The Sanderson Gazette - 2020-09-01 - Get Your War Zooms Ready

The Draft

Time and Place

The draft is less than a week away, Monday, September 7, at 6:00 PM Central Time.

There is a Zoom call set up for that time (not linked here for security purposes), and we will be using the Draft Board for all chatting (and pick tracking), as usual.

See you all there!

Order

  1. Rob
  2. Dave
  3. Ed
  4. Scott
  5. Richie
  6. Rabbit
  7. Kevin
  8. Pat
  9. Pulley
  10. Babel
  11. Mike R.
  12. Derrek
  13. Matt
  14. Schertz

Keepers

All keepers are filled in on the Draft Board. ADP values are taken from Fantasy Football Calculator as of September 1.

Schertz

  • Saquon Barkley, 1.14 (ADP 1.02)
  • Derrick Henry, 2.01 (ADP 1.06)

Oh, look, our defending champ starts out with two top-six ADP players on his roster. Schertz's 2019 roster was so strong that he let go of two players - Aaron Jones for 7.14 (ADP 2.03) and Terry McLaurin for 9.14 (ADP 5.01) - that many others would have gladly kept.

Matt

  • Dalvin Cook, 2.02 (ADP 1.06)
  • Lamar Jackson, 6.02 (ADP 2.05)

The Hammers will bank on two players who had breakout 2019 seasons. There have been holdout rumors swirling around Cook all summer, but his ADP didn't really take a hit. And even if Jackson regresses from his MVP season, he's still likely to be a top QB and provide value in the sixth.

Derrek

  • Christian McCaffrey, 1.12 (ADP 1.01)
  • James Conner, 9.12 (ADP 2.14)

Derrek keeps the same two players he did last year. McCaffrey is in the middle of a legendary run of fantasy seasons, so anyone without the first overall pick would jump to keep him. Conner had a disappointing 2019 and his ADP reflects that, but it's still hard to say no to that ninth round cost.

Mike R.

  • George Kittle, 7.11 (ADP 2.09)
  • Raheem Mostert, 9.11 (ADP 4.14)

Mike's trade with Scott from last year is the gift that keeps on giving, allowing him to keep a top-two TE for a seventh round pick. And the Bullies double up on 49ers, hoping they don't regress much from their Super Bowl appearance.

Babel

  • Josh Jacobs, 3.10 (ADP 1.09)
  • Devin Singletary, 9.10 (ADP 3.12)

Babel opted to keep two second-year RBs at reduced cost instead of Ezekiel Elliott (ADP 1.04) for his first round pick. Singletary might have some question marks, but is still a good value choice, and Jacobs looks to be an RB1 after a good rookie season.

Pulley

  • Kenyan Drake, 4.06 (ADP 2.08)
  • Rob Gronkowski, 14.06 (ADP 8.01)

Drake came on strong late in the year, giving the Pullman an obvious option for his fourth round pick. Gronkowski is not the lowest ADP kept this year (see Pulley's rival for that one), though he's close; but that doesn't matter, since Pulley used his last pick of 2019 on the then-retired TE, hoping for this sort of scenario to play out.

Rabbit

  • Chris Godwin, 3.06 (ADP 2.07)
  • Kyler Murray, 9.06 (ADP 5.02)

Rabs jumped at the chance to keep one of last year's top WRs for a round below asking price. Murray should improve in his second year in the NFL, which makes him another solid keeper.

Kevin

  • Josh Allen, 9.07 (ADP 6.13)

Yes, this is the rare solo keeper choice. Kevin did not have a bad team last year, but it somehow led to Allen as his only real keeper value. And while Allen's a solid fantasy QB and well worth spending a ninth round pick on, this is a far step down from when Kev could keep guys like Alvin Kamara and David Johnson.

Pat

  • Nick Chubb, 7.08 (ADP 1.12)
  • Marquise Brown, 12.07 (ADP 5.05)

Chubb represents the lowest cost for a first-round ADP this year, and Brown was a late-round steal. Pat gave up Michael Thomas (ADP 1.07) to keep these two, and it's hard to argue much with that. For the second straight year, I'll say this is the best pair of keepers Pat has ever had.

Dave

  • A.J. Green, 4.13 (ADP 5.10)
  • Courtland Sutton, 6.13 (ADP 4.09)

That is not a typo; Green's ADP is lower than what Dave paid to keep him. Sutton is solid value, but overall, this is an underwhelming pair. Fun fact: both of Dave's keepers were acquired from Schertz just before last year's trade deadline.

Ed

  • Ronald Jones II, 9.03 (ADP 5.11)
  • A.J. Brown, 12.12 (ADP 3.13)

Brown was the top rookie WR last year, and Ed was shrewd enough to pick him late in the draft. Jones was inconsistent, but he appears to be the undisputed RB in Tampa and his low cost made him another good choice.

Richie

  • Austin Ekeler, 4.10 (ADP 2.05)
  • D.K. Metcalf, 8.10 (ADP 4.03)

Richie joins Dave as someone who nabbed both his keepers in a single transaction last year. Ekeler and Metcalf both provide plenty of surplus value at their cost, and Richie appears to be positioned well heading into the draft.

Rob

  • Leondard Fournette, 2.14 (ADP 2.13)
  • Tony Pollard, 9.01 (ADP 9.06)

With Fournette's release yesterday, expect Rob to be down to one keeper before the weekend hits. And Pollard provides some value in the ninth (especially if Rob plans to draft Ezekiel Elliott first overall).

Scott

  • Miles Sanders, 4.11 (ADP 2.01)
  • Patrick Mahomes, 7.04 (ADP 2.01)

Scott was brilliant in drafting Mahomes in 2018; it's rare for a QB to retain keeper value into a third season. Sanders is far from a sure thing, but Scott is getting nearly three rounds of value based on ADP. Overall, a good set of keepers heading into 2020.

Closing Thoughts

I won't rehash them here, but last week's Gazette goes through the COVID-19-related rule changes for 2020.