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The 2022 Dynabowl Draft Exit Survey

Rookie Draft Survey No Comments

This exit survey was run by Chris Braithwaite, GM of Dyna Hard. I am certain that everything shown in this report is exactly right and hasn’t been twisted in any way, shape or form. Anyway, onwards…

Welcome to the 100% accurate assessment of the Dynabowl draft. Why even bother playing the games after this when we know exactly how good all of these players are going to be, right?

We’ll start out simple: average scores per team. There were two teams way out in front, with an average of 7.3. Max takes it by a nose, 7.33 to 7.25, over Chris. That’s especially impressive given Max’s admission that “I genuinely don’t know who any of the players are.” Ignorance is evidently bliss. Max was the only person to garner a 10 (apart from Goody trying to sneak a 10 in for himself), but Chris was the only person where every vote was 6 or higher. So there’s that. It’s then a drop of 0.9 down to Pete in 3rd at an average of 6.4. So lets just skip right to the bottom, where Benj is sitting with a score of 4.9, just behind Goody’s 5.0. And lets take a moment to give credit to Neil, who was the only person who managed to have his drafted rated as a 1 and yet had enough people who liked his draft to get him to a solid mid-table finish. Congrats?!

TeamRankAverageMaxMin
Max17.3105
Chris27.396
Pete36.475
Mike46.175
Neil55.881
Ian65.583
Ben & Stew7=5.374
Slatz7=5.382
Goody85.082
Benj94.973

The overall average was 5.9, so if your score was below that, you did badly. But good work overall everyone on using a reasonable scoring scale, rather than the actual NFL draft grades which seem to have A- as a fail.

Comments

Enough with the numbers, lets get to the comments. We’ll go in the same order as the rankings for this draft, so the comments get progressively worse. Lets not make this thing too cheerful, right?

Max

  • Okay
  • I like quite a few if them. Good effort
  • Loved this draft. Burks and Williams were my top 2 WRs, Pickens could easily be in there to were it not for the character concerns. He could easily have got 3 WR1s here. Generally liked the value throughout and it was difficult to pick anyone as a bust.
  • Had the capital to get some high end talent and didn’t make any boneheaded picks with it. However, endorsed domestic abuse, so swings and roundabouts.
  • Good solid team bolstering
  • Really like most of this draft, hard to be critical. Jameson Williams might be the best receiver in the draft (Watson has a higher ceiling, but way more variability). If Burks is Brown 2.0 as suggested then that’s another win at 4.

Chris

  • Some good early picks but no one after that
  • Decent. I like most of them
  • I like the receivers drafted and could be shrewd value with Pickett
  • A lot of players I had on my list. He was picking after me so maybe this should have been my draft?
  • Solid as usual
  • I don’t like Olave because he doesn’t match up physically well against anyone and I’m not sure how often even a mediocre corner will give him a free release. In space he’s Edelman-esque though. I also am very down on the whole Saints offence. Wan’Dale Robinson I like there, White I’d hoped to get and Skyy Moore could be great, although I think he’s risen a bit too high in fantasy/NFL drafts to be the player I liked as a sleeper pre-draft.

And here’s what Chris thought: “I am still not super happy with picking Moore – my rankings loved him so I just decided to trust them. Was disappointed not to get more defensive players, but I liked the couple I got.”

Pete

  • Solid and predictable
  • Hall and Watson should be fine. The rest?
  • I feel like it’s a good mix of solid chalky players (Hall, Bell) who should have a good floor and then boom/bust guys like Watson and Andersen. I liked him double dipping at CB for 2 elite prospects – they still seemed like OK value, which isn’t usually the case with the 1st CB. His team is notably better after the draft than it was before.
  • Steady
  • Wadda lodda corners.
  • It hinges heavily on Watson – Hall will be what he’ll be. Either a solid committee back who ends up mid-tier, or a clear win, but he’s the #1 pick, generally you’re going to get something there barring unforeseen things like injuries. Watson’s ceiling is right up there. If you somehow hit on the best WR in this class and the best RB, then it’s a big win.

Here’s what Pete had to say for himself: “This wonderful human being deserves all the success that is undoubtedly coming his way.”

Mike

  • Started well and then tailed off with some average picks
  • Not normally a fan of so much d early but I like what boob has done
  • Good draft capital but not sure he got any stars out of it. The defensive players are all good, but I don’t think any are going to turn his team into a contender and Walker doesn’t feel like he has top 5 upside. Threw a lot of interesting darts in the middle rounds though.
  • Quay Walker will “bust” only in fantasy terms. He’ll likely work well at run stopping but I don’t see him getting the kind of plays you need at LB to be successful in our league. Volume drafting is probably sensible to try to turn the team around. The more darts the better.
  • Embrace the D
  • Austin is nice there as an upside guy, though he’s tiny. I think the Steelers might be a bit more creative in his use than the Seahawks with Eskridge. I love the Hamilton pick and Ebikete could be awesome, always bet on athleticism in that position. And Lloyd could be Isaiah Simmons or Micah Parsons… Walker, I get, and I wouldn’t have passed on him at 3 – it’s more about the shallowness of the draft in that position than talent. But not much else to get excited about.

Mike’s fairly tepid assessment was “Lot of mid round talent reflecting lots of mid round picks.”

Neil

  • First two picks great, not much to shout about after then
  • Awful. Don’t like any of these picks
  • Cook felt like a major reach. Hutchinson is good but propped up by his draft capital in a super weak class. Did good work in the middle rounds though – I feel like everyone from Hutchinson to Tindall has a legit shot to be their team’s #1 at their position. And Snoop Conner has a realistic path to relevance.
  • Good value later in the draft, although Cook felt like a bit of a reach at the top
  • Nothing silly. Some players who will contribute. But I’m hardly tumescent reviewing it.
  • Decent
  • I felt Cook was bad value at 8/9 – I understood why he was mocked there because of the RB class being shallow – but to take him at 5 with Williams and Wilson or even Moore, Watson and Olave still there feels like a massively wasted pick for a guy who seems like he’s probably somewhere between Cole Beasley and JD McKissick. Willis has a massive upside if he develops enough as a passer to start.

Ian

  • Not many high picks but some good quality lower down
  • Didn’t have too much capital in the end, but did ok with it. Spiller was great value, I thought he’d go a round earlier (and he would have if Goody hadn’t made a big offer). Taking 3 TEs feels a bit wasteful to me though, and I can’t see how Dulcich becomes fantasy relevant in that offense – it’s just so crowded.
  • Got some good late round value with players falling to them. Could make up for a lack of early picks
  • Literally no one I was thinking about taking.
  • Not a lot to work with, but flags fly forever! Oooo Rah!
  • He traded all his picks to win. And won. In that sense it’s a 10/10. If we’re purely judging on picks made… they’re pretty bad picks, but what do you expect with so few and so few early.

Neil took the Max approach here: “Who are these guys.”

Ben and Stew

  • Okay at first, but Karlaftis was a reach
  • Reasonable solid effort without being spectacular
  • I loved Wilson as a prospect, so they’ve done well there. I wasn’t a big fan of Davis-Price, but can’t argue with the upside and he was quite cheap. Hated the Karlaftis pick though, I think he’s going to be one of those decent NFL guys but who maxes out at about 8 sacks. So not a fan there. They tend to do well with defensive players though.
  • Boom-bust profile
  • Pretty by the book. Nothing to get wildly excited about but nothing which makes me want to vomit in my mouth. Which is a nice change.
  • Good competent draft in a tough spot (6)
  • This draft comes down to Wilson really. And it’s really hard to know how good he’ll be if Zach Wilson continues his trend of trying to make Nathan Peterman look good retrospectively. Karlaftis should be fine, if not special – maybe in a Spags defence with his ears pinned back he might be more, but I’m not sure how long Spags will be around there. Pierce is an X factor, ridiculous athletic talent with true #1 ceiling, but he’s so raw he’s basically unprepared sushi.

Slatz

  • Love the first 5 picks
  • Don’t like it at all. Lots of reaches
  • I was comparatively low on London and Thibodeaux so I expect to be an outlier here. And I love Davis, but don’t think a rookie DT who needs a tonne of projection to be relevant in the NFL is worth a 3rd. I feel like there’s a lot of guys who will stick around the roster, I don’t think there are many who will be stars. Honestly, Harris is the only guy I think he got who he didn’t overdraft.
  • Seemed to know the guys he wanted to draft and took them
  • It’s obviously the best draft. Obviously. Because everyone else took the wrong players, which means he must have got the right ones.
  • Reasonable  draft for the awkward tweener drafting position

Here’s what Slatz had to say: “10/10 of course. Seriously though, passing on White to take Thibodeaux was a tough call, and needs to work out as RB was a real need. Davis is a gamble some will hate, but I love a guy like that and I had to hold myself back from taking him in the second, so for me I feel like that pick was value.”

Goody

  • Pretty rubbish
  • I didn’t like any of their picks bar Dotson (and didn’t really like the trade for him). Pierce and Allgeier feel like desperation picks for a win now team, and Asamoah isn’t going to contribute for at least a year, if not two. Otton might be decent, but that’s about it.
  • Decent value with limited picks
  • Lots of reaching. A number of players I wouldn’t have minded getting 2-5 rounds later. Not to my taste. But he’s happy and that’s nice.
  • The drive to succeed within the season leaves his drafts a bit threadbare.
  • Both Allgeier and Pierce represent the same thing – dice rolls on opportunity/volume with players of limited draft capital and questionable efficacy in bad situations. If both work out the value question goes out the window. If both fail then this looks pretty bleak. Both seem about as likely?

Here’s what Goody had to say: “The best draft ever.”

