$150 Draft Champions League 1 Is SOLD OUT

[Greg Ambrosius]

Okay, GREAT, GREAT JOB everyone in filling up this first Draft Champions League. You are the first owners to battle for the $10,000 grand prize. You'll also be the first of what will be 250+ drafts this year. Good luck everyone.

Now that everyone is registered, please set your KDS preferences on your team page. We'll announce the KDS deadline once we know exactly when the draft room will be open and then after that we'll announce the draft picks online and set them on your team pages. We'll have a little fun with the draft order for this league and show everyone exactly how KDS works. After that, we'll set a starting time for this "slow draft" and get the ball rolling. Please use the One Round Que Auto Pick feature from time to time and you'll see how easily this works. Just set the players you want next in your que in the order you want and check the One Round Auto box. It will pick your top player from your que and then put you back on the 8-hour clock for your next pick. It won't pick more than 1 player for you and will do it immediately when your turn is up. It works well and will help keep the draft moving.

We obviously have plenty of time to complete this draft, but I'm just interested in everyone using the enhancements we have here and getting used to them. Enjoy all and we'll post an update on the software shortly. We're just getting the player IDs attached to the rookies and testing the draft software now. Set your KDS preferences and we'll move this along soon. Thanks.

[Tom Kessenich]

The KDS deadline for this league will be at 7 pm ET TONIGHT. We're still working on the finishing touches for the draft room and we'll post in this thread the starting time for the draft when the room is ready to go. But get your KDS set tonight and we'll announce the draft order either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Kudos to our first set of NFFC Draft Champions owners as they are already in the third round, less than 24 hours after starting this draft. It's been a wild draft so far with FOUR QBs going in the first 10 picks!!! And none of them were named Cam Newton!!!

No TEs in the first round, but it didn't take long for both of them to go in Round 2. Andre Johnson 17th. Fitz 19th. Pretty wild stuff. We'll analyze some of this as we get more Draft Champions League results, but this looks like a good one already. Again, GREAT JOB to all 14 owners for being ready to draft and keeping this one going last night. These 30 rounds should go quickly.

The 2nd Draft Champions League will start once that one fills. NINE SPOTS LEFT!!

[Greg Ambrosius]

This group is really cruising in this debut Draft Champions League as they are already in the 7th Round. It won't take long to finish this one up. Good job all.

I don't think we're giving away too many secrets in May, so let's take a look at the first round and see if we can get some feedback on this one. You have to admit, it's our most interesting First Round of the NFFC since we debuted in 2004. Never before have you seen 4 QBs going in the first round:

NFFC Draft Champions League 1
1 1 Arian Foster RB
1 2 Aaron Rodgers QB
1 3 Ray Rice RB
1 4 LeSean McCoy RB
1 5 Calvin Johnson WR
1 6 Tom Brady QB
1 7 Maurice Jones-Drew RB
1 8 Drew Brees QB
1 9 Ryan Mathews RB
1 10 Matthew Stafford QB
1 11 Marshawn Lynch RB
1 12 Chris Johnson RB
1 13 Wes Welker WR
1 14 Matt Forte RB

Thoughts?

[CoMoHusker]

This group is really cruising in this debut Draft Champions League as they are already in the 7th Round. It won't take long to finish this one up. Good job all.

I don't think we're giving away too many secrets in May, so let's take a look at the first round and see if we can get some feedback on this one. You have to admit, it's our most interesting First Round of the NFFC since we debuted in 2004. Never before have you seen 4 QBs going in the first round:

NFFC Draft Champions League 1
1 1 Arian Foster RB
1 2 Aaron Rodgers QB
1 3 Ray Rice RB
1 4 LeSean McCoy RB
1 5 Calvin Johnson WR
1 6 Tom Brady QB
1 7 Maurice Jones-Drew RB
1 8 Drew Brees QB
1 9 Ryan Mathews RB
1 10 Matthew Stafford QB
1 11 Marshawn Lynch RB
1 12 Chris Johnson RB
1 13 Wes Welker WR
1 14 Matt Forte RB

Thoughts?

I thought long and hard in the 10 spot and had it narrowed down to Stafford, AJ, CJ, or Forte. AJ is a stud but can't seem to stay on the field. I want to see CJ return to stud status before I spend a 1st round pick on him. I fear a potential hold out scenario for Forte so I pulled the trigger early on Stafford, knowing he most likely wouldn't be there at #19. He's got Elite status and throws to the best WR in the game. Even if Stafford at 10 was a bit of a reach, landing Fitzgerald at #19 was a steal IMO.

We are moving though the draft quite nicely with a great bunch of guys kicking off the first draft of the year. I can't wait to see what the future rounds hold.

[Tom Kessenich]

It would appear that if you want a Top 5 QB this season you're going to have to strike early. That means either using a first-round pick on one or an early to mid second-round selection. Given that, I'm not sure we can say anyone using said pick on a stud QB is reaching because you know going in one of those guys won't be available in the third round or beyond.

