The GoingFor2 team recently did our fantasy football draft. It’s a 16-team PPR league with 18-man rosters. If you have never played in a 16-team league before, you might look at some of these rosters and think they look terrible.
Let me give you an idea of how tough a league this size is. When I was doing my mock drafts using our mock draft tool powered by FantasyPros, at pick four where I was drafting from, my first pick was usually Julio Jones. Okay, that’s pretty normal, but by the time it got around to me in the second round, the highest rated player and the player with the highest percentage of experts agreeing was…wait for it… Danny Woodhead.
With that in mind, here are the results and my grades for each team. Our returning champion from last year was Jared Fox, his team name this year is the Kingslayers. Let’s get started…
First up is Gerson. He definitely went into this draft looking to draft RBs, as many as he could. Overall, Gerson has a pretty solid starting unit with gems like A.J. Green, Jordan Reed, Andrew Luck and DeAndre Hopkins. These guys should provide Gerson’s team with some solid consistent production week in and week out.
There are, however, a few glaring weaknesses. For starters, he backed up Andrew Luck with Mike Glennon. Luck may not be ready to start the season, and even if he is, he is likely to experience some rust early on. Glennon has looked horrible in preseason, and if I were drafting Luck I think I would have reached a little higher to get a better backup QB. I know, some of you 10-to-12 league team owners are thinking, “just stream QB?”. Well, the “best” available QB on the waiver wire right now according to Yahoo! projections is… Blaine Gabbert. Streaming is not an option in 16-team leagues. If Luck is healthy and starts 14-to-16 games this year, Gerson will be fine. If not, then it will be a long season for him.
The second weakness I see on this team is the bench. If Gerson had to start one of them right now as it stands, he couldn’t. Well, he could, but they might not even see the field. Every one of his bench players, except for Glennon, is a backup on their own team. Doug Martin may or may not be a starter when he comes back from his three game suspension. Samaje Perine, Jamaal Williams, D’Onta Foreman, Johnathan Williams, and Wayne Gallman are all rookies that may or may not have a role in the offense yet. His bench is 100 percent reliant on injury. Not a good strategy to have to go into a season.
Grade: C-
Eric Green is next on the list. Eric’s team has a lot of shaky pieces starting with Victor Cruz in his starting lineup and his only WR backup is Laquon Treadwell. He could move Jordan Matthews to his WR3 and put someone else in his flex, but there lies his second weakness…
Like Gerson, his entire bench is made up of non-starters. Chris Thompson and Jamaal Charles will have a role that can be treated as a “starting” role, as they are both the receiving down backs for their teams, but even that’s a little shaky. His team will struggle with bye weeks and could be in trouble if he gets bit by the injury bug.
Speaking of bye weeks, he made a critical mistake when selecting his QBs. Matthew Stafford and Tom Savage both have Week 7 byes, and as I mentioned before, Blaine Gabbert is the best available QB on waivers right now. Ouch.
Grade: D-
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Okay, time to dissect my team. Having played in 16-team leagues before, my strategy going in was to wait as long as possible to get my QB. 16-team league actually devalues the QB position. Let me explain. When you are in the thick of the season and you are going through bye weeks and experiencing injuries, you start looking for players to just score something, anything. So the QB is one position that will at least give you something every week in scoring no matter what QB you have, and by waiting to get my QB it allowed me to get “real NFL starters” on my bench that can also give me something when I need them.
My weakness is at tight end, and it’s by far my worst position. I simply waited one round too long before drafting my tight end and ended up with Vance McDonald. I later added George Kittle when McDonald was traded as I think Kittle will be the 49ers No. 1 TE to start the season.
I like that I was able to “handcuff” Christian McCaffrey with Jonathan Stewart if one of them gets hurt. Stewart also offers some stand-alone value as he will still likely be the goal-line RB.
Unfortunately, after Stewart, I wasn’t able to snag any other “starting RBs”, so instead, I went after low-end starting WRs like Cooper Kupp, Ted Ginn Jr., and Marquise Goodwin. Those three receivers may not strike fear into my opponents, but during the bye weeks, at least I know they will be on the field. Overall I think I did pretty well in the draft and accomplished most of what I had set out to do.
Grade: B+
Next, we have Eric Frosbutter. His team, like every team in this league, has some glaring weaknesses. First is his flex position. Josh Doctson is likely the No. 4 WR on the Redskins and the No. 5 option in the passing game if you include Jordan Reed. I understand the thinking by trying to bank on his upside, but I would have rather drafted a sure-fire starter first.
He did okay with his RBs on his bench with Giovani Bernard and Charles Sims having established roles on their teams, but having to start Terrance West would make me very uncomfortable.
His bench WRs also scare me. Mike Williams is likely out for a good chunk of the season, if not all of it. And, we don’t know if Allen Hurns can bounce back after a dismal 2016 season? He’d better hope he can because that’s all he has.
Grade: C+
Matthew Garrett is next. Matthew boasts one of the better starting lineups in the league with two potential top 10 guys at their position in Cam Newton and Antonio Brown. He has two solid RBs and three WRs that should be on the field and contributing week in and week out.
