, but I won’t be surprised if he’s pulled late in the game. For Williams it will be interesting to see how much work he gets. He had major knee surgery last year. I don’t see Denver opening the season and giving him the ball 30 times, so what’ll it be? 10 touches? 15? 20? We’ll find out. Mike has Garret Wilson on MNF against the Bills and Keenan Allen in that Miami shootout game. Jen has JJ versus Tampa Bay and Tee Higgins vs. Cleveland. Love all these wideouts and look for all of them to have above average games in Week 1. At TE Mike has Pat Freiermuth and Jen has Darren “The Baller” Waller. Pat usually gets a few catches per game, but I’m concerned that his TD total might stay low with the addition of Darnell Washington. They could throw him and Pickens on the same side and just throw the ball up and see what happens. For Jen Darren Waller is a smash start on Sunday Night Football. Tough matchup against a good Dallas defense, but I still like Waller to get 7-8 targets in Week 1. Mike has Pats D/ST against the Eagles (good luck with that) and Jen has Packers D/ST against the Bears. They got exactly 10 points in each games last year against the Bears, so I predict they get 10 points for Jen. Mike has Eagles kicker Jake Elliot and Jen has Daniel Carlson at altitude. Advantage Jen. Should be a great game, but I have a feeling Jen gets the Week 1 W.

Tommy (0-0) vs. Scotty (0-0)

Tommy is coming off his Super Bowl hangover after losing to JD last season. So close, yet so far away. Scotty is happy to roster a team that he drafted. Both are looking to start off 2023 with a W. Tommy will be starting Captain Kirk at Qb against Tampa Bay. I like Kirk to throw his normal amount and score about 18 fantasy points. He’s capped by his lack of rushing ability and Tampa Bay’s secondary is healthy, which wasn’t the case a year ago when they had become a pass funnel. For Scotty he has Dak Prescott on Sunday Night Football against the division rival G Men. Dak missed the first matchup last year due to injury but played decent in the second matchup with 14.8 fantasy points. I like the addition of Brandin Cooks and I think Prescott does a bit better. Of course, Scotty could start one of his other 2 Qbs he has rostered in Tua who looks to be in a shootout in LA and Derek Carr with a juicy matchup against the Titans whose secondary was God-awful last year. The Running Back story in this matchup is intriguing. Both teams loaded up in running backs in the draft. Tommy took Jacobs. Scotty JT. Jacobs ended his holdout and signed. He’ll look to play in Week 1, but might not get a full workload since he hasn’t been training with the team all summer. JT is on IR and will miss the first 4 weeks of the regular season. Tommy will have Austin Ekeler in that shootout against Miami. Look for Ekeler’s normal high fantasy scoring game of 20ish points. For Scotty he’ll have Rhamondre Stevenson against Philly and Miles Sanders vs. Atlanta (hopefully). Scotty is also without Alvin Kamara for the 3 divisional games to start the year. At WR Tommy has DeAndre Hopkins matched up against Marshon Lattimore and the Saints defense. At WR2 he’ll most likely start Mike Williams in the Miami game. The over under is set at 51 as of this writing. Jalen Ramsey is on IR. Jerry Juedy is hurt. For Scotty he’ll have Tyreek Hill against LA. Hill has been adamant this offseason that he wants to hit 2000 yards. I think the Crazy Cheetah might just be able to do it too. Look for him to start off with a bang as I’m predicting over 150 receiving yards in this matchup. Don’t sleep on Scotty’s WR2 either. Christian Watson was a manimal his rookie year. Love looked decent in preseason action. Once Watson established himself as the #1 WR for the packers he faced the Bears in Week 13 and caught 3 balls for 48 yards and a touchdown and also took a run 46 yards to the house. 22.9 fantasy points. At Tight End Tommy has Evan Engram and Scotty has Dallas Goedert. Engram scored most of his fantasy points in 3 games last season and this offseason they added Calvin Ridley. Against Indy last year he was peppered with targets and caught 7 and 6 receptions, but failed to find the endzone. For Goedert I like him to put up his average numbers against the Pats. In the Flex Tommy has Najee Harris against the 49ers and Scotty has Marquise Brown against the Commanders. I have low expectations for both in Week 1. As of this writing Tommy has Dolphins D/ST in and Scotty has Steelers D/ST. I don’t expect much from either. Kickers don’t matter, but for Scotty he has Butker on the NFL Kickoff game on Thursday, so at least he has that. Best of luck gentlemen.

Joe (0-0) vs. Kenny (0-0)

Joe versus K-Dub! These two have well-rounded and robust lineups for this week. Joe has Joe Burrow @ Cleveland. He wasn’t great in either game last year against them. Kenny has Jalen Hurts @ New England. Patriots defense is usually good, but nobody could stop Jalen last year. He was averaging about 30 points per game when I lost him to injury. My replacement Qb scored 15 in the fantasy playoffs and I lost by 15. Jalen was the key. In addition to these two stud Qbs both teams feature Top 5 RBs in Joe’s CMC and Kenny’s Nick Chubb. CMC plays @ Pittsburgh which should be a good game. Chubb plays Cincy. Last year Chubb has one boom game (27.9) and one bust game (6.9) versus the Bengals. Not sure what to expect there. At RB2 Joe has Aaron Jones against Chicago and Kenny has Cam Akers vs. Seattle. Jones had one boom game (33.5) and one bust game (7.5) against the Bears last season. Not sure what to expect there. Akers versus Seattle last year had two solid outings of 18.5 and 17.3 fantasy points. At WR the advantage is clearly Kenny. Joe has a banged up Jaylen Waddle versus LA Chargers and Christian Kirk vs. Indy. If Waddle plays he would be in a shootout potential matchup and be a smash play. If. Kirk had one boom game (22.8) and one bust game (8.8) vs. Indy. Not sure what to expect there. I do know that the Jaguars had Ridley and Zay Jones on the field in two wide receiver sets this preseason, so if Kirk is solely the slot guy it’ll be something to pay attention to as that could definitely cap his ceiling this year. For Kenny he has Stefon Diggs against Sauce Gardner on Monday Night Football. Last year the Jets did a good job containing Diggs with games of 5 catches for 93 yards and 3 catches for 37 yards, neither of which included a touchdown. Diggs is an elite talent, so you aren’t sitting him, but expectations should be limited. Deebo Samuel is at WR2 against Pittsburgh. Like I said in my draft grades I have no clue what Deebo is going to do this year. I do know that he can take a slant from Brock Purdy to the house at any moment. Pittsburgh is tough though. At Tight End Joe has Kyle Pitts against Carolina and Kenny has David Njoku against Cincy. I like Njoku out of those two. The Falcons are going to run the ball and only throw when they need to. Njoku was pretty good last year prior to injury. He started 2022 with 4/7 games with 5+ catches. In the flex Joe has Alexander Mattison and Kenny has Mike Evans vs. Minnesota. I love both of these flexes this week. Mattison has the volume, but faces a tough defense. Evans has the talent, but the average Qb against one of the worst offensive lines in football. The Vikings defense isn’t that great though, so could be a good matchup. Joe has Bengals D/ST against Cleveland and Kenny has Dallas D/ST against the Giants. Last season the Bengals D/ST scored 8 and 9 against the Browns. Last season the Dallas D/ST scored 14 and 5 against the Giants. Joe has Justin Tucker against Houston, so look for him to have 6 extra point tries at least. For Kenny he has Graham Gano on SNF. Gano had two games of double digit fantasy points against the Cowgirls last season. Looking at this game one thing I know for sure. I’m not sure what to expect here.

