My last draft of the season took place at 5 pm ET tonight, the 14-team NFFC Classic with a $1600 buy-in. Rules are standard NFFC (third-round reversal, six-point passing TD, full PPR, 3-WR and a flex.) I picked from the seven spot, my first choice. Here are the results:
1.7 Saquon Barkley - I was fine with either Barkley, Leonard Fournette or Kareem Hunt here, and it turned out I had my choice of all three. I narrowly took Barkley who benefits from Pat Shurmur's system that got Trent Richardson 10 TD and 1350 YFS his rookie year. Shockingly, Hunt didn't go until pick 13.
2.8 Jordan Howard - I was hoping for Le'Veon Bell, but he went at 2.3. Then it was either Howard or T.Y. Hilton, and I took Howard, as the backs have been more scarce in my prior drafts.
3.8 Jarvis Landry - I snap-called this. Landry is a good bet for 100 catches and is still just 25 years old.
4.7 Brandin Cooks - My first tough pick. It was either Cooks, Allen Robinson or Marvin Jones. Ultimately I went Cooks who's tied to the best offense, but it's hard to know where he ranks among their three targets.
5.8 Mark Ingram - Another tough call between him, Tarik Cohen (odd, but interesting to pair him with Howard.) Ultimately I went with upside as Ingram would be a second-round pick were he not suspended. And what if Kamara gets hurt in the first four weeks?
6.7 Greg Olsen - It was between him, Cohen and Robert Woods. Cohen was the best pure value, in my opinion, but after drafting Ingram, I had too many backs. Woods would be a nice hedge against Cooks being the No. 3, but I decided for the top TE left on my board. (Incidentally, someone had auto-picked Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz in Rounds 2-4, so Olsen should give me a leg up against the 12 other teams in the league that will actually be competitive.)
7.8 Alfred Morris - This was a value take, and it cost me Kenny Golladay who I thought would come back to me in Round 8. (I saw Vlad Sedler get him in Round 10 of the 12-team today, and foolishly thought that meant Round 8 of the 14 was safe enough.) Morris could essentially be Derrick Henry this year, so I was happy with the price. But all the WR went in the next two rounds.
8.7 D.J Moore - After I took Morris, Keelan Cole, Kelvin Benjamin, Randall Cobb, Tyler Lockett, Mike Williams, Kenny Golladay, John Brown and Chris Godwin all went before my pick. The way it was going, I was actually relieved to get Moore as my No. 3 WR. I probably won't start him Week 1, but he's the guy with the most medium-term upside.
9.8 Rishard Matthews - Matthews has been incredibly steady the last few years, but he battled a knee injury all summer. He's apparently ready for Week 1, albeit possibly in a limited capacity. But I needed WR badly at this point.
10.7 Jared Goff - I wanted to take another WR, but after the Matthews pick, Jimmy Garoppolo, Kirk Cousins, Andrew Luck, Matthew Stafford, Pat Mahomes and Ben Roethlisberger all got taken. This isn't a 12-team league where you can wait forever and get a good QB, so I jumped on Goff, my No. 9 QB.
11.8 Josh Doctson - It's a good thing I took Goff because Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, Marcus Mariota and Matt Ryan went before this pick. Doctson is a former first-round pick, in Year 3, who showed some glimpses last year.
12.7 O.J Howard - This was a pure value take, as he was by far my highest remaining player on the board.
13.8 Taywan Taylor - If there's something wrong with Matthews, Taylor should be the guy who benefits.
14.7 Mitchell Trubisky - Plenty of upside here as my backup to Goff.
15.8 Stephen Gostkowski - My usual target, Justin Tucker, went one pick before this, and I was happy to pick up the most consistent fantasy kicker in NFL history.
16.7 Marcus Murphy - If the hammer drops on LeSean McCoy, there's a good chance it's Murphy and not Chris Ivory who gets the call.
17.8 Albert Wilson - The pecking order in Miami with DeVante Parker injured isn't entirely clear. Any of the four candidates has a chance to lead the team in receiving.
18.7 Panthers Defense - I like them in Week 1 at home against a banged-up Cowboys offensive line.
19.8 Trent Taylor - San Francisco is a little like Miami - lots of uncertainty about how the targets will get distributed.
20.7 Bengals defense - Still an above-average unit with a defensive-minded head coach and a good pass rush.
Roster-By Position
QB: Jared Goff/Mitch Trubisky
RB: Saquon Barkley/Jordan Howard
WR: Jarvis Landry/Brandin Cooks/D.J. Moore
TE: Greg Olsen
FLX: Mark Ingram/Alfred Morris
K: Stephen Gostkowski
D: Panthers/Bengals
B: Rishard Matthews/Josh Doctson/O.J. Howard/Taywan Taylor/Albert Wilson/Trent Taylor/Marcus Murphy