On Labor Day night, September 6, 2021, General Managers from across The League gathered around to draft the new years rosters. While not all GM’s could make an in person appearance on the zoom call, all 12 were able to actively take part in this years 15 round draft. It is a league full of veteran GMs along with two new 1st timers, Evan Unruh and Shelton Tillery, trying their luck at the glory of becoming Fantasy Football Champions. Returning you have multi-champion Nolan Cannon who looks to continue his dynasty by adding another ring to the collection, Justin Gandy who looks to run the table for his second title, and Will Basden who is getting ready for his title defense this season. The rest of the crew is back once again looking for their first championship run since the establishment of the league back in 2016. With the draft completed, its time to give out draft grades.
We will start with the Basdenators: Overall Draft Grade – B
Solid draft by the defending champion. He came in with a plan in mind and executed it to a T. Being the 12th slot in the 1st round, he had to bite his time but once he was on the board he got a solid one-two punch in the snake draft. He covered his starting WR and RB slots well and drafted one of the most consistent QBs over the past few years when it comes to putting up points. Not to mention his backup is one of the most anticipated rookie QBs to hit the NFL. It is noteworthy to mention that 3 of his starting skill player all have the same bye week (7). His bench players may have taken a hit by drafting a QB in round 5, but Russel Gage is a name that a lot of experts like in late rounds. We’ll see how it pans out for him week to week.
Blow Your Waddle: Overall Draft Grade – B+
Blow Your Waddle’s GM strategically picked out the two RBs he wanted and went all in to get them. After that he loaded up with a talented receiving core that is led by Detroit Lions tight end T.J. Hockenson. Hockenson is a popular pick by many to emerge as a breakout tight end in 2021 which earned the GM an A grade at the TE position. The GM also meticulously waited until the perfect time to draft QB Tannehill who is someone who will manage a game and keep turnovers to a minimum. What may be most impressive about this draft is the flex/bench players that were drafted. Jakobi Meyers and Jaylen Waddle are guys whose name continually pop up as sleepers. One thing to note, unlike most of the other GMs, he didn’t draft any depth for his QB or TE position. We will have to keep an eye out for those bye week moves and/or trade rumors.
Bishop Sycamore: Overall Draft Grade – B-
Reports have been confirmed that the GM of Bishop Sycamore was driving while handling communications with the draft team under the quick timer of the clock. And it definitely shows in some of the aspects of his draft. One thing that was evident in his decisions was that he wanted to get as much talent as possible in the skill positions and I think he achieved just that. He filled out his starting line up to match the two flex positions, which is a new addition to the league this year. Similarly to the GM for Wilkes, he also on drafted one QB, and he is a ROOKIE at that. Mac Jones will begin the season as the Patriots’ starting quarterback but I think it is safe to say the Bishop Sycamores GM isn’t expecting the QB spot to make or break this team.
Mitch, You Guessed It: Overall Draft Grade – B+
The only other GM to take two RBs back to back in the first two rounds made a great decision in doing so as his RBs gave him the highest grade of that position in the league. Some fans questioned his strategy taking a TE and QB in the next two slots; however, he managed to get one of the hottest names in Josh Allen who ended last season with fantastic numbers. The TE Waller has also put up top 5 numbers the past two seasons and looks to continue that run this year. One thing that frustrated fans the most was his decision to wait until the 5th round to draft a WR but only time will tell if that was the right thing to do or not. Aiyuk is a sleeper that will make the GMs decision a good or bad one.
Unvaxed Swine: Overall Draft Grade – B-
The GM here performed what could be considered a masterpiece during the first half of the draft. He filled all of his starting spots with some great talent and didn’t try and force any picks. He chose his positional needs with the way the draft was unfolding. He didn’t take a position to early or too late. He got a QB in Rodgers who, when healthy, is a top 3 QB more times than not. His top 4 skill guys are relatively young on average, but are big targets for their respective teams. If only there wasn’t a second half. His bench players have rated for him a low letter grade which doesn’t seem to give him a whole lot of options for depth. And given that his TE Gronk’s teammate and fellow TE O.J. Howard is back from an injury it could cut into some of his production. To leave on a positive note, I do think that he secured one of the most experienced QB2s in the last round in veteran Fitzpatrick.
Tucker half Chubb in: Overall Draft Grade – B+
The 3-time champ with maybe one of the most questionable drafts of the night on paper comes in with one of the highest grades on paper. Maybe there is a method to his madness. I mean I did just say he is a 3-time champ. He jumps right off the bat and is the first one to take a QB in the early round 2. He did take one of the most electric QBs in the game right now and will get a lot of points from Mahomes. His RB stable is very solid with his top two being drafted within the first 3 rounds. But his WR core takes a toll from that as they are filled with guys who are sleeper picks and inconsistent at best. If those draft pics pan out and if off the field troubles don’t follow Antonio Brown down to Tampa, then we might could witness another magical year from this GM.
