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A 2022 Preview

Some years ago Ian did a preview looking at the ADP of the players on each team. It’s an interesting idea – because we’re a dynasty league teams will be in different places of a cycle – and the idea was to look at how teams were set up to win now. So I thought I’d repeat it, but with a twist.

In Ian’s analysis he used ADP, but ADP has a couple of problems to my mind – we’re not a redraft league, so we don’t have picks for all players, only rookies, and they can’t be easily equated to salaries. Picks assume an equal value between 1 and 2, 2 and 3 and so on. But if you have a clear top two with a wafer thin difference in value and then a gap to a tier with players 3-5 then this isn’t really reflected. ADP theoretically smooths this a little, as players 1 and 2 should have ADPs around 1.5 and 3-5 around 4, but it still retains the core problem of valuing each pick 1 more than the one before, so the gap between 1.5 and 4 is still an arbitrary 2.5 picks with no recognition that a pick value isn’t a flat amount.

AAV on the other hand says how much of a fixed budget someone is willing to spend on a player. So the difference between 1 and 2 in that ranking could be a couple of cents, while 3-5 is more like a couple of dollars. Also, critically, it’s a currency we use for our salary cap, so it opens up some additional fun options.

Whether it’s ADP or AAV, both methodologies have some similar problems, that I’ll just touch on:
– Not every league runs IDP, and many that do won’t have a full defensive, or will use different defensive scoring. So defensive value isn’t really indicative in the way that offensive is. An example of this, is that only 2 of the top 10 CBs by ADP are even rostered in our league. Because only two CBs have ADP values.
– 2QB leagues are increasingly popular, these inflate the value of QBs significantly, but they do so across the board, so it should balance out on a team-by-team comparison. It does however mean that AAV values for QBs are inflated and so comparison of salary to AAV is less useful at this position.

Anyway, enough of the boring stuff, let’s have a look at how it shakes out.

I could list top AAV by position, but easier just to link you to the AAV info in MFL (note, this link is correct, the one on the MFL homepage is for 2021).

You can access the googledoc with all the data in here, it is a live doc, pulling via the API, so figures may not exactly match.

So, onto the good stuff, who’s got the most valuable team?

Team Value Offense Value
Dyna Hard $905.79 $857.71
Kelkowski $768.82 $707.27
Brees $720.65 $671.62
Champions $705.15 $664.05
Losers $647.24 $634.16
Sadness $638.76 $610.51
Bombermen $579.40 $524.22
The Infamous Two $557.52 $494.21
Dungeoneers $557.19 $548.19
Hawkeman $449.11 $421.77

Let’s start with a positive – the average spend in the dynabowl on offence is $400.20 so I adjusted AAV’s for offence based on that, and everyone’s AAV beats that baseline value, so everyone’s got some value there. Rookie contracts help a lot with that, for example Breece Hall(!) is somehow the top AAV on MFL, and his 20 dollar salary for this year against his AAV is 31 (before rescaling to the baseline of $400), so his salary to AAV rating is 944%. More on that sort of thing in a bit.

Chris is a clear leader here, lead by a receiver group with a total AAV of almost 400 on their own ($397.60), by far the most valuable group in the league, ahead of Ben’s receivers ($308.95). Neil’s bottom placed ranking can largely be traced to this same position group as his receivers value up at only $102.41, significantly behind the next worst in Mike ($174.93) and the Commish ($168.28).

The top RB group belongs to Ian ($280.18) but there’s a cluster of closely matched 2nd placed groups of Pete ($234.88), Chris ($234.52) and Mike ($231.08) and Ben ($225.40). People in auction drafts just don’t like Jonathan Taylor as much as you’d think. The lowest valued RB groups belong to T2 ($122.14) and the Commish ($137.51).

Ian, Pete and Neil have more valuable RB groups than WR groups, where for everyone else it’s the reverse.

It’s closer in the QB group – Max at $158.36 has the most valuable group, just ahead of the Losers ($153.32) and Chris ($149.40). While the Commish has the most valuable TE group ($98.01). While there’s a couple of others who are close, Neil is the only GM who’s QB group is more valuable that one of the two big skill position groups (his aforementioned WR group). Unsurprisingly, everyone’s TEs are their least valuable group.

Defence, as previously alluded to, receives an average spend of $165 in salary. In AAV, the highest total defensive value belonged to T2 at $62. So, yeah, that pretty much makes the point about IDP in our league vs others. The figures are all in the sheet, but I’m not going to waste time on trying to draw any conclusions.

So far, so good. But you can’t and won’t play all these players. So let’s go deeper. What about the starting line-ups?Based on a line-up of 1QB, 3RBs, 4WRs how do the teams value up? (figures rounded)

Team Starters QB RB WR TE
Dyna Hard $460 $68 $127 $215 $50
Kelkowski $416 $78 $174 $149 $15
Brees $440 $40 $147 $230 $23
Champions $427 $56 $140 $215 $14
Losers $431 $80 $144 $188 $19
Sadness $445 $62 $196 $128 $59
Bombermen $360 $85 $110 $120 $45
Tamworth Two $379 $45 $100 $196 $37
Dungeoneers $453 $58 $219 $166 $11
Hawkeman $300 $55 $135 $84 $26

What this highlights is how depth plays a part in total value. Chris’s WR group ($215) is not just not miles ahead now, it’s not even ahead. While it’s still a strong group (stars and scrubs is a legit strategy in Auction drafts), it’s only joint second alongside Max and behind Ben ($230). The gap from these three to 4th and 5th is only 20 dollars too.

Even more of a drop than Chris’ WRs are Ian’s RBs drop from the highest value group to third, behind Mike ($196) and Pete ($219). Who’ve topped the last two drafts, showing that rookie value.

Meanwhile, in terms of overall value… it’s actually pretty tight: Chris leads at 460, but 7 teams are above 414 dollars (90% of Chris’ value). Only Neil, once again let down by his receivers, T2 and the Commish are not in this group.

