What is FGW? Go back to the shadows, I mean Go Back To Week 1.
Back in 2012, I started doing my own “Devy League” mock draft every year.
For those not familiar, a Devy League is a dynasty league where you can draft players that are not yet in the NFL. My particular mock draft rules were simple:
- 2 rounds, 14 picks per round
- Any player is eligible that was not ‘drafted’ the previous season
I’ll probably do a summary of the results as a post soon – 10 years are in the books, after all – but as a sneak preview, here are some highlights from 2012’s draft:
Pick 1: Matt Barkley, QB, USC (that was legit!)
Pick 2: Robert Woods, WR, USC
Pick 3: Logan Thomas, QB, VT (check that one out)
Pick 4: Marcus Lattimore, RB, S. Carolina (ouch, mainly for him, not just whomever picked him over Bell)
Pick 5: Le’Veon Bell, RB, Mich. St
…
Pick 9: Marqise Lee, WR, USC
Pick 10: Keenan Allen, WR, Cal
Pick 11: Tyler Wilson, QB, Arkansas (yeah, really)
Pick 12: Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Missouri
…
Pick 26: Johnathan Gray, RB, Texas
Pick 27: Malcolm Brown, RB, Texas
Pick 28: Jake Stoneburner, TE, OSU (not to be confused with TE Jace Sternberger, he came later)
Looking back…should pick 28 have been 16-year old Christian McCaffrey? This was still 1 year before Dylan Moses showed up on a Sports Illustrated as a 9th grader, so maybe I wasn’t in the headspace of “draft em young” myself. But you could argue McCaffrey was the pick on pure genetics alone (you already know about Christian’s dad, but his mom Lisa played soccer at Stanford.)
When I join a Devy League for real, I’m picking the kid from that stock image I chose for the post.
Who Won The Week?
- Since I started this series, I really haven’t gotten a chance to praise Christian “Air, Land, and Sea” McCaffrey.
- Hey, That’s A Good Card Game! (referral link)
- A slight dip in % started drops Kamara below CMC. Though I will admit I almost had McCaffrey on the bench in one league (Chubb, McCaffrey, Pollard – Flex not RB-eligible).
- Nuk looking better than ever!
- D’ONTA FOREMAN TRUTHERS GET IN HERE! I swear he’s looked awesome his whole career, finally he gets a shot for a full load for half a season! Only Chubbard change stop him now!
- 76% of the DJ “Points, Need” Moore owners were paid handsomely for their loyalty.
- DeVonta Smith, less loyal.
- Kickers are stupid.
- