Where my best-ball fans at? I like to do a couple of these leagues each offseason, over at FFPC. They have nice $35 price points, plus I've won a couple in the past (including last season, let's go!). I'm doing a slow draft right now.
I prefer the 2-hour clock. The 6-hour clock is painfully slow, and the live drafts it's hard to commit to this time of year. In this league, tight ends get 1.5 points per reception (TE-premium) and there are two flex spots, so it's valid to not only select tight ends early but to take multiple ones and watch them wind up in your lineup. 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE-PK-Defense, and those 2 flex spots. 28 rounds, and again, best-ball -- no lineups to set and no moves at all once the draft is complete.
Here's how the first eight rounds have gone, with my picks (from the 10 spot) in bold.
| ROUND 1 | |
|---|---|
| Pick | Player |
| 1.1 | Ja'Marr Chase |
| 1.2 | Justin Jefferson |
| 1.3 | Bijan Robinson |
| 1.4 | Jahmyr Gibbs |
| 1.5 | Saquon Barkley |
| 1.6 | CeeDee Lamb |
| 1.7 | Brock Bowers |
| 1.8 | Malik Nabers |
| 1.9 | Ashton Jeanty |
| 1.10 | Amon-Ra St. Brown |
| 1.11 | Christian McCaffrey |
| 1.12 | De'Von Achane |
The TE-premium nature factored Bowers going in Round 1. I'm not going to argue it, but I would personally would have taken Nabers or Amon-Ra. ADP for PPR leagues shows Amon-Ra as the No. 4 WR and 8th overall, so I was ecstatic to get him at 10th and did not consider anyone else for the pick.
I'm as excited about Jeanty as anyone, but I see no earthly way he pays off as the 9th overall selection in a best-ball league. It is quite an aggressive projection for the Raiders offense this year to think that he will be so good as to merit being selected over 5-6 players. I'm out on McCaffrey this year, so I wouldn't have taken him here. Achane, for his receiving work, I can see paying off.
| ROUND 2 | |
|---|---|
| Pick | Player |
| 2.1 | Nico Collins |
| 2.2 | Puka Nacua |
| 2.3 | Brian Thomas |
| 2.4 | Derrick Henry |
| 2.5 | Trey McBride |
| 2.6 | A.J. Brown |
| 2.7 | Josh Jacobs |
| 2.8 | Lamar Jackson |
| 2.9 | Drake London |
| 2.10 | Josh Allen |
| 2.11 | Ladd McConkey |
| 2.12 | Jonathan Taylor |
At this point I'll mention that I'm actually sharing this team with my son. We had a debate over this pick, either Brian Thomas or Trey McBride. I was pushing for McBride, and objectively, I would have taken him here. He's our top TE, over Bowers, and caught 100-something passes last year. But Thomas would have been my second choice, or Puka or Nico had they fallen another spot. Hopefully Thomas builds on his awesome rookie season and I'm not snarking at my son all year long as McBride racks up another monster season. The official recommendation is TE-premium is to take McBride here.
| ROUND 3 | |
|---|---|
| Pick | Player |
| 3.1 | Kyren Williams |
| 3.2 | Chase Brown |
| 3.3 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba |
| 3.4 | Bucky Irving |
| 3.5 | George Kittle |
| 3.6 | Joe Burrow |
| 3.7 | Garrett Wilson |
| 3.8 | Tyreek Hill |
| 3.9 | Tee Higgins |
| 3.10 | James Cook |
| 3.11 | Omarion Hampton |
| 3.12 | Breece Hall |
After starting out WR-WR, no question I was taking a running back here. (Though I was eyeing Tyreek or Tee as possibilities if they made it another spot.) Either Cook or Breece. We're cool on Breece, expecting more of a committee this season, and his QB to take a few touchdowns from him. That's also a concern with Cook in Buffalo, of course, but Cook scored 18 touchdowns last year, he's in camp and practicing despite wanting a new contract, and he says he's determined to prove he's a full-time guy. So Cook was the choice. Would have been nice if Kyren or Chase had fallen, as they will in some drafts, but they were long gone.
