Draft Recap

"This has devolved." - Dave

Babel

Babel took the no-brainer #1 pick in Justin Jefferson, and added old faithful Keenan Allen in the second. His draft didn't really get notable, though, until he picked Kirk Cousins and Daniel Jones at the 6th-7th turn. Derrek pointed out that those two QBs shared a bye, and Babel, um, devolved, thanks to copious amounts of Digits Bourbon.

Richie

While Babel might have missed the end of his own draft, Richie missed his in its entirety. Auto-drafting led to the return of Austin Ekeler to Richie's team, as well as Deebo Samuel, Christian Watson, and Darren Waller. There are no 2021-James-Conner-level reaches here, but does that mean there won't be any 2021-James-Conner-level rewards?

Kevin

Our 2016 and 2020 champ also auto-drafted, but his day started far rockier than Richie's. Picking third, Kev provided only two names to his proxy, Dave: top-two picks Justin Jefferson and Austin Ekeler. (One day, perhaps Kevin will tell us who he thought would go in the top two that didn't.) After that, his draft looks a lot like Richie's; solid, if not very notable.

Matt

Matt was happy to take Tyreek Hill fourth overall and didn't complain about bringing Mark Andrews back to the Hammers' roster. Later on, he mixed in some old-but-likely-still-reliable WRs (Tyler Lockett and Brandin Cooks) along with some breakout rookie potential (Anthony Richardson and Tyjae Spears).

Ed

Like Matt, Ed got what he wanted in the first round in the form of Bijan Robinson. He also nabbed a tight end he never expected to in George Kittle with pick 4.10. Therefore, this roster looks strong at those two positions and QB (Josh Allen), but contains a plethora of middling WRs (Jerry Jeudy, Christian Kirk, George Pickens, Michael Thomas).

Scott

Scott loaded up on Browns early, taking Nick Chubb and Amari Cooper with his first two picks and David Njoku in the seventh round. He'll hope Drake London has a big second season and that Dak Prescott returns to his 2021 form.

Pulley

Rob: "Babel, you went from zero to sixty really fast."

Pulley: "Yeah, because he went from zero to two quarterbacks really fast."

Witticisms aside, Pulley had a pretty good - and recognizable - draft. He kept Travis Etienne, Jr. and Deshaun Watson in the double-digit rounds and spent his early draft capital on battle-tested veterans Stefon Diggs, Joe Mixon, Mike Evans, and Dalvin Cook.

Schertz

Schertz is to the Bears as Scott is to the Browns. Our 2019 champ kept Justin Fields and drafted D.J. Moore and Khalil Herbert, so if the Bears offense breaks out, he's in really good shape. And in a theme so far, he brought back Saquon Barkley from years past with his first round pick.

Pat

There probably isn't a stronger WR corps post-draft than Pat's. He added Davante Adams with pick 1.09 to his keepers, Ja'Marr Chase and Chris Olave. Lamar Jackson gives him a top five QB, so he really only needs one or two of Alvin Kamara, D'Andre Swift, A.J. Dillon, and Kenneth Gainwell to hit each week to return to the playoffs.

Rabbit

Rabs sandwiched his RB keepers (Christian McCaffrey and Tony Pollard) around DK Metcalf, Mike Williams, and Terry McLaurin for his first five picks. He then dipped into the rookie pool quite a bit, taking Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Sam LaPorta, Rashee Rice, and Jayden Reed later.

Derrek

"Fingers bring out the truth!" - Derrek, referring to Digits bourbon

Derrek drafted two RBs with contract issues - Jonathan Taylor and Josh Jacobs - with his first two picks. Conventional wisdom would say that he can't afford either one of them to hold out or otherwise bust, but the last time he gambled on an unhappy RB early, he got zero points out of it and still cruised to a championship.

Dave

"Mark, I just want to let you know you just went from your fun yelling voice to your angry yelling voice." - Dave, conciliator

Dave used his first live pick (3.12) on Joe Burrow and didn't add a RB until round four (James Conner). But the pick of the day, based on how many others were (drunkenly?) trying to trade for him, was Zay Flowers at 7.12. Dave also sprung for a kicker, Justin Tucker, before anyone else (10.03).

Rob

Rob grabbed two fourth-year WRs, CeeDee Lamb and Tee Higgins, with his first two picks and brought back J.K. Dobbins with his third. Fun fact about Rob's draft: the only player he took (or kept) in the first seven rounds who doesn't have a double letter in his name is Trevor Lawrence.

Mike R.

Finally, we come to our defending champ. Amon-Ra St. Brown was a solid pick at 2.01, while DeAndre Hopkins and Jordan Addison are different sorts of high-upside choices. If those picks hit - and Justin Herbert gets touchdown totals to match his yardage this year - Mike could deservedly win the Sanderson Cup once again.

Closing Thoughts

Thanks to everyone for making the draft a wild good time this year. Remember to get your lineups set by Thursday, September 7, when the Lions and Chiefs kick off the season!

Previous Next

All Sanderson Gazettes