davidh777

Might as well start the thread because we're setting up leagues and all.

I'll probably be in the two leagues here plus one with friends. The one we had for 25 years is still AWOL. That was on CBS, and cost was a factor, so if we ever reopen talks, I'll suggest we go with one of the free options. Two of my current leagues are on ESPN and one is Yahoo.

lwhy?

I'm probably going to be in seven leagues again. Maybe eight is one league has an opening. I'm in three Yahoo and four ESPN leagues. I have won two championships in Yahoo leagues, but I have never won a championship in an ESPN league....

LorenzoL

Just one league for me on ESPN.

davidh777

The most I was in at a time was four leagues, and I felt really stretched, but then I was trying to stay active with lineups and transactions in all of them. One of my leagues has a waiver deadline of Wednesday rather than Tuesday, and I'm grateful for that.

lwhy?

I start to feel a bit burned out by the end of the season, but the only thing that starts to confuse me is waivers and what players are available via waivers in each league. I had a good year last year. I made the playoffs in 5 out of 7 leagues and I made a profit vs what I paid in in entry fees. I won money in three leagues: First place money in one league, Second place money in one league, and Third place money in another league. The leagues that I did the worst in were my two leagues at work with the highest buy ins. I finished close to last place in both work leagues....

Osiris3657

I'm also in less leagues this year. It gets really annoying rooting for and against the same players, IE you have DeAndre Hopkins and you need him to have a good game to win one week, but your opponent in another league has him and need him to have a bad game to win that. I feel like that scenario happens alot when you have multiple teams. It takes a bit out of the fun of fantasy football, honestly.

davidh777

Waivers are indeed a challenge across multiple leagues. Different rules (such as IR) and different owners mean that availability is widely variable when a hot player such as Alvin Kamara emerges--someone might've picked him up two weeks ago, or he might be free for the taking. Also, finding FAs can be difficult depending on your site. I feel that Yahoo buries the best FA prospects by defaulting to certain projections and leaving injured guys in the rankings way too long. Reworking the filters helps, but it just takes more time.

The positive side for me is that I find I take it a little less seriously, and my fate isn't on the line based on a few players. Maybe some guy tore me up in my main league, but hey, I have the guy in another league, and maybe that one is free, but it's still something.

JeffTheAlpaca

Hard to believe it is only a month and a week away.

Who be the sleeper QB you can take late that will blow up this year like Matt Ryan in 2016?

clappj

Seriously doubtful that anyone will overachieve at QB the way Ryan did in '16. In '15 and '17 both, Ryan had about half has many TDs and twice as many interceptions as he did in '16. Much like it did the previous season for the Panthers, the stars aligned for the Falcons that year and they just couldn't finish what they started.

My best guesses at QBs that might overperform their draft position this year are: Alex Smith, Blake Bortles, Eli Manning, Andrew Luck and (if you want to reach a little further) Mitchell Trubisky. I would also say Patrick Mahomes, but it's likely someone in most leagues might be willing to take a chance on him as their QB1.

davidh777

Yeah, I’ve heard Mahomes mentioned as a possibility for this year’s Carson Wentz.

Red Dog

Hopefully. Lots of weapons. Took him in my dynasty league auction last year and stashed him.

Seems like a very good year to wait on taking a QB (or spend little for one or two in an auction format). It's a deep pool.

JeffTheAlpaca

Is Wentz a risky pick?

Maybe his value has dropped with the injury and he could be a steal.

JeffTheAlpaca

Who will be the sleeper TE you can wait and draft late?

Burton, Doyle, and Kittle maybe?

davidh777

Though he's still questionable to start the season, he seems to be holding on to top 10 status. Obviously he could finish a lot higher than that in which case he'd be good value, but there are a lot of good QBs so waiting will probably be a popular strategy. I did one mock where I bit on Watson in a middle round, and Mahomes was still there several rounds later. I don't know if I'd be comfortable with Mahomes as my starter, but he has the upside, as we've discussed before.