Chase (0-0) vs. Moose (0-0)

7/14 Titles in this league belong to these two teams here. (Insert gif of the Joker saying “Half”). Both teams dropped their kickers to add a player onto their bench prior to kickoff. Look for them to add a kicker once they look at whatever the hell they are looking at. O/U? Weather? Wind? Waiting for kickers to finish being cut or traded? They both have studs at Quarterback. Josh Allen for Chase against the NY Jets in a potential shootout on Monday Night Football. Last season he averaged 22.65 points in his two games against the Jets securing 3 rushing touchdowns in those matchups. For Moose he gets Lamar Jackson who Brad passed on like a dumb fuck. Jackson gets Houston, so look for him to sit in the 4^th quarter. Last year Jackson started off en fuego with games of 20.1, 50.5, and 42.3 fantasy points. Add in OBJ, Zay Flowers, and Todd Monken at OC and Jackson might set some records in Week 1. At RB Chase has James Cook in the MNF matchup and Khalil Herbert against the Bears. Cook looked explosive in spurts last season, Devin Singletary is gone, Zach Moss is gone, and Nyheim Hines got injured in a jet ski accident. All Cook needs to do is beat out Damien Harris and Latavius Murray and Josh Allen to secure big running back numbers. He should secure (at the very least) the 2 minute offense, hurry-up offense, and third down work. I think he gets a bit more that that, but goal line carries are the main concern. For Herbert we didn’t get a good sense of what he can do against the Packers last season as the first time they played he was still second fiddle to David Montgomery and he was hurt for the second matchup. Herbert is good and grades highly in PFF. For Moose he has Tony Pollard against the Giants and either Breece Hall, Devon Achane, or Jerick McKinnon at RB2. I’m sure the preference is Breece Hall, but we’ll see if they ease him back into the lineup coming back from that big knee injury. For Moose it’ll be interesting to see how he plays it as McKinnon plays TNF and Hall doesn’t play until MNF. At WR Chase has Amari Cooper vs. Cincinnati and Courtland Sutton vs. Las Vegas. Cooper was the #10 WR last year and has had more time to build rapport with Deshaun Watson. Last season he had one boom game and one bust game against Cincy. Sutton did well against Vegas last season scoring 13.7 and 10.5 in his two games against the division foe. For Moose he’ll most likely be without Cooper Kupp who reaggravated his hamstring so he’ll turn to Diontae Johnson against San Fran, Jordan Addison against Tampa Bay, and Michael Thomas against the Titans. Two juggernauts at Tight End with Chase having Travis Kelce against Detroit and Moose having Mandrews against Houston. Chase has Jaguars D/ST against rookie Anthony Richardson and Moose has Saints D/ST against Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, and DeAndre Hopkins. Should be a great matchup!

Trey (0-0) vs. Brad (0-0)

T-Money opens the season against 2-Time Champion Brad in a battle of Coast to Coast! Trey features the dual threat phenom Justin Fields at Qb against the GB Packers. Last season Fields played them in Week 2 and went for 7/11 passing for 70 yards, 1 Int, 20 yards rushing a rushing touchdown or 8.8 fantasy points. After he got settled into the season he played them again in Week 13 with much better results throwing 20/25 passes 254 yards, 2 INT, 71 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown or 21.1 fantasy points. I like Fields for 20+ points to start the season off right. For Brad’s Trevor Lawrence he scored 18.5 and 24.9 fantasy points in his two matchups against the Colts. Their defense hasn’t gotten much better… At RB Trey has rookie phenom Bijan Robinson against the Carolina Panthers. Panthers were middle of the pack in run defense last season. Look for Bijan to enter the league in style. I like Atlanta to win this game in a blowout and for Bijan to not have to play much going into the 4^th quarter. Trey also has JK Dobbins who Brad passed on in the draft for David Montgomery. Dobbins has a juicy matchup against Houston. Brad will have Dameon Pierce against Baltimore and David Montgomery against the Chiefs. Pierce’s volume potential is massive, but Baltimore was top ten against the run last year and have a couple of hurt cornerbacks. Look for CJ Stroud to throw a lot in his first NFL regular season game. For David Montgomery the big question is how are the Lions going to divide up the running back carries. Will it be Montgomery taking the Jamaal Williams role and Gibbs taking the D’Andre Swift role? Or will they establish new roles? Brad is certainly hoping for the former. At Wide Receiver Trey has Chris Olave in a juicy ass matchup against the Titans. He also has DK Metcalf against the Rams. Last season DK went off in Week 13 against the division foe with 8 catches on 8 targets for 127 yards and a touchdown. JSN might miss week 1 with a broken bone in his wrist and Jalen Ramsey is a Miami Dolphin. In the Flex Trey has Jamaal Williams who looks to take the lion share of the work in Week 1 given Kendre Miller hurt his hammy and Kamara is suspended for the first 3 weeks. Look for a BIG week for Williams against the Titans. For Brad he is starting his trio of Wideouts in Amon-Ra St. Brown, AJ Brown, and Calvin Ridley. Ridley against the Colts. Look for the Jags to get him a score to boost his confidence in his first game action in almost two years. He will be emotional. Amon-Ra look for him to get pepper with 10-12 targets and 7-8 catches as the only other weapons are aging Marvin Jones Jr. and rookie Sam LaPorta. AJB faces New England who has a knack of taking away a teams best player. Only problem is who do you take away for the Eagles? They have too many weapons. This will be AJ Brown’s first time facing the Patriots since his rookie season where he played 95% of snaps in a playoff game and only came away with 1 reception on 1 target for 4 yards. At Tight End Trey is going with Trip Saints Juwan Johnson. Brad is looking at Greg Dulcich against the Raiders with all of the injuries to the Denver wideouts. Trey has 49ers D/ST against Pittsburgh and Brad has Eagles D/ST against New England.

As always best of luck to all of you!

-Commish aka B-Razzle Dazzle aka Fantasy Football Brad

BBY Dream Team League Season 15 Draft Grades

August 22, 2023August 22, 2023 bradleybertoniere Fantasy Football, NFL, Quarterbacks, Rankings, Wide Receivers Fantasy Football, Mike Evans, NFL, Preview

BBY Dream Team League 2023-2024 Season #15!

Before we dive into draft grades, I’d like to take a second to look at where we’ve been. In the 14 years of the BBY Dream Team League the Championships have been a bit top heavy, with 3 players holding 9 titles. Mustafa “Moose” Sunka has 4 Titles. Chase Sims has 3 Titles. Yours Truly has 2 Titles. Then there are five teams with 1 title. Joe Weiser in Season #5, Scotty Gwatney in Season #6, Trey Hewitt in Season #9, Kenny Williams in Season #12, and of course our newest and reigning champion of Season #14, JD Smith! Of course, that means there are several members that have yet to win their first title. Mike Grote, Jen LeGlue, Katon Bethay, and Tommy Plemons are the four teams on the outside looking in. Could this be the year? Katon drafted at Pick #2, Jen at Pick #3, Tommy at Pick #5, and Mike at Pick #9.

Here is the Draft Position of Each Champion:

Brad- Pick #1
Moose- Pick #3
Brad- Pick #9
Chase- Pick #4
Joe- Pick #1
Scotty- Pick #4
Moose- Pick #12
Chase- Pick #1
Trey- Pick #4
Moose- Pick #11
Moose- Pick #11
Kenny- Pick #6
Chase- Pick #6
JD- Pick #3

The past is in the past. As the great Rafiki says in Lion King, “It doesn’t matter…it’s in the past!”

Let’s move on to Season #15 and see how Brad thinks you did on your draft this season.

Annual Disclaimer: Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. This is my opinion. Last year JD received a draft grade of “C” and was ranked #9/12. He finished #1, which is all that matters. (Of course I had the other 5 playoff teams grades with B- or better with Mustafa (A), Chase (B+), Brad (B+), Tommy (B-) and Mike (B-) also making the playoffs with draft grades of 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. So really I was very wrong about Kenny (A-) and JD (C), but most of my grades weren’t that bad. Let’s see how I do this year!

Pick #1: Trey

Trey with the odd back-to-back years with #1 pick. Last year it was an automatic selection, Johnathan Taylor. Just click send. It blew up in Trey’s face. This year it was an automatic selection, Justin Jefferson. Just click send. Trey did not. Instead he chose Bijan Robinson, rookie out of Texas and newest addition to the Atlanta Falcons. Couple Bijan’s talent with Atlanta’s run first mentality, #2 easiest strength of schedule according to Warren Sharp, the wide-open NFC South, and their offseason additions on their defense and offensive line, I’m bullish on Bijan to waste no time in being a fantasy superstar. CMC was going in the 3^rd round of redraft his rookie season and he didn’t disappoint. Their previous starter Tyler Allgeier rushed admirably last season, breaking Atlanta’s rookie rushing record while ranking #2 in the NFL in EPA/attempt among all RBs with 100+ carries. Excerpt from Warren Sharps NFL Preview book, “Arthur Smith’s scheme last year allowed his Falcons RBs to rank: #1 in rushing yards, #1 yards per carry, #1 rushing first downs, #2 in EPA/rush, #3 in success rate.” They also drafted Matthew Bergeron in the 2^nd round who will most likely move to guard and was a much better run blocker than pass blocker at Syracuse. They also signed a ton of defensive free agents like Jessie Bates III (Safety), David Onuemata (DL), Kaden Ellis (LB), Calais Campbell (DL), Jeff Okudah (CB), and Bud Dupree (Edge). Arthur Smith is also sporting a mustache. He is going to pound the rock and play defense. Bijan can be a Top 5 fantasy running back. If he gets 275+ touches I believe he does just that. They will rotate a bit. But the potential is there. BUT to draft him you passed on Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Christin McCaffrey, Austin Ekeler, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce. Jefferson led the NFL in both catches with 128 and receiving yards with 1,809 last season. He was the youngest player in NFL history to lead the league in both. He is 24. He is an LSU guy. And I’m bullish on the Vikings offense this season. I love a little spice, so we’ll see how this works out for Trey. No one will question the size of Trey’s nuts although they may question the size of his brain.

In the second round Trey took Chris Olave and DK Metcalf. Olave is in a smash spot this season. Favorable schedule, Derek Carr should be as good if not better than Andy Dalton. Solid WR1. Metcalf I believe will finish about where he did last year. I think he’s due for some positive touchdown regression, but the addition of JSN will hurt his targets, receptions, and yardage totals. I had Devonta Smith higher in my rankings than Metcalf.

In the 4^th and 5^th Trey went DJ Moore and Justin Fields. Not gonna lie, makes for a pretty sick squad. Fields is a Qb/Rb. Bijan is a Rb/WR. Olave-Metcalf-Moore is a solid trio of wideouts. Fields rushed for 1143 yards and 8 touchdowns last year. Moore took a wobbly screen pass with broken play on defense to the house in preseason and jettisoned himself up the rankings. Prior to last season Moore was an automatic for 1100 yards receiving and I think he can get there again. Does he bring the career high 7 touchdowns with him? Or does that regress to his average of 4 each year? Still good for a flex.

Trey took JK Dobbins and Dalvin Cook for his second and third running backs. I was torn between Montgomery and Dobbins and ultimately chose Montgomery. Dobbins lasted a full 10 picks later to Trey. His knee looks bad. We will see if those weird bumps have gone down or not. I like the Ravens this season, so we’ll see what he can do. Dalvin Cook isn’t a bad RB3. I don’t think he goes as crazy as people think this season, but if Hall winds up with a soft tissue injury and misses some games then Dalvin could have some good startable weeks.

Loved Trey’s pick of Zay Flowers. Jamaal Williams wasn’t bad for RB depth either. Geno Smith provides Qb depth in the event of an injury and has the Geno/DK stack option.

Draft Grade: C. I like Bijan a lot. Looking forward to trying his mustard. But this was a swing for the fence move after being burned last year. JJ is the best WR in football. Could’ve started JJ-Rhamondre-Olave. Still gotten Fields-Moore. And the rest of the group. Is the dropoff from JJ to Metcalf worth the difference of Bijan and Rhamondre Stevenson? Let’s check back at the end of the year. Will it be no? Or an emphatic yes? I’ll give a C.

Pick #2: Katon

I’m assuming Katon was ready to draft Ja’Marr Chase after Trey took Justin Jefferson and just automatically hit select even though Trey didn’t take JJ. Not sure why someone would take Chase over JJ. Minnesota’s defense sucks, which means Vikings are looking to be in a large quantity of shootouts. JJ had more targets, catches, and yards than Chase last season. Chase did miss a few games after he injured his hip celebrating a touchdown. Also, in the offseason it was reported that Chase has a woman stalker who is threatening him and his mother causing him to file a restraining order. They hooked up one night and he wind up with a stage five clinger situation as a result. Must’ve laid a hell of a pipe. This might also explain the broken hip last year. I digress. In Round 2 Katon went with Patrick Mahomes. What a solid player. Just start him and forget about it. I could argue about Player Value Rankings and say it was a bad pick. I could argue that a running Qb like Hurts would have been better, but Mahomes is a stud and he is fun to root for. He just makes plays. In Round 3 you got your starting Rb in Joe Mixon, doubling up on the Bengals. Mixon had a tumultuous offseason. Court hearings and rumors swirling about him potentially being cut. Ultimately the cut that happened was him accepting a pay cut to play with the Bengals again this season. He is still on the roster and was cleared of any wrongdoing on the court matter. He’s good to go. In Round 4 you went target hog TJ Hockenson. Like it. Solid. The addition of Jordan Addison might cut into his target share a bit, but again I’m bullish on this passing attack and I can see them putting on a show most weeks. In Round 5 you took James Conner. I had Walker and Mattison ranked higher, but I understand if you wanted to ensure volume. It’s just volume on a bad team. But volume is volume for a running back! Good values in Round 6 and 7 with Terry McLaurin and Isaih Pacheco. A #1 WR with a young stud in Sam Howell throwing him the ball. Isaih Pacheco runs angry and I look forward to seeing what he brings to his sophomore season. Last year I woke up at like 5:00am pacific time and couldn’t sleep. Saw some news about Chiefs Running backs while sitting on the can. I quickly picked up Pacheco and immediately got a text at 5:14am from Chase saying he clicked add at the exact same time. Actually what he said was “You fucking beat me to it”. He served me well last year and you’ll like him as a Rb Katon. I liked your picks of Michael Pittman and Samaje Perine. Everyone is down on Pittman this year. They are throwing around stats about rookie Qbs not having their WR’s finish as a top 15 WR in fantasy. It doesn’t happen. Pretty weird. But for a depth piece he’s a big target and let’s see if he gets a decent amount of touchdowns. Perine I loved. Javonte Williams knee recovery is miraculous. Players that tear their ACL, PCL, and LCL have only an 18.5% chance of returning to their previous talent level. Williams appears to have done it. But Payton loves to rotate backs. Perine will get a decent amount of work and Williams is at risk of soft tissue injuries which is common for players coming off of ACL injuries. Most of your depth players are throw aways but I liked your Jared Goff pick in Round 15. Dude has a chance to ball out this year.

Draft Grade: B-. Overall it’s not a pretty team, but there is no weakness per se. 3 RB1’s, 3 WR1’s. Not bad Katon. Not Bad.

Pick #3: Jen

The Fantasy God’s parted the clouds and beamed sunshine down to Jen’s third overall pick. For the second year in a row she gets Justin Jefferson. Last year she traded JJ for Daniel Jones, Aaron Jones, and Gabe Davis. This year I have a feeling she’ll hold on to the manimal that led the league in catches and receiving yards. In Round 2 she went with Travis Etienne Jr. I hated this pick. Etienne will be fine, but passing on Olave and Devonta Smith… then choosing Etienne over Rhamondre Stevenson. Etienne has more of a threat to lose touches to rookie Tank Bigsby than Rhamondre has to lose to Zeke Elliot. In the 3^rd round you got Tee Higgins so that’s good. Tee is on a contract year and would be the #1 WR on at least 10 teams in the league. This year he has Burrow slinging to him, so look for his normal WR#2 (Top 24) finish. In Round 4 you took Darren Waller. Waller has been flying up draft boards. All offseason word out of Giants camp is Jones is throwing to Waller nonstop. A sideline reporter said they pulled Waller out of practice one day not because he was hurt but because they wanted to see Daniel Jones throw to other players. Then in the Week 2 preseason game the starters played and Jones targeted Waller on 3 straight passes to start the drive and targeted him again a few plays later. Daniel Bellinger vultured the touchdown, but Waller has a path to finish as TE#2 this year if he can stay healthy. I like the bold, flag plant pick here. In Round 5 you took Javonte Williams. Williams would be a 2^nd round pick if he wasn’t coming off of injury. All reports this summer have said he’s back. He’s healthy. He looks great. If he starts off slow that’s okay, but he has the potential to be a steal in Round 5. I probably would have gone Mattison or Kenneth Walker here, but I tend to play more conservative (no wonder I haven’t won since 2011). In Round 6 you got your Qb in Deshaun Watson. The Rub and Tug All Star should have a solid season in his first full season of being a Browns starting Qb. We’ll see if he can reclaim his all-star status like when he was balling out for the Texans a few years ago. In Round 7 you got a decent RB depth piece in AJ Dillon. Jordan Love is QB in Green Bay and they may look to run the ball more. Last season Aaron Jones stole the show, but Dillon carved out a respectable role at the end of the season once it got cold. They went more bruiser rather than slice and dice. The split was 56% Aaron Jones and 44% AJ Dillon. Could it be closer to 50/50 this year? Decent fliers and depth pieces throughout the rest of the draft.

Draft Grade: B+. The concern is Running Backs health and volume, but most teams have that issue this year. The JJ-Higgins-Waller combo is going to be a nice floor and the AJ Dillon + GB D/ST could be sneaky good. Well done Jen!

Pick#4: Joe

Joe you son of a bitch. Love you. Christian McCaffrey was a solid selection for me last year at Pick #2. I received some shit for it, but he went back to his solid ass balling out self. Yes Elijah Mitchell might carve out some runs, but CMC gives you one of the best RB1’s in the game with a good floor (due to his receptions) and incredible ceiling (due to him being able to break one at any moment). Solid selection Joe! In Round 2 you took Jaylen Waddle. Excellent pick again. I don’t think people understand how good Waddle is and how great of a fit he is in Mike McDaniels offense. Tyreek Hill being there kind of overshadows him a bit. He was PPR WR#8 last year in his sophomore season. He’s 24 years old. And he had some monster plays last year. In Round 3 you took Aaron Jones. I agree on you taking a RB. I disagree on the RB. Last year I took CMC in the first and Aaron Jones in the 3^rd. Rodgers preferred to have Jones on the field with him. I don’t think I’ve seen many rankers have Jones over Rhamondre Stevenson. You also took him over Mark Andrews, DeVonta Smith. I don’t know. I’m not sure about Aaron Jones at cost this year, but we’ll see. If GB does run more and he maintains his 56/44 snap percentage then maybe he can repeat and have a top 10 Rb season again. We’ll see. In Round 4 you took Joe “Big Dick” Burrow. Little calf strain never hurt anybody. Burrow-CMC-Jones-Waddle. In Round 5 you took your third RB over your second WR. You took Alexander Mattison. Evan Silva placed a large bet on Mattison to win the rushing title with 40:1 odds. To quote the big dog himself, “Alexander Mattison inherits Dalvin Cook’s workhorse role after re-signing a two-year, $7 million deal, 91% of which is guaranteed. Mattison possesses prototypical feature back size (5-foot-11/ 221) and has been treated commensurately by Vikings coaches in past opportunities to spell Cook; Mattison’s touch counts in his past five starts were 24, 32, 32, 25, and 16. Last year, Mattison outplayed Cook on a one-to-one basis, finishing 16^th in PFF rushing grade compared to Cook’s 64^th overall placement… I’m willing to draft Mattison aggressively above his ADP this season.” Mattison has had a small injury this offseason and Vikings have been rumored to want to sign another back for depth, but it sure looks like Mattison is in line for a Top 15 RB season. This gives Joe a 3 headed RB monster, something only a few teams have this year in this league. In Round 6 you took Kyle Pitts. For me he isn’t worth it. Once the top Tight Ends go my strategy was to wait. The Falcons just don’t throw that much. Ridder doesn’t look that accurate. Pitts just isn’t worth a Round 6 pick. In Round 7 you took Christian Kirk. Kirk as your WR2 is worrisome. Yes Kirk was WR #12 last year. No Kirk will not finish as a Top 15 WR this year. Calvin Ridley is in town. In the preseason the Jags lined up Ridley and Zay Jones in two WR sets. Kirk is the slot receiver. The snap count and multitude of weapons in Jacksonville are going to hurt Kirk’s consistency and floor and make him more difficult to start. This will also hurt his ceiling. In Round 8 you made up for the Kirk pick with Jahan Dotson. I was super high on Dotson and I almost ran out of time on my pick because I didn’t know whether to take Drake London or Dotson. I was taking Gibson, so I didn’t want to double up on Commanders. London is the #1 WR where as Dotson was a #2. I ultimately chose London, which gave Joe a solid WR#2. Start Dotson over Kirk this season. You’ll thank me later. I also loved the Treylon Burks pick in Round 9 and Elijah Mitchell pick in Round 10. Decent picks to end the draft.

Draft Grade: B. Solid Joe. Didn’t care for Aaron Jones over Rhamondre. Didn’t care for Kirk pick. The Tight End position is going to piss you off all season. But you should compete.

Pick #5: Tommy

I knew Tommy was picking Ekeler. I wrote it down prior to the draft. Ekeler took Tommy out last year in the Super Bowl and he was going to ensure it didn’t happen again. I don’t hate it. The entire backfield is about the same as last year and the Offense Coordinator got better. I like Ekeler to repeat as a Top 5 RB this season. In the 2^nd Round you took Josh Jacobs. Jacobs isn’t happy about being franchise tagged and is threatening to sit out since a long-term deal wasn’t reached. I don’t blame the guy, he set career highs last year in attempts (340), rushing yards (1653), receiving yards (400), average rush (4.9) and tied his high rushing touchdown number (12). Jacobs is a victim of the running back market. They have a short career and are highly replaceable. Jacobs put it all out there last season. Played hurt. Overcame adversity and put on dazzling performances including that 33 rush, 229-yard, 2 touchdown performance against the Seahawks in November. Once running backs get paid it’s not pretty. (See Le’Veon Bell, Ezekiel Elliot, Todd Gurley, etc.) We’ll see if the two sides can come to an agreement soon. A rumor dropped yesterday saying he was going to show up to play in Week 1. Then I saw he commented saying the comment was bullshit. Then he deleted the comment. In these situations I think Jacobs played the good teammate part last year playing through injury. He does not do that this year. If he has a slight bump or bruise he’s sitting. This is not a great pick for Tommy in my opinion. High risk high reward, but in the 2^nd round with so much talent available. It’s a shame (in Gordon Ramsey’s voice). In Round 3 he took Najee Harris. Ensuring those in the back of the draft were pissed off at 0 running backs falling back to them. Harris should do better this year than his bust year last year. Last year was obvious he was going to bust and he busted. This year the offensive line is improved and he is not dealing with a foot injury like last offseason. His only threat is Jaylen Warren who continues to carve out a little role for himself. But Harris finished the season strong last year with Top 18 RB finishes in PPR in each of the last 6 weeks. In Round 4 Tommy finally took a WR. (I had 3 at this point of the draft). Hopkins is talented and has fingers longer than my torso, but he is 31 in a run-first offense. When Treylon Burks comes back to full strength I don’t see Hopkins being the player he used to be for the Texans. He has the ability to finish as a Top 24 WR, but I don’t see him cracking the Top 12 to be considered a “WR1”. In Round 5 you took Jerry Jeudy. Jeudy is a baller and he could breakout in his first season with Sean Payton. Jeudy has had a few injuries, but when he’s on the field he plays great. In the final 6 weeks last season he finished as a WR 1 or 2 in 4/6 weeks. That includes his Week 14 Wide Receiver #1 ranking when he caught 3 touchdowns against the Chiefs. We’ll see what he can do this season and if Sean Payton can squeeze blood out of the Russel Wilson turnip or not. In Round 6 you took big Mike Williams. Between the three wrs you took you should have enough to compete. In Round 7 you took Captain Kirk. Cousins is entering his Age 35 season and is in a contract year. They added Jordan Addison in the offseason and their defense is in shambles. Look for Cousins to repeat his QB8 performance from last season. You took Evan Engram for TE but also drafted Dalton Kincaid later. Solid.

