What the Experts Said

After the Draftmaster, I gave the drafters some questions to answer. I asked them the following:

What was your strategy? Did you get the player you wanted? Who were the best and worst values? Two players you were surprised to see go undrafted. And which team was the best.

Here were the responses I got.

From Andrew Morton:

 1) Going into the draft, my main strategy was to stock up on RBs. That didn't work out, as all of the guys I wanted were gone by my pick at 9. I had to adjust by taking BPA at that spot, so I selected Aaaron Rodgers.

2) The player I wanted the most was Arian Foster, because I'm a Texans fan.

3) I'll go ahead and Say that my best value pick in the draft was Kyle Rudolph at 7.09. To me, he's this year's Jimmy Graham. Primed for a breakout. The other value pick in this draft was made by @4for4_Josh at 12.14, selecting Doug Baldwin. Baldwin looks to be Jordy Nelson for Matt Flynn this year.

4) My worst value pick was Beanie Wells in the fourth round, but I drafted for need there, as my only other running back at that point was Trent Richardson. The worst value pick in the draft, though, was made by @PFF_Alex at 2.01, selecting Andre Johnson. Johnson is a future hall of famer, but he is always injured. When he's on the field, he's arguably the best wife receiver. But as I mentioned before, he's never on the field.

5) The two players that I was surprised that went undrafted were Dallas Clark from Tampa, and Johnny Knox from Chicago. I have Knox pegged as a surprise player that could have a great season with defenses looking more towards Brandon Marshall. Johnny just has to stay on the field. I do like Clark this season, as well, as I think He will replace Winslow quite nicely for the Buccaneers.

6) The team with the best draft was certainly not me. That award should go to Eric Yepmans. With strong running backs, a high-upside QB, a top Tight End, and above average receivers, Yeoman has put together a solid team that looks like it could compete for a championship.

From Greg Skora:

   Well, I guess I'll preface this by saying that I've been playing FF since '93 and since you haven't specified which draft or year, I'm going answer the 1st part to this question generally. My strategy is simple, I take the best player available, and not necessarily based on need.  Now dont get me wrong, for me, I do my mock's differently than a draft that I'm doing for a league with friends or for cash. A mock my strategy is take the best player available based on need first, player availability second. For a cash, "for real" league, best player available...period. I do not pay attention to bye weeks. Not for draft leagues. My feeling is that once the season starts, players emerge, become overvalued, undervalued, etc. I either have someone on my bench that it makes a fine plug & play or work the waiver wire baby!  My draft strategy has been the same for a long  time and its played out well for me. As @BNQuinlan can vouch for, the majority (I'd say about 80% +/- a few % pts) of leagues I play in I usually end up in the top 1-3 in terms of Win-Loss record....it's closing the whole thing out that I've had problems with.  I haven't made changes, and if I have they haven't worked.  I'd say the biggest change I need to make is not to fall in love with a player during the season and be willing to make more trades.

Again, not sure which year, but based on last season I did So many drafts and was in So many leagues I can't pinpoint any specific player.  Having said that, had I had to adjust, I'd more than likely take the next best available player, and not necessarily at the same position of unsaid player.  Trades are always an option, although as I mentioned in the previous question, I have a tendency to fall in love at times with players during the season when I need to make the trade.

I'll answer this one using one of the more recent mocks I've done this year.  I'll start with @wcervi grabbing Doug Martin @ 7.02.  Greg Schiano loves to run the ball and Martin is a 3 down back. Martin fits in perfectly with what's going on in TB right now and I believe is a steal in the 7th.  As for me, call me crazy (it wouldn't be the first time) but I'm calling my pick at 13.08 of Isaiah Pead my value pick. Steven Jackson has been surprisingly durable the past few seasons even though he's had 320+ carries in 2 of the last 3 seasons.  Having said that, and taking into account his age, I'm putting some stock into Pead this year.  The kid can break tackled although he does avoid contact. He's got great straight ahead speed and can break out at any time, and he's a semi-threat out of the backfield.  I think if for no other reason than to give SJax a break, we see more of Pead than others think.

Again, I'll answer this one using one of the recent mocks.  One of my own I'd say Mikel LeShoure @9.03.  Although Jahvid Best can get re-concussed or injured at any time, LeShoure's achilles will be a question mark,     you got Keiland Williams there as well as Kevin Smith.  Just a situation I think should be stayed away from unless you're drafting Best.  As for someone else, I'm gonna go with a pick you made Bill, Jamaal Charles at 2.04.  With Hillis in town, Charles coming off the ACL, I think he could've been had later and some better RB's went after your pick.

Well, I just realized that we were talking about Bill's Draftmasters, but I'm not changing any above answers...pure laziness at this point and the answers probably wouldn't be that different. Getting back to this question, I'll say Tim Tebow...just because he's Tim Tebow. Secondly, I'll say Jabar Gaffney. He's back with Tom Brady, McDaniels is with Brady, and Gaffney had his best season as a Patriot in 2007 when McDaniels was calling the plays.  I think Gaffney makes a nice fill in player with WR3 upside.

 I like @PFF_Alex. He did well in this draft considering he has a ton of PPR potential.  Bush and Helu are leading the way for him at RB. Michael Floyd I think will compliment Fitz in ARI very nicely and has strong WR2 upside to go along with Andre Johnson as Alex's WR1.  On top of that he's got AJ Green, who's production drops a bit from last year I think, but still has monster capabilities each week. Gates at TE should go unsaid and BUF at Def will be strong.  I'm loving his team.

