By Chet Gresham – @ChetGresham
Published May 19, 2017
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Wednesday night, I had a marathon 4-hour dynasty draft in the Fantasy Pros Invitational. The rosters are huge, with 28 roster spots for 12 teams, so if I take my shoe off I can add that up to 296 slots we had to draft. That allows for a lot possible bad picks, and I’m sure I have plenty, but it also allows for you to hold onto guys you feel can either turn things around or finally get things started.
The makeup of the rosters is broken down as such: 1 QB, 5 WRs, 3 RBs, 1 TE, 1 SUPERFLEX (QB/WR/RB/TE), 1 FLEX (WR/RB/TE), 1 D/ST and 16 players on your bench. It is a PPR format, with 100-yard rushing and receiving bonuses, as well as 300-yard passing bonuses. This means you could possibly play seven wide receivers any given week! Of course in the superflex position, we will all try to get a starting quarterback in there.
I had the No. 1 draft slot, which I was not happy about. There’s nothing like watching your queue quickly disintegrate as you wait a week for your next turn. My goal for this league near the start was to get young, talented wide receivers and a long-term starting quarterback for my base and to grab some young running backs whose potential I like.
So let’s take a look at how things went down.
1.01 Chet Gresham — Odell Beckham, WR, Giants
1.02 Fantasy Footballers — David Johnson, RB, Cardinals
1.03 Jody Smith — Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Cowboys
1.04 Jamey Eisenberg — Mike Evans, WR, Bucs
1.05 JJ Zachariason — Le’Veon Bell, RB, Steelers
1.06 Bobby Sylvester — Andrew Luck, QB, Colts
1.07 Mike Tagliere — Julio Jones, WR, Falcons
1.08 Sean Koerner — Aaron Rodgers, QB, Packers
1.09 Rich Hribar — Antonio Brown, WR, Steelers
1.10 Dalton Del Don — Marcus Mariota, QB, Titans
1.11 James Koh — A.J. Green, WR, Bengals
1.12 Justin Boone — Amari Cooper, WR, Raiders
I started us off with Odell Beckham Jr. It was either him or Mike Evans for me, as I prefer wide receivers to running backs in dynasty, and I just like OBJ’s ability more than Evans’, despite his younger quarterback…. Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers and Marcus Mariota all went in the first round due to the superflex position. Dalton Del Don may have been able to wait on Mariota, but if he truly is getting a top-five fantasy quarterback for the next 10 years, it’s a pick I can understand…. Amari Cooper is an interesting player for dynasty, as he has an unbelievable amount of long-term upside, but hasn’t quite shown it through his first couple years in the league. I’d like to see more from him, but the potential is high enough for an early dynasty pick.
2.01 Justin Boone — Michael Thomas, WR, Saints
2.02 James Koh — Christian McCaffrey, RB, Panthers
2.03 Dalton Del Don — Leonard Fournette, RB, Jaguars
2.04 Rich Hribar — T.Y. Hilton, WR, Colts
2.05 Sean Koerner — Melvin Gordon, RB, Chargers
2.06 Mike Tagliere — DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Texans
2.07 Bobby Sylvester — Allen Robinson, WR, Jaguars
2.08 JJ Zachariason — Dez Bryant, WR, Cowboys
2.09 Jamey Eisenberg — Todd Gurley, RB, Rams
2.10 Jody Smith — Brandin Cooks, WR, Patriots
2.11 Fantasy Footballers — Devonta Freeman, RB, Falcons
2.12 Chet Gresham — Sammy Watkins, WR, Bills
Round 2 brought us our first rookie picks with McCaffrey and Fournette. Rookies often are over-valued in dynasty drafts because their potential is so great and we haven’t seen anything on an NFL field that would deter us from drafting them. In a full-point PPR league like this, I think I prefer McCaffrey and like the “reach” more than Fournette…. Mr. Eisenberg took the leap on Todd Gurley, which is braver than me. I’m about 50/50 on him right now, but worry that his best years will be wasted in a horrid offense…. DeAndre Hopkins and Allen Robinson both had awful seasons last year, but have shown enough to be coveted, especially in dynasty leagues. Don’t be afraid to grab either of these guys early…. I went for Sammy Watkins at the turn and was happy he was still there. He’s still very young and has shown me enough between injuries to be all-in on him long term.
