This past weekend the most competitive fantasy league I am in held our annual draft. This year was a bit different. We were transitioning from a keeper league into a dynasty league. Also, we added a Superflex this year. I am going to give a quick recap of how the draft went for my league. I will discuss my thought process on why I picked individual players and what I possibly would have done differently.
Round 1: Christian McCaffery (RB (CAR)) - (Keeper) McCaffery was one of my three keepers for obvious reasons. He will continue to be a top RB for years to come.
Round 2: Patrick Mahomes (QB (KC)) - (Keeper) Mahomes was the second of my three keepers. He is the top QB, and in a Superflex league, his value is even higher. With Mahomes and McCaffery as keepers, I got to essentially start my draft as if I had the 1.1 and 1.2 picks in an average dynasty startup.
Round 3: JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR (PIT)) - This was my first selection of the draft, and it was a tough one. Most of the receivers I wanted were gone at this point. JuJu was the top option on my board, so I went with the pick. I debated going Odell Beckham Jr but decided to trust my rankings and go with JuJu. I am not overly confident in him as my WR1, but if he can rekindle his connection with Big Ben, he has the potential to be a top 10 receiver.
Round 4 Kareem Hunt (RB (CLE)) This was a bit early to draft Hunt, but I am taking him as my RB 3. I have my RB 2 secured as a keeper in a later round. I have already discussed Hunt's upside, and I picked him here because I was having trouble deciding between 3 different WR. So I picked Hunt and decided I would take whichever of the three WR fell to me in the next round.
Round 5 Robert Woods (WR (LAR)) Getting Woods in the fifth round is a steal. He can finish as a top 10 receiver, and having him and JuJu as my top two options at the position gives me plenty of stability.
Round 6 Austin Eckler (RB (LAC)) (Keeper) Eckler is the last of my three keepers. I get to have Eckler be my RB2 at a much cheaper price tag than he is going in regular drafts.
Round 7 Devante Parker (WR (MIA)) Another solid WR2 who could finish as a WR1 at year's end. My top 3 receivers all present a solid floor, have tons of upside, and are still young for dynasty purposes. It was a great start to the draft.
Round 8 AJ Green (WR (CIN)) I continue my run on receivers here with Green. As my WR4, I was more than happy to take the gamble that he will return to some version of himself previously. He has a better QB throwing him the ball now than he ever has. I went to WR again because I was not happy with the RB value on the board. I considered grabbing Zack Moss in this round but thought he would fall back to me in the 9th.
Round 9 Jaelon Raegor (WR (PHI)) I was agitated when it came to this pick because Zack Moss went one pick before me. Unfortunately, Moss was also the last RB I valued at this point, so I instead grabbed my 5th receiver in Raegor. I love the potential of Raegor, and even if his injury to start the year holds him out for a while, I have plenty of depth to withstand it.
Round 10 Hayden Hurst (TE (ATL)) A bit of a run on TE was starting in this round, and I joined in on that run, getting the number 6 TE on my board. I have discussed my thoughts on Hurst in the past, and I was happy to get him here. I thought about grabbing Drew Locke here to serve as a Dynasty QB and my QB3 for this season but didn't want to miss on Hurst and figured Locke would still be there in round 11.
Round 11 Cam Newton (QB (NE)) Locke went right before me in this round, and I would have taken him here over Newton. Newton would have been my pick in the next round to serve as my Superflex QB this year, but I wanted Locke because of his dynasty value. Newton will be a top 10 QB this year in my eyes, and to get him at this point in a Superflex league was nice. To note, I still have not drafted an RB since I picked Hunt in round 4. I was not a massive fan of many available players and saw some value that was falling at the RB position that I knew I could grab in a few rounds.
Round 12 Gardner Minshew (QB (JAX)) I go back to back QB here because of this being a Superflex league. Minshew is a high upside QB that could easily become the preferred Superflex option over Newton. This was even before the Fournette news that raised Minshew's value even more.
Round 13 Tarik Cohen (RB (CHI)) I was lucky that Cohen was still on the board at this point. I took a significant risk waiting to draft my 4th RB until this point. I tried to follow my board, and my board kept telling me to draft receivers. Cohen is an excellent RB4 for me and will serve as a good bye week fill-in for my top guys.
Round 14 Lativius Murray (RB (NO)) SInce I waited so long to grab another RB, I start loading up on ones presenting value with upside. Murray is a high-end handcuff who could hold some flex value in a given week, so he was a great depth pick up at this point in the draft.
Round 15 Darrell Henderson (RB (LAR)) I am not a huge fan of Henderson or the Rams RB situation. I took him here with the chance that he becomes the starting RB for the Rams this season. It does not help that he is already dealing with a hamstring strain, and now Fournette might join this already crowded backfield. He was worth the gamble here but is not one of my favorite picks of this draft.
Since this is a dynasty draft, we went for many rounds. I do not want to go in-depth on every guy, so I will list all the players I drafted and say a few words about some. We do play IDP in this league needing to start 1 DL, 1 LB, and 1 DB. I waited till my last three picks to draft these players since we only needed one of each.
Round 16 -29
Anthony Miller (WR (CHI) Great value at this point in the draft.
Joshua Kelly (RB (LAC)) Has the chance to take the Melvin Gordon role in this backfield.
Parris Campbell (WR (IND)) High upside receiver could replace TY Hilton in the offense in a year or two.
Mike Williams (WR (LAC)) Fell far in the draft due to injury, could become a reliable receiver if Herbert develops as a QB.
Chris Herndon (TE (NYJ)) Missed out on Jonnu Smith, but Herndon still has tons of upside.
Rashaad Penny (RB (SEA) Talented RB this late in the draft. Could come back healthy and be the starter in SEA this year.
John Ross (WR (CIN)) Pure upside pick here.
Trayveon Williams (RB (CIN)) The likely handcuff to Mixon will not have value unless Mixon gets hurt.
Lynn Bowden (RB/WR (LAV)) Could see targets in the Raiders offense as a Taxi squad player.
Jameis Winston (QB (NO)) Still very talented. This is a pure dynasty pick hoping he takes over for Brees next year.
Jakobi Meyers (WR (NE)) Showed flashes last year, wanted to take Quintez Cephus here for taxi squad, but he went earlier in the round.
Tyrann Mathieu (DB (KC))
Blake Martinez (LB (NYG))
JJ Watt (DL (HOU)) Did not put any value of my IDP just picked top guys at their respective positions, and if they do not pan out or get hurt, they are easily replaceable.
Honestly, I am thrilled with how this draft turned out. My WR core is rock-solid, and my QB room has 3 top 12 QBS in my mind. I got fortunate when it came to RB. I should not have waited so long to take my RB 4. However, I still got reliable options and some potential starters down the line in Henderson, Penny, and Kelly. The only pick I would change is taking Zack Moss over AJ Green. My WR core was already established when I took Green, and Moss is an excellent long term dynasty option at the RB position. However, I still think this was a reliable team, and hopefully, you enjoyed my discussions and thoughts on the picks.