I'm participating in an extended-format Experts Draft right now, a league I've done a lot in the past. It's a little different from most of my drafts these days: non-PPR. As you might expect, running backs are a little more coveted compared to wide receivers.
The other wrinkle to this league is it's a 14-team affair. That also causes increased interest in running backs, I think, since starters are gone a little bit quicker. I drew the 8th spot, and I think picking around the middle of the round is a good thing. It's helped me not to reach too early or miss out on position runs. Pick at the end of rounds, and you have 26 picks between selections, during which a lot can happen.
Presented below are the first eight rounds; my selections are in bold. I'll discuss my picks every two rounds.
| DRAFT RESULTS | |
|---|---|
| Pick | Player |
| 1.01 | Christian McCaffrey |
| 1.02 | Tyreek Hill |
| 1.03 | CeeDee Lamb |
| 1.04 | Breece Hall |
| 1.05 | Bijan Robinson |
| 1.06 | Amon-Ra St. Brown |
| 1.07 | Ja'Marr Chase |
| 1.08 | Jonathan Taylor |
| 1.09 | Jahmyr Gibbs |
| 1.10 | Saquon Barkley |
| 1.11 | Derrick Henry |
| 1.12 | Justin Jefferson |
| 1.13 | A.J. Brown |
| 1.14 | Kyren Williams |
| 2.01 | Garrett Wilson |
| 2.02 | Davante Adams |
| 2.03 | De'Von Achane |
| 2.04 | Mike Evans |
| 2.05 | Marvin Harrison Jr. |
| 2.06 | Travis Etienne |
| 2.07 | Isiah Pacheco |
| 2.08 | Josh Jacobs |
| 2.09 | Cooper Kupp |
| 2.10 | Puka Nacua |
| 2.11 | Josh Allen |
| 2.12 | Drake London |
| 2.13 | Joe Mixon |
| 2.14 | Deebo Samuel |
Tough letting Justin Jefferson slide to 1.12, but this is non-PPR driven. There are more viable wide receivers than running backs. As my pick approached, I just hoped either Taylor or Derrick Henry was there for me. I gladly took Taylor, who is one of the few workhorse running backs in the league. Yes, he might lose some short-yardage touchdowns to Anthony Richardson. I still think he'll score most of them.
In our latest Standard rankings, Pacheco is 7th at running back, I took him as the 11th one off the board. I considered the Rams wideouts who went with the next two picks, but passing up Pacheco here would have left me looking at an unattractive back in Round 3 (unless we think Pacheco would have slipped to 3.08, which is possible; seems underrated, again, this year).
Other notes about the first two rounds: Lamb and Chase being selected in the top 7 suggests those drafters aren't concerned about the contract squabbles. Gibbs was selected before the hamstring injury occurred, probably would have fallen a few spots otherwise. I do not understand Achane being selected at 2.03.
| Pick | Player |
|---|---|
| 3.01 | Rachaad White |
| 3.02 | Kenneth Walker |
| 3.03 | Jaylen Waddle |
| 3.04 | Travis Kelce |
| 3.05 | Jalen Hurts |
| 3.06 | Chris Olave |
| 3.07 | Nico Collins |
| 3.08 | DeVonta Smith |
| 3.09 | D.J. Moore |
| 3.10 | Sam LaPorta |
| 3.11 | Alvin Kamara |
| 3.12 | Malik Nabers |
| 3.13 | Rhamondre Stevenson |
| 3.14 | James Cook |
| 4.01 | Patrick Mahomes |
| 4.02 | Tony Pollard |
| 4.03 | Tee Higgins |
| 4.04 | DK Metcalf |
| 4.05 | Zamir White |
| 4.06 | Michael Pittman |
| 4.07 | Zay Flowers |
| 4.08 | David Montgomery |
| 4.09 | Raheem Mostert |
| 4.10 | James Conner |
| 4.11 | Brandon Aiyuk |
| 4.12 | Trey McBride |
| 4.13 | Amari Cooper |
| 4.14 | Stefon Diggs |
I was locked in on a wide receiver here; I did briefly consider LaPorta or even Mahomes, but felt I couldn't wait until the fourth for my first wideout. I hoped to take Nico, who went one pick before. Taking DeVonta drifts a little from our rankings, but I was comfortable the guys we had ranked ahead of him (Flowers and Amari Cooper) would be there in the fourth, and indeed they were. Flowers and Cooper are fairly key in our rankings this year and I could have had both of them, but I like Smith a little more than Ian and Cooper a little less I guess.
