Trendsetters 2017

[Sandman62]

Do you play 2 QBs in this league?

It uses Draft Champions scoring.
From the DC Rules page:

6. Starting Lineup Requirements
Starting lineups will consist of:
1 Quarterback
2 Running Backs
3 Wide Receivers
1 Tight End
1 Flex Player (RB, WR or TE)
1 Kicker
1 Team Defense/Specials Team

The computer picks your optimal scoring lineup at the end of each week for 16 weeks.

http://nffc.stats.com/football/leagues/ ... tchamp.asp

[Coltsfan]

I"ll give it a shot....from the second pick.

1.2 Leveon - it's flip a coin between Leveon and DJ this year. Glenn made my choice easy.
2.13 Keenan Allen - Is this the year he stays healthy??? I love the upside and that's what I"m looking for here.
3.13 Matt Ryan - Luck, Brady, and Brees all went right in front of me:) I was going QB here or taking the first rookie pick. I decided to double up at QB early so I went Ryan. I don't love this pick.
4.2 Kirk Cousins - Glenn took the first rookie right behind me so I followed through with another QB. Both of these QB's will regress this year but I still think they are viable starters. There are only so many starting QB's and in the 14 team leagues you can't get shut out at QB2. There aren't enough to go around. So I took the sure thing here trying to lock in 450 points at QB this year. I don't love this pick at all and I wish I could do it over but it's done. I think 4 teams doubled up at QB in the 4th.
5.13 Tyreek Hill - I needed a good punt returner:) Actually he had 61 catches last year playing part time. I'm guessing he get more involved this year and his yac should be way up. I like him for upside. I honestly thought he would have gone much earlier.
6.2 - Jordan Matthews - He's such a big part of the Eagle offense. The main reason he was down last year is his touchdowns went from 8 the previous 2 years down to 3 this past year. I look for a bounce back in red zone targets this year. I really like this pick in the early 6th.

It's amazing how you set out to do something when you're drafting and one pick right in front of you changes everything. Thanks Billy for taking my man Luck lol. But you aren't winning a draft in the 3rd round. Most of the teams have very nice starts. I think the back end of the draft did a very nice job putting together solid players given that the front end has a nice advantage (or potential advantage) at RB this year. It all looks pretty balanced to me. The next phase starts in 9 days and then it will get really interesting.


Wayne

[76erfan]

Here is my team so far

1) 1.5 ODB-From the 5 hole......barely missed out on the top 4 of DJ, bell, Zeke and Antonio...went with Beckham who seemed to be a heavy presence on my teams last year too.

2) 2.11 Lamar Miller- last year was the year of the RB and I decided I didn't like the WR on the board too much here. Decided to go with a RB I still like if Houston can ever gets its online and QB situation together.

3) 3.11 Rob Gronkowski- end of third round? I know he ended year on IR but he seems healthy now and should be fine going into next year. At 3.11...I couldn't say no

4) 4.5 Marcus Mariota...the QB run started and I had to jump in before they were gone. Mariota was a great fantasy qb for ten weeks last year...then he got hurt. Assuming Titans add a weapon or two for him. I expect him to be borderline elite next year.

5) 5.11 Larry Fitzgerald- he said he is coming back...Palmer is coming back. I got no problem with him as a WR2.

6) 6.5 Eli Manning- needed a solid 2nd qb since everyone else has 2 and Eli is a great complement to Mariota. Was worried that Lowy may take him at 5.14 or 6.1 so was happy when he passed. Teams 2-4 already had two qb so I knew my gamble of waiting for him to get to me would pay off.

[BillyWaz]

I'll go....

1.3 RB EZEKIEL ELLIOTT

I liked the 3 spot because I am totally fine with any of the 3 RB's, and more importantly, I get to pick BEFORE Wayne and Glenn (and it helped tremendously getting Luck! ) I also think they will get Zeke more involved in the passing game next year. The top 3 picks will probably be chalk in most drafts this year.

