Fan Pub Fun League Draft thread

Hi folks - just setting up a new thread in case anyone wants a chat on here to debrief on how the draft went later this evening.

I have put a few notes together on why I set the league up as I did, and also on my vague pre-draft strategy, which I will post straight after the draft. I’ll also post up how I think it went - would much appreciate hearing other people’s views !!

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It might be worth mentioning the scoring changes from standard scoring

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Fair point Al - it is all on the sign up thread, but I’ll add a link to this thread for easy access !

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I set up this league with some slightly off-beat roster set-up (especially the two different flexes) and scoring set up (tweaks to QB, K and D scoring) for two reasons:

1… to make it easier for people to draft the kind of team they wanted – zero RB: fine. RB heavy – also fine. Something offbeat like drafting Gronk and another high end TE to lock up the position and start both – why not?!

2… to make it harder for people to just use publicly available draft sheets. I love seeing people drafting their own way, and having non standard scoring encourages this as it makes generic ADP lists etc less relevant.

An added bonus that I hadn’t planned for deliberately was that this follows straight after week 3 of pre-season, so what’s happened in the last few days has shuffled the rankings a bit and I for one haven’t had time to fully process what I’ve seen. Another twist…!

From a personal view, I really want to use the flex positions to start 4 WRs if at all possible. This means targeting probably 4 WRs in the first 6 rounds as a minimum, and trying to find a couple of not-too-awful RBs to plug a gap. Maybe a passing down guy like a Theo Riddick or Danny Woodhead, or keeping fingers crossed that maybe a DeMarco Murray or Jonathan Stewart type guy falls my way. If the draft broke wrong – say I was drafting at 6, and 5 WRs went with the first 5 picks, I may have to re-assess – but “plan A” is to go WR heavy.

Tight End can wait. I have a few targets outside the top 10 TEs in ADP, so hopefully no panic. Ditto kickers.
Probably ditto QBs. I think I’d have to grab Carson Palmer if he was there in the 6th as I like the choice of targets he has… but otherwise I’ll wait another couple of rounds and hope to get say a Winston or Stafford much later.

Defence – couple of teams I like here, so I would take Denver in the 8th or Houston in the 9th if they were still there, otherwise wait a bit – I’d be absolutely fine with someone like the Raiders late on.

Wrote this a few hours before the draft, and will post as soon as the last pick is in… then I will do a further post on what ACTUALLY happened!!

Post draft review for my team

Round 1
I’m picking number 1 . Feels weird, I’ve not drafted at the turn in any league for the last 3 seasons. Has to be Antonio Brown really

R2/3
Brandon Marshall is a steal – but went 2 picks before me :frowning:
Still, happy with Mike Evans and Alshon Jeffrey for the WR heavy draft plan

R4/5
I really wanted Rawls here - went a few picks before me
So I took my best available WR and RB - - Golden Tate and Jeremy Langford

R6/7
Was watching out for Carson Palmer as per the plan, but he went before my turn.
Big Ben was still there and was tempting but stuck to my guns - once again best available WR and RB. Fine with Willie Snead and Duke Johnson. Two starting RBs despite waiting late :thumbsup:

R8/9
Really thought I might get Coby Fleener here. I had him at about the end of round 6 on my list, so end of 8 would have been awesome. Went shortly before me, and in what looked like an auto-draft pick. Annoying!
Still, I got Denver which was my defensive target, and I’m happy with Antonio Gates as my TE1

R10/11
I’ve left Quarterback long enough…
Started to get twitchy as Tyrod and Matt Stafford went with over a round before me …then Dalton … then Winston … have I left it too long?
No worries - went back to back with Fitzmagic and Cutler. Matt Ryan, Marcus Mariota, Ryan Tannehill and Joe Flacco among others were still on the board. A handy reminder that you really can wait

R12/13
Ebron is a nice pick up – underpriced because of injury risk, but I have Gates to start the year and then maybe swap Ebron in if he gets going.
And then a Kicker – just so I don’t get left with a really dodgy non-top-10 type of a guy with the last pick of the draft – there are lots of RBs left I like anyway

R14
Third RB.
The ideal plan had been to get Isaiah Crowell to handcuff Johnson (wasnt going to handcuff Langford as the back up is less clear). When he went there was still lots to pick over - Bilal Powell, Tim Hightower, Jerick McKinnon - but I settled on a punt on some rookie upside with Devonta Booker

Cool - went pretty much to plan. Now to see if it actually works out !!

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Just a few thoughts… Like your first 3 picks. Not sure about Tate in the 4th. Like Langford in the 5th. Palmer has been terrible in pre-season and wasn’t great at the end of last year, bit of a question mark there so maybe good to miss out on him. Snead I like, but bit down on Duke as Crowell will have big role. Like Gates over Fleener. Would certainly pass on Denver defence that high. QB I would have left it even later and selected both Ryan and Flacco. Like the thinking with Ebron, nice strategy. Like the Booker pick also.

