As is mine (edited to include assessment below):
Player
2015 YTD Pts
Bye
Drafted
Bortles, Blake JAC QB
474.40
5
5.11
Taylor, Tyrod BUF QB
353.95
10
7.11
Anderson, C.J. DEN RB
145.30
11
3.11
Cunningham, Benny RAM RB
65.00
8
19.11
Howard, Jordan CHI RB
-
9
12.08
Sims, Charles TBB RB
184.00
6
8.08
Sproles, Darren PHI RB
149.50
4
10.08
Fitzgerald, Larry ARI WR
284.50
9
4.08
Funchess, Devin CAR WR
108.30
7
11.11
Randle, Rueben PHI WR
184.70
4
16.08
Roberts, Seth OAK WR
110.00
10
17.11
Robinson, Allen JAC WR
304.00
5
1.11
Smith, Torrey SFO WR
123.30
8
9.11
Amaro, Jace NYJ TE (
P)
-
11
18.08
Barnidge, Gary CLE TE
316.30
13
6.08
Reed, Jordan WAS TE
335.20
9
2.08
Tucker, Justin BAL PK
128.00
8
13.11
Dolphins, Miami MIA Def
98.00
8
14.08
Titans, Tennessee TEN Def
96.00
13
15.11
QB: Spent a fair amount of draft capital here but I think it’s worth it … with 18 teams reliable backups were going to be at a premium … and flying solo seems way too risky to me in this format, while tripling up eats a valuable roster spot. Bortles finished QB3 last year despite a 58.6% completion rate – if he can improve that even marginally this year, the sky’s the limit. Love T-Mobile’s big-week potential as a backup; I own shares of Taylor in other survivors so I’d have preferred Mariota here, but not only is MM’s bye during the F4 in this league, it’s also when Bortles faces DEN. Like both the ceiling and the floor from this combo.
A
RB: CJA should be a solid #1 option for me … maybe I’m biased but as an Eagles fan, I’ve seen enough of Mark Sanchez to be 100% confident that the Broncos can’t win with him if they don’t run the #### outta the ball, and I'm not sold on Booker at all. I wanted a sure floor at RB2 in case I decided to go only 4-deep, which I got by pairing Sims and Sproles. Sims finished within 4PPG of Doug Martin despite only being in on 39% of snaps last season – so there's additional upside there. Again as an Eagles fan, Sproles has lost a step, but he’ll still be good for 6-8 points in this format even on down weeks. I’m “meh” on Howard’s talent but love his situation … not a Langford believer and think Howard will be getting early-down work sooner than most people think. Not a huge ceiling from this group but a very high floor in PPR.
C
WR: Frankly, after the top 4 I think you could throw the next 10 WRs in a hat, but opted for AR15 hoping that his best is yet to come … obviously if I knew I’d be drafting Bortles later, I’d have taken Green instead, as the concept of stacking the Jags’ offense scares me. Fitz should continue to work mainly out of the slot, giving him a high floor to go along with his big-play potential in Arians’ air raid offense. I’ve seen some of my favorite best-ball names slip in these leagues … sure enough, I was able to land two other targets of mine in the 9th and 11th, Torrey (love me that one-trick pony) and Funchess (a PFF darling in ’15 who even with Benjamin back should still get plenty of red-zone looks). Randle at WR83 is just goofy ... how many of the 20 guys taken before him have a clear path to the #2 role on an offense that doesn’t even have a top-25 RB? Roberts showed some flashes and has a reasonable grasp on a starting job; once you’re down in this area that’s all you can ask for. I was just looking to tread water here and think I managed it.
B-
TE: I don’t think this league as a whole adjusted nearly enough to the introduction of a flex. For argument's sake, let's say all 18 of us filled our skill position roster before adding a flex … then the next “available” player at each position would be RB37, WR55, and TE19. In this format last year, RB37 scored 130 points, WR55 scored 122 … but TE19 put up 169! That’s a 2.5 PPG advantage to a TE in the flex (and might actually understate things since TE is so top-heavy). It adds up to doubling up at TE early being a smart strategy. Reed has Gronk potential in an improving Skins offense - as long as he doesn’t get his bell rung again (fingers crossed). I don’t expect Barnidge to become the next Kurt Warner or anything but, outside of Coleman, where else is RG3 gonna throw the ball? Even a line like 70/900/7 (=17 PPG) would still give him every-week flex potential, with the added benefit of a Reed safety net. I didn’t do much swinging for the fences in this draft, but having two potential top-10 names gave me the freedom to do so with Amaro. He’s got the tools to be dominant … with an aging Marshall and Decker his main competition for targets and potentially an inexperienced QB under center, he’s got an outside shot of putting up some big numbers. Some other intriguing TE combos in this league, but none I’d trade with.
A+
ST: With 18 teams and only 9 bench slots, I planned all along to ride solo at PK if I could land a stud. Had Tucker queued up in the 12th (PK3), gritted my teeth and passed on him for Howard, then watched in bemusement as he fell all the way back to me in the 13th (PK10). Would it really surprise anyone if he finished #1 this year? As for DST’s, same strategy as always: grab two back-half teams with different byes. In other words, if I ever rate myself above-average here I probably screwed up.
D+
Loved the challenge of an expanded league as well as the twist of having a flex spot for the first time. I’m not gonna lie, drawing a draft slot near the middle made this a lot easier, but even so it hurt watching 20 names go off the board between some of my picks. My thoughts on these survivors has always been, if you can avoid being bottom 2-3 at any position and be in the top 1-2 at just one position, you have a real shot at taking home a crown. Think that goes double here, because with more teams and more starters, any team with a glaring hole at any skill position will wind up at the bottom of the weekly pile sooner or later, and it only takes one week.
Best of luck to everyone this season.
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