Trendsetters 2017

[BigBlueNation]

It's that time of year again, boys and girls. The unofficial kickoff to another year of fantasy football drafting begins Sunday night immediately following the Super Bowl. It's our annual 14 team DC of exemplary owners trying to predict what the hell is going to happen next year before free agency, retirements, the NFL draft and any trades that will affect any and all concerned. It's an email draft which we do in phases. We will draft a few rounds, wait about two and half weeks, and repeat this up until the NFL draft. During the process, we will select Rookies. The Rookie slots are filled after the NFL draft and we follow that with the last phase of the draft.

Here's the schedule:
Phase I...begins Feb. 5 for 6 rounds
Phase II...begins Feb 24 for 7 rounds
Phase III...begins Mar 17 for 7 rounds
Phase IV...begins Apr 7 for 5 rounds
NFL draft Apr 27-29
Fill Rookie slots during or immediatley following the NFL draft.
Phase V...once the Rookie slots are filled we finish the draft with the remaining 5 rounds

This is my favorite draft of all. It is so unpredictable. The "Hoosier" connection of Wayne Ellis, Jeff Clampitt and Chris Gillman finished 1 2 3 in last years event. Wayne was 120 points better than Jeff who in turn was 183 points ahead of Chris. Here is the list of this years competitors in draft order...

1. Glenn Lowy
2. Wayne Ellis
3. Billy Wasosky
4. Mike Sanda
5. Andy Saxton
6. Jeff Clampitt
7. Bill Cleavenger
8. Jules McLean
9. Matt Bayley
10. Shawn Gundy
11. Mike Santos
12. Frank Mammola
13. Chris Gillman
14. Mark Moyer

I like my #7 slot in this draft for a couple reasons. I have 8-9 players I like and feel there's a little drop off after them, plus this is a draft of runs. And I mean SERIOUS runs.

After each phase most of us post our picks with commentary. It is one of the most read/viewed threads on the MB and makes for great conversation. Stay tuned, we're just a few days away.

[TheReckoner]

I think twitter would have a field day with this league. So many clamoring for early info and insight, has anyone explored the exposure for the league and NFFC in this way? Plus it would be an interesting medium for everyone to follow on..... with that said, I'm very excited about joining this year. Thank you again to those involved!

[BigBlueNation]

I failed to mention we added three new players to this years draft with Shawn, Frank and Andy. Welcome aboard guys, hope you enjoy the league as much as the rest of us and Good Luck..

[BigBlueNation]

OK peoples, we're off and running. Congrats to the Pats for a great comeback and SB victory. Atlanta simply laid an egg the second half. Meanwhile, back in the real world of football, we have started Trendsetters. I'll post the first few rounds as picks are made. ENJOY!!!

1.1 David Johnson
1.2 LeVeon Bell
1.3 Ezekiel Elliott
1.4 Antonio Brown
1.5 Odell Beckham jr
1.6 Jordy Nelson
1.7 Julio Jones
1.8 Mike Evans
1.9 AJ Green
1.10 LeSean McCoy
1.11 Melvin Gordon
1.12 DeMarco Murray
1.13 TY Hilton
1.14 Devonta Freeman

Round 1...RBs 7, WRs 7

2.1 Michael Thomas
2.2 Jordan Howard
2.3 Todd Gurley
2.4 Dez Bryant
2.5 DeAndre Hopkins
2.6 Jay Ajayi
2.7 Amari Cooper
2.8 Brandin Cooks
2.9 Doug Baldwin
2.10 Lamar Miller
2.11 Demaryius Thomas
2.12 Allen Robinson
2.13 Keenan Allen
2.14 Sammy Watkins

Round 2...RBs 4, WRs 10

3.1 Tevin Coleman
3.2 Jarvis Landry
3.3 Aaron Rodgers
3.4 Davante Adams
3.5 Alshon Jeffrey
3.6 Mark Ingram
3.7 Carlos Hyde
3.8 Julian Edelman
3.9 Drew Brees
3.10 Rob Gronkowski
3.11 Tom Brady
3.12 Andrew Luck
3.13 Matt Ryan
3.14 Cam Newton

Round 3...QBs 6, RBs 3, WRs 4, TEs 1

4.1 Rookie 1
4.2 Kirk Cousins
4.3 Derek Carr
4.4 Russell Wilson
4.5 Marcus Mariota
4.6 Ben Roethlisberger
4.7 Dak Prescott
4.8 Matt Stafford
4.9 Phillip Rivers
4.10 Jameis Winston
4.11 Golden Tate
4.12 Michael Crabtree
4.13 Andy Dalton
4.14 Blake Bortles

Round 4...QBs 11, WRs 2, Rookies 1
I wasn't kidding about this draft having some SERIOUS runs.