From Josh Moore:

Given my draft position (#1 overall) in a 14 teamer, I didn't figure I'd get an elite QB or TE, so I planned to wait on those positions while stocking at at RB & WR. It worked as planned and I feel great about my RBs & WRs.

 Of all the players in the draft, I most wanted Arian Foster the most. Because I had the #1 pick, I was able to get him.

For me: Michael Turner at 5.01 of 14 team draft is fantastic value. There are a lot of reasons to hate on Turner, but once you get into the 4th or 5th round he's a steal.

Other: Steve Smith at 4.12 is a great value pick. Tremendous player and top 10 WR last year, which should be easily repeatable if he stays healthy.

I don't really draft players that I think are bad values.

Hakeem Nicks at 1.08 with Aaron Rodgers on the board was a big time reach.

 

 I can't believe no one was dumb enough to draft Tim Tebow! Besides that, it's a 14 team draft so pretty much anyone worth drafting was taken.

 

 

@Eric_Yeomans team looks good to me, with good tallent at all positions. Eric knows how to spot a value.

 

 

From Shane Hallam

 

 1)  General Strategy:

With 14 teams, I wanted a good QB tandem.  This is a best ball league, meaning your top scorers will be inserted into the lineup each week.  With QBs scoring the most points, getting 2-3 good QBs on my roster would go a long way in not only strengthening my team, but hurting my opposition.  I also felt like investing premium picks in WRs who I knew could produce weekly at a high level.  This would allow me to grab plenty of RB talent later on.

It played out very close to my strategy.  Picking 11th, I had my choice of WRs and was in position to nab QBs early (Rivers in the 4th, Luck in the 7th).

2)

Players I was targeting:
1.  Torrey Smith - I got him, maybe a little early in the 6th round.  He was a WR 2-3 target for me.  With his upside, I felt that I could limit my WRs to only 4 on my roster (Fitzgerald, Wallace, T. Smith, J. Baldwin).

2.  Roy Helu - I love Roy Helu this year, but I was a bit in no man's land.  Mike Wallace fell to me at the 3.11 and I didn't want to pass him up.  Helu went to PFF_Alex at 3.14, so I just missed out .  This made me move QB position even higher up my board and wait on RB.

3.  Toby Gerhart - Love him in a best ball league and in a RB plateau.  If AD is not ready for the season, Gerhart should see some carries pretty early on and have fantasy relevance, plus some goal line work.  At 10.04, I took him and ran.



3)

Best Value:

Mine: Jimmy Graham at 2.04.  Graham's ADP is moving into the Top 12.  Getting him as the 18th player off of the board with potential to be the top TE was AWESOME

Other:  Really liked Eric_Yeomans getting Jeremy Maclin at the 5.07.  His upside is huge and that tier of WR was JUST coming to an end that round.

4)

Mine: Torrey Smith - As I said, probably reached a bit for a player I like with some upside, but WR value was still going for awhile after that.

Other: Marshawn Lynch at 2.03 by Brian Quinlan.  Just not a fan this year, and as a RB1, Lynch is far too scary for me.

5) Not too many.

1.  Brian Hartline - Even with Ocho there now, Hartline should have a legit chance to start.  Still surprised he is going undrafted in a lot of leagues.

2.  Dane Sanzenbacher.  How did Jim not draft him?


6)

Tough choice.  I really like Allie Fontana's a lot and Josh Moore's a lot.

I'll go Allie ultimately.  Stud QB in Brees, a platoon of productive RBs in BJGE, Green, Fjax with upside in Leshoure/Turbin.  WRs have tremendous upside in Calvin/Bowe/Garcon too.  It seems like a team that can compete each week.

From Jarrett Behar:

Having the 1.08, I knew I probably wasn't going to get a stud, RB, so the goal was to get a stud WR and see which RBs fell back to me in the second.  Generally, I planned to wait at QB and TE.  I ended up taking Hernandez at 6.07 earlier than I would have because I thought he was a great value there. 

 

  I was hoping Chris Johnson fell to 1.08 due to the negative hype, but I think his ADP is starting to rebound.  So I went with the highest WR on my board, Hakeem Nicks.

 

 

Me:  Hernandez at 6.07 was great value in my opinion.  No reason he can't be the PPR TE3 again next year.  

Ryan's pick of Carolina Steve Smith at 4.12 was great value.  He's shown no signs of slowing down, and Cam should improve as a passer going into his second season and first with a full camp.  It goes to show you how deep WR is this year that you can get a high quality WR1 at the end of the 4th.  

Alex Smith at 11.08 may be higher than you see him go, but I waited a little too long on QB and couldn't afford not to get a backup in a 14 team league.  

Adrian Peterson at 2.11 is way too high for a guy that may start the season on the PUP list.  I would hesitate even drafting him in the 3rd at this point.   

Given that this is a 14 team league, the waiver wire is pretty thin.  I honestly can't find one, let alone two.  

I really like Eric Yeoman's team.  He's got a high upside QB1 in Vick and a decent backup in Flacco, especially considering the 14 team factor.  His RBs are stacked with two top-10 starters in Mathews and SJax, and crazy depth with Starks, Brown and Hightower, all of which could be starters.  Julio, Maclin and Meachem is a great starting WR corp.  I don't love Ford and Randle as the only WR depth, but this concern is lower than the ones I have about the other teams.  Finley is a solid TE1.  Overall a fairly well-balanced team.