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Vegas League Draft

The day after the Stopa 11K league, amidst 72 consecutive hours of free booze, the RotoWire Vegas league draft took place in a conference room at the Aria hotel. The Vegas league consists of two separate 14-team leagues, the winners of which meet in the Super Bowl in Week 17. I was in League 1, and had the sixth pick. It's standard (non-PPR) scoring with the usual set-up (1-QB, 2-RB, 3-WR, 1-FLX, 1-TE, 1-K and 1-D) except we use team kickers and quarterbacks get only three points per TD pass. Here are the results:

 RdLevineCapetilloMcKechnieStopaBrownLissThornbury
1GurleyL. BellA. BrownD.JohnsonO.BeckhamA.RobinsonJ. Jones
 2K. AllenD. ThomasG. TateWatkinsA. CooperA. JefferyM. Evans
 3D. MartinMcCoyCJ AndersonMoncriefIngramT. RawlsHyde
 4DeckerEifertJ. BrownAjayiR. WilsonLuckHurns
 5M. JonesJ.MatthewsRoethlisbergerMaclinR. MathewsGio BernardLangford
 6ErtzDGBJ. StewartKelceWheatonS. ShepardC. Coleman
 7CousinsCruzProsiseK.WilliamsSimsFosterT. Benjamin
 8K. AikenPalmerDiggsRomoCookD. AllenWoodhead
 9T. AustinJ. GordonGatesT. TaylorYeldonEbronK. Drake
 10CarrWittenRiddickJ. WilliamsT. WilliamsFunchessZ. Miller
 11T. ColemanGarconSanuK. DixonC. WestRiversRyan
 12FullerK. CareyCutlerPatriots KAmendolaCoatesC. Hogan
 13Texans DPanthers DVikings DMcKinnonPatriots DRavens KJanis
 14Broncos KK. WrightPanthers KArtis-PayneMcFaddenGiants DSeahawks K
 15K.RudolphCardinals KB.EllingtonRams DColts KM. LeePackers D
 16A. BlueHillmanManzielD. PittaOliverC. ConleyB. Coleman
RdHooverEricksonBrunoSedlerJenstadSnellingsCrites
 1E. ElliottFreemanD. BryantL. MillerHopkinsA.J. GreenPeterson
 2MarshallHiltonLacyNelsonCooksCharlesGronkowski
 3D. ParkerBaldwinEdelmanM. FloydBenjaminD. MurrayCobb
 4ForteOlsenA. RodgersNewtonJ. ReedJ. HillL. Murray
 5E.SandersD-JaxFitzgeraldD. LewisDu. JohnsonBreesLandry
 6K. WhiteD. WalkerM. GordonT. SmithAbdullahM. JonesLockett
 7D. HenryForsettB. AllenIvoryGoreCrabtreeBortles
 8G.BarnidgeR. JenningsJ. GrahamL. GreenDoctsonBradyFleener
 9MariotaWinstonV-JaxJ. ThomasManningASJenkinsCrowell
 10PerkinsDorsettM.BennettTreadwellJ. HowardS. SmithPowell
 11T. BoydM. ThomasDaltonGinnSneadJ. CameronBritt
 12TannehillSmallwoodCardinals DD.WashingtonSeahawks DBroncos DStafford
 13D. AdamsThompsonBlountRandleD. BookerM. WallaceChiefs D
 14A. MorrisJ.FergusonCowboys KTurbinFitzpatrickBengals DR. Matthews
 15Raiders DBengals KLaFellSteelers DPackers KChiefs KBuccaneers K
 16Titans KJaguars DSprolesLions KC. ClaySpillerRidley

One difficult thing about this league for me is it takes place in mid-July when many of the participants aren't especially up on football yet. To fill in the gaps, they all have a newly-released copy of the RotoWire magazine, the rankings of which have been done by me. That means, I'm drafting against half the guys who have their own ideas and the other half who are some version of me, using my cheat sheet as a baseline. As such, Odell Beckham went at No. 5 (usually Julio Jones goes ahead of him), and I was stuck at pick six.

While most people would go with Jones at six without thinking twice, I have a bad feeling about him. In PPR, I'd hold my nose  because the volume is too big to pass up, but in standard the gap (assuming full health) between him and the next tier shrinks quite a bit. And I'm concerned about his mileage, history of foot problems, red-zone issues and the fact he always seems to be hobbling around after getting hit. I could be wildly off base, but if I have a vibe, I heed it, so I took Allen Robinson, a receiver approaching his peak, instead.

Round 2, I added Alshon Jeffery without much thought. I slightly preferred Mike Evans due to Jeffery's injury history, but he went one pick before me, and Jeffery is a monster when healthy.

Round 3, I took Thomas Rawls who now seems on track for the start of training camp. If I knew he were 100 percent healthy, he'd be a second-round pick in non-PPR as the lead back on the Seahawks offense.

Round 4, I took Andrew Luck who I expect to have a monster year on a team with a bad defense and no running game of which to speak. It was probably a reach in retrospect, only because of the three-point passing TDs, something I had momentarily forgotten when I made the pick. Still, in a 14- as opposed to a 12-team league, the QBs dry up more quickly.

Round 5, I took my second back in Gio Bernard, who I think will be useful even in non-PPR. I expect him to split the early-down work with Jeremy Hill and have third downs all to himself. I wouldn't be surprised if Bernard even saw a few goal-line carries as he's the better talent and has better ball security.

Round 6, I took Sterling Shepard. The team was raving about his route running in minicamp, and he should see a lot of single coverage opposite Odell Beckham. Even if Victor Cruz makes it back (no sure thing) Shepard should see 100 targets.

Round 7, I took Arian Foster who's apparently healthy and looking to sign somewhere. If those reports are true, it's a matter of when, not if, in which case he'll move up several rounds, depending on his landing spot.

Rounds 8-9, I double up on two upside tight ends, Eric Ebron and Dwayne Allen. Allen could be the Colts red-zone target, while Ebron is a former first rounder on a team with a thin receiving tree.

Round 10, I took Devin Funchess - second-year wideouts often break out, and Kelvin Benjamin is hardly established as a star.

Round 11, I doubled up on QB with Rivers, mostly to piss off Jason Thornbury who I could see needed a QB and undoubtedly was waiting on him.

I rounded out my team with three receivers (Sammie Coates, good size and speed, could push Markus Wheaton for the No. 2 role; Chris Conley, size and speed, could be the Chiefs' No. 2; and Marqise Lee, great quickness, finally healthy.)