Trendsetters 2017

[Sandman62]

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.

Nice to see that his coach is hyping him up.

Matthew Berry, ESPN:
There's not much in this world that Ravens coach John Harbaugh and I have in common, but one thing we find common ground on is our love for Kenneth Dixon. Harbaugh was effusive in his praise for last year's rookie running back, saying he loves his strength, his tackle-breaking ability and his personality, and he expects him to be a "top back in this league." He went on and on about him. He also had nice things to say about Breshad Perriman and Mike Wallace (he hopes Wallace comes back), but his strongest praise during the news conference was for Dixon.

Ouch!

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Ravens will sign RB Danny Woodhead.
We're still waiting on the contract details. Woodhead missed most of last season with a torn ACL but is back to full health. In his last healthy season Woodhead led all running backs with 80 catches and 755 receiving yards. He'll likely hog most of the passing-down work in Baltimore, just as he has in previous stops in New England and San Diego. Woodhead is a valuable weapon in any offense but this seems like an odd fit, particularly given the presence of promising second-year back Kenneth Dixon.

Source: Ian Rapoport on Twitter, Mar 8 - 10:31 PM

[76erfan]

yikes on the Kenneth Dixon 4 game suspension too

[Sandman62]

yikes on the Kenneth Dixon 4 game suspension too

Yup, it just keeps getting better. Good thing I didn't wait so long that he was my intended RB1. Oh wait! I DID!

Rotoworld:
On March 8, Dixon looked like a prime 2017 breakout candidate. By March 10, Dixon had devolved into a late-round flyer at best.

[BigBlueNation]

Phase III starts up tomorrow for seven rounds. We'll probably finish this Phase over the next 4-5 days and the first couple rounds could be interesting with the FA's that have signed plus the resulting future trades, free agents and Rookie pickups that could occur.

It's still March, but for my purposes, I like Cooks going to NE and Lacy going to Seattle. I read in the "Rabbit Ridge Times" the other day that Monty has been bulking up his lower body to be a RB1, hence unreliable FAT Lacy is gone. GB has the weapons to duplicate the Pats, just got to trim the FAT. Also, with Garcon and DJax gone and KCousins remaining in DC as QB, ask me how I feel about Reed and Crowder.

Just for "S**t's and Grins", I'll post my team as I pick during this Phase. I'm starting this Phase with;

QB...DPrescott, JGoff
RB...RKelley, TMontgomery, BPowell, JHill, MJones
WR...JJones, BCooks, JEdelman, JCrowder, WFuller, CHogan
TE...JReed, AHooper
PK...MCrosby, BMcManus
D/ST...Seattle, LA Rams, NY Jets

14.7 Jeremy Hill - There were a lot of directions for me to go here. As of now, Hill is the last man standing in Cincinnati. Gio could start on the PUP list, Burkhead and Peerman are gone. Obviously they're going to bring in RB help this year, and this may be Hill's last chance for playing time. He did have 16 GL rushes, 9 total TD's and just shy of 12 FPts/Gm in 15 games last year. If nothing else, he could be a GL back and vulture some TD's in 2017.

15.8 Austin Hooper - He should take over the TE duties in one of the best offense's in the NFL. He caught 70% of his targets at 10 Yds/Re for 15 games. If he's the TE In that offense, he's worth a shot.

16.7 LA Rams - Defense #15 OTB

17.8 NY Jets - Defense #24 OTB, I like a 3rd D/ST in 14 team DC's.

18.7 Chris Hogan- NE is obviously loaded with options, but Hogan is such a productive player when Brady targets him. He averaged 4 tgts/gm last year, but he also saw games when he was targeted as much as 12 times. He had games of 15, 15.6, 19.1, 24.6 and 39 points (9/180/2 on 12 tgts). He only averaged 9fpts/gm, but he averaged 12.3 yds/tgt, 19.2 yds/rec, 2.33 fpts/tgt. I already have Cooks and Edelman, so why not add some good insurance.

19.8 Jared Goff - Desperation mode for a QB2 (QB#31 OTB). Hopefully Dak has a great year and I only have to use Goff once.

20.7 Matt Jones - The guy is productive, when he's not turning the ball over. His future is shaky, but already having Kelley, I have to take a chance on him.

[got heeem]

always looks good BEFORE the season.

[BigBlueNation]

always looks good BEFORE the season.

Absolutely, in September it's always fun to come back and look at my team in this draft. The usual response is, "Damn, what the hell was I thinking?"

