2018 Dawgpatch Fantasy Football League

The defending champions started off the draft strong with the second overall pick, taking one of the best dual threat backs in the league in LeVeon Bell. The top of their draft was loaded with Bell and Keenan Allen. Kenyon Drake is supposed to be the lead back in Miami, but the HC already said veteran Frank Gore will see double digit touches a game, so this may hurt Drake's value depending on how the season plays out. Kalen Ballage is a deep sleeper to keep an eye on as well as he's looked really good in the preseason and could steal action from Drake. The best value pick made by the Bandits has to be nabbing Ju Ju Smith-Schuster in the fifth round. He is set to have a huge year taking over the number 2 spot in Pittsburgh. The worst pick had to be the 8th and 9th round selections of Wil Lutz and the Ravens defense. These positions could have been filled by equal talent in later rounds. By making these two selections, they passed on valuable contributors like Peyton Barber, Calvin Ridley, and Kelvin Benjamin. Despite these erred selections, the defending champions still ended up with a decent roster for the 2018 campaign. Draft Grade: B

The CBS experts were very critical of the Lions draft handing out a D-. I tend to disagree with this ranking, slightly. Dalvin Cook was a great selection late in the first round. Assuming he's healthy, he should be a great dual threat rusher who can average 15 ppg easily for a Vikings team who should have an even better passing game than last year. The Lions had the steal of the draft by getting Doug Baldwin in the fourth round. Baldwin is a second round talent easy and I'm not quite sure why he slipped in this draft, but the Lions were the recipient of a huge gift at that point in the draft. Stafford and Ryan make a great QB combo, but the rest of the receiving core outside of Baldwin is iffy. Jordy Nelson was a huge reach in the fifth round and probably would have been available in the seventh. Passing up on guys like TY Hilton, Jarvis Landry, and Chris Hogan will more than likely turn out to be a mistake. Shady McCoy will get 20 touches a game but his production will be questioned by a spotty O Line and the fact he's over 30 years old now. Jay Ajayi might have been a reach in the third round considering Philadelphia has 27 backs they will rotate through each week. There are some definite question marks on this roster but if the QB comes through each week along with Cook, Baldwin, and Marvin Jones (given he produces like last season) the Lions will be able to stay competitive most weeks. Draft Grade: C

The experts at CBS obviously know what they are talking about by giving me an A for my stellar draft! All joking aside, they were very generous on my running back grade as I felt this was my more questionable position. Zeke will be a stud and Alex Collins should be the guy who gets the load in Baltimore, but the bench is suspect. Mack is unable to stay healthy and Kerryon Johnson was selected as a potential high ceiling guy. My best pick of the draft had to be getting Zach Ertz in the fifth round. His ADP is mid third. My most questionable pick is probably Tyler Eifert. If he stays healthy he's a top 10 TE. The problem is he will more than likely only be available for six weeks. The Dawgpound has one of the strongest and deepest receiving units in the league and should be able to score double digit points consistently with all four guys. Draft Grade: A

There's always a few teams who reach for a QB in the second round. The CheezHeads made sure they were one of those teams this year by selecting Aaron Rodgers in the second round. Granted, he's the best QB in the league but his ADP is early to mid fourth round. After this, the Cheezits decided to take a defense in the 7th round, passing on talents like Golden Tate and Marquis Goodwin. The receiving core and running back unit behind Gurley is suspect. This would be a decent team if we were a PPR league, but we're NOT. Landry was good value in the 6th, but probably isn't as valuable in a standard format. Mark Ingram will be back around week 7 since he's suspended and then has a bye week. This will make a great one-two punch at RB and Rodgers will put up good numbers. I actually like the AJ Green and Cooper Cupp combo down the stretch for the CheezHeads. There is talent at each position with high potential so they will be competitive in most games. Draft Grade: B-

I would like to start off by welcoming the Polish Prince to the league. It's going to be great to have you with us! With that being said, let's get to the picks. CBS was pretty accurate with their assessment of this team. A quick snap shot of summing up this team would be "Raiders or Ex-Raiders and Backup and injured tight ends". The good news is Antonio Brown will be a huge scorer each week. The Freeman connection should be a decent backfield but the backups are questionable. Beast Mode is now pushing 40 and probably should've been drafted in the 40th round. Historically Brees is going to score about 15-20 fantasy points more than about 15 other QBs during the season. By taking him in the third round the Prince passed on Joe Mixon, Travis Kelce, and Derrick Henry in the same round. In hindsight, Andrew Luck and Derrick Henry would have been more valuable than Drew Brees and Royce Freeman. Time will tell how this roster can produce but there seems to be a lot of value left on the board in most picks. Draft Grade: C-

It took 12 years but Tossed Salad may have finally figured out how to put a roster together! This is the best 12th overall pick roster we've probably seen in the 12 years we've been doing this. Kareem Hunt and Derrick Henry will end up being one of the best backfields in the league. The only downfall with the receiving core is it will be a boom or bust from week to week. Tyreek Hill and TY Hilton will either put up 20 each week or put up 5 each week. It will probably alternate. Salad is loaded with two great tight ends and Andrew Luck. CBS is predicting Tossed Salad to win the championship this year. That's a reach considering Rob will probably drop Luck after week 4 and pick up RGIII :) All jokes aside, I think I said something similar last year, but this year might be the year finally for Tossed Salad! Draft Grade: A

Big Red seemed to be locked in during this years draft, even skipping his brother's wedding rehearsal! That's dedication to the team. Unfortunately, CBS thinks all this effort was for not and thinks this team is middle of the road at best. I slightly disagree and think this team will be a little above average but has some huge upside if things fall in line. Josh Gordon is a huge gamble but could pay huge dividends if he plays to his caliber this season and makes it through a complete season. If Jerick McKinnon gets the full load in San Fran he could make a great compliment to David Johnson who should bounce back nicely, even though he's running behind the Dowagiac Pop Warner O Line. The best pick of the draft was Big Red's second overall pick of Devante Adams. He is primed to have a 15 TD season with A-Aron. The biggest reach was probably Corey Clement who, like I said before, will share the load with a number of other backs in Philly. Selecting Clement over starting backs like Jamal Williams and Marlin Mack may come back to bite the Machine. All in all, Big Red sports an above average roster.