Benj

  • Average at best.
  • Too d heavy early on for me. Not many picks I liked
  • Didn’t have too much capital, but didn’t do much with it. I wasn’t a fan of Dean and most of the other players feel like they’ve got limited upside.
  • I like the mid round skill players. Be interested to see how the DTs turn out
  • Similar ignore-the-draft team building strategy to Goody. Comment withheld.
  • Hard to judge properly on someone who traded away high picks, without valuing in what was gained vs what could have been gained. Dean looks like a steal, but Philly have been a graveyard for LBs. If he balls out (and he has the talent to be Roquan Smith) that’s a really good spot to have grabbed him.

And here’s what Benj had to say: “Didn’t have a first, traded out of the second, didn’t stupidly reach for anyone, got some of the players I hoped for, but was patient and, again, didn’t stupidly reach for anyone I’d earmarked. I’m pretty happy that I got some contributors. I may not have a star in there but I think it gives me some solid depth.”

Trades

While we’re jumping all over the map, lets continue the trend and look at the trades that happened during the draft. This is what we thought, from least balanced trade to most balanced (and there’s a bit of judgement in this):

  1. Goody gets 2022 pick 20 (Jahan Dotson). Ian gets Jalen Hurts, Allen Lazard. (6 favouring Ian, 3 saying even.).
  2. Goody gets Tyler Lockett, 2022 pick 19 (Tyler Allgeier), 2023 Round 6 pick. Chris gets Mike Evans, Denzel Ward. (5 favouring Chris, 3 saying even, 1 favouring Goody)
  3. Ben and Stew get picks 69 (Sam Howell) and 99 (Daniel Bellinger). Chris gets pick 66 (Tyler Badie).  (4 favouring Chris, 4 saying even, 1 favouring Ben and Stew. And I think I was that one).
  4. Slatz gets 2022 pick 25 (Jalen Tolbert). Neil gets Fred Warner. (4 favouring Neil, 3 saying even, 1 favouring Slatz.
  5. Neil gets picks 93 (Myjai Sanders) and 113 (Jalen Nailor). Slatz gets pick 75 (Daxton Hill). (4 saying even, 3 favouring Slatz, 1 favouring Neil)
  6. Goody gets picks 17 (Dameon Pierce) and 47 (Brian Asamoah). Benj gets pick 28 (Jermaine Johnson), 38 (Romeo Doubs) and 39 (Demarvin Leal). (5 saying even, 2 favouring Benj, 2 favouring Goody – perfectly balanced)

I’ll try something as a summary: a net positive rating for all these trades by team. So you get +1 for each vote saying you won a trade and -1 for each vote saying your lost a trade.

  1. Chris: +7
  2. Iran: +6
  3. Neil: +1
  4. Benj: 0
  5. Slatz: -1
  6. Ben and Stew: -3
  7. Goody: -10

Max, Pete and Mike didn’t make any trades. Benj just made the one perfectly balanced trade. I guess there should be a way to get a bit more nuance here: Neil and Slatz only traded with each other, but I feel like Neil winning a trade involving a 3rd round pick and then losing a trade for an 8th round pick doesn’t really cancel out as much as this table says. And then, does Ben and Stew losing a trade for a 7th round pick really matter? But I can’t be bothered trying to work that out – the data is above if anyone fancies it. But anyway, we all agreed: Goody’s trades were bad, Chris and Iran’s were good.

Individual drafts

I’ll just do these in the order I listed teams in the survey. I’ll say that is so this doesn’t spiral into relentless negativity, but really its just cos its easier for me. For all of these, I’ll just list any answer which got more than 1 vote.

Pete

Best player

  • Breece Hall (7)

Best value:

  • David Ojabo (4)
  • Troy Andersen (3)

Worst value:

  • Christian Watson (3)
  • David Bell (3)
  • Troy Andersen (2)

Bust:

  • Christian Watson (4)
  • David Bell (3)

Sleeper

  • Sauce Gardner (3)
  • Bryan Cook (3)
  • Terrel Bernard (2)

It seems we were content with Breece Hall as the consensus number 1, and not at all high on Christian Watson or David Bell. So I guess we’ll find out if Pete knows better than the rest of us. Andersen getting support as both best value and worst value is fun, I love a polarising prospect.

Ben and Stew

Best player

  • Garrett Wilson (7)

Best value:

  • Ty Davis-Price (3)
  • Garrett Wilson (2)
  • Alec Pierce (2)

Worst value:

  • George Karlafits (5)
  • Sam Howell (3)

Bust:

  • Ty Davis-Price (5)
  • George Karlaftis (3)

Sleeper

  • Velus Jones (5)
  • Daniel Bellinger (2)

So safe to say Ty Davis-Price is a polarising guy. 3 calling him best value, 5 calling him a bust. Same with Karlaftis – not too many calling him a bust, but general agreement that he was bad value.

Goody

Best player

  • Jahan Dotson (5)

Best value:

  • Cade Otton (3)
  • Brian Asamoah (2)
  • Jahan Dotson (2)

Worst value:

  • Tyler Allgeier (3)
  • Dameon Pierce (2)
  • Jordan Stout (2)

Bust:

  • Tyler Allgeier (4)
  • Dameon Pierce (3)
  • Jahan Dotson (2)

Sleeper

  • Cade Otton (7)

Its probably not a good sign when you trade up for 2 RBs, and both get support as worst value or a bust. But then Dotson was overwhelmingly seen as the best player and still also garnered support as worst value and a bust too. Basically, everyone liked Cade Otton and that’s about it.

Mike

Best player

  • Kenneth Walker (4)
  • Devin Lloyd (3)
  • Quay Walker (2)

Best value:

  • Trey McBride (3)
  • Calvin Austin (2)

Worst value:

  • Quay Walker (6)

Bust:

  • Kenneth Walker (4)
  • Quay Walker (3)
  • Kyle Hamilton (2)

Sleeper

  • Phidarian Mathis (3)
  • Damone Clark (2)
  • Trent McDuffie (2)

So people either loved or hated Kenneth Walker – he’s either the best player or he’s a bust. Similar for Quay Walker, except that everyone thought he was overvalued too.

Slatz

Best player

  • Drake London (6)
  • Kayvon Thibodeaux (2)

Best value:

  • Jalen Tolbert (4)
  • Jordan Davis (2)
  • Christian Harris (2)

Worst value:

  • Kayvon Thibodeaux (3)
  • Jordan Davis (2)
  • Jalen Tolbert (2)

Bust:

  • Jalen Tolbert (5)
  • Jordan Davis (3)         

Sleeper

  • Daxton Hill (4)
  • Matt Corral (2)
  • Ty Chandler (2)

We generally seemed happy that Drake London was a perfectly fine pick in the 1st, and then it got polarising: Thibodeaux got support as best player and worst value; Jordan Davis got support as best value, worst value and bust; Jalen Tolbert was either best value or a bust. Basically, we have no fucking clue what is going on here, which is no different from any other team’s draft.

Neil

Best player

  • James Cook (5)

Best value:

  • Malik Willis (3)
  • James Cook (2)
  • Channing Tindall (2)

Worst value:

  • James Cook (3)
  • Aidan Hutchinson (2)
  • John Metchie (2)

Bust:

  • Malik Willis (3)
  • Aidan Hutchinson (3)
  • John Metchie (2)

Sleeper

  • Jeremy Ruckert (3)
  • Snoop Cooner (3)

Neil’s draft was weirdly polarising. It had the biggest range of overall ratings, and it also had an unusual spread of best value, worst value and busts. Basically, most people found something to like about Neil’s draft and something to hate too. And no one liked or hated the same players. So this will be an interesting one to see how it plays out in future years.

Benj

Best player

  • Nakobe Dean (7)
  • Jermaine Johnson (2)

Best value:

  • Romeo Doubs (3)
  • Nakobe Dean (2)
  • Tyquan Thornton (2)

Worst value:

  • Nakobe Dean (2)
  • Jermaine Johnson (2)
  • Logan Hall (2)

Bust:

  • Logan Hall (4)
  • Nakobe Dean (2)
  • Jermaine Johnson (2)

Sleeper

  • Desmond Ridder (3)
  • Charlie Kolar (3)
  • Kingsley Enagbare (2)

I guess some of us really liked Nakobe Dean (best value) and some didn’t (Bust, worst value), but we generally thought he was the best of a bad bunch. And then we didn’t really like Logan Hall.

Max

Best player

  • Jameson Williams (5)
  • Treylon Burks (2)
  • George Pickens (2)

Best value:

  • Jameson Williams (3)
  • George Pickens (2)
  • Brian Robinson (2)

Worst value:

  • Travon Walker (2)
  • Brian Robinson (2)

Bust:

  • Travon Walker (5)
  • Treylon Burks (2)
  • George Pickens (2)

Sleeper

  • Isiah Pacheco (3)
  • Kyle Phillips (2)
  • Brandon Smith (2)

Max’s best player results are fun, especially combined with the bust results, and probably drove his high ratings. The fact that Williams was overwhelmingly more popular than Burks but was picked quite a lot later is interesting. The fact that some people still loved Pickens over both is also interesting. And then the fact that most people thought Travon Walker would be a bust over any of them is interesting too. Although that last bit might just be a bit of noise driven by people not liking Walker as a prospect.

We also seemed to love Jameson Williams – 5 people called him the best pick, 3 called him the best value (as pick 7) and no one called him most likely to bust. So that’s interesting.