As I mentioned earlier, one big difference between ADP and AAV is that AAV allows us to compare what someone would pay for someone this year, with what we are paying for someone this year, so we can look at value – both best and worst – in this case, expressed in terms of salary as a percentage of AAV (i.e. lower is better value)

Team Value RB value WR value
Squad Starters Starters Starters
Dyna Hard 51.2% 36.7% 52.7% 37.1%
Kelkowski 59.4% 56.5% 34.0% 92.1%
Brees 47.6% 36.1% 29.2% 53.7%
Champions 47.7% 40.1% 49.8% 45.4%
Losers 58.3% 53.4% 62.3% 78.5%
Sadness 82.9% 90.9% 79.7% 120.6%
Bombermen 67.0% 49.9% 47.1% 84.4%
Tamworth Two 82.4% 84.4% 110.5% 65.9%
Dungeoneers 87.3% 72.8% 20.1% 163.4%
Hawkeman 93.2% 85.3% 79.4% 127.9%

OK, I’m going to start to try and say less as this is already quite long, but some highlights… T2 are the only team paying over 100% of their AAV for their RBs. It’s tough to do, but congrats. Benefitting from back to back 1st picks spent on RBs, the dungeoneers are paying a league-low 20.1%.
At receiver the opposite is true, the dungeoneers are paying a whopping 163.4% of the market values of their receiver. The Sadness are also paying over the odds at receiver and so are the Hurricanes, tough break when they’ve such a low value, but with others where you might be overpaying one or two individuals and driving total salary up (say hello DeAndre Hopkins) in Neil’s case it’s more that people don’t value what he has, so any sort of salary looks like an overpay.
Lastly, the Dungeoneers (87.3%) and Hurricanes (93.2%), led by those high cost receiver groups have the least discount on their offensive squad, though neither is overpaying vs AAV overall. Pete’s cheaper starting group (72.8%) means that he drops out of the top two for starters, replaced by the Sadness who go straight to number one with a bullet (90.9%).

At the other end of the scale, The Brees have the best value overall group and starting group just ahead of Chris by 0.6% for starters, while the Champions are only 0.1% behind in the total offence.

The two things that seem to have the biggest impacts on this are having young receivers who’ve got a good season or two under their belt but are, still on their rookie deal, (Lamb, Chase, Jefferson) or box-fresh rookie RBs (Harris, Walker). Although, as this last table shows, the best value is not always where you’d expect it (in fact, it almost never is):

Team MVP! MVP! MVP! Least Valuable Player
Dyna Hard Kenny Pickett Jalen Raegor
Kelkowski Jalen Hurts Curtis Samuel
Brees Trey Hendrickson Darius Slayton
Champions Jaquan Brisker(!) Quintez Cephus
Losers Justin Herbert Anthony Schwartz
Sadness Cole Holcomb Trey Sermon
Bombermen Demarcus Lawrence DJ Chark (doo doo do do do do)
Tamworth Two Justin Jefferson Odell Beckham
Dungeoneers Joe Burrow DeAndre Hopkins
Hawkeman Malik Willis N’Keal Harry

Of course, value is ultimately a measure of what people are willing to pay for a player, it’s not indicative of how they’ll actually perform. The wisdom of the crowd has C-Mac’s one working hamstring as a top two pick by ADP and the highest value player overall (in PPR formats), so I’m not sure how far to trust it anyway, but if nothing else, it offers an interesting insight into who’s got what would be considered the ‘best’ teams at this point and the best position groups. Meanwhile, should we pass a emergency rule that Chris and Neil should swap receiver groups?

The Dynabowl 2022 Draft Entrance Survey

Well, the 2022 Dynabowl Draft is in the books. Before it all went down, I asked the GMs to make some predictions about what might happen, and these are the results.

First up, I asked GMs to predict the first round. Some people had an advantage, as they were picking in the first round, sometimes more than once. It certainly made things easier for the Sadness, given their surprise pick of Quay Walker at 10, while the Hurricanes predicted 4 defensive players to go in the first round, which would have been a record, but failed to spot that Walker was the one who would actually. They also incorrectly predicted a trade for pick 8, but failed to nominate who the player taken there would be.

Here’s the full table, along with a score for how accurate people were at guessing. I put my inaccuracy down to not researching the round as I wasn’t going to pick there.

Fashionably late, I received the entrance survey from the Losers shortly after publication and can now add their predictions here, predictions which netted 30 points, leaving Kelkowski as the king predictors:

And after that, let us all salute The Champions for their predictions:

2. How many trades will there be during the draft?

The correct answer was 6. If you’d done your research you could have guessed it would be in this neighbourhood because a glimpse into the past shows that since 2018 there’s been 6, 6, 5 and 4 trades (though 2018 had two trades mid-draft for 2019 picks. However, going back further in time we see that 2017 had 13 trades, 2016 had 10 and 2015 – the first draft in the books, had a whopping 15 trades in during the draft. Insanity. There were only 7 rounds for each of those drafts too…

So what did we say? Well, living in the past we had the Sadness, who went for an astonishing 14 (!!!), while Hard and the Hurricanes both said 10. Some more sensible guesses were had from Tamworth (8), Kelkowski (7), Champions (7), and the Bombermen (8, though admitting “I am literally plucking a number out of the air there”), while the Brees (2) really low-balled it.

Late comer Losers topped everyone, suggesting a total of 15 trades, commenting “Stupid fucking question”, which I assume means that the answer was so obvious why even bother asking.

And at this point I would note that the commentary was pretty scant from most respondents so if this is a bit dry, you know who to blame. (Yourself and everyone but me).

3. Which pick will be the first pick traded?

The correct answer was 2.07, it belonged to the Bombermen, until it was sold to the Tamworth Two. But did anyone get it right?

We already know the Hurricanes guessed that 1.08 would be traded away.

Tamworth went for 2.04, perhaps indicating a desire to get up even higher than they managed.

Kelkwoski plumped for Chris selling 1.09, along the same lines as the Hurricanes guess.

The Bombermen stated “I think Chris will trade one of his first round picks. While I don’t really think that Dave will trade up, but he could be convinced  because I fancy he wants Skyy Moore. But I don’t know, really.” So there definitely was something in the air about Chris making a move, and Moore did, indeed, go at 9 so if he had been sought after you’d have needed to make this leap.