While I don’t love Adrian Peterson this year, having him as a flex actually isn’t too bad, and there is some upside there.
Unfortunately, that’s where the good stops. His bench is made up of a preseason Week 4 roster. Malcolm Mitchell, Markus Wheaton, and Juju Smith-Schuster are “at best” the third string player on their respective teams and don’t get me started on the selection of Josh Gordon. People that draft Josh Gordon are the same people who believe Tupac is still alive. He isn’t coming back, people!
He also has Robert Turbin who only has value if you’re a Frank Gore owner as a handcuff, unless Gore gets hurt of course.
All in all, it’s not a terrible team and as long as his two studs — Newton and Brown — do their thing, he will be fine.
Grade: B-
Next up we have “Mr. I like to draft my QBs early” Rashan. Despite my repeated advice to wait on QB, Rashan drafts one in the first or second round every year, but in this case, it may have actually worked out for him. His starters are pretty solid with the exception of Nelson Agholor whom I’m not a fan of, but in his defense, Rashan is an Eagles fan living in Philly, he was forced to drink the Kool-Aid — it’s in the water.
His bench, as with most of the teams we’ve looked at so far, leaves a lot to be desired. Matt Jones is no longer on an NFL roster, Jermy Kerely is the No. 3 WR on a team that isn’t going to be very good on offense and Antonio Gates is 97-years-old.
With Matt Jones cut, that leaves Rashan with zero RB depth. Not a good way to win a fantasy football league.
Grade: C-
Brad Ritcher’s team is up next. It looks like he had a very similar approach to this draft that I did by waiting as long as possible to get his QB, and then drafting player on his bench that are expected to be starters for their team.
He was able to lock up some guys with some upside like Marlon Mack and Rex Burkhead. Both players could wind up being the starting RB by the end of the season, which would really pay off for him if that happens.
His only weakness that I see would be his WRs. The book is still out on Tyreke Hill. Willie Snead is the No. 3 WR on the Saints and just got suspended for three games. Even when he gets back, Drew Bress spreads the ball around so much that Snead may struggle with consistency. His four bench WRs have some upside if they can reach their potential, but we have yet to see it from any of them in their careers.
Overall, Brad’s team may be the best “on-paper” team in the league.
Overall: A-
The defending champion, Jared Fox, is up next. I gave Jared’s team a B last year and he went on to win the whole thing. I don’t think he did quite as well this year as he did last, but it still looks like a decent roster.
With Larry Fitzgerald, Frank Gore, and Marshawn Lynch in his starting lineup, he may have the oldest starting lineup in the league. Lynch has already retired once, Gore is likely in his last year, and Fitzgerald has answered the retirement question for a couple of years now. I would worried about Fitz and Gore’s production falling off as we progress through the season. In the case of Lynch, we are talking about a running back that has been out of football for a year and couldn’t stay healthy in the last season that he did play. I wouldn’t mind taking one of these guys, but not all three.
Looking at his bench, he has some good PPR RBs in Shane Vereen and Theo Riddick, and e also has the now No. 1 WR for the Jets in Robby Anderson — though I’m not sure that’s anything to write home about.
As long as his old guys can give him one more season and his upside guys like Anderson and Stefon Diggs have good seasons, he could repeat as champion. Unfortunately, that is a lot to ask.
Grade: C-
Our resident NASCAR writer, Sergio, is up next. I really like what he did with his starting lineup. It’s a good mix of consistent production (Kirk Cousins, Odell Beckham cam & Travis Kelce) mixed with upside guys (Ameer Abdullah and Jacquizz Rodgers).
His bench is built with a bunch of what I call “if guys”. If Thomas Rawls gets the starting nod. If Dion Lewis beats out the 16 other pass catching RBs the Patriots have. If Tyler Boyd can hold off John Ross for the No. 3 WR in Cincinnati. And, if Alfred Morris can get involved in the offense with Ezekiel Elliott getting suspended.
That’s too many “if’s” for my taste.
Grade: C-
Next on the list, we have Brad Berreman. I really like what Brad did with his starting RBs by getting the No. 1 player in fantsay David Johnson, but also landing Dalvin Cook who should get every opportunity to be “the guy” in Minnesota.
Unfortunately, his depth at WR suffered. I like Michael Crabtree, just not as my WR1. Garcon is playing on a bad offense but should get plenty of targets, so I don’t hate him as a WR2. Devin Funchess is the guy I’m most worried about. He has yet to show that he is anything more than a below average WR.
He didn’t do himself any favors on his bench either, taking the walking injury Breshad Perriman, the Julian Edelman wannabe Danny Amendola and Kendall Wright. Of the three, I think Wright has the biggest upside due to the Cameron Merrridth (knee) injury.
I think he may have reached a bit too high for his QB, Drew Brees. I would have rather taken a better WR3, and, while his starting RBs are good, his bench is pretty shallow with David Johnson’s handcuff Chris Johnson and Darren Sproles lite, a.k.a Wendell Smallwood.
I think Brad will start strong, but once we start to hit the bye weeks he will struggle.
