#it was two for him one for mae and one abstaining; that's just numbers at that point

[invinciblerodent]

making the decision on who to back for Archon is...

ngl, it feels a little different now, from the way they perhaps intended when they were writing that quest

[thedenfantasyleague]

The Den Fantasy League Weekly Recaps: 2020 Draft Recap

Gentlemen,

Welcome to a new year. Although this year may look different and come with plenty of unknowns, I’m looking forward to venturing into the chaos with you all. As we begin our fifth year, we’ve seen three champions in our first four seasons. We’ve seen plenty of chirping, gamesmanship, and some excuses but it’s been a great four years thus far and I’m excited about our newest season. With that being said let’s get into this year’s draft recap and to assist I used RotoTrade.com’s draft analysis to be unbiased in final analysis.

Draft Order:

The Perfect Ten

Hank Mardukas

11-4-1 PVO

Kalabar’s Revenge

Viking Quest

Team Timshel

Debbie Rowe

Virg. Gardening Minmaxers

Mr. Magorium

Wilmore Cinderella

Fire Jarn

Tua Days

The Perfect Ten

Our two-time champion started off the draft in the first overall spot. Ian normally prefers to be at the back of the draft to double up but this time he had the benefit of getting the first overall pick and the back-to-back picks starting at the end of the 2nd round. With his first pick, Ian took the easy number one in CMC, arguably the best player in the 2019 season. In Ian’s position (and those like him towards the beginning and end) he had to look out into the distance and make some moves on who may not be available at his next turn. With that, he picked up Mahomes with his second pick at the end of the second round. E’s team is riddled with players who may not have the splashy seasons all the time but could step up into some interesting roles. 

E’s draft grade from RotoTrade.com:

Hank Mardukas

Scott was number two and had the easy pick of picking whomever Ian didn’t pick. In this case, it was Saquon who fell to Scott and the second pick. Saquon was again a top pick this year and hoping to bounce back after an injury plagued season last year. Like the bookends of the draft, Scott found himself with double picks and went with his two starting WRs in Godwin and Thielen. Scott made some interesting picks and continued to sure up his WRs in picking the intriguing Hollywood Brown after taking his QB in Dak. Scott eventually took a chance on the resurgence of Gronk, hoping he returns to his old self with his reunion with Tom in Tampa. It was good to see Scott at an inperson draft for potentially the first time in history. 

Scott’s draft grade from RotoTrade.com:

11-4-1 PVO

Dylan was nice enough to host us at his house for this years draft but for Dylan, some times home field advantage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Dylan had his whole set up ready, or as he called it, his War Room. After continuing the trend of getting the best available at the top of the board, Dylan took Zeke (although I’m not too sure he was crazy about it). From there he continued into the skill positions by taking two of the highest paid NFL players in Julio and Kittle. A few picks late came controversy. If you drafted live and weren’t in the room where it happens (a little Hamilton pun for ya there), Dylan had a snafu. Here’s the scene: Dylan is on the clock and talking about he can’t take AJ Green. Just on principle. He starts clicking frantically and, next thing you know, he’s taking AJ Green. Weird, right? Dylan claims he was clicking Jordan Howard. He’s adamant. As a commissioner to the people, we poll the in-house participants and with our quorum we decide to pause the draft. With said quorum a vote is taken (I abstain) and the vote was to allow Dylan to re-pick. Is it a conspiracy and/or controversial? Yes. I won’t address it further and my story will match any other who was on site. Back to the normal draft: Dylan had a steal in the 11th round by taking John Matthew Stafford. Happy for him. Is this the year Dylan turns it around?

Dylan’s draft grade from RotoTrade.com:

Kalabar’s Revenge

After our draft we FaceTimed G to figure out why he was auto-drafting. We were greeted with Katie Mae at her 23rd birthday celebration (insert Blink-182 joke here). To her surprise we weren’t made, just disappointed as G tends to bring some good fun to the draft. Towards the end of the draft, G made an appearance in the chat and summaried his draft in the following manner, “I might do well this year since I didn’t make any of the picks” or something like that. He may have had a point. When we finally got G on the phone he was pretty drunk. So much so that he exposed himselfto the crew. Katie wasn’t a fan of that (at least in that moment…). As you can imagine, auto-drafting just goes best available and that’s what G got. His first pick was Dalvin then followed up with a slew of WRs in Devante, Evans, and Ridley. His auto-draft path eventually selected both Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers. Two aging QBs who could still have a lot of upside to them. There is always a risk when auto-drafting but it may have just paid off for G. After the draft he was given his chance to provide his one season long Kurse of the season. I’ll give you one guess as to who it was.

