Along with pretty much everyone in the fantasy universe, I had a fantasy football draft yesterday. I posted my strategy for this draft in the premium section for our viewers to read and I feel like I executed on that strategy. There were a few bumps here and there, but overall it was a success.

12 Team League – 6th Overall Pick

Lets take a look at my haul…

1. Julio Jones WR
2. Eddie Lacy RB
3. Mark Ingram RB
4. Brandin Cooks WR
5. Kelvin Benjamin WR
6. Donte Moncrief WR
7. Melvin Gordon RB
8. Tyler Lockett WR
9. Ameer Abdullah RB
10. Zach Ertz TE
11. Kirk Cousins QB
12. Ryan Tannehill QB
13. Jimmy Graham TE
14. Isiah Crowell RB
15. Steve Hauschka K
16. Reggie Nelson DB
17. Deone Bucannon LB
18. Earl Thomas DB
19. Malcolm Smith LB
20. Jason Pierre-Paul DL
21. Jerrell Freeman LB
22. Ladarius Green TE
23. Mark Barron LB
24. Jurrell Casey DL

Just to recap on the draft strategy… it was to hold off on running backs, quarterbacks and tight ends while targeting wide receivers with my early picks. As you’ll see, it doesn’t always turn out like you plan.

Starting with the 6th overall pick and landing Julio Jones was a great feeling. I was getting excited when I realized he might fall to me and fall he did. Julio at #6 is money.

On the back swing I was targeting a WR, but they kept flying off the board. I had to make a decision with my 2nd pick between Dez Bryant and Eddie Lacy. Dez in the 2nd round was good value, but with Dallas starting a rookie RB and rookie QB, I just couldn’t commit to Dez in that spot. I decided to go with Lacy because he has the opportunity to produce top 5 RB numbers this year. This is a contract year for him, he lost a ton of weight, Jordy’s back and Aaron Rodgers probably won’t have 2 bad years in a row. Green Bay is primed to put up numbers this year, while Dallas could just run the ball 500+ times this year.

My 3rd round pick had me again targeting a WR. Unfortunately for me, so was everyone else in the draft as wide receivers were continuing to fly off the board. This is where being flexible comes into play, you have to adjust to the draft if you want to succeed. So adjust I did and I shifted back to running backs. Mark Ingram was the pick and I think that was a very solid 3rd round pick up, very solid. Now with my top 3 picks, I’ve acquired 3 potential top 5 scorers for their positions.

Picks 4, 5, and 6 allowed me to pick up some quality wide receivers to fill in where I missed out in rounds 2 and 3.

Brandin Cooks WR
Kelvin Benjamin WR
Donte Moncrief WR

Hey what can I say? Those 3 WR’s in rounds 4, 5, and 6 – now that’s quality. Moncrief is on my sleeper list and I’m expecting 1,000+ yards out of him. Benjamin is returning from injury with one of the leagues best QB’s throwing him the ball. And Cooks is a target monster with another one of the NFL’s best QB’s throwing to him. 3 potential studs in the mid rounds and this draft is shaping up to be a great one.

Melvin Gordon RB
Tyler Lockett WR
Ameer Abdullah RB

Here’s where I might have made my first mistake. Melvin Gordon could prove to be worthy, we’ll see. Not 100% on that pick. I just couldn’t resist the value. Gordon’s ADP is 5 and he was screaming at me in the 7th round – Pick me! Lockett and Abdullah on the other hand, bring great flex potential.

Now to my biggest regret in the entire draft. Man did I get greedy with this one… let me explain. Zach Ertz at #10. I should have grabbed Eli Manning in that spot and went tight end in round 11. I’m not saying Ertz won’t produce, he very well could have a great year and I like him. But I really wanted Manning and I thought I could get him in round 11 because every other team had already selected a QB. I was the only team without a QB through 9 rounds and not everyone had selected a TE yet. My thinking was more people were targeting tight ends and not QB’s. Unfortunately I was wrong because pick 5, round 11 Eli Manning went off the board. 1 draft pick ahead of me! Remember I said you have to be flexible? Now with Eli gone I decided to scoop up another player in a contract year, Kirk Cousins. Following that up with Ryan Tannehill. Not terrible QB’s, but man Eli would have looked great on this team and I think he’ll out produce both Cousins and Tannehill. Nothing I could do at that point, just had to keep rolling and take the next best available.

Zach Ertz TE
Kirk Cousins QB
Ryan Tannehill QB

My next 2 picks were value picks in Jimmy Graham and Isiah Crowell.  At rounds 13 and 14 I’ll take starters all day long.

The end of the draft is where I completed my defensive players (IDP) and took a late round flyer on Ladarius Green.

Overall this was a sweet draft and I’m planning on riding it to the super bowl!

Thanks for reading and good luck this year.

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