On Sunday night I drafted in the NFFC Prime Time contest, the first of a series that they're rolling out over the next two weeks. It's a similar format to the RotoWire Online Championship, except it's at a higher price point. The grand prize for winning the whole thing is $150,000. You can read more details about the contest here.
I drew the seventh spot out of 12. A reminder, we do a Kentucky Derby Style lottery for draft slots, and I got the 11th selection of 12 for my spot. That said, I was happy with the choice - it was ranked fourth among my preferences. For what it's worth, right now my ranking priority is: 3-2-1-7-6-5-4-8-12-11-10-9. My rationale is that I want to get one of the top 7 running backs to begin my draft, as I think it's easier to assemble a team with that start. Moreover, I like the typical seventh option, Kareem Hunt, just as much if not more than Alvin Kamara, Saquon Barkley and perhaps even Ezekiel Elliott. So I'd rather draft seventh than fourth and get earlier picks in both the second and third rounds (there's Third Round Reversal in the NFFC), where the marginal value in an earlier pick is worth than in later rounds. I also like the middle of the draft merely from the standpoint of being able to better withstand the various position runs.
Here's the full draft grid - I'll discuss a few takes and some of my picks after the grid.
So what's the case against Kareem Hunt, anyhow? There was a point last year where he was legitimately considered the top player in fantasy early in the season, and while Andy Reid forced him to take a walk in the wilderness during the middle of the season, he still finished strong. He's got an excellent offensive line, he catches passes, and his backup isn't a real threat. And yet, on multiple occasions I've seen him fall all the way to 14th (where I had drafted third, and taken David Johnson). Anyhow, when I found out I was drafting seventh, I pretty much knew I'd get Hunt in the first round, and sure enough, I did.
By the second round of this draft, it was immediately apparent that Running Back inflation wasn't just apparent, but it was more acute than ever. Devonta Freeman went at 2.3. Jay Ajayi was jumped up to 2.7! Suffice to say, Team 6 had a number of picks that were unorthodox, and that does shake up the draft for everyone else. But back to the RB Inflation - Joe Mixon at 2.10, Jerick McKinnon at 2.12, Derrick Henry at 3.7, Rex Burkhead at 4.3! It's clear that everyone is cognizant about not getting locked out of RB, and it'll probably get worse at the NFFC live drafts this weekend and next (h/t Matt Modica).
Naturally opportunities arise at other positions when RBs are getting pushed up like that. My Davante Adams pick in the second round was pretty standard - the only question mark there is deciding between him, Keenan Allen and A.J. Green, but I've consistently landed on Adams there this draft seasons. But getting Gronk at 3.6 was a new one for me - and it was a little uncomfortable doing so. That said, I'm really warming up to taking a top-three tight end, as I keep finding ways to dislike the next two tiers of TE's. But it was a critical spot in the draft - I passed on a slew of WR2's by taking him, and perhaps forced another pick at 4.7 in Demaryius Thomas, passing on Alex Collins to do so. That decision begat me taking Tarik Cohen in the 5th (nothing against Cohen, I have him in a lot of places) and not taking Marquise Goodwin, who went one pick later.
I've done plenty of pick-by-pick analysis, so I'll spare you the full breakdown of the team, except to point out the QBs. Yes, I waited really long to take one, and yet I'm perfectly happy with my pairing. I have Rivers ahead of Mahomes in my head, but I went with Mahomes first regardless, because he had a unique bye week compared to the trio of Rivers/Ryan/Mariota - and I knew that I was going with back-to-back quarterbacks, and didn't want two from the same bye week. So I ended up with Mahomes and Mariota instead, and I'm content with that result.
Defenses really got pushed up in this draft - Jacksonville in the 10th round, six defenses taken by the 14th round (see also, Team 6 - what are you doing?). So once those went, I knew that I'd wait until the 19th round and just take the two best remaining. I went with two instead of one because there were more as a whole taken by then, limiting the early streaming options.
My full team:
QB: Patrick Mahomes / Marcus Mariota
RB: Kareem Hunt / Tarik Cohen / Aaron Jones / Isaiah (little known fact - I have a hard time spelling "Isaiah") Crowell / Jordan Wilkins / Alfred Morris / Chase Edmonds.
WR: Davante Adams / Demaryius Thomas / Nelson Agholor / Robbie Anderson / Rishard Matthews / John Ross / Martavis Bryant
TE: Rob Gronkowski
K: Justin Tucker
DEF: Cincinnati Bengals / Arizona Cardinals