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2023 Pit Fantasy Football League - THE PLAYOFFS ARE SET

Fighting Cocks (12th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B-
  • Best Pick: Josh Allen, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Tyler Lockett, 3rd Round
I think FC did a pretty good job from a middle-order spot. The age-old question for those that pick in the back half of the order is whether to reach on a RB/WR or to take a best available QB and lock that in. I think taking Josh Allen makes a lot of sense for the strategy that FC went with, Allen should cover up a lot of the rushing that the rest of the roster lacks. My one quibble with FC's draft is taking pass catchers in Rounds 2-5 and not venturing into the RB market at all, even if a few players may have been reaches at that spot. RB depth usually plays a big part in this particular league, and it could cost FC in the long run if he doesn't have enough bodies who get touches each Sunday to put in that starting slot.

Sleepy (14th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B
  • Best Pick: Tony Pollard, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Tony Pollard, 1st Round

Another mid-order pick in Sleepy saw an opposite strategy, going RB early and often with 3 taken in the first 5 rounds. The nature of this league and draft means loading up in one place will likely leave you short in another, and the QB duo of Sam Howell and Desmond Ridder isn't anyone's idea of a perfect QB room. But Sleepy is leaning into upside across his roster with two new full-time starting QBs, a new bellcow RB in Pollard, change of scenery candidate DeAndre Hopkins, and even snagging Kamara to stash until his suspension is over. It's a lot of combined risk to take on in one roster, but if enough of the pieces hit, it could pay off tenfold.

Barça (11th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: C+
  • Best Pick: Jaylen Waddle, 2nd Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Brock Purdy, 8th Round
Our third mid-order pick in a row saw a third consecutive different strategy. Barça started out pretty standard, RB/WR/RB through three rounds, but then he started cooking up something spicy. Back to back rookie picks in Anthony Richardson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba will bring an extremely youthful atmosphere to Barça's locker room (taking a page from Barcelona FC, perhaps?), but fantasy rookies are a risky business. Barça smartly found a QB2 in Brock Purdy who should provide a baseline floor at the position in case Richardson doesn't hit, but taking Wake rookie AT Perry may have been a bridge too far. Barça may have the biggest variance between highest high and lowest low potential in the whole league.

Young Buck (13th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B+
  • Best Pick: Jalen Hurts, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Jared Goff, 6th Round
Sometimes new and shiny is good, innovation providing a fresh perspective when something is maybe getting a bit stale. Sometimes, however, it pays to just play the classics. And in YB, we have about as classic as it gets. YB let the board fall to him and took best available at his starting positions through 5 rounds, grabbed maybe the best QB2 option in the draft in Round 6, locked down his bench and final starting position in the next 3 rounds, and then coasted off into the sunset. Just a really good draft top to bottom, the only drawback really being not having a go to RB2 if Dalvin Cook doesn't get the touches in New York. But there also is plenty of upside if he does, and someone has to catch passes in Carolina, making Thielen an upside pick as well. Great job from YB, already seems like this year is better than last.

Edarem (4th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B
  • Best Pick: Travis Kelce, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Travis Kelce, 1st Round
Edarem's draft feels very similar to Sleepy's: upside across the roster, inherent risk in equal measure. Taking Kelce and locking in TE1 means that Edarem's floor for his team is pretty high, and Rhamondre looks likely to be a bellcow in New England, but frequently injured Keenan Allen and JK Dobbins and a coin flip of what happens in the Indianapolis backfield makes it likely that Edarem will have to be on top of things week to week to make sure his team can put 6 guys out every matchup. Daniel Jones as his QB2 is a solid pickup and the bench has potential, Edarem could be a quick riser if he can get 14+ games out of his guys.
 
I will put together the rest of teams as we go through the next week or so leading up to Thursday, have to go do actual work now.
 
Also please remember I am stupid and know nothing really, so if you disagree with your grade or my assessment, you're probably correct.
 
TripleDeacon (18th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: C
  • Best Pick: CeeDee Lamb, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: CeeDee Lamb, 1st Round
Triple started off so well in my eyes. Got a great WR1 late in the 1st in CeeDee Lamb and got a decent RB on the wraparound in Najee Harris. I won't quibble too much on the 3rd/4th round either as DJ Moore could find a change of scenery was all he needed to get his career back on track and locking in a Dak/CeeDee stack isn't a terrible idea. But starting in Round 5, Triple lost me. No matter what format, I cannot advocate for a defense going in the 5th round with so many FLEX-eligible players still available and no other defenses leaving the board until the last pick of Round 8. Considering the amount of rookies that Triple acquired and then taking another defense with his last pick, I just didn't love what Triple got done in the back two-thirds of the draft. I hope he proves me wrong, though.