Draft Grade: C. You went 3 rbs to start the draft then didn’t draft a single one after that. One of those three might not play. And if he does play he’s probably going be more cautious. Your team is weird and I don’t like it.

Pick #6: Scotty

Good to see a real human draft Scotty’s team this year! Scotty went Tyreek Hill in Round 1. Love it. Hill has verbally put it out there that he wants 2000 yards this season. The crazy cheetah might just have the talent to do it too. Loved this pick. In Round 2 you went Johnathan Taylor. Yikes. I get wanting to draft a RB and this was a big high risk/high reward type pick. But man. Still having ankle issues. Trying to get traded out of Indy because he’s still on his rookie deal. We’ll see if he gets traded, but even then I don’t see his situation getting that much better. Maybe he gets traded. Maybe the ankle will finally heal. Maybe he returns to 2021 version of himself. That’s too many maybes for me big dog. You should’ve just drafted Waddle since you got Tua later and just went all in on the Dolphins passing attack lol. In Round 3 you made up for it with Rhamondre Stevenson. You don’t see a Top 12 RB fall to the middle of Round 3 when his competition for carries has gotten worse. Maybe Zeke takes a few goal line carries. Okay. Rhamondre finished with 69 receptions last season. He was Top 12 with only 6 touchdowns. People are stupid. Great pick Scotty. In Round 4 you took Alvin Kamara. We’ll see how much he has in the tank when he comes back from suspension. In Round 5 you took Miles Sanders. Somehow you took 4 running backs in your first 5 rounds and you STILL might not have a RB2 for Week 1. JT might not play. Sanders has a hurt groin and might not play. Kamara is suspended. Great depth for mid and late season, but this is borderline hilarious. Hopefully something works out for your for week 1. In Round 6 you were handed a wonderful gift. Christian Watson falling two rounds later in ADP for no fucking reason at all. You LOVE to see it. Your WR2 might finish better than all of Tommy’s WRs. You did a decent job filling our your roster with Dallas Goedert, Marquise Brown. Got a couple of decent Qbs to choose in Dak and Tua. Got Rhamondre’s backup in Zeke.

Draft Grade: C+. You got docked a letter grade for drafting JT. You got docked another letter grade for drafting 4 Qb’s. I know we aren’t supposed to say this word anymore, but are you retarded?

Pick #7: JD

The Champ! All Hail King JD! You went Saquon Barkley. I get it. RBs were going, you liked him more than Henry and Chubb. I get it. I would have gone Kelce personally, but I understand it. In round 2 you took Davante Adams. I got to go to a celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe last month. Got real close to Adams. He’s skinnier in real life, but well dressed and has a decent golf shot. Also Darren Waller is gone. Last year Adams proved it doesn’t matter who is QB is as he set career highs in targets and yards per catch. Jimmy G isn’t a downgrade or an upgrade from Derek Carr. Solid RB1 and WR1 to start the draft. In Round 3 you took DeVonta Smith. Shit I don’t blame you. Guy has a 2^nd round ADP and lasts until 3.7? All day. You have the second best WR duo in the league. 😉. In Round 4 you took your RB2 in Rachaad White. Everybody was reaching for RBs at this point. I don’t know if any of us reached on the right one. I think the order of Pierce, White, Conner, Mattison, Walker, and Sanders is going to be Pierce, Mattison, Walker, Sanders, White, and Conner. So I don’t agree with your reach. He doesn’t have much backfield competition. The offense is going to be worse than last year without Brady. I understand the reach. I just don’t know if it was for the right player. In Round 5 you took Kenneth Walker. Great pick. I thought about him over Pierce in Round 4, so you getting him at 5.7 is an incredible value. People were worried about his injury this preseason but he’s already back practicing. Let him ball out. George Kittle in Round 6 wasn’t bad. Purdy liked him a lot. That was evident by Kittle’s insane 7 touchdowns in the last 4 games of the regular season. I don’t think he keeps that up, but what if he does? In Round 9 you took your starting Qb in Daniel Jones. He finished as Qb#10 last year and added Darren Waller and Jaylin Hyatt. Great freaking pick.

Draft Grade: B. Don’t care for the bench at all, but if the starters stay healthy this team can compete.

Pick #8: Chase

These assholes really let Kelce fall to pick #8 eh? Chase scoops up the player that you can play in the tight end spot that scores at a Top 5 RB pace. While us peasants are hoping our tight ends fall into the endzone for 6 points Chase will get an average of 16.4 per game. GOD DAMNIT. PLAYER VALUE RANKINGS PEOPLE! I got to see Kelce shotgun a beer while playing golf in Lake Tahoe. A fan was talking shit to him saying he isn’t TE one. Kelce goes “Oh yeah, who’s number 1. Who’s number 1?” The fan mumbles “Kittle”. Little Niners fan. Kelce just nods. “Kittle is pretty good. Pretty good.” Then he hit the shit out of the ball onto the par 3 green. In Round 2 Chase goes with CeeDee Lamb. CeeDee was WR#6 last year. I still remember when the Falcons drafted a cornerback over him HAHAHAHA. Falcons suck. CeeDee’s target competition is about the same. Dalton Schultz is gone and they added Brandin Cooks. Look for a similar Top 8 WR finish this year. In Round 3 Chase shocked the free world going QB rather than his first RB. He selected Josh Allen over Jalen Hurts which I thought was interesting. Hurts averaged more per game than Allen and would have been QB#1 if he hadn’t gotten hurt at the end of last season. Word on the street is the Bills want Allen to pass more. We’ll see if it actually happens. I would have gone Hurts over Allen personally. Or maybe Gibbs. Or Andrews. Probably Gibbs then Hurts for me. In Round 4 Chase took Amari Cooper. Solid WR2 for Chase here. I almost took him at the turn but my gut told me to take Calvin Ridley. I don’t know why. Chase got his first RB in Round 5 with Captain James Cook. Cook looks like he could be a steal in Round 5. His competition is Damien Harris who is injured and Latavius Murray who is somehow still in the league. Cook will have every opportunity to smash his ADP this season. A big free agent signing would be the only thing I can see derailing the value of this pick. Like a Hunt or Uncle Lenny who are still out there in the free agent waters. In Round 6 he took his RB#2 in Khalil Herbert. Herbert was better than David Montgomery last year. I don’t know why people think Roschon or D’Onta Foreman is going to be able to beat him out. If Herbert can continue to take the bear share of the rb load the Bears schedule at the end of the season could make this pick a league winner. In Round 7 Chase got great value in Brandon Auyik. WR#17 last year getting drafted after Christian Kirk and George Pickens. In Round 8 you went Courtland Sutton. Then you began Operation Running Back. Going 4 straight RBs. I remember at one point I had a couple of RBS queued up and then they were gone when it was my turn to pick. Both went to Chase. He fired off Zach Charbonnet (great team name opportunity), Jaylen Warren (continues to look more explosive than Najee Harris), Tank Bigsby (could carve out role from Etienne), and Tyjae “No Knees” Spears (backing up 29 year old Derrick Henry and has looked explosive this offseason). Old Chase went zero RB and yet his RB depth looks just fine to me.