Grade: C
Micheal is next up. Before I grade Michael’s team, I will give a disclaimer that he missed the draft due to some technical difficulties and the computer auto-drafted him. With that said, he actually ended up with a pretty decent starting lineup. His biggest weakness could become a strength if Mike Gillislee does, in fact play the “LeGarrette Blunt role” in this offense, but no one knows for sure who play that role — or if any one back plays it at all.
His bench, well that’s where we have some issues. For starters, Yahoo! drafted Anquan Boldin who is retired. And, yes, at the time of the draft we knew he was retired. When I say we, I mean you and I, apparently Yahoo! did not. To compound the issue, it also drafted Will Fuller that will be out the first month at least.
His other weakness is his RB depth. He has one RB on his bench, T.J. Yeldon, who only has value to Leonard Fournette owners or in the event of a Fournette injury.
Michael has his work cut out for him.
Grade: D
Momentum Shift’s own Jason is up next. First, you will notice the “empty” WR slot. I took these screen shots after some of the teams had made some moves, but we will assume Kelvin Benjamin is his WR3 and then he has some options for flex.
His biggest weakness is his RBs. Duke Johnson Jr. is a nice complimentary piece to the Browns, but he is NOT an RB1, and C.J. Prosise may not even on the field this year with his constant injuries. Luckily he has a decent RB on his bench, Derrick Henry.
Other than that, Jason did pretty well for himself. He has a great corps of WRs that could make up for his terrible running backs, especially because it’s PPR. His bench is pretty solid, though I don’t see the need to have three QBs, however, looking at the other teams in the league and with Blaine Gabbert as the best free agent QB, he might be able to trade one of them.
Grade: B
The lovely Kellie is next up. I figured I’d be nice before tearing her team apart. Just kidding, this is actually a solid team. She has a solid group of starting WRs, a good QB, good TE. Her weakness, and it’s become a common theme, is running back.
Depending on who you talk to, LeGarrette Blount is either getting cut or will be the featured back in Philly. If it’s the latter, Kellie made out like a bandit — assuming of course that Blount plays well.
Her bench also lacks upside. Jason Witten is what he is, Jeremy Hill is a touchdown dependent RB, and John Ross is currently out for at least Week 1, if not longer.
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Colin Kaepernick. Before looking up the team name to see who the owner was, I didn’t understand the pick either. Now, knowing it’s Kellie it all makes perfect sense. Let’s just say that fantasy football isn’t the only fantasy Kellie and Colin Kaepernick have in common.
Grade: B-
Courtney Harden of The Real Deal radio show is up next. Courtney has had me on his show the last three years right before the fantasy season kicks off, and either my advice has sunk in, or he is pretty decent at fantasy football. This is a pretty solid team for a 16-team league — but it is not without weakness.
The biggest issue I have with his roster, and it’s not entirely his fault, is the lack of “star power”. What I mean by that, he doesn’t have a single player I would call a “stud”. In all fairness, Courtney had the last pick in the draft, and by the time you get to pick 16 there isn’t any star power left.
Despite his unfavorable draft position, Courtney did well for himself. His starters are all solid contributors in their careers and should continue to be this season. His bench has a bunch of guys that start on their respective teams, however, they do lack upside.
I also don’t understand the three TEs. Maybe he was planning to use Vernon Davis in the first few weeks if Jordan Reed was out, or maybe his thought was an attempted trade with the Jordan Reed owner. Either way, one needs to go.
Grade: B+
Next up we have Frank, another member of the Momentum Shift family. There is one glaring weakness that jumped out at me the moment I looked at his team. He drafted Ezekiel Elliott and did not properly prepare for a six-game suspension. Who will occupy that flex spot in Weeks 1-thru-6 if Zeke is in fact suspended? Latavuis Murray? Cole Beasley? He needed to reach a little higher to get a decent backup RB. Now, if Zeke’s suspension gets shortened or removed altogether, then he could have a draft day steal of a pick.
His bench has a few issues. Beyond the lack of running backs, he lacks players in starting positions for their teams. Cole Beasley will be good because of the PPR scoring, but Murray may play second fiddle to Dalvin Cook, and the rest of his bench are all unproven guys that may see little to no playing time.
Grade: C-
And, bringing up the rear we have a shared team between our media manager, Andrew Morton, and one of our newest writers, Ben. Unfortunately, this team ended up being auto-drafted because of a Yahoo! rule that we were unaware of until draft night. A “Co-Manager” can not draft. Only the original person, whose email is attached to it, can draft the team. Andrew is the “owner”, but he works third shift leaving Ben to draft which he was unable to do.
First off the bat, Ben and Andrew may have the best trio of RBs in the league. LeSean McCoy and Todd Gurley both have top 10 potential, and say what you will about Robert Kelley, he has looked good in preseason and is the clear-cut starter for the foreseeable future. On his bench, he has two running backs in Corey Clement and Chris Carson that could be starting if they can continue to do what they did in the preseason, and neither has great competition.
His weakness is obviously at the WR position. Maratvis Bryant should not be counted on as a WR1, and Kenny Britt and Corey Coleman will lack the consistency you look for in fantasy football because they both play for bad offenses, but overall, this is a decent team.
Grade: B-
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