The Brees thought pick 1.04 would have a buyer – a pick which the Champions spent on Treylon Burks.

The Sadness matched Tamworth in plumping for 2.04 while the Hard plumped for 1.06 and the Champions went high, suggesting 1.02 would be on the move.

The Losers were non-committal – “This is more a question of buyer than seller. I’d move 3, but I don’t think I’ll find a buyer”

That meant three people thought Chris was trading, 3 thought Max was, one vote for the Brees and one for the Sadness.

4. Will the first pick traded be for a player (or players), picks, or a combination?

The first trade that happened was 2.07 & 5.07 for 3.08, 4.08 and 4.09, so all picks.

The Brees, Hard and Champions (and the late-comer Losers) said it would be solely for picks, though the Sadness appears to have suggested 2.04 would be sold for 3.05 straight up. Everyone else said a player+pick deal which, based on history, was probably the right guess.

5. Who will be involved in the first trade?

The correct answer was Bombermen and Tamworth, which no one got right. Probably not a surprise.

We had a Hard/Brees trade (Hurricanes and Hard – though the Hard said that he could alternatively trade with the Hurricanes of Champions, so he was sold on himself trading, just like everyone else), Dungeoneers/Champions (Tamworth), Hard and apparently no one else (Kelkwoski), “I already said – Slatz and Chris. Definitely Chris. No real idea about Slatz. Maybe Ian?” (Bombermen), Champions/Hard (Brees), Sadness/Hurricanes (Champions) and Champions/Tamworth (Sadness). Oh, and “Chris” (Losers).

So out of all that there was one half of the trade was guessed correctly, once.

6. Which position are you most keen to pick up to be a contributor for this season?

The Hurricanes wanted a RB and got James Cook. He shoots, he scores.

Tamworth also wanted an RB, but didn’t have a pick until the third round. They traded up for Dameon Pierce and Tyler Allgeier in the second, and also picked up a “Treston Ebner”, whatever that is, in the 11th round. Mission accomplished perhaps as well as could be expected given the capital available at the start of the draft.

Kelkowski wanted a DT to contribute this season, which was probably a tough ask regardless. Even tougher when they don’t end up picking one the whole draft.

The Bombermen said “Running Back. It’s the position most likely to have an impact in the first season.” But they only took one in the 7th (Jerome Ford) and 9th (Jashaun Corbin), so that’s unlikely to have much impact. But the options were a bit thin on the ground this year.

The Brees wanted a wide receiver and got three of them – Garrett Wilson (1st), Alec Pierce (3rd) and Velus Jones (11th). Jones, in particular is a bit of a steal there given the opportunity in Chicago.

The Sadness wanted a linebacker and snaffled up Quay Walker in the first round along with Devin Lloyd in the 2nd and Damone Clark in the 11th. Got that one pretty well covered. Now to see if they contribute first up.

The Champions were after a wide receiver (“Shame about the players”) and came away with 5 of them – their top three picks – Burks (1.04), Williams (1.07) and Pickens (2.04), as well as guys in the 9th and 11th who you’ve never heard of and never will again.

The Hard took this question seriously and responded “I think it’s a really good and deep WR class, so will be upset if I don’t come away with 2 good WRs from the 1st 3 rounds. I generally really like the talent in rounds 3-4. It feels like a draft lacking that top end talent (round 2 is a wasteland) but with great depth.” And on the back of that he has Olave and Moore (1.08 and 1.09) as well as Wan’Dale Robinson in the third. All in all, a good day at the office.

The Losers wanted an RB, and fulfilled that to some degree by taking one in the 7th, the 8th and 11th. It’s possible none of those players take any meaningful snaps.

7. Which player are you most keen to get/most likely to reach for?

I think most people took this as the player they most wanted, whereas I was hoping for the player who appealed to the GM more than the consensus, so they might get jittery and take early – ie I basically wanted to know who you would reach for. I’ll reword it next time.

This became obvious from the first answer I looked at, the Hurricanes proclaiming they were most keen to get Breece Hall, the consensus number 1 overall pick. Not really possible to reach for him, is it?

Tamworth were only mildly closer to the question I really wanted to ask, suggesting James Cook “but he will go too early”. Yes he will. He’ll go fifth when your first pick coming into the draft wasn’t until the third round.

A more sensible response came from Kelkowski: “Given my first pick is at 20, I’m hoping Spiller falls to me there”. Given they traded away pick number 20, they can be very pleased at nabbing Spiller at 3.10, thirtieth overall.

The Bombermen can be equally happy, stating “Doubs, the Green Bay wide receiver. But I’m not so excited that I’ll be grabbing him in the 2nd or anything.” Instead it was 4.08, 38th overall, that they picked up Doubs, right about where he should have been going.

The Brees went for Chris Olave who, unless they traded up to the top two, probably couldn’t have been considered a reach, but if he was the player the most wanted, they had the chance at 6 and declined the option.

The Sadness offered a window into their world by responding ‘Dunno’, which is either the least helpful response possible, or the name of a player so under the radar it could have succeeded in a mission against a nondescript enemy in Top Gun: Maverick.

The Hard said “Rachaad White. Great upside, plus he covers me for Fournette. I’d prefer to take him at about pick 15, but if I can’t get a better option I’m happy with him at #9.” and promptly took him at 18, so all in all, very happy with his work.

The Losers managed to fall on both sides of the coin, with the obvious desire and the one more in keeping with the aim of the question. He didn’t get either player though: “Well, Breece Hall would be nice. But failing him, I like Rachaad White as a good size-speed guy with pass catching skills in a good situation.”

And finally the Champions sums up what everyone is really thinking: “Whichever one Slatz tells me afterwards was my stupidest pick/biggest reach.”

8. Who will make the consensus biggest reach (Draft Exit Survey will be the judge)?

Hurricanes says Hard

Tamworth says Dungeoneers

Kelkowski says Tamworth

Bombermen says (incorrectly) “Everyone will say me. It won’t be me. I swear it. I’ll say…. (pulls name out of hat)… [Tamworth]. No, wait, it’ll be [the Hurricanes]. I won’t spoil the answers that are coming up by saying who….”

