Shark moves against drafters who "fill in their starting lineups&# (1 Viewer)

[Grits_Blitz]

Any advice against these kinds of drafters? How can I frustrate their plans? How can I dominate them?

Basically, these guys (and maybe we all know them) make sure they draft RB, WR, RB, WR, QB and TE (and not always in that order) before moving on to back ups. They need to have their starting line up in order. And then sometimes they even draft kickers and D/ST before anyone else!

Any astute shark advice?

 

[UncleZen]

Yeah, keep drafting the best available player.

 

[ShaHBucks]

Yeah, keep drafting the best available player.

[/thread]

 

[gilpdawg]

I was in a league once where you were REQUIRED to fill in your starting lineup first. Hated it. I'm not in that league anymore.

 

[slackjawedyokel]

This is what I did yesterday while others grabbed kickers and DSTs... Drafted Mike Wallace, MJD, Justin Hunter, and CMike for my bench.

 

[slackjawedyokel]

...and ended up with Pats DST and whichever kicker was there.

 

[Adam Harstad]

Keep hammering the RBs. There are still quality receivers left after everyone has rostered their starters, but the pickings at RB are going to be abysmal, so get them early.

I wrote about this in one of the staff roundtables about the biggest mistake people make when drafting, and my choice was the idea that you can "fill out your starting lineup". That idea assumes that none of your early picks bust, which, quite frankly, is totally unmoored from reality. Smart owners know that after their lineup is "filled out", they aren't drafting backups... they're drafting more starters to replace those busts they took in the first few rounds. If I'm in a league that can start 2 RBs, and I open the draft RB/RB/RB, I'm not drafting a backup... I'm figuring that out of the three picks I probably got two productive starters.

 

[We Tigers]

Keep drafting BPA...but when it comes to waiting on QB and TE, don't take it too far. It only takes one run of backups between your picks before you find yourself starting Rivers and Martellus Bennett. In drafts like this, I think you can safely squeeze 1 "extra" RB/WR, and maybe 2.

 

[Mr. Irrelevant]

Keep drafting BPA...but when it comes to waiting on QB and TE, don't take it too far. It only takes one run of backups between your picks before you find yourself starting Rivers and Martellus Bennett. In drafts like this, I think you can safely squeeze 1 "extra" RB/WR, and maybe 2.

What's wrong with starting Rivers and Bennett (or Reed, or Ertz - personally I think Bennett's overvalued myself)? They've got a 9th- and 10th-round ADP respectively in 12-team leagues right now, and if I could land, say, 3 of the top 25 RBs and 4 of the top 35 WRs with my first seven picks and still be able to get Rivers and one of that group of TEs, I'd take that deal every day of the week in most formats.

I agree you can't get overly greedy - especially if you're drafting at the turn, because 22 picks is an awful long time - but the gap between QB5/QB15 and TE5/TE15 is smaller now than I can ever remember it being in 20 years IMO, and you're doing yourself a disservice by passing over better RB/WR talent for QB9-10-11 or TE9-10-11 just because you're afraid of a run on backups.

 

[We Tigers]

Keep drafting BPA...but when it comes to waiting on QB and TE, don't take it too far. It only takes one run of backups between your picks before you find yourself starting Rivers and Martellus Bennett. In drafts like this, I think you can safely squeeze 1 "extra" RB/WR, and maybe 2.

What's wrong with starting Rivers and Bennett (or Reed, or Ertz - personally I think Bennett's overvalued myself)? They've got a 9th- and 10th-round ADP respectively in 12-team leagues right now, and if I could land, say, 3 of the top 25 RBs and 4 of the top 35 WRs with my first seven picks and still be able to get Rivers and one of that group of TEs, I'd take that deal every day of the week in most formats.

I agree you can't get overly greedy - especially if you're drafting at the turn, because 22 picks is an awful long time - but the gap between QB5/QB15 and TE5/TE15 is smaller now than I can ever remember it being in 20 years IMO, and you're doing yourself a disservice by passing over better RB/WR talent for QB9-10-11 or TE9-10-11 just because you're afraid of a run on backups.

Well, Rivers and Bennett may certainly offer value at their ADP, but I'm not sure I'd be so thrilled about them in a league where every other team is potentially starting a better QB *and* a better TE than me. And if you keep waiting, Bennett might be just whom you're stuck with; Reed and Ertz are going way earlier than him right now and are in the top 11 TEs. While it's nice to have a big bench full of good RBs and WRs, you will lose more games than you feel you should to shallow teams with stronger starters across the board. At a certain point you have to jump, because you can't win with bench points. Finding the right balance is the key. For me, the breakpoint would be that Jordan Reed/Rudolph/maybe Ertz group of TEs, and the Kaep/Cam/Romo/Cutler set of QBs. It's just a question of personal tiers.

 

[FUBAR]

Keep drafting BPA...but when it comes to waiting on QB and TE, don't take it too far. It only takes one run of backups between your picks before you find yourself starting Rivers and Martellus Bennett. In drafts like this, I think you can safely squeeze 1 "extra" RB/WR, and maybe 2.

I'm starting Rivers in a few leagues. Dude was the #3 QB last year with a fair chance to repeat and is being treated like he's average.

 

[pollardsvision]

There's nothing you can do to frustrate them, so it's not worth worrying about.

I'll also add that there's no reason to take these sorts of guys lightly either. In the heart of the Stud RB Theory days, the guppies might've been ahead of the curve. Many were upside down drafting before it was a thing.

And other than the DST/K thing, there's nothing inherently wrong with filling out a starting lineup first. Many times, it's a great idea.

 

[whiskey7]

Any advice against these kinds of drafters? How can I frustrate their plans? How can I dominate them?

Basically, these guys (and maybe we all know them) make sure they draft RB, WR, RB, WR, QB and TE (and not always in that order) before moving on to back ups. They need to have their starting line up in order. And then sometimes they even draft kickers and D/ST before anyone else!

Any astute shark advice?

If you have to ask...

 

[We Tigers]

Keep drafting BPA...but when it comes to waiting on QB and TE, don't take it too far. It only takes one run of backups between your picks before you find yourself starting Rivers and Martellus Bennett. In drafts like this, I think you can safely squeeze 1 "extra" RB/WR, and maybe 2.

I'm starting Rivers in a few leagues. Dude was the #3 QB last year with a fair chance to repeat and is being treated like he's average.

If you like a specific player going that late that much, then go for it. My points is more that starting the drafted QB15 and TE13 can put you behind the 8-ball against shallower but stronger lineups. It's not like these other teams aren't drafting RBs and WRs, too; these "value" players are falling for everybody, and you can't take them all. (As to Rivers, I think he's looking okay for this season, but the Chargers play a much tougher schedule this year. Because of that, I had him in my 4th tier of QBs, a last-possible-starter or top-notch backup/committee play.)

 

[Mr Non Sequitur]

It's tough but after the first 30 RBs are off the board you get into slim pickens and guys who need some things to go right in order to pan out. No doubt injuries are gonna pop up but I find it hard to not want 2 RBs in the 1st 3-4 rounds and then another 1-2 before about the 10th round but that's me. You'll find WRs in the double digit rounds you like as sleepers, RBs get scarce.

If you can do something like 4 RB, 3WR, 2 TE after 9 rounds and then go QB hunting, not a bad set up depending on the scoring format. I like grabbing 2 TEs fairly early depending on the format. A combo of Olsen or Rudolph or Witten with a high upside guy who has not done it yet and there's a lot of them or even getting monster value like Charles Clay who is criminally undervalued.

Don't worry about defenses, get the Jets week 1 vs Oakland in New York. Work the waiver wire from there. The rookie PK for Detroit is a nice fall back plan late. Good luck, kick ###.

 

[hotboyz]

I went into draft looking at my board thinking I was gonna end up going Wr heavy. Looks like everybody else is looking to do that this yr so by 3rd rd my board fell out differently so I basically snatched up all the Running Backs. After going Dez Gronk First 2 rds took 6 Rb over my next 8 picks. So eventually the dudes that loaded up at Wr will come calling. If they don't I'm fine I still got Dez Vjax and Gronk

 

[ZWK]

I'd be a little more eager than usual to draft a top 3 QB or TE early.

If everyone is going to be reaching on TEs 6-12, then your options are to draft a top TE early around where they should go, to reach on one of TE 6-12, or to wait and get a TE outside the top 12. The middle option (reaching on a low-end starter) is a bad one, and the last option leaves you weak at one position compared to everyone else (which is sometimes worth doing, but is better avoided if you can). So getting a high-end starter early is more attractive than usual.

Taking a QB and/or TE early may leave you weaker at WR, but you can make up for that by drafting a bunch of good WRs while everyone else is filling out their lineups.