Trendsetters 2018

[bald is beautiful]

It seems like Antonio Brown at 8 is a bargain....... Can't wait to begin 2018 drafts in early March!!!

Yeah that one was a surprise to me.

[BigBlueNation]

As always, I'll post our team after this Phase;

1.02...RB TGurley, LAR - We liked Bell, Gurley, DJ or AB here. After the news of Bell possibly accepting the tag, Wayne took him. I was on the Gurley bandwagon this year, but AB was a possibility if there had been no Bell news and Gurley had gone at 1.01.

2.13...WR THill, KC - He's so explosive and we were taking WR here, so this was almost a no-brainer. Hilton was our other WR consideration. Wayne took TY at 2.14.

3.13...QB CNewton, Car - As expected, the QB run started early in the round. Neither of us are Cam fans, don't like his on/off field antics, but he can be a great QB in the DC format. He had three 40+ point games last year.

4.02...WR ACooper, Oak - A lot of conversation between Jack and I on the 3-4 turn picks. We needed a QB. We liked Cam, Diggs, Cooks or Cooper with our next 2 picks. We took Cam knowing one of the WR's would make it back to us, hoping it was Diggs. Wayne took his QB and Diggs. We chose Cooper, thinking 2017 was an outlier and the presence of Gruden with the potential absence of Crabtree will bring AC back to the player that made him a 2nd round pick last year.

5.13...QB MRyan, Atl - Teams began gobbling up QB2's. We thought "MattyIce" was the best on the board and a decent complement to Cam.

6.02...Rookie 4 - Lots of Rookie conversation on this pick. We looked at WR options and agreed MarvinJones was our best option on the board. Decided to take a chance on Rookie 4. Matt took MJones at 6.03.

QB...CNewton, MRyan
RB...TGurley
WR...THill, ACooper
Rookie 4

I'm not dissatisfied with this start, YET...

[Coltsfan]

So I'll go ahead and post mine too. FYI, Bill is 3/3 in taking players right in front of me..... You're killing me!

1.1 Leveon - He's the best bet in FF to repeat as long as he resigns. Everything is pointing the direction. (Also considered Gurley here)

2.14 TY Hilton - I was going to take Aaron Rodgers the entire time and for some stupid reason I changed last second. I wish I had the back. If Luck is healthy then this will be a very good pick.

3.14 - Stefon Diggs - He's a solid 16 PPG guy and I think he has some upside.

4.1 - Drew Brees - Even though his points were down he still passed for 4400 yards. I doubt that his touchdowns are 23 again next year. He should throw for a few more. (Had I taken Aaron Rodgers at 2.12 I would have had Diggs and Amari here so I would have liked that start much better.)

5.14 Jay Ajayi - He was getting 18-20 touches at the end of the year. I'm scared he won't get many catches but it's a solid offense and there is no way Blount is back.

6.1 Alex Smith - the QB's are gone and I actually like his landing spot in Washington. He's not an upside pick but there will be nothing left at the next turn.

So it's a decent start that could have been a great start. There are several teams I like better but if I mention them then that assures them of a near last place finish:)

Wayne

[Sabretooth]

I'll post mine from the 4 spot after six rounds....

!. RB Ezekiel Elliot I thought all along I was getting Johnson but was happy to take Elliot instead. He is the cowboy offense
and with no suspension looming he will have a huge year.

2. RB Kenyan Drake I love this guy. He is Le'Veon bell light what can I say. And I like the idea of starting with 2 rb's
considering they were drying up at the time of this pick.

3. WR Jarvis Landry A 100 catch Wr wherever he plays in 2018.

4.QB Andrew Luck A big risk I know. maybe I should have taken cousins or Ryan..etc
But I think Luck plays week 1 and if he does he is good value here.

5. TE Evan Engram Great value. I considered him in round 4 so I was happy to see him still there.

6.Wr Larry Fitzgerald another 100 catch Wr. It was risky when I took him but it looks better now. I'm
hoping he has Cousins throwing him the ball.