G’s draft grade from RotoTrade.com:

Viking Quest

Have I mentioned how luck I am to be your Commish? It’s truly an honor. As for my draft, I was just happy to be there. Continuing the trend, I took the best available and went for Alvin Kamara. I know he’s in the middle of a contract dispute but I have no doubts he’ll be on the field and ready to roll for week one. The Saints are all in this year and I’m hoping their success will ride on his shoulders. My next pick was an interesting one. Too often I draft with my heart and not with my mind. Luckily on this one I was able to do both. Was Kelce the “best available” at that time? Not necessarily (he was in the mix) but why mess with a good thing? I’m happy for my guy after receiving his new contract and I know he’ll continue to produce as he always has. Surprisingly for me, this draft was very WR heavy, something I don’t normally do. However, you have to make do with what’s there at the value you’re taking it at and that’s what I tried to do. After Dylan picked Stafford before he could fall to me, I knew it was time to take a QB. Would I take Rodgers while he was still available? No. Absolutely not. In the words of Johnny Drama, the main character of Viking Quest, “it’s the principle”. I went with my heart and history. I am a Cam believer. Truth be told I listened to a podcast on Cam recently and again went with my heart. I believe in him and so should you. But hey, I’m just happy to be here. 

My draft grade from RotoTrade.com:

Team Timshel

Our defending champ was back this year to defend his title in a very odd season. The champ wasted no time in mixing things up and throwing the whole draft for one participant (more on that later). Mike took his own path in the draft and opted to not take the best available being Michael Thomas but instead went with one of the hottest RBs at the end of last year: Derrick Henry. He then went another RB in the new Texan David Johnson followed by Amari, Ertz, and finally rounded out his fifth round by taking Russ Wilson at QB. Mike’s team has always been in contention and finally came to fruition last year and this year he is hoping to do the same. So much so that he’s bought in on the Titans having a successful year after taking three players Friday and now reportedly have signed Clowney. Mike’s hoping that success on the field can aid him in his quest to be our first repeat winner. 

Mike’s draft grade from RotoTrade.com

Debbie Rowe

The man looked up from his screen both confused and shocked. His whole plan had come crashing down. He would need to act fast or everything could fall apart. Sounds like a scene from a novel but this was real life for one Jake Taylor. As previously mentioned, Jake was shook after Mike picked Henry right before Jane. Jake had been doing research for days, all under the assumption he would have Henry there to take. It was so simple but then the moment came and it all came crashing down. Jake had to act fast and instead of picking Michael Thomas or even the next highest rated RB, he took a chance in the rookie: Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Jake then followed by taking Chris Carson, JuJu (USC Trojans, Fight On), his little Cooper Kupp, and his Bengal: Tyler Boyd. Jake then proceeded to take the player behind DraftJoshAllen.com in Josh Allen. Finally, he took one of the first kickers off the board: J-Tuck. Jake currently hates his team but sometimes that means we got the team we didn’t want but the team we actually needed the whole time.

Jake’s draft grade from RotoTrade.com

Virg. Gardening MinMaxers

Al took an interesting strategy for this year’s draft and I believe he participated via his phone when he was plugged in. Al started his team off very WR heavy by taking Thomas after his brief slide and taking Hopkins in the second round. If you would have told Al that in 2018 he’d have both Le’Veon and Gurley on his team in 2020 he would have been stoked but both of these backs haven’t had the past years we and they would have hoped for, leaving some questions for the 2020 season. In between of picking three QBs (Kyler, Brady, and Burrow) Al was able to snag AJ Green after the 11-4-1 PVO debacle. Like all teams, our current Cabana Boy has a team full of question marks but with a lot of potential. Can he get it done this year or be our first repeat Cabana Boy?

