The Sanderson Gazette - 2022-08-15 - Keeping up with the Fultzes

Keepers

All keepers for this year have been officially declared and can be found on blingaleague.com and the 2022 draft board. Let's go through the list! (All ADP data in this section has been taken from Fantasy Football Calculator.)

Dave

  • Davante Adams, 1.14 (ADP 1.13)
  • Travis Kelce, 2.01 (ADP 2.01)

Dave went all-in last year and found himself with a roster full of 2021 first round picks. As a result, he went with absolute instead of relative value with his keepers, securing two top-fifteen picks with his, uh, two top-fifteen picks.

Rabbit

  • Christian McCaffrey, 1.13 (ADP 1.06)
  • Gabriel Davis, 9.13 (ADP 6.06)

McCaffrey's been injured the last two years, but he's still an elite fantasy RB when healthy; keeping him with the 13th pick was a no-brainer. Davis came on strong at the end of the year and doesn't cost much. Rabs didn't get crazy value out of his keepers, but they are both quite solid.

Derrek

  • Jonathan Taylor, 1.12 (ADP 1.01)
  • Justin Jefferson, 7.12 (ADP 1.08)

Derrek kept more total value than Dave (two top-eight picks!) at much less cost. That's because D had the foresight to draft both Taylor and Jefferson back in 2020. Coming off one of the best regular seasons ever, this just seems unfair to the rest of the league.

Matt

  • Mark Andrews, 3.11 (ADP 2.11)
  • Mike Williams, 5.11 (ADP 4.05)

Like Rabbit, our Monster Heel enters 2022 with two good players and only so much marginal value. It's not super exciting, but it's a safe bet that Matt will be fine, like always.

Babel

  • Najee Harris, 1.10 (ADP 1.06)
  • D'Andre Swift, 4.05 (ADP 1.12)

Only Dave and Richie spent more to keep their players than Babel, but at the same time, only Derrek got more in return (based on ADP). Harris should once again be a workhorse and Swift might once again provide Babel's team name.

Richie

  • Austin Ekeler, 1.09 (ADP 1.04)
  • James Conner, 2.06 (ADP 3.03)

Richie won't be making a live pick until the third round, but you can easily see why. Ekeler would have been in the running for first overall pick if he was let go, and while Conner looks to be a bit of an overreach, everyone thought the same thing when he was drafted last year.

Schertz

  • Stefon Diggs, 2.09 (ADP 1.14)

Schertz joins 2009 Mike R., 2013 Allen(*), 2014 Kevin, 2019 Matt(**), 2020 Kevin, and 2020 Rob(**) as teams that fewer players than they could. That's because Diggs was the only real value on his roster.

  • (*) Allen kept zero players in 2013!
  • (**) Matt and Rob had players that looked to be good value hold out (Melvin Gordon III) and get cut (Leonard Fournette), respectively.

Ed

  • Kyle Pitts, 3.07 (ADP 3.13)
  • Leonard Fournette, 8.08 (ADP 2.10)

Fournette is an obvious value for the commish, who is also betting on Pitts being underrated by ADP. (The second year TE is basically being kept where he'd be drafted, once you adjust ADP based on players with earlier ADP being kept.)

Kevin

  • Cooper Kupp, 3.03 (ADP 1.05)
  • Cam Akers, 9.03 (ADP 3.09)

Kevin went out and traded for Kupp late last season so he could be in this position. And even if the Rams WR doesn't repeat his overall WR1 season, he's still worth well more than the 31st overall pick. Akers comes with a good amount of keeper value, too.

Pulley

  • Travis Etienne, 13.05 (ADP 4.01)
  • Deshaun Watson, 14.10 (ADP 10.01)

Etienne looks to be great value, but it remains to be seen if Watson even plays half the fantasy season. That said, Pulley spent as little as possible on these two, so even if he never winds up starting them, he'll be fine.

Mike R.

  • Ja'Marr Chase 4.14 (ADP 1.11)
  • Javonte Williams, 5.01 (ADP 2.05)

Derrek and a few others bring in more absolute keeper value, but when you add the first overall pick to Chase and Williams, you can argue that the Mike is in the best shape heading into 2022. Or, in his own words: "Can't wait to have this guy, Chase, and the number one overall pick and screw it up."

Pat

  • CeeDee Lamb, 4.13 (ADP 2.02)
  • Eli Mitchell, 9.02 (ADP 3.12)

Pat did a nice job once he was out of the running last year in trading for Lamb and hanging onto Mitchell. Is this the best shape he's ever been in heading into the season? Will a certain hashtag start trending again?

Scott

  • Deebo Samuel, 5.08 (ADP 2.04)
  • Tee Higgins, 7.08 (ADP 3.03)

Everyone knew Samuel would be one of Scott's keepers after he traded for him last year, but don't sleep on Higgins, either. Entering the season with this kind of WR value ensures that Scott won't be any worse than last year (though that might not be possible, regardless).

Rob

  • Michael Pittman, Jr., 6.11 (ADP 3.05)
  • Jaylen Waddle, 7.04 (ADP 4.03)

Rob finished in last place for the first time ever, yet wasn't able to acquire any flashy keepers. That said, he spent very little - only Pulley gave up less - so he still wound up with some value heading into 2022.

The Draft

Where and When

The draft is this coming Saturday, August 20, at 2 PM at Ed's house (2724 N Hamlin Ave in Chicago). There will be a Zoom link for remote drafters, as well.

First Round Order

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

Rule Changes

A final reminder on our rule changes heading into the season:

  • We are moving toward decimal field goal scoring; each yard of distance will be worth 0.1 points (e.g. a 38 yard field goal will be worth 3.8);
  • The range values for points allowed (for defenses) has been narrowed.

Both of these changes are reflected in the official Yahoo league.

Closing Thoughts

Can't wait to see you all on Saturday!