Keeping Dynasty Weird: The Bull Horn Part Three

This is the third part of a series I started at the beginning of the 2016 season. You can read part one here and part two here. Originally I was going to follow up with this third part shortly after the first two, but it became apparent this would be a better off-season article once last season really got going. As much as we want our devy players to turn into huge dynasty assets, we don’t really know all that much about their futures. Now that the season and combine have come to a conclusion, we at least know a bit more about how the dynasty community values these players.

Here is a short refresher on what really makes this league different before I get into the actual devy draft:

-Contracts

-Full IDP

-Devy Players

-All auction drafts except for the devy draft

-Lineups blend structure and flexibility

-RFA and UFA auctions

-Compensatory picks

-No playoffs or weekly matchups

We use a four round devy draft in The Bull Horn. For the startup auction, all 48 picks were available as assets through the auction, so different owners won varying amounts of picks. This set up an interesting scenario where one owner held picks two through five and another six through nine. Three owners elected to forego the devy draft entirely, instead selecting all current NFL players. Three owners, including me, select a total of 29 of the devy players.

This really ended up as one of the most exciting drafts I’ve ever been a part of. There were trades, some big surprises, and some gut wrenching snipes. I’ve broken down each round with a small recap of each.

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The first 12 picks didn’t really have any big surprises, with the exception of Malachi Dupre lasting until pick 11. At the time, most devy owners still considered him to be a much more highly rated prospect. I think the biggest surprise may have been that only five owners had picks in this round.

The next round showed how much variance there is in devy player ranking. Owners really went out and got the guys they coveted. I swapped 2.03, 2.11, and 3.03 for Tajae Sharpe and 4.07. Admittedly, I let the preseason hype get to me, but it does look like Sharpe will have a good opportunity to progress in year two. I also traded 2.10 and 3.12 to move up to 2.05 for Elijah Hood. I thought his bruising style would elevate him to a possible two down runner at the next level, but it looks a little less likely at this point. The biggest surprise for me in this round was KD Cannon lasting until pick 2.12. It was an awesome pick in hindsight. I wasn’t very knowledgeable about him at the time, but he could end up a late first round pick in rookie drafts this year and one of the biggest steals in this devy draft.

Several youngsters went in the third round, as well as a few guys I just didn’t have on my radar – Jehu Chesson, Shelton Gibson, and Richie James. I thought I had a steal in Josh Malone and Bucky Hodges, but it looks like the former might not become the player I hoped he would, and Hodges hasn’t really raised in the dynasty world.

Almost none of the fourth round picks declared for the draft or were even eligible to begin with. This is where the only non-offensive player went and the only two quarterbacks. While both were a worthwhile gamble and the consensus top quarterback for their respective draft classes, things have changed a bit. Deshaun Watson has a lot of competition to be the first quarterback drafted this year, and Josh Rosen had a disappointing season shortened by injury. This is also where I was able to steal Cooper Kupp. Mark my words; he is going to become a valuable dynasty asset in a few short years. Overall, the fourth round had a bunch of swings for the fences. At this point in the draft, it was time to go for bang or bust players, and that’s what the league did.

There were some big takeaways in this draft.

While there were many great players selected, there are still eight players in the top 20 in DLF’s rookie rankings who weren’t selected. No matter how good a devy draft is, there will always be surprise players who creep up rookie draft boards.

Only 22 of the players taken in the inaugural devy draft declared for the NFL draft, leaving 26 players still on devy rosters. I expected a much higher percentage of the players to move into the NFL. This is going to leave a fair amount of desirable players for this year’s rookie draft, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

I am pretty confident that this year’s devy draft will have more defensive players taken than the inaugural draft. Only Raekwon McMillan was selected in the first season, but with 26 players already taken from the 2017 player pool, it’s inevitable that a few more defensive players will be rostered.

Leagues like this are what keep me excited about fantasy football. Don’t get me wrong; I will probably always be interested in football, statistics, trading, and all the other things that make fantasy great, but unique leagues are what continue to draw me year after year. The more immersive a league is, the more I’m drawn to it.

Thanks to an awesome group of highly competitive owners who made The Bull Horn really successful in its first year, I will be adding a two quarterback and super flex version for 2017. Many of the owners in the original will be participating in the new leagues. To me, this is keeping dynasty weird. This is what makes it fun. I really encourage you all to come up with fun, original ideas to make your leagues even better. Find leagues with the best owners, best settings, and the most exciting variants you can find. Its’ going to keep you coming back year after year to a league that will stand the test of time.

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