
On August 26th, twelve members of the Footballguys staff got together for the site's 14th draft of 2015. Below is the league scoring format and bylaws. This draft mirrors the setup and format of the Footballguys Players Championship Draft Experts League
League Parameters
- 12 teams
- 28 roster spots
- Starting Lineup
- 1 quarterback
- 2 running backs
- 2 wide receivers
- 1 tight end
- 2 flex (either a running back, wide receiver, or tight end)
- 1 team defense
League Scoring
- Offensive Players
- 4 points - passing touchdown
- 6 points - rushing/receiving touchdown
- 0.05 points - passing yard
- 0.1 points - rushing/receiving yard
- 1 point - reception RP, WR
- 1.5 point - reception TE
- Team Defense
- 6 points - touchdown
- -1 point - interception
- 2 points - turnover recovered
- 5 points - safety
- 1 point - sack
- 12 points - Offensive points against: 0-0
- 8 points - Offensive points against: 1-6
- 5 points - Offensive points against: 7-10
- 0 point - Offensive points against: 11-99
- 6 points each - Number of Defensive and Special Teams Touchdowns
THE DRAFT ORDER
The draft order was created randomly. After the first round, the draft continues in a regular serpentine manner. Click here for the Full Draft, pick by pick.
1. John Lee
2. Steve Holloway
3. Dan Hindery
4. Chad Parsons
5. Jeff Tefertiller
6. Justin Howe
7. Alex Miglio
8. Cian Fahey
9. Matt Bitonti
10. David Dodds
11. James Brimacombe
12. Jene Bramel
Starting with John Lee from the 1.01 spot, Will Grant provides an unbiased evaluation of each team's draft performance followed by each owner answering a series of questions about their draft and strategies.
John Lee: DRAFT POSITION 1
Pick | Overall | Selection |
1.01 | 1 | Gronkowski, Rob NEP TE |
2.12 | 24 | Luck, Andrew IND QB |
3.01 | 25 | Miller, Lamar MIA RB |
4.12 | 48 | Hyde, Carlos SFO RB |
5.01 | 49 | Tate, Golden DET WR |
6.12 | 72 | Johnson, Charles MIN WR |
7.01 | 73 | Boldin, Anquan SFO WR |
8.12 | 96 | Royal, Eddie CHI WR |
9.01 | 97 | Coleman, Tevin ATL RB |
10.12 | 120 | Cobb, David TEN RB |
11.01 | 121 | Johnson, David ARI RB |
12.12 | 144 | Cutler, Jay CHI QB |
13.01 | 145 | Baldwin, Doug SEA WR |
14.12 | 168 | Jones, Marvin CIN WR |
15.01 | 169 | Dunbar, Lance DAL RB |
16.12 | 192 | Helu, Roy OAK RB |
17.01 | 193 | Patriots, New England NEP Def |
18.12 | 216 | Riddick, Theo DET RB |
19.01 | 217 | Aiken, Kamar BAL WR |
20.12 | 240 | Tamme, Jacob ATL TE |
21.01 | 241 | 49ers, San Francisco SFO Def |
22.12 | 264 | Rivera, Mychal OAK TE |
23.01 | 265 | Ajayi, Jay MIA RB |
24.12 | 288 | Janikowski, Sebastian OAK PK |
25.01 | 289 | Hardy, Justin ATL WR |
26.12 | 312 | Lee, Marqise JAC WR |
27.01 | 313 | Succop, Ryan TEN PK |
28.12 | 336 | Campanaro, Michael BAL WR |
Overall Strategy:
Open the draft by taking the top TE and QB. Draft RB and WR for value beyond that.
Best Pick:
Andrew Luck 2.12. After opening the draft by taking the #1 TE in fantasy this season, Lee followed it up by taking the #1 QB late in the second round. Having only 4 pts per passing TD diminishes Luck’s value a bit more, but with the injuries to the Green Bay WR corps, Luck is still the consensus #1 QB going into the season. Starting the draft with Rob Gronkowski and Andrew Luck gave Lee a huge advantage at the start of the draft.
Worst Pick:
Jacob Tamme – 20.12. While Lee went out and scored Gronkowski with the #1 overall pick, he completely ignored the TE position until late in the draft. With 2 flex positions, 1.5 TE PPR and a best ball format, it would have been better to add a backup TE sooner. If Gronkowski goes down to injury, has a bye week or even has a week where the defense shuts him down, Lee has almost no support for the TE position.
Evaluation:
Grabbing a TE and a QB with your first two picks puts you at a big disadvantage at the RB and WR positions. Especially when the rest of the league is fading QB and pounding the RB/WR picks right out of the gate. Lee made a reasonable attempt at a recovery but ended up with Lamar Miller and Carlos Hyde as his top two RBs and Golden Tate, Charles Johnson and Anquan Boldin as his top three WRs. Lee continued to add depth at RB and WR, and made some nice middle and late round selections to help boost his points per week due to the best ball format. With a starting core of Gronkowski and Luck, if his RBs and WRs perform reasonably well from week to week, Lee is going to be hard to beat.
Steve Holloway - Draft Position 2
Pick | Overall | Selection |
1.02 | 2 | Bell, LeVeon PIT RB |
2.11 | 23 | Olsen, Greg CAR TE |
3.02 | 26 | Cooks, Brandin NOS WR |
4.11 | 47 | Spiller, C.J. NOS RB |
5.02 | 50 | Cooper, Amari OAK WR |
6.11 | 71 | Fitzgerald, Larry ARI WR |
7.02 | 74 | Maclin, Jeremy KCC WR |
8.11 | 95 | Ryan, Matt ATL QB |
9.02 | 98 | Romo, Tony DAL QB |
10.11 | 119 | Freeman, Devonta ATL RB |
11.02 | 122 | Wheaton, Markus PIT WR |
12.11 | 143 | Fleener, Coby IND TE |
13.02 | 146 | Stills, Kenny MIA WR |
14.11 | 167 | Perriman, Breshad BAL WR |
15.02 | 170 | Carr, Derek OAK QB |
16.11 | 191 | Broncos, Denver DEN Def |
17.02 | 194 | White, James NEP RB |
18.11 | 215 | Lockett, Tyler SEA WR |
19.02 | 218 | Vinatieri, Adam IND PK |
20.11 | 239 | Buccaneers, Tampa Bay TBB Def |
21.02 | 242 | Crosby, Mason GBP PK |
22.11 | 263 | Cunningham, Benny STL RB |
23.02 | 266 | Powell, Bilal NYJ RB |
24.11 | 287 | Gresham, Jermaine ARI TE |
25.02 | 290 | Shorts, Cecil HOU WR |
26.11 | 311 | Bailey, Stedman STL WR |
27.02 | 314 | Ridley, Stevan NYJ RB |
28.11 | 335 | Wright, Jarius MIN WR |
Overall Strategy:
Draft Bell and ride out his suspension. Get a TE early and go with a solid QBBC to take full advantage of the best ball format.
Best Pick:
Tony Romo – 9.02. It’s really the back to back selection of Matt Ryan and Tony Romo that makes this such a solid selection. Holloway faded the QB position like everyone else, but landed two top 12 QBS with back to back picks at the end of 8 and beginning of 9. This is a great strategy in a normal fantasy league, but absolutely perfect QBBC in a best ball format. Holloway won’t have to worry about which QB to start from week to week and with Romo and Ryan on his team, he’ll probably finish the season in the top 5 with QB points. Well played.
Worst Pick:
Jeremy Maclin – 7.02. Aside from the obvious ‘will a KC receiver score a TD this season’ comment, the 7th round pick was Holloway’s last chance to fill in the gap that he had at RB. Taking Bell with his first pick left him short a RB for the first two weeks of the season and he only added C.J. Spiller before the 7th round. Instead of adding a 3rd RB to give him some depth, he picked up Maclin as his 4th WR and then executed his QBBC approach with his next two picks. By the time he was back on the clock at 10.11, 41 RBS has already been taken. That leaves him really weak at RB, especially the first two weeks of the season.
Evaluation:
Dan Hindery - Draft Position 3
Pick | Overall | Selection |
1.03 | 3. | Jones, Julio ATL WR |
2.10 | 22. | Forsett, Justin BAL RB |
3.03 | 27. | Hilton, T.Y. IND WR |
4.10 | 46. | Yeldon, T.J. JAC RB |
5.03 | 51. | Stewart, Jonathan CAR RB |
6.10 | 70. | Ivory, Chris NYJ RB |
7.03 | 75. | Jackson, Vincent TBB WR |
8.10 | 94. | Eifert, Tyler CIN TE |
9.03 | 99. | Seferian-Jenkins, Austin TBB TE |
10.10 | 118. | Johnson, Stevie SDC WR |
11.03 | 123. | Manning, Eli NYG QB |
12.10 | 142. | Winston, Jameis TBB QB |
13.03 | 147. | Reed, Jordan WAS TE |
14.10 | 166. | Parker, DeVante MIA WR |
15.03 | 171. | Bills, Buffalo BUF Def |
16.10 | 190. | Texans, Houston HOU Def |
17.03 | 195. | Herron, Dan IND RB |
18.10 | 214. | Bengals, Cincinnati CIN Def |
19.03 | 219. | Tucker, Justin BAL PK |
20.10 | 238. | Allen, Javorius BAL RB |
21.03 | 243. | Cowboys, Dallas DAL Def |
22.10 | 262. | Novak, Nick SDC PK |
23.03 | 267. | Smith, Devin NYJ WR |
24.10 | 286. | Bullock, Randy HOU PK |
25.03 | 291. | Hopkins, Dustin NOS PK |
26.10 | 310. | Cassel, Matt BUF QB |
27.03 | 315. | Rice, Ray FA* RB |
28.10 | 334. | Ginn Jr., Ted CAR WR |
Overall Strategy:
Fade the quarterback position. Focus on running back and wide receiver for the early rounds, and then go back to back for a tight end by committee approach.
Best Pick:
Vincent Jackson – 7.03. Jackson is a solid WR2 in most fantasy leagues, and in a PPR league, he has a chance to be a top 20 WR. On Hindery’s team, Jackson is going to be his WR3 option and in a best ball format, Hindery will always be able to benefit every time Jackson performs well.
Worst Pick:
Hindery had some solid picks early and landed some great value at QB and WR. But in the later part of the draft, he squandered a lot of his flyer pics by taking four defenses and four place kickers. Buffalo and Justin Tucker were his first DEF and PK respectively and both of them will probably start most weeks. He would have been better off spending flyer picks on RBs and WRs rather than stockpiling a position where 75% of the players selected will not start in a given week.
Evaluation:
Chad Parsons - Draft Position 4
Pick | Overall | Selection |
1.04 | 4. | Anderson, C.J. DEN RB |
2.09 | 21. | Jeffery, Alshon CHI WR |
3.04 | 28. | Matthews, Jordan PHI WR |
4.09 | 45. | Gurley, Todd STL RB |
5.04 | 52. | Robinson, Allen JAC WR |
6.09 | 69. | White, Roddy ATL WR |
7.04 | 76. | Sankey, Bishop TEN RB |
8.09 | 93. | Bell, Joique DET RB |
9.04 | 100. | Funchess, Devin CAR WR |
10.09 | 117. | Hill, Josh NOS TE |
11.04 | 124. | Rivers, Philip SDC QB |
12.09 | 141. | Jones, Matt WAS RB |
13.04 | 148. | Mariota, Marcus TEN QB |
14.09 | 165. | Green-Beckham, Dorial TEN WR |
15.04 | 172. | Artis-Payne, Cameron CAR RB |
16.09 | 189. | Green, Virgil DEN TE |
17.04 | 196. | Dolphins, Miami MIA Def |
18.09 | 213. | Zenner, Zach DET RB |
19.04 | 220. | Janis, Jeff GBP WR |
20.09 | 237. | Browns, Cleveland CLE Def |
21.04 | 244. | Austin, Tavon STL WR |
22.09 | 261. | Saints, New Orleans NOS Def |
23.04 | 268. | Walsh, Blair MIN PK |
24.09 | 285. | Sturgis, Caleb MIA PK |
25.04 | 292. | Michael, Christine SEA RB |
26.09 | 309. | Gould, Robbie CHI PK |
27.04 | 316. | Thompson, Juwan DEN RB |
28.09 | 333. | Graham, Garrett HOU TE |
Overall Strategy:
RB/WR for the first eight rounds of the draft. Fade the TE and QB position.
Best Pick:
Joique Bell – 8.09. Bell is one of those ‘hot hand’ type of backs that can turn in a 10 touch,40 yard game one week and then a 20 touch, 110 yard, 2 TD game the following week. In a normal fantasy league, you can go crazy trying to catch the highs and lows. In a best ball league – he becomes one of your flex backs every time he goes off. 8.09 is good value for him too.
Worst Pick:
Josh Hill – 10.09. In a TE Bonus PPR league, it’s important to get at least one solid TE in the first few rounds of the draft. The top ones go fast and the longer you wait, the harder it is to field a solid starter. Josh Hill has a lot of questions and it’s hard to project him as anything more than a backup TE at this point in the season. By waiting too long to get his first TE, Parsons has to hope that Hill steps into a big chunk of the points that Jimmy Graham left when he moved to Seattle.
Evaluation:
Jeff Tefertiller - Draft Position 5
Pick | Overall | Selection |
1.05 | 5. | Bryant, Dez DAL WR |
2.08 | 20. | Evans, Mike TBB WR |
3.05 | 29. | Hopkins, DeAndre HOU WR |
4.08 | 44. | Foster, Arian HOU RB |
5.05 | 53. | Johnson, Andre IND WR |
6.08 | 68. | Vereen, Shane NYG RB |
7.05 | 77. | Walker, Delanie TEN TE |
8.08 | 92. | LaFell, Brandon NEP WR |
9.05 | 101. | Woodhead, Danny SDC RB |
10.08 | 116. | Brady, Tom NEP QB |
11.05 | 125. | Daniels, Owen DEN TE |
12.08 | 140. | Palmer, Carson ARI QB |
13.05 | 149. | Hillman, Ronnie DEN RB |
14.08 | 164. | Dorsett, Phillip IND WR |
15.05 | 173. | Wayne, Reggie NEP WR |
16.08 | 188. | Osweiler, Brock DEN QB |
17.05 | 197. | McKinnon, Jerick MIN RB |
18.08 | 212. | Sanchez, Mark PHI QB |
19.05 | 221. | Hauschka, Steven SEA PK |
20.08 | 236. | Walford, Clive OAK TE |
21.05 | 245. | Chargers, San Diego SDC Def |
22.08 | 260. | Redskins, Washington WAS Def |
23.05 | 269. | Garoppolo, Jimmy NEP QB |
24.08 | 284. | Bears, Chicago CHI Def |
25.05 | 293. | Zuerlein, Greg STL PK |
26.08 | 308. | Santos, Cairo KCC PK |
27.05 | 317. | Langford, Jeremy CHI RB |
28.08 | 332. | Smith, Antone ATL RB |
Overall Strategy:
Hit WR early and often. Lock up NE QB situation and fade the RB position.
Best Pick:
Tom Brady – 10.08. Brady is the perfect best ball QB, especially when Jeff paired him with Jimmy Garoppolo with his 23rd round pick. Brady may or may not be suspended for the first four games of the season, but Jeff won’t have to worry either way. He landed a top 5 QB in PPG with a 10th round pick. Nice.
Worst Pick:
Arian Foster – 4.08. Takin Foster as his first RB is a huge risk for Tefertiller. He’s going to miss anywhere from four to eight weeks based on current projections and it could be even longer. By focusing on the WR so heavily early, Jeff’s top running back for the first part of the season could be Shane Vereen or Danny Woodhead.
Evaluation:
I wanted an upside RB in the 4th round after taking three very strong WRs in the first three rounds. I debated between Foster and Gurley, and eventually went with Foster due to his proven excellence. Foster is a Top5 fantasy option almost every week he is active. While I like Gurley's future, it will be difficult for him to be as effective behind the Rams' weak OLine. I knew I could get a couple of backs later to get me by, and was happy to draft Vereen and Woodhead.
In the best ball leagues, I like to load up on WRs just to take advantage of the wide variance of outcomes. In these types of leagues, you draft for upside without worry of poor outings. I just hope to have enough depth to overcome these poor WR games. The league takes my top four WR games each week. I hope to have four strong outings to pull from.
With in-season leagues, drafting for the "floor" each week is a concern. In best ball, you want as many elite games each week from your players as you can squeeze out. For this reason, I drafted three backup NFL QBs just to take advantage of any injuries which may happen since there is no waiver wire. Also, at the end of the draft, you must consider which players (and positions) will have the best chance to put up big points. This is one reason I made sure to have thr