RCL Draft Review, 2019 Fantasy Football

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”459579″ player=”10951″ title=”2019 Razzball Fantasy Football Draft Kit Rookies”]

Along with having some of the best projections in the industry from A.I. @RudyGamble, our senior football editor @Razzball_MB has done one hell of a job putting together a roster of writers and contributors to help guide you through the rigors of the fantasy football season. If you want an edge on your competition this year, because they are all following the same content providers, you need to subscribe to the suite of tools, projections, and content Razzball offers. The trade analyzer, weekly projections, and slew of articles that will be pumped out this season will help support you in every season long format, and your DFS needs. You won’t find a better bargain out on the inter-web then right here at Razzball. They helped guide me to 5 championships in 2018. That was more me, than them, if we’re being honest…or maybe more the leagues against my nieces and nephews. But really, I pulled off some great trades and made critical lineup decisions based off the tools and information from Razzball. Now it’s your turn.

Wednesday evening wrapped up my first Razzball Commenter League. Pleased with the activity in the chat and quality of the draftees, the bar was set. Thanks to everyone that signed up and I am looking forward to a fun season competing against you.

My promise to them was to recap my thoughts from the draft. I won’t bore you with feedback on everyone pick from every round, but want to give some shine to each squad. If you signed up to be in my league, you better be able to handle the smoke!! No participation trophies here and I’m not your momma here to give you words of encouragement. Don’t worry, I can handle the heat. Give it right back. Strap up and let’s do this…

#1 Team Juice

Zero-WR is a new one for me and Juice did just that. Tripling down at the running back position the first three rounds, going Barkley-Gurley-Mixon. Definitely created a position of strength after 50% of his roster is built around the RB position. Juice made sure to get his insurance policy by drafting Darrell Henderson in the 8th round. Without a true WR1 on his roster, Juice is betting on the health of AJ Green and looking to cash in on Kenny Golladay’s upside. Look for Juice to make an in season trade if he wants to stay relevant down he stretch.

#2 Team GMoney

Falling off the rails early in round 3, GMoney drafted Darwin Thompson as the 13th RB off the board. A free space for everyone else drafting after him, but you have to swing big to win big…right? Definitely could have waited another ~6 rounds, but hey..get your guy. We’ll see if it pays off. In a super flex league, GMoney will be a force to be wreckin’, with Deshaun Watson and Matt Ryan leading his calvary. Rudy has Watson finishing 5th overall in scoring and Ryan at 12th overall. Gmoney redeemed himself, taking next man on my queue, Duke Johnson in the 7th round. After Houston lost Miller for the season, Rudy projects Duke to finish as RB25. GMoney drafted Duke as RB29, and made sure to secure him ahead of his RB33 ADP. I imagine HOU will make an addition to this backfield, we’ll see how Rudy adjust his rankings. Tony Pollard will return dividends in the 11th round if Zeke continues his holdout into the season. Sounds like, Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones is prepared to wait into the regular season before budging on his current offer to Zeke.

ICYMI: Jerry Jones Sounds Like He's Willing To Play Hardball With Ezekiel Elliott – And I love It @JC1053 https://t.co/rXdxHewizn

— 105.3 The FAN (@1053thefan) August 28, 2019

#3 Team TayJLogan

Nice to see a fellow Mean Green-er enter the thunder dome and give us his best shot. Going against the typical RB-RB-RB start to most drafts this year, Taylor decided to grab Deandre Hopkins with the 3rd overall pick. Hopkins was the #1 PPR receiver from 2018. Most would argue that Kamara was this pick here, but Taylor clearly entered the draft with a plan. Grabbing RBs Damien Williams, Melvin Gordon, and Mark Ingram with his next three picks. Another snipe from my queue, Taylor grabbed Matt Breida in the 8th round. Making sure to secure him a round earlier than his current 9th round ADP, multiple owners chattered after the Breida pick. In a 3WR minimum league, waiting until round 6 to grab his 2nd receiver is an interesting strategy. Taylor is betting on upside receivers to hit (Robby Anderson-Curtis Samuel-Donte Moncrief-AJ Brown). Grabbing Rudy’s projected TE5, OJ Howard, Taylor backed him up with high-upside and Hard Knocks comeback-kid, Darren Waller in the 13th round. We’ll see if his gamble on Melvin Gordon in the 3rd pays off. Eric D. Williams, who covers the LA Chargers for ESPN, thinks Taylors gamble will pay off…but it’s “just a hunch.”