3.01 Chet Gresham — Russell Wilson, QB, Seahawks
3.02 Fantasy Footballers — Jordy Nelson, WR, Packers
3.03 Jody Smith — Cam Newton, QB, Panthers
3.04 Jamey Eisenberg — Jordan Howard, RB, Bears
3.05 JJ Zachariason — Doug Baldwin, WR, Seahawks
3.06 Bobby Sylvester — Keenan Allen, WR, Chargers
3.07 Mike Tagliere — Corey Davis, WR, Titans
3.08 Sean Koerner — Alshon Jeffery, WR, Eagles
3.09 Rich Hribar — Rob Gronkowski, TE, Patriots
3.10 Dalton Del Don — Jay Ajayi, RB, Dolphins
3.11 James Koh — Jarvis Landry, WR, Dolphins
3.12 Justin Boone — Davante Adams, WR, Packers
I grabbed Russell Wilson with my second pick of the turn. He was just the fourth quarterback taken, which is a little surprising in a superflex league, but waiting on quarterbacks is a fantasy writer’s modus operandi, so it makes sense…. With so many starting wide receivers needed on each team, they continue to be the main position flying off the board. I’m not a huge fan of getting Corey Davis this early, but the fit and good possibility that he’ll be Mariota’s No. 1 target for a while is intriguing to say the least…. I love Alshon Jeffery’s game, but I’ve been burned too often by injuries. Jeffery is also already 27 years old, which was a little surprising to me. He scares me in dynasty…. Rob Gronkowski could have a handful of dominant years left or continue to be injury-plagued, but the fact that he is truly dominant at his position makes him a better risk to take than some. Even at three quarters of what he was, Gronkowski’ll be the No. 1 fantasy tight end for a while.
4.01 Justin Boone — Jameis Winston, QB, Bucs
4.02 James Koh — Corey Coleman, WR, Browns
4.03 Dalton Del Don — LeSean McCoy, RB, Bills
4.04 Rich Hribar — Demaryius Thomas, WR, Broncos
4.05 Sean Koerner — Derek Carr, QB, Raiders
4.06 Mike Tagliere — Joe Mixon, RB, Bengals
4.07 Bobby Sylvester — Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys
4.08 JJ Zachariason — Stefon Diggs, WR, Vikings
4.09 Jamey Eisenberg — Terrelle Pryor, WR, Redskins
4.10 Jody Smith — Tyreek Hill, WR, Chiefs
4.11 Fantasy Footballers — Tom Brady, QB, Patriots
4.12 Chet Gresham — Donte Moncrief, WR, Colts
I’m a fan of the Corey Coleman pick here. I think he will be a solid player, and I do have hope for the Browns under Hue Jackson…. This looks like a nice spot for Joe Mixon as well. He has a high ceiling and should see playing time early in his career, and getting him in the fourth round feels like good value…. I had Terrelle Pryor queued up when Mr. Eisenberg took him. Pryor’s age is a little concerning in dynasty, but if he were younger, he’d have likely gone in the second round…. I’ve gone back and forth on Tyreek Hill. He’s got a ton of talent, but I’ve seen similar players have trouble getting enough targets/snaps to stay consistent…. Tom Brady is set up to have a great 2017 season, and he’ll be an amazing 40 years old. How long can he keep it up? I don’t know, but I think you can get away with taking him in the fourth round of a superflex dynasty startup…. I went back to the well with Donte Moncrief. If he and Andrew Luck are both healthy, he’s going to score a bunch of touchdowns in his career.
5.01 Chet Gresham — Derrick Henry, RB, Titans
5.02 Fantasy Footballers — Golden Tate, WR, Lions
5.03 Jody Smith — Lamar Miller, RB, Texans
5.04 Jamey Eisenberg — Matt Ryan, QB, Falcons
5.05 JJ Zachariason — Randall Cobb, WR, Packers
5.06 Bobby Sylvester — Dalvin Cook, RB, Vikings
5.07 Mike Tagliere — Drew Brees, QB, Saints
5.08 Sean Koerner — Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Panthers
5.09 Rich Hribar — Jamison Crowder, WR, Redskins
5.10 Dalton Del Don — DeMarco Murray, RB, Titans
5.11 James Koh — Kirk Cousins, QB, Redskins
5.12 Justin Boone — Isaiah Crowell, RB, Browns
I took my first running back here at the turn and went with Derrick Henry. It was between him and Isaiah Crowell, but I like where the Titans are right now and think Henry will take over as the lead back sooner than later. This is a longer-term pick though, as I still see Murray as the lead this year…. I was interested to see JJ Zachariason grab Randall Cobb here, as I still like him as well, but he’s currently being overlooked due to Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams’ big 2016s. I believe Cobb will continue to be a useful commodity, especially with Aaron Rodgers still playing at an elite level…. Kirk Cousins keeps growing on me due to his weapons and tremendous amount of pass attempts, but I do think he most likely needs to stay in Washington to keep that high level of fantasy goodness.
Go on to Rounds 6-11.
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Go on to Rounds 21-28.
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