Iran

Best player

  • Isaiah Spiller (6)

Best value:

  • Isaiah Spiller (6)

Worst value:

  • Hassan Haskins (3)
  • Isaiah Spiller (2)
  • Greg Dulcich (2)

Bust:

  • Danny Gray (3)
  • Isaiah Spiller (2)
  • Hassan Haskins (2)
  • Greg Dulcich (2)

Sleeper

  • Chad Muma (5)
  • Chigoziem Okonkwo (2)

I wasn’t sure whether to include 4 players in the bust rankings for Ian simply because the 4th player was the 70th pick. Spiller being the overwhelming favourite player from this class, and then no real consensus on worst value or bust, seems to say that we basically liked the Spiller pick but not much else. Except Chad Muma. We liked the value there. 2/9 rated Spiller’s lack of speed as the pre-draft story they actually factored in when picking.

Chris

Best player

  • Skyy Moore (4)
  • Chris Olave (3)

Best value:

  • Rachaad White (4)
  • Wan’Dale Robinson (2)

Worst value:

  • Wan’Dale Robinson (3)
  • Skyy Moore (2)
  • Rachaad White (2)

Bust:

  • Wan’Dale Robinson (6)

Sleeper

  • Kaiir Elam (4)
  • Malcolm Rodriguez (3)
  • Isaiah Likely (2)

Seems like a couple of people liked Wan’Dale Robinson as good value, but most people thought he was a big reach. Rachaad White feels like the interesting one here, getting votes at best value and worst value. Someone also voted for Isaiah Likely at pick 119 as my worst value, which feels like they either thought I had a hell of a draft or didn’t read the question.

The sleeper picks were mildly interesting: Pickett got a vote as best value, but no picks as a sleeper. People did care about Pickett’s tiny hands – 4/9 said that was the pre-draft storyline they actually considered when making picks.

Random draft bits and pieces

There wasn’t any consensus on the biggest surprise. And some disagreement, between “defensive reaches so early in the second” and “it being so offense heavy.” The other comments were:

  • How far veluss Jones fell. The slating did for him. Bargain
  • Cook going top 5
  • No QBs picked for ages
  • That I didn’t excessively reach for anyone.
  • Goody blowing up his team for two mediocre RBs

There also wasn’t consensus on the best name. Sauce Gardner got 1.5 votes, but other than that there was only one vote per player: Smoke Monday, C Otton, Tyler Baddie (sic), Romeo Doubs, Snoop Conner, Ty Fryfogle and ZaQuandre White. Lets hope next year is better. A quick skim of a consensus board seems to think it might be: Henry To’oto’o, Habakkuk Baldonado are both in the top 50.

The only pick comment that people actually liked was “I expect Hassan to be Haskins some questions pretty quickly.” Must do better next year folks.

In terms of getting sniped, Tyler Badie was the only person who was mentioned twice as someone you wanted but some fucker picked first (and you are welcome). Props to Slatz for saying that he got sniped on Kyle Hamilton and then still traded Fred Warner to get a 3rd round pick where he couldn’t take Hamilton.

We’ve been arguing about how to quantify good or bad drafts, and it turns out we don’t really agree on who has been good or bad anyway.

Best drafter in Dbowl history

  • Chris (3)
  • Max (2)
  • Goody (1)
  • Benj (1)
  • Can’t remember this draft (2)

Worst drafter

  • Neil (3)
  • Slatz (2)
  • Pete, Mike and Ben & Stew (1)
  • Don’t want to say (1)

There was an odd consensus here. Simply because no one got votes as best draft and worst drafter. I didn’t check whether anyone voted for themselves. And no one seems to remember Iran drafting at all.

But as we’ve now got 3 years of post-draft surveys, I figured I’d take a look back and see how we rated each other over the last few years. There’s been some impressive consistency: Chris has been 2nd every year, Mike has been 4th every year, Iran has finished either 6th or 7th.. And some less impressive consistency, as Goody and Benj have each finished in the bottom 3 every year. Pete also has an excellent upwards trend.

Team202220212020TotalRank
Chris22261
Ben & Stew7=1192
Mike444123=
Max165123=
Neil537155
Pete3510186
Slatz7=93197=
Ian676197=
Benj988259
Goody81092710

The average total is 16. So above that you’ve been good, below that you’ve been bad. It feels overall like vague tiers of Chris, Ben & Stew, Mike and Max; Neil, Pete, Slatz, Iran; Benj and Goody. You could probably put Neil in either the tier above or below, or just make him a tier of his own. Over the last few years anyway. With the depth of analysis you’d expect, I can’t be bothered to see how that correlates to draft capital. But from memory it has felt like Benj, Goody and Iran haven’t had too many picks and have been rated as drafting badly as a result.

It is amusing that based on our surveys, 2 of us think Benj or Goody are the best drafters, and they have been consistently seen as very bad the last 3 years. And 2 of us think Mike and Ben & Stew have been consistently good recently but are seen as bad. While there’s more agreement that midtable Neil and Slatz have been bad.

But I am the best. That’s the key.

With the sort of talent we have for drafting and also for evaluating the performance of everyone else, you definitely want to rely on our collective pearls of wisdom about it. The only consensus was in “do more research” and “do more prep”. And then we had:

  • “too much hope in the top 10”
  • “If you draft the best guys you can be really good”.

Helpful. You want the best players, but also the people you think are definitely good players probably aren’t. But what about this?

  • “Trade all your picks. Then you can’t fail”
  • “Do not, under any circumstances, get involved in a draft day trade with any of the followi…” (I have no idea what happened here).

So definitely trade all your picks no matter what, but also don’t trade. And then my favourite:

  • “It’s a crap shoot and only 2 or 3 of us are any good at shooting those craps. And none of them are Slatz”
  • “Bet on athleticism, because the misses don’t matter and the hits are massive. Take players you like, it’s not as much fun rooting for dickheads.”

Its a crap shoot, but its also very easy to game. I particularly love the shout-out to Slatz (based on the last 3 years he’s not been good, but he hasn’t been awful) and also that the certainty on display in the latter one seems to be from Slatz.

General Dbowl stuff

I asked who you thought would win the league this year. You picked two favourites: Chris (4) and Iran (3). And then threw in Goody and Benj with 1 vote each as contenders. Essentially, if you made the playoffs last year, you have a chance this year.

3 people said Iran would repeat at the top. 3 people also said Pete would repeat the bottom, following by 2 votes for Mike. Neil, Max, Slatz and Goody also got votes for this shame. So that means that everyone thought Ben and Stew would be solidly mid-table, getting votes in neither category.

7 out of 9 thought the draft was at about the right time, so pencil it in for this time next year folks. And there was equal disagreement about whether we should fucking pick already (4) or drag things out more (3), so you can pencil in next year’s to take around a week.

The most divisive question in the draft was how impressive Ian getting through the whole draft in 0 seconds. The average score was 2.4, but that was made up of 4 ratings of 1 and 4 ratings of 5. So maybe expect some people to prioritise time and some people to not. How insightful.

There wasn’t much consensus on whether we need comp picks:  3 said good riddance to them, 5 said Benj should be ashamed for forgetting them, and one person said a 4th round pick for whoever pisses off Slatz the most. Expect a rule change submission soon.

And speaking of rule changes: 7/9 said they were open to a rule about creating an exempt list to get rid of players we morally object to. And 4/9 said that they had a rule change to submit. So expect a couple of rule changes coming through soon.

Right, that was long. I should probably give this an edit. I’m not going to though.

The Dynabowl 2022 Draft Entrance Survey

Rookie Draft Uncategorized No Comments

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…

Who is Going to Win the 2018 Dynabowl? by Ian Kulkowski (Hint – it’s not me!)

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The question everyone is talking about at the moment is who is going to win this year’s Dynabowl?  When Bendy’s poll first appeared on MFL I excitedly scanned through all of the rosters (I do love a good poll) and determined that Max & Mike seemed the strongest.  I plumped for Mike on the basis of Zeke, Hunt & Freeman at RB, and that was that, decision made and I could now move on with my life.

But no.  That was not the case.  My mind was now racing – have I made the right call?  Have I given enough consideration to Defense, or Special Teams for that matter?  I vowed that this unsubstantiated selection simply won’t do and I needed to look deeper in order to be truly happy with my selection.  And so here I’ll run you through my results and determine once and for all who will win the 2018 Dynabowl.  The results might just shock you to the core! (They won’t).

I wanted a simple method of deciding who had the strongest roster (and more importantly starting 22) so I decided to use positional rankings to determine who was strongest at each position and then use that to guess who is best overall.  Once I started I quickly realised this was a pretty pointless exercise but I’m not one to abandon these kind of fruitless ventures so I ploughed on.  I suppose it ultimately did give me and understanding of where everyone’s strengths and weaknesses lie, including my own, which may help in identifying potential trade opportunities.  Which is good especially seen as I’m such a big trader!  It also proved to be useful prep for the upcoming C’Bowl draft, which seen as my C’bowl record is currently second to none could be quite important.

Speaking of which I really need to improve my early round draft record in the C’Bowl.  Here’s my first two pick in each of the 5 years I’ve been part of the league –

Ian’s first chart

How fucking terrible is that!!  Only 2 finished top 10 at their position (one of whom is Gronk! Duh!) and only 2 more top 20!  I even picked Gurley when he was shit!  No wonder I never make the playoffs.  But look out this year as I’m now fully prepared to not repeat the mistakes I’ve made over and over for the last 5 years!

Where was I? Oh yes, Dynabowl rankings.  We’ll start with the Offense as they are much more easily and reliably ranked.  I used fantasypros consensus draft rankings to rank each position then used those classify each player as one of three categories –

  • stud – automatic plug in and play each week
  • starter – remainder of the top ranked players who would be a starter in our league, so top 10 QB’s, top 25 RB’s top 35 WR’s etc.
  • back up – double the number of starters

I’ve ignored everyone else who is rostered as they are either likely to development stashes or just guys you have a crush on and like to have around (hello 2016 Dynabowl winning QB El Jaguar!). So without any further ado let’s get into it…..