Chargers' 53-man roster projection includes Melvin Gordon ending holdout https://t.co/TTmzLnIr4j

— Eric Williams (@eric_d_williams) August 28, 2019

#4 Team Hgounga

Thanks to TayJLogan letting Kamara slide past him, Hgounga avoided the tough 4th pick decision of gambling on Ezekiel Elliot and the next group of RBs. Grabbing my 2019 infatuation, Tyler Boyd, at 5.04 it was clear these draftees did their homework. Hgounga grabbed Baker Mayfield and Jared Goff in the 6th & 8th rounds. Rudy has Goff projected to finish 6th overall in PPR scoring and Mayfield at 17th overall. Fairly balanced throughout the draft, Hgounga has my favorite team thus far into the draft.

#5 Team NFLGT16

Taking the gamble on Kliff Kingsbury and the Kyler Murray led offense, NFLGT16 goes against the Razzball AI, RudyGamble. Rudy has Johnson finishing 10th at the position and 49th overall in PPR scoring. I started fading Johnson after reading Rudys analysis of Kyler Murray/KliffKingsbury and the air raid offense and the potential impact on David Johnson. The yang to Rudy’s ying, our senior football editor, @RazzballMB has David Johnson a top 4 pick in the first round. After all of the uncertainty-buzz at the wide receiver position coming from San Franscisco, Kittle is moving up my draft board. NFLGT16 was on the same waive length, grabbing him at 3.05. In Rudys most recent projections (updated daily), Kittle projects to finish as TE2 ahead of Zach Ertz and 35th in overall PPR scoring. Love the pick. We’ll see if NFLGT will be able to recover from taking his 2nd WR, in a 3WR min. league, all the way in the 7th round- betting again on Kliff Kingsbury. Putting Christian Kirk as his WR2 and following that up immediately with SF WR Dante Pettis. Typically I like to see more ‘team’ diversification, after already investing in SF and ARI early in the draft. Both teams are high upside offenses that are looking to put up points.

#6 Team Fslarrosa

Taking the plunge, Fslarrosa took the gamble on Ezekiel Elliot at the 6 spot. He backed that up with ADP riser Nick Chubb at 2.07, solid value for a back that’s sneaking in to the back end of the first round as we near the start of the NFL season. After Setting his edge with Zeke and Chubb, Fslarrosa went for an edge at the TE position. Grabbing, 2018 single season TE reception record breaker, Zach Ertz in the 3rd round. I have my suspicions that Fslarrosa is an Eagles fan after he went with potential NFL rookie of the year, Miles Sanders, in the 7th round. With solid depth at the WR position, grabbing Josh Gordon as his WR3 gives Fslarrosa WR1/2 upside at a 6th round price (WR30 off the board). Bold strategy only drafting 1QB in a superflex league, multiple owners grabbed at least 2 if not 3 QBs. We’ll see if he makes any in-season adds at the position, a couple of decent names still on the wire.

#7 Team For Who ? For What? (FWFW)

After grabbing Le’Veon Bell (1st rd) and Kerryon Johnson (3rd), FWFW loaded up at the WR position by grabbing 6 wideouts in the first 8 rounds. Smart strategy for a 3WR min., 3flex (1superflex), and full point PPR league. Betting on his starting RBs lasting the course of the season, FWFW failed to grab a handcuff late to protect his early round RB investments. He is relying on Peyton Barber, Jalen Richard, and (rookie) Rodney Anderson to back up his two starting RBs. Look for FWFW to leverage his strength, at WR, for an in season trade to bolster his running back room.