Draft Grade: A. Chase is better at this than us. Legit chance at Title #4.

Pick #9: Mike

As mentioned earlier Mike is one of the few that hasn’t won a title. Will this be his year? In Round 1 he took the BIG DOG Derrick Henry. I was expecting a tough choice at pick #12 between Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry and neither of them fell to me. When deciding Chubb versus Henry I thought that Chubb would have the better season, but if the Titans are in playoff contention I’d rather have Henry. In the playoffs Henry plays the Texans twice. The Texans where he averages 200 yards rushing against. In the fantasy playoffs. Bodes well for either a late playoff run or a run for more balls in the draft lottery. In Round 2 you took Garret Wilson. He reminds me of Julio Jones a little bit. Wilson should have a monster season with Aaron Rodgers at the helm. The Offensive Rookie of the Year finished as WR#19 with horrible QB play last year. Have you seen Zach Wilson play? I personally had Lamb and Adams higher than Wilson, but I get the allure. In Round 3 you got an incredible gift in Jahmyr Gibbs. RBs drafted in the first 12 picks of the NFL draft have gone on to finish with RB1 (Top 12) seasons in fantasy pretty consistently. Montgomery might steal a little bit, but Gibbs is going to explode. In Round 4 you took Keenan Allen. The 31 year slot receiver who is always hurt. Over Cooper. And Hopkins. And Moore. And Jeudy. And Mike Williams who went two rounds later. Mike. This is a terrible pick. You get an incredible gift of Gibbs in the third and then you draft Keenan fucking Allen in the 4^th? Why don’t you want to win Mike! Why don’t you WANT IT! From now on if you are thinking about taking someone just text me. Let the league call collusion. I don’t care. I would have told you that this is a terrible pick! In Round 5 you took Justin Herbert. Super talented Qb. Was hampered last year by a rib injury. That is all healed up and enters Kellen Moore at OC and Quinten Johnston at WR. Johnston gives them depth at WR for when Allen and/or Mike Williams inevitably get hurt. In Round 6 you took Chris Godwin. Over Christian Watson, Mike Williams, and Terry McLaurin. Then in Round 7 you took Tyler Lockett. I’m truly flabbergasted. You later took Odell Beckham. Nico Collins was a phenomenal pick. But I don’t know why you took a large quantity of old oft-injured WRs. You got no RB depth.

Draft Grade: D-. Henry over Chubb was ok. Wilson over Adams was ok. Gibbs was great. The rest. HOT GARBAGE. Are you suffering from low testosterone? Like maybe you are balding or something? I haven’t seen you in awhile and I know you hang out with a lot of women in your house. Has the estrogen gotten to you? I can’t understand why you would take so many balding, aged, dusty wideouts unless there is some underlining empathy you’re feeling that I don’t know about.

Pick #10: Kenny

K-Dub is back in Louisiana and looking to get back to his winning ways like when he made back-to-back Super Bowls in 2020 and 2021. In the first round to get this party started he took Nick Chubb. Loved the pick. As RBs shot up into the first round Kenny locked in the best pure rusher in the league. Kareem Hunt isn’t there to snipe plays anymore, this could be a career year for the Chubbster who has 1210 career rush attempts and has averaged over 5 yards per carry every season in his career. He has also scored at least 8 touchdowns every year in his career. In Round 2 he still locked in a Top WR in Stefon Diggs. Pretty good. 29 years old coming off ppr wr finishes of #4, #7 and #3. As Allen goes, Diggs goes. Of course, I’ll never forgive him for the Minnesota Miracle. Fuck that guy. But solid selection.

In the 3^rd round temptation was too great and K-Dub locked in Jalen Hurts. Hurts averaged about 30 points per game last year. The fact that 9 people passed on him 3 times is a testament to how bad we all are at fantasy football. The Hurts-Chubb-Diggs combo is a pretty damn nasty trio. Then Kenny went Deebo Samuel. I didn’t care for this pick too much. Last year he was mad about his contract because of the “wide-back” position he held in 2021. Then he got hurt. Then they traded for Christian McCaffrey. Auyik began to ascend. Deebo should be healthy this year, but what is his role? CMC took the wide-back. Kittle was catching the redzone TDs. Auyik was moving the sticks on 3^rd down. What’s left for Deebo? In Round 5 you took Mike Evans. Evans has 9 straight seasons of 1000 yards receiving to begin his career. I’m glad they are being so upfront about that stat. It lets us all know that the Bucs are going to try and make it ten for Evans since there is no shot in hell this team is making the playoffs with Baker Mayfield at the helm. Maybe they’ll rally around this stat and help Kenny out. In Round 6 you took Cam Akers. Man what a crazy year last year for the Rams. Gonna trade him, no they aren’t. Darrell Henderson starts. Then they cut him. Akers was coming off the torn achilles last year. But then he finished the year strong. The offensive line sucks. I haven’t touched him this year. He did finish 2022 with 3 straight 100 yard games. So I guess that’s something to build on going into this year. In the mid rounds you went with a few timeshare rbs in Brian Robinson, D’Andre Swift, and Jeff Wilson Jr. Not bad not bad. At any given time during the season these names can be called up to carry a bigger load for their teams. Good value in Njoku and Gabe Davis late.

Draft Grade: B. Team can compete but is a Nick Chubb injury away from being very mediocre.

Pick #11: Moose

Surprise Surprise. Moose picks at 11 and you ten idiots allow a player to drop to him who could lead the league in targets and receptions. Cooper Kupp was on a ludicrous pace to start the year last year before getting hurt. The Rams were a dumpster fire, but despite it all, Kupp was balling. In 8 games to start the year he averaged 11.6 targets, 9 receptions, 101.6 yards, and .75 touchdowns. You all passed on that? Kupp did suffer another injury this offseason. With his age there is a reinjury risk. There is also the risk that the Rams are terrible again and want to rest their starters again. I like Kupp to have a big year this year. After Brad snagged a pair of wideouts Moose got to take Tony Pollard. Pollard was RB#8 in ppr last season and now Zeke is gone. Reminder that Zeke ran 231 times for 876 yards and 12 touchdowns last year. Mike McCarthy is also taking over play calling duties with Kellen Moore gone to LA and McCarthy has been vocal in his plans to run the ball more. All these factors spells “smash spot” for Tony Pollard. Only concern is the fact that he’s coming off a fractured left fibula. These injuries can take 3-6 months to heal. The injury occurred in January in the NFC Divisional playoff game against the 49ers. He was also a free agent heading into the offseason, but the Cowboys invested the franchise tag cost of 1 year $10 million dollar deal to keep Pollard on and unlock some other backs in the league he accepted it and signed.

