MoFo Fantasy Football 2023 - The Season

Good draft guys!
I really like Tongo and PW’s draft.
WtLB as well.

Yahoo gave me a D-, which I am completely serious in saying has made me feel a lot better about my team.

I actually don't like...anyone's team? But that might be because I did a lot less prep so everyone seems sketchier than they are. But I also think it's the nature of the modern game, very few teams are without big question marks. But by week 3 we'll have a better sense of which question marks are actually exclamation points.

I kind of flubbed my earlier draft in my other league, made better choices here. I'll take a grade of A.

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

This is.. I don't know what this is. I missed the second half of the draft due to work. Get the expected 2 kickers and 2 defenses from Yahoo, but also have 3 tight ends?! Yahoo gives me an A+. If that doesn't tell you I'm screwed I don't know what will.

Parrotheads and Adam are the two teams I like most.

I like mine a decent amount as long as the RBs work out. Then again the only RB I had worth a lick last year was Jacobs.

HA! Grade out at a D- projected finish 4-10. I'll take it! A two win improvement over last year. Was really sailing along nicely, getting exactly who I wanted, then all of a sudden things started to go off the rails... in round 2.

Personal goals:
To improve upon my win total from last year, even if it’s only by 1 win.
So 8-6, as projected, would definitely be welcomed.
To make the playoffs, obviously.
To increase my scoring. My average was way down from the previous year. From 113.68 in 2021 to 104.16 in 2022. Gotta score more!

As for my draft, I like it quite a bit. There are some serious questions with depth, and whether my bench can contribute on bye weeks in place of my starters, and TE is a little bit of a question mark, but if Burrow, Diggs, Hopkins, Pollard, and Pierce can each contribute weekly, and Godwin/White and maybe Mostert can produce for me in the flex spot until I figure out who stays there, I should be ok.

Pro Football Pick Em group on Yahoo, if anyone is interested. Thought it might be fun if we can get a decent size group. I will be inviting people from my other leagues as well.

Group Id# 25936
Password: Football

__________________
Letterboxd

I don’t put much stock into the Yahoo draft grades, though I suppose I’d rather have an A- than an F. I had the first pick. To me there wasn’t a drastic difference between the top three players on the board. Barring injuries all three should be near the top of the Fantasy leaders again. MCaffery has had injuries of late and plays on a team with plenty of offensive weapons that may take some of his opportunities. Chase is amazing, of course, but if Burrow’s injury causes him to miss even a couple games I figured Justin Jefferson was the safest bet of the three. Time will tell, of course.

Past the mighty J.J. I had a strategy, though I didn’t quite execute as well as I should have. If Scary Terry McLaurin is healthy, he should be a more-than-solid number two wideout and potentially those two receivers could carry me pretty far. I decided not to go for one of the top quarterbacks and will rely on A-Rog to have the resurgent year Jets Nation desperately wants him to. If Jefferson and McLaurin do their thing I shouldn’t need consistent 30+ point performances from Mr. Aaron Rogers, just for him to hang around in the 20s. Instead I spent my second pick on the only TE shy of the peerless god Kelce who may be worth a damn. All of The Ravens are dependent on Lamar staying healthy and doing what he does, but even with his new array of sparkling WR targets I hope Mark Andrews will continue to be his favorite. Again, if Jefferson and McLaurin are steady I shouldn’t need fiftyburgers from Andrews…though I won’t send any back.

Where I may have taken a little misstep is with my running backs. I have two very good-looking sophomore backs in the Jets’ Breece Hall and Washington’s Brian Robinson leading the way. Both seem poised to turn their flashes of rookie brilliance into workhorse magnificence. Though will the addition of Delvin Cook mean he takes significant snaps and goalline looks from Breece? And with the newly arrived O.C. Eric Bieniemy in D.C. he has always been pass-heavy versus the run. I also took a flier on Miami’s rookie De'Von Achane, who has some folks in Fantasy circles excited despite being diminutive and being in a crowded Dolphins backfield. But we have no idea if he’ll even be as good as Breece and Brian last year? If just one of those three turns out to be a legit number one-type back, I am golden and a Fantasy whisperer. But I probably shouldn’t have gambled on all three young backs, instead hedging my bets with at least one more established runner.

Also, of my six main starters, four of them are on two teams (Jets and Commanders). Probably should have spread that out a bit. I must stop watching HBO’s “Hard Knocks” as it makes the profiled teams look too good. I am a longtime Washington fan from the Redskins glory days of the ‘80s and early ‘90s, and those picks of McLaurin and especially Robinson are very likely colored by the fact that I am excited about the team for the first time in a loooong time (farewell, Danny Snyder, I certainly hope you die soon!).

