$250 FFPC Start-up Draft Review
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our coverage of the FFPC’s high-stakes dynasty format. The FFPC games are unlike any other in the industry due to their reputation and visibility in the space. From their first introduction in 2010, they only continue to gain in popularity.
This is our fourth and last installment of our 2016 FFPC draft coverage! As the last installment, this draft should represent the most up-to-date valuation of players for you to use in your upcoming draft(s).
DLF and the FFPC are partners once again in 2016 and we’re covering live drafts to be used as another source of reference for your own drafts. The thought here is that the “high stakes” element brings with it a high degree of fantasy coaching experience and performance. These coaches are putting serious money on the line with the hope of greater payouts at the end of the rainbow and you can bet most put a lot of work and research into each selection. With this particular FFPC dynasty league requiring a $250 entry fee, there’s little room for mistakes.
This review is for a $250 12-team start-up draft. Standard scoring Point Per Reception (PPR) format with the exception that tight ends receive 1.5 PPR. Passing touchdowns are worth the standard four points while rushing and receiving touchdowns bring six points each. Starting rosters are as follows: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 2 Flex, 1 K, 1 DEF/ST. One note about the FFPC Dynasty format: Each team has 20 total roster spots with one each given to kickers and Defense. At the end of each year, teams must drop four players to reach a total of 16 total players. This makes for a relatively shallow roster with emphasis on productive players.
You can see all of the rules at MYFFPC.com.
If you’re ready to step up to the most serious dynasty competition on the planet, we highly suggest you check out the FFPC Dynasty Games!
For this review, I’ll be listing ten rounds of selections with a brief summary following each round. In addition, I’m going to switch it up just a bit from my last review and provide my input as to which picks I believe represent the best value and biggest reach.
Let’s dive in!
Round One
1.01 Odell Beckham, WR NYG
1.02 Julio Jones, WR ATL
1.03 Antonio Brown, WR PIT
1.04 DeAndre Hopkins, WR HOU
1.05 Ezekiel Elliot, RB DAL
1.06 Amari Cooper, WR OAK
1.07 Rob Gronkowski, TE NE
1.08 Todd Gurley, RB LA
1.09 David Johnson, RB ARI
1.10 Allen Robinson, WR JAX
1.11 A.J. Green, WR CIN
1.12 Keenan Allen, WR SD
Summary
This is a relatively standard first round, especially now with Le’Veon Bell’s recent suspension announcement. It’s now been reduced to three games but he still falls out of the first round with both Elliot, Gurley and Johnson selected ahead of him. Keenan Allen slips into the first round which I’m not a fan of but it also isn’t uncommon this year. I won’t list the pick as a reach as I’d like to as, if he stays healthy, he should be very productive. It’s a little bit of a surprise to me that Gurley lasted to 1.08 and was selected after Elliot but that’s why we draft. To me, Gurley is a once-in-a-decade player and while I do like Elliot behind that offensive line in Big D, Gurley is clearly my top RB and it’s not that close. In this case, and others like it, you can expect the Dallas offensive line to have more intrigue than that uninspiring Los Angeles receiver corps. and quarterback situation.
Best Value: None
Biggest Reach: None
Round Two
2.01 Mike Evans, WR TB
2.02 Le’Veon Bell, RB PIT
2.03 Dez Bryant, WR DAL
2.04 Brandin Cooks, WR NO
2.05 Sammy Watkins, WR BUF
2.06 Alshon Jeffery, WR CHI
2.07 Demaryius Thomas, WR DEN
2.08 Lamar Miller, RB HOU
2.09 Andrew Luck, QB IND
2.10 Jordan Reed, TE WAS
2.11 Jarvis Landry, WR MIA
2.12 Cam Newton, QB CAR
Summary
Not much to say about the second round. Dominated by receivers but the typical quarterback names appear again here. There’s great receiver value in the second round so if you can get one of the four big running backs and then circle back to one of these receivers, you have to feel really good about your starting two. Because of the value at the bottom of the second round this year, having the first overall selection doesn’t have the sting that it did a few years ago.
Best Value: Le’Veon Bell. I still have to applaud any team that is able to nab Bell in the second. He’s had his issues but I personally feel that this will be his last and with his suspension being reduced, there’s less pain involved and he’s a great bet for significant production once he’s back in addition to still being young.
Biggest Reach: Jordan Reed. I’m not wild about Reed in the second round out of the gate. Not because of any other reason than he hasn’t shown a level of durability such that I’m willing to risk such a high selection. With significant options still on the board, I would have preferred to see a young and productive receiver or running back here. But with the tight end reception scoring bonus, there is upside.
