Bill, great job chronicling the draft.
Trendsetters is one of my favorite draft experiences each season. Taking place immediately following the final whistle of the Super Bowl, it's always the very 1st fantasy football draft of the year, and gives me one last taste of football before shifting gears to baseball. It utilizes a unique format that breaks the draft into multiple phases scheduled weeks apart from February through May. It offers the option to draft a rookie slot rather than any specific player, and to put a name to that rookie slot after the NFL draft. And the draft participants include some of the toughest in this hobby, from Overall Contest Champions to NFFC Hall of Famers to flat out just great players one and all.
I've participated in this league every year since 2010 and I've been lucky enough to win the league twice in that time. The following is the start of my attempt at taking down one more.
1.4 - Deandre Hopkins WR - I set my KDS straight butter hoping to get an early pick and anchor WR. I preferred the three WR's that went before me, Antonio, Julio, & OBJ due to the fact that they've performed among the elite for multiple seasons, something I can't say about my pick. However, Nuk did put up an 111/1521/11 line this season for a team with subpar QB play, a shaky running game after Foster went down, and below average options on the other side at WR and at TE to take coverage off him. I believe he proved himself this year to be elite, QB proof, offense proof, and is a safe pick here. I did briefly consider Gurley or Leveon, but Gurley's lack of involvement in the passing game and Leveon's brutal injury made those thoughts pass quickly.
2.11 - Jamaal Charles RB - I felt lucky to have decided on Nuk over the RB option's as the draft moved through the 1st 2 rounds. WR's were going early & often. However, when the draft called it a night 2 picks before my pick here, DT and Cooper were both still on the board, and I went to bed hoping to grab one of them the next day to pair with Hopkins to strengthen my foundation at WR. Unfortunately and as always is the case in this draft, when I awoke both DT and Cooper were taken with the picks just prior to mine. At this point 18 WR's had been taken, but only 5 RB's, and after the DT/Cooper picks there was a definitive tier drop at receiver in my mind. And when everyone zigs, it may be time to zag. So I shifted gears to one of the remaining elite and rare 3-down options remaining at RB, and in Charles, one that I felt had dropped too far due to the WR rush. Charles doesn't come without risk considering his injury, age, and the emergence of Ware & West. Still, it's Jamaal Charles, and in an Andy Reid RB-centric offense. There hasn't been many players who've provided the consistent elite 1st round production season after season like Charles. This pick is a bet that it returns for at least one more year.
3.11 - Michael Floyd WR - The run on WR's recommenced after my 2nd round pick and through the 3rd until my choice here, another 10 in the 13 picks since. The strong options were growing scarce. There were still three though that I felt comfortable choosing as my WR2 here, Floyd, Devante Parker, & Josh Gordon. My preference was to get 2 of the 3 between this pick & my pick in the 4th. I chose Floyd over the other 2 because I felt he had the least chance of making it through the 6 picks before I chose again. Floyd bounced back this year from a rough 2014 & his preseason hand injury to put up solid numbers. He plays for a strong offense where there may be a changing of the guard ongoing at WR1. Though his numbers aren't elite, his skill set may still be, and he passes the eye test for me that if they look his way more this year, he'll put up the numbers that'll reward this pick.
4.4 - Josh Gordon WR - Well, not the safest pick, but as they say... No guts, no glory. Gordon comes with a ceiling of best WR in the game, but a floor of suspended for life. We'll see how the season plays out. Still, it's not often you get the opportunity to grab an elite WR this late, who comes with this talent, and who's already proven he can provide top tier production no matter the offense or QB. Worth the gamble in my mind. Just stay away from the bong Josh!
5.11 - Carson Palmer QB - Trendsetters is known for its literally brutal runs. This draft has been no different. When this draft reached pick 5.2, only Cam Newton was off the board from the QB position. By the time it got to me after only 9 more picks were taken, another 7 QB's were gone. I felt lucky Palmer was still there. He's getting older, and is no Brett Favre when it comes to avoiding injury. However when healthy, he produces. He also gives me a nice hookup with Floyd.
6.4 - Lesean McCoy RB - By this point, WR, QB, and then TE were picked clean of the top tiers. There was still plenty of value at RB though. Only 17 have been taken so far through 5 plus rounds, leaving plenty of RB2's still to choose from on the board. In McCoy though, I believe a RB1 was also still available. Again, another pick that comes with risk considering McCoy's bar altercation with off duty police. I did read however that the police were at odds with the DA due to the DA's reluctance to press charges. This tells me McCoy's guilt & blame is far from certain and there's a possibility that he walks away from this, and returns as the key cog in Rex's ground & pound philosophy. We'll see.
My team through 6 rounds:
QB - Carson Palmer
RB - Jamaal Charles
RB - Lesean McCoy
WR - Deandre Hopkins
WR - Michael Floyd
WR - Josh Gordon
There may be a "bit" too much risk on this team. However, I've never been one to be called risk averse. And if all works out, and I'm able to surround this corps with solid options in the rounds that follow, I believe this team to have the talent & potential production to compete.
In a week or so, we start the 2nd phase of this year's Trendsetters, and we'll see if we can get a couple safer players then.
This league is all about the "runs", get ready for the next run....
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