Every year, 12 of Dr. Roto’s staff get together for a draft…basically for bragging rights. This is the fourth year. It is a redraft league with ten active players: 1 quarterback, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 2 Flex, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DEF, and five bench spots.
I’ve made the playoffs each of the first three seasons, winning the inaugural championship in 2021. I tend to be unorthodox in my drafting, but it works for me. I don’t subscribe to conventional wisdom when it comes to drafting. If everyone is zigging, I like to zag. Doc sometimes thinks of me as a mad scientist.
There is a lot that goes into my thought process when drafting. For instance, my style and strategy change depending on the type of league, whether it is a redraft, keeper, or dynasty league, whether it employs a one- or two-QB format, and where I am drafting.
This year, I drew the no.11 pick in the first round, which gave me a quick wraparound. I only waited for two picks, but then I waited for a full 24 picks to pass. Knowing I’d miss out on all the high-end WRs and RBs, I decided to snag the best TE on the board. No, it wasn’t Travis Kelce this year…it was Sam LaPorta.
Doc felt it was a stretch, and he’s right…but LaPorta came in as the 19th-ranked player. If I had passed on him at 11, I may not have gotten him at no.14. And at 14, that wouldn’t have been too much of a stretch. If I had passed on him with both of my picks, I would definitely have missed him at no.25.
My second pick was, again, unconventional. I like to take who I feel is the top quarterback early. I snagged CJ Stroud. While most everyone had WR/WR, RB/RB, or WR/RB after the second round, I was sitting with TE/QB.
From there, because of the quick wraparound, I was determined to take a WR and RB with those two picks, which gave me great balance. Knowing I missed out on the high WRs and RBs in the first round, I didn’t feel there was much difference between that first wave of second-tier guys and the players I could get in rounds three through six.
I hoped to snag RB Derrick Henry or Rachaad White in the third round, but they went 3.5 and 3.8. With 3.11, I grabbed Josh Jacobs. Taking the RB with the third pick meant having to take a WR based on my strategy. With Stroud at QB, I planned on snagging at least one of the three solid wide receivers on the team, either Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins, or Tank Dell. All three were available to me, and I took Diggs.
With the fifth and sixth picks, I still planned on taking a WR/RB combo. I was hoping that either Collins or Dell would still be available to me at 5.11, and if not, possibly Zay Flowers. But alas, the best-laid plans don’t always work out. They were all gone, so I snagged RB D’Andre Swift. Taking the RB in the fifth round turned my attention to a WR for my next pick. I took Jaelan Reed in this spot. It was between Terry McLauren and George Pickens, but I went with Reed because QB Jordan Love got him the ball.
I maintained this WR/RB game plan for the next two rounds. In the seventh round, I was hoping to get Austin Ekeler, but he went four picks ahead of me. In fact, this same owner sniped me on multiple picks in the draft. I ended up taking Tony Pollard. Coming back, in the eighth round, I grabbed Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who I feel is a steal at that spot.
So now, after eight picks, my starting team is basically set with Stroud at QB, LaPorta at TE, RBs Jacobs/Swift/Pollard, and WRs Diggs/Reed/Njigba.
All I had left to do was draft a kicker, defense, and five bench spots. Part of being unconventional is that even in one-quarterback leagues, I like to have a solid second quarterback. This is for two reasons: first, injuries do happen, and having that second solid quarterback is huge. Second, snagging a solid second quarterback keeps them away from all the other teams.
With my ninth pick, I was hoping to snag Brock Bowers as my second TE, but he wanted at 9.6, so I took Dalton Schultz. And with the 10th-round pick, I took my second QB, snagging Jordan Love…again, a steal in my eyes in this spot.
Part of my unorthodox maneuvers involves kickers and defenses…I like to take them early, too. With my next two picks, I snagged San Fransisco’s D and K. Younghoo Koo. I love kickers who kick in domes. At this point, it became an exercise in filling out the roster. Although I felt I was thin at RB, I didn’t like anyone available to me. I wanted Tyler Allgeier, but he went at 13.7.
And then I listened to an adage Doc always says…” You can NEVER have too many WRs.” With my last three picks, I grabbed Quentin Johnson, Ja’Lyn Polk, and Tyler Boyd. All in all, I am extremely happy with the draft, knowing I may have some work to do at RB.
Coming out of the draft, there appears to be the most parity ever. When the site lists every team’s optimum lineup from top to bottom, the projections range from 105.95 for the lowest team to 126.96 for the highest team. I’m coming in smack dab in the middle at 120.55. It will be a tight season.
The most extensive stretch on the board was at 3.3 when QB Anthony Richardson came off the board as the fourth QB taken. And Jayden Daniels was taken in the eighth round before Caleb Williams, who didn’t go until the 10.12 pick. Jared Goff, Aaron Rodgers, Trevor Lawrence, and Justin Herbert went after the two rookies.
Who am I to critique? However, I can’t be bothered by taking a flyer on a rookie quarterback in a redraft league, especially a one-QB league. To me, those picks are vanity picks. If they pan out, you look like a hero, but they usually don’t. Sometimes exotic picks are used as clickbait…but do you know what else is clickbait: winning championships…which is what I intend to do this season?
Let The Games Begin…as the GOAT Tom Brady famously said, coming onto the field…LET’S F-ING GO!!!
