Throughout July, I peppered the site with in-depth analysis of the 2019 RazzBowl and gave you the 2020 RazzBowl Guidebook. So, it’s only fitting that I recap my own draft and let you know whether I followed my own advice or deviated from the script. I’m most of the way through a RazzBowl qualifier draft as well, so I’ll drop my notes and advice from that draft as well. 

RazzBowl League 11

Donkey Teeth saw fit to pit me, the rookie, against some of the biggest names in the business. Trial by fire, eh Donk? My league featured the legendary Michael Salfino, the perennial top-ranker Rob Waziak, the popular custom-ranking creator Nate Hamilton, and a hardy group of fellow writers from other sites alongside some fans. Here’s my final team: 

Strengths: 

I knew going into the draft that the best RazzBowl teams in 2019 almost universally had 3 strong pass catching running backs, at least 2 top-20 WR, and a top-10 QB. Drafting from the seven spot, I landed Joe Mixon, who I like for his high usage and nearly-guaranteed 1,000 yards rushing. He is incredibly elusive, and will be the third best receiving target on the Bengals. I followed Mixon with Fournette in the second round, which was probably a bit of a reach, but it set up my team for the build that I wanted. I then grabbed Amari Cooper and Courtland Sutton, followed by Kyler Murray. So, I met my desired build right off the bat. As luck would have it, the sixth round came around and Christian Kirk was still on the board. Because I had drafted a balanced team to this point and met all my desires in terms of position, I was able to grab Kirk and pair him with Murray. 

Now, a brief word about pairing and stacking. If you play daily fantasy, you know that the best way to maximize your score is to stack as many players from one team as possible against a weaker opponent. With this method, you’re much more likely to capture the high scoring output for your own team. Research conducted by other sites indicates that pairing and stacking effects carry over to season-long fantasy and is especially useful in best ball formats, like the RazzBowl. When a stack “hits,” it can provide a minimum 10ADP boost in value, and when stacks really hit, the boost in value can be upwards of 30ADP points. 

Donkey Teeth and I are bullish on Kyler Murray this year. Now, it’s better to pair Murray with DeAndre Hopkins, of course, but this didn’t happen and I can’t cry over toppled stacks. Instead, I got Kirk at ADP, and I’m happy to pair the two together. I finished the draft with the Murray/Kirk pair, and a Teddy Bridgewater/Curtis Samuel/Ian Thomas stack. I nearly completed a Brees/Sanders/Cook stack, but Brees went a few picks before my turn. I was fine with missing that stack, because Tom Brady–who is Rudy’s #8 QB for 2020–was still on the board in round 12. 

By virtue of best ball formats, that third RB–seen among the best 2019 teams–will be made from the Franken-runner of Kerryon Johnson, Duke Johnson, Boston Scott, and Chris Thompson. Kerryon and Scott have explosive power for big games, and Duke and Thompson give solid receiving floors. Moreover, Duke Johnson is actually one of the most consistent RBs since 2015 and is projected to play more snaps than his glass cannon counterpart, David Johnson. 

Finally, I dodged significant bye week exposure. The RazzBowl has a unique cutline format where the best ball part of the season ends after week 9. Before week 9, bye weeks don’t matter so much because your entire roster is in best ball format, and anybody with a big week will enter the “starting lineup.” After week 9, however, managers need to choose their starting lineup; with 6 teams on bye in Week 11, that could lead to instant defeat for managers who have teams that rely on the absent George Kittle, Saquon Barkley, Allen Robinson, or Stefon Diggs. Although my Panthers stack has a bye week 13, they are all reserves. Should I make it to the playoffs, almost all of my roster will be available to use throughout the length of the run.

Weaknesses

I’ve been doing the TE-free fall for most of this year. Jared Cook is, more or less, my only actual tight end. If Ian Thomas hits, that’s great, and I’ve got his stack to benefit from. That said, the majority of TE just don’t score very much, so I’m not worried. 

I won’t lie: my RBs worry me. I went with as much upside as I could manage, but I probably should have taken a WR over Fournette and then went hard on Melvin Gordon or David Montgomery. That said, I do like Fournette this year and I think most analysts are too low on him. He finished as the RB7 last year, and if he finishes in the top 15, my team is headed to the playoffs. 

I picked Amari Cooper as my first WR, but I wanted Adam Thielen. I thought more managers would be fading Thielen, and that I could get Thielen after the turn, but he was taken quickly after my Cooper pick. I’m happy with the upsides of Sutton and Cooper, though, even if they are considered unsexy picks. 

Compared to RazzBowl Qualifier League Draft

I’m in a RazzBowl Qualifier League as well, where I’m drafting 11th. I started with a similar build, but I wanted to try amplifying the stacks. I went Derrick Henry and Josh Jacobs to start, and followed it up with Adam Thielen and Terry McLaurin. Although I’m drafting against fans–hopefully some of you readers out there!–I decided I was just going as much upside as possible. I again grabbed the Murray/Kirk pair in 5/6, followed it with a Brees/Cook pair, and then a super-stack of Sam Darnold, Jamison Crowder, Breshad Perriman, and Chris Herndon. That later stack was mostly to see if I could draft such a goliath, and it worked out. Now, if it works, that’s another question.

Takeaways

Well, we’ll find out how I do in about 20 weeks or so, right? I’ll keep you updated on the progress of my teams and other RazzBowl teams throughout the NFL season. I’ll be posting more in-depth articles about fantasy draft strategy and ideas for roster construction. 

If there’s one thing I want readers to take away from this article, it’s that you should go into a draft being completely open about your strategy. Read the room, and try and discover your opponents strategies. See where value falls to you, and where you need to be aggressive. I didn’t plan for the Murray/Kirk pair; it fell to me. By drafting a balanced team, you’re able to take advantage of those inefficiencies in the draft and turn them to your favor. If you’re drafting a zero-WR or zero-RB team, you’ll need to make sacrifices in order to get your desired build realized. 

As always, let me know if you’re in the RazzBowl by dropping a comment below, and give me a follow on Twitter @everywhereblair.