I like James Cook (3.14) a lot more than Kamara (3.11) and Tony Pollard (4.02). None of the three seems like a great starter in non-PPR formats, but Kamara and Pollard I wouldn't even consider.
| Pick | Player |
|---|---|
| 5.01 | Lamar Jackson |
| 5.02 | Najee Harris |
| 5.03 | Aaron Jones |
| 5.04 | George Pickens |
| 5.05 | Terry McLaurin |
| 5.06 | Chris Godwin |
| 5.07 | C.J. Stroud |
| 5.08 | Tank Dell |
| 5.09 | Christian Kirk |
| 5.10 | Keenan Allen |
| 5.11 | Mark Andrews |
| 5.12 | Anthony Richardson |
| 5.13 | Kyler Murray |
| 5.14 | D'Andre Swift |
| 6.01 | George Kittle |
| 6.02 | Brock Bowers |
| 6.03 | Javonte Williams |
| 6.04 | Calvin Ridley |
| 6.05 | Rashee Rice |
| 6.06 | Joe Burrow |
| 6.07 | Jordan Love |
| 6.08 | Kyle Pitts |
| 6.09 | Evan Engram |
| 6.10 | Dalton Kincaid |
| 6.11 | Devin Singletary |
| 6.12 | Brian Robinson |
| 6.13 | Jake Ferguson |
| 6.14 | Nick Chubb |
Strictly on value, I should perhaps have taken Mark Andrews at 5.08. But I'm not a big Andrews fan and our rankings had Dell as a similar value. (This is 3-WR start league, with a flex spot too.) I think Dell will be making more big plays for Houston than Stefon Diggs, even if Diggs catches more passes, making him a nice option in Standard.
Coming around to Round 6, I intended to select Joe Burrow, who we rank higher than pretty much everyone else. But since I already have some Burrow shares this year, I was glad to take Love, who we also have ranked a few spots higher. (Higher than both quarterbacks taken just before him, Richardson and Murray.) If I'd passed on him here, and he was taken, I'd have been looking at quarterbacks we have quite a bit lower overall -- Purdy, Prescott. A run on TEs after I took Love; I had already decided I'd be taking a TE with one of my next two picks. There were multiple ones left we have higher Jake Ferguson.
| Pick | Player |
|---|---|
| 7.01 | Christian Watson |
| 7.02 | Keon Coleman |
| 7.03 | Chase Brown |
| 7.04 | Jayden Reed |
| 7.05 | Diontae Johnson |
| 7.06 | Gus Edwards |
| 7.07 | Zack Moss |
| 7.08 | Jaylen Warren |
| 7.09 | Jonathon Brooks |
| 7.10 | Dak Prescott |
| 7.11 | Courtland Sutton |
| 7.12 | David Njoku |
| 7.13 | Tyjae Spears |
| 7.14 | Ladd McConkey |
| 8.01 | Brian Thomas |
| 8.02 | T.J. Hockenson |
| 8.03 | Rome Odunze |
| 8.04 | Jayden Daniels |
| 8.05 | Austin Ekeler |
| 8.06 | Jerome Ford |
| 8.07 | Dallas Goedert |
| 8.08 | Khalil Shakir |
| 8.09 | Tua Tagovailoa |
| 8.10 | Ezekiel Elliott |
| 8.11 | DeAndre Hopkins |
| 8.12 | Romeo Doubs |
| 8.13 | Marquise Brown |
| 8.14 | Cole Kmet |
Peering at the draft board, I saw that of the six teams picking after me, four of them had already drafted a tight end. There were three remaining I'd be happy with as a starter. So although I'm not a huge Jaylen Warren fan (I like Najee better, particularly in standard), I thought taking a third running back was a better choice. I like him a lot more than the other remaining backs, most of whom are clear No. 2s on their team or otherwise poor non-PPR options. So I took Warren, and hoped that my favorite of the three TEs I would be happy with — Goedert, the other two were Njoku and Schultz — would be there in the 8th. He was. I don’t know why we’re alone on Goedert, a top-6 TE on our board. But I won’t complain. On the down side, Warren injured a hamstring the day after I picked him; hopefully it's not serious.
Feel free to weigh in where you think I missed the boat on some players or reached on others. I'll try to answer questions as I see them, as well.