On Monday evening, I drafted the first 2015 NFFC "Beat Chris Liss" league. It's a $350-entry, $100-K overall grand-prize, 12-team PPR league with 1-QB, 2-RB, 3-WR, 1-RB-WR-TE, 1-TE, 1-K, 1-D and 10 bench spots. The scoring is fairly standard PPR, except passing touchdowns are worth six points. The draft snakes, but with a catch - it's third-round reversal (3RR), meaning the team with the last pick in the first round picks first in the second *and* first in the third. The team with the first pick picks last in the second, last in the third and first in the fourth, i.e., the draft goes 1-12, 12-1, 12-1 ,1-12, 12-1, 1-12, etc. Click here for the full results.
I drew the second pick, my second-to-last choice (I set my preferences before Le'Veon Bell's suspension was reduced to two games. Had that reduction already happened, pick two would have been my last choice because Bell was easily the top pick, and after that it's a crap shoot.) Because I think the drop off in talent happens most steeply in the middle of the third round, it's an advantage in 3RR to pick in the second half of the first round. Nonetheless, someone had to pick second, and I already had NFFC experience picking from an undesirable slot this summer.
Because the guy with the first pick (Joe Nowak) had named his team "Le'Veon Deez Nuts," I assumed my top choice was off the board. The obvious thing to do in a 3-WR PPR league was to take Antonio Brown, but (1) that's boring; (2) he's almost certain to regress significantly from a historically good year; and (3) the weakness of my draft slot made me want to shoot for upside rather than safety (not that Brown doesn't have a ton of upside in PPR). So I decided to take Odell Beckham with that pick and as such would probably wind up doing a version of zero-RB because the backs at the end of the second round drop off quite a bit. I announced as much on our SXM show Monday morning and by draft time, I had even warmed up to the idea. But when the draft started, Joe typed in the chat room: "A good poker player never shows his hand," and picked Beckham!
I have to admit I cracked up out loud, and while I was ever-so-slightly disappointed not getting Beckham, I got the guy I would have taken No. 1 overall without a second thought. Once I had Bell, the No.2 slot was preferable to No. 1 at least. While I missed out on Andrew Luck by one pick in my first go-around I landed him here, giving me my No. 1 QB and No. 1 RB.
Of course, the 3/4 turn had the same weaknesses as last time, as Brandin Cooks, Jordan Matthews, etc. didn't fall to me. I took Golden Tate again, but instead of Travis Kelce, I went with a second RB, Lamar Miller. If you're taking a QB early in a 3-WR and flex PPR league, it's awfully hard to take a tight end early too.
The rest of the draft didn't flow ideally for me. I drafted Jeremy Maclin and Brandon Marshall solely for their targets in Rounds 5/6, and while I considered Victor Cruz ahead of Marshall, I figured he'd make it back to me with second-to-last pick of Round 7. He didn't.
I wound up with Vernon Davis as my tight end in Round 11 with which I was happy and I got Heath Miller in Round 15, a sneaky pick per NFFC rules, as one of the drafters reminded me when he took Martavis Bryant. Because NFFC has an overall prize and includes drafts on the Saturday before Week 1, everyone, including those who drafted earlier can decide whether to use the opening Thursday night players in their Week 1 lineups *after* the game has been played. If Miller goes off, I'll make him my Week 1 starter. If not, I'll use Davis. Same with Patriots running back James White who I got in Round 13.
Finally, I used my penultimate pick on Terrelle Pryor. Given the team's lack of quality receivers, it's possible he could earn a prominent role. But even more enticing in a contest with a huge overall prize is the remote possibility he sees snaps under center while qualifying as a receiver. It's a long shot, to be sure, but Josh McCown is old, bad and unlikely to keep the job all year, and behind him is only Johnny Manziel, who got out of rehab six months ago and wasn't remotely ready for an NFL job, Thaddeus Lewis and Connor Shaw. At the very least Pryor should be involved in some trick plays.