It's become an annual tradition — the RotoWire Invitational, a tournament comprised of multiple 12-team leagues that all draft at the same time, with one champion at the end of the season. This year's installment began slow drafting Aug. 12, with the final league wrapping up this past Thursday night (Aug. 27). The format is fairly standard — one QB, half PPR, 10 active roster spots with a six-man bench.
Rather than simply recap my own draft, or the league I'm in, I'm going to pull back and look at trends across all five leagues, creating a sort of mini-ADP snapshot that might be useful as you conduct your own drafts ahead of Week 1.
The Top Six ... ish
Across the five leagues, six players almost uniformly went with the first six picks — Ja'Marr Chase, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson. I say "almost" because one of the leagues proved to be a chaos agent, starting in the first round when Derrick Henry went at 1.6 and bumped Jefferson down to 1.7.
Chase went at 1.1 in four of the leagues, falling to 1.3 in the other; Robinson (1.1) and Barkley (1.2) were the two players that went ahead of him in that draft. Bijan never fell lower than 1.3 in any draft, while neither CeeDee nor JJ were selected higher than 1.4. Gibbs had the biggest spread of landing spots, going 1.2 in one league but 1.6
It's become an annual tradition — the RotoWire Invitational, a tournament comprised of multiple 12-team leagues that all draft at the same time, with one champion at the end of the season. This year's installment began slow drafting Aug. 12, with the final league wrapping up this past Thursday night (Aug. 27). The format is fairly standard — one QB, half PPR, 10 active roster spots with a six-man bench.
Rather than simply recap my own draft, or the league I'm in, I'm going to pull back and look at trends across all five leagues, creating a sort of mini-ADP snapshot that might be useful as you conduct your own drafts ahead of Week 1.
The Top Six ... ish
Across the five leagues, six players almost uniformly went with the first six picks — Ja'Marr Chase, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson. I say "almost" because one of the leagues proved to be a chaos agent, starting in the first round when Derrick Henry went at 1.6 and bumped Jefferson down to 1.7.
Chase went at 1.1 in four of the leagues, falling to 1.3 in the other; Robinson (1.1) and Barkley (1.2) were the two players that went ahead of him in that draft. Bijan never fell lower than 1.3 in any draft, while neither CeeDee nor JJ were selected higher than 1.4. Gibbs had the biggest spread of landing spots, going 1.2 in one league but 1.6 in two others. Henry, for his part, was solidly in the second tier overall, going as low as 1.12.
The Second Tier
Aside from King Henry, nine other players were selected with a first-round pick in at least one draft, but only two of that group were snapped up in the first round in every draft — Amon-Ra St. Brown, who landed in a narrow range of 1.8 to 1.10, and Christian McCaffrey, who had more volatility in his range, going anywhere from 1.7 to 1.11. Other players who went in the first in a majority of the drafts were Malik Nabers (high of 1.7, low of 2.6), Ashton Jeanty (high of 1.9, low of 2.5 in the chaos league) and Nico Collins (high of 1.10, low of 2.2).
The rest of the players making appearances in the first round:
Puka Nacua (high of 1.11, low of 2.3)
Brian Thomas (high of 1.10, low of 2.8 in the chaos league)
Josh Jacobs (high of 1.11, low of 2.9)
Bucky Irving (high of 1.9, shockingly low of 3.2)
With the exception of that one chaos league, every player taken in the first round in every league was a RB or WR. That's not a huge surprise in a format without a scoring system that might boost the top TEs or QBs.
Quarterback Drafting
What happened in the chaos league to bump players like Jeanty and Thomas down, though? Chasing after elite QBs. In that league, Josh Allen went 1.9, followed by Lamar Jackson at 1.12. Those were the top two QBs in every league, and in that order in four of the five — with the lone exception being a draft in which Jackson went one pick ahead of Allen.
The other four leagues had a little more patience when it came to filling the position. Allen went in the second round in three leagues (2.5, 2.7 and 2.12), while Lamar was never selected any earlier than 3.3 — and that was the draft where Mr. Kate Bishop went 3.4.
This trend carries through to the next tier of QBs as well. In the chaos league, Jayden Daniels came off the board at 2.11, while Joe Burrow (3.4) and Jalen Hurts (3.5) were popped soon after. By contrast, Daniels didn't go any higher than 3.6 (one pick after Jackson) in any of the other four leagues, while Burrow went anywhere from 3.9 to 4.9, and Hurts' range was incredibly volatile – he had a high of 3.11 and a low of 6.2.
Two other QBs crept into the fourth round and deserve mention as part of the second tier. Patrick Mahomes was selected in the 4th twice, going 4.5 and 4.9, and he didn't last past 6.6 in any draft. Bo Nix also went at 4.10 in one league (right after Mahomes at 4.9), but he didn't go any higher than 7.8 otherwise.
If your draft strategy is to wait as long as possible to fill QB, it looks like you'll be in good shape. Here were the latest starters to get selected in each league:
C.J. Stroud (10.3)
Brock Purdy (10.12)
Dak Prescott (11.11)
Justin Fields (12.10 and 13.2)
Fields was by far the most popular target as a late QB1, also filling that spot with picks at 9.10 and 10.2. In three of those he was immediately backed up with another QB on that team's next pick (J.J. McCarthy, Drake Maye and Justin Herbert being the backups). In the fourth league, he didn't get backed up at all.
Elite Tight Ends
This is a tier of two, but even here the chaos league just couldn't help itself. Brock Bowers was the first TE off the board in four leagues, going anywhere from 2.4 to 2.11, but in the chaos league Trey McBride went at 3.1, with Bowers going with the very next pick at 3.2.
George Kittle was the consensus TE3, getting selected in a fairly range of 4.2 to 5.3. Two other TEs slipped into the fourth or fifth round, and surprisingly neither of them was Travis Kelce. Sam LaPorta had a high-water mark of 4.12 and went in the fifth in three other drafts, falling to 6.7 in the outlier, while T.J. Hockenson was popped at 5.10 but was a seventh-round pick in the other four leagues. Soon-to-be Mr. Taylor Swift had to settle for a pick range of 6.1 to 7.12.
This is perhaps stretching the definition of "elite," but the next two noteworthy TEs were Mark Andrews (high of 7.2, low of 9.4) and rookie Tyler Warren (high of 7.8, low of 9.1). Warren was the higher selection in three leagues, Andrews in two.
Third-Tier RBs
After the eight RBs in the top two tiers, there's a group of 11 who consistently got popped in rounds two through four. Three of them never fell out of the second round — De'Von Achane (high of 2.1, low of 2.6), Jonathan Taylor (high of 2.4, low of 2.8, exactly 2.6 in the other three), and Kyren Williams (high of 2.3, low of 2.12). The other backs who saw second-round action were Chase Brown (high of 2.4, low of 3.2), James Cook (high of 2.11, low of 3.10) and Breece Hall (high of 2.12, low of 3.11). Cook signed his extension the morning after the draft started and had already been drafted in two leagues, so tough to say if that contract dispute getting wrapped up a bit sooner would have had much impact on when he came off the board.
Other RBs in this tier, who got popped in the third or fourth rounds:
Alvin Kamara (high of 3.1, low of 4.8)
James Conner (high of 3.9, low of 5.6)
Chuba Hubbard (high of 4.1, low of 4.12)
Kenneth Walker (high of 4.5, low of 4.8 – an incredibly narrow range)
Rookie RBs
What about the rookie crop? If you were doing the math, you'll notice I only named 10 backs above. Omarion Hampton was the 11th, going anywhere from 3.1 to 4.3 as the clear rookie RB2 behind Jeanty.
TreVeyon Henderson's preseason hype train did carry him up to 3.11 in one draft, but in the other four he went anywhere from 4.10 to 5.10. RJ Harvey was the clear No. 4 rookie, with a high pick of 4.10 and a low of 6.5.
Kaleb Johnson was the only other rookie RB to get consistent mid-round attention, with a range of 6.5 to 7.10. Quinshon Judkins, still unsigned and in limbo, went anywhere form 8.1 to 9.3.
Third-Tier WRs
After the eight WRs in the top two tiers, there is a large group of 17 wideouts who came off the board at least once in the second through fourth rounds. If there's a strong argument for a Hero RB approach to your draft, this would be it — if you take a running back in the first round, there's a wealth of WR talent to choose from afterward.