Round Three
3.01 Devonta Freeman, RB ATL
3.02 Donte Moncrief, WR IND
3.03 DeVante Parker, WR MIA
3.04 Kevin White, WR CHI
3.05 T.Y. Hilton, WR IND
3.06 Laquon Treadwell, WR MIN
3.07 Michael Floyd, WR ARI
3.08 Adrian Peterson, RB MIN
3.09 Travis Kelce, TE KC
3.10 Kelvin Benjamin, WR CAR
3.11 Jordan Matthews, WR PHI
3.12 Jordy Nelson, WR GB
Summary
A solid third round of value with receivers still dominating. We’ve clearly dropped a tier in quality receivers but there’s still enough production or youth depending on your team build desire. Rookie Corey Coleman has been a common sighting in the third round but not in this draft, replaced instead by fellow receiver Laquon Treadwell.
Best Value: Various. I can’t select just one nor is there any single player that stands out as a value or a reach. It would be easy enough to just say “none” but in the third round, this is where your core starts taking shape. I particularly like the selections of Kevin White, Adrian Peterson and Jordan Matthews. Benjamin would have been on my list as well but I desire to see him perform coming off his ACL surgery before selecting him prior to the fourth round.
Biggest Reach: Michael Floyd has all the potential in the world and he did set career highs in 2016 but in the third round, I need more than 1,083 yards and eight touchdowns (2015).
Round Four
4.01 Greg Olsen, TE CAR
4.02 Randall Cobb, WR GB
4.03 John Brown, WR ARI
4.04 Brandon Marshall, WR JYJ
4.05 Corey Coleman, WR CLE
4.06 Mark Ingram, RB NO
4.07 Eddie Lacy, RB GB
4.08 Jamaal Charles, RB KC
4.09 LeSean McCoy, RB BUF
4.10 Doug Martin, RB TB
4.11 Sterling Shepard, WR NYG
4.12 Doug Baldwin, WR SEA
Summary
There’s a lot to like in this round with some solid value. Surprisingly, not anyone I would consider a wild reach although I’m not crazy about John Brown at this point. If you haven’t selected your first quarterback, you can see through this round that you’ll have a core of four solid players while still having all but the top two quarterbacks (Luck & Newton) to choose from.
Best Value: Brandon Marshall. Truth be told, I like Cobb, Ingram, Martin and Baldwin here as well almost as much as Marshall but as the WR3 overall in 2015 and playing the entire season at 32 years of age, I’ll take that every time in fourth. If not Marshall, the selection of Cobb is a close number two and I do expect he’ll be far better in 2016 with the return of Jordy Nelson across from him. Not to mention that Cobb is six years Marshall’s junior.
Biggest Reach: Lacy. I’ll take heat for this but Lacy is not a player I’m touching unless he falls to the sixth round. He battled major weight issues in ’15 and has slimmed down but all appearances are that he hasn’t slimmed down enough to be much more productive. I think there are major flags waving on Lacy and his value this year.
Round Five
5.01 C.J. Anderson, RB DEN
5.02 Russell Wilson, QB SEA
5.03 Aaron Rodgers, QB GB
5.04 Jeremy Maclin, WR KC
5.05 Tyler Lockett, WR SEA
5.06 Carlos Hyde, RB SF
5.07 Golden Tate, WR DET
5.08 Julian Edelman, WR NE
5.09 Tyler Eifert, TE CIN
5.10 Josh Doctson, WR WAS
5.11 Eric Decker, WR NYJ
5.12 Thomas Rawls, RB SEA
Summary
These coaches are doing a solid job of grabbing value and upside in these early rounds. The fifth round is where you’ll start seeing the next grouping of quarterbacks come off the board and an early selection of one has a chance to start a run on the position which can push a couple of other players down to you in the following round. In this case, the run ended as quickly as it started but I like both selections here in the fifth. Rodgers could easily lead all quarterbacks and Wilson has strong upside yet again in 2016. Solid production throughout this entire round without any reaches.
Best Value: Aaron Rodgers. I don’t normally like selecting a quarterback this soon but Rodgers in the fifth is hard to argue against. As mentioned previously, he has an odds-on chance of leading all quarterbacks in 2016 with the return of Jordy Nelson. He’s aging but at 32, he could easily have another 5-6 years of production ahead.
Biggest Reach: None. Hard to believe but I like all selections in this round. I’m unsure about Tate’s value this soon but as 2015’s WR21 and certain to increase in targets (in my estimation at least), he’s got upside.