| ROUND 4 | |
|---|---|
| Pick | Player |
| 4.1 | Davante Adams |
| 4.2 | Jayden Daniels |
| 4.3 | Kenneth Walker |
| 4.4 | Marvin Harrison |
| 4.5 | Terry McLaurin |
| 4.6 | Chuba Hubbard |
| 4.7 | Rashee Rice |
| 4.8 | Mike Evans |
| 4.9 | Jalen Hurts |
| 4.10 | T.J. Hockenson |
| 4.11 | Alvin Kamara |
| 4.12 | DJ Moore |
I'm not a huge Walker fan, but he was one of the last feature backs left, I'm not that worried about his role, and he's very good and productive when available. (Spoiler, I did select Zach Charbonnet in the 10th to lock up this backfield in best-ball.) Considered Terry McLaurin but I think there's better depth at wide receiver than running back.
| ROUND 5 | |
|---|---|
| Pick | Player |
| 5.1 | Courtland Sutton |
| 5.2 | Xavier Worthy |
| 5.3 | James Conner |
| 5.4 | DeVonta Smith |
| 5.5 | Tetairoa McMillan |
| 5.6 | Sam LaPorta |
| 5.7 | DK Metcalf |
| 5.8 | Zay Flowers |
| 5.9 | TreVeyon Henderson |
| 5.10 | Evan Engram |
| 5.11 | George Pickens |
| 5.12 | D'Andre Swift |
I'm not a praying man, but I was fervently hoping Engram would make it to me. In my eyes he was the last of the true top-flight tight ends in this format. Caught 114 passes two years ago and 47 in just over eight games last year. Broncos are paying him good money and I won't be surprised if he leads the team in receptions. I liked some of the wide receivers in this round, but they weren't there so it's a moot point.
| ROUND 6 | |
|---|---|
| Pick | Player |
| 6.1 | Patrick Mahomes |
| 6.2 | Jameson Williams |
| 6.3 | David Montgomery |
| 6.4 | RJ Harvey |
| 6.5 | Aaron Jones |
| 6.6 | Jaylen Waddle |
| 6.7 | Travis Hunter |
| 6.8 | Kaleb Johnson |
| 6.9 | Joe Mixon |
| 6.10 | Calvin Ridley |
| 6.11 | Travis Kelce |
| 6.12 | Brian Robinson |
I considered Harvey here, but Montgomery struck me as a safer pick. Ben Johnson is gone but the Lions are going to stick to their one-two punch backfield and there should be plenty of production to go around. Montgomery just turned 28 and has scored 12-13 touchdowns the last two seasons with 1,100 total yards in 14 games each year. I guess there is a slight committee and or injury concern, but that's true of every other running back drafted in this round, and without the production resume of Monty in most cases. I will have three good starters at running back.
| ROUND 7 | |
|---|---|
| Pick | Player |
| 7.1 | Bo Nix |
| 7.2 | Rome Odunze |
| 7.3 | Chris Olave |
| 7.4 | Mark Andrews |
| 7.5 | Tony Pollard |
| 7.6 | Quinshon Judkins |
| 7.7 | Isiah Pacheco |
| 7.8 | Kyler Murray |
| 7.9 | David Njoku |
| 7.10 | Baker Mayfield |
| 7.11 | Jauan Jennings |
| 7.12 | Stefon Diggs |
In best-ball, you've got to have a couple or three good starting quarterbacks. (Last year my key picks in winning one of these leagues were Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix.) I was hoping for Nix here, and I believe in most drafts he would have made it to me. Obviously someone liked him even more. So at that point I was rooting for Kyler or Baker. Mayfield has a new OC, but I don't believe the offense will be changing all that much. Somebody must have been reading my endorsements of Stefon Diggs to take him here, I was hoping to get him a round or two later. Nope.
| ROUND 8 | |
|---|---|
| Pick | Player |
| 8.1 | Jake Ferguson |
| 8.2 | Jordan Addison |
| 8.3 | Jakobi Meyers |
| 8.4 | Jerry Jeudy |
| 8.5 | Khalil Shakir |
| 8.6 | Jaylen Warren |
| 8.7 | Ricky Pearsall |
| 8.8 | Deebo Samuel |
| 8.9 | Josh Downs |
| 8.10 | Chris Godwin |
| 8.11 | Tucker Kraft |
| 8.12 | Dalton Kincaid |
It was either Meyers or Jeudy with this pick. Meyers has been more consistent and will be the clear No. 1 wideout working with a better quarterback this season. 2nd in targets to Bowers, perhaps, but Bowers will also draw more defensive attention. I also liked Deebo here. I was hoping that Kraft would make it back to my next pick (I considered Jake Ferguson for this pick, but he went 2 picks earlier), but it didn't happen -- fortunately I did get a tight end I liked even more in that round 9 spot.
Which I'll discuss when I recap the rest of it in the next week or so.