Brees appears to think that James Cook was also taking part in the draft and would make the biggest reach… Presumably this mean that he would be the biggest reach (not the question asked), but maybe the post-draft survey will confirm this as correct, seeing as he went fifth overall to the Hurricanes.

Hard says Hurricanes, in a nice bout of symmetry.

The Losers were perhaps a little down on themselves, stating the person most likely to make the consensus reach will be “Me – a lot will depend on if I can swing a deal, but I want Jordan Davis in the second”

And the Champions nominate the Champions.

9. Who will get the consensus biggest bargain?

The Champions says “The Hard – this is how he does well”, and, as recent analysis has shown, unless you don’t believe in all that analysis bollocks (I know I don’t), it is how he does well.

The Hard nominated the Bombermen. Which is very nice of them. I doubt that will hold up now.

The Sadness also believes in the Hard’s drafting ability.

As well as James Cook, Jameson Williams was also making picks in this draft, according to the Brees, and will end up with the biggest bargain… Again, if we change the question to the one they answered, maybe this could be right. He came off the board to the Champions at 1.07. Will that prove to be a bigger bargain that Velus Jones in the 11th round?

We thought the Champions had nailed it above, did the Bombermen nail it here: “Somebody will fall into the Losers’s lap that everyone thinks is great who will then get injured and his career will never really take off”?

Kelkowski and the Hurricanes both thought the Losers would get the biggest bargain, while Tamworth thought the Brees would. They offered no reasoning or colourful commentary on this.

The Losers made possibly the most prescient comment: “Whoever picks Tyler Algieier? Unless someone reaches for him in the 2nd or something mad. He’s probably a 4th round sort of pick, and with no other competition that’ll be a bargain for a potentially competent starting RB.”

Algieier was taken by Tamworth at 2.09 (19th overall).

10. When will the first QB go off the board (round and pick number)? & 11. Who will be the first QB taken?

The correct answer here was Malik Willis at 5.05. For me, he was top of my list at QB, but I had hoped that perhaps that wasn’t the thinking elsewhere in the league. Let’s find out.

The Hurricanes, who took Willis at 5.05, plumped for Howell at 4.08 (originally a Tamworth pick, but traded to the Bombermen in the draft), which would have been quite remarkable given he was the 6th QB taken in the draft and the Commanders also just traded a fair bit of capital for Wentz. But hey. The pick was pretty close.

Tamworth went for Pickett at 3.04, which would have been a Champions pick.

Kelkowski also thought Pickett would go, but seemed to think he would go in the first round, putting down pick 10 as the slot he’d go in. No QB has gone first round before. A remarkable suggestion. A reminder that Pickett when at 8.09 to the Hard.

The Bombermen suggested the first QB would go to the Hurricanes (bing bing bing), but went a round early at 4.05… “Pickett – [the Hurricanes] will take him because he’s a Steeler. It will be the consensus reach.”

The Brees went for the same player, but even higher, at 2.09, which would have been a Hard pick.

The Sadness also plumped for Pickett and also seemed to suggest Neil would take him by isolating pick 3.05 as the spot he’d come off the board.

The Hard has a bone to pick with lots of people after stating “Kenny Pickett. If it’s anyone else it’s a mad pick. I like Corral’s chances for this year too. I’m not sure I’d even bother with any of the others.” We’ve already mentioned they took Pickett themselves, and a long way below the 4.10 (Kelkowski) slot he thought he would go in.

The Losers also said Pickett. “Nobody should be picking Pickett before the 6th round. No other QB should be drafted in the first 7 or 8. He’ll probably go in the 4th though, pick 37”, with, for some reason, the Bombermen taking him (or trading out of the pick, I guess).

The Champions also went for the 4th round, suggesting “4.06, wait that’s me, 4.07”. As for who? “Slim Pickens”. Thanks. For. That.

12. When will the first defensive player go off the board (round and pick number)? & 13. Who will be the first defensive player taken?

Real answer: Quay Walker, 1.10.

Commentary from the Champions: “Honestly, it should probably be 1.01. Have [the Dungeoneers] got the balls for it? Given I’ve said [the Sadness] will trade down I’ll say [the Losers] will at 1.03. Maybe [they]’ll play it more traditional but [they’re] just crazy enough.” Nailed. It. And likewise nailed the who: “I’ve [said the Losers] will do it so I’ll say Aidan Hutchinson as [they] only [have] 3 DEs.” Given the Losers respect for his “T-Rex arms”, couldn’t have been more right.

The Hard were one place and one player out, opting for 2.01 and Devin Lloyd (second defensive player at 2.02). Perceptive. The Losers also went for 2.01, but said it would be Hutchison.

The Sadness nailed it. Because they knew they intended to take Walker at 1.10. I’m not giving points for predicting what you’re going to do. Sorry.

The Brees said Aidan Hutchison at 2.07. He was the 4th defensive player at 2.05, so not a million miles away for the draft spot at least.

Let’s see what the Bombermen have to offer… “2.07? I might take one. Though I could see one going earlier,” and “Hutchison? The Detroit DE taken with the second pick.” So cribbing notes from the Brees then.

2.07 is clearly in vogue as Kelkowski picked Devin Lloyd to be the first defensive player taken in that slot. Perhaps the Bombermen have developed a reputation for taking defensive players early? However, they’ve normally done it in the first round.

Tamworth were pretty close pick-wise, opting for 1.08 – the only one to suggest a defensive player would go in the first. They also managed to write this as a footer rather than in the body of the text. Just a bit of flavour of the kind of rubbish I have to put up with. Anyway, they correctly predicted the pick would be Walker. Bravo! That said, their predicted first round – the first question of this survey, said the Hard would take Skyy Moore at 1.08, so draw your own conclusions.

Finally the Hurricanes thought safety Kyle Hamilton would come off the board 4th, which must make him a steal for the Sadness at 3.02.

14. Who will take the most defensive players?

Volume or percentage, the answer is the same:

The Champions were close. Ish. “Probably [us]. [We] have a history of not taking offensive players after the first 3 rounds except for the odd TE.” Two odd WRs and an odd RB in the final 4 rounds put to rest any dreams in that direction.