Overall good draft.

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Great idea with the roster settings, mixed it up.

I was going for WR picks to start and it couldn’t have gone any better.

Round 1 - Julio Jones, no brainer really

Round 2 - Brandon Marshall, got him with the 26th pick which was a massive bargain.

Round 3 - sammy Watkins, think this guy will have a massive year. Would have gone for him round 2 if Marshall wasn’t available.

Round 4 - Ryan Matthews, not really planned to take him but he seemed good value with not many top running backs about.

Round 5 - Andrew luck, think will have a big year

Round 6/7 - Gary barnidge and julius Thomas, took barnidge for value at pick 6 and was always planning on going for Thomas as I think he will become the jags top target now fully fit

Round 8/9 - deangelo Williams and jay ajayi, similar reasons for both these picks. Both are just behind running backs with injury issues and could end up been their teams leading backs.

Round 10- Stephen gotskowski, very pleased to get him do late, seen him go in round 5/6 in mocks

Round 11/12 Mike Wallace and Steve smith. Both Ravens but could see either of them been the number one target for flacco, especially smith if he gets back to full fitness and plays like last year befor injury.

Round 13/14 Bengals D and Alex smith

Overall very pleased with my team

Cheers for the comments , much appreciated! I liked Tate as my 4th WR, don’t think he was wild value, but just fine. Still think he stands a good chance of getting volume from Stafford.
Denver D I took that early as the scoring in this league gives extra points to turnovers so I was more keen than usual to get one of the good teams. But I could have waited a lot longer and got Raiders or Eagles who I think will be fine this year.
Mostly, I was happy that I pre planned a strategy for the positions I wanted and stuck to it!!

Yeah, I spotted that you had gone 3 x WR to start. Gutted you robbed Marshal from me!
Definitely like Luck, and Smith is a very safe backup just in case, especially so late in the draft. And the double Ravens WR pick too - not obvious who will shine, but if one of those two emerges as the clear no 1 there, you have a steal.
Your two tight ends are both guys that I am a little low on this year, but appreciate that is each to their own. glad you enjoyed it - and I look forward to playing you in week 8 when you have lots of players on byes!!

Kinda messed up here and completely forgot about the draft, remember at 2015!

So here is my draft:

Round 1
CPU took OBJ for me, can’t complain, I’d have taken Gurley though

Round 2
CPU took Wilson for me, bit earlier than I would have taken a QB if I’m honest

Round 3
CPU took a TE for me, I’d have maybe taken 1 in the 2nd, but can’t complain at Greg Olsen as Cam likes to target him a lot

Round 4
This is where i joined the fun! Took Crabtree as I did plan on taking Rawls who then got took, however I didn’t realise (1st time I’ve drafted) and when I finally clocked on he’d been taken I had about 30 seconds left and panicked by taking Crabtree

Round 5
Needed a running back, wasn’t really too much left, so took a little gamble by taking Arian Foster, hoping he can hit some form now he’s fit again

Round 6
Very surprised Funchess was still available here, think he’s in for a big season with the Panthers so a worthy gamble here

Round 7
Again wanted a back up HB that could have a potentially good season, took my 1st of 4 rookies in Derek Henry

Round 8
Needed either a TE or WR either, had my eyes on 4, 1 went so decided to take Garcon, hopefully gets plenty of targets with Redskins

Round 9
Wanted to get my defence early on, was torn between a few different ones, in the end came down to Packers and Texans, opted for Texans

Round 10
Wanted the Pats K here, he went 2/3 picks before hand, Gano was the next best option I felt

Round 11
Slight gamble here and I jumped on the Dak Prescott pre season hype train, been very very impressed with him in pre season, needed a back up QB and with Romo injured hoping Prescott to step up, could he display Wilson as my starting QB…

Round 12
My 3rd rookie taken, Will Fuller, really thought he’d get taken as my pick got closer, so glad he didn’t, he’s been linking up well with Brock in some pre season games and hoping a lot of team focus on Hopkins and Fuller can get free a lot more often

Round 13/14
Last rookie taken in Cooper from the Rams didn’t know who else to take, and the 14ht pick CPU chose Terrance West who I know next to nothing about!

Let me know about trades, looking for a TE ideally

Good to see you on here, Shane!
Shame you missed the first three rounds, but I reckon the computer didn’t stitch you up with the auto-picks…
Like the Funchess and Texans picks, and the number of rookies you have got is interesting… am sure they won’t all hit, but it only takes one of them to do well and you team gets a decent boost.
If you want a second TE, then either wait for Alan to trade with you, I am sure he is itching to get started… or else there are several good TEs that went undrafted like Kyle Rudoplh, Vance Mc Donald or Charles Clay

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Round 1.
Dez Bryant - 11th pick doesn’t fill me with much hope for my plan of drafting a top tier 1 WR. But as it happens Dez Bryant is still available, so I happily snap him up.

Round 2.
Cam Newton - Now in every single fantasy season I have ever played I have always left it super late for quarterbacks and I still get Jay Cutler induced nightmares sometimes. This season I want one of the big three so jump on the Cam train early and go against everything I have ever stood for in fantasy. I feel rebellious.

Round 3.
Matt Forte - I want a good RB to anchor the position. Looking at what is still available I plump for Matt Forte, the best back on his team by a country mile.

Round 4.
Michael Floyd - Back on track with the receivers. I really like Floyd and despite a shaky pre-season showing from the Cards I’m not too worried.

Round 5.
Travis Kelce - Olsen, Reed, Gronk have all gone. I figure I’ll grab Kelce here.

Round 6.
Allen Hurns - Hurns and Robinson will have another great season and be one of the top wideout duos in the league once again. Happy to take him here.

Round 7.
DeVante Parker - Potential breakout if he can put injury troubles behind him. Should flourish under an Adam Gase offense.

Round 8.
Charles Sims - I like the potential WR heavy setup of the rosters. I need a decent backup RB and one who I can switch into the flex position if need be. Sims fits the bill at this stage.

Round 9.
Martellus Bennett - Patriots and their two tight ends, I’m getting flashbacks to Gronk/Hernandez. I’m happy to grab Bennett for my bench and see how it plays out. Should be a good red zone target.

Round 10.
Laquon Treadwell - Will stash him on my bench and see if Teddy B throws it his way much, but obviously while ever AP is in town that won’t happen too often. Still, happy to take a chance and stash the rookie on my bench.

Round 11.
D/ST Packers - Not too keen on the early week 4 bye week. But an easy excuse to bail on them and pick up a waiver if need be.

Round 12.
Brock Osweiler - Watch the Texans go this year! Watch Brock go! Weapons all around! Okay, maybe, maybe not. Happy to roll with Osweiler as my backup QB.

Round 13.
Victor Cruz - One last chance Victor, one last chance.

Round 14.
Eenie meanie miney … Justin Tucker - K.

Overall I’d say I am happy with my roster.

The roster positions would allow for a bit of artistic licence and in this age of Wide Receivers being Kings of Fantasy I have abandoned all my previous tactics and gone for a WR heavy outlook. I strayed a little bit from my original plan which was to draft 3 or 4 WR’s in the first 4 rounds but with how it was falling I was happy to divert my choices to what looked like possible value picks (at that time).

Drafting only two Running Backs and hoping to only really use one for the majority of the campaign I am really looking forward to seeing how this pans out.

I used to roll my eyes at those punks who would go for Rodgers, Cam, Luck early … this year I’m that guy. teehee.

Cheers Jon finally good to get around to signing up to this site!

Yeah I think Funchess could be a really good pick think he can really kick on this year. I expect 1 from Prescott/Fuller/Henry to have a good season, mainly 1 of the first 2 though.

I’m definitely on the lookout for a TE however if I wasn’t to get one happy with the WR I have

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Thought this was a really nice team - all nine starters look solid. A few of the bench guys like Cruz and Tredwell looked optimistic to me but with such a good foundation you are entitled to take some risks with the bench. What draft grade did the site give you (spoiler: it told me I will go 4-9 and that I ought to trade for Romo to improve my team, so I don’t entirely believe it just yet…!). Glad to hear you had some fun with the non standard roster set up :smiley:

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I have Dak in a dynasty league I play. What a chance he has to shine! And I agree he has looked mightily impressive. He has an arm and wheels and he looks intelligent. Man, that is some words from a Giant.

One of the most intriguing backfields of the season for me is Henry and DeMarco Murray. Looking forward to seeing how that turns out. It will be a great watch for sure.

Will Fuller has got a turbo button. Watch him fly this season. A very special player potentially.

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Thanks Jon. I got an A! Go me! Projected 2nd with a 9-4 record. I’ll take that now, hehe.

Yep, exactly what I was thinking with Quon and Cruz.

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Yeah Dak really has the chance to kick on with Romo injured fingers crossed he does!
Hopefully Murray gains the yards in the field and Henry gets them in the red zone and the TDs
Fuller really interests me, I’ve got the Texans in a Madden league too and really enjoying targeting him
Hopefully they all kick on and have great seasons for me haha

My grade as a D projected 1-12 and to finish 14th

LOL, predicting you get 1 and 12 is just rude!!