[Coltsfan]

I'll post mine from the 4 spot after six rounds....

!. RB Ezekiel Elliot I thought all along I was getting Johnson but was happy to take Elliot instead. He is the cowboy offense
and with no suspension looming he will have a huge year.

2. RB Kenyan Drake I love this guy. He is Le'Veon bell light what can I say. And I like the idea of starting with 2 rb's
considering they were drying up at the time of this pick.

3. WR Jarvis Landry A 100 catch Wr wherever he plays in 2018.

4.QB Andrew Luck A big risk I know. maybe I should have taken cousins or Ryan..etc
But I think Luck plays week 1 and if he does he is good value here.

5. TE Evan Engram Great value. I considered him in round 4 so I was happy to see him still there.

6.Wr Larry Fitzgerald another 100 catch Wr. It was risky when I took him but it looks better now. I'm
hoping he has Cousins throwing him the ball.

With Fitz announcing that he is coming back, this is probably the best start of anyone assuming Luck is healthy.


Wayhe

[Sabretooth]

Did you just give me the kiss of death Wayne? I thought we were better than that.

[TheReckoner]

From the 10...

Same spot as last year but came away with a much different beginning.

1st. Melvin Gordon— Knew it would come down to OBJ or Gordon. Leaned Gordon for 2 weeks coming into super bowl Sunday, but at last minute wanted OBJ. Very happy that I was disappointed that night. RB depth really took a hit and I am glad to have a real bell cow.

2nd. Travis Kelce— Took some heat for this one on Twitter... in a 12 team satellite would I do this, absolutely not. In a 14 team dc however I thought it wise to make sure I had a top tier TE. I didn’t wait till the 3rd because I was also trying to fit a elite qb in. Roster construction forced the hand.

3rd. Russell Wilson— Of course my target was Rodgers but I will settle for 2017 qb1 Wilson. I really think Wilson is coming into his own. Locking down top tier TE and QB, who will give me great % of playable weeks, will let me do some interesting things later in the draft

4th. Josh Gordon— I was 2 picks away from getting Brandin Cooks. Imagine that... I’ll take josh Gordon in what I presume is a walk summer. High upside pick when I needed a difference maker at WR1.

5th. Golden Tate— 5th round and this 2017 WR1 was still on the board. The value the Rb and Qb run provided was huge.

6th. Sammy Watkins— complete gamble here. Went for optimal gain while I expect total opposite. I expect Sammy to get tagged and end up drawing the focus of every top corner in the league. Which because McVay is a genius he will see an average of 4 to 5 targets a game. Needless to say I’m hoping for a much better location for him to land.

I really like this team so far.

[BillyWaz]

From the 14 hole....

1.14 & 2.1 WR MICHAEL THOMAS and WR KEENAN ALLEN

With all the RB's going ahead of me, taking 2 WR's made the most sense for me. Both of these guys are the focal points of their passing offense, and only other guy I considered was Julio Jones. Just tired of watching him catch a pass, and then go to the sidelines with an ailment.

3.1 RB JORDAN HOWARD

He was the ONLY RB left I would take at this spot. With John Fox gone, and some new wrinkles in Chicago, Howard could be very solid behind an underrated OL. If they can get his catches up in the 30-35 range, with the workload and goalline, he wil pair well with my 2 WR's.

4.14 & 5.1 RB CARLOS HYDE and QB MATTHEW STAFFORD

It was between Hyde and Mixon, but team before me took Mixon. Carlos Hyde is a VERY good RB WHEN HEALTHY. He will catch passes, can score, and be an asset to a fantasy team. Not sure where he ends up, but I don't mind taking the gamble with the 56th overall pick. Stafford was the 14th QB selected off the board. He is tough as nails, no run game, and lots of weapons to throw to.......this pick was a no brainer, as he is easy top 10 QB this year (barring injury of course).