The Hard sort of nailed this one, suggesting the Sadness, who were any acceptable right answer by volume.

The Sadness also knew their destiny and predicted they would top the list too.

The Brees also put themselves forward but were a little further from being accurate.

The Bombermen threw themselves and the Champions into the ring and get nothing in return.

The Losers pumped for themselves and weren’t a million miles out: “I’m hoping it’ll be me. I need to do some work.”

Kelkowski gets the dunces hat for nominating themselves, while Tamworth opted for the Brees and the Hurricanes opted for the Champions.

15. How long will the draft last (in days, hours and minutes)?

Actual answer – 6 days, 1 hour and 8 minutes. Well done to the Champions for just being closer than Tamworth:

The latecomer Losers said 3 days, 4 hours, 11 minutes, putting them as the second most inaccurate. Again, it’s a “stupid fucking question”, but if they think it’s so obvious, they were an awfully long way out…

Post-Draft Pre-Draft Analysis: Wide Receivers

Editors note: This is one from the archives, having not been published back in May, when it was relevant. Still, now you can see if he still holds up… Anyway, onwards!

Obviously, this review follows a little later than the other reviews, at QB and RB, so trying to do it exactly the same way is going to be silly, but I still want to avoid just reviewing landing spots and staying with player evaluation and how their skills might fit certain teams/situations. But before getting into individuals, a quick recap of what a WR offers you as a draft pick.

Wide Receiver is on paper the worst of both worlds compared to RBs and QBs. RBs offer three years of good performance for the investment, but the best are not necessarily the highest drafted, so they have bust potential. QBs tend to offer worse performance, with only a handful being fantasy relevant (not helped by the low number of fantasy relevant QBs in general) however the highest drafted tend to be the best performers. This is shared by WRs who also offer the unpredictability of RBs in finding the best ones – obviously it’s hard to judge off one or two years performance, but Coleman, Dotson, Treadwell, White, Parker were all top five Dynabowl picks who’ve looked nothing like worth that value – and the NFL’s bust rate (considerably lower bar than fantasy’s) is something like 50% for first round receivers, so obviously there’s issues with scouting and evaluating college talent in general.

So why would you spend a high pick on a receiver? Because it’s worth it when you hit – they’re generally durable, and offer a longer term return than a running back if you can nail the right pick. Plus we need a lot of them – most teams will be using a flex on a WR, meaning up to 40 are starting most weeks. What you’re really spending a pick on is less what you get during the rookie years, but more first refusal on a potential stud after 3 or 4 years. If they’re a day one success like Beckham that’s a rarity, and a major bonus (though maybe not so much when that 3rd/4th year extension rolls around). With both these things in mind, it is worth pointing out that attempting to evaluate players who NFL teams fail to evaluate particularly well most of the time is probably going to be a waste of time, but what else can I do now? I’ve committed to it.

Corey Davis (Western Michigan) Let’s start by correcting a misunderstanding I’ve seen floated a couple of times around the league. Antonio Brown came out of the MAC – not from Western Michigan as some have incorrectly claimed, but Central Michigan – but so do lots of players. Tom Brady came out of Michigan (not Central, Eastern or Western, just plain old Michigan in the Big 10) and so did Chad Henne. That does not mean we should use Brady as some kind of template for Henne’s career, just as we shouldn’t use Antonio Brown as a template for projecting Corey Davis.

There’s other flaws in that thinking too; Davis goes to Tennessee and their Exotic Smashmouth offence, while Brown went to Pittsburgh and has played most of his career in a deep strike, pass-happy Todd Haley offence with Roethlisberger; Davis is a top five pick, not a mid-round project and will be expected to produce immediately; Brown was not the standout at college level that Davis was; Western Michigan is not the talent spotter/producer Central Michigan was around the time in question (JJ Watt and Joe Staley also went through that program), and has no real track record of producing great players (though Terry Crews did go through there). Most of all though it ignores other issues, touched on above in the Henne/Brady comparison – there are dozens of MAC players who don’t crack it at the top level. Why on Earth does it make sense to project someone against the best receiver the conference has ever produced, instead of against the best players from the conference who’ve not made the step up.

What does that mean for his fantasy value? I still have him as the highest receiver on my board. I think his bust potential is huge, and I’d put it way ahead of his chance of succeeding. But if he can translate his production to the next level he should prove a very good fantasy receiver, and that’s what’s enticing. There’s some interesting prospects in a fairly meh year overall at the position, but nobody else has the ceiling of Davis, who is one of the most productive college receivers ever to come to the NFL, and while I have concerns about his lack of exposure to the top defences and defensive backs, it never hurt Jerry Rice who played in Div I-AA for MVSU and still managed a reasonably good career. It does however mean that he’s spent most of his career playing against none power-5 teams, and while he does have a couple of good games back in 2013 against Big 10 teams, he’s mostly disappointed in those matchups, never more so than in the 2015 defeat against Ohio State when he was held to 42 yards on 6 catches against probably the best defence he faced in four years.

Against Ball State you see exactly the sort of problems I’m referring to, he’s given the sort of free release he just won’t get in the NFL, with about as un-pressed as coverage gets. He shows off his ability to go up and make throws over the corner, but also his issue with focus drops, and too often for me he doesn’t come away with the ball in contact on the kind of plays he’ll need to make to succeed in the NFL – whether that’s because of route running/body position issues or his ability to control the ball in contact I’m not sure. I don’t see a ton of electric speed either, he runs past whatever back is covering him consistently (I suspect because they’re not following his route well), but isn’t running away from guys after the catch, and I wonder if his non-involvement in the combine was to try to hide that speed and help his draft stock. He flashes some good moves though and the ability to make guys miss (although again, the quality of the opposition defensive backs is a concern there), and you can see the raw tools that would have intrigued NFL scouts, and despite my concerns about his catching under pressure he does have the hands to make circus catches when not under pressure. Ultimately I worry about his landing spot too – he’s not a classic number one receiver, top cornerbacks will be able to shut him out – especially at first and I’d have preferred to see him land as a number two option in a highly productive offence where he’ll not be lined up against the opposition’s best consistently or trapped in double-coverage. Time will tell but for me, despite the potential reward, I just couldn’t justify the price of a top three pick that would be needed to secure a player who just doesn’t seem to me to be an elite receiver in the making.