Draft Grade: B-

We had planned to investigate Coach Dodd after watching him step outside after every pick as it appeared he was doing some illegal tampering, but then after watching his roster play out we decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Like Big Red, CBS seems to think this team is a .500 caliber unit. In the first big reach of the draft Coach Dodd chose 41 year old Tom Brady in the second round. To name a few guys the coach passed on, you are looking at talent such as Devante Adams, Michael Thomas, Keenan Allen, AJ Green, Joe Mixon, Alex Collins, etc. etc. etc. This move puts a lot of hope in a rookie running back in Saquon Barkley who has yet to prove anything outside of literally one carry in the NFL. The rest of the backs are primarily back ups or low quality fill ins. Adam Thielen and Demaryius Thomas will be OK, but nothing to get too excited about. The best pick of the draft for Stomp was Trey Burton, who should have a break out year and see a lot of underneath targets from a young QB with a shaky offensive line. Stomp does boast one of those unknown players taken late in Ridley who could have a huge season and change the tide for this team. Until we see this happen, Stomp's squad is average at best. Draft Grade: C-

You Like That??? The Commish must of known my infatuation with Kirk Cousins. This Vikings team is much improved from any team Cousins had in Washington and he has more weapons than he ever has. Not to mention Coach Bakeman didn't reach too much in taking him in the 6th. The first five rounds were text book taking 2 backs, 2 receivers, and a tight end. Fournette and McCaffery are set to have big years and should see 20 plus touches every game. It's surprising Mike Evans was still on the board in the 4th round so that was a great pick. Amari Cooper has been inconsistent during his career so a third round selection may have been too high for him. The big reach again was taking a kicker way too early, passing on Michael Crabtree, Robbie Anderson, and Julian Edelman. DOOM did get a rookie in Michael Gallup in the final round who has huge upside and could be a difference maker. Like his brother, this may be the best team on paper DOOM has assembled in years. Draft Grade: A-

Coach Goob boasts the best wide receiving group of the draft with DeAndre Hopkins and Julio Jones as the starters and a breakout candidate in Marquis Goodwin as a reserve. The running back combo of Carlos Hyde and Joe Mixon can be good. The only fear is they both play for historically bad teams and could be trailing most games, limiting their workload. Coach Goob did reach in back to back rounds selecting the Steelers defense and Mitch Trubisky in the 8th and 9th rounds, passing on starting backs like Peyton Barber and Jamal Williams, as well Michael Crabtree and Robbie Anderson. Cam will make up for the lack of depth at running back but the success of this team lies in the health and availability of it's top two receivers. Overall, Coach Goob picked an above average squad! Draft Grade: B+

Coach Ausra used his first round pick to draft my favorite player (for fantasy purposes) in the league this year, Melvin Gordon. I almost drafted him with the third overall pick. The Chargers are going to be really good this year and it feels like a 1500 yards and 12+ TD season for Gordon. The next pick for the Gamblers was OBJ, who is fresh off a new contract and the Giants have a much better offense around him. I like Kelce and Will Fuller, but most of the other positions are a huge gamble. They could have huge upside or be complete duds. Deshaun Watson looked like an MVP in five games last year before being injured. If he comes back as the same guy, he could pay huge dividends for the Gamblers. Corey Davis hasn't been able to stay healthy in his short time in the league, same for Rex Burkhead. All of these players are capable of huge fantasy numbers, they just have to be on the field. Personally I would have preferred guys like Carlos Hyde, Marvin Jones, or Larry Fitzgerald over Burkhead. There are a lot of players on this roster who could be game changers or could be shelved by week five. I guess that's why Coach Ausra rolls with the name Gamblers! Draft Grade: B-

111... That is the combined age of Larry Fitzgerald, Jimmy Graham, and Adam Vinatieri. This team may be loaded with players with AARP cards, but they also have some talent on the roster. CBS was not kind with their ranking of Coach Fornoff's squad, but I see a little more potential. Alvin Kamara won't repeat what he did a year ago. We all know that. But he should see a lot of looks considering Ingram is out the first four weeks of the season. Jordan Howard will be a consistent back with a lot of carries, and Tarik Cohen will be a homerun hitter. The only problem is when do you play him? He may have 22 one week and 3 the next. I think players like Doug Baldwin, Joe Mixon, Alex Collins, and Mike Evans would have been better options than Lamar Miller in the third round. This pick leaves the team without an elite receiving talent. Larry Fitzgerald is one of my favorite players of all time, but at 35 years old it's hard to tell if he will be the same guy he's been in the past. I really like Jimmy Graham with Aaron Rodgers this year. My prediction is he'll revert back to the days with Drew Brees and will score 12 TDs this season. Coach Fornoff already hit the waiver wire picking up the Red Rifle Andy Dalton and dropping Blake Bortles. This seems like trading gonorrhea for herpes. Either way he will be used sparingly behind Derek Carr unless Gruden has forgotten how to coach and runs the Raiders into the sewer. Not MDMs best team, but there is potential to at least stay competitive in most games. Draft Grade: C-