Tue May 28th 2024

Grading My Two Best Teams' Rookie Drafts

Rookie drafts are less fun when your team is a top contender, but the season is more fun when you're winning. Two of my three best rosters are in my Finish The Fight league and my Good Times league.  I won the Super Bowl in the former and was a runner-up in the latter. Both are ten-team, one-quarterback leagues, so it's easier to assemble a strong roster. Still, my teams are the best I've ever built, apart from a league I will write about in a few weeks after our rookie draft.

Rather than writing about the entire rookie draft in these leagues, I thought I would write about the players I drafted and how my team is shaping up. I will also make a few comments about picks that were surprising in each draft, spotting some overall trends in the six rookie drafts I've participated in so far.

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Finish The Fight League

I was invited into this league by a podcast listener two years ago. I took over an orphan team that already had a pretty strong roster. I immediately made a trade to acquire Tyreek Hill to make my team even stronger. I lost in the semi-finals the first year, and last year, I took home the trophy. That left me with the 1.10, 2.10, and 4.10 in this year's rookie draft, but I made a big trade that left me with just three picks in this draft.

Xavier Worthy

• In one-quarterback leagues, my first-tier players are Marvin Harrison, Malik, Nabers, Rome Odunze, Jonathan Brooks, Brock Bowers, and Xavier Worthy. But Worthy was still on this board in this league at 1.8. So I offered to trade up for worthy by giving up my 1.10 and 2.10 picks to get his 1.8 and 3.4. On a team with a roster as strong as this one, I wanted a top-tier player over two players in my second and third tiers. So I drafted Worthy at 1.8 and had to sit and watch the draft unfold until I was up at 3.4. Worthy was a can't-miss recruit to Texas who broke out as a freshman and has lived up to the hype each year. I am supremely confident he will have a very productive career in the NFL. All the receivers after Worthy have question marks, so I was willing to trade up to draft Worthy ahead of who would fall to me two picks later. I was surprised to see Ladd McConkey and Trey Benson drafted ahead of Worthy in this draft, but that enabled me to trade up.

Jalen McMillan

• I am weaker at running back than I am at wide receiver in this league, so I hoped that Audric Estime would fall to me at 3.4, but he was drafted the pick before my pick. Rather than reach for the next running back on my board, I selected the top player available, which was McMillan, who I have ranked 25 in my one-quarterback rankings. Drafting him at pick 34 was a steal. McMillan will earn an immediate role in three-receiver sets as the Buccaneers desire to move Chris Godwin to the slot. Plus, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are getting older. Evans signed a new contract, but Godwin has a potential out in his contract at the end of this year. When healthy, McMillan outproduced Ja'Lynn Polk as the WR-2 with Washington, yet he was drafted a round later in the NFL draft. He was a steal when he fell to Tampa Bay at 3.27 and me at 3.4.

Bo Nix

• I drafted Bo Nix with the last pick of this league's four-round rookie draft. I could use a young, developing quarterback on my team, and he was the best value with this final pick. We have a taxi squad in this league, too, so he can sit on my taxi squad with Jalen McMillan as my starters continue to dominate.

Team Assessment

I have an excellent starting quarterback but need a stronger backup. Lamar Jackson's injury late in the season two years ago derailed me in the playoffs that year. Last year, when healthy, he carried my team to a championship.

• Lamar Jackson, Derek Carr, Aidan O'Connell, Bo Nix, and Spencer Rattler (added on waivers after the draft).

Running backs are my only weakness in this league, but it's a PPR and tight-end premium league with three wide receiver spots and three flex spots, so running back is my least important position. My goal in a league like this is to have one solid starter and to stream the RB-2 position, but I now have two solid starters.

• Joe Mixon, Zamir White, Jaylen Warren, Zach Charbonnet, Justice Hill, Jamal Williams, Chris Rodriguez, Chase Edmonds, and Sean Tucker.

My wide receivers make me a winner in this league. With three mandatory starters and three flex spots in a PPR league, I often start six wide receivers and always start at least five. Imagine rolling out these guys as your starters every week.

• Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hil, Puca Nakua, Terry McClaurin, Xavier Worthy, Zay Jones, Darius Slayton, Van Jefferson, and Bub Means (added after the draft on waivers).