Mike Williams (Clemson) Just as Davis was a fairly clear number one at receiver, Williams is the obvious number two, and that’s before factoring in the landing spot in a pass-friendly Chargers team who won’t ask him to stretch the field. Williams is nowhere near as productive as Davis, but the ACC is not the MAC, and Clemson have other weapons around which the offence can function. What I like most though is that it’s often been in the biggest games, against the best opposition, that Williams has shone – 202 yards in defeat against Pitt this year, 174 yards against Auburn, 146 against NC State, 190 yards and a TD in the two playoff games this year. There’s a tendency for Clemson to not use him much against the likes of Boston College, Troy and South Carolina State (only 7 catches in these three games in 2016) so he’s not put up the volume that Davis did, but he’s consistently productive against the best teams in the toughest match ups and that bodes well for the transition to the NFL.

Clemson have produced more than a few NFL players in recent years, and while I would point to the Henne/Brady thing above when cautioning about drawing comparisons, Clemson’s been successful to some degree with Sammy Watkins, Martavis Bryant and DeAndre Hopkins as headline conversions to the NFL (Adam Humphries in Tampa Bay is coming along as well). That might seem like a mixed bag, but I think it’s fair to say Clemson can’t be held responsible for Watkins ending up in Buffalo and being hurt a lot, nor Bryant’s need to relax before a drugs test with a spliff and when available both have shown promising signs they could become really good weapons and fantasy options. Not to mention that most colleges can’t produce a single good receiver, let alone three potentially good ones.

Williams didn’t run in the combine, and there’s a definite question mark over his speed, but that doesn’t matter in the sort of short-passing offence the Chargers run, especially as they have a very good deep speed threat already. Watch that Pitt video and you see how he elevates above corners, getting good outside position and using his height and leap to go up and win the ball. That combination of being able to win vertically, and having the toughness to work the middle of the field, should see him be productive from fairly early especially in a high-volume offence such as the Chargers, though his speed and route-running will probably hold him back from being a star. I’m not sure he’s worth of the sort of pick he’ll demand, but while Davis is the sort of luxury pick a competitive team might risk a flier on in the hope it pays off, Williams is exactly the sort of steady reliable WR2 with upside type you want to pad your roster with when rebuilding or in cap trouble.

John Ross (Washington) I’m not going to bother talking about anything other than 2016 for John Ross as there wasn’t really anything other than 2016 to catch anyone’s interest. With 1150 yards and 17 TDs, and another 1 added in the rushing game, Ross’s production was good, but it’s his speed and ability to create scores out of very little that really stood out, and he turned heads by becoming the fastest prospect ever timed at the combine. However, and it’s a big however, Washington’s schedule was a joke. They faced a ranked Stanford early-ish, but that was before Stanford had really cratered with their lack of a QB catching up to them and so that win looked better at the time than it does now, looking back. Similarly, their loss to unranked USC looks a little worse than it really was as it’s become clear there’s a very good team in USC who just took way too long to sort themselves out to be relevant in 2016. Anyway, thanks to a very soft schedule they ended up (undeservedly) in the playoffs where they got absolutely bossed by Alabama – nobody more so than Ross, who came up small in the biggest moment. That wasn’t the case all year, he had a big day in the loss to USC, and was solid in the win over Stanford, but the PAC-12 teams are not exactly known for their sterling defences and it ultimately may be a reflection of that, rather than a big game mentality. I want to get excited about Ross’ upside, but I just don’t see it – he’s not big enough to win vertically, and he’ll basically be a better version of Fuller – he’ll run fast in a straight line and get behind defences, and when he does he’ll not drop it like Fuller does – which would be great in a landing spot where he didn’t have AJ Green, Jeremy Hill and Tyler Eifert ahead of him. He’s not a red zone weapon either, particularly in Cincy, and I think that hurts him a lot. In the right spot, I could have seen him have some fantasy relevance, and maybe he will have, but I think he’s at best a Desean Jackson type lottery ticket – scoring 18 points one week and 1.8 the next – who’ll drive his owner mad. Ross will almost certainly demand a first round pick, but absolutely doesn’t look worth it.

Zay Jones (Eastern Carolina) Let’s start with the basic, Jones is quick – only 5 100ths slower than Josh Malone in a fairly crowded bunch of receivers behind John Ross and Curtis Samuel at the top of the 40 leaderboard. He was also productive – over 1,000 yards in 2015 and over 1700 in 2016. Playing in the American, all the caveats about quality opposition apply to Jones as much as to Davis or Ross, with an added one about playing for a bad team in the American Conference. But the consistency of his production was notable, with only three games below 100 yards in 2016 and only two with fewer than 10 receptions. Unfortunately they also came against three of the better teams ECSU faced – Cincinatti, NC State and Temple. He had a good day personally against a pretty good Navy team, but there’s nothing you can point to that’s exceptional like Ross’ speed or Davis’ vertical play, he just consistently churns out positive plays, with minimal drops and with no real competition in Buffalo his speed to go deep and steady production could produce a decent fantasy option, if not a spectacular one. And if nothing else, you’re getting an athlete who while not standing out in any given discipline did well in most of them at the combine. However, he’s a hilariously bad blocker and seriously lacking strength on his skinny frame. That could be a problem. Think of someone like Emmanuel Sanders, who’ll probably be pretty good for the Patriots, when Buffalo refuse to extend his contract in a few years. I have Jones pretty high considering his limitations, but his athleticism is interesting and ultimately it’s because I don’t really like any of the receivers and it’s possible that in a fairly mediocre year he ends up being the best of the lot simply because he’ll be a reliable performer who could develop into a very good one, and he’s proved adept at a Landry type role where he catches the ball behind the line and turns it into a solid gain.