Round Six
6.01 Melvin Gordon, RB SD
6.02 Josh Gordon, WR CLE
6.03 Allen Hurns, WR JAX
6.04 Dion Lewis, RB NE
6.05 Derrick Henry, RB TEN
6.06 Michael Thomas, WR NO
6.07 Matt Jones, RB WAS
6.08 Gio Bernard, RB CIN
6.09 Duke Johnson, RB CLE
6.10 Coby Fleener, TE NO
6.11 Zach Ertz, TE PHI
6.12 Sammie Coates, WR PIT
Summary
As expected, things are starting thin out and we’re seeing coach strategy starting to unfold. Following the first five rounds, your homework starts paying off with each solid value you can identify and select. This is a round not to overthink the draft and not get too hung up on your own strategy IF a player is falling well beyond his ADP. Don’t be afraid to alter your strategy to take advantage of unforeseen circumstances. This is also the round where we start seeing reaches that can have dramatic effects, both positively and negatively.
Best Value: Allen Hurns. Hurns is one of those receivers much like Eric Decker, overshadowed on his own team by a more productive and higher profile player, in this case Allen Robinson. Hurns finished as 2015’s WR16 and this while missing his week 13 contest altogether. He’s not a sexy pick but at 6’3″/205 lbs. and only 24 year’s of age, there should be sex appeal there. He’s a great buy low candidate if you can get it.
Biggest Reach: Sammie Coates. There’s a number of qualified candidates here including both Josh Gordon and Dion Lewis. But Coates this soon is a massive reach in my opinion. Pittsburgh does have a history of identifying receiver talent in rookie drafts and Coates has the body and speed to be a difference maker. Perhaps with the suspension of Martavis Bryant, Coates will emerge on the scene but there’s far more risk in this round.
Round Seven
7.01 Jameis Winston, QB TB
7.02 Eric Ebron, TE DET
7.03 T.J. Yeldon, RB JAX
7.04 Jeremy Hill, RB CIN
7.05 Blake Bortles, QB JAX
7.06 Delanie Walker, TE TEN
7.07 Latavius Murray, RB OAK
7.08 Devontae Booker, RB DEN
7.09 Marcus Mariota, QB TEN
7.10 DeMarco Murray, RB TEN
7.11 Ameer Abdullah, RB DET
7.12 Ladarius Green, TE PIT
Summary
Right on queue, the next tier of running backs starts coming off the board. The seventh round has something for everyone but don’t get lazy and make sure you have a running list of quality production and/or youth so as to round out your team. If you’ve been building through veteran production, this is a great round to add second tier rookies or NFL sophomores who under-performed last year. Names such as Ameer Abdullah, T.J. Yeldon or even rookie quarterbacks Winston and Mariota have allure here.
Best Value: DeMarco Murray. I’m clearly on the Murray bandwagon after a horrific 2015 campaign. Just like Doug Martin in 2015, I look to pick up down and out running backs that have a strong likelihood of bouncing back in the following year and Murray looks primed. Many will not agree, but that is why you can get him in the seventh round. And he still has 2-3 years of tread on his tires. He’s an ideal RB3 with RB1 upside each and every week.
Biggest Reach: Ladarius Green. Even without headaches and rumored concussion issues, I don’t like the selection of Green this early with so many other quality tight ends remaining on the board. Look at the next three rounds to see what I mean.
Round Eight
8.01 Breshad Perriman, WR BAL
8.02 Phillip Dorsett, WR IND
8.03 Jeremy Langford, RB CHI
8.04 Kenneth Dixon, RB BAL
8.05 Devin Funchess, WR CAR
8.06 Matt Forte, RB CHI
8.07 Julius Thomas, TE JAX
8.08 Charles Sims, RB TB
8.09 Emmanuel Sanders, WR DEN
8.10 Telvin Coleman, RB ATL
8.11 Marvin Jones, WR DET
8.12 Dorial Green-Beckham, WR PHI
Summary
Round eight is often the land of misfit toys in that over the next round or two you’ll see players with a lot of faded hype, usually on the younger side but that still have a relatively high ceiling in place. These can be rookies from last year that simply didn’t perform or other younger players coming back off a bad injury but without the field time to truly reestablish their value. In this round I still prefer to allow other coaches to roll the dice and swing for the fences while I sit back and take the players that may not have the same level of intrigue, but carry more production, safety and nearly as high a ceiling. I think you can see that here in this round.
Best Value: Jeremy Langford. There may not be a more embattled player in fantasy currently as Langford’s stock is truly all over the board. Most fantasy experts love him or hate him. Put me more in the “love” category, not due to his attributes or running style but instead because of his attributes and running style, not to mention his current role, and his eight round ADP. He’s a sophomore player that didn’t run the laces off the ball in ’15 but showed better than given credit for and he’s got a clear cut path to be the lead back in 2016. This is something you look for in the eighth round and if it falls to you, you take it. He may not be Todd Gurley but he has the skills and the opportunity to be an upside RB3 without question. And if he busts, you haven’t risked all that much.
