Draft Recap

Rabbit

Rabs made the obvious choice - Christian McCaffrey - at #1 overall. Except for a pair of keepers in the fifth and seventh rounds, Rabbit then took nothing but WRs through round ten.

His biggest problem, however, is one of those keepers. The mid-draft news that J.K. Dobbins tore his ACL is devastating for Rabs, especially given his lack of drafted RB depth.

It's hard to say his team is especially healthy, but he might already have a magic cure on his roster in the form of McCaffrey.

Dave

Dave had a few communication snafus with his in-person proxy (the other half of the Fultzyboys, of course), and, as a result, wound up with a rather interesting team. He pulled the trigger on Kyle Pitts in the third and took two other rookie WRs (Jaylen Waddle in the seventh, and Elijah Moore in the eleventh). But his boldest rookie choice was taking Justin Fields in the eighth... as his first QB. At least Alvin Kamara provides a strong base for Dave.

The outlook for Dave's team isn't super rosy, but he's got plenty of upside if some of his rookie picks hit.

Ed

The commish had the first real choice of the draft, opting for Aaron Jones at 1.03. Robert Woods and Josh Jacobs fell to him in the second and third, respectively, which gives him a plethora of flex options. Ed later stole a page from Pulley's playbook (Pullman's MondoGuide?), taking Just Tucker in the eleventh as the first kicker drafted.

Ed once again looks to have a team that is solid across the board, but feels like it will leave him just short of true contention.

Schertz

Schertz was drafting from the Daytona 500, which resulted in some delayed picks. He added veterans Mike Evans (second), Julio Jones (third), and Tom Brady (fifth) to his strong keepers (Derrick Henry and Stefon Diggs).

His most questionable move was taking a second QB (Ryan Tannehill) in the seventh round, before two teams had even taken their first. His lack of WR depth could leave him in a very unhealthy position if any of his veteran receivers have health problems of their own.

Mike R.

Mike was one of just two teams to pick - not keep - a non-RB in the first round, taking Travis Kelce at 1.05. He added David Montgomery in the second to be his RB1 and followed that up with Chris Godwin and Robby Anderson to start at WR.

If the rest of Mike's roster can provide enough flex value, he looks to have a strong team.

Pat

Pat was the other team to pass on a RB in the first, opting for Tyreek Hill instead. He was able to add Chris Carson and Miles Sanders in the second and third to add to keeper Darrell Henderson, Jr., so he should still be OK at RB.

And yet, despite taking Hill with his top pick, Pat's WR corps isn't without concern. His next two picks at WR - Kenny Golladay in the fourth and Michael Thomas in the sixth - are both battling injuries.

Scott

Scott started a run of six straight live picks used on RBs when he took Nick Chubb in the first round, and then added Allen Robinson II with his next pick.

Taking Russell Wilson in the third and Robert Tonyan in the sixth means he doesn't have the strongest flex options, but that's something that can be treated with savvy in-season moves.

Richie

Richie continued the RB run in the first with Austin Ekeler, then drew a lot of surprise by taking James Conner in the second, well ahead of his ADP. Richie made up for it by taking Gus Edwards, who is now in line to be the primary RB in Baltimore, in the ninth, and sandwiched that pick with two exciting young QBs, Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa.

Conner doesn't control the entire outlook of Richie's team, but a bold move like that does overshadow everything else, and could very well wind up being the driving narrative of his 2021 season.

Rob

After keeping Ezekiel Elliott in the first, Rob added four more high-end starters in Terry McLaurin, Dak Prescott, T.J. Hockenson, and Antonio Gibson (also kept).

The rest of his team is not quite as formidable; Jarvis Landry (sixth) is an acceptable second WR, but Rob will have to play a bit of roulette with his second flex spot.

Derrek

Derrek was willing to take on the risk that comes with Saquon Barkley early, then went high-floor with Patrick Mahomes II in the second round. From that point on, D then had a pretty workmanlike draft, with nothing especially notable to write about.

The only people fully qualified to diagnose D's season are on the Giants' medical staff. If Barkley returns to his 2018 form from the get-go, Derrek could be the team to beat. If not, he'll have to pull off some in-season magic to be a top contender.

Pulley

Pulley went upside with his first four picks: Joe Mixon; George Kittle; Odell Beckham, Jr.; and Courtland Sutton. All four are coming off serious injuries last season, but seem to have recovered in full.

Pulley looks good heading into the year, and if Aaron Rodgers repeats his 2020 MVP season, that "good" could turn into "great".

Babel

Mark took a chance on rookie Najee Harris in the first and kicked off a mini-TE run in the second with Darren Waller. He then added Adam Thielen (third) and Deebo Samuel (fifth) to keeper Keenan Allen to round out his WR corps.

Babel waited on QB and took Matthew Stafford and Trey Lance in the eighth and ninth rounds. This will either prove to be savvy or give him headaches all year.

Matt

Matt was thrilled that DeAndre Hopkins fell to him in the second round. He's also apparently gotten bored with merely beating his rival in the normal way; The Gazette assumes that his strategy in rounds five through seven - Mike Williams; Michael Gallup; and Michael Pittman, Jr. - was to force Mike R. to suffer crushing defeat to a team full of Mikes.

Matt has some of the flaws as Rob, though. It's hard to top his best RB (keeper Dalvin Cook), WR (Hopkins), TE (Mark Andrews), and QB (keeper Lamar Jackson), but his flex depth is a bit lacking.

Kevin

Clyde Edwards-Helaire was the last pick of the early RB run; locking in a RB at 2.01 allowed Kev to sprinkle in some WRs who slid to him later: D.J. Moore (third); Corey Davis (sixth); and Marvin Jones, Jr. (eighth).

My only real nitpick of Kevin's team is that Logan Thomas might be a bit of a reach at TE, but I also see why he didn't want to risk waiting until the seventh-eighth turn to take one. Otherwise, our reigning champ looks poised to defend the Sanderson Cup.

Closing Thoughts

A huge thanks to Babel for being a fantastic host! It was awesome finally getting to see all you guys again.

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