5.1 Travis Kelce
5.2 Kelvin Benjamin
5.3 Donte Moncrief
5.4 Terrelle Pryor sr
5.5 Emmanuel Sanders
5.6 Stefon Diggs
5.7 Rookie 2
5.8 Jordan Reed
5.9 Thomas Rawls
5.10 Larry Fitzgerald
5.11 Jimmy Graham
5.12 CJ Anderson
5.13 Tyreek Hill
5.14 Greg Olsen

Round 5...RBs 2, WRs 7, TEs 4, Rookies 1

6.1 Eric Decker
6.2 Jordan Matthews
6.3 SterlingShepard
6.4 Kenneth Dixon
6.5 Derrick Henry
6.6 Eli Manning
6.7 Robert Kelley
6.8 Rishard Matthews
6.9 Delanie Walker
6.10 Spencer Ware
6.11 Tyler Eiffert
6.12 Hunter Henry
6.13 Carson Palmer
6.14 Joe Flacco

Round 6...QBs 3, RBs 4, WRs 4, TEs 3

[boutrous11]

Tevin Coleman 3.1?? Wow.

[Sandman62]

Tevin Coleman 3.1?? Wow.

But to the Freeman owner at least.

[BigBlueNation]

Phase I is complete. 84 players selected, a couple Rookie slots to be filled later. Here's a position comparison for the first six rounds of 2016 versus 2017.

QB ... 2016-15, 2017-21
RB ... 2016-22, 2017-19 (in 2016, one RB was a rookie)
WR ... 2016-40, 2017-34 (in 2016, one WR was a rookie)
TE ... 2016-7, 2017-8
rookies ... 2016-2, 2017-2

Basically, more QB's early, less WR's. The front end drafters loaded up on QB's at the 3-4 turn, which pushed it to a more QB friendly Phase I.

Phase II starts Feb. 24 for seven rounds. I'm sure you'll see some commentary from the owners regarding their thoughts on their teams and Phase I.

[TheReckoner]

10th spot

1.McCoy(10)
2.Hopkins(19)
3.Jeffery(33)
4.Winston(52)
5.Sanders(61)
6.Ware(80)

This being my first Trendsetters I will say this.... it's a wild ride. Projecting possibilities and all sorts of what ifs can get tricky. With that said, I've looked forward to this for some time...my game plan for KDS was 1-7, 10-8 yada yada yada. Ending up with my 8th KDS choice my target was McCoy from day one. This didn't seem likely to me at the time, but you get your wish every now and then.

1.10 McCoy- As of early February, if I don't land a top 7 pick (3 elite rb, 4 elite WR) I want the next best workhorse RB who catches a lot of balls. That's still the advantage. At 29 with no clear heir in the fold, the only thing that makes LeSean risky is questions about who will be under center. McCoy is clearly their central cog.

2.19 Hopkins- Not my first or second hope here, but Hopkins is an exciting bounce back candidate whose big question is.... who will be throwing him the ball?!? It won't be Osweiller thus Hopkins is trending up and a nice value at pick 19. Hopkins catch % dropped 7% from his career average in 2016. Thanks a lot Brock.

3.33 Jeffery- a few picks earlier Frank Mammola started the great QB run of 2017... yes in round 3! So needless to say looking back this can be a suspect pick, but before everyone went crazy it seemed like quite the value. I'll take the risk in February for supreme talent. Just don't end up in Cleveland! 2016 was a much healthier year... 4 different quarterbacks and a 4 game suspension should help to build a little value in here.

4.52 Winston- no I'm not thrilled.... thanks Frank lol. In reality it's a DC and despite popular opinion... you can survive this. Winston has the best upside of the QBs left at this point. Little more help on the line and a few more weapons... could be real good.

5.61 Sanders- I've always been a fan of Sanders play making ability.

6.80 Spencer Ware......... value was just too good.

The first phase was definitely not about roster construction. Let's see if the perceived depth in certain positions holds up.

[Sabretooth]

Here is my team from the 13 spot....

1.13 TY HILTON i've had my eye on Hilton since we got our draft spots. it was a no brainer for me here. As long as he is on the field he will produce.

2.2 JORDAN HOWARD I was pleasantly surprised to see Howard here. A true #1 back at this point to me.

3.2 JARVIS LANDRY with 3RR Landry landed in my lap. I had planned to pick a 2nd RB here or possibly Aarron rodgers but Landry was too good to pass up. He is not going to score a lot of tds but is a lock for 90 catches I believe.

4.13 ANDY DALTON The QB run was a bit surprising as it was the earliest we have ever had in Trendsetters. I had to take the best Qb available here. At least you don't have to worry about him losing his job. Im hoping for a bounce back year with a
healthy AJ and eifert.

5.2 KELVIN BENJAMIN I really like this guy this year. He is the clear cut #1 in Carolina, He just needs to stay healthy. I dont
think he fully was last year so im expecting big things.

6.13 CARSON PALMER he just annouced he was coming back so this was an easy pick for me. The best QB there and I have the 2nd pick when we start up again on feb 24th.

[cfolson]

Do you play 2 QBs in this league?