Grading The Big Leaguers Draft
The fantasy football league with the MLB players that I oversee had our Draft on Monday morning and the grades are all over the place. I'll go in order:
Scoring Key Notes: Passing TDs: 6 points, Full PPR
Lineups: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 FLEX (RB/WR/TE), 1 D/ST. 6 bench spots
Joc Pederson, Alex Wood, and Austin Barnes
Grade: B+
Best pick: Bill Croskey-Merritt
Worst Pick: Rashee Rice
Listen, I'm on team Bijan Robinson all day. He's my #1 player in fantasy football this year.
But they three headed monster that is Joc, Wood, and Barnes didn't stop there. They just kept drafting Runningbacks and didn't look back.
I'm not as high on Jonathan Taylor, but don't hate him at #24. Chase Brown is actually my RB3 going into the season, so I love that pick. Going with The Faulk Strategy, invented by nfl.com writer Michael Fabiano over 25 years ago by drafting three straight Runningbacks with the assumption at least one of them would get injured is a bold move in 2025. But I think this is a good haul! They got two of my top three RBs and they managed to get sleeper Bill Croskey-Merritt who could eventually be RB1 on an explosive offense in the 9th round!
The biggest issue with this team is the Receivers. Rashee Rice as WR1 is very risky and the only thing keeping this team from being an A- or better. Rice is coming off an injury and could be suspended for a portion of the season. So relying on him as your top pass catcher is super risky.
UPDATE: uh-oh…
I do think Emeka Egbuka, Rome Odunze, Josh Downs, and Christian Kirk could be solid options, but all of them are unproven or had a big change this season. So a lot is left unsettled. But if a couple of those guys turn out to be impact fantasy players, I expect this team to be competing in January.
Team Big Cat featuring Liam Blutman and Ebo
Grade: A-
Best pick: Xavier Worthy
Worst Pick: Patrick Mahomes
This is a very good and well rounded team. Ja'Marr Chase at #2 is a steal in PPR. And Bucky Irving falling to them at #22 was terrific luck. Ladd McConkey fits the PPR format very well and has a ton of upside. But I didn't love the Patrick Mahomes pick. Especially with Jalen Hurts on the board. I understand this is a 6-point passing touchdown league, but Mahomes felt like a reach because he's more name brand.
I know Liam and Ebo did their homework and that's the guy they wanted. They got the stack they wanted with Worthy, but they could've waited until the 6th Round and upgraded from Aaron Jones earlier with D'Andre Swift, David Montgomery, RJ Harvey or others. Or if they had to take Bo Nix or Baker Mayfield, I actually feel like those are better fantasy options. But they wanted their stack and got it. Worthy is a big time player who had at least 4 catches in his final 10 real games last season. If you take his production from those games and extrapolate it over 17 games, he'd finish WR4 in each of the past two years.
In the late rounds, I like David Njoku because of his connection with Joe Flacco and they got a lot of fliers at RB that hopefully 1-2 work out in Zach Charbonnet, Braelon Allen, and Trey Benson. Dont'e Thornton could also turn into something now that Jakobi Meyers wants out.
Team Alex Bregman and Brian McCann:
Grade: C
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Best pick: Blake Corum
Worst Pick: Trey McBride
I love the Jahmyr Gibbs pick at #3 overall, especially in full point PPR. But Trey McBride Round 2 is far too high for clearly the 2nd best Tight End. His Quarterback is far too inconsistent and he'll need a ton more looks in the Red Zone for this to work out. I don't mind going Kyren Williams and Breece Hall after that, but they basically checked the RB box and then went WR for six straight picks.
They did not prioritize a QB in a 6-point passing TD league so they'll have to utilize their managerial skills to help them win each week. Justin Herbert and Caleb Williams certainly could get the job done, but Bregs and McCann will need to really make the right choices each week for that to happen.
Blake Corum in Round 12 was a brilliant pick as he has value there but especially since they drafted Kyren Williams. That was a wise handcuff at dollar store value.
