The Fantasy Points staff recently concluded its startup dynasty draft so it’s time to break down my overall draft strategy and my individual picks. Please check out all 228 selections with pick-by-pick analysis by our 12 staff writers. The league’s scoring is PPR with 4-point TD passes and one-point deductions for interceptions and fumbles. The full starting lineup is 10 players: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 4 RB/WR/TE FLEX.
Team Brolley
Ages as of Sept. 1, 2020.
Quarterbacks (2)
Deshaun Watson (Hou, 24)
Jared Goff (LAR, 25)
Running Backs (6)
Derrick Henry (Ten, 26)
J.K. Dobbins (Bal, 21)
Devin Singletary (Buf, 22)
Ronald Jones (TB, 23)
David Johnson (Hou, 28)
Darrynton Evans (Ten, 22)
Wide Receivers (9)
Michael Thomas (NO, 27)
Courtland Sutton (Den, 24)
Tee Higgins (Cin, 21)
N’Keal Harry (NE, 22)
Parris Campbell (Ind, 23)
Devin Duvernay (Bal, 22)
John Ross (Cin, 24)
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (Phi, 23)
Tyrell Williams (LAC, 28)
Tight Ends (2)
T.J. Hockenson (Det, 23)
Chris Herndon (NYJ, 24)
Dynasty Draft Strategy
Call my team the “Capitals” because draft capital and overall organizational investment in my players drove many of my picks, especially in the middle rounds. I selected 17 players that were selected on Days One and Two of the NFL Draft, with only Chris Herndon (2018 fourth round) and Tyrell Williams (2015 UDFA) failing to be selected in the first three rounds.
All six of my running backs were selected on Day Two of the draft — three second-round and three third-round picks — and even my starting TE, T.J. Hockenson, was the eighth overall pick in 2019. I have only two players who are with their second organization, and even those players have been heavily invested in. David Johnson was essentially swapped for one of the league’s best receivers in DeAndre Hopkins, and Williams received $22 million guaranteed from the Raiders last off-season.
Draft capital clearly drove many of my decisions in our dynasty draft, and I also went into the draft looking for young players that were being overlooked. I have found that the fantasy community, in general, overvalues rookies a bit coming into the league and undervalues second-year players that underwhelmed as rookies. I attacked this by drafting four second-year receivers that have been severely discounted from a year ago in T.J. Hockenson, N’Keal Harry, Parris Campbell, and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. I also like to look for the undervalued second-year WRs in re-drafts, as well, which led me to draft D.J. Chark a ton last season.
I’m still stunned I was able to draft Deshaun Watson with the 70th overall pick, or 44 picks after Lamar Jackson and 49 picks after Patrick Mahomes. What outright larceny. In general, I think the fantasy community is sleeping on Watson’s potential to be the QB1 this season because DeAndre Hopkins is gone…so much so that I decided I’m going to write up an article about it for the week of June 8. Keep an eye out for it.
I tried to blend youth for future seasons with title aspirations for the 2020 season. My entire roster will be 28 years old or younger as of Sept. 1 with 15 of my 19 players being 25 years old or younger by the time September rolls around.
I think I have a shot to win the 2020 championship because I have three players with legitimate chances of being the top-scoring fantasy players at their position in Michael Thomas, Derrick Henry, and Watson.
My team is loaded with players who should be trending upward at the end of the 2020 season, but I could compete for a title this year if I get a player or two to hit at the following positions:
RB — J.K. Dobbins, David Johnson, and/or Ronald Jones
WR — N’Keal Harry, Parris Campbell, John Ross, Tyrell Williams, and/or Tee Higgins
TE — T.J. Hockenson and/or Chris Herndon
I like the chances of one of my running backs and tight ends hitting this season, and I’m easily most concerned about one of those wide receivers hitting. Overall, I think my team is built to win a title starting in 2021, but I certainly have enough talented players to compete this season if I get a few players to break out this season. I’m hoping these organizations know what they’re doing by selecting my players so high in the NFL Draft!