All of those guys look like they're trending upward, but Burton most of all so I don't think you'll be able to wait on him if you specifically want him. The others maybe.

mcnabb

Being an Eagles fan, the Eagles management have been real coy about when he will return (He looks great in practice, but he will not play a preason game). My hunch is that he won't start the season (simply because they have Nick Foles) so you don't need to rush him back. But Foles got hurt the other night (he should be OK for the Season Opener). I bet he drops in most drafts because he probably won't play 16 games, so he is probably a steal pick if he is last through the first few rounds.

JeffTheAlpaca

Anybody scared to draft Zeke with Travis Frederick out for who knows how long and no weapons at the WR positions?

Maybe Zeke will face stacked 8 man fronts and defenses will force Dak to win the game.

davidh777

It's a concern, but I'm not going to drop him on my board because he still has the talent and the workload. Of course I'm #6 in my only remaining draft so I don't really have to worry about it.

The Cow

He's also a good receiver out of the backfield, and will be one of Dak's safety blanket when he checks down.

lwhy?

I have the fifth pick in a 12 team PPR draft tomorrow and I'm trying to decide between Zeke, Kamara, and Barkley. I'm leaning Zeke, but I love Kamara. Knowing my luck though all three of them will be drafted before me....

Red Dog

If the top-4 RBs are gone, I'd take Antonio Brown at 5 in a PPR.

davidh777

In 95% of the mocks I've done, Gurley, Johnson, Bell, and Zeke have gone in the top four in some order. My dilemma at #5 of my real draft was whether to go for another RB because of the depth at WR, or just take the best player in Brown. I decided on Brown, and that wasn't even PPR. I had Kamara in one league last year and love the guy, but I was favoring Barkley ahead of him, partly because Kamara might split time again when Ingram is back.

The guy I'm still not sold on is McCaffrey. I haven't had the chance to take him, but he's being ranked as a borderline top-10 back, I guess largely because of anticipated workload.

Deftones

This is the correct answer.

lwhy?

This is my team from a 12 team PPR draft with 6 points per passing TD last night. I had the fifth pick. I'm not happy with my QB pick, but there was a big run on QBs and every QB that I wanted was drafted right before me.

QB Mahomes
RB David Johnson
RB Devonta Freeman
WR Amari Cooper
WR Adam Thielen
W/R/T Flex Josh Gordon
D/ST Saints
K Jake Elliott

Bench Duke Johnson Jr.
Bench Chris Carson
Bench Sterling Shepard
Bench Adrian Peterson
Bench Nelson Agoholor
Bench Jordan Reed

brainee

I really like what you did. Great depth and big upside for a 12 team PPR. If Mahomes doesn't pan out, I bet you'll either be first in line for an upgrade from the waiver wire or trade for someone better.

I thought that my own long-running 2-keeper "friends and family" league had fallen apart, and I was ready to take a season off from fantasy football. But I just got the e-mail notice a couple of days ago that it was going. The draft is Sunday night and I haven't been doing any prep at all (very busy with work). Fortunately it's a pretty casual league, so I should be able to get by.

It's ESPN default settings for keepers, which means 2 keepers costs you your first two rounds of picks. My team was strong last year (came in 2nd) and has several guys who typically go in the first two rounds of drafts (David Johnson, Zeke Elliot, Kamara, OBJ, Keenan Allen, Davante Adams). It's non-PPR and it's between the three RBs for my keepers. Leaning DJ and Zeke, but Kamara is pulling at my heart strings (especially after he single-handedly carried my team in the second half of the season).

Unfortunately the team that beat me for the title last year will assuredly be keeping Gurley and Bell. a gigantic advantage to start. But I knew all too well from last season how an awesome looking at the start can quickly fall apart (e.g. David Johnson being lost for the season in week 1).

lwhy?

Thanks! I would probably go Johnson and Zeke, but I love Kamara too. You should play in one of our DVDTalk Leagues next year. Entry fees are fairly low and we're always looking for new owners.