Quarterback

Ian’s second chart

I simply ranked teams QB’s by the ranks of their no.1 as we only need to start 1.  So T2 come out on top with A.A.Ron.  According to the rankings there are 3 teams with no starter quality QB’s – Sadness, Bombermen & Losers, with the Losers barely scraping even a back up in Derek Carr.  Although Bendy’s QB crew are all ranked 13-15 (nice grouping) you could easily see 1 of them breaking the top 10, or even 5.  There will certainly be some selection headaches in the weeks to come!

Check out Pete’s QB’s!!  Whooo boy he has the position nailed!!  Surely a trade opportunity here Pete?

Running Back

Ian’s third table

Max and Bendy both have 2 studs at this crucial position so look well set but they are bettered by Mike with a group boasting 3 studs plus one extra starter!  All those years of early picks are beginning to pay off!  Slatz scrapes into playoff contention here with 1 stud backed up by 2 highly ranked starters.

Things don’t look great for me and Bean here with no studs and a few lowly ranked starters.  Some attention is required here.  Meanwhile Chris’s reliance on No.1 ranked RB Gurley (where were you in 2016??) and his strong WR corps is stark as he has only one other RB ranked inside the top 50, and that’s Kenyan Drake!

Wide Receiver

This is Ian’s 4th table

Max & Chris grade highest on WR’s with 2 studs and 2 starters each.  I’ve put Max on top due to him having 2 in the top 4.  Pete is very close also with 2 studs and 2 starters – all those early picks paying off again?!

My deficiency at WR is clear to see with only one starter rostered.  Slatz is not too far ahead although his strategy of playing the long game with Josh Gordon could finally be about to pay off.

Tight End

Ian’s fifth table – how many of these do you think there are?

As with QB’s I’ve pretty much ranked TE’s by the no.1 on each roster as we mostly start only one.  Neil and Max have the only 2 studs which puts them top of the pile (although Neil currently can’t afford Gronk – watch this space). Pete’s young TE’s – whilst exiting – look a little weak here and slatz doesn’t own a single TE ranked in the top 20!

Offense Summary

Overall Max looks to have the strongest offence grading in the top 3 in each position.  A starting line-up of Brady, Bell, Cook, Ajayi, Hopkins, Julio, Tate, Sanders & Kelce should pile on the points week on week.

Mike isn’t far behind with the strongest group of RB’s and very good WR corps.  QB looks to be his weakness although a Rivers / Goff combo is more than capable of delivering.

Pete & Goody/Mat also boast strong offenses with minimal weaknesses which should enable them to push for the payoffs this year.

And what of Chris?  The Reigning champ is strong at WR but will it be enough to make up for his deficiencies elsewhere, especially RB after Gurley (Shakes fist at 2016 Gurley!)

At the other end of the scale my offense looks dire.  The halcyon days of regular playoff appearances appear to be long gone with a long rebuild process required.  Slatz is in a similar position although his RB’s are showing potential to develop into solid group.

Defence

So that’s the easy part done.  Defence is a bit of a different story as there aren’t really the ranks available that represent the depth and scoring in our league to do the same exercise.  After much research I decided the only way to do it was to come up with my own rankings!  To do this I’ve blended together a combination of FFtoday rankings (as these seems the most representative of Dynabowl scoring and have enough depth) and MFL’s own player projections to create a hybrid IDP ranking which definitely provides an undisputable view of who has the strongest D!  So 2 sets of bollocks rankings combined will surely provide a flawless outcome!  That’s the theory (*sigh).

So how does this play out…..

Defensive Tackle

The sixth one. And it’s not the last…

Malik Jackson is the no.1 ranked DT??! What??!  Well that ridicules my ranking system straight away.  What a waste of time!!!!  Seen as it puts me as top ranked I’m going to plough on with this pointless exercise regardless.  With Nose Tackle Damon Harrison also ranked as a starter (jesus what a load of shit) my strength at the position is secure.  I think I’m possibly doing T2 a bit of a disservice putting them below me as their 2 solid starters are clearly the best DT combo in the league.

Pete and Chris have work to do at this position with no DT’s ranked as starters on their roster.

Defensive End

Still going strong at 7 (seven)

DE is clearly Bendy’s position of strength with 2 studs backed up by another starter.  Max isn’t far behind as he also has 2 studs at the position.  Pete & Chris also look to have a good amount of depth at the top of the rankings although maybe some lineup headaches to come.  Once again I have the number ranked player at the position!

Neil sits at the bottom of the pile for DE’s with no starters on his roster and is the only team with a significant need at this positon.

Linebacker

He’s got to be running out of these soon, right?

Mike and Chris sit comfortably atop the LB rankings with 2 studs each plus at least 2 starters to round out their lineups each week.  My group comes next with 1 stud plus a whopping 6 further starts to choose from (trade anyone?!).

Everyone has starters at this position (hard not to when there’s 40 of them!) but Max , Bendy & Pete are the 3 squads without any studs so sit at the bottom of the pile.

Safety

Number Nine. Number Nine. Number Nine.

Now this where it starts to get silly.  Both the rankings and stat projections are pretty much completely pointless when it comes to DB’s so drawing any sort of conclusion from this isn’t much use!  Nevertheless here we are…..

Goody / Mat are locked in at Safety with 2 studs and a starter.  Chris and Pete also look to be in a nice position.

Neil and Slate sit at the bottom with Slate boasting only one guy raked as a backup.

Cornerback

It’s the last one! I promise. 10. 10 of them!

This is just a random set of numbers so I’m not even going to bother commenting.

Defense Summary

What to make of that load of Shit?

Goody / Mat, Chris and me seem to have the strongest overall units.  Goody / Mat have no real weak spots on D whilst Chris only has holes at DT and CB and we know how he loves to create work for Bendy by heavily streaming those positions.  I think some dodgy rankings have bumped me up the list a little!

Max grades in the bottom half at each position besides DE so his strong offence will have to work hard to make up for his deficiencies in the D.  Bendy is in a similar position although slightly above Max in most areas.

So who will win the 2018 Dynabowl???

To be hones after all that I’m none the wiser.  Probably more confused even!!  The way I see there’s a fairly clear split between who’s going to be challenging for the playoffs and who’s battling for that No.1 pick.  The winner as usual will probably be decided by Kickers & Punters.  So in no particular order –

Playoff contenders

  • East Flanders Dungeoneers – Strong on Offense with crazy QB’s depth, Not bad on D but LB and DT look to be issues.
  • Tamworth Two – No obvious are of weakness with a very balanced roster.
  • Dynasty of Sadness – Strong offence despite lack of obvious starter at QB and no major issues on D besides DE.
  • Champions of the Sun – Extremely strong offence but weak in several positions on D.
  • Dyna Hard – RB a real concern but defense looks strong besides DT & CB.

Fighting for No.1 Pick

  • Here Comes the Brees – a lack of real quality on offence will cost them, Defense looks solid.
  • Dynasore Losers – Still very much in rebuild mode, some signs of building nice young roster at RB & LB.
  • DynaForOne Firebirds – Neil’s roster is so thin there’s lots of work to do to make this a competitive squad. I still don’t know how he’s going to get under the cap!
  • Dynabalster Bombermen – A good offence for Bendy despite his selection headache at QB but Defense may not have enough.
  • Kelkowski Don’t Play by No Dyna Rules – Offense is truly awful in need of a complete rebuild! Not bad on D.

A Trade Retrospective

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With another draft in the books, I thought it’d be interesting to take a retrospective look at some of the more complicated trades over recent seasons, and the domino effect of those trades, so I’ve picked out six that I think are more complicated and wide reaching, or involved big names in trades to see what sort of return they netted in the end. I’ve avoided some of the bigger seeming trades where minimal picks were involved (the TY Hilton trade for example) as they essentially come down to player valuation at the time, and focused on pick heavy trades – particularly where they involved further trading down the line. I’ve ranked them very unscientifically in order of blockbusteriness and interestingness.

Six

  • DynaForOne Firebirds – 2016 3.02 & 5.02 and 2017 Round 5 Pick
  • Dynasty of Sadness – 2016 2.02

Two teams that will turn up pretty often in these trades in are the Sadness and the Firebirds, but I like this trade because while there’s a lot of multi-pick trades where team A moves up a few places in a high round at the cost of moving down more places in a later round this is a much simpler decision to pay to move up. So what does the trade value chart make of this? 2.02 is worth 1200 points while 3.02 (780) and 5.02 (480) combine to more points without the additional 5th rounder in 2017 (based on 6.05 this is worth 350). In total the Firebirds paid 1610 points, the equivalent of 1.06 in order to get this pick. Or should I say, get this pick back. Since he’d previously traded it to the Sadness in exchange for Markus Wheaton about a month before. So… Firebirds ended up giving up three picks, of decent value, in order to get back a pick he spent on Markus Wheaton (who’s scored a whopping 13.1 points for him since the trade), which seemed a reach for a guy who was only around the 40th best receiver the season before (although he did finish the previous season hot).

So what did the Firebirds end up with, aside from Wheaton, for this treasure trove – CJ Prosise. A handcuff to the Thomas Rawls, acquired in an earlier trade (1.09 spent on Devontae Booker and 2.05 which was traded on again and eventually spent on Kenyan Drake, and neither of which Neil originally started with, as I’ll cover later). Prosise looked reasonably good in limited action before his injury, and getting the handcuff to Rawls seems smart in retrospect given how much he’s struggled with injuries when he’s played and how unconvinced by him Seattle seemed to be last year. Sadly that might not be enough with Lacy now in town, the expensively acquired Prosise and Rawls could both be out of the picture, unless they get smart, team up and open a burger joint near CitiLink Field.

