The FSTA industry fantasy football draft took place on Monday night in Manhattan. It's a 14-team, PPR league with 1-QB, 2-RB, 3-WR and a RB/WR/TE flex. I drew the fourth pick.
Here are the results:
1.4 Odell Beckham - in a 3-WR PPR league, it's always better to start with a WR if possible, so I was relieved when Brett Baker took Le'Veon Bell at No. 3. Had he taken Beckham I probably would have gone Bell too as my No. 4 WR is Allen Robinson, and there's a decent drop-off.
2.11 Demaryius Thomas - I considered T.Y. Hilton who I think will have a big year in a high-volume Colts passing game, but I thought I'd get him in Round 3. Otherwise, no one jumped out at me, and the running backs were a dime a dozen at that point. I'm concerned with Mark Sanchez, the Broncos go into a shell and run the ball a ton this year, but in the event they throw, their receiving tree is pretty thin - really only Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and the running backs.
3.4 C.J. Anderson - I was wrong about Hilton who went 3.2, and I couldn't bring myself to draft injury-prone Julian Edelman who's missing his QB for four games or Golden Tate. So I took a RB, forgetting I had another player on his team already, and the Broncos are not one you want to stack. I went Anderson over Eddie Lacy because I think there's more PPR upside with the former, and I don't trust Mike McCarthy to stick with Lacy if he struggles.
4.11 While I missed on Hilton, I connected on Donte Moncrief, another big piece of the Colts passing game. With 33-YO Frank Gore as the starting back, and a mediocre defense, I think Andrew Luck will sling it more than 600 times.
5.4 Giovani Bernard is being mispriced in PPR leagues. This isn't Charles Sims or Theo Riddick - he's actually got a chance to lead the team in carries as well as being a 50-catch lock. Jeremy Hill will probably see goal line work, but this is Tiki Barber/Brandon Jacobs, and Barber was a monster at his peak.
6.11 Sterling Shepard was the top receiver on my board at that point, and when Russell Wilson went one pick ahead of me, I was happy to double up on Giants receivers. Shepard is drawing rave reviews in minicamp, for what it's worth.
7.4 Charles Sims is blocked by Doug Martin, but he'll catch 60 passes minimum and would be a top-15 PPR back should Martin go down.
8.11 Zack Ertz is great in Week 15 every year. Hopefully, he can do something before that for once.
9.4 Kamar Aiken - this was before the more positive news on Breshard Perriman, but even so Perriman's iffy, Steve Smith is 37 and coming off a serious injury and Mike Wallace isn't good.
10.11 Paul Perkins adds to my Giants stack. Rashad Jennings will start, but he's 31 and injury prone, and Perkins has the most upside of his backups.
11.4 Eli Manning was a no-brainer given my team already depends heavily on the quality of the Giants passing game - why not go all-in? I also like Kirk Cousins, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota and might have taken one of them were I not committed to the stack.
12.11 Josh Gordon could be reinstated August 1. If not, I'll need someone to cut.
13.4 Jared Cook has always had the talent, and now he's finally paired with an elite QB. I went with a second TE over a backup QB (Mariota), and Steve Gardner took Mariota with the very next pick.
14.11 Stephen Gostkowski is a top kicker every year, and there's no reason to think that won't be the case in 2016.
15.4 Jeff Janis made huge plays in the playoffs, and other than a 31-YO Jordy Nelson returning from an ACL tear, the Packers lack big play threats.
16.11 I had hoped to get the Giants defense, but they were gone, so I settled for the Jets. I'm not proud of it.
Full Lineup:
QB Eli Manning
RB C.J. Anderson, Giovani Bernard
WR Odell Beckham, Demaryius Thomas, Donte Moncrief
FLEX Sterling Shepard
TE Zach Ertz
K Stephen Gostkowski
D Jets
B Charles Sims, Kamar Aiken, Josh Gordon, Paul Perkins, Jared Cook, Jeff Janis