Draft Day 1

                Here it is! We finally get to find out where the players that we were excited about are going to land. Owning 9 picks in this draft, I am not sure which direction to go. 3 picks in the first and second rounds, I just would like to see the running backs go to places where they can see a chance to play. After viewing film of these players, I am convinced that this a better class than the analysts wanted to tell us. I wonder where the wide receivers and quarterbacks will go and if all the negative talk about this class is real, or if we will find the next Mahomes, Allen, or Herbert. The countdown has begun, T minus 12 hours…

Well, how do I put it? It has been a weird year for me and my teams. I made the playoffs in 2 of my 6 teams this year losing out on 3 playoff bids on the last day of the season. And what do my odds look like this week? Not so hot. I put in the best lineup I could and can only hope for the best. Even years havent always been kind, but really? Shaking my head wishing I can do it all over again..

First, no matter what the attraction, I will never trade my favorite asset, EVER! Not only was that bad karma, it was a questionable move to start my season. This was a season where I needed to fade Bucs players and invest in Jags wide receivers. My hesitation on Davante Adams was unwarranted, he is too good a player to have suffered any setback from having Carr as his QB. Tua is better (not much), than I gave him credit for. Ammon Ra St. Brown was sold for too cheap and he was my most reliable asset. Looking at my best team, it went from contender to pretender, overnight. And it was all my doing, ugh!

Players to hold for me, Breece Hall. He is a great talent and is expected to heal from the ACL better than others because of the clean break that was reported by doctors. CeeDee Lamb has met expectations and can only get better. I like Bateman, but I worry that his health was something I should have paid better attention to. It made me move St. Brown to gain assets, but didnt expect him to maintain his production. The hope is that I can get a good WR or RB in the draft and if somebody needs a RB I can sell a good veteran and get younger/competitive at that spot. Gotta keep Dak and I believe that Wilson will be better next season, even though his best seasons are in the rear view mirror. A good hold is also Tee Higgins and TJ Hockenson. Solid players with good upside and they arent going anywhere.

So as I prepare for my playoffs, I hope that Dallas has a good game script and that Etienne sees more action this week and can produce against a solid Dallas defense. I have Chubb and Dalvin Cook playing Saturday and that they get some good playing time. With the Chargers and Bengals, may the fantasy gods bless Williams and Higgins with good health and tons of targets! Maybe Tom Brady can rekindle some of that magic he once had and can get back to .500. Playing the underdog hasn’t always been something I’ve enjoyed, but maybe since this year I have dubbed my teams “the all-reach” teams, I should embrace that idea. Who knows, anything can happen…

Well, another draft is in the books and what a draft! With not a lot of trades, this draft was somewhat predictable with Bijan Robinson going first overall. As for my team, I didnt get a pick until the 2.5. So a lot of waiting for me on this draft. Rather than go thru the whole draft, I have set the teams in order of their draft position and their grade as I see them. In all, everyone did a good job. How good, remains to be seen. After all, you cant predict injuries and if anything happens to Bijan like what happened to Hall last season, Gibbs looks like the steal of the draft. So without further adieu, let’s begin. Now my disclaimer is that this is only a grade on each teams draft, not a prediction on how they will finish…