SD3 (10th) Pick
  • Overall Grade: B
  • Best Pick: Nick Chubb, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Jordan Love, 8th Round
SD3 is another whose start of the draft made me very happy to review. Chubb should contend for top-5 RB and Chris Olave is poised to take a massive leap in Year 2, securing them in the middle of the first two rounds is excellent business. Miles Sanders feels a little meh in the third; someone has to score fantasy points for Carolina, I just don't think it will end up being him. Kittle is the same way, far more sink-or-swim last season than many realized (his fantasy playoffs performances helped tremendously for overall season points). But it's a solid base for a team and I think SD3 did a fairly decent job trying to fill in with some players who are maybe under-projected. I didn't love the Bryce Young pick (but respect the homerism), but really loved the Jordan Love pick immediately after, just begs the question of why not go Love first or get another FLEX player. Overall pretty good, felt like there was some left on the table but SD3 always finds ways to contend for playoffs.

Satan (2nd Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B-
  • Best Pick: Christian McCaffrey, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: George Pickens, 5th Round
I may read too much into everyone's overall draft strategies, but to me it seemed like Satan had a clear goal in mind: pass catchers no matter what. After securing CMC with the 2nd pick and going early on QB with Herbert in the 2nd, Satan reeled off 4 picks out of 5 on WR/TE with only one detour to secure CMC's backup in Elijah Mitchell. While there are specific players I like that Satan picked, I don't love the team as a whole. There will certainly be weeks where both CMC and Mitchell are viable starters in the same game, but without any other RB depth (Satan has already dropped the one other RB he drafted), it leaves Satan as thin as possible at the game's most important fantasy position. I really liked Pickens in the 5th round, he could end up a top-20 WR fairly easily this season, but 10 RBs came off the board between that pick (Satan's 3rd WR) and his Elijah Mitchell pick (2nd RB). Satan will be praying to himself that CMC makes a deal with him to stay healthy all season.

Ghost (8th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B-
  • Best Pick: Patrick Mahomes, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Kenneth Walker, 3rd Round
It's great to look at Ghost's draft right after Satan's because it could not be more polar opposite. I don't love reaching for Mahomes that early, but as a Chiefs fan myself, sometimes you just like having him on your team. But Ghost then followed that pick up with 3 straight RBs (caveat: only 2 that will play) in Aaron Jones, Kenneth Walker, and Jonathan Taylor. Someone had to take Taylor and it could end up being a season-changing move if he ends up coming back or getting traded, but I would have liked the draft more had Ghost gone for a WR there with two solid RBs already on the roster. The back half of the draft for Ghost was largely fliers on WRs and RBs who could pop up for the occasional big week, but the roster feels a little unbalanced when it's all said and done.

DEACHAWK (19th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B+
  • Best Pick: Garrett Wilson, 2nd Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Diontae Johnson, 3rd Round
DEACHAWK through 5 rounds had what would have been my first A-range draft grade. I think he played the 1/2 Round turn perfectly, and the next three picks were all great fantasy football picks on paper (Editor's Note: fuck Deshaun Watson). But from Round 6 to Round 9, I think there was value left out there that DEACHAWK could have taken advantage of to really accelerate his chances this season. Kmet is a better IRL football player than fantasy, but does have some upside, just probably earlier than I like taking him considering what was also available the rest of Round 6 and through Round 7. Michael Gallup always has a way of tricking us into thinking this is the year he finally takes the leap (I have been consistently guilty of it in the past) and is a guy who probably won't see much starting time this season with DEACHAWK's roster, but overall a quite solid draft out of the 19th pick slot.
 
Lone Wolf (20th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B
  • Best Pick: Lamar Jackson, 2nd Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Jaylen Warren, 8th Round
Picking 20th can be a blessing and a curse, and our league's own Icarus found a way to soar in the skies during the draft without flying too close to the sun. There is some risk involved in Wolf's draft that could derail his season if things don't fall the right way, but there was a consistency of strategy throughout the draft that I think was smart in such a volatile draft slot. If Lamar and Javonte stay healthy, this is a B+/A- draft for me, and players like OBJ, Skyy Moore, and Jaylen Warren have great upside if their roles are greater than projected. But the doomsday scenario of Lamar playing half a season, Javonte not being fully back a year after decimating his knee, and the depth pieces being closer to their floors than their ceilings could melt Wolf's wax wings.

