Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Frameshmania '16 Draft Review!

My schedule is all over the place this week so I figured there was no time like the present to get this done.  A little bit more quick-and-dirty than in previous years, but hey, which of us is the commissioner for the Boston Red Sox front office fantasy league, hm?

Let's get going.

Alex

Taking LeVeon Bell is going to make anyone's draft go a little different than optimal, but having Latavius Murray as the fill-in ain't bad.  A lot of WR depth here, including the bizarre double-Arizona tandem, and then a bunch of fliers in the back end of the RB group.  Definitely the worst QB situation in the league, and Phil taking Brees right ahead of me was a pretty rough break for my squad as a whole.  
QB: 3
RB: 7
WR: 9
TE: 6
DEF: 6

Laurie

I was thankful for her taking David Johnson at 5, but I think she did a good job filling in behind him with Hyde, Jennings, and Henry.  There's a lot of risk in the receiver group but a lot of bounceback potential in Jeffery, Hilton, and Cobb, with a solid guy in Maclin behind.  Gronk and Palmer are potential injury risks as well but should be solid while available.
QB: 7
RB: 4
WR: 7
TE: 10
DEF: 5

Phil

He and I cannibalized from each other a bit, as we each took RBs missing time (Charles, Bell) and took the other's handcuff.  The RB depth is questionable here until Charles is in full gear and/or Gordon delivers on his promise.  Really like the bench in general, in particular Torrey Smith and Martellus Bennett.  I was also very high on Brees and the Seahawks D this year so it's definitely a solid all-around roster with a few key players who I'm concerned won't live up to expectations (Anderson, Benjamin, Charles).
QB: 8
RB: 7
WR: 4
TE: 7
DEF: 10

JM

Loooove Peterson/McCoy at RB, but behind them is a whole lot of nothing, and they're no spring chickens.  Wilson was a reach where he took him, and having Luck behind only works out if he can swing a trade to get maybe an upgrade at RB3 or WR3.  Deep if unspectacular receiver group with a nice mix of safety and upside (in particular with Lockett/Parker on the bench), and a top-flight DEF/K combo (for what that's worth).
QB: 9
RB: 7
WR: 7
TE: 8
DEF: 9

Kyle

The man who always loads up at RB does it again, as he gets two of the top 5 backs and three intriguing injury-concern starters in Mathews, Foster, and Jones.  He will rely heavily on the Jordy Nelson comeback as he also took Rodgers.  Also did his patented draft-for-the-playoffs by taking both Gordon and Eifert.  Very much a swing-for-the-fences roster that I'm really intrigued by.
QB: 9
RB: 10
WR: 8
TE: 8
DEF: 7

Jesse

If Romo comes back within 6 weeks and/or Dak is an average QB, this is an unbelievable receiving group.  A month ago Brown, Robinson, and Dez were at worst 3 of the top 7 receivers.  Freeman/Forte/Langford is a scary RB group, and Jesse has a bunch of platoon guys behind them that he hopes pan out.  He went Brady/Roethlisberger back-to-back and I like that play a lot, although Ben probably won't be at the peak of his powers without Bell in the lineup at the start of the season.
QB: 8
RB: 3
WR: 10
TE: 4
DEF: 8

Matt

This doesn't happen often with Matt (after all, he had never had a pick below 2), but I don't really like his team at all.  I think Miller/Stewart/Hill/Gore is fine at RB but not riddled with upside, and while Hopkins/Marshall/Allen/Moncrief is a great top 4 at receiver, it doesn't really make up for a below average roster pretty much everywhere else.  I would be much happier with this team if Bradford was still in Philly, but with a rookie QB throwing to Ertz and Matthews I'm not impressed.  Also, Jimmy Graham.  Sigh.
QB: 4
RB: 5
WR: 9
TE: 2
DEF: 7

Emily

A lot of downside to this roster with not as much upside as you'd like for that risk.  Lacy, Murray, and Thomas are all coming off disappointing years and have similarly unsettling circumstances coming into this year.  Rawls is interesting but unproven and hurt as of now.  Cam is obviously a stud and having Stafford behind is solid, and there's some interesting safety/upside stuff on the bench with Brown, Crabtree, and Blount.  Just not much to write home about.
QB: 10
RB: 4
WR: 5
TE: 7
DEF: 5

So what does this all add up to?  Well, if you weight QB/RB/WR twice and TE/DEF once and add up the scores, here are the rankings:

69 - Kyle
63 - Jon-Michael
55 - Phil
54 - Jesse
51 - Laurie
50 - Alex
50 - Emily
45 - Matt

And actually that looks pretty good to me.  Kyle's rating doesn't build in the amount of risk he's put into his roster, so that could easily crash and burn, but it's almost so much upside that it's likely to work out in some way, shape, or form.  But Jon-Michael is right there and if he can swing a trade of Luck to upgrade at another position, it's an interesting squad (don't wanna jinx it though).  

Poor Matt.  Get well soon.