Go For Two Fantasy Football Draft Recap
Photo: Joshua Bessex, Joshua Bessex | Credit: AP, Copyright: Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
It is finally that time of year again! NFL Kickoff is just around the corner. On August 23, the fellas at GoForTwo had their Yahoo Fantasy Football 12-team half PPR home league draft, and this article is going to go over some of the picks they liked, and even what they may have disliked. For context, the teams have one quarterback and tight end, two running backs, three wide receivers, two flex spots and a defense. In addition, there is a 6 man bench for a total of 16 rounds/roster slots.
The rosters of each Go for Two team member are provided below:
Jonathan – Ceedee’s Nuts – 11th Overall Selection
My initial draft strategy was to roll with a zero or hero RB build. Being able to scoop up 3 top 25 wide receivers was priority number 1 for me since I thought I could find significant value in running backs in the later rounds of the draft.
I was expecting Nick Chubb or Saquon Barkley to fall to me at Pick 11. When neither of them were available, I had the choice to take Tony Pollard but at that spot decided to go BPA with Stefon Diggs in the hope that Pollard would fall to me at Pick 14. That unfortunately didn’t happen but I was happy to grab CeeDee Lamb for the 2nd year in a row. Pick number 3 for me at number 35 overall is definitely one that I would like to have back. When Calvin Ridley got snagged 1 pick ahead of me, I decided to fill my RB1 spot with Cam Akers since I know he won’t have much competition for touches in LA and he did finish the previous season on a very high note after a rocky start to 2022. However, passing on DK Metcalf and Keenan Allen, who went back-to-back after I took Cam Akers is something I wish I would have had back.
In the early 4th round, there were no value running backs or tight ends left available, so I decided to go with the best QB left on the board in Lamar Jackson. My 5th and 6th round picks I consider to be the best value, snagging Kenneth Walker and Darren Waller. Kenneth Walker had a spectacular rookie season once Rashaad Penny went down with a season ending injury, and I still envision a 70% touch share in that backfield even with the addition of rookie Zach Charbonnet. I took Khalil Herbert at the end of the 7th round who should be given every opportunity to be an early down back with the only real threat to those touches being rookie Roschon Johnson.
The back half of the draft I try to look for high-upside wide receivers, or running backs who have the possibility to take over a backfield should the starting running back begin to play poorly or get injured. In all likelihood, half of these players won’t even be on my roster by the midpoint of the season. I decided with my final pick in the 16th round to take tight end Chig Okonkwo. He has the talent to finish the season as a low end TE1 and is good insurance in case Darren Waller goes down with an injury.
Since our draft took place 15 days before the first game of the NFL season, I decided to not draft a defense and will look to fill that position closer to Week 1.
Derek – Charbonnet Sauvignon – 7th Overall Selection
When I first saw I was the 7th overall pick, I had an early assumption that I was going to take Ekeler if he fell to me, or would grab Kelce, unless something unexpected happened. Well, the unexpected happened, and I was able to snag Kupp, who I saw as a huge value as he was my No. 4 overall ranked player. I was thrilled with the start of the draft, and was hoping that one of my top ranked running backs would fall to me so I could fully do a Hero-RB build. As expected though, Barkley Bijan, and Pollard all went before my next pick, and so I went with Chris Olave, who I believe has top 5 wide receiver upside.
I went into the draft with a single rule, which was, if Mark Andrews is available in the middle of the third, take him. So I did, though it hurt leaving Stevenson on the board, as he was the last running back in the higher tier. I quickly got cold feet with my zero RB strategy though and took Breece Hall with my fourth pick. This is probably my least favourite pick of the draft, but I felt forced into it. Running backs were being taken much sooner than I had thought they would be, and I didn’t want to risk having someone like Mattison as my RB1. I don’t expect Breece to get off to a great start, but he should own that backfield by Week 4. The hard part with him will be to hold on to him long enough to see my investment pay off.
I also went into the draft wanting a strong quarterback. I told myself I wasn’t going to take a QB unless I didn’t like the value on the rest of the draft board, so I took Justin Herbert in the 5th. In hindsight, I wish I would’ve taken a running back, as a solid group remained on the board, including James Conner, Dameon Pierce, Miles Sanders, and David Montgomery. I was hoping one of these players would fall to me in the 6th round, but my risk did not pay off.
My plan going into the draft included filling my lineup with as many quality receivers as possible. I got back to my plan in the next few rounds, taking Chris Godwin, Jahan Dotson, and Brandin Cooks in consecutive picks. Of this group, Dotson is my favourite pick, as I think he has a strong breakout potential, especially with Terry McLaurin’s turf toe injury and Eric Bieniemy’s fast paced passing offense.
Finally in the ninth round I finalized my starting line up by picking Zach Charbonnet. Though I don’t think he’ll get a lot of touches, especially to start the year, beat writers are already raving about his pass catching abilities and his goal line work. Even if Charbonnet only gets 10 touches a game, if they are the high value touches he will be a steal in the ninth.
My bench was largely filled with high upside running backs who will have the opportunity to break out in the right situation. I really focused on adding upside running backs to my bench as I am confident in my wide receivers, and can more easily find a starter on the waiver wire in an emergency. Mostert and Allgeier should both have early season value until the rookies in their backfields truly take over, and Spears will thrive in a world where Derrick Henry’s touches begin to be scaled back. Doubs should be startable in a pinch, and I think is a much better value than the over-hyped Christian Watson.