[David U Kennedy]

13.8 Will Fuller (WR56 OTB) I liked him as a rookie, but he disappointed in 2016. He was targeted almost 7 times per game with 14 yds/rec and eleven 20+ yd explosion plays. Hopefully, Houston's QB situation will be better and we'll see the Fuller I thought we would last year.

I thought Fuller was a rookie last year? He has only played one year right? Hopefully Houston picks up Romo or Jimmy G. for a QB. Thems be nice WRs to throw to.

[BillyWaz]

So with 20 rounds in the books, here is my team......

QB- Andrew Luck, Derek Carr
RB- Ezekiel Elliott, CJ Anderson, James White, Matt Forte, Jonathan Stewart, Devontae Booker, Darren McFadden
WR- Allen Robinson, Sterling Shepherd, Randall Cobb, Willie Snead, Mohammed Sanu
TE- Cameron Brate, Charles Clay
K- Adam Vinatieri, Phil Dawson
D- Minnesota, Philadelphia

I need to get some more WR's, and good for me, there are more of them than any other position. RB is getting REAL thin, and a few teams only have 2 or3 through 20 rounds. I would prefer a better backup TE, but this is a 14 team league and there simply aren't 28 good tight ends in the league. I think I am in the "good half" of the teams at QB, D, and K.

Other than that, I am good with this team with all the talent in this league.

[TheReckoner]

I like Billy's format... so after 20.

QB- Winston, Tyrod
RB- McCoy, Ware, Lacy, Gillislee, Ivory, Char west
WR- Hopkins, Jeffery, Sanders, M Bryant, Boyd, Hurns
TE- Bennett, Gates
D- Arizona, Jacksonville
K- Bailey, Franks

A lot of risk in this roster, but the value was there. IMO early questions about Jeffery, M Bryant, Lacy and Bennett built in some serious profit. Bennett in the 12th now looks great, and fat man lacy in the 11th could prove to be big...no pun intended! I'm comfortable with every position except depth at TE. I intended to grab a rookie or two.. but I was afraid Glenn and Wayne would yell at me

[Sandman62]

I have a RB disaster on my hands, albeit [mostly] at my own hands, plus some absolutely terrible twists of fate after I drafted my first two. All it takes in a league of this caliber is a gaping hole at one position and this team probably won't compete without some great fortune.

QB- Brady, Wilson, Garoppolo
RB- Dixon, Lewis, Yeldon, Lynch, West
WR- Brown, DThomas, Parker, Lee, LaFell, RAnderson
TE- Graham, Higbee
D- DEN, BAL
K- Lutz, Parkey

• I'm happy with my QBs, having gotten in early on the run. And if my Browns manage to pry Jimmy G away from Billy B, I could get a couple weeks out of him during byes, if lucky.
• WRs started out strong, but tailed off with the boring conservative LaFell pick; but not many sexy picks in round 17.
• At TE, hopefully Graham and WIlson connect for some big weeks, but I like Higbee's upside too.
• Strong DSTs.
• Kickers: One on a great [Saints] offense, and one who'll probably be on a better Browns offense this year, but that's not saying much.
• Now those RBs ... Though I didn't set out to do a ZeroRB draft, I did end up waiting til round 6 to get my first - and at the time, given that I'd solidified my start with strong WRs, QBs and TE, I was ok with throwing some darts at what I thought were high-upside RBs. I drafted Dixon a week before BAL signed Woodhead and Dixon was suspended, back when he was still an early draft season upside pick. That fell apart completely... Lewis was my potential RB2, long before Burkhead landed in NE... Yeldon will likely see JAC draft a RB to play ahead of him, but hopefully Ivory walks and Yeldon at least has a 3rd down role... At 14.4, after the draft woke back up from a few weeks off, I was almost sure I was taking either Woodhead or Burkhead. But that morning, the Lynch to OAK story got legs, and I swung for the fence instead. Of course, with me already having Dixon and Lewis, either of the Heads would've been a good fit for my struggling-RB team. But the potential TD upside of even an aging Lynch behind OAK's line was too enticing... West was me falling back into my boring, conservative draft habit and handcuffing one mediocre RB with another - or put another way, throwing good money at bad. Even though it's likely BAL drafts a RB, I'm hoping West gets the starts while Dixon's suspended and their rookie gets up to speed.

This is not the kind of league you want to still be searching for your RB1 in round 21; come to think of it, there's really NO kind of league that'll support that without some major good luck. Let's hope Lynch signs in OAK at least or this team is toast.