So I have the first pick in a dynasty draft, probably in August. Obviously, with the first pick in the draft, my team has many needs. But let’s assume a hypothetical here: It’s a PPR superflex league. All things being equal, and assuming the top prospects are also equal, what should I draft first for those parameters? Granted, this can all change by draft time. But this is just a hypothetical discussion. Which position should take priority?
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QB would be my priority:
- It is the highest scoring position.
- In SFLEX, they are a rare commodity. There are max 32 starters any given week (less in BYE weeks), so in a 12 team league, not all teams can have a bench.
- Startable QBs are terribly expensive to trade for in SFLEX leagues.
- They have a long shelf life, but usually need 1-3 years to develop, so better get them early in a rebuild.
A case can be made for RB as well: you hardly have a chance to draft a top rookie RB without a very early pick. However, in SFLEX, the same is true for QBs.
There also is one argument for WRs, and that’s the last bullet point for QBs: WRs have a longer shelf life, but tend to need 1-2 years to develop. So it’s not wrong to start a rebuild on the WR position. However, in most leagues you can draft a good WR also later in the first round, so unless the 2022 draft will feature another Ja’Marr Chase, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend to use your 1.01 on a WR.
With that being said - in my turnaround league (single QB), I did use last year’s 1.01 on Chase. I had the 1.01, 1.04 and 1.09, and also had needs on all positions.
The 1.03 team was WR needy, so I knew I wouldn’t get Chase with the 1.04 if I picked Najee with the 1.01. I wanted Chase, badly, so I used the 1.01 on him. The 1.02 predictably picked Najee, the 1.03 then went for Kyle Pitts (had expected Waddle), so I could use the 1.04 on Travis Etienne. As we know now, that didn’t work out, but the plan was good. It is a full PPR league, so had Etienne stayed healthy, his scoring may not have been that far away from Najee’s (that Urban Meyer would turn out to be a terrible coach was also something I did not foresee at the time of the draft).
Much to my delight, Waddle was still available when my 1.09 came up. So now I have Chase, Waddle, Pittman, Van Jefferson, Jakobi Meyers, KJ Osborn and Laviska Shenault. I also drafted Trey Lance in the second round. So hopefully, I will be safe on QB and WR for the foreseeable future.
RB still looks terrible, though. I have Etienne, Ronald Jones, Sony Michel, Myles Gaskin, Nyheim Hines and JD McKissic, so that position definitely needs attention. But I can now focus on the RB position until I have a proper backfield. If Etienne takes off in 2022, RoJo and/or Michel can secure a good position in a run-heavy team, and at least one of my 2022 draft picks will be workable, I may be a playoff contender in 2022, or latest in 2023.
Good luck with your rebuild. They are challenging and can be frustrating, but I like turning teams around.
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Right now, I have Derek Carr and Jameis Winston and Cooper Rush at QB. If Rush is still second fiddle in Dallas, I’ll probably dump him before the draft. If he ends up somewhere else in a trade or free agency, I may keep him and shoot for another position with the first pick. He did look good in the Dallas offense, although that is a pretty stacked offense for any QB.
I should point out it’s a 16 team league, with deep rosters. When Winston went down, it killed me.
Obviously, if there is an all-timer at any position (i.e. like Kyle Pitts last year), I would go for that, damn the need. Always grab the BPA is my rule. But as I said in the first post, all things being equal. Last year, the obvious first pick was either Pitts or Najee Harris. Both were head and shoulders above everyone else, including Trevor Lawrence or any WR (Calvin Johnson is my gold standard for WR scouting).
With your RB corps, I would probably still draft somebody. But which one would you drop? I’d lean towards dropping Hines. Jones will probably end up somewhere else, and anything would be a better situation than what he has in Tampa.
Etienne is risky, but you have to try.
Michel showed flashes, so you also have to keep him.
Gaskin worries me, and if the Dolphins bring in somebody to compete with him (hello, Ronald Jones!), then Gaskin may get relegated to 3rd down RB status. Watch that in the off-season.
McKissic might be worth keeping around. Even as a 3rd down back, he puts up good numbers for a PPR league. If Washington brings in a rookie QB, he might be worth even more.
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I’d definitely consider drafting a QB, then.
Not at any cost, but most of the time, I’d agree.
Most definitely. I don’t have any needs on any other position. I will spend the majority of draft picks on RBs in the foreseeable future.
Hines got a pretty big contract extension this year. My personal ranking is:
Etienne > Jones > Michel > Gainwell > Hines > McKissic > Gaskin > DeeJay Dallas.
If Washington re-signs McKissic, I’ll probably move him ahead of Hines. But right now, McKissic is an UFA, while Hines sits on a big contract.
Unless the Dolphins neither draft nor sign a new RB (which would surprise me), Gaskin is a write-off.
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