That’s just looking at the Firebirds side of the trade though, what happened to the picks the Sadness acquired. 3.02 was spent on Mike Thomas, sadly not the one in New Orleans. LA Rams receiver Mike Thomas has been considerably worse, with a total of only 6.2 points as a rookie. He may yet turn into a good receiver, but the Rams passing offence doesn’t seem any better than last year’s putrid edition, the Rams invested in more weapons for Goff that might see Thomas fall down the depth chart all together and right now he’s probably a candidate for the chop, only one year in. And speaking of the putrid Rams offence, 5.02 was spent on the source of the terrible smell – Jared Goff. I think we all know how that’s turned out so far. As for the 2017 5th rounder (5.04) – it’s turned into Ishmael Zamora, the dog-beater. There’s really no way to know how that pick turns out at this point, but unless the plan is to dress Thomas and Goff as dogs then I’m not sure Zamora will really end up being the important part of rescuing this trade for the Sadness.

I don’t think we can pick winners or losers on a lot of these, but if we were, I’d probably shade this one to Neil right now. It also highlights an interesting point – trading down and getting good value for a premium pick is a solid strategy, but you have to spend the picks wisely when you do, not on the Rams passing offence.

Five

  • Tamworth Two – Snead, Willie NOS WR, 2016 Round 1 Pick and 2017 Round 2 Pick
  • DynaForOne Firebirds – Thomas, Demaryius DEN WR

So here’s a different sort of trade to the first – a player swap, with picks to make up the difference. This pick took place in season, so the final value of both picks wasn’t known at the point of trade, but one was for the current season and it was done at the deadline with T2 in the thick of the playoff battle, so I’d call it the 1.08 pick on average, rather than the usual 1.05 average that I’d use for a future pick, but the total value of the picks still comes to close to the 3rd overall pick. That’s a lot of value, but Thomas was a stud receiver at the time, number three overall in 2014 but struggling a little in 2015 – mostly because of Peyton Manning falling off a cliff and being unable to complete a pass over 10 yards. Those sorts of talents are generally going for double firsts, which suggests Snead – not unreasonably as he’d end up putting up nearly 1,000 yards as a rookie over only 9 games, a record for an undrafted player’s rookie season – was either valued at a first himself, or maybe that the Firebirds gave Thomas up slightly cheap.

In actual fact though this is a really savvy deal, Thomas’ struggles continued in 2016 and it’s hard to remember a receiver coming back from the sort of extended dip he’s struggled through and T2 have been left with a top six salary for a player who couldn’t crack the top 20 in 2016. Between the IRL big contract and the continued problems at QB for Denver it’s not unreasonable to suggest the struggles aren’t going away. As for Snead, he followed up his 984 yards and 3 TDs with 895 yards and 4 TDs, but over 16 games. That’s probably because of the emergence of Michael Thomas in the second half of the year and the presence of Cooks, with Cooks gone Snead could break out in a bigger role in 2017. And if nothing else, he’s been so much cheaper than Thomas for similar production, and is younger, so without the picks I’d be tempted to call Neil a winner here – despite Thomas having a proven ceiling considerably higher. However, put that aside, because the pick value removes any doubt. Even with the worst picks in the world Neil’s value on this trade is off the chart. Which is probably good as Neil spent the first rounder he received as part of the Rawls trade (along with 2.05 which ended up traded around until it became Kenyan Drake – told you it would come up again), which has worked out OK, but hasn’t produced the top ten stud RB he would have hoped given the price. The 2.05 pick that the 2017 pick also ended up traded, to the Sadness along with 2.04 (and was spent on James Conner), to get the 9th overall pick which was spent on Alvin Kamara. Given that the pick traded for Rawls ended up the same pick that then subsequently got traded in 2017 the best way to look at this is probably that it’s Thomas for Snead and Rawls. Even with Rawls disappointing 2016 and unconvincing position for 2017, I’d call Neil a clear winner on this one simply because I’m not convinced Thomas has a path back to being an elite receiver right now. A pattern is emerging, don’t fuck with Neil when it comes to trades.

Four

  • Dynasty of Sadness – Tate, Golden DET WR and 2016 Picks 3.01 & 5.01
  • Champions of the Sun – 2016 Picks 1.06 & 3.10

It wouldn’t be a trade review if these two didn’t show up in it somewhere trading picks. While a lot of their trades are the sort of up in one round down in another sort of trades I mentioned in the first trade I highlighted, this one is a little more straight-forward. This is a chunk of stuff given up by one team to get a high pick off the other. I picked this one here as it involves a player as a makeweight to trade up, unlike number six which was purely about picks or number five which was mostly about trading for a star.

Let’s start with the pick valuation and see what it values Tate as in terms of a pick. Champions are giving up 2220 points of value, while Sadness give up 1290, a difference of 930 which equates to somewhere roughly in the middle of 2.07 and 2.08. Given the valuations we’ve seen of Thomas, Snead and Landry, this is probably on the low side for Tate, who was coming off something of a breakout first year in Detroit and looking at a potentially bigger role with Megatron retiring. Even with him not being as young as any of those mentioned, it’s still less than was paid for Wheaton who was considerably less productive and with far greater downside. Initially then this looks like being advantage Champions.

Fortunately for the Sadness, they played a blinder with the big pick, nabbing Michael Thomas at 1.06 – a top receiver in his rookie season, and a big part (along with Elliot) of why the Sadness made a playoff run. With Cooks gone, he has an opportunity to take on an even bigger role in the next couple of seasons. The 3.10 pick was spent on Jordan Payton who’s delivered the square root of fuck all so far in Cleveland, but there’s time for that to change. Similarly the two picks given up by Sadness have gone on QB development prospect Paxton Lynch who’s shown little to nothing so far (though was not expected to deliver anything in 2016), and Washington RB non-event Keith Marshall as the Champions correctly didn’t trust Matt Jones, but wrongly pegged Marshall rather than Fat Rob Kelley as the solution.

Right now this trade essentially boils down to Tate for Thomas, and that’s a clear win for the Dynasty of Sadness.

Three

  • Dynasty of Sadness – Bryant, Dez DAL WR and 2017 Round 5 Pick
  • Dyna Hard – Morris, Alfred DAL RB and Diggs, Stefon MIN WR and 2016 Pick 1.08 and 2017 Round 1 Pick

OK, so as a one-off trade goes, this is probably the blockbusteriest trade so far in the Dynabowl, two firsts, Stefon Diggs and Alfred Morris for Dez Bryant and a make-weight future 5th. It’s like the Thomas trade, only with sprinkles on top (Morris, two firsts instead of a first and a second). Only here’s the thing, much like Thomas, Bryant comes with a huge price tag and was coming off a disappointing year – injuries rather than Peyton Manning being the limiting factor as he produced only 57 points. And much like Thomas, he failed to deliver in 2016 as well, an injury hit start hurting his total points and putting him out of the top twenty, but even his point per game return wouldn’t have been enough for a top ten finish. As for Diggs – he wasn’t as electric as Snead in his rookie year, but he showed flashes and attracted interest off the taxi squad. Much like Snead, he’s not a better player than the one he’s been traded for… yet. But he’s in a position to succeed, as a key part of his offence, and you’d rather be buying stock in Snead/Diggs right now than in Bryant or Thomas (though I’d favour Bryant over Thomas as a comeback candidate, because the Cowboys are better at QB right now and because Bryant’s been hurt rather than just bad).

Morris is mostly irrelevant to this trade, but he had a relatively unfriendly salary for a handcuff to the Sadness’ presumptive number one Elliot, so it was a worthwhile addition with cap space spare.

As for the picks – the 2016 1.08 was used on Kenneth Dixon, who’s sometimes looked good, but failed to really cement himself as the Baltimore lead running back as yet, unless he does this seems like a lost pick. The 2017 pick was traded back twice, to 1.08 with the Brees, then 2.01 with the Dungeoneers, netting a fifth rounder (subsequently traded down to move up from 2.04 to 2.02) and to move up 5 places in the 4th. The final landing spot at 2.01 was used on Kareem Hunt. Hunt has talent and if either he or Dixon end up as a number one back and a good RB1/2 to complement Elliot as the Sadness’ stud then they’re clear winners here. Similarly if Diggs develops into a good receiver at a WR2 sort of level, while Bryant fails to become a clear WR1 again, then you’d have to call the Sadness winners here, however if Dixon and Hunt end up in RBBC situations, and Diggs never really breaks out of the WR3/Flex level he was in his second year, then it’s probably going to favour Dyna Hard as I just don’t think Bryant is done yet, and even as an overpaid WR2 he still offers more than three at-best flex level players. All in all there’s a lot of ifs around this, and it could easily go either way still, so I think it’s fair to move on without declaring a clear winner.

Two

  • Dynasore Losers – 2016 1.04 to Firebirds; 2016 3.04 and 2017 Round 1 Pick to Tamworth Two
  • DynaForOne Firebirds – 2016 4.02 and 2017 Round 1 Pick
  • Tamworth Two – Landry, Jarvis MIA WR and 2016 3.09

There’s two different trades here, but ultimately the two go together as the Losers deal with the Firebirds was an attempt to recoup the 2017 first rounder lost in the deal for Landry as the 2017 draft seemed a lot stronger than the 2016 one did. So how did this all shake out?

The Firebirds gave up a pick valued in advance at 1.05, but which ultimately became 1.04, the same pick given up to get Landry, while the 2017 first became 1.02. As such the Losers didn’t lose spots in the draft as they ended up trading away their 2016 1.04 for what became the 2017 1.04, but because they ended up losing their own 1.02 and gaining the Firebirds 1.04 they did actually lose two spots. Still following? Good.