#8 Team Chaos Legion

The 2nd WR went off the board when Chaos took, Julio Jones, at 1.08. He backed that up with three straight Romero approved RB picks, Dalvin Cook-Josh Jacobs-Chris Carson. Getting ahead of the 9th round QB run, Chaos grabbed my 2019 fantasy MVP, Carson Wentz, in the 7th round and followed that up with Cam Newtown in the 8th. Rudy has Wentz projected to finish as QB4 and Cam QB16, great starting duo in a superflex league. Chaos is betting on the Texans staying put after they lost Lamar Miller for the season, he drafted HOU (rookie) RB Damarea Crockett as his Mr. Irrelevant in the 16th round.

#10 Team Macias19

Going against every article I’ve put out this summer, Macias doubled down on the 2018 NFL MVP. Taking Quarterback Patrick Mahomes with his first pick, 10th overall. Only in two QB or superflex leagues do I let this type of move slide. Macias loaded up on RB, after his 2nd round pick of WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, grabbing 4 running backs in a row (Marlon Mack, Derrick Henry, James White, Phillip Lindsay). After starting with a bang in the 1st with Mahomes, Macias failed to grab a second QB but has a couple of names to choose from on the waiver. Macias will have to rely on his depth at the running back position (50% of his roster) to carry him over the course of the season. Questions at the WR2 and WR3 positions, we’ll see if Macias bolsters his receiving core via trade.

#11 Team Slippin Jimmy

2018 late round steal, James Conner, won a number of fantasy owners championships last year following Le’Veon Bells season long hold out. Now, Conner finds himself drafted 1.11 in this RCL league. Running behind arguably the top offensive line in the game, and a running in a high scoring offense, Rudy has James Conner finishing 2019 as RB7. I love Conner this season, and even took him 6th overall in the Scott Fish Bowl 9. Slippin Jimmy quickly followed this up with the top TE in the draft, Travis Kelce. Kelce has been the most consistent fantasy tight end over the past 3 seasons and he can’t get the 1st round love Gronk used to receive. Rudy has Kelce projected to finish 31st in overall PPR scoring, 11th overall amongst skill position, and #1 at the TE position. Kelce provides Jimmy with the largest edge at TE the position. Proceeding to take a zero-rb*lite* approach, Jimmy pounded WRs- taking 5 over his next 6 picks. Lacking a clear #2 RB, Jimmy will need to leverage a trade, hit big on waivers, or cash in big on either Royce Freeman or Rashaad Penny- his #2 and #3 RBs off the board. I doubt traveling QB, Case Keenum, makes it halfway through the season before Dwayne Haskins take over center in Washington. Making Jimmy’s late round pick, of Haskins, the high upside lotto ticket for his squad. #HTTR

#12 Team slimSAGHI

Going zero-rb at the back end of drafts has never been easier than this season, with the stable of RB talent in the middle and later rounds. Team slimSAGHI did just that, grabbing 4 stud receivers in the first 5 rounds of this draft (Michael Thomas, Odell Beckham Jr., Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley). Giving himself an edge at the WR position, SlimSaghi then proceeded to invest at the TE position in the middle rounds by grabbing Jared Cook, Eric Ebon, and David Njoku in the 7th-8th-9th round, and adding Greg Olsen in the 13th round. Holding true to “wait on QBs”, slimSAGHI was able to find value late in this draft by drafting Ben Roethlisberger in the 10th round and 6-time super bowl winner, Tom Brady in the 14th round.

The winning roster was left out for obvious reason, didn’t want to hurt anyones feelings!!! Honestly, very impressed with the activity and savvy picks throughout the course of the draft. If you want to see my draft results, I’ll post them on my twitter page. Looking forward to see how the rest of the season unfolds. Good luck to everyone.

As always, leave your questions and feedback below. Or you can find me on twitter.