Devy Draft Diary

Nick Whalen Posted On February 16, 2015

chubb

The purpose of this article is to be completely transparent and provide insight into my mind during a recent devy draft.

Background

First, I need to set the stage with the backdrop of the league. It’s a 14-team devy dynasty league with staggered PPR scoring based on position. Running backs get .75 per reception, wide receivers earn a full point per reception while tight ends score 1.25 for every catch. Our starting requirements are QB/RB/RB/WR/WR/WR/TE/D/RB or WR or TE. During the season, we are allowed 22 roster spots in season and one taxi squad spot.

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Each year, we hold a one round developmental draft, adding 14 new devy players to the league and this is our fourth year in the league. My roster is sitting pretty well at quarterback with Andrew Luck and Sam Bradford. Running back will get a big boost next year with Todd Gurley, Melvin Gordon, Jay Ajayi, Mike Davis and I also have Corey Clement for future years when he enters the NFL. The only running backs I kept from the previous season were Dan Herron and James White. Antonio Brown, Alshon Jeffery, Brandin Cooks, Brian Quick, Greg Jennings, Dwayne Bowe and Duron Carter are my wide receivers. I will gladly welcome Laquon Treadwell when he enters the NFL as well. I have a big advantage over most teams at tight end with Jimmy Graham and Tim Wright. I own no rookie picks this year or next year because I traded them away in deals. I do however own devy picks 1.01, 1.04, 1.09, 1.10, and 1.14 in this draft. I have maintained my own devy pick in 2016 and also acquired another devy pick which should be in the top three from a conservative estimate.

Pre-Draft

I needed to identify the weak spots on my team and which players could help fill those voids. I feel great about Luck and Graham, but worry I don’t have a quality backup. I’m confident my backs will be solid for the next few years, especially with Clement waiting in the wings along with the infusion of 2015 rookies. I’m slightly concerned about my WR3-5 position if players don’t develop, but I have Treadwell there, too. Overall, no big weaknesses now or in the future. Considering I have five draft picks, I put in a lot of time into researching prospects.

Draft

I own picks 1.01, 1.04, 1.09, 1.10, and 1.14.

1.01 – Nick Chubb, RB Georgia

I’m on the clock and this pick has been decided for some time now. I briefly considered Ezekiel Elliot from Ohio State, but I believe that Chubb from Georgia is the better overall prospect. Considering I don’t have the immediate need of a running back, the one year of wait time didn’t affect my decision.

1.02 – Ezekiel Elliott, RB Ohio State
1.03 – Tyler Boyd, WR Pittsburgh

The same owner held both of these picks and I tried to move up from 1.04 to grab either of these players. From negotiations, I realized he was higher on Elliott than I was. However, I wasn’t sure if he was going to take Boyd, Auburn receiver D’haquille Williams or De’Runnya Wilson of Mississippi State. I tried to move up because I had Boyd higher than the other two, but I didn’t want to pay a whole lot because I still liked a number of players. Ultimately, we couldn’t come to an agreement and he made his picks.

1.04 – De’Runnya Wilson, WR Mississippi State

I waited on this pick a little bit, thinking someone would want to move up to snag some good value left on the board. I received a lot of offers, but none that made sense so decided to pick. I also wanted to move down because my next best player was Corey Davis, the wide receiver from Western Michigan. Surely, not many knew of Davis or thought as highly of him as me. Am I going to pick Davis this early or wait until my next pick at 1.9? I tried to think of all the information I could. Davis doesn’t have a youtube highlight film, past practices of owners before my next pick, and the value still left on the board. I had to leave this draft with Corey Davis, but I decided to play with fire and pass on him. Wilson is a good value here with his size, but he wouldn’t likely drop to me later.

1.05 – Malachi Dupre, WR LSU

This is earlier than I thought he would go, but he was in my ballpark of players for the later round picks I owned.

1.06 – D’haquille Williams, WR Auburn

I expected him to go soon.

1.07 – Devontae Booker, RB Utah

This was the first shocking pick. Booker wasn’t even a player on my radar because I don’t think he has the talent to be a fantasy starter. I liked it because it’s one spot closer to Mr. Davis for me!

1.08 – Samaje Perine, RB Oklahoma

I expected this pick because he’s young and had good production. I’m not as high on him as other players available.

1.09 – Corey Davis, WR Western Michigan

My last pick is 1.14 and I was tempted to see if I could sit and wait on Davis that long. In the end, you pick your players and I took Davis. Immediately, I began daydreaming about his production…oh wait, I have another pick.

1.10 – Bucky Hodges, TE Virginia Tech

This pick was difficult because I could go many different directions. My short list here was Texas Christian wide receiver Josh Doctson, Josh Malone from Tennessee, Hodges and freshman running back Derrius Guice of LSU. I eventually skipped the wide receiver position because I already have Treadwell, Wilson and Davis draft eligible next year. I decided against Guice because I have Clement and Chubb waiting in the wings after Gurley, Gordon, Ajayi, and Davis get drafted in the 2015 NFL Draft – that left me with Hodges to be my backup tight end to Jimmy Graham and I see him having that type of potential. Graham turns 29 next year and by the time Hodges develops fully in the NFL, I could see the baton being passed.

1.11 – Kirk Merritt, RB Oregon

Another shocker pick and he’s a true freshman. I like Merritt, but Oregon is talking about him as a slot receiver…no thank you.

1.12 – Royce Freeman, RB Oregon

Good value for Freeman here.

1.13 – Dalvin Cook, RB Florida State

I thought this was the best value in the draft.

1.14 – Derrius Guice, RB LSU

I had some offers for this pick, but really liked the value here. Considering none of the players I was considering at 1.10 got selected, my pool was even bigger. Again I considered Docston, Malone, and Guice for this selection. I also brought in Pittsburgh running back James Conner and Elijah McGuire, the running back from Louisiana Lafayette to the discussion. I eventually dismissed them because they’re eligible next year and I already have a logjam of six pretty good prospects at that position already. I decided against Doctson in the same way because I already have Treadwell, Davis, and Wilson as devys to go along with a core of Brown, Jeffery, Cooks and I don’t see a ton of fantasy playing time available. That process left me with only Malone and Guice to choose from and I am high on both of them. Malone had a disappointing freshman year at Tennessee, but I really like his athletic ability and skillset. Guice is a true freshman entering LSU at the running back position that already has Leonard Fournette. However, Guice can do everything on the football field and has good hands. The deciding factor is Guice hasn’t disappointed yet like Malone.

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Nick Whalen

Writer at Dynasty League Football

Nick is going to specialize in college scouting for both devys and rookies. He draws experience from eight years of coaching football from Division 1 college to High School. Nick is a Bears fan living in Wisconsin, which has forced him to live in a very remote cabin away from people to survive. Therefore, he has to submit all of his articles via messenger pigeon to DLF headquarters.

Nick can be found on Twitter at @_NickWhalen