Pick-by-Pick Analysis
| Round | OVR | Selection | Comment |
| 1.03 | 3 | Michael Thomas (WR, NO) | I hated drawing the #3 pick with a bit of a dropoff after Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley. I grabbed the no-doubt #1 WR in the league right now. Thomas will be just 27 years old, and he should have a 5-7 year run at or near the top of the position. |
| 2.10 | 22 | Derrick Henry (RB, TEN) | I had a long wait to grab my first RB, but I was quite happy to see a player of Henry’s caliber still on the board at 22nd overall. He led the league in rushing last season, he’s missed just two games in four seasons, and the Titans are fully committed to feeding him the rock every week. He’s part of a dying breed as a true workhorse back, and if he sees just a slight uptick in passing production he has a path to RB1 production this season. |
| 3.03 | 27 | J.K. Dobbins (RB, Bal) | Henry is my stud for the present and I landed my potential stud for the future in Dobbins. It was probably a small reach to take Dobbins here, but I really needed to grab a RB I wanted at this spot or else the position was going to be pretty picked over by the time I selected again at 46th overall. Dobbins is seemingly a perfect fit for Baltimore’s downhill rushing attack. He has a huge dynasty ceiling, and he has league-winning upside if he unseats Mark Ingram as the lead runner at some point in 2020. |
| 4.10 | 46 | Courtland Sutton (WR, Den) | Sutton broke out in his second year with 70+ catches and 1100+ yards while averaging 2.08 yards/route run. He certainly has more competition for targets in Jerry Jeudy, Noah Fant, and K.J. Hamler this season. He also needs Drew Lock to take a major step forward in his second year, but Sutton has a chance to be a dominant downfield and red-zone threat for years to come. |
| 5.03 | 51 | Devin Singletary (RB, Buf) | Singletary emerged in the second half of his rookie year after a hamstring slowed him to start the year. His 5.1 YPC led all RBs with 150+ carries, and he averaged 18.9 touches/game from Week 9 through the playoffs. The Bills added Zack Moss to take over the Frank Gore role, but Singletary should see more passing game work going forward. He was clearly the best player on the field in their playoff loss when they unleashed him as a receiver in the screen game and out wide. |
| 6.10 | 70 | Deshaun Watson (QB, Hou) | I was prepared to wait for a couple more rounds to take my quarterback, but I couldn’t pass on Watson this far into the draft. I had him rated behind only Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson at the position, who each went off the board in the 20s. Watson will turn just 25 years old this season, and he has a QB1, a QB4, and a QB2 finish to his name in his first three seasons. He’s my QB3 heading into 2020 because he could see more volume than ever before if the Texans have to play more aggressive because of their declining defense. |
| 7.03 | 75 | Tee Higgins (WR, Cin) | I got sniped big time here. After taking Deshaun Watson with the 70th overall pick, I had three players in mind for my 75th selection: DeVante Parker, Zach Ertz, and Michael Gallup. All three of those players went in the next four picks! I went with an upside pick in Higgins, who averaged 17.8 YPR and scored 25 TDs over his final two seasons at Clemson. Both A.J. Green and John Ross could be gone next season, and Higgins could be the main man for Joe Burrow for years to come. |
| 8.10 | 94 | T.J. Hockenson (TE, Det) | I was absolutely giddy about this pick. I was mildly surprised The Guru passed on Hockenson with the pick ahead of me. Rookie TEs almost never do anything, but I’m expecting Hockenson to take a leap in his second season with a healthy Matthew Stafford. Greg Cosell actually couldn’t find a weakness in Hockenson’s game when he broke down his Iowa tape. I’m getting Hockenson at his absolute cheapest price since I think he has the chance to become one of the next great TEs. |
| 9.03 | 99 | N’Keal Harry (WR, NE) | Injuries kept Harry from getting on the same page with Tom Brady and from making an impact as a rookie last season. The 2019 first-round pick is still just 22 years old with a wide-open path to a #1 WR role for years to come, and the Patriots gave him a vote of confidence by deciding not to add any WRs in the draft or free agency. Jarrett Stidham is a complete wild card at QB but, hopefully, I’m buying Harry when his stock is at its lowest. |
| 10.10 | 118 | David Johnson (RB, Hou) | I wasn’t exactly doing cartwheels after this pick, but DJ has a path to a huge workload behind an improving O-line. He also played a little better than people remember early last season before injuries really slowed him down. The fact that the Texans invested so much to trade for him by sending DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona also makes me feel better about his chances for the next 1-3 seasons. This is a total boom-or-bust pick, but I don’t mind making these types of picks 115+ picks into a draft. |
| 11.03 | 123 | Parris Campbell (WR, Ind) | This is the third second-year receiver that I’ve landed at discounted prices because of quiet rookie campaigns — I previously drafted T.J. Hockenson (94th) and N’Keal Harry (99th). I love targeting these types of players in re-draft formats, as well. Campbell flopped last season as a second-round pick because of a slew of injuries. The speedy WR should be prominently featured this season with Philip Rivers, and Campbell could play predominantly out of the slot, a spot where Keenan Allen posted 90+ catches and 1150+ yards in each of the last three seasons. T.Y. Hilton’s best years are likely behind him at the top of the depth chart, and Campbell will be battling with Michael Pittman for targets in the future. |
| 12.10 | 142 | Ronald Jones (RB, TB) | I’ve never been a huge RJII fan, but I’ll certainly take him as my fifth back in the 12th round. He hasn’t even turned 23 years old, and he made giant strides as a sophomore after a disastrous rookie campaign in 2018. He’ll be the starter heading into training camp in potentially one of the league’s best offenses. He’ll need to hold off their third-round pick Ke’Shawn Vaughn for early-down work and goal-line snaps. Jones is actually three months younger than Vaughn, but he has a major leg up in NFL experience heading into a season with perfectionist Tom Brady. |
| 13.03 | 147 | Devin Duvernay (WR, Bal) | This pick conflicted me since I’m trying to strike a balance between competing for 2020 and competing for the future. I nearly went for the 2020 help in Golden Tate with this pick, but I ultimately went with a Tate clone in the rookie slot WR out of Texas. Duvernay plays like a running back with the ball in his hands on crossing routes, or he can run past defenders on vertical routes with his 4.39-speed. I can already see Lamar Jackson hitting Duvernay in stride down the seams after dusting DBs in the middle of the field. |
| 14.10 | 166 | Chris Herndon (TE, NYJ) | Herndon had a completely lost sophomore campaign. He played just 18 snaps because of a four-game suspension and because of hamstring and rib injuries. Greg Cosell told us Adam Gase had big plans for Herndon last season to move him all around the formation after the 24-year-old TE had a promising first season with Sam Darnold in 2018. The Jets receiving corps remains extremely thin so Herndon has a chance to get his career back on track this season. If the stars align, Herndon has a chance to have a Darren Waller-like leap this season as a late-round re-draft pick. |
| 15.03 | 171 | Darrynton Evans (RB, Ten) | I was hoping to have the chance to take Evans if the time was right after selecting Derrick Henry 22nd overall. The Titans found their new lightning to Henry’s thunder in Evans, who creates yards with his speed (4.41 40-time) and his loose, shifty hips in a smaller package (5’11”, 203 pounds). Evans will likely just be a handcuff stash for 2020, but he could be the guy in Tennessee in 2021 if the Titans and Henry can’t work out a long-term deal. |
| 16.10 | 190 | John Ross (WR, Cin) | Ross was playing the best football of his career in the first month of last season before another injury slowed his third campaign. The Bengals declined his fifth-year option, but he has the chance to right the ship heading into free agency. Ross’ 4.22-speed should pair better with Joe Burrow’s downfield throwing compared to Andy Dalton’s. I think Ross, at just 24 years old, can have a strong second act to his career if he can ever stay healthy for an extended stretch of his career. |
| 17.03 | 195 | J.J. Arcega Whiteside (WR, Phi) | I strictly drafted JJAW based on his second-round draft capital from 2019. I sure as hell didn’t draft him based on how he played as a rookie. The Eagles put the pressure on him to step as a sophomore by drafting three WRs in April. JJAW said this off-season that he struggled to play through multiple injuries last season, which may explain his terrible rookie performance. In the 17th round, I’ll give Arcega-Whiteside a couple of months to show that he’s a much better player than he showed as a rookie. If he doesn’t show enough improvement, I won’t feel bad cutting the 86th WR selected in our draft. |
| 18.10 | 214 | Tyrell Williams (WR, LV) | Williams quietly posted 11+ FP in his first five games last season before plantar fasciitis completely sapped his 4.42-speed in his 6’4” frame. Las Vegas did give him $22 million guaranteed last off-season so they have plenty of reasons to give him another chance to establish himself with Derek Carr. Our guy Adam Caplan said Williams is the favorite to open the season as a starter with Henry Ruggs in two-WR sets. Williams, 28, will either step up and cement himself as a viable weapon in this offense or the Raiders will cut him since he has no guaranteed money left on his contract after the season. |
| 19.03 | 219 | Jared Goff (QB, LAR) | I selected Deshaun Watson pretty early for my standards at 70th overall so I wasn’t going to spend another pick at quarterback until the very end. The rest of the positions had been picked over anyway, but I had two strong QB options to choose from in Goff or Ben Roethlisberger in the final round. I ended up going with the 25-year-old Goff because of his long-term outlook over Big Ben’s short-term upside. Goff still finished second in pass attempts (626) and third in passing yards (4638) last season but his TD rate plummeted from 5.7% in 2018 to 3.5% in 2019. |
