After fat-fingering the Josh Allen pick in my last mid-round Yahoo draft, I re-did it. Same 6th pick in a 12 team draft. I even got a B grade for this draft:
Najee Harris (Pit - RB): Of course.
Nick Chubb (Cle - RB): What I wanted wasn’t here. Although not my ideal choice, I figure Chubb will get his touches with Watson potentially gone for the season.
Kyle Pitts (Atl - TE): Best young TE in the NFL.
Jaylen Waddle (Mia - WR): While everyone grabs Tyreek Hill early, I’ll be happy to take Waddle. While Hill is a great receiver, I wouldn’t be surprised if Waddle outperforms him.
Jalen Hurts (Phi - QB): This is the QB I target in all drafts.
Amon-Ra St. Brown (Det - WR): I could do worse for a WR2.
Hunter Renfrow (LV - WR): A solid flex or WR2, depending on what I need.
Kenneth Walker III (Sea - RB): With Seattle’s dedication to the running game, this looks like a solid RB3 pick.
Chase Claypool (Pit - WR): I love the upside here. He could be starting before the end of the season.
Derek Carr (LV - QB): Too easy to pick here. Normally I’d wait for Jameis Winston, but Carr in the 10th round is a steal. 4800 yards passing last year, AND he has Davante Adams this year? Count me in!
Dameon Pierce (Hou - RB): He should get the touches in Houston.
Tyler Allgeier (Atl - RB): I like this kid’s potential.
Garrett Wilson (NYJ - WR): Love the potential here.
Younghoe Koo (Atl - K): Easy pick.
Las Vegas (LV - DEF): Best D available.
While I could live with this team, I doubt I’d get Chubb in the 2nd round. In my redraft league, there are more than a few guys who are Georgia fans. I would likely never see him, but that’s ok, because they would also probably let a better player fall to my 2nd round pick.
You insist on taking a QB and a TE way too early, and you’re way too sold on 3 rookie RBs becoming solid fantasy contributors. At least Walker is only 2nd on his team’s depth chart; Pierce and Allgeier will have to leapfrog two RBs ahead of them. At least you got an actual RB2 this time around.
A draft like this in a real league would put you in the bottom half.
One of them is Marlon Mack, who was more than just a journeyman (basically a two time 1100 yard/9 TD back) before he tore his Achilles. Last year he wasn’t quite back yet–and he still might not be; Achilles injuries can end careers. But if he IS back, he’s good enough to keep a 5th-round rookie on the bench. He’s got skills.
The other, Rex Burkhead, will probably be unaffected in his role in the passing game regardless of who the nominal “starter” is.
Houston Texans RB Marlon Mack said his body feels like it did before he tore his Achilles during the 2020 season.
Mack could be the most valuable back in the Texans backfield, but with an outlook of a three-man RBBC (with Rex Burkhead and Dameon Pierce) in an offense that didn’t produce a fantasy-relevant back last year, it’s tough to want to invest in any of them in redraft leagues.
Do you know how many times I’ve read this article? I read it on newspapers back in the 70’s and 80’s. “The old guy, coming back from injuries, etc. feels better than ever, is in the best shape of his career, yadda yadda yadda…” And then he blows chunks for the year. And he hasn’t played more than 6 games since 2019?
Mack is a sub-CMC RB. He can’t even take that level of punishment without getting hurt. Time to throw this Marlon back into the sea…
And I did say that Achilles injuries often end careers. But you’re acting as if Mack is a scrub even if he’s healthy–and that’s just not the case. He was a very good back for a couple of years before the injury.
You might be right about Pierce, but it’s not the kind of situation where I’d want to go all in drafting Pierce as my RB2 in a real league.
Did I do that? No. I drafted Chubb as my RB2. Did I draft Pierce as my RB3? No, I took Kenny Walker. RB4? Guilty as charged, unless Allgeier gets off to a better start. Not that it would matter, since there are only 2 RB starters and one flex, meaning the RB4 doesn’t leave the bench except for bye weeks or injuries.
You literally don’t have a single starting RB on your team. Maybe at least Etienne has a guaranteed role–but none of the other 3 rookies are locked in for anything. Pierce is essentially tied with the other backups for your RB2 at the time you drafted him.
It sounds like you’re awfully sure that Kenny Walker will be ahead of Pierce in fantasy production, so let’s say that’s true–you still drafted Kenny Walker to be your RB2!
Forget your RB4; if this were a real league, you’d be struggling to field 2 viable backs each week. Your only hope is for Etienne to blow up and provide enough points to salvage the corps.
EDIT: Ok, I did forget about Robinson. At least you can start : cough : both Jaguars’ RBs : cough : if you have to.
That is one of the inherent problems with a zero RB strategy. Unfortunately, drafting late in the first round means all the elite RB’s will be gone, so the best bet is to lock up elite WR’s and then gamble on some RB prospects in later rounds. Even with elite RB’s, the RB position is a gamble anyway (ask any Derrick Henry owner last year).
I have more faith in Walker than any of the other RB’s I drafted there. Actually, he would probably project as an RB1 when he takes over for the oft-injured Rashaad Penny. In all seriousness, I would have drafted Walker first, but that is where he fell in ADP. I would have taken Walker before ETN in a different ADP circumstance, just because Walker has fewer question marks around him.
Yeah, but gambling on some RB prospects usually includes drafting a few starters in there. You picked two backups in the 6th and 7th rounds, so lets look at what other RBs have ADPs between 61 and 84 that you could have drafted instead.
61.90 - Devin Singletary - Cemented his role with 8 TDs in the final 6 games of 2021.
63.99 - Rashaad Penny - You know, the starter ahead of Walker?
64.30 - Miles Sanders - Another RB with a pretty well-defined role as a nominal “starter”
70.67 - Clyde Edwards-Helaire - Was being drafted in the 2nd round last year; Darrel Williams out (but Ronald Jones in)
72.08 - Kareem Hunt - RB1B for the Browns, with the bigger share in the passing game
73.30 - Cordarrelle Patterson - Not much has changed from his breakout situation last year
73.83 - Damien Harris - Likely to continue as a top 20 RB
81.49 - Melvin Gordon - Will be losing ground to Williams over the season, but probably still enough of a share to outscore any of your rookie RBs.
::: buzzer :::
No, you don’t get to use the “anybody can get injured” clause as a defense for drafting scrubs when viable RBs were still on the board.
The guy with a longer injury history than Fred Taylor?
Did you watch him at the end of last season? All the touches took their toll on his performance. That’s why they drafted Allgeier, and why I did too.
His days are numbered with Rhamondre there.
Actually, I can. I traded Henry away at the beginning of last season, fully expecting his injury. I was right.
As for the rest of your list, I could point out to you why none of them will be top 12 RB’s, while the RB prospects I named at least have that potential upside (not likely, but potential).