Pickle (9th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: C+
  • Best Pick: Tee Higgins, 2nd Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Khalil Herbert, 5th Round
This draft grade is less Pickle's fault than the vagaries of fantasy football. Cooper Kupp at #9 should be a phenomenal pick, but with his short-term health in serious question and the likely wanting to be bad anyway, there's a chance that Kupp may not actually play that much in 2023. Pickle did a good job covering for that in the 2nd round with Tee Higgins, but at that point in the draft you likely don't want to have gone WR/WR very often just from a positional scarcity standpoint. And while at the time I am sure it felt pretty normal, in hindsight Pickle was actually in slight damage control mode, and from that perspective I think the rest of the draft went OK. Mattison could be solid as the now RB1 in Minnesota, Pacheco may see an increase in touches in Kansas City, and Herbert could end up being the main RB in Chicago. But that's a lot of "coulds" and "maybes" for the first 5 rounds of the draft, and drafting Tua as the QB1 for your team on top of that likely means Pickle is going to be sweating injury reports for most of the season.

Ph (16th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B
  • Best Pick: Amon-Ra St. Brown, 2nd Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Amon-Ra St. Brown, 2nd Round
Ph drafted a fantasy team in this league.

redwing (17th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B
  • Best Pick: Stefon Diggs, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Justin Fields, 2nd Round
redwing employed a draft strategy that I respect but can put you in some tough positions. At no point in the 12-round draft did redwing ever pick a player in the same position in back-to-back picks. He filled his quota of position group starters through 4 rounds, all of them pretty solid picks (Akers the weak spot), then got depth at WR/RB/WR before taking a flier on Kyler in Round 8. redwing kept up the depth picks the rest of the way and I think built a pretty solid team overall. As with many teams who end up picking later in Round 1, RB depth will be an issue pretty much the whole season, but he has enough bodies that the he can reasonably hope one or two guys pop up this season as surprise contributors to keep him in playoff contention.

Peach (7th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B-
  • Best Pick: Tyreek Hill, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Tyreek Hill, 1st Round
When I was reviewing Peach's draft, the word that came to mind was uneventful. The board kind of fell to Peach how it fell and she took what was there for the most part. Tyreek could be a top-5 pick in a lot of drafts, he should be a great cornerstone for Peach's team all season. The one place that Peach went and go someone was maybe Lawrence in Round 3, but stacking that with his TE in Engram is more unorthodox than a QB/WR stack, but could be profitable in weeks where Engram can get some redzone looks. Late draft picks for Peach were a bit conservative and while I think Peach did an OK job balancing upside with higher-floor players, outside of Tyreek there aren't a lot of gamebreakers that will really give the big weeks that are needed throughout the year to flip a tough matchup on its head.
 
Not to derail a thread that ain't mine but mako loves to load up Ds of all kinds. I hear his fav is doug's.
 
I have to give Gooner his due. The writeups delivered! Not happy with a B- but can't disagree. I was feeling great after round 4 but then it went sideways and dudes kept taking my queue. I panic picked outta my ass. Not seeing a repeat for this year.
 
mako (1st Pick)
  • Overall Grade: C
  • Best Pick: Justin Jefferson, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Justin Jefferson, 1st Round
Oh my sweet summer child. One day mako will be able to draft live and not from a school bus or a middle school soccer field, and on that day I expect him to fully take over this league. But that draft was not this draft. The RNGods blessed him with the first overall pick and autopick duly selected the correct player in Justin Jefferson, meaning there was a floor that couldn't go too low with his team. Subsequent selections of Dameon Pierce and Deebo Samuel were decent picks (autodraft isn't the worst idea sometimes), but the back end of the draft is where everything went off the rails as we all know. Round 10 and 11 will live on in history with back-to-back defenses being autodrafted to mako, leaving his bench the thinnest in the league. And in a league where trades are already fairly rare, there may not be much mako can do except drop the extra one and hope for some waiver wire gold. If the top end stays healthy for 17 weeks, mako could be fine. But autodraft giveth and autodraft taketh away, and it did him no favors. Red card for autodraft.

Mr. I/O Deac (3rd Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B
  • Best Pick: Ja'Marr Chase, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: David Montgomery, 5th Round
Mr. I/O had one of my favorite drafts in the whole league through . Ja'Marr at 3rd overall was a no-brainer, and managing to grab two decent RBs despite the gaps between many of his picks is a real steal. I think David Montgomery is one of the best picks of the draft in the 5th; I was devastated he didn't fall 3 more picks to me. The bench is not a strong point for Mr. I/O which prevents his draft from creeping into the top range of drafts for me. He is also going to be reliant on Sean Payton's ability to revive Russ's career to feel confident in making the playoffs, as well as a few points docked for a defense in Round 9. But overall I think Mr. I/O did a pretty good job and should be happy with how he played the board, especially in the first half of the draft.