There's also a lot of volatility in the group, as everyone seems to have their favorites. ZERO wide receivers came off the board in the second round in all five drafts, which is kind of shocking.
WRs who did see second-round action:
Drake London (high of 2.3, low of 3.4 – he was a second-round selection in four leagues)
A.J. Brown (high of 2.8, low of 3.7)
Ladd McConkey (high of 2.10, low of 3.4 – a very narrow range)
Tyreek Hill (high of 2.10, low of 4.4)
WRs who were unanimous third or fourth-round picks:
Marvin Harrison (high of 3.3, low of 4.9)
Garrett Wilson (high of 3.5, low of 4.7)
Mike Evans (high of 3.6, low of 4.4)
Jaxon Smith-Njigba (high of 3.8, low of 4.5)
Tee Higgins (high of 3.10, low of 4.2 – another incredibly narrow range)
WRs who also saw some consideration in this range:
Jameson Williams (high of 4.1, low of 6.7, and no higher than 5.9 in any of the other four leagues)
DJ Moore (high of 4.4, low of 5.7)
Davante Adams (high of 4.5, low of 5.3)
Terry McLaurin (high of 4.6, 5.8 – he didn't sign until after being drafted in all leagues)
DK Metcalf (high of 4.7, low of 5.2 – another narrow range)
Xavier Worthy (high of 4.12, low of 5.7)
DeVonta Smith (high of 4.12, low of 5.12)
Rookie WRs
Yup, there's one name missing from the above group again. Tetairoa McMillan got popped at 3.1 in one league, but went in a range of 5.3 to 6.1 in the other four leagues. In all five he was the first rookie wideout off the board, however.
Two other rookie WRs got taken as high as the fifth round. Matthew Golden had a high of 5.1 in the same league where McMillan went 3.1, so shoutout to Adam Thompson for getting his guys while picking at the turn, a strategy I fully endorse. Golden's range otherwise was 7.1 to 8.11. Travis Hunter also got selected at 5.11 in a league, but had a much narrower range, with his low being 6.9 — his spot in three leagues total. Nice.
Emeka Egbuka didn't have the same helium, sitting in a range of 7.5 to 9.11, and you can't even blame the news on Chris Godwin avoiding the PUP list for that.
Sleepers
One other potentially useful list is late-round sleepers. For the purposes of this exercise, I'm defining "late-round sleeper" as the last Flex qualifier selected on each roster, on the theory that this is the late-round dart throw each GM decided they couldn't live without. I cut out QBs, as well as kickers and DSTs from the exercise for obvious reasons. I also won't list a handful of veteran TEs who technically fit the criteria (Hunter Henry twice, and Jake Ferguson, Dallas Goedert and Jonnu Smith once each), as I have a hard time fitting them into a "sleeper" box.
From this group, the most popular choice was the Eagles' Will Shipley, who got taken as a team's last RB/WR in four of five leagues. Betting on Barkley's 2024 workload to catch up with him is as good a reason as any for a sleeper play.
Sleepers taken three times:
Ollie Gordon, Mia
Christian Kirk, Hou
Joshua Palmer, Buf
Wan'Dale Robinson, NYG
Dont'e Thornton, LV
Sleepers taken twice:
Luther Burden, Chi
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Was (note that JCM was taken earlier than this in the other three leagues, going as high as 9.7)
Romeo Doubs, GB
DeMario Douglas, NE
Rico Dowdle, Car
Tre Harris, LAC
Tory Horton, Sea
Dylan Sampson, Cle (also selected in all five leagues, going as high as 12.7)
Mason Taylor, NYJ
Cedric Tillman, Cle
Kyle Williams, NE
Sleepers taken once:
Brandon Aiyuk, SF
Tahj Brooks, Cin
Hollywood Brown, KC
Nick Chubb, Hou (drafted in all five leagues, in either the 11th or 12th rounds)
Blake Corum, LAR
Troy Franklin, Den
Isaac Guerendo, SF
Jayden Higgins, Hou
Kareem Hunt, KC
Xavier Legette, Car
Woody Marks, Hou
Chig Okonkwo, Ten
Samaje Perine, Cin
Darius Slayton, NYG
Brashard Smith, KC
Tyjae Spears, Ten
Tre Tucker, LV
Rachaad White, TB
Jaylen Wright, Mia
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