Team Jake Marisnick and Andrew Benintendi (back-to-back reigning league champions)
Grade: B-
Best pick: Joe Burrow
Worst Pick: Tee Higgins
You gotta give these guys the benefit of the doubt. They clearly know what they're doing. While I didn't love CeeDee Lamb at #4, I don't hate it! Having George Pickens opposite CeeDee Lamb could finally free him up a bit more. And Dak Prescott is slimmed down and healthy going into the season. Tee Higgins however is not and he is a concern for me at #28. Their backfield is also up in the air as their top five RBs all could be in committee situations this season. But that's the tradeoff for waiting till pick #52 to address that position.
Burrow was a wise pick for 6-point passing TD leagues and if he can continue to build off last season where he was in the MVP conversation late this team just based on it's history has a chance to go for a 3-peat!
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Team Wil Myers
Grade: D+
Best pick: Brian Robinson Jr.
Worst Pick: Christian McCaffrey
Wil Myers has won the league so he's got what it takes, but I think he may be living in the past with these picks. Christian McCaffrey is a super risky pick at #5 overall. At age 29 I'm not sure he's a league winner even when healthy anymore. And his downside is a tumor so large you can't extract it from your team. That is the ultimate risk pick and at #5 overall in front of Justin Jefferson and Saquon Barkley was a wild pick in my opinion.
Josh Allen is super safe as he's a top two QB every year. But Tyreek Hill is another risky pick who saw his production decrease a ton. He's no spring chicken either at age 31. Garrett Wilson has one of the worst QBs in the league throwing him the ball and Terry McLaurin agreed to a deal moments after he was drafted here. Joe Mixon will miss at least the first four games and I don't see a stabilizing force outside of Josh Alleon on this team.
But I will give Myers credit for the Brian Robinson Jr. pick in the 9th round. When you invest the #5 overall pick into an oft-injured, older RB, you NEED his backup. And Wil got that. So don't count this former champ out just yet.
Team Mike Napoli
Grade: B-
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Best pick: Jayden Reed
Worst Pick: Tyjae Spears
Listen, I was wrong last year. Saquon is good. That being said, 28 years old and coming off 482 total touches last year for a guy with an injury history is scary. You picking Player C in the 1st Round here?a
I do like De'Von Achane, and he does check a lot of boxes with the PPR format, but he is nicked up already.
Jayden Reed I like late as the Packers WR to emerge this year. Tyjae Spears is not good enough to hold a roster spot while he's out the first few games.
Will the star RBs early and Jayden Daniels be enough to buoy them?
Team Eric Hosmer
Grade: C-
Best pick: Omarion Hampton
Worst Pick: Colston Loveland
Listen Hoz is my guy, but I didn't love this draft. Puka at #7 was a bit rich for me. Brock Bowers at #18 is early, but I'm ok with him as he at least has production far above the second best player at his position. Speaking of TE2s, it's wild that Colston Loveland was the 79th overall pick for a team already with Brock Bowers. Is his plan to go 12 personnel and start both?!
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Jordan Addison is set to miss the first three games with a suspension and outside of Puka Nacua, his Receivers are total wild cards. Matthew Golden and Jaylin Noel are rookies and Marvin Mims is hit or miss. He's relying big time on Chargers rookie RB Omarion Hampton and Isiah Pacheco along with Bowers to carry the squad and get enough out of the Receivers to stay afloat. His QBs are also wild cards with JJ McCarthy having never played a regular season NFL game and Trevor Lawrence with a completely new Coach and system.
Team JT Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber
Grade: A
Best pick: James Cook
Worst Pick: Jerome Ford
The Phillies boys really came to play with this draft. Justin Jefferson at #8 was great value. I'm not as much of a fan of Josh Jacobs as replicating his red zone touches will be tough, but I LOVE James cook at #32. He's been so good over the years and the Bills don't appear to be slowing down.
The Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans stack could be very fruitful. Baker has the most total TD passes the last two seasons. Cooper Kupp and Khalil Shakir are more valuable for PPR. Jerome Ford in Round 11 as my least favorite pick is nitpicking. This team is fantastic.
