I'm currently participating in one of the FanEx Experts Drafts, a slow draft that plays out over a couple of weeks prior to the season. We're into Round 11, and I thought I'd post a recap of how things have gone so far. Regrets...I have a few.
I drew the No. 3 pick, and certainly there's a lot to be said for that. I believe there are about 5-6 elite players, and then after they're gone a sameness settles into the next dozen or so picks (Pick 1.7 doesn't strike me as clearly better than 1.12 or 2.3). So I was able to get one of those guys. The negative is that by the time the draft made it back to me at 2.10, it didn't feel like there any legit second-rounders left; the guy I picked didn't seem much better than what I took a round later. So I wish I'd drawn the 6th pick or so -- get one of the top players, and also one of the really good 2nd-rounders. My opinion, some will feel differently.
The top 2 picks were Justin Jefferson and JaMarr Chase, as expected. At No. 3, I was going to go with Christian McCaffrey or Austin Ekeler, the top 2 PPR running backs. Had I gone wide receiver, I'd have taken Tyreek Hill, and in retrospect -- with the rest of the top 12 wide receivers going before my pick at 2.10 -- I think I wish I had. At 2.10, there were no wide receivers I thought merited that spot, so I went with Najee Harris, one of three running backs I'd have considered there.
A note on the two running backs I selected. I've seen people lament McCaffrey as injury prone. Certainly he had a couple of bad years, but he was healthy for 20 games a year ago. Simple fact is that everyone of the top running backs is an injury risk (or holdout risk, or disgruntled risk, or whatever). The fact that McCaffrey was hurt in 2021, to me, does not make him any more likely to get hurt in 2023 than Ekeler.
With Najee, while he is perhaps not an elite talent, I trust his usage, involvement and situation. Mike Tomlin has a reliable history of featuring one back (to a fault, LeVeon might say), and Harris has proven he can handle it his first two seasons. Clean backup I can probably get later in Jaylen Warren, too. I'm concerned about the Josh Jacobs situation, so I opted for the lesser talent in Harris.
By taking two running backs, I kind of forced myself into wide receivers with my next two picks. Perhaps I should have gone with Christian Watson over Jerry Jeudy (our rankings say as much); in any case I thought I'd get Watson at 5.03. When I didn't, I opted for Joe Burrow (not concerned about his calf injury). I think he's the No. 4 quarterback, I got him as the 7th.
We love Pacheco; arguable whether it's too much. I could maybe have let him slide another round or two; we'll never know. Starting running backs were getting very thin; I took him as the 29th one off the board. The next three to go were all No. 2s. Took Evan Engram who we have as a top-5 tight end. Since only one tight end went in the next two rounds, in retrospet I wish I'd taken a wide receiver, probably Drake London. Rounds 5-7, I think, require you to make a choice between a really good tight end and one of the last good wide receivers. If you go WR, you probably won't like the TE you take, and vice versa. That's how it seems to me, anyway.
Next two picks, I don't love. Having taken just 2 wide receivers to this point, I absolutely had to take at least one and arguably two. I really wanted George Pickens, but he went a few picks before my selection. I loaded up Marquise Brown and Odell Beckham, in that order, two picks before my selection. Brown went one pick before, so Beckham it is. With 41 wide receivers gone, he was the best left (I still feel this way). But I wish my No. 3 was one of the guys who went 30-40. I don't doubt Beckham will be Baltimore's best wideout -- if he stays healthy. And I don't feel great that that will happen.
Romeo Doubs, similarly, was the best left at that next pick. I think he's underrated; could very well be similarly productive to Christian Watson.
Finally, in Round 10 I raced to the podium to select Kenneth Gainwell. I think he's starting in Philadelphia, and he'll be involved as a receiver. I have zero interest in D'Andre Swift this year. The Lions know him best and they gave him away for a mid-round draft pick two years from now.
Results are below, with my picks in bold. As I've said, I'm not in love with my team. I wish I had a better No. 3 wide receiver, and maybe a better No. 2. It's a position I'll be hitting a lot in the later rounds, hoping to uncover a breakout player. There are some options; it'll be fine. Regardless, questions and/or criticism welcome, I can handle it.