The Firebirds pick became Corey Coleman. So far he’s been better than Doctson and Treadwell, taken ahead of him, but worse than Shepherd and Michael Thomas who were taken after him. With only 60 points in his rookie season he’s a long way from being worth the first rounder given up to get him yet, but receivers do sometimes take time, and the Browns have a terrifyingly bad QB situation, so there’s still hope for him as that potentially improves.

The two picks the Firebirds gave up to get Coleman became Christian McCaffrey and Deion Jones. Right now there’s no two ways about this, Jones looks like a stud, scoring nearly 80 more points than Coleman in his rookie year as the top point scorer among (drafted) defensive rookies, and the 4th highest (drafted) rookie scorer (non-QB) in his class. Obviously, that’s only one season, but that’s all we have for both players so far.

As for the second half of the trade, the first given up on Landry was spent on Corey Davis. This worked out pretty well for both sides, with the Losers getting McCaffrey at #4 from their own trade into 2017 (who they would have taken at #2 anyway, given the need at RB) and T2 moving ahead of the Brees who had hoped to snag Davis at #3. It’s impossible to evaluate this up front, as Davis has yet to appear in an NFL game, but who wins that trade in the long run comes down to whether Landry or Davis ends up being the better receiver. As for the exchange of thirds… Rashard Higgins has produced little to nothing so far for T2, but does have great hair and plenty of time to come good (hopefully not a sign of things to come from Davis for them) while the 3.09 pick that went the other way was used in a package with Charles Sims to nab two picks from the Brees which were spent on DeAndre Washington and Adolphus Washington, if DeAndre Washington ends up a starter in Oakland then this part of the deal certainly favours the Losers, but that’s a big if with Beast Mode coming home to Oakland and looking to be the feature back for them. Adolphus may or may not do anything in the long run, it’s simply too early to say. If none of these three develop into viable fantasy options, then it will literally come down to the two receivers. While that’s certainly true when it comes to the long-term evaluation of the trade, it’s also fair to say that just on a fundamental level it’s almost always going to be better in a trade to get a young receiver with proven production rather than trading for a pick to draft one, no matter how highly they’re regarded – especially when that trade is for an unknown draft pick in the subsequent year’s draft.

The net of this three way trade is that the Losers bagged Christian McCaffrey, Deion Jones, Jarvis Landry and DeAndre Washington. T2 netted Corey Davis and Rashard Higgins while the Firebirds got Corey Coleman. A lot depends on how Coleman and Davis do over the next two or three years, but it’s fair to say that if McCaffrey is a bust the Losers have at worst got a pair of quality starters and for either T2 or the Firebirds to feel happy about their parts in this deal they’ll need their own high pick receivers to out-perform Landry at a minimum. It seems fair to say at this point though that the big loser looks to be the Firebirds, who’s Jedi trade tricks fail to work a third time as McCaffrey and Jones for Coleman seems heavily weighted in favour of the Losers, regardless of how Landry for Davis works out.

One

  • Here Comes The Brees –  2016 Picks 1.05 & 1.06 to Champions of the Sun; Donald, Aaron STL DT to Dynablaster Bombermen
  • Champions of the Sun – Robinson, Allen JAC WR
  • Dynablaster Bombermen – 2016 Round 1 & 4 Draft Picks and 2017 Round 1 Pick

Much like the previous example this is a three way trade essentially, but this with the Brees at the centre of it. In one sense the Brees gave up Donald to get Robinson, and got a 4th out of it but it’s a touch more complicated than that. Basically the Brees picked up a pair of firsts, spending the first of them, along with their own 2016 pick to get Allen Robinson. That’s not out of line with the prices paid for Bryant and Thomas, without giving up a young receiver in return. However that wrongly puts Thomas and Bryant (established studs with better seasons) on a par with Robinson who had one good season off the back of a high number of TD scores. Where Thomas and Bryant struggled to recapture their best form, which is probably what put them on the market, Robinson’s 2016 fall feels more like gravity pulling him back down (although he dropped further than I would have expected and should bounce back some in 2017). There’s arguments both ways on this as Robinson is also younger, had a decent seeming offence in place and had a season on the cheap before a massive extension would be due, however it was a massive pay rise as he jumped into the top tier of receivers, unlike Landry (who also commanded a first plus trade price) who finished just shy of a top tier extension cost. Ultimately, double firsts (and better ones than were paid for Bryant / Thomas) seems an slight overpay, just because Thomas and Landry didn’t quite stretch to double firsts, and I just don’t think he was established as a top tier player like Bryant and Thomas were, but it’s certainly not an indefensible one.

Meanwhile, Champions spent the 1.05 on Sterling Shepherd and traded away the 1.06 in the previously discussed Tate / Michael Thomas trade. So instead of picking Thomas and Shepherd and being clear winners in this trade they’ve ended up trading away a potential stud for a pair of at-best WR2s. That seems like a push at the moment, and will most likely come down to whether or not Robinson delivers WR1 value. If he doesn’t, his extension cost will mean the value pairing of Tate and Shepherd win out, but Shepherd’s ceiling is low with an in-decline Eli and a much-better Odell Beckham limiting his value to somewhere in the region of a WR3 and Tate looked poor for most of last year as Detroit struggled offensively so there’s plenty of scope for both sides to come away feeling unhappy about this, especially with what could have been for the Champions with Thomas.

And that brings us to the other side of this deal. While the Brees co-managers sit there wondering if they’re going to be stuck with a massively overpaid disappointment in Robinson, the Bombermen get Aaron Donald – outscoring all receivers and all other defensive players in both 2015 and 2016. I call that a win at almost any price. The two firsts the Bombermen gave up – 1.05 in 2016 and 1.08 in 2017 have gone on receivers, partly on Robinson as discussed and on Jon Ross (via a small trade up from 8 to 7), but realistically unless you end up with two WR1s out of that, then it’s hard to call it anything other than a loss, especially considering the massive salary differential between top tier receivers and a top DT (even after the Suh deal this summer). There is a light at the end of this tunnel though, and it might not even be a train. The Rams might be changing from a 4-3 to a 3-4 scheme with Jeff Fisher and Greg Williams being shown the door. If Donald ends up moved from DT to DE his point-scoring will drop significantly (just look at Kerry Hyder’s points in 2016’s league and in 2017’s following re-classification, they’ve virtually halved), and his extension cost will sky-rocket, if that happens then what looked like a rock solid win for the Bombermen becomes much, much more debatable. Ultimately it’ll still come down to how Robinson bounces back, and whether Ross is any sort of success, but they go from needing to find two top five receivers to maybe one top 10 receiver and a solid WR2. The 4th round pick in this trade I’ve mostly ignored so far, but for posterity’s sake it was spent on Braxton Miller, so it deserved to be ignored.

As a result then I’d say that while the Champions / Brees part of the trade is fairly even (with the Brees having the better potential to come out on top), the Brees are very much on the downside of the overall trade, swapping a defensive player who out-performs even the top receivers (for less money) for a player who isn’t a top receiver. While keeping to the cap doesn’t seem to be a problem for the Brees management as yet and maybe ameliorates some of that downside, it does still limit their ability to compete for the top free agents, or extend some useful players. It’s also fair to say that both the Brees and Champions GMs should feel more than a little bit rueful, as in both cases they had a chance to get both Shepherd and Thomas with those 1.05 and 1.06 picks and both teams would be in a better position if they’d just stopped after the first trade and used the picks they’d garnered.

 

Addendum There’s two teams not included in this write-up at all. That’s nothing against those teams, it’s just that I mostly found their trades fell into the ‘player-heavy’ category or the two picks for two picks category. The Dungeoneers did get a mention in one of the write-ups and pulled off some nice business, fleecing the Firebirds into giving up anything for Ryan Tannehill, the Bombermen into giving up good players for bad ones in the Carlos Hyde trade and getting the 1.02 pick for fat Eddie Lacy which they used on Amari Cooper (then wasted their own 1.03 on Kevin White, so that feels like a push to me). While that seems like a list of wins, they also overpaid the Brees for Keenan Allen’s one game a year and got absolutely destroyed by Kelkowski (the other team not mentioned) when they traded away Doug Baldwin for Stevie Johnson (oops). Kelkowski’s trades are mostly terribly dull and involve buying or selling expiring contracts at the trade deadline for 6th and 7th round picks.

2017 DynaBowl Mock Draft

League Business Mock Draft Rookie Draft No Comments

At James ‘Goody’ Goodson’s behest, he, Chris Braithwaite and Ian Kulkowski have mock drafted for their puny insignificant lives and come up with the following opening three rounds of the 2017 Dynabowl Rookie Draft.

 

1.01 1. East Flanders Dungeoneers

Pick: Leonard Fournette, JAX, RB

Chosen by: Goody

Reasoning: The consensus 1.01 of Dynasty Drafts, Fournette ticks more boxes for any of the RBs drafted in 2017. He has the talent and opportunity to be an immediate starter for the Dungeoneers, and will easily justify the 1.01 tag. The Jags are already building around him by drafting an OT and FB, negating any concerns over their poor RB gradings last year. Probably the easiest pick in this mock.

Opinion: Chris: pretty obvious pick with a high floor. He should get a ton of volume.

Ian: I’m happy with this pick.

 

1.02 2. Tamworth Two

Pick: Christian McCaffrey, CAR, RB

Chosen by: Ian

Reasoning : No.2 pick seems to be between McCaffrey and Davis.  T2 biggest need is arguably RB (just).  Plus who wouldn’t want to pair run CmC with CAP?!  They also have pick 5 so can probably take the WR they want there.

Opinion: Goody. Interesting pick here! I’m not overly enamoured with Mccaffery’s landing spot to warrant 1.02, based on Carolina’s power offence, Cam and J-Stew hogging TD opportunities this year, plus the arrival of second round pick, and CMC double, Curtis Samuel.

