Early 2018 Busts, Backfields to Avoid, Hate Blockers

Waterbed. I think that's a genuinely good bet. Yeah. I think it's a good bet for both sides because he's not being drafted. What's his... I was just going to look it up for you guys and you were all quick. No, I want to take... No, that's fine because you said he was seven last year. So he's currently being drafted, a fantasy football calculator in PPR leagues as the running back 13. Perfect. Yeah. Perfect. There you go. Yeah. He seemed... Yeah, that's a great bet. If you have a question, you want to ask...

Ask us the question? What happened there? I was thinking about something else. If you want to ask you some question, go to the website, the fancy footballers.com, click the submit a question button. Focus. Look, it's impossible to focus with the hay blockers. Dan Aykroyd over to the right of me. I mean, this is 302464 TFFB is the voicemail number. You can call, you can leave us a voicemail. Let's go ahead and answer one of those.

Hey, footballers. This is Alexa in Tampa. My question for you guys is in the Dynasty startup draft. Is it better to have the rookies integrated in that startup draft or to have a rookie draft completely separate? If so, which one would you do first? Just looking for some of the advantages and disadvantages of that. Anyway, thanks so much, guys.

Normally I'm asking Alexa questions. Oh, she's never heard that one. Well, Alexa asks the fantasy footballers. So here's what I will say to this. Yes. Because you're asking this question, I assume you are new to Dynasty, which welcome. Welcome to your latest obsession. I think for people who are new to Dynasty, it's more, it would be better for them to separate the dress because you don't know how to properly value

rookies just yet. So I would do your full redraft or your full startup draft and then you inverse the draft order and you do the rookie draft. That's what I was going to bring up. I like even if you're not new and I totally agree that a lot of times newer players, if this is a newer dynasty league, they don't know where to properly cycle in rookies and that can make one or two people that maybe has a better idea.

get an unfair advantage. It's such an important thing as a dynasty startup draft. But I actually like separating them even for vets of the dynasty world simply because being at the very top, getting the elite talent is, you know, that's an advantage, obviously. And to be able to reverse the other drafts and say, well, then you get the top end of the rookies this year, I feel like at the end of both drafts, the league is a little bit more even. Well, I will say.

This particular year, if you draw pick 12 or whatever the last thing is and you have the number one rookie pick, you've essentially picked up two first round picks in a startup. Which is good, though, that the person that gets, I mean, someone's going to get Barkley. And so I think that let them be the last pick in the first round. Here's an interesting question from Cole in Florida.

What are your thoughts on third round reversal drafts? In this format, the draft is just like a snake draft, except that everything flips at the end of the second round. We play in competitive, 12-team league with ballers preferred scoring. You guys do amazing work. I don't mind it. Yeah, I'm fine with it. I mean, there are, you know, those who believe it's more, that it's the more fair way to go with. Because it balances out since the first two rounds.

When you look at who are the highest, who scores the most, right? It's a very heavy curve for these players who are drafted in the first round. That's why they go there for a reason. So it's trying to balance that out a little bit for the players who are unfortunate in the back of the draft. Joshua in Oklahoma, would you trade Ezekiel Elliott for Jordan Howard and Dalvin Cook? Say it again. Ezekiel Elliott. For Jordan Howard and Dalvin Cook. Ooh.

No scoring format specified. Oh, man, that's a tough. I think I would rather have Jordan Howard and Dalvin Cook. I mean, it's very, very close, but those are two guys that I think both could finish as RB1s, not just, oh, they're good. I think they could be RB1 good. And so that's what it's going to take for me to give up, Zeke. I probably would keep Zeke. I think if I ask this question with David Johnson, is you could go out.

Levy on Bell, Todd Gurley. I would stick with the singular and assume that I can find that diamond in the rough at the running back position if I need to later. It's how good do you think Dalvin Cook is going to be? Yeah, now it does. It comes down to that too. All right, here's a voicemail question. Hey, footballers, what's going on? This is Doug in Massachusetts. Quick question for you. My lead is sticking about getting rid of the kicker this year. It just kind of seems too arbitrary, you know, so many times you may have a great week, but somebody else has a kicker that puts up.

20 points and you lose on a coin flip it seems like anyway so we're going to get rid of them what do you guys think about that yes Doug thanks a lot happy breathing intensifies yes yes Doug look if your league if the league is considering it and it's something where it's like people are frustrated with the fact that kickers make such a big difference and yet we

When's the last time we picked a kicker sleeper or kicker bust or kick. I mean, we list as fans. We spend all this time watching, reading, investigating, doing statistical analysis. We don't really do that.

on kickers but then they come in and you know your last pick in the draft you go and you pick one and there's so much randomness to it and yeah okay there's some things you can look at that are a little bit more predictive of kicker success but it's not what most people are doing they're not enjoying kicker research doing that so to me i say add another flex spot get rid of the kicker and have leagues that are even more active more enjoyable

and aren't done in by the, oh, gosh, this guy. My official, I'll go on record, my official opinion on kickers is I like them. I like them to not count for very much. I don't like taking plays out of the game of football that could be exciting and fun for fantasy football, however unpredictable they seem to be, and then making them irrelevant for fantasy football. Would you add punters?

Huh? Would I add punters? Because that's a game, you know, that's a play. That's a play that affects special teams and the kick return and things like that. I mean, look, yes, you could take that argument to the int degree. My whole point with it is that I still like them. I don't like them accounting for too much of your team's overall impact. Yeah, I tried to get rid of kickers forever in our league. It is strategic to.

stream kickers in a certain way. Look at the home matchup and the better kicker. There is strategy to those things. Absolutely. So I just don't want them to count. Like we had a league where it was, you know, five for a 50, four for a 40, three for a 30, extra point misses or minus two. Look, that's overcomplicated in my opinion. I like the influence of kickers on my enjoyment of the game, but I don't want them to...

Tip the scales on my matchup with Jason this week because he happens to sign one that scores 21 points, and I sign one that misses an extra point, and there's a 25-point gap between us because of kickers. Yeah, that's fair. If you can't get rid of them, Nerf them. Yeah, and Jason would kick them. You'd boot him the boot. You want to know my boom-boom kicker the week? It's nobody. You see Graham Ganoe's that Instagram video? Oh, so good. That made me so happy. I love Graham Ganoe is now my kicker number one.

That's how you judge your kicker order based on their Instagram performance. Based on family kickball games. Yeah, Graham Ganoe was playing his family kickball game and he's got some small children, probably similar to our kid's age. And they pitch him, you know, they pitch him the kick ball. It gives it a ginger kick. He gives it a light, nice little kick like six miles into the forest. It is gone. Go get it. All right, one more. Then he runs the lap around the bench. I know. I know. One more question from the Foot Clan.

Hey, ballers. Grammy here from California. Is it Grammy? That's what I heard. I'm trying to get your consensus on if you take two top three, top four, jerk you move for the rest of the position. For example, if you took wrong and Jimmy Graham, thanks. Well, Grams, Grammy.

I don't think it's a jerk move for the rest of the league. It's a jerk move for your own team. Yeah, I was going to say, I would be thrilled if the guy, like, if I'm near the turn and I'm trying to pick, and then it's one guy before me, and then he goes tight in, tight end. I'm doing a cartwheel. Go ahead. There's very, it's a very rare thing that you would ever want to do that. And it would have to be on the basis of the fact that you're comfortable flexing that player, like when Gronkowski and Hernandez were both startable assets or Gates and Gronk. You know, when.

You brought up Jimmy Graham. That's not a player I would do it with. If you told me that I could get a value on Travis Kelsey and I'd be flexing Kelsey and starting gronk, I could live in that world, but I wouldn't do it on the motivation you're bringing up, which is I'm going to get them by drafting Jimmy Graham. And the thing is, is, I mean, it's terrible to do if you're in a normal league where.

You have to start multiple wide receivers or running backs, and you only have to start one tight in because you're literally, yes, you might be able. That is your flex every week no matter what. Yeah, you might be able to flex then. You are hamstringing yourself. That's my biggest point is in your flex position, it's no longer a flex. It's two tight ends because you can't spend the draft capital on that player.

and then not play them. And now you've ruined your depth for injuries and things at running back and wide receiver by not taking a round four, round five running back or wide receiver. And on top of that, you are saying, I am hitting on the top two tight ends because the tight end three last year, Zach Hertz, who everyone loves Zach Kurtz because he was scoring great for a tight end. What would he have been at the wide receiver? Zachert scored 165 points. That would make him wide receiver 20. Yeah.

Yeah, and that's not worth hamstringing your team. Yes, that's hitting. That's hitting. That's hitting on the number three guy. Yeah, so look, Grammy. You would have to get the top two guys and you just, you're hamstringing your team. Don't do it. Unless it's a massive, like, you know, point in a half per reception type league with. Yeah, well, that's different. With a ton of flex or something like that. But I would just say Grammy, make some, make some cookies, make some apple pies. Come on over and we'll chat about tight ends. What? Grammy's the best thing. It's grandmother. It's grandmother. Mike.

Come on. Well, yeah, because... Mike is... No, no, no. Here's the thing. A Grammy is an award that they hand out for musicians. All right. Grammy is not... Yeah, but what about that sweet extended Duke Johnson joke? I am firmly... Come on. I am firmly entrenched. If we want to talk about, I don't know if this is a good or bad take in your opinion, but I am firmly entrenched. It's about to be a terrible take. Your grandparents? Yeah. Grandma, Grandpa. If you want it, Nana, Tita.

Grammy. Terrible take, Mike. You need to take yourself and get out. Well, I'm leaving then because Grammy and Pop-Pop matter to me. Okay? And they matter to my kids. And so did Nana and Papa. And Pop-Pop and Papa are different people. I think that's a strange way to refer to Frank Gore. That's all I said. The worst. Pop-Paw's going to have a good year down to their Miami. Play your best ball on draft.com slash ballers. Pah. Pah.

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on join the foot.com and follow us on Twitter at the FFBallers. The perpetual pen tapper, the arbitrary fridge reorganizer, the holiday party planner that starts in May. Principal knows your star employees have their work quirks. Principal also knows how much these employees mean to your business. You need them.

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