2019 IS HERE
I hope you all are as excited as I am for the newest installment of the NFL show, this season should be great. I'm expecting a few twists and turns, and a few loose ends tied up. Is this the last time we will see Tom Brady and the Patriots in a leading role? Will Drew Brees finally get the MVP committee to fall in love with him? Will Mahomes be a candle that burned too brightly, or will his fire last longer than the Menorah? Will Antonio Brown's helmet fit correctly? There's only one way to know the answers, and that is to tune in and find out as each new episode is released weekly.
Also, as a complete sidenote, comment if you find the new mobile layout on ESPN much more difficult to use? I'm having a hard time accessing other team's rosters. It's possible, but not accessible.
DRAFT GRADES
The Autobots (Matthew Burke).
Pros: A balanced approach with few holes. Your WRs do not have huge question-marks and they are anchored by arguably the best, DeAndre Hopkins. Thielen can prove that the beginning of the last season was real, or he could be an okay receiver, hard to see worse. Moore and Marvin Jones Jr. also slate to be competent at worst. I'm not a fan of Mixon, but he'll get you some points and you did get Giovani as a solid hedge to injury history. Your pick of Sony Michel has a strong chance at being the best value in the draft. Henry, if you believe, can be great. The argument I've heard is that Rivers loves his TE, but how much is truth, and how much was it just having Antonio Gates forever?
Cons: Your depth feels lacking. Giovani was a great pick, but after that I'm not certain many of these guys could plug in during bye weeks and show anything of relevance. Of course, I didn't draft them so your opinion could be wildly different. Ben Roethlisberger has been good in the past, but people seriously underestimate how much losing Brown could hurt him.
Grade: A
Greenbowl Packers (Valeriy Shishkin)
Pros: You have a strong chance at having both the WR1 and RB1 on the year. I think Gurley's knee issues were overstated and that he will likely be fine, and we know how great a healthy Gurley is. Juju should be interesting too, will he be the same force without the best WR in football lining up across from him? TY Hilton could be a steal at his draft price if Jacoby Brisset proves usable, and Drew Brees is great when Taysom Hill isn't stealing his TDs. OJ Howard has some nice upside if he can stay healthy. Adam Humphries and John Brown on the bench could be nice depth pieces.
Cons: Melvin Gordon. That situation doesn't look good, and you don't have any of his backups. That's a potential blackhole on your bench for most of the season. Does Corey Davis actually exist or is he simply a figment of Mariota's imagination (living in Eugene OR does weird things to a person, trust me). Jordan Howard has to prove himself against a rookie and a literal senior citizen, is it possible just like a middle child he gets ignored? Kenyan Drake is on an XFL team as far as I'm aware, and it's worth noting you have two players on this XFL team. 3 TEs is not preferable, especially when you have a starter that you probably won't want to bench.
Grade: D+
Squidward's Revenge (Andrew Gomez)
Pros: Oh boy... That WR corp looks amazing. Like really, really good. Hill can blow up, Thomas is consistently good, Cooper can blow up (and if he doesn't it's likely covered by one of the other guys), and Jeffery is the WR1 on the Eagles. For how good this WR corp looks, I'd expect your RBs to be garbage, and they aren't premiere but they're better than I would have guessed. Cam Newton also has a ton of upside.
Cons: Christian Kirk may come out strong if you believe in the Cardinals offense, but I don't want to believe in the Cardinals at all this year. With the amount of boom/bust players you have on your team I think it's incredibly possible that some weeks you could score 200+, and other weeks you could score less-than 100. Volatility is the name of the game, and I believe in swinging for the fences, but you have Derrick Henry and Amari Cooper starting for the same team and that's gotta be terrifying. Guice is a complete question-mark, and Adrian Peterson could come back from the dead one-more time to steal all his touches. Also, your TE situation may be worse than bleak.
Grade: B+
Rip Lips (Gary Meyer)
Pros: Alvin Kamara is super good. Kupp, Golladay, and Sanders all have the chance to be at least a WR2, and in Kupp's case he could be absolutely amazing. I hear people say that James Washington could be a thing, and who knows how PIT keeps getting great WRs but there is a history there. Matt Ryan is a fake, but he can put up good fantasy numbers. You picked your favorite team's defense, and there certainly could be arguments that they were worthy of where you picked them.
Cons: So, let's say that Leonard Fournette hurts his leg, or David Montgomery is not relied upon as much as expected. Who in the world are you going to play instead? Sure there's Washington, but would you really want to rely on Carlos Hyde? Darrell Henderson (someone who isn't promised anything)? Marquise Brown? I mean, your starting lineup looks really solid but given the risk associated with these guys, I think your Chicago D pick could have helped pick some much needed depth.
Grade: B-
Football Cream (Alex Gomez)
Pros: You can absolutely cheer along for the Eagles while watching It's Always Sunny this year. You've earned that right (especially if you consider that Golden Tate is wearing an Eagles jersey in his headshot). Lockett, Adams, Woods, and Samuel is a great WR corp to start with. It's not the strongest in the league, but it's probably one of the top. Backing them up with DeSean Jaccson and Golden Tate might be a nice hedge too. Kittle is a top 3 TE, and your team doesn't look worse for wear after getting him. Chubb should be good, but you might also be setting yourself up for playoff disappointment again if Hunt really does steal touches.
Cons: Wentz gets injured a lot, and if he goes down so does the value of your PHI players. Can Ekeler really handle a strong workload or do you think he goes back to his pass-catching back? Adrian Peterson isn't great depth, and while Miles Sanders has a shot, I remember the Eagles backfield in the past and it wasn't wonderful.