Chris: I agree with this pick


1.03 3. Here Comes The Brees

Pick: Craig David, WR, Tennessee

Chosen by: Chris

Reasoning: Davis seems to be the consensus top WR. He was the highest drafted WR, has a clear path to being the #1 WR (in that he already basically is). He has a fairly high bust potential as there’s not a great deal of evidence that he can play against NFL quality corners, but from the combination of draft pedigree and situation, it’s difficult to ignore his upside.

Opinion: Goody: I would have probably gone for Williams here. Better red zone target and higher calibre of opposition faced, plus no/fewer injury concerns.

Ian: Exactly who I would have picked here.  Best WR available and brees have a desperate need!


1.04 4. Dynasore Losers

Pick: Mike Williams, WR, LAC

Chosen by: Goody

See my comment above for Davis. We know Slatz isn’t a Davis fan, with good reason, so he’d be thrilled to pick Williams here.

Opinion: Chris: probably a fair pick, but Williams has a fair few concerns: sub-optimal athleticism, very crowded situation and an aging QB with no succession plan in place.

Ian: Sensible pick, probably BPA.  But I just don’t think Slatz has a need at WR so I would expect him to go RB here.

 

1.05 5. Tamworth Two

Pick :John Ross, WR, CIN

Chosen by: Ian

Reasoning: Ah, so the two stand out WR’s have gone?!  I was convinced one of them would still be available – maybe you should consider trying to trade up for one of them?  I would say it’s between Cook, mixon & Ross at this point.  Based on need and as you took McCaffrey with pick 2 (remember?) then I’m going to go for Ross here.  Should be in a decent position opposite AJ Green with an opportunity to make a big impact early.

Opinion: Goody: I like this pick based on need. Ross will go in as WR2 with a high ceiling and good opportunity.

Chris: i think with the board like this, trading down would be a strong consideration. Given the need, Ross makes sense, but this is pretty awful value. Much like the pick of Ross in the reality.


1.06 6. Champions of the Sun

Pick: Joe Mixon, CIN RB

Chosen by: Chris

Reasoning: The bigger need is probably WR, but the value is probably at RB at this point. For me, Mixon is a better player on a better team, so should get more carries and more TDs, especially early on. He’s also shown less of a pattern of being a dick (although his acts of being a dick are worse).

James: This is a nice pick, although I think Cook may surprise more this year. Hill is in his final year and Bernard is coming back off injury.

Ian: Maxx doesn’t really have any pressing needs so may look to trade down if he can get value.  Otherwise I would say it’s between Cook & Mixon here.  Cook probably has the better immediate opportunity but Mixon is the better long term bet so Maxx will be fine with this.


1.07 7. The People’s Republic of the 4th Dynmension: Dynasty of Sadness

Pick: OJ Howard, TE, TEN

Chosen by: Goody

Reasoning: Two picks out of three give a good opportunity for the Sadness to pick up their targets. OJ Howard fills a longer term need and will produce a likely pro-bowl appearance at some point.

Opinion: Ian: I have no issues with this pick here, Howard is a solid first round pick who should have a top tier career at TE.

Chris: I’m not a fan of Howard here. I think he’ll be a fantastic real NFL player, but i think his blocking may limit his impact as a fantasy player. Especially as he is at best the third receiving option on the team for the next year or two (and may be behind Sims and Brate). Lot of upside, but i think the other TEs have a better floor.

 

1.08 8. Here Comes The Brees

Pick: Ju Ju Smith-Schuster PIT WR

Chosen by: Ian

Reasoning: This is where it becomes tricky, it feels like we’re now into the 2nd tier.  Brees may be looking to trade up from here (Hello Maxx!).  Their big need remains WR so I’ll go with Ju Ju S-Schu.  I have him as the best of the 2nd tier of WR’s and he should have a decent opportunity in a good (for now) offence.

Opinion: Chris: Not a fan of him landing with the Steelers for a few reasons: he’ll never be their #1, there’s good competition at WR with Bryant, Coates and Rogers, and by the time JuJu battles his way through that competition to be the #2, Landry Jones might be the QB.

James. I can see JJSS having an Boldin type of role, he may not get you 150 yards but his solid hands and redzone presence will mean he will be a sound fantasy option.


1.09 9. The People’s Republic of the 4th Dynmension: Dynasty of Sadness

Pick: Dalvin Cook, RB, MIN

Chosen by: Chris

Reasoning: RB is a pretty big need, Dalvin Cook should be a pretty good RB. He might not be an RB1, but between Cook, the Detroit backs and Dixon, it should be possible to cobble together an RB2 and 3 most weeks.

Opinion: Ian: Manboob will be happy Cook has fallen this far after passing on him with pick 7.  Fills a big need on his roster with a rookie who should get a decent number of touches immediately.

James. Solid pick here. I’ve cooled on Cook since the combine but the Vikings have also improved their O-line and Cook will supplant Murray by end of year 1.


1.10 10. Kelkowski Don’t Play By No Dyna Rules

Pick: Alvin Kamara, RB, NO

Chosen by: Goody

Reasoning: RB is definitely the need here, so I could even see Kelkowski trying to trade up if they want to nab their man. A sharp drop off with the potential elite RBs leave Kelkowski having to make a judgement call. Kamara provides a bit of safety with 28 year old Ingram on their roster and a future plan to accommodate the recent arrival of Adrian Peterson.

Opinion: Ian: Finally we have a pick!!!  Kamara makes sense I guess as we already have FHTWMIJ although I would rather take hi with pick 20!

Chris: I agree that this seems high for Kamara, but i feel there’s a fairly long tier here where people can justify taking a wide range of players depending on need. Picking up two bits of the Saints backfield makes sense, and Kamara has shown some good skills. However, if we’re looking at getting the whole backfield, i think Kareem Hunt would have been a better pick.

 

2.01 11. East Flanders Dungeoneers

Pick: David Njoku, CLE TE

Chosen by: Ian

Reasoning: Having secured the RB he needs I think Pete goes TE here to compliment HH.  It’s a toss up between Njoku and Engram.  Both are good prospects who have landed in good situations as the likely no.1 TE on their respective teams.  I’ll go with Njoku as he seems to be the guy with most talent.

Opinion: Goody: Another real Dynasty option, Njoku will take time to settle but I see him with a better initial opportunity than Engram.

Chris: he certainly doesn’t have much competition, so should get a lot of snaps pretty quickly. My concern is that it’ll take him a couple of years to really produce, but i think Pete is ok not going all-out win-now.


2.02 12. Dynasore Losers

Pick: Kareem Hunt, RB, KC

Chosen by: Chris

Reasoning: Slatz loves his WRs, but there are probably enough guys there to hope that he can get three or four contributors each week. RB is looking a lot barer. I think Hunt is probably the guy with the clearest route to a starting job that’s left available, given how Ware didn’t produce much in the second half of the season.

Opinion: Ian: Fair pick.  Slatz is all about buying Running Back tickets at this point and Hunt has talent and reasonable shot of getting touches in a run heavy offence.


2.03 13. Here Comes The Brees

Pick: Jeremy McNichols, RB, TBB

Chosen by: Goody

Reasoning: This was such a hard pick. There are a few RBs in a tier of their own at this stage, mostly based on the chance to them becoming the primary back to a starter with contract (Doug Martin), age (Frank Gore), injury (Carlos Hyde) or ability (Ty Montgomery) issues. The Brees try to solidify their Tampa backfield with a RB who fell in the draft due to recent surgery issues. That’s not an immediate problem in Dynasty and McNichols grades well at pass protection and has a path to a starting position in a high powered offence in a year or two.

Opinion: Ian: Wouldn’t have him this high but makes sense for Brees given their monopoly on the TB running game.

Chris: i think this is way too early for McNichols. If they want to consolidate a running game, Donta Foreman for the Texans is a better player. McNichols might have been available in the next round.

Update: Goody: I didn’t realise that Martin may be suspended for the first 4 games of the season so I still stick with this pick.


2.04 14. DynaForOne Firebirds

Pick: Samaje Perine, RB, WAS

Chosen by: Ian

Reasoning: And so Neil finally enters the draft with back to back picks.  He has needs all over his roster but I think RB is where he has the biggest hole so I’m going Perine here.  He has a chance to be productive straight away in a good offence so can help fill a gap for Neil.

Opinion: Goody. Good pick. I probably would have had Perine higher at 2.03 if not for the Brees tentative situation with Martin linked to being cut.

Chris: Perine is in the same boat as McNichols, in that I’m not sure about his talent, but his situation is decent enough. Good upside pick.

 

2.05 15. DynaForOne Firebirds

Pick: D’onta Foreman, RB HOU

Chosen by: Chris

Reasoning: Even with Perine, Neil doesn’t have a lot at RB, so double dipping seems reasonable. Foreman is probably the RB with most upside and a decent floor, so i think he makes sense here.

Opinion: Ian: I might have been tempted to go WR here but Neil could definitely do with more depth at RB which Foreman could provide.


2.06 16. Champions of the Sun

Pick: Zay Jones

Chosen by: Goody

Reasoning: A tough one again, as there are a number of RB’s on the board with a lower floor but higher ceiling. Max could also be tempted by Mahomes, (who coincidently autocorrects to Manholes) as Big Ben is on his way out. But Jones enters a Buffalo team in dire need of a receiver. Watkins has injury concerns and there are a number of targets available with the release of Robert Woods, Marquise Goodwin and Justin Hunter. I think this is a very safe pick at 2.06

Opinion: Ian: A good prospect in a decent position to contribute straight away is a good fit for maxx at this point.  Could be real value next year if the Bills move on from Watkins.