1. MachineGunBlitz- with a lot of draft capital and trading away what seemed the best asset(Walker), he came away with the 1.01 and nabbed Bijan. However, he picked Mayer, Rochon Johnson, Hendon Hooker and Tucker Kraft to follow that up. From this perspective, he could have either waited, or traded back and picked the same players. His before and after draft pictures didn’t change and while coming away with the prize of the draft, he gets a C+ for a draft grade.
2. Hawks4Life – after getting the 1.01, hawks traded that for the 1.2 and Ken Walker. A great move pre-NFL draft! Too bad the Seahawks felt the need to draft an rb in the 2^nd round! But luckily for him, he drafted Charbonnet. His draft went Richardson at the 1.2, then it was Charbonnet, Josh Downs, Washington, and Eric Gray. He spread his picks and got steals in Downs and Washington! Not only did he get the QB1, but he might also have got some diamonds in there too, his grade- A.
3. BeastMode(Me) – Trading away your first rounder isn’t recommended unless you are going for the ship (which I was) but coming up short and trading back along with the QB that got you there was even worse. I should get an F, just for ending up here. I did trade for Jefferson in the offseason to improve my wr; and traded for a couple of rb’s at good prices to get deep there. At the 2.5 I chose to trade that for Rachaad White, starter for the Bucs with a 3 down potential. Then I traded for picks 4.3, 4.3 and 5.10. and with those, I took Schoonmaker, Abikanda and Zach Kuntz. So while I got a bit deeper, and addressed depth at positions I wanted to. I didn’t improve my QB standing. My Grade was a D (+ maybe, but not likely)
4. Tiger blood – I would never sell an elite QB at age 27 (ok maybe 24-25 tho, lol) but tiger took a chance on Deshaun Watson and got several picks for the 23 AND 24 seasons. In return he gave up Josh Allen! Very gutsy move, I must say. His draft looked pretty good taking Bryce Young at the 1.04. Having the 1.10 as well, Tigger took Zay Flowers. The next pick was Tank Bigsby at 2.10. After that, he made a few trades and ended with the 4.10 and took Deuce Vaughn. Rounding out his draft was Charlie jones at the 5.4. All interesting selections, but the ones that stand out the most are Young and Flowers. Without any moves or picks for the TE position, tigerblood is totally relying on Kyle Pitts to breakout this year. Crossing the fingers on that one! TigerBloods draft grade – B
5. Seattle Slangers – Having confidence in his team, Slangers’ bet lost him his first-round draft pick for this season. But he made a good choice in trading for the 2.5 and selecting Jonathan Mingo with his first pick of the draft. The next pick in the 3^rd round was Marvin Mims and Will Mallory, followed by Tank Dell and then Elijah Higgins (a converted WR to TE). Slangers got great value in Mingo and Mims, but didn’t address his weakness at QB and missed on TE value picking Mallory while leaving Washington, Musgrave, Kraft, and Schoonmaker on the board. There is still a lot of time to address items for him, but his draft could have been a tad bit better. Slangers draft grade is – C.
6. Lockwood – Probably the best place to be in this draft because there is no pressure at 2-5, Lowood ended up with the 1.5 and the 1.6 and selected Stroud and Smith-Njigba. Two very good players, and then he drafted Jayden Reed, Will Levis, Evan Hull and Puca Nacua. All were good picks but didn’t address his TE hole that is coming. Probably will address that with a trade however, Lockwood isn’t one to trade often. But I have seen crazier things. Lockwood gets a grade of A-
7. Jawz- Ending up 4^th in the league, gave Jaws the 1.7 this year and he went TE with Dalton Kincaid. In the second he drafted Kendre Miller (a sleeper of mine) and then followed it up with Tillman, Bennett and Hutchinson. These picks addressed a lot of Jaws’ needs, without having to reach and make out of need picks with the hopes to trade that off. Really good job with an A grade.
8. RowdyP – Also trading away the pick of 1.8, rowdy picked Tyjae Spears with his first choice. Then he went with Jalin Hyatt, Luke Musgrave, and then Dwayne McBride. Adding to his strengths at wide receiver and picking up a little depth at rb will help rowdy stay competitive for a while. I like Spears at the 2.8 and McBride at the 5.8 as superb values and great sleeper picks. I am not sold on Musgrave only because of the landing spot. Scouts and analysts are picking Tucker Kraft as the TE to be used as the receiver, even though both are quality players. Hyatt need to develop route tree but has the speed to be in the NFL. I like RowdyP’s team and receives a grade of B.
9. RussGotCooked –  With aging running backs on the squad, it was a priority for Eli to get a young RB and did that with Jamyr Gibbs after trading for the 1.3. Having the 1.9 as well, he took Quentin Johnston. His following selections were Sam LaPorta, Chase Brown, Dorian Thompson- Robinson, and Kenny McIntosh. Eli addressed his RB needs but I believe he might have done better had he taken JSN or the 2 other QB’s and taken a swing at Spears or Charbonnet with the 1.9. He did get good value with LaPorta and may have a sleeper in DTR. Eli filled needs but may still have work to do before the season starts so he doesn’t get knocked off the leaderboard. My grade for RussGotCooked – B
10. JefeDoesDallas – Not much to say here, 2-time champ made all the right moves and acquired the 1.8 and took Jordan Addison. He followed that up with Rashee Rice, and Kayshon Boutte. He failed to address his needs at QB and adding depth to TE (but there may not be a need here). Running backs Harris and Chubb, and Jones need to stay healthy, so he doesn’t have to rely on Miles Sanders completely (he’s 26). He probably could have picked Charbonnet at the 1.8, or Bigsby at the 2.9. Being a wide receiver guy, I like the players Jefe has, but I believe he might have been better off using his trade magic to get one of the prize QB’s to have in the holster for when Rodgers or Cousins either fall off the cliff or walk away. For this reason, Jefe gets a C+.

And there you have it! Just my view from the Commish seat. Again, these are only my thoughts for the draft only, not a grade of each persons team. That will come in August during the fishing season. Until then, enjoy the off-season. There is a lot of time between now and the start of preseason, trading, free agency and waiver pickups are gonna be happening, and we need to be on our A-game if we want to be ready for week 1. The matchups look like this week 1.

With that, good luck fellas!