Brandon Walker May Have Assembled The Best Fantasy Football Team I've Ever Seen
We had our inaugural Yak Fantasy League Draft live on the show and it was a little messy, but very Yak. It’s a funky league. Full point PPR, 6 points for all TDs (passing, rushing, receiving, fumble recovery, kick/punt return), 1 point for every 25 passing yards and 10 rushing or receiving yards, and a full 1.0 points per reception. Also, FGs 0-49 yards are worth 3 points whereas FGs 50+ yards are worth 10x that, 30 points.
We’ll also only have five players:
1 QB
1 RB
1 WR
1 TE
1 K
With no bench and be limited to a maximum of two roster moves per season. In my mind, this makes it very easy to keep up with the league, know who has who, and not give a leg up to fantasy whiz kids while also keeping it easy for the fantasy novice.
We had a wild draft that included some steals, some team swaps and more you should check out here.
But here are how things shook out and my draft grades. Going in order of the doc:
Big Cat: C+
Didn’t take advantage of the scoring system. Had the chance to draft Josh Allen who is basically a lock for a top 2 QB finish and instead opted for Justin Fields who doesn’t score as often as Allen. Saquon Barkley and Ja’Marr Chase give him a decent floor with good TD upside, but with Darren Waller on the team, 40% of his fantasy team is New York Giants starters.
Rone: C+
This team will live and die on the Aaron Rodgers to Garrett Wilson connection. If they’re elite, Rone should avoid the ground transportation to Las Vegas this February. If they stink, he’ll be the likely favorite, so it’s a risky strategy. Derrick Henry doesn’t take advantage of the PPR scoring at all while Kyle Pitts’ performance is a mystery despite having a world of talent. Brandon McManus isn’t in Denver anymore which could’ve really helped with the 10x 50+ yard FG multiplier, but Jacksonville should have a good offense. Shoutout to Mark Titus for filling in for our boy.
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Brandon: A+
Incredible job by Brandon Walker who whined his way to a terrific team. Justin Herbert should have a rebound year after hurting his shoulder in Week 2 of last year and is great value in 6-point passing TD leagues. He got Christian McCaffrey on a swap with me which is almost limitless in PPR leagues. Amon-Ra St. Brown should be up there with leading the league in catches. Mark Andrews could be TE1 if Travis Kelce misses any real time and his teammate Justin Tucker is the best kicker by far. So he not only has the highest floor team in my mind, but the highest upside week to week with McCaffrey and Tucker capable of nuclear games. Brandon may walk his tubby self to a title if his team stays healthy as based on this scoring system, this is one of the best teams I've ever seen.
KB: B+
Patrick Mahomes is a cheat code in this format and the top QB. Tony Pollard is my pick to lead the NFL in rushing, but you already knew that if you saw my top longshot futures I released.
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A.J. Brown is Jalen Hurts’ #1 weapon and always a scoring threat. Travis Kelce’s injury makes the outlook of this team a bit cloudy, but even if he misses the first three weeks, he’ll likely be TE1 assuming he gets back to full health. Greg Zuerlein aka Legatron is no stranger to long kicks either.
Nick: D-
Poor Nicky. He cares a lot about fantasy football and put together a great squad. Unfortunately, that entire team was traded to Kate during a steal wheel after we drafted. I was sitting next to Kate and I think she just read the first name she could squint to see and boy does it show. Half the starting Offense is on the Bears. Lamar Jackson is awesome, but in a 6-point passing TD format, it lowers his value a bit. Travis Etienne is very good and will need to go bonkers all season to save Nicky from getting to Super Bowl week by ground transportation. Younghoe Koo does have a leg and plays indoors, so 50+ FGs this season will need to be a regular occurrence to Nick to have a shot at the playoffs.
Cate: A-
Like I said, Nick drafted a great team. Josh Allen is versatile and consistent, Justin Jefferson is most league's 1st overall pick, Nick Chubb exclusively averages 5.0+ yards per carry. Dalton Kincaid is a little bit of a mystery, but a calculated gamble there.
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Sas: B-
Joe Burrow strained his calf in pre-season but looks like he'll play on Sunday. Josh Jacobs just ended a holdout and he'll have a hard time surpassing last year's numbers as the league's leading rusher. Stefon Diggs is great, but the noise around him as a malcontent are a slight worry. George Kittle he's avoided us for awhile. Tyler Bass gives Sas two Bills, which is exactly what he wanted.
Cheah: B
I unfortunately had to swap my ace, Christian McCaffrey with Brandon, but luckily, it wasn't much of a downgrade with Austin Ekeler, who in PPR format, is a league winner. I picked Trevor Lawrence over Lamar Jackson because of the 6-point passing TDs. Lawrence has a very easy schedule this year and he should feast. Tyreek Hill is a threat to lead the NFL in receiving yards and was well over 100+ catches last year. Dallas Goedert is meh, but Daniel Carlson has a cannon for a right leg.
TJ: C-
Jalen Hurts is a legit MVP candidate and I expect him to build on last year, Bijan Robinson is a great unknown as we haven't seen him really at the NFL level. Amari Cooper is my favorite player to breakout this year.
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TJ Hockenson got crazy targets/catches last year once dealt to Minnesota and Jason Myers quietly was Kicker 1 in most fantasy leagues.
Zah: D+
Tua is quite possibly the most dangerous player on the board simply because he typically misses games. With a maximum of two add/drops throughout the year, things could get dicey. Both Tua and Najee Harris were both 'sleeper picks' that were outside the top 8 ADP. CeeDee Lamb is a nice prospect, but he's WR7 or below in this group. Same for Evan Engram.
Catch Tuesday's full Yak episode here: