In the 20th year of our Experts Draft league, we have a first. Reader participant Dave Cohen came out of the field to finish with the top team. He drafted from the 12th spot, in a year where picking 1st typically gave you Jonathan Taylor. Not a bad year to pick later.
In past years, the field has typically included 11 professional fantasy analysts and one reader participant. Those analysts finished in the top 11 in our Experts Poll competition that runs in the magazine. Since the Poll now includes a couple of reader representatives, who earned their way based on their finish in our annual Fantasy Index Open competition, reader odds of winning are a little higher. Cohen and Robert Heater earned their way in through the Poll, while Ralph Cunningham won our Fantasy Index Blackout competition. So reader odds of winning are a little higher now -- you too could join the field one day.
Cohen opened his draft by going WR-WR, hitting big on both picks -- Davante Adams and Stefon Diggs. He added Hollywood Brown in the fifth and Curtis Samuel 10 rounds later, giving him three solid performers (two of whom were elite) in most weeks. He drafted Josh Allen in the fourth round, giving him the edge over most at that position as well. But arguably his MVP was a 13th-round pick: Jamaal Williams. Williams rushed for over 1,ooo yards and scored 17 touchdowns, ridiculous numbers for that late a pick. Miles Sanders and Cordarrelle Patterson ensured he had 2 good running backs nearly every week.
Scott Pianowski of Yahoo! Sports came in 2nd. His team also started out WR-WR, making the case for that strategy. He opened with Justin Jefferson and Mike Evans, and while Evans was a little down from past years, Pianowski had two other wide receiver picks who stepped up -- fourth-rounder Tee Higgins, and sixth-rounder Amon-Ra St. Brown. His running backs were good enough: Aaron Jones, Rhamondre Stevenson, and some good weeks here and there from Elijah Mitchell and Gus Edwards. Dalton Schultz and David Njoku were a credible tight end duo, but it was wide receivers that carried the day.
Tony Holm of Fantasy Sharks came in 3rd, and his roster was different than the WR-heavy teams just ahead of him. Holm selected Derrick Henry and Ezekiel Elliott with two of his top three picks, and those guys were very good more often than not. He also had Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, and added Taysom Hill at tight end, whose up-and-down production worked well in our best-ball scoring format. Those players overcame a modest group of wide receivers led by Adam Thielen, DJ Chark, and Patriots DeVante Parker and Jakobi Meyers.
Standings are below; in this league, every team played every other team each week during the season. Highest score went 11-0 for the week, 2nd-highest 10-1, etc.
| FANTASY INDEX EXPERTS DRAFT LEAGUE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| FRANCHISE | W-L-T | PF | AVG PF |
| Fantasy Index Open (Cohen) | 127-57-3 | 2442 | 143.6 |
| Yahoo! Sports | 122-61-4 | 2421 | 142.4 |
| Fantasy Sharks | 114-70-3 | 2304 | 135.5 |
| The Athletic | 91-92-4 | 2235 | 131.5 |
| The Huddle | 91-95-1 | 2168 | 127.5 |
| FullTime Fantasy | 84-101-2 | 2146 | 126.2 |
| Fantasy Football Mastermind | 86-97-4 | 2134 | 125.5 |
| YouRulz | 87-97-3 | 2121 | 124.8 |
| Fantasy Index Blackout | 85-101-1 | 2088 | 122.8 |
| Rotowire | 73-111-3 | 2059 | 121.1 |
| Fantasy Index Open (Heater) | 76-108-3 | 2029 | 119.4 |
| FootballGuys | 70-116-1 | 2014 | 118.5 |
Full results (including the Draft board) for the league can be seen at this link. Later this week I'll check out the final results of our Experts Auction league.
Congrats to Dave!
--Andy Richardson