Concerns over COVID has cast a shadow of doubt on the 2020 NFL season but as long as there is an NFL there will be fantasy football. In garages, back yards, driveways, and living rooms across America, draft boards will be hung as home leagues everywhere prepare for the 2020 NFL season scheduled to begin on September 10th, 2020.
In 2007, while the rest of the country was standing in line waiting for the first iPhone release, Brandon Freeman wanted to play fantasy football and so began the inaugural season of the Lone Star Fantasy League. The first rule of Lone Star is you must attend the live draft. The second rule of Lone Star is you must attend the live draft. The third rule of……well you get the idea. Actually there are a bunch of rules but many an owner forfeited his spot in Lone Star because he could not attend the draft. In 2019 I was forced to drive eight hours in the dark of night to make it to the draft (only to get booted in the first round of the playoffs).
2020 Covid happened and we are forced to adapt. If Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Jaylon Smith and the great Dallas Cowboys can ZOOM so can Lone Star Fantasy League. Two owners affected by COVID choose to ZOOM while the other 14 sat eagerly ready to begin!!
Cryptic text to all owners…balls dropping at 1:30 pm sharp on August 22nd. Address will be text out at 1:15 pm, all owners must be ready to roll!!
A 12 team .5ppr six-point touchdown 20 round draft. Each team required to roster 2 of: quarterback, tight end, kicker, team defense/special team. Also required to roster 3 running backs and 4 wide receivers. Final 5 spots are flex RB, WR, TE (max 3), QB (max 3).
They cryptic text is a lie but hey…we do have a pretty awesome homemade Lottery Ball Drawing Machine. So at 1:30 pm on August 22nd the balls dropped and with said dropping of the balls the 2020 Lone Star Fantasy League is underway!!
First ball out…..Angry Squirrels…yes!! My team with the first ball but wait… This is reverse order so in 2020 I will be picking from the 12th spot… Let’s GO!!
With the first pick goes Chr…Ezekiel Elliott. With the second pick goes Chr…Saquon Barkley. So the first twist of the draft at pick 3 goes Christian McCaffrey. Unfortunately for me, the team at pick 3 is in my division..ugh, but so be it. The rest of the first round goes: Alvin Kamara, Derrick Henry, Michael Thomas, Dalvin Cook, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Julio Jones, and Miles Sanders at 11.
Prepping for the draft I was hoping for a late pick at 9 or 10. Planning to go RB, WR, WR, RB through the first four. My remaining player projections had Davante Adams followed by Kenyan Drake, Tyreek Hill, and Aaron Jones. My highest running back on the board I took Kenyan Drake with pick 1.12 and simply could not pass on Joe Mixon at 2.01. Though I had Adams and Hill higher, I felt Mixon would be a solid week to week starter. I felt certain I could grab great value wide receivers later in the draft. So my season begins with double running back. The rest of the 2nd round continues with Austin Ekeler, Travis Kelce, Nick Chubb, Devante Adams, Tyreek Hill, Lamar Jackson, Chris Godwin, Patrick Mahomes, Deandre Hopkins at 2.10, George Kittle at 2.11, and JuJu Smith-Schuster to finish out round 2.
It feels great grabbing 2 players in the top 13 but then you wait as player after player comes off the board. The 3rd round sees 5 running backs taken along with 6 wide receivers before my pick at 3.12. My targets at the turn were AJ Brown and Adam Thielen with hopes of balancing out my roster. In my rankings, I had 11 WR in the first 3 tiers with Thomas alone in tier 1 followed by Jones, Adams, Hill, and Godwin in tier 2. Tier 3 fell Mike Evans, Kenny Golladay, Adam Thielen, AJ Brown, Deandre Hopkins, and Allen Robinson. With pick 3.12 I grabbed my highest ranked wide receiver in AJ Brown.
Time will tell. My first mistake might have fallen at 4.01. There he was, the shining RB1 of years past with nobody in his path to greatness (except a bum knee), Todd Gurley. With top 4 RB upside, in my humble opinion, I could not pass on Gurley (.5 ppr) as the dreams of what might be danced in my head. I left the likes of Odell Beckham, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, and D.J. Moore on the board as I drafted 3 running backs and 1 wide receiver through 4 rounds in the 2020 Lone Star Football League.
Lone Star is a league with head to head match ups accross 4, 3 team divisions. Win your division for a guaranteed playoff spot. Two wildcard spots exist for the best 2 non-division winning records. Not so silently, I see my division rival amass a studly line up through 5 rounds of Christian McCaffrey, Deandre Hopkins, Aaron Jones, Levon Bell, and D.J. Chark. We can debate 4 of his 5 picks but the upside of these 5 has me concerned and with this in the back of my mind the draft continues with my pick at 5.12.
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At 5.12, with Travis Kelce and George Kittle gone, sits my TE3 Mark Andrews. Zac Ertz is a very close TE 4 but my personal choice is Mark Andrews locking down my TE spot. My second mistake may have come at 6.01 with the highest remaining RB my board David Montgomery available. With Gurley’s injury history I decided to take another running back and grab Montgomery at 6.01. Montgomery has been a highly debated player this offseason but I choose to believe in the lighter and healthier Bears running back. Although he killed me last year I have high hopes for redemption taking him over Jarvis Landry whom I have projected a bit higher (189 to 179). My total through 5 rounds is 4 running backs, 1 wide receiver, and 1 tight end. Not sure how I feel at this point but I am a few White Claw’s in and having a blast so we move on.
Heading into the 7th, 5 quarterbacks are gone. Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Deshaun Watson were all taken before round 7 begins. I watch as Russell Willson is taken at 6.12 followed by Dak Prescott at 7.03 (to my rival) and Kyler Murray at 7.08. With 2 back to back picks I had to take a QB with one of my next 2 picks. There are few things worse than watching a positional run from the 12-1 turn so with the 7.12 I took the quarterback highest on my board in the reliable Matt Ryan. At 8.01 with only one wide receiver, I grabbed Michael Gallup. I hope to steal some TD points in the two games I play my rival and Dak Prescott. Fingers crossed…
Through round 8 I have my starting lineup of: QB Matt Ryan – RB’s Kenyan Drake, Joe Mixon, Todd Gurley, David Montgomery – WR AJ Brown and Michael Gallup – TE Mark Andrews. Completed my starting lineup with the Cowboys defense/special teams along with Greg “the leg” Zuerlein at kicker.
Finished up my roster with Mecole Hardeman (reports that Hill tweeked a hamstring), Henry Ruggs III (in a loaded WR class he was taken first), Zach Moss, Mike Gieseki, Drew Lock, Justin Jackson, Steven Sims, and Tee Higgins. Also adding the Vikings defense/special teams and Mason Crosby in my bench spots.
Shockers of the draft included the first defense/special teams off the board at pick 10.7 (49ers) which started a mini-run on defenses taken at 10.9, 11.2, 11.3, and 11.7. The first kicker was taken at 11.8 (Justin Tucker) followed by others taken at 11.10, 13.4, and then 14.1 although the kicker run started in the 17th round.
Would I have picked differently? Maybe. Too many running backs? Blast me! Where did I go wrong from the 12th? Let me know which is the team to beat in the comments below. Hopefully, this helps you kick some butt in your home leagues this year.
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