In the 3^rd round another gift! Mark Andrews or Mandrews. Todd Monken is going to add a lot of passing to this Baltimore attack. Look for Lamar Jackson to return to his MVP ways this year. Only concern for Andrews is new competition for targets and the new system. With signing free agent Odell Beckham Jr, drafting Zay Flowers, and Rashod Bateman coming back from injury the Ravens suddenly have a lot of mouths to feed. In the 4^th round after Bitter Brad lost out on the Jackson-Andrews stack he then doesn’t pick Jackson and gives the stack to Moose. Moose was gifted from both ends of the draft this year.

In Rounds 5 and 6 Moose takes Breece Hall and Diontae Johnson. Breece Hall is a solid RB#2. Yes Dalvin Cook is in town, but Cook didn’t play that well last year. Cook finished ranked #64 rushing grade according to PFF last season. His shoulder is constantly hurt. How much does he have left in the tank? When people are asking how Moose won his 5^th title in this league they are going to look back at this Breece Hall pick and go, yeah we are super dumb.

Moose filled out his roster with Michael Thomas and Jordan Addison, Jerick McKinnon and Kenny Gainwell. Saints D/ST. Last year I made a lot of great decisions in the draft and I had luck fall my way. This year Moose made a lot of great decisions and had luck fall his way.

Draft Grade: A. Moose is going to win a 5^th title and all of us let this happen.

Pick #12: Brad

Monday morning I woke up and looked at my roster. I sneezed. A large accumulation of phlegm entered my throat and I ran to the trashcan in the kitchen and vomited. I am not exaggerating. This literally happened. I’ve been sick the past few days with fever, aches, pains, chills, and scratchy throat. Looking back at the draft this has to be my worst drafting performance in the history of the league. If I was hoping for a Michael Jordan flu game for the draft, this was not that. Let’s get this over with. At the end of Round 1 several Round 2 ADP running backs had been drafted so I elected to go WR-WR. I prepared for this in my mocks and liked the look of big bruiser AJ Brown and target machine Amon-Ra St. Brown. The Brown-Brown combo. AJB caught career best 88 catches, 1496 yards, and 11 touchdowns in his first season as an Eagle. This included WR1 (Top 12) or WR2(Top 24) finishes in 12 out of 17 weeks last year. Amon-Ra St. Brown has averaged 9.7 targets per game in his last 22 games. Amon-Ra does have a minor ankle injury and obviously looking back I am regretting not taking Tony Pollard who at least had time for his broken ankle to heal all offseason.

In the third round all the running backs were gone. All of them. Lamar Jackson and Mark Andrews were both available and a stack certainly crossed my mind. But I knew Moose wouldn’t let me have the stack. Sure enough he took Andrews. Since I wasn’t getting the stack I said screw Lamar Jackson, I’m going to wait on a Qb now. I then searched for the next closest running back which had an ADP of almost 2 rounds later. I decided to reach and take Dameon Pierce as my RB1. Pierce should be a workhorse and he graded very well in breaking tackles last season. Some analysts have argued that he should be a 4^th round pick and not a 5^th/6^th round pick and I certainly hope those analysts are right. I took Calvin Ridley. He has been getting so much hype this offseason. The 28-year-old who will be playing his first ball in almost two years after having an injured riddled fourth season then being suspended all last season for betting on games. Ridley did finish as PPR WR #5 back in 2020 in his third season/breakout year. My concern is the crowded weaponry in Jacksonville as much as the rust that may need to be shaken off. Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, and Evan Engram all had career seasons last year for Jacksonville. I don’t know how the target share and production is going to be sliced up this year which should have had me avoid the situation. I was planning on taking Amari Cooper here, but my instinct told me to take Ridley. We’ll see if my fever induced hallucinations of a draft will work or not.

In Round 5 and 6 I drafted Trevor Lawrence and David Montgomery. Lawrence finished as QB#8 last year, but started off slow. Doug Peterson was able to work some magic and get Lawrence’s confidence up and he performed better including 3 Top 5 Qb weeks from Weeks 12-18 post bye week. With the AFC South being a bit of a dumpster fire and Lawrence adding Ridley, I took my Qb to complete the Lawrence-Ridley stack just in case Ridley does indeed reclaim his 2020 version. Montgomery was a pick hoping that his streak of Top 25 rb finishes continues past the 4 seasons he had in Chicago. Jamaal Williams is now a Saint along with his 17 touchdowns, so Brad is hoping between Amon-Ra and Montgomery he can capture a large share of those tuddies. Brad passed on Cam Akers and Christian Watson with this pick and he deserves to lose.

In later rounds Brad took Drake London and Antonio Gibson just changing his team from bad to worse. In the 10^th round last year he took a defense. This year he took a second Qb in a 1 Qb league. Anthony Richardson compared to Derrick Henry. Richardson is taller, heavier, and faster. I couldn’t resist. Brad took Eagles D/ST since they will have leads most weeks increasing their chances for sacks and interceptions. Took Brandon McManus who leaves the altitude in Denver for the swamp in Jacksonville. I believe he’ll be playing with a chip on his shoulder. Brad drafted a second tight end.

Draft Grade: F. An offseason of managing dynasty teams, drafting best ball teams, combined with a fevered illness must’ve messed with our dear commissioners’ brains during this draft. The 12^th spot had a lot of potential, but unfortunately, he didn’t rise to the occasion. This team will not make the playoffs, nor does it seem likely to compete in the bottom bowl. Look for the commissioner to become disengaged in this league and focus on entrepreneurial pursuits sooner rather than later into the 15^th season. Can a commissioner come back from something like this? Should he retire all together?

Draft Grades in Order of Picks:

Trey- C

Katon- B-

Jen- B+

Joe- B

Tommy- C

Scotty- C+

JD- B

Chase- A

Mike- D-

Kenny- B

Moose- A

Brad- F

Draft Grades in Order of Grades: