"Well wishes for my murder aside, I agree with the rule change and these comments." - Rob

Draft Recap

Team-by-Team

Rabbit

Rabbit provided a minor surprise by taking Davante Adams first overall, then alternated RB and WR picks through round eight. Mark Ingram II, Chris Carson, and Duke Johnson, Jr. form a solid if unexciting RB corps, and Adams, Robert Woods, Chris Godwin, and Will Fuller V give him a slew of playable WRs. Rabs was the last person to take a QB and the last person to take a TE, with Kyler Murray and Trey Burton being his first pick at each position.

Overall: I'd expect slightly more high-end RB/WR talent as a result of waiting on QB and TE, but this is a solid team that should stay in the playoff hunt all season.

Babel

Babel scooped up Ezekiel Elliott, current holdout be damned, at 1.02. Then he went all-in on rookies, taking Josh Jacobs (3rd), N'Keal Harry (10th), Devin Singletary (11th), Parris Campbell (13th), and T.J. Hockenson (15th). Stefon Diggs and Robby Anderson were nice picks at the ends of the second and fourth rounds, respectively, but Vance McDonald might have been a bit of a reach in the fifth.

Overall: A lot of potential, but too many question marks to expect a return to glory. This team might be a year away.

Ed

Ed was happy Julio Jones fell to third overall and that Deshaun Watson fell to the third round. As a result, he's among the tops in the league at WR (T.Y. Hilton joins Jones) and QB, but among the worst at RB. He threw a bunch of mid-round resources into the latter position, coming up with Royce Freeman (4th), Tarik Cohen (5th), Adrian Peterson (7th), and Kalen Ballage (8th) - none of which are imposing.

Overall: If one or more of Ed's RB plays above ADP (a big "if"), he should finally return to the playoffs.

Dave

Tyreek Hill was Dave's first pick, and he took Zach Ertz with the second round pick he acquired from Rob. There's a chance Ertz would have slid to Dave's original pick, but he felt more comfortable making sure he got his guy. He grabbed Aaron Rodgers in the third round, and added a few intriguing young RBs late in the draft; Damien Harris (12th) and Derrius Guice (13th, keeper) both have looked very good in the preseason and could give Dave both current and future value.

Overall: A good mix of win-now and planning for the future. I don't love it, but I would not at all be surprised if Dave makes the playoffs.

Richie

Richie had nothing to do until the third round, having kept David Johnson and Joe Mixon with his first two picks. He made Kenny Golladay his first live choice, and then had to auto draft for a while before coming back later. His team isn't particularly notable, though he seemed most excited to grab Sam Darnold in the twelfth to back up Philip Rivers, his eighth round pick.

Overall: It all hinges on Johnson and Mixon living up to their ADPs. Richie could contend for the playoffs, but I don't see him being in the mix for a bye.

Pat

Pat mostly auto-drafted, and wound up with a fairly solid team. Mike Thomas in the first gives him a reliable WR1, while his second through fourth round picks - Leonard Fournette, David Montgomery, and Josh Gordon - all have high ceilings. Add that to Nick Chubb (9th, keeper), and Pat seems like a lock for the team that improves the most from 2018 to 2019.

Overall: I'm bullish on this team getting #PlayoffPat to trend again.

Schertz

Schertz's post-draft narrative was dominated by his fifth round pick's sudden retirement. He did back up Andrew Luck with Russell Wilson (7th), however, so he's not left completely high and dry. Schertz also took a chance on A.J. Green in the fourth and was the first person to draft a defense (Bears, 8th).

Overall: Despite his bad Luck (groan), some shrewd depth picks mean Schertz can and should get past losing his fifth round pick.

Scott

Scott took advantage of Odell Beckham, Jr.'s minor slide and drafted him at 1.07. Being already set at QB and TE (Patrick Mahomes and George Kittle, kept in the 8th and 9th), he was able to load up on depth at RB and WR early. Notable picks include Devonta Freeman (2nd), Cooper Kupp (3rd), and Miles Sanders (4th).

Overall: Duplicating last year's crazy point total seems like a reach, but surpassing last year's win total seems like a very achievable goal.

Pulley

Pulley took Le'Veon Bell in the first round. His next three picks - Amari Cooper, Melvin Gordon, and Kenyan Drake - are all either holding out or nursing foot injuries. His keepers - Julian Edelman (6th) and Phillip Lindsay (9th) - both have had hand injuries, but shouldn't miss time. And he added Kareem Hunt (10th), who will miss the first eight games; Jerick McKinnon (11th), who might start the season on IR; and Rob Gronkowski (16th), who is currently retired. It's a lot of question marks, which isn't a rare strategy for Pulley; it always seems to work out.

Overall: I don't like this team, but I never like Pulley's teams following the draft. He'll probably make the semis.

Rob

Rob waited on drafting a RB until the fourth round, when he took Lamar Miller... who promptly tore his ACL. Will he be able to trade his second (Brandin Cooks) or third (Tyler Boyd) round pick for RB help? Or will he stand pat and rely on Damien Williams, his ninth round keeper? Jared Goff (6th) at QB and Mark Andrews (8th) and Jimmy Graham (11th) at TE are not bad results for waiting on the positions, which is a rare strategy for Rob.

Overall: Lamar Miller's a big loss, but Rob is also comfortable overhauling his team during the season. That said, I think this might be the year his playoff streak ends.

Mike R.

Marvin Mike was happy to take Travis Kelce with the eleventh overall pick, and content to add Kerryon Johnson in the second. He reunited with the sack of shit himself, Tevin Coleman, in the fourth, and upset his wife by taking Ben Roethlisberger as his QB in the eighth round (which could be a steal).

Overall: Kelce and Roethlisberger get Mike off to a fast start, but we all know he can't have nice things; he'll almost certainly get derailed by injuries around week seven.

Kevin

Mike Evans and Keenan Allen, Kevin's first two picks, are no worse than the second best set of WRs heading into the season. Having kept Marlon Mack (8th) and Alvin Kamara (12th), Kev was then able to add Matt Ryan and Hunter Henry in the third and fourth. Marvin Jones, Jr. (5th) adds high-ceiling depth at flex, and Kevin looks like he'll be a contender yet again.

Overall: Either Kevin or D is my favorite heading into the season.

Matt

Matt grudgingly took Todd Gurley with the thirteenth pick, and then added Dalvin Cook at 2.02. He didn't take a WR to supplement JuJu Smith Schuster (7th, kept) until the fifth round (Dede Westbrook), so he has a clear weakness. Lamar Jackson (6th) and Jameis Winston (10th) give Matt a huge range of outcomes at QB. It was an odd year for Matt, but it doesn't look like he wound up with a bad team.

Overall: Matt's success will be tied to Gurley, for better or worse. Finishing anywhere in the 5-8 to 8-5 range is easy to see.

Derrek

Our two-time defending champ took WRs with six of his first seven live picks: Antonio Brown (1st), Mike Williams (3rd), Allen Robinson (4th), Emmanuel Sanders (6th), Donte Moncrief (7th), and Geronimo Allison (8th). He already had Christian McCaffrey (2nd, kept) and James Conner (11th). Simply put, D is loaded up to try to become our first threepeat champion.

Overall: We've seen Rabbit and Matt in similar situations, looking primed for a threepeat, but it's really hard to do...

Positional Breakdown

Overall, we took:

• 76 WRs
• 71 RBs
• 25 TEs
• 24 QBs
• 14 K
• 14 DEF

Closing Thoughts

Thank you all very much for the mini Sanderson Cup and the bottle of bourbon. It will be weird writing the Gazette from London for a year, but don't worry - your favorite weekly publication will not stop!

Also, please don't forget to send me $40 for the league dues if you haven't already.

Previous Next

All Sanderson Gazettes