As a fantasy football analyst, what are we here for if not to help others. I sat in on two drafts, one with my dad and one with a college classmate whose never played fantasy football before. I was excited to help both to see how my targeted players would differ from my own draft.
The leagues were very different. My dad was in a 14-team standard league with 1 RB, 1 WR, and 3 Flex positions. While my college classmate, Evan, was in a more typical 10-team PPR with 2 RBs, 2 WRs, and a Flex spot.
The drafts went as follows:
My dad's draft:
Round 1, Pick 9: Dalvin Cook
Round 2, Pick 20: Mike Evans
At this pick, based on what was available, I wanted to go RB or TE but my dad wanted to go WR. It was my dad's team so I let him pick all players, I just put in my two cents wherever he picked. Evans was by far my favorite WR on the board, a tier above the remaining WRs, and my 7th ranked WR.
If we went RB we would have chosen Nick Chubb and if we went TE we would have chosen George Kittle.
Round 3, Pick 37: George Kittle
Waiting on Kittle worked out for my dad after all. He got my 2nd ranked TE with a little luck, at pick 35 another TE was taken but it was the wrong TE; it was Zach Ertz who I had ranked as my 3rd TE but 16 spots lower on my overall draft board. Travis Kelce and Kittle proved to be worth paying the premium, they separated themselves from the rest of the TE class.
Round 4, Pick 48: Mark Ingram
Like my other drafts, in round 4 my target RB was actually Chris Carson who was still available at this pick. On fantasypros.com Carson was the 18th ranked RB and Ingram was 19th. I bumped Carson up to RB 12 in my own rankings, 2 Tiers above my 18th ranked Ingram, but when I told my dad Ingram had the easiest Strength of Schedule (SOS), he fell in love. Ingram was my 2nd favorite RB available, so the drop off wasn't that big. It was a great pick and the talent of RB dropped off significantly after those 2.
Round 5, Pick 65: Mike Williams
As stated above, the talent at RB dropped off significantly. For both my dad's draft and my own, pick 53 was the end of top tier RBs. Pick 53 was Carson in my dad's league and pick 53 was Ingram in my own league (My pick ;] ). After that the RBs consisted of David Montgomery, Sony Michel, or James White; talented, but a tier below.
Once we pivoted to WR, my dad loved Williams here... I don't know why...
Still available and on my draft board I had: DJ Moore, Allen Robinson, Calvin Ridley, and Kenny Golladay all several tiers above Williams who my dad decided to draft.
Round 6, Pick 76: Allen Robinson
I'm finally able to convince my dad to take one of the 4 WRs I have ranked above all the others. Luckily the mistake doesn't cost us too much, only 2 WRs went off the board between the two picks. A spree of RBs and TEs went, two positions we already locked up. Most of the other picks were busts, especially in comparison to the value we got on Robinson at this spot.
Robinson's SOS, O-line, and Offensive Efficiency all ranked top 10 or higher. (Even if Trubisky did his best to tank that last metric.) He was my 22nd ranked WR. Golladay and Ridley also went this round... part of the cost of taking Williams as early as we did.
Round 7, Pick 93: Miles Sanders
As much as I would've loved to take Moore in this spot, our team had a glaring need at RB at this point. We had 2 RBs, 1 TE, and 3 WRs, we needed a 3rd RB to add to the roster and before the talent level slipped even further, we selected best RB available, Miles Sanders. A rookie RB with potential upside on a division-leading team.
Round 8, Pick 104: Curtis Samuel
I really liked Carolina's offense going into this year. They had the easiest SOS for WRs, and top 15 O-line and Off. efficiency. Samuel was a promising WR with Newton at the helm, but once Newton's season was done for, Samuel didn't stand a chance with Kyle Allen or Will Grier. His specialty was catching deep balls, and after the QB change, he led the league in uncatchable balls thrown his way. QB play hurt his potential upside.
Round 9, Pick 121: Lamar Jackson
We finally addressed QB, and boy it's a doozy!! Coming into drafts I had two QBs I was targeting, Newton and if I missed on him, Jackson. The run game for both these guys was too valuable at their Average Draft Positions (ADPs); Especially with what Jackson did in a fraction of a season, the potential to crack 1,000 yards in a full season was definitely there.
As stated at the start of this column, I helped two others draft, I got them both Jackson and of course took Newton in my own draft. Unbelievable!! I was able to pivot to Dak Prescott week one, but man if I got Jackson in all three leagues! Oooooh weeee, get excited just thinking bout it.
Round 10 on I let my dad take over the rest of the draft. With the majority of our team being set, 1 QB, 3 RBs, 4 WRs, and 1 TE. He proceeded to take two players from his favorite team, the Dolphins, but ended with a beauty of a gem with Darren Waller as his last pick. A pick I regretted not having as trade bait in my other league; we both watched this season's HBO: Hard Knocks and liked the hype that head coach Jon Gruden showed for Waller.
That was my dad's standard 14-team draft. He ended up with a 13-0 undefeated record. Our house proudly showcases 2 fantasy trophies, one for father and one for son.
In Helping Others Draft: Part 2: I go over the 10-team PPR league I helped my college classmate Evan Reinhardt draft. It was his first time playing fantasy football so we FaceTimed an hour before the draft, going over strategy and any questions he had. I then helped him at each pick as the draft went on. Check it out in Helping Others Draft: Part 2.