In our Experts Draft League, Todd Gurley was the difference-maker. The year's best fantasy player, available in most leagues as a second- or even third-round pick. And when the person who nabbed Gurley in the second had an early enough pick to draft Antonio Brown in the first, it was a tough combo to beat. Jody Smith of Gridiron Experts was that drafter.
While that duo led the way, Smith had several other shrewd picks. One was Evan Engram, who carried his team at tight end (since his other two selections, Tyler Eifert and Dennis Pitta, were injured all season). Ted Ginn Jr. paid dividends as a regular starting wideout available in the 12th round. And the Rams and Steelers worked out well as defensive choices.
Second place went to Matt Schauf of Draft Sharks. A bridesmaid type of year for Schauf, who also finished runnerup in the Experts Auction -- impressive to beat most challengers in both competitions. A couple of veterans led his team: LeSean McCoy and Keenan Allen. But clearly his 13th-round selection of Alvin Kamara goes down as the Steal of the Draft.
Alan Satterlee of Dynasty Football Warehouse came in third. Sattlerlee skewed young with his selections, and while not all of them worked out, many did. Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey back to back in the second and third rounds worked out, and Cooper Kupp way down in the 21st round was quite the payoff. He got a solid month out of 18th-rounder Deshaun Watson, too.
We drafted this league in May, and no transactions were allowed during the season. That was a crushing blow to some teams, including FF Mastermind (early picks included Jordy Nelson and Spencer Ware), USA Today (Andrew Luck and Ezekiel Elliott) and Rotowire especially. Vlad Sedler's first seven picks included David Johnson, Allen Robinson, Dalvin Cook and Brandon Marshall. No comeback from that in a no-transactions league.
In this league, teams played every other team each week, to minimize luck of scheduling. The week's highest score went 11-0, lowest score went 0-11, etc.
| INDEX EXPERTS DRAFT LEAGUE STANDINGS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Wins | Losses | Tot Pts | |
| Gridiron Experts | 131 | 45 | 1786 | |
| Draft Sharks | 116 | 60 | 1812 | |
| Dynasty Football Warehouse | 107 | 69 | 1705 | |
| Extra Point Press | 102 | 74 | 1650 | |
| Yahoo Sports | 101 | 75 | 1647 | |
| Pro Football Focus | 96 | 80 | 1658 | |
| Footballguys | 94 | 82 | 1612 | |
| Fantasy Index Open | 80 | 96 | 1509 | |
| ESPN | 71 | 105 | 1541 | |
| FFMastermind.com | 63 | 113 | 1453 | |
| USA Today Fantasy Sports | 54 | 122 | 1431 | |
| Rotowire | 41 | 135 | 1283 | |
--Andy Richardson