| FANEX DRAFT RESULTS | |
|---|---|
| PICK | PLAYER |
| 1.01 | Justin Jefferson |
| 1.02 | Ja'Marr Chase |
| 1.03 | Christian McCaffrey |
| 1.04 | Tyreek Hill |
| 1.05 | Austin Ekeler |
| 1.06 | Travis Kelce |
| 1.07 | Cooper Kupp |
| 1.08 | Bijan Robinson |
| 1.09 | Stefon Diggs |
| 1.10 | Nick Chubb |
| 1.11 | CeeDee Lamb |
| 1.12 | Saquon Barkley |
| 2.01 | Jonathan Taylor |
| 2.02 | Derrick Henry |
| 2.03 | Tony Pollard |
| 2.04 | Davante Adams |
| 2.05 | A.J. Brown |
| 2.06 | Amon-Ra St. Brown |
| 2.07 | Garrett Wilson |
| 2.08 | Jaylen Waddle |
| 2.09 | Calvin Ridley |
| 2.10 | Najee Harris |
| 2.11 | Travis Etienne |
| 2.12 | Josh Jacobs |
| 3.01 | Mark Andrews |
| 3.02 | DeVonta Smith |
| 3.03 | Tee Higgins |
| 3.04 | Chris Olave |
| 3.05 | Rhamondre Stevenson |
| 3.06 | Keenan Allen |
| 3.07 | Joe Mixon |
| 3.08 | Patrick Mahomes |
| 3.09 | Aaron Jones |
| 3.10 | Jahmyr Gibbs |
| 3.11 | DK Metcalf |
| 3.12 | Deebo Samuel |
| 4.01 | Josh Allen |
| 4.02 | Lamar Jackson |
| 4.03 | Jalen Hurts |
| 4.04 | Breece Hall |
| 4.05 | D.J. Moore |
| 4.06 | Justin Fields |
| 4.07 | Kenneth Walker |
| 4.08 | Amari Cooper |
| 4.09 | Miles Sanders |
| 4.10 | Jerry Jeudy |
| 4.11 | Dameon Pierce |
| 4.12 | Christian Watson |
| 5.01 | J.K. Dobbins |
| 5.02 | Justin Herbert |
| 5.03 | Joe Burrow |
| 5.04 | Dallas Goedert |
| 5.05 | Terry McLaurin |
| 5.06 | James Conner |
| 5.07 | Christian Kirk |
| 5.08 | Cam Akers |
| 5.09 | George Kittle |
| 5.10 | DeAndre Hopkins |
| 5.11 | Rachaad White |
| 5.12 | T.J. Hockenson |
| 6.01 | Mike Evans |
| 6.02 | Alvin Kamara |
| 6.03 | Brandon Aiyuk |
| 6.04 | Trevor Lawrence |
| 6.05 | Alexander Mattison |
| 6.06 | Darren Waller |
| 6.07 | James Cook |
| 6.08 | Javonte Williams |
| 6.09 | David Montgomery |
| 6.10 | Isiah Pacheco |
| 6.11 | Diontae Johnson |
| 6.12 | Chris Godwin |
| 7.01 | Michael Pittman |
| 7.02 | Kyle Pitts |
| 7.03 | Evan Engram |
| 7.04 | Kirk Cousins |
| 7.05 | Brandin Cooks |
| 7.06 | Drake London |
| 7.07 | D'Andre Swift |
| 7.08 | Tyler Lockett |
| 7.09 | Dalvin Cook |
| 7.10 | Gabriel Davis |
| 7.11 | Courtland Sutton |
| 7.12 | AJ Dillon |
| 8.01 | Mike Williams |
| 8.02 | Pat Freiermuth |
| 8.03 | George Pickens |
| 8.04 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba |
| 8.05 | JuJu Smith-Schuster |
| 8.06 | Jahan Dotson |
| 8.07 | Daniel Jones |
| 8.08 | Dak Prescott |
| 8.09 | Marquise Brown |
| 8.10 | Odell Beckham |
| 8.11 | Khalil Herbert |
| 8.12 | Brian Robinson |
| 9.01 | Geno Smith |
| 9.02 | Jordan Addison |
| 9.03 | Romeo Doubs |
| 9.04 | Jerick McKinnon |
| 9.05 | Tua Tagovailoa |
| 9.06 | Deshaun Watson |
| 9.07 | Antonio Gibson |
| 9.08 | Zach Charbonnet |
| 9.09 | Zay Jones |
| 9.10 | Devon Achane |
| 9.11 | Aaron Rodgers |
| 9.12 | Devin Singletary |
| 10.01 | Jakobi Meyers |
| 10.02 | K.J. Osborn |
| 10.03 | Skyy Moore |
| 10.04 | Raheem Mostert |
| 10.05 | Michael Thomas |
| 10.06 | Samaje Perine |
| 10.07 | Zay Flowers |
| 10.08 | David Njoku |
| 10.09 | Allen Lazard |
| 10.10 | Kenneth Gainwell |
| 10.11 | Dalton Schultz |
| 10.12 | D.J. Chark |