Dynasty Expert's League Rounds 7 and 8 Results
Trades coming into play more often. More runs at positions
2 more rounds have been completed in the DraftCalc Classic Dynasty Expert League. We have worked thru rounds 7 and 8 and teams are filling out their rosters with depth. Trades have been happening fairly often as teams move up and down getting the players they want. If you haven't been following along, you can see my comments about the first 6 rounds thru these links:
Here is what happened in round 7:
1) RB Chris Ivory (Fantasy Knuckleheads)
2) WR Justin Blackmon (FootballGuys; comment: "There is some risk in this pick, with the 4 game suspension looming, as well as future suspension potential. But the reward can be return ten fold. Let's be honest, there is a little bit of Kenny Britt in Justin Blackmon (minus the injuries), but there also could be a lot of Brandon Marshall too. At one time, Marshall was a big dynasty risk and look what he has turned out to be. Blackmon was in the Top 10 fantasy WRs over the last 8 weeks in 2012 - and that was with a so-so QB in Chad Henne. The sky is the limit for Blackmon and more importantly, his new coach, Gus Bradley is on his side. Sometimes winning teams are won with gambles. Here's my gamble contribution.")
3) WR Pierre Garcon (Bruno Boys)
4) WR T.Y. Hilton (RotoProfessor)
5) QB Andy Dalton (Fantasy Knuckleheads)
6) WR Cordarrelle Patterson (Xs & Ys Podcast; comment: "Huge upside, have three receivers already so he can develop on my bench. Ya never know")
7) QB Tony Romo (Wild Thing Football; comment: "This is the year Tony finally pulls it out.")
8) WR Mike Williams (FantasyIndex; comment: "Underrated. Trusting Ian here, who has him 15th at WR in prelim 2013 rankings.")
9) RB Vick Ballard (DrFootball)
10) WR Greg Jennings (Dynasty Football Warehouse)
11) WR Cecil Shorts (Fantasy Taz)
12) TE Jared Cook (Fantasy Football Starters; comment: "This may surprise some but I doubt the Rams paid Cook all that money to NOT use him a whole lot more than the Titans did. The Rams have little experience at WR and Brian Schottenheimer got some quality fantasy seasons from Dustin Keller while with the Jets. Cook has twice the upside of Keller and is the most likely candidate to join the ranks of the elite TE's.")
Observations from round 7:
*-Anyone who's been paying attention to me from before the NFL draft knows that I really like Cordarrelle Patterson and I was really surprised and disappointed he got selected this early. Xs &Ys took him here and I was really hoping he would last a little longer.
*-I traded away the first pick of round 8 in a prior deal and tried to trade back into round 7 to grab a WR as I figured the run on WR's was going to knock me down into a lower tier group by the time I picked again at the end of round 9. Unfortunately, there were no takers.
*- When it came to my pick I could either gamble on a WR, or I could try to stay ahead of the next run, which I figure was going to happen with the TE's. 5 TE's had come off the board by the end of round 6, and I didn't want to be on the tail end of the run on them as I wasn't sure if Cook would make it thru and I am convinced the Rams are going to take full advantage of his superior size and skills.
Round 8
1) WR Kenny Britt (DraftCalc; comment: "Fact: Kenny Britt is younger than AJ Green, and the same age as Julio Jones. Britt is almost insanely-undervalued in most leagues. He is just getting going.")
2) RB Johnathan Franklin (Fantasy Taz)
3) RB Jonathan Stewart (FantasyIndex; comment: "despise the Carolina running game, but talented starters can only fall so far")
4) RB Shane Vereen (Xs &Ys Podcast; comment: "Maybe no one was considering him but with RBs dwindling fast, I felt I had to secure player who is a must for me as Ridley owner. Now I can breathe easy at my RB1 spot (low-end as it may be)"
5) RB Zac Stacy (Dynasty Football Warehouse; comment: "We've been pimping this kid since long before the draft where he went to a favorable landing spot in STL. There is definitely risk, but in the end I think this is his job. Has a similar skill-set and compares well to Rice/MJD IMO. Swinging for the fences here.")
6) TE Tony Gonzalez (Wild Thing Football)
7) RB Mark Ingram (DrFootball)
8) TE Vernon Davis (Fantasy Knuckleheads)
9) TE Dennis Pitta (RotoProfessor)
10) WR Steve Johnson (Bruno Boys)
11) WR Kendall Wright (FootballGuys; comment: "Got sniped by Marc of Bruno Boys on Steve Johnson. Great value there. I'm a big fan of any WR who can consistently get good separation and Wright definitely qualifies. He is a young and emerging talent who reminds me of Steve Smith in that he is elusive in open space, but he can also be a reliable target down field - 61% reception percentage. His ceiling is largely dependent on his QB, so there is some concern there with Jake Locker. If he increases his yards per catch of 9.8, look out. He quietly totaled 60 receptions as a rookie despite not having as many snaps as Kenny Britt and Nate Washington. Interestingly enough, he still led the team in targets with 104. He's a great talent waiting to emerge. I seriously was considering him over Steve Johnson, now it's a no-brainer pick for me. Thanks Marc")
12) TE Tyler Eifert (FantasyIndex; comment: "Sniped on Pitta. Nice pick! Hope Eifert is a quick study, cause I need him.")
Observations from round 8:
*-The TE run kind of happened and I'm sure Cook wouldn't have come out of this round. Taking him at the end f round 7 was the right move. When you pick at the corners of a draft, you have to be able to know when the runs are happening and decide whether you can weather the run and still come out okay, or be ahead of it.
*-Dynasty Football Warehouse got one of my favorite pre-NFL draft RB sleepers in Zac Stacy. I was really hoping Stacy would make it back to me in round 9. But, apparently, I'm not the only one who believes Stacy is a lot more likely to be the future (and likely the present as well) for the Rams than either Daryl Richardson or Isaiah Pead.
*-DraftCalc's point about Britt's age has validity, but in reality Britt is only 49 days younger than Green while he is 5 months older than Jones. But that wasn't the point. His point was that Britt is the same age as these other two and has displayed big time ability like both, but doesn't get the same consideration as them. But a lengthy rap sheet and injury history will do that to any high upside player.