On Monday night, I drafted in the Beat Lisa Ann Starter BestBall league. It’s 12-team PPR and 24 rounds with no waivers, trades or pickups. All you do is draft and that’s it. You can join one here.
We start one QB, two RB, three WR, one flex, one TE, one kicker and one defense/special teams. Check out the draft board and my thoughts below.
I had the top pick in the draft and took Todd Gurley. It’s close between him and Le’Veon Bell, and I could see taking Bell as we get closer to the season and he officially reports. I thought Joe Mixon and T.Y. Hilton might make it back to me, but both went before my picks.
I took Jerick McKinnon to close round two. He might have fallen due to the injury scare over the weekend, and it’s a muscle strain, but getting him as an RB2 behind Gurley is where I feel best about McKinnon, who hasn’t topped 159 carries in a season. McKinnon doesn’t need a lot of carries to finish as an RB1 as long as he is heavily involved in the passing game. To start round three, I took Stefon Diggs. I would have gone with Doug Baldwin if he was healthy.
Alex Collins was the pick to close round four. I was hoping Golden Tate or Amari Cooper made it to me, but Tate went three picks before me at 4.9 and that’s an excellent value. Cooper went one pick before me NinjaUnicorns2, who said in the chat he’s a FullTime Fantasy Sports subscriber and follower of me. It seemed he had my rankings because he sniped me numerous times. Collins was a good value here and in a best ball, I don’t mind taking three running backs in the first four rounds.
Think you can beat the elite? Just $299 to find out if you have what it takes to win the $50K grand prize!I drafted Josh Gordon to begin round 5. There’s risk for sure, but he can be a Top 5 receiver if he plays the whole year. I wanted Emmanuel Sanders in round six, but NinjaUnicorns2 took him one pick before me. Sanders is a steal as WR34. I took Randall Cobb and Marquise Goodwin in rounds six and seven. Kerryon Johnson and Sony Michel were in consideration, but with three running backs and the possibility of Gordon missing time, I felt I need the receivers.
Ninjaunicorns2 got me again in round eight as I wanted Isaiah Crowell and he took him before my pick. I took Cam Newton and Jordan Reed. Newton is usually a Top 5 Fantasy quarterback despite his deficiencies in the real game. By the time it came back to me, 14 quarterbacks were off the board, so taking Newton at 8.12 worked.
Reed is an injury risk for sure. It’s baked into his draft price. I have taken him in Round 10 of a few leagues, but tight ends get pushed up a little bit in best ball. He was the TE9. I took Matt Breida in round ten and I wasn’t even thinking about handcuffing McKinnon. Breida will have value even with a healthy McKinnon. I followed with Tyler Lockett. He has disappointed the last few seasons, but Paul Richardson and Jimmy Graham are gone, opening up a lot of targets.
Overall, I am lukewarm on the team. I got sniped on a lot of picks. There’s some risk on the team, but I am willing to take on more in a best ball. If Reed and Gordon play the majority of the season, the team will be excellent.
I thought Lisa Ann did a solid job but is light at running back. She only drafted five, including Mark Ingram with a four-game suspension and LeSean McCoy, who could still wind up in legal trouble. Then she has Marshawn Lynch and Doug Martin. While I like Kenny Stills and Mike Williams, she took them early in rounds six and seven. There were better receivers on the board than Stills, but he did finish as WR28 in PPR last season. Williams was WR39, and I see the case for the receivers she passed on for Williams. She has a great trio of quarterbacks with Matthew Stafford, Philip Rivers and Baker Mayfield. Lisa Ann waited on a tight end and came away with Austin Hooper and Jared Cook.
Dark Knights took Rob Gronkowski in round three, Zach Ertz in round four and Aaron Rodgers in round five after opening with Antonio Brown and A.J. Green. The running backs were Rex Burkhead, Marlon Mack, Gio Bernard, Peyton Barber, Javorius Allen, Darren Sproles and Jalen Richard. That’s a risky strategy.
Ninjaunicorns2 sniped me often, so I like his team. Midnight Cowboys took the Jaguars in round six. Please don’t do that. He also reached on Sterling Shepard in round five but made the savvy pick of Anthony Miller in round ten. Cookies Corner got an excellent value with Will Fuller in round eight as WR42. He’s ideal for this format.
The picks of John Brown and Taywan Taylor in round 16 were excellent values. I wanted at least one, and yes, they were taken right before me in that round.
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