In order to keep this on the short side, I am not going to go as deep as some other positions, but I’ll deal with two others…

Curtis Samuel (Ohio State) Don’t sleep on Samuel, he’s behind only Ross as the fastest man in this year’s draft and he has the shifty footwork Ross perhaps lacks that will enable him to freeze corners and buy him space to release and he’s likely going to be used by Carolina to replace Ted Ginn Jr. That suits him (although being in Carolina alongside McCaffrey doesn’t help) and if I’m right about the Ted Ginn role then he’s likely to be the main deep speed threat (Benjamin, Olsen and Funchess provide literally no competition for this role either), as well as returning punts and kicks, and seeing the field on plays like jet sweeps or trick plays. I like him, and his relatively niche spot on the Panthers could see him put up impressive fantasy numbers from early on. Or, much like Ted Ginn, he could be an occasionally impressive but rarely relevant fantasy option. Worth the second round pick he’s likely to command, simply because Ginn’s 2015 numbers show there’s potential for a WR to deliver in this system in that role.

JuJu Smith-Schuster (USC) probably would have found himself alongside Davis and Williams at the top of this class based on his 2015 production. USC’s early struggles before settling on Freshman (and presumptive 2018 #1) Sam Darnold at QB. The first three games with Darnold starting were easily the best chunk of JJSS’s season, with 368 yards and 6 TDs over three games. Unfortunately it didn’t continue, and while his early struggles could perhaps be excused USC’s tough start and their struggle to find a QB, the five game run to end the regular season where he managed only 216 yards and 1 TD could not. He finished with a great day against Penn State in the Rose Bowl, but overall he only showed glimpses of the electric form he showed in early 2015 to get himself to the top of the 2017 draft class. He doesn’t have elite speed, and generally disappointed at the combine in each of the categories, but what he does have is good physicality, and a willingness to go and make the tough catches under pressure. He’s drawn comparisons with Anquan Boldin, and that’s not unfair but it does mark him out as a middling fantasy option at best. He’ll probably be over-drafted because there’s a tendency to over-rate Pittsburgh receivers fantasy viability, but without a standout TE, it’s possible JJSS could end up being a solid red zone option because of his ability to compete and make plays. If he’s still there in the mid- to late- second then he’ll be a solid pick, anything higher than about 11 though would be a reach.

Binning the Big Plays: Effect of the New Scoring Changes

In the 2015 off-season there was a vote on a proposed change to scoring rules designed to reduce the impact of big plays on defensive performance.  All of the changes passed and although the increase in scoring for Passes Defended came in last season, most of the big changes are coming in from this season.  Now that the changes have been made on the MFL site we can look at how the changes would have affected last season’s scoring to help form an opinion on how the value of our players has been affected.

The Changes

Here are the proposed changes as a reminder:

  • Interception return yards reduced from 0.1 per yard to 0.05 per yard. Was effective in the 2015 season.
  • Fumble return yards introduced at 0.05 per yard. Was effective in the 2015 season.
  • Points for a Pass Defended increase from 2 to 3 (for CBs and Ss) and from 1 to 2 (for all other positions). Was effective in the 2015 season.
  • Points for a Forced Fumble or Interception to be reduced from 10 to 6. Effective from the 2016 season.
  • Points for a Solo Tackle to be increased from 0.5 to 0.75. Effective from the 2016 season.

The increase in passes defended scoring was designed to compensate for the loss of Int scoring.  Because the two rules came in for different seasons the effect will actually appear to be a reduction in CB and S scoring because in 2015 they were still scoring INTs at a higher rate while also getting more points for passes defended.

Effect on Rankings

I extracted data from the top 200 IDP scorers with both the new scoring and the old scoring (for weeks 1-16).  Below are the top 30 IDP scorers according to the new rules, alongside their ranking by the old rules.

Name New D Rank Old  Shift
Donald, Aaron STL DT 1 1 0
Short, Kawann CAR DT 2 2 0
Peters, Marcus KCC CB 3 3 0
Watt, J.J. HOU DE 4 5 +1
Jones, Reshad MIA S 5 6 +1
Mathieu, Tyrann ARI S 6 4 -2
Atkins, Geno CIN DT 7 7 0
Suh, Ndamukong MIA DT 8 11 +3
Mack, Khalil OAK LB 9 10 +1
Davis, Thomas CAR LB 10 9 -1
Norman, Josh CAR CB 11 8 -3
David, Lavonte TBB LB 12 17 +5
Smith, Malcolm OAK LB 13 22 +9
Smith, Telvin JAC LB 14 26 +12
Ansah, Ezekiel DET DE 15 14 -1
Dunlap, Carlos CIN DE 16 19 +3
Jenkins, Malcolm PHI S 17 21 +4
Bucannon, Deone ARI S 18 27 +9
Jackson, D’Qwell IND LB 19 32 +13
Johnson, Trumaine STL CB 20 12 -8
Kuechly, Luke CAR LB 21 20 -1
Johnson, Derrick KCC LB 22 31 +9
Jones, Chandler NEP DE 23 16 -7
Wilkerson, Muhammad NYJ DE 24 23 -1
Ingram, Melvin SDC LB 25 28 +3
Coleman, Kurt CAR S 26 15 -11
Collins, Jamie NEP LB 27 18 -9
Posluszny, Paul JAC LB 28 39 +11
Nelson, Reggie CIN S 29 13 -16
Breeland, Bashaud WAS CB 30 25 -5

 

There’s big movement, in ranking terms, here for the likes of Malcolm Smith (97 solo tackles), Telvin Smith (93), Deone Bucannon (85), D’Qwell Jackson (86), Derrick Johnson (87) and Paul Posluszny (99).

All 6 of these players were in the top 10 for solo tackles in the NFL last season along with Navorro Bowman, Reshad Jones, Corey Graham and Malcolm Jenkins.   The impact on Bowman and Graham will be outlined below.  Reshad Jones showed minimal movement due to also having a high number of INTs and Malcolm Jenkins was the same but with FFs.

In terms of reduction, the biggest losers should be DBs (CBs in particular) and edge rushers due to their high INT and FF numbers.  Trumaine Johnson (48 solo tackles, 7 interceptions), Chandler Jones (31 tackles, 4 FFs), Kurt Coleman (55 tackles, 7 INTs), Jamie Collins (46 tackles, 5 FFs, 1 INT) and Reggie Nelson (45 tackles, 8 INTs) were the biggest losers in positional terms.