Chris: I’m not a huge fan of Jones, his college production and draft position make this pretty good value.


2.07 17. The People’s Republic of the 4th Dynmension: Dynasty of Sadness Pick: Deshaun Watson

Chosen by: Ian

Reasoning: Manboob’s quarterback situation is a total mess.  He has the unenvious task of choosing between Bridgeater, Glennon, Goff, Man Penguin Boy, Brockules and Smith each week.  I mean Wow!  That’s brutal!  So he’s definitely going to complicate things further by taking a chance on one of this year’s crop of uninspiring rookie passers. Watson is the pick because of he has the highest likelihood of making an immediate impact – I mean, no one believes BOB’s bullshit about Savage being the starter, Houston needs to win NOW!

Opinion: Chris: i like this pick. Watson’s should be the starting QB, and his combination of passing and rushing should make him a viable starter.


2.08 18. Dynablaster Bombermen

Pick: Chris Godwin, WR, TB

Chosen by: Chris

Reasoning: The Bombermen don’t really need a win now contributor, so they can pick a guy who has the best chance of having a WR1/2 upside. He should also work as a decent handcuff to Desean Jackson if age hits him.

Comment: Goody: Godwin could see himself come in and play the perimeter and Jackson is the wrong side of 30, so good Dynasty value here.

Ian: I can see the logic in taking a stash here as the B men don;t have any pressing needs.  They might think about breaking the seal on D here.

 

2.09 19. Live Free or Dyna Hard

Pick: Evan Engram, TE, NYG

Chosen by: Goody

Reasoning: I originally had Marlon Mack here, but I now pick Evan Engram who Chris would be delighted to pick. With an ageing Bennett and Gates on the DynaHard roster, Engram is the perfect Dynasty grab.

Chris: I’d be very happy if things worked out like this. Engram wouldI be excellent value here.

Ian: Probably best player available at this point so good pick for Chris


2.10 20. Kelkowski Don’t Play By No Dyna Rules

Pick: Curtis Samuel, WR, CAR

Chosen by: Chris

Reasoning: Kelkowski probably need some more depth at WR, and Samuel is probably the best player available. It’s difficult to know how he’ll be used in Carolina, but if he gets used from the slot and gets return work, he should be quite a consistent scorer.

Opinion: Goody: Samuel has big play ability so Kelkowski will hope for some Tyreek Hill style matchups. Ian: I’m okay with this.  WR depth is certainly a requirement and Samuel gives us a monopoly of the 2nd tier of receivers in Carolina behind Benjamin & Olsen.

 

3.01 21. East Flanders Dungeoneers

Pick: Joe Williams, RB, SF

Chosen by: Goody

Reasoning: The Flanders roster is just horrible at RB depth. Hyde is likely out after this season and Williams is openly loved by Kyle Shanahanahanahan. Shanahan loves runners who can go outside and Williams excelled at that in College. He could be RB1 at the 49ers at the end of the year so this represents great value.

Opinion: Ian: RB is definitely the major need for Pete so Williams works here as a backup and eventual successor to Hyde.

Chris: This is a decent pick. Works as a handcuff to Hyde and a player with potential in his own right.


3.02 22. Dynasore Losers

Pick:Myles Garrett, DE, CLE

Chosen by: Ian

Reasoning: With offensive talent thinning out at this point I think Saltz will be happy the best defensive option in the draft has fallen this far.  With his 3 top DE’s in their final year this pick will help him for years to come.

Opinion: Goody: I could see Slatz staying with offence. If there is a position he is definitely stacked in, its DE, and he’s got such a generous salary cushion he doesn’t really need to worry about renewals. I’d have probably said that Slatz goes for someone like Carlos Henderson as a long term replacement for Sanders, or trade down a few spots for a bigger defensive need – LB, so maybe Reddick or Foster.

Chris: I think this is a good spot for Garrett, but I’m not sure Slatz would take him. Even if Quinn moves to LB, the 3 guys he has at DE are fine for this year.

 

3.03 23. Here Comes The Brees

Pick: Cooper Kupp, WR, LAR

Chosen by: Chris

Reasoning: Even with Davis, the Brees probably still need a WR, preferably one with WR1 upside. Kupp probably has the clearest route to that of the people left, due mainly to lack of competition.

Opinion: Goody: I think ‘doubling-down’ here for the Brees makes really good sense and could leave them with the primary target on team with a QB looking for a safe target.

Ian: Agree with the others here, Brees need to be all in on WR and Kupp is about the best option still available.


3.04 24. DynaForOne Firebirds

Pick: Marlon Mack, RB, Ind

Chosen by: Goody

Reasoning: Arguably RB and DE was a massive need for the Firebirds coming into this draft. CJ Anderson will now share carries with Charles, Blount is without a team, Mathews is likely to be dropped, and Rawls will share backfield duties with ‘obese mode’ Eddie Lacy. It doesn’t look great and they’ve only effectively picked up Foreman and Perine so far. There is also a need for a DE, but most evidence suggests that rookie DEs are hit and miss. The 2017 class is regarded as a good and deep one, but not great in relation to potential elite (Garrett). Even Garrett, if he was available now, only picked up 3 of his sacks against a NFL based O-line. In this case, Barnett, who picked up 16 of his sacks against similar opposition, could be an acceptable pick. Therefore, Firebirds may think they can pick up some DE depth later on with someone like Barnett, McKinley or Charlton. Now the case for the prosecution, Mack is a good receiver and has high home run potential. Gore is old. So very old. With the Firebirds a bit away from ‘win now’, getting a potential starting RB with the 24th pick is immense value. Come 2018, they may have some of their 3 RBs hit and become competitive.

Opinion: Ian: This is now Neil’s 3rd RB of the draft after taking Perine & Foreman in the 1st so he’s certainly going all out to address his major need.  I might have gone WR here instead but as a third round pick in his own right Mack is okay.


3.05 25. Tamworth Two

Pick:Rueben Foster, LB SF

Chosen by: Ian

Reasoning: Time for T2 to start addressing their defensive needs.  Foster is the best LB available and will be an immediate contributor in San Francisco so will continue to build on T2’s good young LB core.

Opinion: Chris: i think this is a solid pick. I think T2 need an elite defensive player. My only quibble is whether DE is a bigger need, but Foster might be the best defensive player available and T2’s LBs have a lot of question marks.

Goody. Foster is an elite prospect but I’m concerned by his injury, and recent failed surgery. There is also chat about a number of hidden concussions at College, plus, I’m all for hydration, but Foster takes it too far.

 

3.06 26. Champions of the Sun

Pick: Pat Mahomes QB, KC

Chosen by: Chris

Reasoning: CotS need a QB for when Big Ben retires, which could easily happen next year. Despite being the 2nd QB picked in the NFL draft, Mahomes has a better fantasy outlook than Trubisky due to his athleticism, his head coach and the fact he should have a chance to learn for at least a year, rather than being thrown in straight away.

Opinion: Goody:A solid gamble, Mahomes is likely to have a very high ceiling but will have to learn a much more complex playback. Andy Reid has a good track record of elite QBs so Max could get a diamond here.

Ian: I would have considered a QB in R2 for Maxxx so am fine with taking one here.  With a year of Rapistberger remaining Maxx has no immediate need so P Homes is the perfect development opportunity.

 

3.07 27. The People’s Republic of the 4th Dynmension: Dynasty of Sadness

Pick: Jonathan Allen, DT. WAS

Chosen by: Goody.

Reasoning: With a need at DT, the Sadness Pick the best one on the board, who is in a great landing spot at Washington.

Opinon: Ian: Having addressed his need at RB & QB and taken Howard as a potential superstar Manboob has plenty of options here.Williams and Conner are still available for added RB depth and another QB ticket wouldn’t hurt.  However, I agree there are needs in the D also.  Davis would be an option here at LB but DT as arguably the more pressing need so Allen makes sense as the best DT in the draft (he may however end up as a DE).

Chris: I think Allen will be a great player. But I think he’ll be a DE, which will hurt his value.

 

3.08 28. Dynablaster Bombermen

Pick:Adam Shaheen. TE CHI

Chosen by: Ian

Reasoning: With no immediate pressing needs Bendy has the luxury of taking the best player available.  I have no clue who that is at this stage so I’ll go with Shaheeeeen.  There’s not much ahead of him in Chicago (although that’s not saying much) and there’s a good development opportunity here behind Bendy’s existing starting TE’s.

Comment: Goody: I think this is a bit early for the remaining TEs, who drop off after the 3 main guys. I’d have probably seen a bit more value in going defence, especially at LB.

Chris: I agree it’s early for Shaheen, but i think if a team wanted a TE at this stage and took Gerald Everett, that might be defendable

   

3.09 29. Live Free or Dyna Hard

Pick: Haasan Reddick, ARI, LB

Chosen by Goody.

Reasoning: DynaHard have an opportunity to pick someone up who has been identified as an athletic specimen, albeit no experience at playing ILB. Although the jury is still out if Reddick will be able to develop this way, Chris may see this as a pretty low risk appointment.

Opinion: Chris: Reddick is a pretty nice pick. I’m not sure LB is a big need for me though, with Miller, Ragland and Jatavis Brown on board for the next 2 years. But he does seem like BPA at this point. Apart from the next guy…

3.10 30. Kelkowski Don’t Play By No Dyna Rules

Pick: Solomon Thomas, DE, SF

Chosen by: Chris

Reasoning: Thomas is the clear BPA here in my opinion. He might not get gaudy sack numbers like Garrett, but his ability against the run should give him a lot of tackles and TFLs, so he should be a fairly consistent scorer. Kelkowski don’t have a need at DE, but Thomas and Bosa would make them set at the position for the long term.

Opinion: Goody: Solid pick here. No complaints from me.

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