Rodgers at 2 is higher than I'd take him but he's currently fifth on my board so I can't say taking him second is out of the question. I think he merits an early pick and he clearly won't be around when the second team picks again in Round 2. So you commit to him early and plan the rest of your early rounds accordingly. I've been saying for years that stud QBs have high value and I think we're starting to see it become more prevalent. This very well could be the Year of the Fantasy QB.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I agree that QBs are going to be taken higher this year in the NFFC than any year in the past, but it's still risky with Third Round Reversal. Can you still get a solid RB and WR in the second and third rounds if you take a QB in the first? That will be the trick. In this draft, the team that selected Aaron Rodgers 2nd overall followed with Trent Richardson in the 2nd Round and Julio Jones in the 3rd Round. That's a pretty nice start.

[Dirty Deeds]

I agree that QBs are going to be taken higher this year in the NFFC than any year in the past, but it's still risky with Third Round Reversal. Can you still get a solid RB and WR in the second and third rounds if you take a QB in the first? That will be the trick. In this draft, the team that selected Aaron Rodgers 2nd overall followed with Trent Richardson in the 2nd Round and Julio Jones in the 3rd Round. That's a pretty nice start.

Have to throw a thought out that in PPR, maybe this group of first three picks of Wes Welker-Jimmy Graham-Hakeem Nicks might outscore those first three picks ???

With QB1 in reserve....

I am also not so sure that round 1 QB picks in 3RR work.

[CoMoHusker]

I agree that QBs are going to be taken higher this year in the NFFC than any year in the past, but it's still risky with Third Round Reversal. Can you still get a solid RB and WR in the second and third rounds if you take a QB in the first? That will be the trick. In this draft, the team that selected Aaron Rodgers 2nd overall followed with Trent Richardson in the 2nd Round and Julio Jones in the 3rd Round. That's a pretty nice start.

Have to throw a thought out that in PPR, maybe this group of first three picks of Wes Welker-Jimmy Graham-Hakeem Nicks might outscore those first three picks ???

With QB1 in reserve....

I am also not so sure that round 1 QB picks in 3RR work.

Deeds, I think your top three picks have an excellent shot of out scoring the trio of Rodgers, Richardson, and Julio. Rodgers is obviously a stud and will put up a ton of fantasy points. Richardson is a bit of a wild card in my eyes. Cleveland didn't exactly excel at running the ball last year and with likely a rookie QB also starting, Richardson could face a lot of eight men in the box type defenses. Julio is super talented but will have to catch about 35 more balls this year and not see a decline in his 8 TD's from last year to help this group outscore yours.

I probably would have never thought about taking Stafford at 10 in a draft in a higher stakes draft. I've never taken a QB in the first round of 3RR before so I was curious how the draft would unfold. Fitzgerald falling to #19 helped make it worthwhile IMO.

[Dirty Deeds]

I agree that QBs are going to be taken higher this year in the NFFC than any year in the past, but it's still risky with Third Round Reversal. Can you still get a solid RB and WR in the second and third rounds if you take a QB in the first? That will be the trick. In this draft, the team that selected Aaron Rodgers 2nd overall followed with Trent Richardson in the 2nd Round and Julio Jones in the 3rd Round. That's a pretty nice start.

Have to throw a thought out that in PPR, maybe this group of first three picks of Wes Welker-Jimmy Graham-Hakeem Nicks might outscore those first three picks ???

With QB1 in reserve....

I am also not so sure that round 1 QB picks in 3RR work.

Deeds, I think your top three picks have an excellent shot of out scoring the trio of Rodgers, Richardson, and Julio. Rodgers is obviously a stud and will put up a ton of fantasy points. Richardson is a bit of a wild card in my eyes. Cleveland didn't exactly excel at running the ball last year and with likely a rookie QB also starting, Richardson could face a lot of eight men in the box type defenses. Julio is super talented but will have to catch about 35 more balls this year and not see a decline in his 8 TD's from last year to help this group outscore yours.

I probably would have never thought about taking Stafford at 10 in a draft in a higher stakes draft. I've never taken a QB in the first round of 3RR before so I was curious how the draft would unfold. Fitzgerald falling to #19 helped make it worthwhile IMO.

CoMo,

Your first three picks of Matt Stafford, Larry Fitzgerald, and Steven Jackson make a lot of sense in my mind and certainly are going to be very tough to compete with. Very nice job. Maybe I am old school..however you MUST have Proven Talent in picks 2 though 5 if you go QB in first round.

My dislike in the other trio was that while you have maybe the best QB..you have a rookie RB and my biggest dislike.. a potential sophmore slump at WR. With that being said..Rogers is a stud and the next two picks are obviuos unknowns. You just cannot go QB in round one unless the next picks are rock solid.

"Life is a Gamble...Make it Educated"