Biggest Reach: Breshad Perriman. As much as I hate to admit it, his second significant injury casts a big shadow across his ceiling and the Ravens’ depth chart is anything but limited. Perriman can climb the chart quickly but he has to start soon and thus far he’s been an immense disappointment.
Round Nine
9.01 Michael Crabtree, WR SD
9.02 Stefon Diggs, WR MIN
9.03 Theo Riddick, RB DET
9.04 Arian Foster, RB MIA
9.05 Will Fuller, WR HOU
9.06 Larry Fitzgerald, WR ARI
9.07 Tyler Boyd, WR CIN
9.08 Derek Carr, QB OAK
9.09 Kamar Aiken, WR BAL
9.10 Ben Roethlisberger, QB PIT
9.11 Dwayne Allen, TE IND
9.12 Eli Manning, QB NYG
Summary
It can be clearly seen that we’ve dropped another level in tiered talent and aging veterans with solid productivity often grace this round. For those adding young talent in earlier rounds, mixing in solid veteran production that can provide a year or two of starting-lineup quality can be immensely impactful, yet many coaches prefer to build for next year rather than ‘waste’ a pick on a player whose sun is quickly setting. I believe this strategy is misplaced and veterans should be added to give your young team competitive value THIS year if you feel you have the young core to pull it off. If not, it’s best to pass and keep building for the future as those aging vets will likely retire off your roster with little impact.
Best Value: Michael Crabtree. He’s a name that people hate to utter on draft day, but should he be? He’s starting across Amari Cooper and finished as the WR17 last year. At only 28 years of age and seemingly now beyond his injury issues, Crabtree has arguably another five years of productivity ahead in an up-and-coming offense. You’ll have a hard time finding better this late. He’s not a sexy selection, but he’s a solid veteran.
Biggest Reach: None. I’m tempted to list Will Fuller as my reach but I can see the upside and it’s okay to take a wild stab in this round. If he’s the next Wes Welker, Tavon Austin or Julian Edelman in an offense that needs field-stretching talent, it’s a gritty and gutsy pick.
Round Ten
10.01 Gary Barnidge, TE CLE
10.02 Ryan Mathews, RB PHI
10.03 Jonathan Stewart, RB CAR
10.04 Drew Brees, QB NO
10.05 Jordan Howard, RB CHI
10.06 Wendell Smallwood, RB PHI
10.07 Jay Ajayi, RB MIA
10.08 Danny Woodhead, RB SD
10.09 DeAngelo Williams, RB PIT
10.10 Tavon Austin, WR LA
10.11 Hunter Henry, TE SD
10.12 DeAndre Washington, RB OAK
Summary
This is by far the most interesting round in this draft, for a couple of different reasons. I look at some of the names being selected and wonder how they are still on the board while, at the same time, see some wild swings at high-ceiling, unknown-talent, types of players. Looking at the names in this round, I’d be hard pressed to swing for the fences knowing that some of these players remained on the board as I went on the clock. That said, you can see the veteran names coming off early as the reaches get bigger late in the round. In all likelihood, this is a tier-split round where value is soaked up early, leaving the next tier of players remaining.
Best Value: Ryan Mathews. Surprised to see him still here but injury plagued players will fall. Mathews was Philly’s best runner last year and he’s a clear bell-cow in ’16. Should he be durable, he’s going to be a fantastic bargain this late but even if he is not, rolling the dice in the tenth round is a solid gamble that I love.
Biggest Reach: Wendell Smallwood. I get the reach, I really do. But I can’t get there. Smallwood has received some hype early but has all the classic signs of a player that will never see much of the field. That said, behind Ryan Mathews, there’s opportunity and this is likely what the coach is banking on. If you’re going to swing, swing big.
Remaining Rounds
Wrap-up
I hope this recap has been beneficial. Use it to gauge player value prior to your draft and, especially, toward determining how you want to build your team, where you should draft your first quarterback and what tight end possibilities remain if you wait a few rounds. Now with four drafts in the books, you’ll be able to use multiple draft reviews toward determining the likelihood that players will come off the board at a given time. Even if your draft is just around the corner, these drafts can be an invaluable tool for suggesting player selection and value.
One last time, most coaches will like their first three or four selections. Your draft and long term team strength will be determined in the following eight or so rounds. So do your homework, look at many drafts with a keen eye on your draft slot and don’t get outworked.
If you have any questions, please comment below or follow me on Twitter: @DLF_Jeff
Find out more about these exciting high stakes dynasty leagues on FFPCC.com
You can find Jeff on Twitter at @dlf_jeff
- Lineup Advice: Wrap-up, Thank You and Goodbye (TTFN) - January 1, 2024
- Lineup Advice: Week 17 – Championship Edition - December 26, 2023
- Lineup Advice: Week 16 – The “What is” Edition - December 19, 2023
