My SFB11 Draft Diary – How a Championship Team was built (Part 1)
My SFB11 Draft Diary – How a
Championship Team was built (Part 1)
I decided to document my journey through drafting my team for The Scott Fish Bowl 11. For those who don’t know, the Scott Fish Bowl is an annual, charity focused, Fantasy Football league, designed like a pro-am tournament. It is a superflex league, so most teams start 2 QBs every week and you start 11 players from your 22 man roster. Starting lineups consist of 1 QB, 2 RBs, 3WRs, 1 TE, 3 Flex and 1 Superflex. There are also bonuses for Tight Ends with them getting an extra .5 per reception and first down. Kickers can be used in the flex spots as well. Many of the biggest names in Fantasy Football including the likes of Matthew Berry, Stephania Bell, Andy Behrens, Field Yates and others all participate in this tournament. Along with the Fantasy Industry heavy hitters, there are also former professional athletes, famous celebrities, many lesser-known fantasy analysts, and hundreds of fans.
This year, there are nearly 2,000
entrants in the tournament who are all vying to be crowned the SFB11 champion. The
winner of the tournament will always have that notch on their belt and often
times gets opportunities in the industry from it. Every year there are
interviews with the champion on various platforms and they're always invited on
the SFB Podathon the following year as well. I decided that I would document my
draft, round by round, giving my thoughts for each pick. I look at this article
as something I can point back to when I give my victory speeches at the end of
the tournament when I am hoisting the trophy!
Round 1 – The draft started with the 1 and 2
picks going Mahomes/Dak. I was targeting Dak and didn’t expect him to go so
high, so now I’m thinking I may get Kyler falling to me. I figured the next 4
picks would have some combination of CMC, Kelce, Allen and somebody. That
somebody could be Kyler, but I was holding out hope. It actually went Kelce,
CMC, Kyler and then we had a long pause, as the 6 pick was a guy with no
Twitter handle, and we had no way to ping him that he was on the clock. After 7
and a half hours of fearing he would take Josh Allen and I would have to pivot
to Lamar Jackson, he logged in and took Dalvin Cook! I RAN to the podium and
accepted my gift of Josh Allen at 1.07 and couldn’t be happier.
Round 2 – Behind me in the 1st
round went Waller, Lamar, Russ Wilson, Justin Herbert and George Kittle. 7 QBs,
3 TEs and 2 RBs in round 1 for the Boyz II Men division. My game plan all along
was to prioritize QB and I said I would absolutely have 2 QBs through 3 rounds
at minimum and may even go QB/QB. With that in mind (and a slight Tampa Bay
bias) I was looking at targeting Tom Brady in round 2. Rodgers went at 2.01,
followed by a mini RB run of Henry, Kamara and Saquan. Right before my pick,
the team in front of me took Brady! Snipe number 1! I considered Joe Burrow but
I didn’t want to force the QB pick. I’m thinking I may have a shot at Burrow,
Tannehill or Stafford in the next round so I decided to roll the dice. I snatched
up Zeke, who I expect to have a big season with a healthy O Line and Dak back
in the fold. I like my start and now I cross my fingers that one of those QBs I
like makes it back to me.
Round 3 – Right after my Zeke pick, Tannehill
goes off the board. I now only have 2 QBs I would like as my QB2 that I felt
worthy of my 3rd round pick and a long way to go. Let the sweat
begin! Pitts goes next, followed by Hurts so Im still alive. ESPN’s Daniel Dopp
then grabs Joe Burrow at the 2.10 and Im down to only 1 of my 3rd
round QB2 targets left! Next comes a RB run, Yes! 5 RBs come off the board in a
row and there’s only 2 more bullets to dodge and I can get Stafford. Tyreek
Hill comes off the board as the 1st WR taken at the 3.04 spot and
Joe Bond from Fantasy Six Pack decided to take a nap after being in the 2am
timeslot of the SFB Podathon. The anticipation is killing me! I know he wanted
Tyreek so now I am wondering if he takes a QB and snipes me for the second
round in a row. He must have woken up and saw the RBs flying off the board and
he decided to take Ekeler. Come to papa Matty Stafford! I love the upside he
brings me as my QB2 in a Sean McVay offense and going from the cold, miserable
Detroit living to LA life. I was able to stick to my plan while coming out of
the 3rd with a Josh Allen/ Ezekiel Elliot/ Matt Stafford start. I’m
loving this so far – Lets write this all down so when I win this thing and they
ask me about it on the Podathon next year I can cite this article!