Team Mike Moustakas
Grade: B+
Best pick: Keon Coleman
Worst Pick: James Conner
Amon-Ra St. Brown has finished as WR3 the past two seasons, so getting him at #9 is a solid pick. This is an explosive Receivers room and I'm hearing great things about Coleman. Lamar Jackson at the helm is a great weapon and I'm good with #16 overall. Lamar is that damn good in fantasy (and real life).
James Conner at #33 gives me pause as he's your RB1. But I do like the job of backfilling him with flier RBs like Kaleb Johnson, Travis Etienne Jr. and Cam Skattebo. The hope is one or two guys steps forward and takes their job, but that may not happen right away.
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And while the RBs aren't good, the QB and WRs are good enough that Moose can beat anyone any week.
Team Shane Bieber, Austin Hedges, and Pat Bailey
Grade: B
Best pick: Drake London
Worst Pick: Davante Adams
This team is solid all-around. Derrick Henry, while he doesn't get a boost from the PPR format, is still a beast and at #10 overall is a great pick. Drake London went a bit lower than expected and should have a huge year with Michael Penix Jr. at QB. Davante Adams was a bit rich for me, but i'm nitpicking. I would've went with Marvin Harrison Jr. or Mike Evans in that spot.
This trio's strategy appears to be taking a ton of fliers, which I think is smart. The hope is that a couple of these guys pop off. And with Tetairoa McMillan, Treyveon Henderson, RJ Harvey, Jaydon Blue, and Woody Marks, they have five rookies that could be impact guys. On the flip side, they could be cut candidates a few weeks into the season if they're slow to develop so this team, while having good building blocks and a lot of potential, will need a wait and see approach as so much is unknown.
Team Mike Trout
Grade: A
Best pick: Ollie Gordon
Worst Pick: n/a
This draft was really good top to bottom. I personally would've went Brian Thomas Jr. at #11 and followed it up with Drake London at #14, but this team is really good and takes advantage of the scoring better than almost every team. Jeanty can catch passes in addition to run the football. As can Alvin Kamara and Austin Ekeler. Bhayshul Tuten and Ollie Gordon could be starting for their Florida-based teams sooner than later and both his QBs, Bo Nix and Jaxson Dart are dual threat QBs.
Tyler Warren was my 4th ranked TE and he's got some hitters at WR. Ricky Pearsall is a good WR3 until Brandon Aiyuk comes back and he can always mix in Jameson Williams or even Demario Douglas based on matchup. It's hard to find a hole in this team at the moment.
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Team Manny Machado
Grade: B
Best pick: Tony Pollard
Worst Pick: Kyler Murray
Malik Nabers, if healthy will be a PPR machine in New York. But will he have his head on straight and not blow a gasket? If Jameis Winston ends up starting for a period of time, he could be WR1 for the year. Nico Collins is a very strong WR2 and a George Pickens/Stefon Diggs/Darnell Mooney competition for WR3 and FLEX is very solid. Runningbacks are dicey but have a lot of potential. If Kenneth Walker III is healthy, he is a threat to win the rushing title in my opinion. Chuba Hubbard wasn't my favorite pick, but Tony Pollard should get extra work early with Tyjae Spears out for a few weeks.
Tight End could be better, but Evan Engram has the chance to be special in Sean Payton's offense. But can he stay healthy for a full season?
Quarterback is what hurts this team. Kyler Murray is far too inconsistent to be a fantasy QB1. CJ Stroud is a nice pick in Round 14 and gives Manny the chance to make the right call on a week-by-week basis with this squad. But if he starts Stroud to stack with Nico Collins against bad defenses, this team could be a threat late in the year.
Who do you think wins this league? Sound off in the comments for your best and worst team.
And while you're here, check out the positional previews on Fantasy Football Factory. We've got a Runningbacks preview here:
And a Quarterbacks preview here:
Our Wide Receivers and Tight Ends preview was just taped yesterday and will be out tomorrow.