Mrs. I/O Deac (15th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: B
  • Best Pick: Jahmyr Gibbs, 2nd Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Jahmyr Gibbs, 2nd Round
Death, taxes, Mrs. I/O Deac taking a QB in the first round. Only things you can be sure on in life. At this point, I simply respect that Mrs. I/O appreciates the most important position in the league and is willing to ride for it in fantasy. And it didn't have any truly deleterious effects on her draft as a whole. I love her picking up Gibbs on the wraparound, he should flirt with top-10 RB status this season, and if Kyle Pitts from his rookie year shows up and Mike Williams plays more than 6 games, her pass catchers should be fairly solid as well. But those are big ifs Pitts and Williams, and to my eyes, Mrs. I/O didn't protect herself well enough if things lean the other way. The bench options for Mrs. I/O also have several maybes attached: maybe Lazard finds himself the WR2 in NY, maybe Dulcich becomes Jimmy Graham 2.0 in Denver, maybe AJ Dillon finally gets the volume in Green Bay to be a true FLEX option. It could go either way on a lot of those, a tough place to be in fantasy. But overall I think Mrs. I/O had a solid draft.

D14 (5th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: A-
  • Best Pick: Austin Ekeler, 1st Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: Tyler Higbee, 7th Round
I hate him. Great draft, but I hate him. Ekeler at 5 is a steal at twice the price, D14 acquired solid depth for all skill positions, went and got Mr. Top-12-Fantasy-QB-Every-Year in Kirk Cousins, and even had the time to take some fliers late on high upside RBs. He's so annoying and I hate him. He also sniped Tyler Higbee right out of my queue and I haven't gotten over it yet. If I had to nitpick (which is my right as commissioner), Godwin doesn't have Brady anymore so his production could be muted, Nico Collins may not have a single pass thrown in catchable range some weeks, and Breece Hall is a phenomenal RB2 in theory, but the Jets aren't convinced themselves based on the Dalvin Cook acquisition. So there are some things that may go wrong and make my A- grade look foolish. But in a 20-team league, especially for a rookie, this draft really brings it. A begruding good job to you, D14.

Gooner (6th Pick)
  • Overall Grade: A+
  • Best Pick: All of them, Every Round
  • Gooner's Favorite Pick: All of them, Every Round
My draft is perfect, get fucked, I'm finally winning this shit this year.
 
GRADES
  • Gooner: A+
  • D14: A-
  • YoungBuck: B+
  • DEACHAWK: B+
  • Sleepy: B
  • Edarem: B
  • Mr. I/O: B
  • Mrs. I/O: B
  • Wolf: B
  • Ph: B
  • redwing: B
  • SD3: B
  • Peach: B-
  • Fighting Cocks: B-
  • Satan: B-
  • Ghost: B-
  • Barca: C+
  • Pickle: C+
  • Triple: C
  • Mako: C
 
@Gooner how could your team possibly be an A+ without Tyler Higbee to round it out?
 
I again apologize for auto drafting. Had I not been kicked out of my first game in 20 years of coaching and then have to spend the rest of the evening talking to booking agents and nchsaa reps, I would’ve made it.
 
mako1331 said:
I again apologize for auto drafting. Had I not been kicked out of my first game in 20 years of coaching and then have to spend the rest of the evening talking to booking agents and nchsaa reps, I would’ve made it.
Click to expand...
You wanna hurry up and drop a defense so I can have one that isn't terrible?
 
I watched FSU-LSU with a friend and his wife's cousin. We talked fantasy and I told them about my team and they said it would have been a good team in their 12 team leagues.

So I don't need a Gooner write-up.
 
PhDeac said:
I watched FSU-LSU with a friend and his wife's cousin. We talked fantasy and I told them about my team and they said it would have been a good team in their 12 team leagues.

So I don't need a Gooner write-up.
Click to expand...
Say what you want about me (there's plenty) but I commit to a bit
 
/un-bit

I do like your team, the grade was actually legitimately my thoughts. Rodgers is super risky, there's a chance he's just not that good anymore. You're a bit reliant on WRs on teams that won't be good and probably design their offenses to not throw a ton each game and your bench doesn't give the depth you would want for a team that has starters with some to a lot of injury history. I do like the Justyn Ross pickup, if the Chiefs camp is to be believed, he may end up WR3 by midseason, especially if Kelce is out and they want a big redzone threat. Solid draft, hope it works out for you.

/re-bit
 
I agree. I was disappointed with my draft the day of but it looks better now. I got thrown off in the 3rd and 4th. I planned to take a QB but ones I wanted didn't drop. Thankfully I got Hockenson in the 3rd but I couldn't get Watson or Dak in the 4th and I didn't want to reach and I hadn't planned to take a WR there. So that's why I took Evans. By the 5th, Rodgers was the best QB left.

Weirdly, on draft day ESPN had my team 9th. Now it's 3rd projected 2nd. So who knows.
 
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