Draft Recap

Before we get into team-by-team recaps, let's look at the draft as a whole. The first eight live picks were all RBs. This is not only the longest streak at one position to begin the draft, it's the longest streak of one position in league history.

The previous record was seven picks, which happened twice. The first time was a run on WRs from pick 4.12 through 5.07 in 2009. The second was also a run on WRs from pick 2.10 through pick 3.03 in 2016.

If you include picks that were actually keepers, this year's RB streak extends to ten, which is also a record. (The 2009 WR run extends to eight using the same criteria.)

Mike R.

"Blingaleague is where 100% of my thoughts go that [my wife] Lauren won't listen to." - Mike R.

Mike started that run on RBs with Derrick Henry at 1.01, but didn't take another player at that position until Darrell Henderson, Jr. in the 8th (ignoring his 5th round keeper, Javonte Williams). Mike also made sure he was set at TE and QB fairly early by taking Darren Waller in the 2nd and Tom Brady in the 6th.

His WRs after Ja'Marr Chase (4th round keeper) aren't great, but offer potential in the form of players in new settings (Allen Robinson II (3.01)), returners from injury (Michael Gallup (9.01)) and rookies (Drake London (7.01), Jahan Dotson (11.01)).

Pat

Pat took Dalvin Cook (1.02) in the first round for the second time in five years; here's hoping his season doesn't start off quite as badly as the last time he did so. He went fairly RB-heavy early, adding Josh Jacobs (2.13) and Chase Edmonds (6.13) in the first six rounds, too.

Pat clearly focused on flex depth, adding Brandin Cooks (3.02) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (5.02) to his drafted RBs and keepers (CeeDee Lamb (4th) and Eli Mitchell (9th)). Dallas Goedert (7.02) and Matthew Stafford (8.13) probably won't wow anyone, but they do round out a fairly solid starting roster for Mr. Gawne.

Kevin

Kevin was happy to take Joe Mixon third overall, then opted to take two former fantasy studs plagued by injuries the past few seasons, George Kittle (2.12) and Michael Thomas (4.12).

He added a trio of high-upside youngster: Rhamondre Stevenson (5.03), DeVonta Smith (6.12), and Brandon Aiyuk (7.03), as well as old standby Marvin Jones, Jr. And Kev was the last team to take a QB when he selected Trevor Lawrence at 10.12.

Rob

Rob stressed RB the most early, taking Nick Chubb (1.04), J.K. Dobbins (2.11), and A.J. Dillon (4.11) as three of his first four picks. He added Terry McLaurin at 3.04 to his two WR keepers (Michael Pittman, Jr. (6th) and Jaylen Waddle (7th)).

Waiting on TE was a risk, but Rob mitigated that by taking Zach Ertz (9.04) and Robert Tonyan (10.11) with consecutive picks to start off the back half of the draft. If Joe Burrow (5.11) takes another step forward, Rob could have a dangerous team.

Pulley

"Rob Bironas may be alive today had he known how much he meant to the Blingaleague." - Pulley

Pulley grabbed Alvin Kamara (1.05) and Marquise Brown (2.10) with his first two picks, which gave him confidence to take the currently-injured Chris Godwin at 4.10 and wait out his ACL recovery.

Aaron Rodgers (5.05) is on his post-draft roster for the third straight year, and will be joined by a pair of Packer pass-catchers, Allen Lazard (6.10) and Christian Watson (11.05).

Schertz

Aaron Jones (1.06) was Schertz's first round pick, and he added David Montgomery (3.06) and Kareem Hunt (6.09) to bolster his depth at the position. While all three of those picks have some questions about the number of touches other RBs on their teams will get, they should give our 2019 champ enough to feel good about.

Happy to take Lamar Jackson (4.09) as the sixth QB off the board, Schertz's biggest question mark, despite keeping Stefon Diggs (2nd), is WR. Adam Thielen (5.06) and Tyler Lockett (7.06) both look like their best days are behind them.

Ed

Ed was happy with how his trade with Matt played out, as he wound up taking Mike Evans (1.11), A.J. Brown (2.04), and Kyler Murray (4.04) with the acquired picks.

Cordarelle Patterson (5.08) and Christian Kirk (6.07) were his first two original live picks, supplementing keepers Kyle Pitts (3rd) and Leonard Fournette (8th) to round out his starting roster.

Scott

Scott's journey to redemption begins with Ezekiel Elliott (1.08), who could be past his prime, and Josh Allen (2.07), who almost certainly is not.

Drafting from the airport (a Blingaleague first?), he took two TEs - Dalton Schultz (4.07) and T.J. Hockenson (6.07) - by the end of the sixth. His two strong WR keepers, Deebo Samuel (5th) and Tee Higgins (7th), gave him early flexibility, but going TE-heavy was definitely unexpected.

Richie

Richie wasn't at the draft to use the previous year's rankings again, and also didn't have a live pick until the third round, when he took Diontae Johnson (3.09). He added Darnell Mooney (4.06) and Amari Cooper (6.06) to his WR corps.

Grabbing Russell Wilson (8.06) as the twelfth QB off the board probably feels good. Banking on Mike Gesicki (7.09) at TE might not.

Babel

Babel's first live pick - after spending his first rounder to keep Najee Harris - was Keenan Allen (2.05); like Pulley with Aaron Rodgers, this will be Babel's third straight year starting off with the veteran Chargers WR. He's also hoping DK Metcalf (3.10) won't see too big a decline without Russell Wilson throwing him the ball.

Speaking of people that throw the ball, Babel did what he always does and paced the league in drafting QBs. Though he didn't take three like in past years, he did take two, Dak Prescott (6.05) and Derek Carr (10.05), before everyone else had taken one.

Matt

Like his trade partner, Matt was happy with whom he took in the first four rounds: Saquon Barkley (1.07), Courtland Sutton (2.08), and Jalen Hurts (4.08).

He then went into throwback mode, loading up on rookies. He didn't go after first-year players quite as early as 2010 (his 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th round picks were all rookies that year!), but he did wind up with just as many at the end of the day: Ken Walker III (6.04); George Pickens (9.11); Brian Robinson, Jr. (10.04); and Romeo Doubs (12.04).

Derrek

Derrek left detailed draft instructions, which pleased the commish. As a result, he got a few of his targeted players - D.J. Moore (2.03), Antonio Gibson (3.12), and Patrick Mahomes II (4.03) - early.

The suspended DeAndre Hopkins (5.12) caused some discussion in the draft room, but Hunter Renfrow (6.03) helped mitigate the risk the former added to D's WR corps.

Rabbit

Christian McCaffrey (1st round keeper) covers the RB position quite well, so Rabbit focused on WR early. Tyreek Hill (2.02), Jerry Jeudy (3.13), and Amon-Ra St. Brown (4.02) were all on his roster by the end of the fourth round.

That forced Rabs to be patient at QB and TE, where he wound up with Trey Lance (8.02) and Albert Okwuegbunam (10.02).

Dave

"After I won, [my wife] Alyssa said, 'You play for this little money?'" - Dave

Dave waited until the 31st and 32nd live picks to take Justin Herbert (3.12) and Clyde Edwards-Helaire (4.01). He added Rashaad Penny (5.12) and Elijah Moore (6.01) with his next two picks.

Starting with Davante Adams (1st) and Travis Kelce (2nd) as keepers is great, but this roster is a far cry from the dream team he ended last season with.

Closing Thoughts

Thanks to all of you who have already paid your league dues. If you haven't yet, please check the League Dues page on the Yahoo league to see what you owe (some of you rolled last year's winnings into this year).

Previous Next

All Sanderson Gazettes