Live drafts are fun, and it is always nice to partner with other smart people to gain new perspectives. It is also a nice way to mix up your exposure if you are doing a lot of volume in tournaments.
Yesterday, we did our first live draft of the year, and my partner for the draft was Sam Sherman of Ship Chasing.
We took part in an 18-round draft that is part of Best Ball Mania 4. It turned out to be an unusual build for both of us.
The challenge with 18-round drafts is to put enough strength into each position. As we ended up with later quarterbacks and an early tight end, that pretty much locked us into either a 3-5-8-2 build or a 3-6-7-2 build.
As mentioned on the live stream, we both agreed we should have been more willing to take a running back with the last pick. We did not even look at who was available.
I am always looking to improve my process and be fair in my critiques. We got a lot of great value overall in the draft, and we were both pleased with the results.
Best Ball Fantasy Football: Everything You Need to Know
Full Live Best Ball Fantasy Football Draft Results
| Round | Player | Position | Other Players considered | Additional Thoughts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooper Kupp | WR | Bijan Robinson | This was a tossup at the time but caused the biggest pivot of the draft as we expected a running back we liked to last until Round 3. That did not happen. |
| 2 | Garrett Wilson | WR | None | Pretty straightforward pick as neither of us were interested in the three top quarterbacks without a stack. The first two picks gave us two later quarterback targets, and we ended up taking both. |
| 3 | Mark Andrews | TE | Justin Fields, Lamar Jackson | The decision came down to taking strength at one of the positions where you only start one player. We both were light on early tight ends, so Andrews was the pick. We knew Lamar probably would not make it back to us, and he didn't. |
| 4 | Najee Harris | RB | Travis Etienne | We both wanted a running back having waited longer than we normally do. There was an agreement on fading Etienne, but we considered taking him because when an early player falls it is a great time to get some exposure in case you are wrong. Ultimately we went with Najee, a good touchdown scoring back in half PPR. |
| 5 | Jerry Jeudy | WR | J.K. Dobbins | Jeudy opened up a third quarterback in the mid-tier for us, and we already had Andrews on Baltimore. Sam liked Jeudy, and we felt we still had great opportunities at running back. |
| 6 | Dameon Pierce | RB | Joe Mixon | We both felt Mixon was a great pick, but I had given Sam all of the reasons I liked a guy he had been fading, so he thought it would be a great time to take a Pierce share. |
| 7 | Marquise Brown | WR | None | We both loved the value on Hollywood here. |
| 8 | David Montgomery | RB | Aaron Rodgers | We both wanted Rodgers to stack with Wilson, but his ADP was early. Montgomery being there made the decision easy as we both agree we like his opportunity versus ADP as drafters prefer the shiny new toy in Jahmyr Gibbs, which has dropped Montgomery's stock. |
| 9 | Aaron Rodgers | QB | None | Easy pick once Rodgers made it back to us. |
| 10 | Samaje Perine | RB | Damien Harris | We both wanted Devon Achane, but he went one pick before us. We both like Harris a lot, and normally he would have been the pick, but I thought getting a running back that had a different skill set than our first three was a nice idea. I think Perine can catch 50-60 passes as Sean Payton always uses his bakcs in the pass game. |
| 11 | Kyler Murray | QB | Zay Jones and other receivers | Ultimately an easy decision. Kyler might miss games but is a nice late-season hammer. We knew we were taking three quarterbacks, and we had the stack with Hollywood. |
| 12 | Skyy Moore | WR | Alec Pierce | Once again the guy we probably would have taken in Pierce went one pick before us. We needed receviers so took the upside play in Moore. When you have solid floor/ceiling receivers in the first two rounds, it is worth it to swing for the fences a bit with some later selections. |
| 13 | Matthew Stafford | QB | None | We needed a good third quarterback because of Kyler missing time, but also the chance to stack with our first round pick made this the easiest choice of the draft. |
| 14 | Jalin Hyatt | WR | Josh Downs | I like both rookies with a preference for Hyatt. Sam really liked Hyatt more, so this was a pretty easy pick. Another spike week receiver with upside beyond that as the main deep threat on the Giants. |
| 15 | Tyjae Spears | RB | Rondale Moore | Sam is not as high on Rondale as I am, so we took our fifth running back in a player I think is too cheap because of concerns with his knee. He should have a good floor spelling Derick Henry, and if Henry goes down, Spears has the rare athletisism to crush ADP. |
| 16 | Tyquan Thornton | WR | Marvin Mims, Chase Claypool and Van Jefferson | Ultimately, we wanted someone on an offense we both agree should have positive regression this year with a real offensive coordinator. |
| 17 | Trey McBride | TE | Other tight ends | We knew we were stopping at two tight ends and took the second part of the stack with Kyler and Brown. |
| 18 | Tutu Atwell | WR | Many other late wide receivers | We should have looked at running back as well but took an electric player who will not be on a ton of teams, a nice differentiator in these drafts. |
As mentioned, we were happy overall with the draft:
- Quarterback: If you are doing later quarterback, this is the way to do it. Three upside quarterbacks all stacked up.
- Running Back: Weakness of the team but has upside players and not counting on the position for the flex regularly.
- Wide Receiver: Strength of the team with two studs up top and lots of high upside spike candidates later.
- Tight End: Stud tight end with a backup that is stacked but also has concerns with Zach Ertz still there.
This is part of a best ball strategy series from expert best ball player Tod Burros.