Johnson, Coleman and Nelson were 3 of the top 5 for interceptions in the league along with Marcus Williams (who also took a big hit, see below) and Marcus Peters (who had 26 passes defended, compared to 14, 9, 17 and 10 for the other 4).  The NFL leaders in forced fumbles were Jamie Collins (impact noted above) and Shaq Barrett of the Broncos, a player whose rank fell from #79 to #100.

Effect on Points

Showing how players rankings changed is useful but what does a drop of 16 ranks for Reggie Nelson actually mean?  What does a jump of 13 ranks for D’Qwell Jackson look like?  What is the overall effect on defensive scoring vs. offensive scoring?

One of the aims of the proposal was to try and not reduce the number of points defensive players scored compared to offensive players.  Devaluing the defence as a whole would be very bad for the league.  The average points change for the top 200 defensive players was an increase of 1 point over the season.  This is good news as it means that, broadly speaking, defensive players are worth as much now as they were and the impact is localized to particular types of players, as was intended.

A drop of 16 ranks for Reggie Nelson translates to a loss of 21 points over the season or 1.3 points per game (the third highest decrease in defensive players).  The increase of 13 ranks for Jackson is an increase of 13.5 points or 0.84 points per game (sixth highest increase in the league).  Although these changes are obviously not insignificant it’s worth noting that only 6 players lost 1 or more points per game and only 1 player gained 1 or more point per game.  Below is a table of the players who gained or lost the most points over the course of the season.  You’ll note many of the same names already mentioned appearing.

Biggest Winners Pts Gained
1 Navorro Bowman 26.75
2 Dre Kirkpatrick 15.25
3 Sean Lee 15
4 CJ Mosley 14
4 Daryl Smith 14
6 D’Qwell Jackson 13.5
6 Corey Graham 13.5
6 Lawrence Timmons 13.5
9 Kevin Minter 13
10 Telvin Smith 12.75
10 Paul Posluzny 12.75
10 Kenny Vaccaro 12.75
10 Stephen Tulloch 12.75

 

Biggest Losers Pts Lost
1 Marcus Williams -24.5
2 Marcus Peters -23
3 Reggie Nelson -21
4 Mike Adams -19.25
5 Josh Norman -16.5
6 Trumaine Johnson -16
7 Kurt Coleman -14.75
8 Darrelle Revis -13.75
9 Jamie Collins -12.5
10 Chandler Jones -12.25

 

Peaks and Troughs

For most players the effect over the course of the season is minimal (149 of the top 200 players shifted by fewer than 8 points over the season) but one of the aims of the scoring was to decrease the variance in the weekly performances too.  Ideally, most players would score the same over the season but have a higher floor and a lower ceiling.  Below is the top 25 individual scores with the new scoring and with the old scoring.  It includes offensive players so we can see whether the changes are evening out the big scores amongst O and D.

2015 2016 Player Week Old Points New Points Shift
1 1 Short, Kawann CAR DT 7 53.5 51 -2.5
2 2 Mack, Khalil OAK LB 14 48.25 45.75 -2.5
3 7 Short, Kawann CAR DT 14 46.5 39.25 -7.25
4 8 Wake, Cameron MIA DE 6 46 39 -7
5 4 Brees, Drew NOS QB 8 44.3 44.3 0
6 3 Donald, Aaron STL DT 14 44.25 45.25 1
7 15 Peters, Marcus KCC CB 15 43.9 36.4 -7.5
8 13 Cox, Fletcher PHI DE 5 43 36.5 -6.5
9 5 Newton, Cam CAR QB 15 41.6 41.6 0
10 49 Norman, Josh CAR CB 4 41 34 -7
11 6 Johnson, David ARI RB 15 40.9 40.9 0
12 * Mathieu, Tyrann ARI S 3 39 32.25 -6.75
13 * Norman, Josh CAR CB 1 38.75 31.75 -7
14 * Newman, Terence MIN CB 10 38.7 31.2 -7.5
15 * Smith, Jacquies TBB DE 2 38.5 31.25 -7.25
16 9 Manning, Eli NYG QB 8 38 38 0
17 10 Rawls, Thomas SEA RB 11 37.5 37.5 0
18 * Lowery, Dwight IND S 3 37.5 29.75 -7.75
19 * Graham, Brandon PHI LB 9 37.5 31.25 -6.25
20 46 Branch, Andre JAC DE 14 37.45 34.45 -3
21 11 Freeman, Devonta ATL RB 3 37.3 37.3 0
22 12 Benjamin, Travis CLE WR 2 37.2 37.2 0
28 13 Williams, DeAngelo 9 36.5 36.5 0
31 16 Newton, Cam CAR QB 13 36.14 36.14 0
32 17 Mariota, Marcus TEN QB 13 35.92 35.92 0
33 18 Cousins, Kirk WAS QB 15 35.86 35.86 0
34 19 Miller, Lamar RB 7 35.6 35.6 0
35 20 McCown, Josh CLE QB 5 35.48 35.48 0

*MFL does not retroactively calculate high scoring weeks after rules changes and I couldn’t be bothered to work out the new rankings for some of the defensive players exactly.  These performances would all be outside of the top 50.

With the old scoring, 5 of the top 20 individual performances were offensive players.  With the new scoring 12 of the top 20 are offensive players.  There is much more of a balance between the two and you have as much chance of a ridiculous game from a QB ruining your day as a huge performance from a defensive player.

Summary

I dunno, I’ve lost the will to live now.  Looks alright to me.

Who Got Screwed?

Come on, this is why we’re here.  Couldn’t have planned it better.

The People’s Republic of the 4th Dynmension: Dynasty of Sadness +86.5
Dynablaster Bombermen +50.25
East Flanders Dungeoneers +37.75
DynaForOne Firebirds +37.25
Here Comes The Brees +8.5
Tamworth Two +0.75
Kelkowski Don’t Play By No Dynarules -9.5
Champions of the Sun -11
Dynaharder -15
Dynasore Losers -47.75

*This only includes any top 200 defenders on your roster because I’m lazy.