I like to participate in best-ball drafts this time of year. It's a good way to see how other fantasy coaches actually view players, better than ADP data. Granted the information from drafts can be skewed by one or two incompetent drafters, but it's better than nothing.
I'm doing one at myffpc.com, one of my preferred national sites. The payouts are good, and I like the scoring system, which is PPR with TE-premium; tight ends get 1.5 points per catch. It's 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE-PK-Defense, with 2 flex spots that can be RB-WR-TE; starting multiple tight ends is advised. I drew the 9th spot in a slow draft with a 2-hour clock. Here's how it's gone so far.
| FFPC DRAFT | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Pos |
| 1.01 | Christian McCaffrey | RB |
| 1.02 | Tyreek Hill | WR |
| 1.03 | Breece Hall | RB |
| 1.04 | CeeDee Lamb | WR |
| 1.05 | Bijan Robinson | RB |
| 1.06 | Justin Jefferson | WR |
| 1.07 | Ja'Marr Chase | WR |
| 1.08 | Amon-Ra St. Brown | WR |
| 1.09 | Jahmyr Gibbs | RB |
| 1.10 | Garrett Wilson | WR |
| 1.11 | Jonathan Taylor | RB |
| 1.12 | Puka Nacua | WR |
| 2.01 | Travis Kelce | TE |
| 2.02 | A.J. Brown | WR |
| 2.03 | Marvin Harrison | WR |
| 2.04 | Sam LaPorta | TE |
| 2.05 | Drake London | WR |
| 2.06 | Trey McBride | TE |
| 2.07 | Saquon Barkley | RB |
| 2.08 | Chris Olave | WR |
| 2.09 | Kyren Williams | RB |
| 2.10 | De'Von Achane | RB |
| 2.11 | Derrick Henry | RB |
| 2.12 | Mark Andrews | TE |
I don't love picking at the end of the draft order this year. I think there are about 7-8 elite options, and then you're looking at guys not much different from the next dozen or so picks. In this case, I was hoping Amon-Ra St. Brown would be there for me, he went one pick before. This happened to me a lot, actually; guys I wanted going one or two picks before. So I would have liked to be picking 6th or 7th. Oh well.
Gibbs should be the lead back in one of the league's very best offenses. It's a tandem with David Montgomery, most likely, but this is one of the few teams where there should be enough to go around. The only other player I considered was Puka Nacua, and I thought there was a chance he'd make it to me in the 2nd.
I would have liked to go WR with that 2nd pick, but Drake London and Chris Olave didn't really excite me. Given the TE-premium scoring, LaPorta made sense; I think he's a level of above the league's other TEs, including Kelce frankly. Go Lions.
Marvin Harrison, 15th overall. Love the guy. but that is nuts.
| FFPC DRAFT | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Pos |
| 3.01 | Jaylen Waddle | WR |
| 3.02 | Josh Allen | QB |
| 3.03 | Nico Collins | WR |
| 3.04 | Davante Adams | WR |
| 3.05 | Brandon Aiyuk | WR |
| 3.06 | Jalen Hurts | QB |
| 3.07 | Dalton Kincaid | TE |
| 3.08 | Isiah Pacheco | RB |
| 3.09 | DeVonta Smith | WR |
| 3.10 | Travis Etienne | RB |
| 3.11 | Deebo Samuel | WR |
| 3.12 | Mike Evans | WR |
| 4.01 | Josh Jacobs | RB |
| 4.02 | Michael Pittman | WR |
| 4.03 | James Cook | RB |
| 4.04 | Rachaad White | RB |
| 4.05 | Kyle Pitts | TE |
| 4.06 | Malik Nabers | WR |
| 4.07 | Cooper Kupp | WR |
| 4.08 | DJ Moore | WR |
| 4.09 | Evan Engram | TE |
| 4.10 | DK Metcalf | WR |
| 4.11 | Alvin Kamara | RB |
| 4.12 | Lamar Jackson | QB |
I would have liked Nico Collins to make it back to me, and in some drafts he would. Not here. I went with DeVonta who's actually in a clump of wide receivers I value similarly, including him, Evans, Kupp, Davante and Waddle. I did consider Kupp, but instead opted for the younger player in an offense that I believe will be passing more this season.