Overall, I think I am fairly happy with my draft, but not thrilled. My receivers are among the best in our league, and I have a top tight end and quarterback. Though my running backs are weak, I should be able to find value on my bench at some point in the season and will be keeping a close eye on the waiver wire after week 1.
Ryan- Half Chuba- 12th Overall Selection
I am a firm believer in letting the draft come to you, as opposed to having any sort of pre-determined strategy, and this particular instance wasn’t any different. Your first couple of picks should dictate how you approach the rest of the draft, and you should enter the day with an open mind and a willingness to adapt to whatever situation is thrown at you. Having done more best ball drafts than I would care to publicly admit, I felt pretty confident that I would be able to make 2 very exciting picks at the 1 / 2 turn, and that is exactly what happened. I have flag planted Amon Ra St.Brown as THE smash pick of 2023, while the sky’s the limit for Tony Pollard in his first season sans Zeke. Given how the top 13 overall selections transpired, I had a strong feeling that this would turn out to be a Hero RB type of build, and that is precisely how the rest of the draft turned out.
I proceeded to hammer the wide receiver position from rounds 3-6, and I am very pleased with the players I landed within this range. Admittedly, I strongly considered drafting Lamar Jackson at the 4.01, but ultimately went with Keenan Allen instead. I believe the two players are very close in redraft value, but I am very bullish on a Chargers offense that should be even better this year with even average injury luck and an exciting Offensive Coordinator hire in Kellen Moore. There are admittedly some volatile receivers on my roster, but I am banking on winning out of sheer quantity at the position, and that I will get enough spiked-weeks from the plethora of weapons I have. As the Hero RB strategy implies, I am operating under the assumption that Tony Pollard will turn out to be a smash pick as the anchor to my RB corps, and that at least a couple of the backs selected in the middle and late rounds will turn out to be profitable selections. Although he was relatively inefficient as a rookie, Rachaad White is one of my favourite picks in all of fantasy at cost this year. He lacks competition in the Tampa backfield, has at least shown some receiving chops, and his prospect profile coming out of college still makes him tough to write off entirely. Rashaad Penny is a high-ceiling, zero floor gamble in an ambiguous backfield, whereas Damien Harris figures to be the favourite for goalline work in what should be a high scoring Buffalo offense. Should no viable RB2 option emerge from this group, I can always resort to waivers and trades for solutions.
At the onesie positions of QB and TE, I ended up with viable but non-elite options in Deshaun Watson and David Njoku. It is easy to see the ceiling cases for both. The prospect of stacking doesn’t hurt either. Although he admittedly looked very rusty last year, Watson does have a history of sustained elite production and the all-important rushing floor to boot. Njoku, meanwhile, is an athletic specimen who has been pretty efficient with the opportunities he has had in recent years despite playing in low-volume passing offenses. He undeniably has the best setup of his career to date. With that in mind, it should be noted that should either of these players struggle for a prolonged period of time, that I will have no problem moving on from them in favour of other options. I intentionally only drafted one player each from these positions given how many plug-and-play options tend to be available at any given time.
My bench was largely filled with higher-upside options at RB and WR, many of whom could easily provide standalone value. Given the nature of fantasy, however, it would not be surprising if my bench looked way different this time next month. A significant yet underrated skill in fantasy is the willingness and ability to churn the end of your bench and always stock up on as many high-ceiling players as possible. Every roster spot counts!
It is also notable that I did not draft a defense. Since the draft took place a whole 15 days before opening kickoff, I see little value in holding a defense for that long. As the old saying goes : “ if you have time, use it”. Considering we drafted before final cuts, the final preseason games, and the inevitable wave of transactions( and injuries) between now and September, there is so much information we don’t know yet, so the ability to stockpile on as many bench pieces as possible could prove to be critical. My suggestion is always to wait until the relative last minute to add your defense. As we will have more information in 2 weeks from now, you can simply drop the lowest upside option on your bench (and use IR slots to your advantage) in favour of a streamable defense.
Ermando- Mahome on Haunted Hill- 6th Overall Selection
Round 1 – 6th Overall
Tyreek Hill
With an opportunity to draft Kupp or Bijan Robinson, I decided to go with Hill. I like the ceiling of Tyreek Hill over Kupp and Robinson, plus I believe Miami will be a fantasy powerhouse this year. There will be enough to go around for Waddle and Hill assuming Tua is healthy.
Round 2 – 19th Overall
Derrick Henry
At this point in the draft, most of the tier 1 and tier 2 WR were off the board. While I didn’t necessarily want to add an RB in round 2, I saw an opportunity to grab one of the remaining Hero RBs and went for it. I don’t mind Henry this year nearing the 2-3 turn even if he starts to slow down.
Round 3 – 30th Overall
Patrick Mahomes
Every year, I draft a QB in the 7th to 9th round range. While this strategy has worked very well in the past, I decided to solidify the position early and hopefully remove any late season QB headaches. When I saw Mahomes slipping to the 4th round, I decided to act.
Round 4 to 16 – Filling Out the Roster
I hammered WR in the mid rounds, where I believe the best value is. Cooper, McLaurin and Smith-Njigba all stood out to me as WRs that would outperform their ADP. I also filled in RB with Mattison and Robinson. I don’t value RB like I used to but you should have at least a few early year options. I put a premium in later rounds on rookies like LaPorta and Tank Dell as well as a few handcuff RBs. I also bought into Justyn Ross and I’m praying the stack goes my way.