Grade: B+
BB Baker's Boys (Chris Pender)
Pros: You have officially made the team your own with your new name. Gotta feel good about that. You also went out and got your two boys, Baker and Landry. Zeke signed his contract, and you now own the highest paid RB in the league, so that's nice. He'll also probably be really good. I hear people like Kerryon Johnson, and while I'm not fully certain why, he probably should be serviceable at worst. While I absolutely despise Travis Kelce, he'll probably get you some points and will mean you should win your TE battle almost every week. Cole Beasley could be PPR gold.
Cons: So I can tell who your 1-2-3 picks are. After that I'm pretty much guessing where you got each player, and that's not a great place to be. Duke Johnson Jr. in Houston feels uncertain, Sammy Watkins health, feels uncertain, Tyrell Williams has potential but also uncertain. Those are the starters too, the bench has some upside but not enough for this to be the starting lineup. You'll want to look to get some WRs if at least one bench player doesn't pan out immediately. I respect your picks as they are on the teams you want to watch, and that's a huge part of the fun, but I do worry that you may have limited your value immensely.
Grade: D
Mustard Tigers (Ory Yaslinskiy)
Pros: You drafted Antonio Brown, which I'm assuming everyone knows I think this is a great pick. Enjoy watching the Raiders. You've got Mahomes, which I'm told people think is a good thing. Le'Veon Bell has fresh legs, and he completes your "former Steelers" card set. I also like Phillip Lindsay, dude is the definition of moxy. Ertz is also a nice set-it-and-forget-it TE. Your bench currently has a good deal of upside potentially.
Cons: Well, Mahomes could regress and we'd still have to listen to his interviews. You've got something of a giant hole in your roster, one that has you slated to start Paul Richardson. Allen Robinson was good with Bortles, and he was alright last year, but do you actually trust Trubiskiy (fun fact, spell check has that as me typing out "rubbishy")?
Grade: B
Fresno Facecleaters (Chris Cone)
Pros: The closest thing to a hole in your starting lineup is your TE, and even he has potential. You've got bonafide starters in both your top two WR and RB slots, and Deshaun Watson as your QB. That's a good start. Sterling Shepard could surprise people and the Giants may not be as bad as advertised. Jones and Mack both have potential to have big seasons, and you did get Legatron.
Cons: Jones and Mack are both injury prone, and while you do have Peyton Barber (a legitimate starter), you may have a hard time filling both holes if they arise. David Johnson wasn't a bad pick, but I can imagine a world in which the Cardinals do not actually get better and he underwhelms again. You've got a kicker on your bench, I strongly strongly recommend against this. You cannot play a kicker in your flex.
Grade: B
Mr Rodgers Neighborhood (Daniel Smith)
Pros: The name is legitimately back!!! I was quite excited about this. Saquan might be the best RB in the league, and no one can argue the pick. Freeman is a great RB2 provided he can stay healthy. Keenan and Ridley are both potentially good WRs with a few downsides. I like Jared Cook, and I think he could be a big component of success on your team. Grabbing both SF RBs is probably going to be worth points and will let you watch your favorite team.
Cons: Look, having two top QBs of the last decade sounds good, but in actuality is there ever a time you'll start a 41 year-old Brady over Rodgers? I think that pick may have been a bit of a waste. Kareem Hunt is a black hole on your bench, tell me any way that you will feel comfortable playing him when he comes back week 10. N'keal Harry is literally on IR. I don't trust Courtland Sutton even a bit.
Grade: C
DonCobbs Underdogs (Jake Yorke - League Champion)
Pros: Julio Jones is a player that always scores points. Last time he scored 10+ TDs was with the same OC he has now, so there's a good possibility he is used better than he was last year. If Dalvin Cook can stay healthy and James White continues to catch many passes, your RBs should be solid. Godwin is in a great position to have a big year. Locking up whichever WR proves to be the 2nd best in Green Bay is probably going to pay off.
Cons: Taking the whole time every pick in the draft. Stefon Diggs is already nursing a hamstring injury that might take him out of week 1. Your TEs both have potential, but neither have a promise. Damien Williams on your bench must have originally looked absolutely brilliant, now it is scary (there is a lot of potential there still). Both Tarik Cohen and James White have players that are supposed to make them less effective and less utilized.
Grade: C+
The Chorne Zhopas (Yuriy Yedinak)
Pros: I think there are serious arguments that could be made for each of your players finishing in the top 20 at their position. Assuming Robby Anderson actually plays, I'm not spotting any significant weakness in your starting lineup. The closest is Mike Williams, and even that guy has big potential with Melvin Gordon sitting out. Lots of handcuffs for yourself on your bench.
Cons: Judging by the amount of handcuffs on your bench I assume that you are preparing for the long-haul, no trading, few waiver picks, rely on draft season. I don't know if I've seen that successful so good luck. If Mark Ingram II should go down and Gus Edwards gets the start, you actually don't have another RB. I also am wondering what you think about byes, do you really want to play two players from the same team?
Grade: A-
The Rats Nest (Nic Meyer)
Pros: Made this blog. Drafted with literally 6 people in the same room and didn't make eye contact or talk to them once. Got at least 1 Raiders player. Got called anti-social 3 times for doing this. Worked menorah into the blog. Decided to use Andrew Luck gifs to describe your draft, and almost all of them were positive.
Cons: I think Andrew Luck's positive attitude made my grades a bit soft.
Grade: A+
RANKINGS BASED ON BIASED REPORTING:
- Nic Meyer
- Matt Burke
- Yuriy Yedinak
- Andrew Gomez
- Alex Gomez
- Chris Cone
- Ory Yaslinskiy
- Gary Meyer
- Jake Yorke
- Daniel Smith
- Valeriy Shishkin
- Chris Pender
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