I have a little depth at WR with Michael Pittman and Brandon Aiyuk as well as the JuJu Smith-Schuster experiment in New England, and I do have one of the league’s best kickers in Cincy’s Evan McPherson, which may come in handy in close contests. But the success or failure of my season is likely going to come down to those young RBs.

So…here we go!

I'm in.

Normally I never, ever, ever spend a high draft pick on a rookie, let alone a rookie RB, but I think it makes some sense this year. Robinson was the "worst" player I was prepared to take at that slot, so I was hoping one of my other targets would fall, but I think this is acceptable. He's obviously an exceptional talent, his skillset means he should have a high floor (RB1s disappointing doesn't kill you, RB1s falling off the table is what kills you), and he's in a good situation. We'll see.

Really happy getting Adams on the way back in the 2nd, that kind of pick is exactly why I chose the 9th slot even though I had one of the first slot options in the whole draft. At first I was sure I was going to go with 5th or 6th, but the more I thought about it the more I figured dropping back a few spots would lead me not to a better first round, but a better first and second round combined, and I think that ended up being the case.

I did have several sleepers or mid-range picks sniped just before my spot. I think it happened 3-4 times, a bit more than usual. But so it goes. I've got an acceptable starting lineup without glaring holes at major skill positions, and I've got a lot of fliers, per usual.

If this isn't the least I've ever prepared for a draft, it's a close second, so I'm hoping the high-level theory stuff that usually serves me well covers for the lack of granular stuff, even though the latter is usually best for the waning rounds.

Yes, he is my top back in my other league. I picked ninth out of ten, there. And earned a grade of D- (lowest in the league). I have Breece Hall there, too, though I also have the safer bet of Najee Harris. AND I got Kenneth Williams, too. I did super well with RBs but pretty well struggled with the other positions. If my stable of RBs stay healthy and productive I may have to do some trading over there.

More than Bijan Robinson being a rookie I am worried about Atlanta being irrelevant again and game script keeping his numbers down. But we shall see, My Friend.

Just a rumor, so far.

Keeping an eye on this, as my opponent, The Team formally known as Can You Diggs it? (Ahem, requesting name change while I have Diggs) 😜, has Taylor on his team.
Even if he is traded, will he even be able to suit up?

I'm gonna try and review my team like Holden does. Minus the snazzy graphics, game knowledge, and basic principles of writing.


Round 1 Derrick Henry
There hasn't been a more dependable RB in recent memory. He is not part of an RB tandem, in Tennessee he's a one man show, and in our FFB league he has served I think our champions on more than one occasion. Him falling to 8th pick and its a no-brainer.


Round 2 Patrick Mahomes
Picking a QB this early in the drafts a bad thing to do. Is Mahomes an exception to the rule type player? Yes.


Round 3 Najee Harris
Ive no idea who this guy is. I felt antsy going QB in rd2, and knew if any running back worth a damn was available I should grab him if I could. Well it was this guy, Jon Taylor who totally screwed me last year, ho-hum Aaron Jones, and Breece Hall whose great but will now be sharing touches with Delvin Cook (who also screwed me one year, so he could screw.me again even if I don't draft ((Ack! My girlfriend texted me and it made me post this prematurely before I finished it!)) SO even if I don't have Delvin he couldve screwed me again). So I went with this guy.

I'll do the rest in another post, sigh.

Round 4 Amari Cooper
I needed a WR and he's a good one.


Round 5 George Kittle
I almost took DJ Moore or Keenan Allen, but Kittle is one of the few TEs that make a difference, so I went with his high ceiling, low floor, but never in the middle production.


Round 6 Isiah Pacheco
This one, I really dont know why I picked him. I was completely commited to drafting an WR. I guess I wanted to have a 3rd starting RB for the bye weeks, a backup starter if my 2 main guys get hurt, and he plays with Mahomes. I've always been a sucker for my QB to be a hookup for another player on the same team.


Round 7 Gabe Davis
I really really really needed a WR, dont know him, but he has the 2nd best QB in the league throwing to him so why not?


The rest of my team was auto drafted by Yahoo because work needed my attention. I highlighted Rashee Rice and Brandin Cooks, mistakenly in that order, but luckily got both. Just picked up Henry's handcuff and another WR off waivers, dropping a 3rd TE, and a kicker to get them. And that's that.

P.S. she actually texted me again and it didn't autopost, so I must have hit the key accidentally. Sorry guys, my bad.

Taylor doesn’t get traded, will miss the four weeks of the season.
This is good news for me, since A) I play His owner in the first week and B) Mostert remains an intriguing RB for me if he can remain healthy. Big if, that.

One more week, savoring my greatness until the Week 1 wake up call. Curious if anyone will beat out the Clowns and the Muppet this year?

Eh, football's hard. We're always in the mix but beyond that it's hard to control.