Draft Grades For All 12 Teams In The Barstool Fantasy Football League
My pals at the Fantasy Football Factory podcast hosted the annual fantasy football draft this week and have asked me to grade each team's draft. There are a wide range of teams, so let’s do this power rankings style in descending order worst – best draft:
*Scoring Settings: 1 point per reception, 4 points per passing touchdown
12) Rone – it pains me to say this. Rone is one of the creators of the FFF pod and actually the one who asked if I’d write this blog, and a friend, but I just didn’t like his selections early or late. He went with the ‘Faulk Strategy’ of taking three RBs with your first three picks, but he didn’t properly take advantage of the scoring system. His first two picks Derrick Henry and Nick Chubb both don’t catch many passes (54 combined last season). With his third pick, he took Todd Gurley who is a good receiver out of the backfield, but is coming off a career-low 31 catch season and has a degenerative knee. As a Penn State and Eagles fan, I’m shocked he didn’t take PPR dynamo Miles Sanders with the 8th overall pick. He also went Zach Ertz over Mark Andrews which wasn’t a favorable play for me. In a draft that saw 20 QBs get taken, he took one, Carson Wentz, which typically I’m a fan of, but if you’re doing so, you may not want to pick an injury prone one like Wentz. His Receivers are all middle of the road guys and not exactly high volume guys, so again not taking advantage of the scoring system. Grade: D
11) Clem – Take a lap my friend! While the Zeke pick round 1 makes sense, he went TE way too early, especially with top WRs still on the board. Poor value play and it cost him as Kenny Golladay, Mike Evans, and Julio Jones all came off the board after his Kelce selection forcing him to reach for Calvin Ridley in Round 3. His WRs are all fine players, but again not taking advantage of the PPR format. I like the picks of Tarik Cohen and Preston Williams late, but his fantasy fate is relyin on the combo of Matt Ryan to Calvin Ridley which is dicey territory if you ask me. Grade: C-
10) Wallo & Gillie – I love the Saquon pick at #2. It’s chalk, but the right move, especially in PPR. They go QB round 2 which I don’t love, especially with good talent on the board at WR. They did take advantage of the PPR format, I just more didn’t like the value they got with certain players. Le’Veon Bell round 4 is tough considering he only rushed for over 75 yards once last season. Drafting two TEs is a wild move. Drew Brees is a good player, but you don’t need a backup QB if you’ve got Patrick Mahomes. They definitely leaned Philly on this one with four Eagles on the roster, but they missed on some value. Grade C
9) Pardon My Take – I love the Miles Sanders pick at #9. Great value, but monster reach going George Kittle at #16 overall. I get he’s a friend and the best TE in the game. But you don’t get points for blocking and while he’s also a great Receiver, he doesn’t put up numbers like Travis Kelce. So I hate going TE this early, let alone the 2nd best TE. I do like the Amari Cooper, Kyler Murray, and Jerry Jeudy (up ya booty) selections, but too many missed values here. Also, why take Austin Hooper in the 12th if you’ve already got a big time TE? Grade: C
8) Team GlenJac (Glenny & KenJac) – I hate the Josh Jacobs pick at #11. Runningback is the traditional route to go Round 1, but I wanted to see some gusto here. I love Davante Adams round 2, but why not go Adams at #11 and double dip with Tyreek Hill? I do like the Thielen, David Johnson, Russell Wilson, and Hayden Hurst values. I also think the Bills DST could be a very solid unit. Grade C+
7) Mush/Big Ev/Brandon Walker – I actually really like their first four picks (Joe Mixon, Tyreek Hill, Jonathan Taylor, & Odell Beckham Jr). But after that things kind of fall apart for me. I think they went TE too early with Hunter Henry round 8. They got good value late, but Daniel Jones as QB1 isn’t ideal in a 12 team league. Grade: B-
