This article will be a 2-for-1. Ray Flowers will review two of his more recent drafts. The first will be a 12-team, PPR setup, with SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio. The second will be his Flex League draft, that one a 12-team Best Ball effort covering 24 rounds.
SIRIUSXM FANTASY SPORTS RADIO
This league is a 12-teamer with the following setup: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, Flex, K, DEF (six bench).
Here is the scoring system.
1 point for 10 yards rushing/receiving
point for 25 passing yards
1 point per reception
4 points passing touchdown
6 points receiving/rushing touchdown
Here are the leagues participants.
1 Scott Engel
2 Jen Piacenti
3 Ray Flowers
4 Mike Dempsey
5 Paul Kelly
6 Howard Bender
7 Win Daily Sports
8 Amber Theoharis
9 Colton & The Wolfman
10 Jim Bowden
11 Rick Kamla
12 Justin Fensterman
Here is the squad with round drafted in (parenthesis).
QB: Russell Wilson (7)
RB: Austin Ekeler (1), Mike Davis (4), Javonte Williams (5), Alexander Mattison (10), Darrel Williams (11), Qadree Ollison (12), Justin Jackson (15)
WR: DeAndre Hopkins (2), Allen Robinson (3), Courtland Sutton (6), Michael Thomas (8), Breshad Perriman (13)
TE: Dallas Goedert (9)
K: Matt Prater (16)
DEF: Baltimore Ravens (14)
Here is a breakdown of how the draft played out. This was written in real-time as the draft was progressing.
Our Man here at FG, Austin Ekeler, was the first selection in this PPR setup.
The combo of Hopkins/Robinson as my top-2 wideouts is a dream. I will have to hope one of the top-24 backs makes it back to me in the fourth. Couldn’t pass up on the potential for 100 catches from Hopkins and Robinson with what could happen with a dynamic Justin Fields under center.
I know that Scott Engel wants Russell Wilson (he loves Seattle). I know that Jen Piacenti took Kyler Murray earlier, so that will allow me to wait on QB with the knowledge that Aaron Rodgers will be available with my next selection which allows me to take Sutton. I do not love him alongside Williams, it is not close to ideal. I just went talent/opportunity with the pick, I don’t anticipate Teddy B. starting every game this year, and Sutton is just better than the other options on the board at the time at WR. So, against my better judgement, I took two Broncos. I’m also betting that one of Chark/Landry/Corey Davis makes it back to me at my next pick, and those were the other wideouts I was considering alongside Sutton (we will see on that), so I should be fine at wideout. By the way, Scott surprisingly didn’t take Wilson, so I grabbed him as my starter.
We’re 10 picks away and I’ve lined up: Chark/Thomas, Michel, Goedert/Gesicki. Who will be left at my selection? There went Michel. There went Davis. Look, you all know I’m not a Michael Thomas guy, but as a fourth wideout, in the 8th round, I will take that shot. Didn’t figure he would fall to this point, which I why I didn’t list him above. I’ll get someone else that I consider a WR4 just in case with Thomas.
To go tight end or not? That’s the decision now. With Melvin Gordon being taken in the 7th round, why folks grab backs from backfields they aren’t invested in I will never know, it is looking more like a tight end selection.
Normally I go running back heavy. I didn’t here. I was tempted to go with Gus Edwards in the 9th, but I went Goedert. Why? At this point of the draft, I wanted Goedert or Mike Gesicki. For me, after that, the tight end spot becomes messy. So, in order to avoid the streaming tight end thing, I just bit the bullet and went with DG over a back. Now, that does leave me much thinner than normal at RB. It’s a bit uncomfortable for me if we’re being honest. I will have to pile up backup backs the rest of the way, and then potentially spend aggressively on waivers when that back emerges early in the year. Again, not ideal, but I just didn’t want to roll through non-descript tight ends all season, and I didn’t think Gesicki would make it back to me in the 10th round.
Dreaming that Alexander Mattison will fall here. Doubtful, but I’m hoping. Gesicki just went by the way making me feel a bit better about my last selection. I certainly went with the FG plan of favoring the best player on the board, and like I mentioned above, it’s kinda outta my comfort zone. I’m looking at my backfield and it is a bit dicey. Really wished I could have gotten Gordon. I now face the issue of which RBs to grab with the next two picks. All the backs I had hoped would be here are nearly gone with only Mattison left. One pick now. Will Dempsey snipe me? No! Mattison is mine.
So, we preach handcuffing at FG. So why didn’t I do it next, instead going with Darrel Williams? (1) No one should be taking Ollison of ATL but me. (2) Who is the backup to Ekeler? Is it Jackson or Kelley? I decided to push it and see if both guys make it back to me next two rounds. One of them has to, right, if not both? I’m betting both are there. We will see if my riverboat gambler sense is accurate or not.
I grabbed Ollison in the 12th. Next pick, I took Perriman over Tre’Quan Smith. I thought of going Smith early in the year and then Thomas late, but I would never play the duo when both are active, so I diversified and went with Perriman instead. I will get my LAC backup next time around. Hopefully Jackson. If not, Kelley who is the lesser option. I think.
In the words of Hannibal Smith… I love it when a plan comes together. With a little bit of luck, and a lot of patience, I was able to secure both the backups to my top-2 RBs with Ollison/Jackson. I went one extra back at the expense of a final wideout, but with the way my backfield played out, I think it was the right choice. My wideout group will be a little thin if Thomas decides to stay on the sidelines, but it is easier to find a 10-point a week PPR guy at WR than it is a 10-point PPR RB on the waiver-wire.
Here is a link to the draft, followed by the draft board.
FLEX DRAFT – BEST BALL
*Don’t forget that we have an entire Best Ball Guide located here.
On to my squad.
This league is a 12-teamer with the following setup: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, 2 FLEX, DEF.
Here is the scoring system.
1 point for 10 yards rushing/receiving
1 point for 20 passing yards
0.5 point per reception
4 points passing touchdown
6 points receiving/rushing touchdown
Here are the leagues participants.
1 Ray Flowers
2 Adam Aizer
3 Steve Gallo
4 Pat Thorman
5 Matthew Berry
6 Pat Mayo
7 Nando Di Fino
8 Scott Fish
9 Bob Harris
10 Pat Fitzmaurice
11 Jody Smith
12 Mike Clay
Here is the squad with round drafted in (parenthesis).
QB: Kyler Murray (5), Matt Ryan (12), Drew Lock (22)
RB: Christian McCaffrey (1), Trey Sermon (6), Michael Carter (7), Kenyan Drake (9), Tony Pollard (11), Chuba Hubbard (14), Anthony McFarland (16), Kenneth Gainwell (19)
WR: Allen Robinson (3), Diontae Johnson (4), Mecole Hardman (8), Breshad Perriman (10), Randall Cobb (13), Darius Slayton (15), Donovan Peoples-Jones (18)
TE: Darren Waller (2), Eric Ebron (17), O.J. Howard (24)
DEF: Saints (20), Giants (21), Jets (23)
Here is a breakdown of how the draft played out.
At the QB spot, I think it played out perfectly. I’ve got an elite option in Murray who is capable of huge weeks. His backup is Steady Eddy in Matt Ryan. I was then able to grab the immensely talented but sporadic as heck Drew Lock as my third very late. Might team is likely in big trouble if I’m depending on Lock at any point, he’s not even named the starter to being the year, but he’s a third option for bye weeks an in case of injury (there is no way Teddy B. makes 17 starts).
The running back group begins with the best in football in CMC. However, I don’t love this group. Why is that? It’s the Waller in the second-round selection. I generally just like the way my team comes together a bit more when I have that second back I can trust fully early in a draft, but at the same time I don’t think it is wise to wait until the 4th round to take a wideout, even if you already do have a Waller on your squad. Maybe I should have grabbed my second in the 4th round, but as you can see just one back went in the 5th round so no one was all in on the backfield at that point. If healthy, I have an immense advantage in Waller as his consistency is on another planet compared to most at his position, so I will just have to hope that allows me to deal with the less than ideal backfield. There is a path where this running back crew absolutely crushes in this season. It is not a lock to happen of course, and I would have felt better about the group if I could have nabbed both ARI backs (Conner/Edmonds) or both Niners backs (Moster/Sermon) with my 6/7 selections which was my plan, but Mostert went earlier in the round and that Adam Aizer grabbed Edmonds the pick before me which was particularly painful. That slid me to just Sermon and Michael Carter leaving me with the hope that Carter emerges as the lead back with the Jets, something that is far from a certainty at this point.
At the wideout spot – I love my top-2 in Robinson/Johnson. My third spot, that I have to start every week… Look, it’s a best ball setup. Is Hardman a third wideout in a 12-team league? Hell no. Is Slayton? Absolutely not. Is Perriman? Maybe? However, all three of those men are capable of explosive outings filled with 100+ yards and dual touchdowns. Remember, I’ve got that huge advantage with Waller at tight end too. DPJ is getting tons of hype this spring, and he’s on nearly everyone’s ‘take him late in drafts’ list as a potential breakout if Odell Beckham isn’t back to 100 percent or injuries preclude him from playing weekly. There’s also Cobb for some weekly 10-12 point efforts just in case one of the big boys doesn’t step up that week. I’d say that this group could have had that third wideout to feel better about if I had passed on Murray, but with his ability to put up a 30 spot in any week, I just took a shot.
Waller is the bee’s knees at tight end. I added Ebron who figures to score a bit, around the drops, and my third tight end, with the last pick in the draft, is the slowly recovering from injury O.J. Howard. Cameron Brate really isn’t much more than a blocker at this point, and we’ve all detailed the injury history of Gronk. You absolutely cannot “count” on Howard, but as a dart throw third tight end, last pick in a draft, he’s ideal.
The defenses… who cares? I got three of them which was the goal. I considered going back-to-back defenses the two picks I jumped in to the defensive ball game, and seeing how the draft played out I should have followed my instincts there as everyone went defensive bonkers at that point. So is life at the turn. You either set the tone or it can get set for you. Given that we’re talking about defenses here, I’m OK with how it played out.
Here is the draft board. Oh, and apparently I drafted well.