Round 4 – Feeling saucy now, I’m looking at
how to build off this start that I love. Only 2 WRs went off the board through
3 rounds so I’m thinking about the possibility of stacking Stefon Diggs with
Josh Allen. 4 picks into the 4th round, Diggs comes off the board,
so there goes that. Ok, pivot, no problem. I can go RB2 here but looking at the
teams picking behind me, 2 of the 5 already have 2 RBs so I like the chance of
one of the 3 guys I like as a RB2 making it back to me in the 5th. Time
to focus on TE with the TE premium scoring in the Scott Fish Bowl. There are 2
picks in front of me and one of the teams has Pitts, so I’m fairly confident I
can land Andrews or Hockenson. Part of my strategy was to get one of the top 5
TEs and both of them are in that group for me (Pitts is not). I’m sold,
whichever one makes it to me is mine. Of course, neither gets picked and I had
a decision to make. I went back and forth and asked for advice from trusted
friends. The Razzbois said Andrews, the Besties said Hock, UGH! After much
debate I went with my heart. At the end of last season I said I would make sure
I got some Hock this year so I did it. I think he has a legitimate shot at 100
catches this year so TJ Hockenson come on down! Allen/Zeke/Stafford/Hockenson.
Building a championship team!
Round 5 – 3 more picks before me and Andrews
is still on the board. Uh oh, I may have to consider doubling down on TE if he
makes it back to me. That wasn’t part of the plan but the top 2 tiers of TEs
hold so much value in this format and both Hock and Andrews have top 3 upside
at the position with the target share they should get. David Montgomery and
Miles Sanders both went after my last pick so Chris Carson is the last of that
RB2 group that I was targeting in the 5th. I’m basically between
Carson and Andrews, lets hope one of them goes before me to make the decision
easier. Joe Bond swooped in with snipe number 2 and takes Carson the pick
before me. Do I pivot to WR or go double TE? Looking at data from last years
SFBX scoring, the top 6 TEs finished in the top 36 overall at the flex
position. Andrews, who was the 5th highest scoring TE, finished outscoring
all but 15 WRs and 14 RBs. With 20 RBs and 10 WRs gone I think the move is to
go Andrews and then hammer WRs. Many people who have SFB success attribute a
lot of the success to the play at TE so having 2 great ones gives me a
positional advantage and what will likely be a unique build. Hopefully this
sets the division into a little TE panic and people start reaching for TEs,
leaving me some WR value next round. I decided to go for it, this will be a
pivotal point in the draft. Bold strategy Cotton! Lets see if it pays off for
him!
Round 6 – That didn’t work, 3 WR in a row off
the board after my pick, then 2 RBs and another 3 WRs. I cant fault my
opponents, there were some great WR values there at this point in the draft. I
was looking at targeting Robert Woods to pair with Stafford but he went 6.01.
There were still solid WRs that Id like besides him. Julio, Evans, Godwin,
Thielen, Golladay and DJ Moore were all still there with 5 picks before mine. 22
RBs have come off the board though, so I started to consider maybe taking a RB2
and waiting on WR again. Mike Davis and Javonte Williams are still around and I
started to think maybe I go that route if they make it back to me. Of the 4
picks in front of me, 3 of them already have 2 RBs but Mike Blewitt of
Sportsgrid still has none. The next 3 picks were Evans, Godwin and Julio so my
WR queue was dwindling also. That’s 8 of the 10 after my last pick! I read the
draft board and all the guys picking after me had 2 or 3 RBs already and had
some other team needs so I rolled the dice and decided it was time to get my
first WR. The ones I really liked were starting to get picked off so I went
with Adam Thielen who finished last season as WR9 in SFB scoring. I closed my
eyes and prayed Davis or Javonte made it back to me.
Round 7 – Im really starting to dislike Joe
Bond picking ahead of me. For the 3rd time in the 4 times he picked
directly ahead of me he sniped me again. I missed out on Woods and had a big
star next to Cooper Kupp in my queue to get a pairing with Stafford. Time to
pivot again! My next WRs on my board were Golladay, Aiyuk and Dionte or I could
go RB2 with Javonte, Mostert or James Robinson. I decided to lean RB since that
dries up much quicker and I still have a long list of WRs to pick from the next
few rounds. Also, 8 of my 11 opponents picked a WR with their last pick so its
likely only a few others will go before my next pick. I debated the 3 RBs and
went with Javonte Williams as a high upside guy. The Broncos traded up for him
and if he does take over that backfield he could be a league winner.
Round 8 – I kind of showed my hand now, I need
to pound WR. You do need to start 3 WRs in the SFB format so I know I need to hammer
a couple in these coming rounds. Dionte went the pick right after me but I have
plenty of ones that I liked still on my list with my main targets being
Golladay, Aiyuk, Higgins and Sutton. There were 11 more picks ahead of me so I
closed my eyes and crossed my fingers that at least 1 of those 4 made it back
to me. Golladay and Sutton were both taken at the turn by the same guy who took
Woods from me so I cursed Andrew Rosien under my breath. With 3 more picks
before me I crossed my fingers for Aiyuk. All 3 teams picking in front of me
have 3 WRs so I was hoping they’d all go in a different direction. Of course,
the very next pick was Aiyuk, but luckily I was still able to land Tee Higgins as
my WR2 as the 29th WR off the board. I’m still a believer that
Higgins will continue the success he had last year and wont decline due to the
Chase addition. I think there is going to be plenty of volume there to support
all 3 receivers in that offense.
Round 9 – With 2 RBs and 2 WRs I could go
either direction with this next pick. James Robinson is still hanging around
and I like the value of him in the 9th if he makes it. I also
started to look at Trey Sermon who can also be a solid upside pick to go with
Javonte. I think if Robinson or Sermon are there I may go that route. The WRs I
like best here would be Robby Anderson, DeVonta Smith, Jerry Jeudy or Juju. There
are a bunch of WRs in that next tier that I’d be fine with as my WR3, so I
thought that Id only go that route if neither of those RBs were there for me. We
got through the turn with both RBs still there but Juju and Jeudy went off the
board. 3 more bullets to dodge! Joe Bond, who is becoming my nemesis, takes
Robinson with the pick before me and now has sniped me 4 of the 5 picks he has
had directly in front of me: Brady, Carson, Kupp and now JRob. I couldn’t
convincingly pull the trigger on Sermon, Anderson or Devonta and I was really
torn here. I was debating and debating and started getting angry texts from my
wife to come upstairs because it was getting late and we hadn’t had dinner yet
so I kind of rushed the pick but went with Smith. My thought was that at WR3 in
the 9th I could take a shot on the rookie with upside who doesn’t
have DJ Moore and CMC to compete with. If he doesn't pan out, I'll blame my wife for rushing me.
Round 10 – Lots of places I could go here. Anderson,
Cooks, Deebo, Landry, Fuller, Pittman all WRs I like. RBs are drying up but could
go Melvin Gordon to lock up the Denver backfield or guys like Michael Carter,
Ronald Jones, Zack Moss or Kenyan Drake. I could grab a QB3 like Zach Wilson or
Cam Newton before there are no more starters left or I could wait a couple of
rounds on a QB3 and take a Mac Jones, Tyrod, Love, or roll the dice on Watson. I
think if Wilson is there Ill consider it but if not I go a different direction.
I could even consider another TE and if Evan Engram lasts to me I may actually
do that. Zach Wilson made it back to me and with 4 of the 5 teams behind me
only having 2 QBs I decided to pounce on the last surefire starter available
for my QB3 and grabbed Wilson.
Round 11 – Coming back around I had a lot of directions I
could go once again. There were 41 RBs and 41 WRs off the board and I had 2 RBs
and 3 WRs on the roster. Kenyan Drake was the best RB option on the board in my
opinion and there were some good WRs left like Landry, Mike Williams, Pittman,
Waddle, Boyd and Fuller. Evan Engram was still sitting there and it was
tempting to grab that value on him in the 11th as well. Ultimately I
decided that I was going to go with the RB and lock up my 3rd RB to
get someone with a guaranteed role in the offense that I would be somewhat
comfortable putting in my lineup while I wait for Javonte to take over the role
in Denver. I can come back around with one of those WRs that make it back and
there were still plenty of solid late round TEs that I like later. Halfway
through the draft I like what my team is looking like!
Recap Through 11 Rounds:
QB- Josh Allen
RB – Ezekiel Elliot
RB- Javonte Williams
WR – Adam Thielen
WR – Tee Higgins
WR – Devonta Smith
TE – TJ Hockenson
Superflex- Matt Stafford
Flex – Mark Andrews
Flex – Kenyan Drake
Bench QB – Zach Wilson
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