6) Chicago – In the 1st round I would have went Clyde Edwards-Helaire overa Kamara. Kamara has had 81 catches each of his three years, but the injury he got a shot for scares me. He’s also never even rushed for 900 yards in a season. But I understand the pick at #6. Hopkins and Robinson are really nice picks after that and I’m even ok with Mark Andrews there. He was my TE3 and has a very high ceiling playing in the Ravens offense. David Montgomery was a head scratcher in the 5th, but I love J.K. Dobbins in the 8th. Jarvis Landry can start in PPR and is a good get in the 9th. My main issue comes with the Bears DST selection over Pittsburgh. But teams are very good in the top 6. Grade: B
5) Tom/Frank/T – These guys really did a nice job working the PPR angle. Aaron Jones and Austin Ekeler are PPR machines. A.J. Brown is a nice up and coming WR and if Cooper Kupp was fantasy’s WR1 over the first half of last season. I love the Dak Prescott pick and he’s my MVP pick in the NFL. Jones round 8 isn’t a great option after the Fournette signing. Grade: B+
4) Hank – It would not surprise me one bit to see Hank win this league. Dalvin Cook was the right pick at #5 overall and Godwin is a good play Round 2. He got a steady RB2 in Chris Carson and loaded up on talented WRs with two letter first names (DK Metcalf, D.J. Chark, & A.J. Green). I love the Brady pick in round 10 as he’s got huge upside this year despite being 43 years old. The Steelers DST was a great pick at DST4 – they’re my top ranked unit. Phillip Lindsay and Kerryon Johnson are fine depth pices at RB. Grade: A-
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3) Fran & Kate – So let me explain. They have the best team. But as far as the Draft, they could have been a little better. Having the top pick does have it’s perks and Christian Mccaffrey is going 1.1 overall in league’s everywhere regardless of scoring system.. I do love the Mike Evans pick and Lamar Jackson to go with CMC is diabolical. Add in PPR dynamo Keenan Allen and a TE who won a bunch of fantasy owners their league last year in Tyler Higbee and this is a great starting roster. My favorite part is sneaky pairing Hollywood Brown with Lamar Jackson which would net double points every TD due to the QB/WR connection. This is one of the most explosive rosters I’ve ever seen in a 12-team league. But depth is a concern. RB2 is a need with Raheem Mostert and Jordan Howard both having question marks around their roles and not being pass catchers. That being said, Duke Johnson is a fine very low end RB2 in PPR based on his unique role as a pass catcher. They need to be active on the waiver wire to build some better depth, but this is the most talented sarting roster in the league by far and I expect them to win the regular season going away. If they can be solid at in-season moves on the waiver wire, I fully expect them to win the league. Grade: A-
2) Nick – I love what Nick did here, he zagged when everybody else zigged. He took advantage of the PPR value by going Michael Thomas at #3. Thomas had 149 catches last year. Take a 20% reduction in his numbers and he’s still catching 119 balls which would likely lead the league. Kenny Golladay at WR2 for your team is a steal in the 2nd round and I love Robert Woods in PPR as a WR3 in that Rams offense. James Conner could certainly get back to RB1 status and he’s in a contract year. One of his old coaches, Matt Canada is now with the Steelers and hopefully can integrate him more creatively. He went with volume here at RB to make up for the early WR run and got a proven guy in Mark Ingram to go with some upside guys in D’Andre Swift, Damien Harris (once he gets off IR), and Devin Singletary. Grade: A
1) Smitty – You gotta appreciate the gusto to go with a rookie RB #7 overall, but it was good value. Edwards-Helaire should be a PPR monster. Kenyan Drake round 2 is a pick I like and I had him rated as a top 10 RB. His WRs are very good and D.J. Moore in the 4th round should be a crime. In the middle rounds he went all scratch off RBs with Cam Akers, James White (PPR dynamo), Zack Moss, Latavius Murray, and did a nice job getting his 1st round handcuff, in CEH’s back-up Darrel Williams. Grade: A
Best of luck to all of the teams this season and be sure to check out Fantasy Football Factory wherever you listen to pods: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts