Draft Recap

The draft began with C.J. Spiller congratulating us for twelve awesome years, and specifically giving a shout-out to his #1 fan, Rob (jump to the 1:20 mark in the video).

And with that, Rob was on the clock...

Team-by-Team

Rob

"Pay no attention to the man picking at the elbow."

Rob may have a history of bold moves on draft day, but this year was a bit of an exception. His first four picks - Ezekiel Elliott, Tyler Lockett, Cooper Kupp, and Russell Wilson - didn't raise any eyebrows, and the rest of his draft provided a good amount of positional depth. As result, he doesn't really have any significant flaws, though he also doesn't have any obvious strengths. This is a good draft to get Rob back to respectability.

• Strength: his lifelong relationship with C.J. Spiller
• Weakness: TE (Austin Hooper and Blake Jarwin)

Dave

"Peyton Manning is still the Broncos' QB, right?"

The Fultz brothers made a smart and safe choice with the overall #1 WR, Mike Thomas, with the second overall pick. They grabbed their top RB, Melvin Gordon III, in the 2nd round, which was a sign of things to come. In addition to keeping Courtland Sutton, they also drafted rookie Jerry Jeudy; that gave them three Broncos in the first seven rounds. We'll see how gambling on Drew Lock's offense goes.

• Strength: QB (Dak Prescott)
• Weakness: diversity of WR assets

Ed

"Late round keepers make this draft thing a whole lot more fun."

Ed was glad that Alvin Kamara made it past the Fultzes and that D.J. Moore was still around at the end of the 2nd. Keeping A.J. Brown for a 12th round pick meant that the commish could be flexible early, and he wound up with a solid all-around team as a result.

• Strength: flex depth (David Johnson, Brandin Cooks, Christian Kirk, Ronald Jones II)
• Weakness: lack of a true WR1 (Moore, Brown)

Scott

"I like hyphens."

Scott made the bold move of taking rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire fourth overall and added some insurance in the always-reliable Mark Ingram II in the third round. If JuJu Smith-Schuster bounces back from a rough 2019, he could be a steal at 2.11. But after that, Scott has some uncertainty at WR; how will Julian Edelman look without Tom Brady as his QB?

• Strength: RB depth (Edwards-Helaire, Ingram, Miles Sanders)
• Weakness: WR Depth (Darius Slayton, John Brown)

Richie

"Thank you, Matt - but where are the RBs?"

Richie had a prior engagement, so Matt acted as his proxy and took Tyreek Hill, Mark Andrews, and Calvin Ridley in the first three rounds. Austin Ekeler is a really nice keeper in the fourth, but then Richie didn't get another RB (Chris Thompson) until he actually joined the draft for the 12th round.

• Strength: WR depth (Preston Williams, DK Metcalf)
• Weakness: RB depth

Rabbit

"The usual, please."

Rabs wound up with his usual flex depth, since he didn't have to worry about QB (Kyler Murray kept for a 9th) and didn't choose to worry about TE (Chris Herndon chosen in the 11th). Joe Mixon and Amari Cooper were both solid picks to start the draft, and Will Fuller V and DeSean Jackson give him some high-upside flex plays later on.

• Strength: flex depth
• Weakness: TE

Kevin

"It feels like I have an extra pick this year."

Like Ed, Kevin had tons of early flexibility due to his keeper situation (only starting with Josh Allen in the 9th). And, like Ed, that resulted in a team that was solid all-around. Davante Adams and Todd Gurley II were his first two picks, setting up a pretty high floor. And his next two picks, Terry McLaurin and Darren Waller, could make Kev a strong contender if they follow up their breakout 2019 seasons with similar production.

• Strength: flex depth (Jarvis Landry, CeeDee Lamb, Matt Breida)
• Weakness: one player (Damien Harris) already on IR

Pat

"Auto-draft really liked RBs this year."

Pat couldn't make the draft, so we used the consensus ADP chart to draft for him. He wound up with Julio Jones and Chris Carson to start, which was pretty good, but then fate conspired to overload him with RBs. And it would have been more if we hadn't decided to fill out his offensive starters with Evan Engram and Matt Ryan in the 5th and 6th rounds.

• Strength: RB depth (Le'Veon Bell, David Montgomery, Nick Chubb, Jordan Howard...)
• Weakness: WR (Mecole Hardman, Marquise Brown)

Pulley

"I'll show you bold!"

Pulley's draft started out uneventfully, as he took Aaron Jones and Odell Beckham, Jr. with his first two picks. He showed a sign of some things to come when he took Cam Akers a bit unexpectedly in the 3rd, and kicked his night of bold moves into high gear with the Patriots defense in the 8th, Tua Tagovailoa in the 11th, and Antonio Brown in the 12th. His willingness to take risks paid off last year with Rob Gronkowski (kept for a 14th); why not try again?

• Strength: special teams, as usual (Patriots defense and Justin Tucker)
• Weakness: WR depth (Tyler Boyd, Emmanuel Sanders, Allen Lazard)

Babel

"The Lions always have a strong running game, right?"

Babel nabbed Travis Kelce with the tenth overall pick and added Allen Robinson II in the 2nd round. He took some high-upside shots with Cam Newton (10th) and Cole Kmet (13th). But his most curious move was drafting two Lions RBs sandwiched around Carson Wentz from the 6th-8th. Presumably, he'll be hoping one of D'Andre Swift and Kerryon Johnson emerge as the true #1 in Detroit; otherwise, they might just cancel each other out.

• Strength: TE
• Weakness: RB depth after Josh Jacobs

Mike R.

"My name is Mike and I like WRs best."

Mike started off his night with four straight picks used on WRs: Kenny Golladay; Mike Evans; DeVante Parker; and D.J. Chark, Jr. And then he decided to grab Drew Brees while he was still available, so he didn't draft a RB until Zack Moss in the 6th. He added Phillip Lindsay in the 8th and kept Raheem Mostert in the 9th, but it seems like he'll be starting just one relatively lackluster RB most weeks.

• Strength: WR
• Weakness: RB

Derrek

"There are too many teams nowadays. Please eliminate 28."

Eleven of Derrek's sixteen roster spots are filled by players from just four teams: the Vikings, Steelers, Colts, and Panthers. That includes the Steelers defense, of which D was very careful to make no specific predictions. Christian McCaffrey makes this a competitive team on his own, while Adam Thielen and T.Y. Hilton give D a dependable pair of veteran WRs.

• Strength: RB (McCaffrey and James Conner)
• Weakness: QB (Daniel Jones)

Matt

"Missing: An exciting flex starter."

Matt had Dalvin Cook on board as a keeper (2nd), so he used his first four live picks on pass catchers (DeAndre Hopkins, Robert Woods, Michael Gallup, and Jared Cook). Lamar Jackson (kept for a 6th) fills out a very strong core, but his remaining starting slot (Marlon Mack) leaves something to be desired.

• Strength: QB
• Weakness: flex depth (Marlon Mack, Boston Scott, Brandon Aiyuk)

Schertz

"My name is Mike and I like RBs best."

Schertz didn't have a live pick until #42 overall, which he used on Deshaun Watson. Of course, he already had Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry on board by then. He nabbed Kareem Hunt and Leonard Fournette at the 5/6 turn, which means he has the most top-end RB talent in the league.

• Strength: RB depth
• Weakness: top-line WR talent (Stefon Diggs, Golden Tate, Curtis Samuel)

Week 1 Preview

Game of the Blingaweek

Harrison Hammers (Matt) vs. schertzopotamus (Schertz):

Matt leads all-time series, 7-2.

We open 2020 with a rematch of Blingabowl XII. Unsurprisingly, given their level of success last year, both of these teams have plenty of superstars.

Matt would put Lamar Jackson (vs. CLE) up against any QB in the league, and Dalvin Cook (vs. GB) has only a few RBs at his level. Of course, two of those are on Schertz's team: Saquon Barkley (vs. PIT) and Derrick Henry (@DEN). Schertz also has a QB that has the potential to go point-for-point with Jackson in Deshaun Watson (@KC).

Schertz has more star players, but also has more weak starting slots. He'll need to start one of Golden Tate (vs. PIT) or Curtis Samuel (vs. LV) at WR, and his flex options are rounded out by Kareem Hunt (@BAL) or Leonard Fournette (@NO).

Matt's last flex spot is likely to be Marlon Mack (@JAC), who is equally mediocre.

Pick: Harrison Hammers.

Other Blingamatches

Bernie's Bullies (Mike R.) vs. D's Nuts (Derrek):

Mike R. leads all-time series, 8-7.

Our undercard is led by a rematch of last year's third-place game. I don't think anyone can boast a better quartet of WRs than Mr. Romor; Kenny Golladay (vs. CHI), D.J. Chark, Jr. (vs. IND), Mike Evans (@NO), and DeVante Parker (@NE) all project for double-digit totals in week one. And Raheem Mostert (vs. ARI) isn't a bad play at RB.

D also has no real holes at his RB, WR, or flex slots. Christian McCaffrey (vs. LV) is amazing. James Conner (@NYG), Adam Thielen (vs. GB), and T.Y. Hilton (@JAC) are all obvious starts. He'll need to choose between Jonathan Taylor (@JAC) and Diontae Johnson (@NYG) at flex, which shouldn't be a big problem.

So this one might come down to QBs and TEs. Mike has Drew Brees (vs. TAM) and George Kittle (vs. ARI). Derrek has Daniel Jones (vs. PIT) and Tyler Higbee (vs. DAL). I know which side I prefer there.

Pick: Bernie's Bullies.

Pralines & Dick (Rabbit) vs. Pullman's MondoSquad (Pulley):

Rabbit leads all-time series, 7-6.

With a win, Pulley would pull even with Rabs in their head-to-head series and in the all-time standings. Whether that happens is mostly a toss-up, as these two look pretty evenly matched.

Rabs has the edge at QB (Kyler Murray (@SF) over Aaron Rodgers (@MIN)) and WR (Amari Cooper (@LAR) and Chris Godwin (@NO) over Odell Beckham, Jr. (@BAL) and Tyler Boyd (vs. LAC)). Pulley has the edge at TE (Rob Gronkowski (@NO) over Chris Herndon (@BUF)). At RB and flex combined, they seem about equal.

Pulley, as always, seems to have the edge in special teams with Justin Tucker (@CLE) and the Patriots defense (vs. MIA).

Pick: Pullman's MondoSquad.

Live Commish (Ed) vs. The Chocolate Donuts (Kevin):

Ed leads all-time series, 8-7.

These two had similar drafts and, thus, have similar teams. They both have a top pick coming off an injury-suppressed season (Alvin Kamara (vs. TAM) for Ed, Davante Adams (@MIN) for Kev). They both have former top RBs coming off disappointing seasons (David Johnson (@KC) for Ed, Todd Gurley II (vs. SEA) for Kev). And they both have a mix of youth and experience filling out their WR corps (D.J. Moore (vs. LV), A.J. Brown (@DEN), and Brandin Cooks (@KC) for Ed; Terry McLaurin (vs. PHI), CeeDee Lamb (@LAR), and Jarvis Landry (@BAL) for Kev). This game looks to be close to a 50/50 proposition, but I'm biased in favor of one side, so...

Pick: Live Commish.

Super Bash Bros. (Dave) vs. Baker Baker One-Nine (Babel):

Babel leads all-time series, 11-3.

Travis Kelce (vs. HOU) and Josh Jacobs (@CAR) give Babel production at TE and RB that Dave can't match. But Mike Thomas (vs. TAM) and Dak Prescott (@LAR) give Dave a similar advantage at WR and QB. I think I like the rest of Babel's flex-eligible roster better than Dave's, but just barely. He'll need to update his team name soon, though.

Pick: Baker Baker One-Nine.

The FF Team (Scott) vs. Rob for Today (Rob):

Rob leads all-time series, 2-0.

Scott can claim an edge at QB every week, as Patrick Mahomes II (vs. HOU) is the best around. But Rob is the rare team that has a QB in the same ballpark in Russell Wilson (@ATL).

I like Rob's RB1 (Ezekiel Elliott (@LAR)) over Scott's (Clyde Edwards-Helaire (vs. HOU)), especially until the latter proves himself in a live NFL game. And Rob's top two WRs (Tyler Lockett (@ATL) and Cooper Kupp (vs. DAL)) impress me more than Scott's (JuJu Smith-Schuster (@NYG) and Julian Edelman (vs. MIA)).

Pick: Rob for Today.

DK Country (Richie) vs. The Vistas are Back (Pat):

Pat leads all-time series, 6-2.

As it happens, the two teams with the most different draft outcomes get to face off in week one. While both took a WR first (Tyreek Hill (vs. HOU) for Richie, Julio Jones (vs. SEA) for Pat), they then went very different directions. Richie's flex slots will be filled with WRs, as Austin Ekeler (@CIN) is his only RB worth playing. And Pat will almost certainly do the opposite, as his draft was notably RB-heavy.

Pick: The Vistas are Back.

Closing Thoughts

Thanks again to all of you for bearing with the fully-remote draft this year. It was worth staying up until 2 A.M. to get to spend time with all you Blingaleaguers. And a big extra thanks to Matt for getting Mr. Spiller to kick us off.

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