Let the games begin!

A few more hours until the preseason trash talks comes to fruition. A few more hours until the humiliation bets begin. A few more hours until we find out who drafted well and who didn’t. A few more hours until the greatest season of all…FANTASY FOOTBALL.

By now, I expect most of you have drafted your teams for the 2016 fantasy season. I just wrapped up my last draft on Sunday. Leading up to the draft, you have heard me talk about how great I am in fantasy because it is absolutely true. I am fucking phenomenal.

I decided I would share the three teams and grade myself on each of them. Let’s begin…

8-Team Dynasty League

A last minute league was added when I rounded up seven of my friends to do a keeper league, which I am stoked about. It is something I have been toying with for the last few years, so we finally did it. We are probably going to expand soon to make things even more interesting.

The format is standard scoring with an IDP and 2 flex positions, instead of one.

Draft Results (Round and Pick)

• LA RB Todd Gurley (1 – 2)
• Hou RB Lamar Miller (2 – 15)
• GB RB Eddie Lacy (3 – 18)
• SF RB Carlos Hyde (4 – 31)
• SD WR Keenan Allen (5 – 34)
• GB WR Randall Cobb (6 – 47)
• Car LB Luke Kuechly (7 – 50)
• KC WR Jeremy Maclin (8 – 63)
• NO QB Drew Brees (9 – 66)
• Pit RB DeAngelo Williams (10 – 79) (Later traded for Dion Lewis)
• Phi TE Zach Ertz (11 – 82)
• Det RB Ameer Abdullah (12 – 95)
• TB QB Jameis Winston (13 – 98)
• Jax RB Chris Ivory (14 – 111)
• Bal WR Steve Smith Sr. (15 – 114)
• NE TE Martellus Bennett (16 – 127)
• D/ST Jets (17 – 130)
• Bal K Justin Tucker (18 – 143)

Analysis

Considering this a keeper league, the first thing you have to look at is age. Aside from Brees, Ivory, Smith, Maclin and Bennett, my team is 26 or younger. Ivory is going to be on my bench most of the year probably. I will definitely need to work on the receivers in the coming years, but my running backs are loaded top to bottom. I picked up crab legs late in the draft to back up Brees. The best part about the young guys is that most of them are already studs. I don’t love the Allen pick due to durability, especially since Kelvin Benjamin and  Jarvis Landry were still on the board. I know Brees is old, but in the ninth, that is a steal. I will at least get one or two more years out of him. I could also use him as trade later in the year possibly.

Final Grade: B+ 

10-Team Standard League

Standard scoring and standard lineup.

Draft Results (Round and Pick)

• Min RB Adrian Peterson (1 – 6)
• Hou RB Lamar Miller (2 – 15)
• TB RB Doug Martin (3 – 26)
• GB QB Aaron Rodgers (4 – 35)
• Den WR Demaryius Thomas (5 – 46)
• Car WR Kelvin Benjamin (6 – 55)
• Ari WR John Brown (7 – 66)
• Jax RB Chris Ivory (8 – 75)
• Jax WR Allen Hurns (9 – 86)
• Phi TE Zach Ertz (10 – 95)
• KC RB Spencer Ware (11 – 106)
• Cle WR Corey Coleman (12 – 115)
• Sea RB Christine Michael (13 – 126)
• D/ST Packers (14 – 135)
• Car K Graham Gano (15 – 146)
• SD WR Travis Benjamin (16 – 155)

Analysis

Wowzers. This is by far my favorite team of the three. I really love the first three picks. As you can see, I am still buying the running backs and selling the receivers. Feature backs are so limited today so I don’t understand why people don’t take them when they are available. Aaron Rodgers in the fourth is great value at QB. I typically am not a fan of taking QBs in the first five rounds, but if the best guy in the league is there, yolo swag. Am I right? I don’t love the Thomas pick because of the person throwing to him. I almost picked him over Rodgers, glad I didn’t. I could have grabbed Cobb over him, but figured that Thomas and Sanders would be getting all the targets. I feel like Desean Jackson would have been a better option over John Brown considering Washington is going to throw the leather off the ball. I do believe Hurns in the 9th is a steal along with Corey Coleman in the 12th. Coleman is one of my big sleepers this year. If one of those receivers steps up in a big way, this team has championship written all over it.

Final Grade:  A- 

12-Team Custom League

This is the mothership of my fantasy leagues. The most money is on the line as it is $100 to buy in. Not only do we have the burden of having 12 teams, but you better know your shit. We have an IDP and two flexes in this one like the 8-team league mentioned above. To give value to the second flex, we changed the scoring slightly…

• .5 points per reception
• .25 points for every 25 kick and punt return yards

Draft Results (Round and Pick)

• Pit RB Le’Veon Bell (1 – 10)
• KC RB Jamaal Charles (2 – 15)
• Buf WR Sammy Watkins (3 – 34)
• GB WR Randall Cobb (4 – 39)
• Jax WR Allen Hurns (5 – 58)
• Det RB Ameer Abdullah (6 – 63)
• Jax RB TJ Yeldon (7 – 82)
• Oak WR Michael Crabtree (8 – 87)
• Phi TE Zach Ertz (9 – 106)
• NO WR Willie Snead (10 – 111)
• Oak QB Derek Carr (11 – 130)
• Ari DB Tyrann Mathieu (12 – 135)
• Bal WR Steve Smith Sr. (13 – 154)
• D/ST Jets (14 – 159)
• KC RB Charcandrick West (15 – 178)
• Cin QB Andy Dalton (16 – 183)
• GB K Mason Crosby (17 – 202)
• Det LB DeAndre Levy (18 – 207)
• Den RB Ronnie Hillman (19 – 226) (Dropped after cut for Theo Riddick)

Analysis 

I am going to be brutally honest. I am not a big fan of this draft at all. It is mainly because of the early rounds as well as the uncertainty. This team has a very high ceiling (meaning deep playoff potential), but it also has a low floor (not even sniffing playoffs). Not what I typically like in the draft. I don’t like Bell missing the first three games either, but he fell so I felt like I had to take him. I wish I would have taken AJ Green over Charles because it is a safer pick. Watkins was another pick I hate because of the high ceiling and low floor. My only saving grace is that he put together an impressive run at the end of last season. I thought I drafted well after my first four picks, but those are the most important. Unfortunately, I would be banking on false hope to believe I am headed to the promise land with this squad. Time to start trading…

Final Grade: C+