Rachaad, who we currently have as the 8th running back in PPR leagues, was a pretty easy pick as the 14th running back off the board. I would definitely have taken him over Etienne, Jacobs and Cook, all of whom play for teams that either could or will use a second back a lot more than Tampa Bay will. Do you know how concerned I am about Chase Edmonds, Sean Tucker, or Bucky Irving replacing White very often? I am none concerned, that's how much.
| FFPC DRAFT | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Pos |
| 5.01 | Stefon Diggs | WR |
| 5.02 | Christian Kirk | WR |
| 5.03 | C.J. Stroud | QB |
| 5.04 | Joe Mixon | RB |
| 5.05 | Patrick Mahomes | QB |
| 5.06 | George Kittle | TE |
| 5.07 | Zay Flowers | WR |
| 5.08 | George Pickens | WR |
| 5.09 | Amari Cooper | WR |
| 5.10 | Tee Higgins | WR |
| 5.11 | Anthony Richardson | QB |
| 5.12 | Kenneth Walker | RB |
| 6.01 | David Njoku | TE |
| 6.02 | Calvin Ridley | WR |
| 6.03 | Jake Ferguson | TE |
| 6.04 | Joe Burrow | QB |
| 6.05 | Tank Dell | WR |
| 6.06 | Keenan Allen | WR |
| 6.07 | James Conner | RB |
| 6.08 | David Montgomery | RB |
| 6.09 | Aaron Jones | RB |
| 6.10 | Terry McLaurin | WR |
| 6.11 | Chris Godwin | WR |
| 6.12 | Rhamondre Stevenson | RB |
We're going to be either very right or very wrong on Cooper. I got him here as the 28th wide receiver off the board, and needless to say we have him ranked a lot higher than that. There is no need to take him as early as we have him ranked, clearly. If we're being honest, I'd have probably taken Zay Flowers here, had he not been selected two picks earlier.
Burrow is a top-3 quarterback on our board, so I elected to take him 6th at the position. It was hard for me not to go with Tank Dell, wanting another wide receiver and a piece of the Houston passing game, but Burrow's lofty ranking and my desire to get that top starting quarterback nailed down forced my hand. Better depth at wide receiver, and let's face it, we know that Dell could wind up being a No. 3 in an offense that spreads it around.
| FFPC DRAFT | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Pos |
| 7.01 | Christian Watson | WR |
| 7.02 | Zamir White | RB |
| 7.03 | D'Andre Swift | RB |
| 7.04 | Dak Prescott | QB |
| 7.05 | Hollywood Brown | WR |
| 7.06 | Raheem Mostert | RB |
| 7.07 | Brock Bowers | TE |
| 7.08 | Jayden Reed | WR |
| 7.09 | Rashee Rice | WR |
| 7.10 | Diontae Johnson | WR |
| 7.11 | Jonathon Brooks | RB |
| 7.12 | Zack Moss | RB |
| 8.01 | DeAndre Hopkins | WR |
| 8.02 | T.J. Hockenson | TE |
| 8.03 | Jaylen Warren | RB |
| 8.04 | Dallas Goedert | TE |
My plan was to select Jayden Reed here. He went one pick before. I'm a little wary of Rice, given the whole likely suspension thing, but he's Kansas City's best wideout and any suspension 1) might not be long and 2) might not be in 2024. As the 38th wide receiver drafted, he was worth the risk. Hopkins was the other consideration. A week ago, I'd have taken Zack Moss here, but the talk of Chase Brown getting a majority of first-team reps made me unwilling to go that route. If Brown is there next pick, I'll consider him.
The running backs and wide receivers on the board at 8.04 were all pretty similar in my eyes, while Goedert is our No. 7 tight end in PPR leagues, and this is a league where it's desirable to start two of them. Goedert is another guy we clearly like more than most. I don't really know why. He caught at least 5 passes seven times in his 11 fully healthy games last year. Seems like a nice option in TE-premium leagues.
I'll post another update later this week or next on how things went the rest of the way.