6.14 TE GREG OLSEN

Up until last year, the last time Greg Olsen missed a game was 2007. I'm willing to gamble that last year was a freak injury, and Olsen will go back to being the 80-950-5/6 Olsen we have grown accustomed to. I believe in having solid TE's in Trendsetters/14 team league, and there are VERY few you can trust left on the board IMO.

7.01 ????????? (could go a number of different directions with this pick.......but I am pretty sure I know what I am going to do at this point)

[Sandman62]

I'll post mine from the 4 spot after six rounds....

!. RB Ezekiel Elliot I thought all along I was getting Johnson but was happy to take Elliot instead. He is the cowboy offense
and with no suspension looming he will have a huge year.

2. RB Kenyan Drake I love this guy. He is Le'Veon bell light what can I say. And I like the idea of starting with 2 rb's
considering they were drying up at the time of this pick.

3. WR Jarvis Landry A 100 catch Wr wherever he plays in 2018.

4.QB Andrew Luck A big risk I know. maybe I should have taken cousins or Ryan..etc
But I think Luck plays week 1 and if he does he is good value here.

5. TE Evan Engram Great value. I considered him in round 4 so I was happy to see him still there.

6.Wr Larry Fitzgerald another 100 catch Wr. It was risky when I took him but it looks better now. I'm
hoping he has Cousins throwing him the ball.

With Fitz announcing that he is coming back, this is probably the best start of anyone assuming Luck is healthy.


Wayhe

I agree with Wayne that if Luck is healthy, this team has some serious upside. Stud RB, fresh young upside RB2, target monster WRs and a new, young stud TE = very solid.

But if Luck doesn't return to close to his 2016 top-4 form this year, this could be a challenge (though still doable, if others perform well). And with 22 QBs already off the board, this team's eventual QB2 selection will need some luck too (haha, get it? Need Luck! ) Of course, in a league this challenging, that's often the kind of risk you need to take.

Check out this league's last three years' top 3 finishers and their QB production:

[Sandman62]

I set my KDS in this league with 8th as my first choice, as I like to be in the middle with this group, to keep an eye on potential runs. Plus there were six RBs and 2 WRs I wanted in round 1.

Here's my start:
1.8: WR ABrown
The definition of "value" at 8.

2.7: RB Henry
I've been drafting him all over since his rookie year and thought he might even surpass Murray earlier last year. I know I reached a bit here, especially with Freeman and Drake still available. But in this league, you take the guys you want because they won't usually last til "normal" ADP. And now that he's finally poised to be a bell cow, let's hope TEN doesn't acquire another RB and give him all the receptions. He has beast upside in yards and TDs though, and his big-play ability is perfect for a DC league.

3.7: QB Brady
Another year older, a severe stat slowdown the final month last season, organizational spats, coaches moving on, Gronk possibly retiring... and who knows what else? But I'll keep betting on him until he stops delivering. I hope this doesn't turn out to be one of those cases where I should've given up a year early instead of hanging on through the crash.

4.8: WR Cooks
As WR19 in the 4th round, he just seemed like a discount, after being drafted the past few years in this league in the 2nd, 1st and 3rd rounds, and finishing 15th, 11th and 13th. The 65 balls he caught this year were a lot fewer than the 78 and 84 his last two seasons in NO. But maybe he makes a jump in his second year as a Pat, especially if Gronk is at all serious about considering retirement.

5.7: QB Roethlisberger
I'm not sure it's a good idea to double-down on pairing BOTH of your top WRs with their QBs, but... bring on the roller coaster!

6.8: TE Graham
I felt like, by the time the draft would make it back to me in round 7, that I'd miss the first tier of TEs if I didn't take one here. Picking him as the 5th TE off the board definitely carries some risk, even though his finishes the past three years have been 7th, 4th, and 20th (his first year with SEA). While his receptions and yards per catch took a dive last year, at least his TDs are on the rise. With him likely to be on another team this year, and probably one that throws more to their TE, a top-10 finish seems likely, with top 3-5 within reach. Possible landing spots are BAL, GB, ATL, DAL or maybe even back to NO.