2.12 WR ALLEN ROBINSON

He had a dismal year for a first rounder, but now he comes at a discount, and the talent is still there. He was better when Marrone took over, and Bortles was supposedly hurt all year (certainly played like it!). We knew there would be a TD regression last year (14 to 6), so this year I could see him somewhere in the middle. An 80-1100-9 line seems about right.

3.12 QB ANDREW LUCK

Right place at the right time.......and with this group, you need all the "LUCK" you can get. There are pretty much 4 QB's that everyone will be going after early...Rodgers, and then the next 3 in whatever order (Brees, Brady, Luck). After that, it gets a little murkier. Luck runs, is in an offense that throws (mainly because they are always behind due to their D), and has the pedigree to be QB #1.

4.3 QB DEREK CARR

Wasn't sure what I would do here, but like Wayne said, you want a good QB2 in this league (last year I had Bortles and Romo.... ) and when he doubled up, I followed suit. Came down to Carr and Wilson for me, and I have had Wilson plenty of times, and in hindsight, maybe I should have taken him again. I decided to roll the dice with Carr. He has good weapons, and all they have to do is unleash him, and he can take the next step.

5.12 RB CJ ANDERSON

It seems like forever that CJ Anderson was looking like a top 5 RB on opening night of Thursday night football. He is a LONG way from that, but I do know that Devonta Booker wasn't the "savior", and didn't impress. This will probably be either a complete dud, or a very good #2 RB…..great analysis, huh?

6.03 WR STERLING SHEPARD

Not surprisingly, the WR’s are starting to dry up, but in the 6th round of a 14 teamer, but the more I look at it, I like with this pick. Shepard is a WR2 in a pass happy offense with a powder keg (ODB) set to explode in front of him. His YPC was crappy last year, but if he can get that up to around 12, and get those catches up to 75-80 with 8-10 TD’s, I’ll take it! Interesting fact……he scored .4 less points through 16 weeks than DeAndre Hopkins.

As for the next phase, my main objective is to steal all of Wayne Ellis’ players!

[Coltsfan]

I'll go....

As for the next phase, my main objective is to steal all of Wayne Ellis’ players!

My money is on you doing just that....


Wayne

[Sandman62]

1.4 Antonio Brown
What can I say? I briefly toyed with ODB here, but Brown is still a stud until proven otherwise, right? Yeah, there's some inner-grumblings in PIT, but it's likely they "pay dat man hees money". Just need Ben to stay on the field.

2.11 Demaryius Thomas
As round 2 was heading back to me, and Lamar Miller was the last of my current RB tier, this was shaping up to be a tough choice for me - but Andy made that easier by taking Lamar. But I still agonized over Demaryius vs. the upside of Keenan or Sammy as the 14th WR in this draft. In the end, the combination of their injury histories plus the lure of Romo possibly heading to Denver tilted me to Demaryius. If they stick with Siemien/Lynch, then hopefully last year's WR15 finish is his floor at least.

3.11 Tom Brady
I have no problem at all taking his QB4 PPG finish last year as the 3rd QB off the board. In 2015, he was QB2, just .1 behind Cam. Even though he'll start the season at age 40, the Pats checkdown passing game probably allows him a few more years than a QB who throws it far downfield a lot. I see no dropoff coming, so full speed ahead!

4.4 Russell Wilson
Though he's no slam dunk for top 3-5 finish, I think he has that kind of upside and was a good value as the 9th QB off the board, given that he played much of last year through various injuries. Hopefully, Rawls and Prosise step it up this year because I think there's a pretty strong correlation between Wilson's production and the massive passing lanes Lynch opened up for him with his rushing.

5.11 Jimmy Graham
TE3 last year (180 pts, 11.3 PPG), so getting him as the 4th TE is about right. Pairing him with Wilson could provide some nice spike games in a DC.

6.4 Kenneth Dixon
Yes, finally, I took an RB1! As the 17th RB off the board, it's a definite gamble. But he has 3-down skills and just needs more of the opportunities he saw down the stretch last year to continue.