Team Joshholtcamp: Overall Draft Grade – B
Team Joshholtcamp’s GM was the first to select a TE in the draft picking Kelce in the second round. And with good reason too as he secured arguably the best TE in the game right now. As far as TE’s go, he couldn’t have graded any higher. He also decided to go with a very RB heavy team so you should see a lot of RBs in the flex positions for him. We will have to keep an eye on the QB situation with this team as Dak Prescott is coming off of a gruesome ankle injury. The biggest question that this team has is the WR core. 3 out of the 4 receivers selected haven’t eclipsed the top 30 in terms of points by WRs the past 2 years. The one positive that comes from this is there is a potential to use those RBs as leverage for trades.
Team SheltonTill: Overall Draft Grade – B
The first of our two new GMs to the league had a decent day at the office in his first draft. With the first overall pick he chose the RB McCaffrey who is the odds on favorite to win NFL.com’s Offensive Player of the Year award. However, this will require him to stay healthy which was an issue last season. None the less, a healthy McCaffrey is going to put up big numbers. This GM was also the only other GM to take a QB round two in the 2 year vet, Murray, who has put up video game number since coming to the league. He picked up some solid depth in his positions but doesn’t have an elite WR that is a reliable option week in and week out. Some fans and spectators thought the backup TE picks and K pick could have been pushed down to later rounds to focus more on WRs. He did nab a solid QB 2 option who has been in the league since 2008 and still putting up top 15 numbers.
Hung Dawg: Overall Draft Grade – B
The other of the rookie GMs new to the league also had a draft that has few things to complain about. He took a more experienced approach and filled up his skill spots dispersing his picks between RB, WR, and TE for the first 5 rounds. Then, being satisfied with his starting skill positions, decided to draft the best to ever QB in Tom Brady. Brady isn’t going to lead the pack of QBs in points this year, but he is as consistent as they come and is one of the best managers of the game. And his numbers could improve with the additions to Tampa this offseason. Much like his Rookie counterpart, he chose to draft 3 TEs and 2 Defenses. Those picks could have easily been used to secure a deeper group within the WRs and RBs because out of the first 2-3 draft picks, you’re left with more questions than answers.
McRib is Back!: Overall Draft Grade – B
The GM of McRib is Back! was slated with the number 2 pick and couldn’t have chose a better pick in Derrick Henry. Coming off of his best season yet where he was awarded AP Offensive Player of the Year and was arguably snubbed from the MVP honors, look for this back to have another huge year behind the offensive line of the Titans. The GM also snagged him a high caliber WR, TE, and QB in the following rounds. The problem with that is he may have went a little too heavy on the RB picks after those rounds. His next best WR is OBJ who just hasn’t been the same OBJ since moving to the Browns. He may have also taken a defense a little too early feeling the pressure of Hung Dawg’s Rookie GM choosing a defense the round before.
Team tstennis3: Overall Draft Grade – B-
In a draft that was heavily a RB draft in the early rounds, Team tstennis3’s GM decided that after he had his star RB, that he was building a monster of a WR group. And that he did. Maybe one of the best if not the best WR groups in the league. One thing is for sure, he will have a tough decision each week with the two flex options with the slew of skills that he has. In addition, he waited until the most opportunistic time to draft a QB in Stafford who will be in new colors this year. Waiting until the late rounds to draft a TE won’t give him the best TE in the league, but he still has a solid option in Henry and his Flex options benefitted from it. The worst part of this draft is easily the defense in the 15th round in CAR. The plus side to that is that they have the Jets week 1 and then he can re-evaluate if he wants to stick with them or not.
Mayfield a Team, May Not: Overall Draft Grade – B-
The GM given the opportunity to draft 11th overall in this years draft came out swinging back and forth between RBs and WRs loading up his skill players for the 6 spots of a starting lineup. But if you take a deeper look at the draft pics, he drafted a lot of unknowns here. With a relatively young team averaging 2.8 years of experience between the bunch (excluding the 15 year vet K). It will be interesting to see how these young players progress as the season goes on. With that being said, he has a good problem in making some tough decisions each week for a starting lineup. The one thing that is a potential to hurt this GM is the fact he waited so late to draft a QB as he was one of the last ones to draft a QB in round 12. The biggest surprise for this GM was that he never drafted a Defense. He looked totally unprepared for the last 5 rounds of the draft and it showed. Luckily it won’t be hard to find a defense to pick up but it could come back to hurt him in week 1 depending on the defenses that are left to choose from.
Winner of the Draft: Team Wilkes: I think that the draft strategy played out by the GM here worked to perfection as the draft ended up being heavily RBs taken in the first few rounds. This gave him time to pick up some solid WRs needed and a perfectly timed QB pick to get a player who isn’t going to do anything to hurt you.
Loser of the Draft: Hung Dawg: Honestly I think this rookie GM will be fine in years to come as he has had previous experience from inside the league. It’s been rumored that he has been trying to buy into the league for some time now and when the teams previous GM, Jake Griffin, left he quickly reeled in his spot. However, I just think that his drafting process exposed his inexperience as he drafted non WRs and RBs for 8 of his 15 slots which limits his options when it comes to those two crucial positions.
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