Al’s draft grade from RotoTrade.com:

Mr. Magorium

Gabe is officially back to Mr. Magorium after last year’s GM change. If you recall, G started off horrendously after the initial week one Kurse from Kalabar. After week one, the Kurses continued for weeks on end until finally Gabe turned his team over to Remus Lupin to help fight the spirits. It paid off for him as he had an incredible second half run. Gabe reentered with an interesting first pick. Gabe passed on some other RBs to select Cincy’s own Joe Mixon. I wonder if Gabe will change his name to Mixon it Up? Following that pick, Gabe focused on his skill players by taking another RB in Aaron Jones then following with three straight WRs including OBJ, Woods, and Diggs. Gabe was eventually forced to take Drew Brees as his QB, something he wasn’t thrilled about. As Gabe surveyed his final draft results we reached out to Kalabar to see who his official Kurse of the Year went to and unfortunately for Gabe it falls on him. Will we see the same impact we saw last year or has Gabe figured out how to reflect said Kurses? Only time will tell. 

Gabe’s draft grade from RotoTrade.com:

Wilmore Cinderella

“Yuck” - E Birch. That’s how Ian categorized JP’s predicament after seeing who would be falling into that #10 spot. Unfortunately for JP he felt the same way. There wasn’t much optimism going into the draft for JP and ended up picking Josh Jacobs over a slew of other RBs with his first round pick. He then continued by taking more skill positions like Ekeler, AJ Brown, Lockett, and finally the new TB Buc Fournette before selecting the newly paid Deshaun Watson to be his QB for the year. With his last pick he selected Scotty Miller or as he likes to call him “the new Julian Edelman”. JP’s team is interesting because he appears to have some talent that, if given the opportunity on their respective teams, could turn into valuable contributors to his team’s success for the year. Only time will tell if JP and Wilmore Cinderella can join E as the only two-time champs. 

JP’s draft grade from RotoTrade.com:

Fire Jarn

I’m excited for Robbie to once again be in our league but I’m starting to get worried. Does he not care anymore? Should we be concerned? Should we look to replace him? Year after year we get an auto-draft and I’m just not sure if he wants to even be in the league. Rob, if you’re reading this it’s okay to opt out, we’ll still be your friends. For everyone else, if you’re reading this go ahead and drop a nice word to Robbie in the chat. He may need it. However, with Rob’s draft, the computer did him a lot of favors. The computer selected the popular Miles Sanders with his first pick and followed up by taking Tyreek A. Rob, Sutton, and Singletary to round out his skill players. The computer doing what the computer does took two QBs who seem to always be fighting off the injury bug: Wentz and Sloppy Roethelisberger. Finally, with their second to last pick Robbie’s computer team selected Matt Gay, a kicker who is recently unemployed. I really do want Robbie to have fun this year and find success but I’m just happy he’s our friend. Wouldn’t you agree?

Robbie’s draft grade from RotoTrade.com:

Tua Days

Our final pick from round one and our first pick in round two had an interesting draft time as it coincided with the Heat game. Vinny’s official post-draft statement was: Did the Heat distract my draft process? Yes. Will it hinder my teams performance? ABSOLUTELY NOT. On my name sake My team will work twice as hard to grind every week except week 8. Speaking of the Heat, they choked in game four. Sad to see. Vinny started his draft by taking Chubb with his first pick followed up by his beloved Kenyan Drake. Vinny then took the second QB off the board by taking Lamar at the end of the third round. He then took his fellow Raven in TE Mark Andrews and then his very own Dolphin in Parker. I’m not sure if Vinny drifted back to auto-draft as he ended up with two defenses but if it was intentional I’m sure he has a reason that makes zero sense. Either way, we’ll find out this season if you should never draft distracted. Heat in five. 

Vinny’s draft grade from RotoTrade.com

That is this year’s draft recap. Games start Thursday and I’m looking forward to getting some sort of normalcy back in our lives. As always, set your lineups accordingly.

Your beloved Commissioner,

Jared R. Mosqueda