It's amazing how evenly split the production was between Dixon and West in their last seven games:
Touches Yards TDs FPts
Dixon: 87 435 3 81.5
West: 83 423 3 82.3

Last year, Crowell finished as RB17 with 188 points. If Dixon just averages the 11.6 PPG that he did over the last seven games last year, that'd put him right in that range. Of course, he also has to get past West; but I'll bet on the young talent rising here.

Can't wait for the next phase of this draft to start!

[BLACKHAND]

drafting out of the 12 spot is not the most desirable spot in the world with this group but here it is :

1.12 DeMARCO MURRAY

was hoping for melvin gordon here but mike took him right before me. a copy of last yr will suite me fine. i am not adraid of derrick henry cutting into any more time than he did last yr. titans should still be a run heavy team next yr and a team on the rise.

2.3 TODD GURLY

in my opinion he was the last of the rb's with the potential of being a top 5 rb. potential is a funny word in fantasy. some guys have it for the entire career. just a touch better qb play and him getting the pass protection down and this pick could be a winner. potentially

3.3 AARON RODGERS

Even with 3rr (which i love )this is a top heavy draft. three top rb's followed by 6 top wr's. i could have taken an adams or jeffery but then would have a tier 2 or 3 qb. i was hoping the teams behind me would follow and keep the top 4 qb's away from the front but did not happen. instead the qb run started a few teams latter which kept more wr's on the board and that was good for me.the back end of this draft has to catch up somewhere. maybe this is a start.


4.12 MICHAEL CRABTREE

Again mike beat me out with golden tate but was still happy with crabtree here. redzone target and on a good passing team that the defense is shaky.this pick made me happy i went qb with my previous pick.


5.3 DONTE MONCRIEF

yes , yes , yes. i know this is my boy from last yr. ( think i got 4 texts breaking chops ) pass happy team with mr luck and an awfull defense. if he stays healthy he can put up numbers. he owes me from last yr and i'm here to collect.

6.12 HUNTER HENRY

Upside , upside. as a rookie last yr catching 8 td's with some 5 and 6 catch games playing behind gates was nice. he should take over the playing time with the chargers and has that word ( potental ) of being a top TE4-TE6 at the end of the yr


this draft has been alot of fun. nothing beats drafting with the top guns and heckling each other along the way. can't wait to kick it off in another week.

[Glenneration X]

I think this might be my 8th year in this great league and I'll be going for my 3rd title against this crazy tough crew in this crazy tough format. I got a nice head start by landing the top pick. That pick and the 5 that followed in this 1st phase were as follows:

1.1 - David Johnson RB - Tough call between the top 3 RB's, but chose DJ as he seems safer than LeVeon and should be guaranteed a bigger slice of the passing game than Zeke. Big departure from last year where the top RB typically wouldn't go until mid or sometimes late1st and the 3rd RB until the 2nd round.

2.14 - Sammy Watkins WR - Having taken a RB in the 1st, my preference was to focus on WR here. At this point though, most of the elite level WR's without question marks were off the table. Therefore which of the still elite but questionable choices at the position to grab? Several of these options that I was considering as the 2nd round rolled on were scooped up by the sharks right in front of me (DT, ARob, Keenan), but the one with maybe the most elite talent, but also the most severe questions was still on the board.... until now.

3.14 - Cam Newton QB - When you have the 1st pick in the draft, 3RR sucks!!! As the 3rd round headed back in my direction, my hope was to be able to draft Gronk and a Tier 1 QB at the 3/4 turn. Seemed like a good plan. That is until the last 5 picks just prior to mine where Gronk and the last 4 remaining Tier 1 QB's went. Gotta luv Trendsetters. No mercy whatsoever. So I dropped down a tier to grab a QB that while not quite at the expectations of those who've been drafted before him, was THE QB 1 just a year ago and still has the skill set to get there again.

4.1 - Rookie 1 - I thought about doubling up at QB here as there were some near elite options remaining and of course to avoid the potential run, but the thought of grabbing 2 QB's in my 1st 4 picks just gave this old school wait on QB type drafter the willies. So for my 2nd choice at this turn, I thought I'd just beat my rookie drafting nemesis Wayne to the punch by grabbing the 1st rookie. If Fournette or Cook end up being drafted into a Zeke like situation, this pick will be a steal come late April.