This league has tight-end premium scoring, so I regularly start two tight ends and roster more tight ends than I would in a non-premium league. I'm solid with starters and developers in this league.

• Mark Andrews, Evan Ingram, Zach Ertz, Colby Parkinson, Will Dissly, Greg Dulcich, and Tanner McLachlan (add on waivers after the draft).

This team is fit to compete for another championship. I'm most pleased to have added Xavier Worthy to it.  Hook 'Em Horns!

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Good Times League

This league was my first dynasty league. I started it in 2015. It's not as active of a league as I would like, but we've added new managers over the years, making it better now than ever. I've often thought about leaving this league, but my team is so good that I don't want to. I am the league commissioner, so that would not be cool. Sadly, I have only won the championship once, even though my team is stacked. I lost in the Super Bowl last season even though I was the second-highest-scoring team and had the best record (11-3). There are very few trades in this league, so I had all of my original picks with the 9th spot in each round.

My only team need is at quarterback, so I planned to draft a quarterback at 1.9 if Caleb Williams or Jayden Daniels fell to me. With the remaining four picks, I drafted the top player on my board, which meant I drafted a lot of "my guys." I won't write as much about "my guys" since I have drafted and written about them in previous drafts in the last few weeks. Still, I was happy to add "my guys" to this team.

Jayden Daniels

• I have Justin Herbert as my starter, but my only backups are Russell Wilson, Aidan O'Connell, and Gardner Minshew. I'm concerned that Jim Harbaugh's offensive scheme will make Herbert less productive, and his loss of star pass catchers will hurt him, too. I was pleased to draft Daniels, whose fantasy production potential is through the roof as a passer and runner. If he becomes an elite fantasy-producing quarterback, he will be the last piece in making my team a continuous title contender.

Ray Davis

• David is a "my guy." This is my third share of Ray Davis. He's my 20th-ranked rookie in superflex rankings, and I've been able to draft him in half of my leagues now. I'm confident in his ability, character, and immediate role with the Bills. In this league, he's added youth and depth to my running back room, which is loaded with talent.

Javon Baker

• Baker is a "my guy." This is my third share of Baker. He's my 23-ranked rookie in superflex rankings, so I have him ranked way higher than others. As I have written about in recent weeks, he will become the WR-1 in New England. Until he gets there, he'll have plenty of time to develop in my loaded wide-receiver room.

Jalen McMillan

• This is my second share of McMillan. I have already written about his above. He adds depth to my very deep wide receiver toom.

Bub Means

• I now have four shares of Bub Means.  I drafted him in two leagues and added him off the waiver wire in two other leagues after the rookie drafts ended. As I have written about before, he has a chance to become a starter for New Orleans, which has one of the league's thinnest wide receiver depth charts. He's a player I will continue to draft in the first round of rookie drafts or add off waivers.

Team Assessment

This is the best dynasty team I have ever built. My only problem is determining which players to start every week because my roster is so loaded.

I now have depth and quarterback with potential of a rookie superstar who could take my team over the top.

• Justin Herbert, Jayden Daniels, Russell Wilson, Aidan O'Connell, and Gardner Minshew.

I've never had a running back room filled with so many starting running backs. Usually, I have a few starters and a lot of backups. In this league, I have five starters, so the problem is picking which two or three to start in my lineups.

• Jonathan Taylor, Saquon Barkley, Joe Mixon, Jerome Ford, Devein Singletary, Jaylen Warren, Zach Charbonnet, Miles Sanders, and Ray Davis.

My wide receivers are loaded, too. I need to trade some of them away this year because there are too many top-tiered guys and so many players on the same team, making it very difficult to know who to start each week. We have to start three and can start four in this half-PPR league, so picking the correct ones every week is very difficult, but that's hard to complain about.

• Amon-Ra St. Brown, Mike Evans, Chris Olave, Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Tee Higgins, Josh Downs, Demario Douglas, Javon Baker, Jalen McMillan, Trey Palmer, A.T. Perry, and Bub Means.

I'm set at tight end, too. There's nothing to fear here.

• Trey McBride, Dallas Goedert, Chig Okonkwo, and Greg Dulcich.

As I said, the only problem with this team is deciding on my starting lineup each week. My team should continue to dominate for years to come. If anything, I need to trade some players this season to acquire more draft picks in the years to come.

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