5.14 - Greg Olsen TE - This turn held the last picks of this phase for me and it took a while for me to actually post them. Not due to the 1st of the 2 picks though. Looking at a few of the players that went earlier this round, namely Kelce, Reed, & Graham, I smelled a potential run, so grabbing one of the last elite options at this position, especially one I could pair up with Cam, seemed a no brainer.

6.1 - Eric Decker WR - Now the 2nd pick at this turn is where I struggled. So many attractive options at so many positions, and my team having so many areas of need. Which way to go? Another RB? WR? BU QB? Grab another rookie from under Wayne's nose? Sigh. I flipped back & forth on this pick a dozen times before finally making it... Tie breaker? This player plays for the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets!!! As good a reason as any.

So there's my start until the next phase begins around end of month. Hopefully come then, I'll be able to fill around this nucleus and structure a team that will compete.

[BigBlueNation]

I set my KDS 1..14 wanting the earliest pick I could get. Venturing out into the unknown of this draft, I felt the best options were the first eight players before a little drop off. Here's my first six rounds from the seven slot;

1.7 (7) Julio Jones (WR #4 OTB) I had Julio in my top 6 and thought my option here would be between Evans and Green. I'm still not sure which way I would go there, though everybody loves Evans this year. When Jordy went at 1.6, I pounced on Julio. Julio is as good and talented as any receiver, gets the targets and makes the catches, he just doesn't get the RZ and GL targets like the other top WR's.

2.8 (22) Brandin Cooks (WR #12 OTB) It looks like Michael Thomas has jumped a little ahead as a Saints WR, but Cooks still gets targeted and has that big time playmaker status with the ability to break one at any time. I had Cooper, Cooks and Baldwin in my sites for this pick when the round started, wanting Cooper, but I'm okay with Cooks.

3.8 (36) Julian Edelman (WR #21 OTB) I didn't want to start WR-WR-WR and felt Carlos Hyde was the best RB on the board here, but just like Cooper, Jules grabbed the player I was looking at right in front of me. I'm a huge Edelman fan, and I don't see any regression from his 10 tgts/gm and 70% catch rate.

4.7 (49) Dak Prescott (QB #12 OTB) The QB run started a round earlier this year, plus on the turn which really affected the draft. It's usually all relative with runs, until a lot of owners double up with upper tier players. It could make a difference in the league this year. I'm good with Prescott as my #1, especially when I was almost in desparation mode to grab a QB. He may not put up the numbers as the top tier QB's, but he doesn't turn it over either.

5.8 (64) Jordan Reed (TE #3 OTB) I know this guy wasn't going to make it back to me. Health is always an issue with him, but when healthy, he's as good as any of them and a RZ/GL monster.

6.7 (77) Robert Kelley (RB #19 OTB) I struggled with this pick. I needed a RB and narrowed it down to Kelley and Ware. Kelley is coming off surgery, but "should" be ready later this year. I'm not sure of the Ware/Charles situation in KC, so I pretty much took Kelley on a hunch that he's going to win the starting RB job in Washington and run with it.

[BigBlueNation]

Do you play 2 QBs in this league?

Looking at the draft results, I can see why you'd ask this. This is a great group of owners with lots of DC experience and know each other very well. Most have been drafting together in this league for around ten years, I think this is my eighth or ninth. Although it's necessary to have two QB's, especially in 14 team DC's, this was the front end of the draft trying to force the issue and possibly screw the back end of the draft at the QB position. I guarantee you when Wayne took that second QB at 4.2, the back end of the draft went "Oh Sh*t"...

This can be one of the worst leagues to be on the end. You've gotta be proactive, if you think you can wait on a player to make it to you, forget it. You have to take players earlier than normal and always be thinking "outside the box". Whatever you think it's like in other leagues, it's exaggerated here, and not to mention we are still dealing with the unknown.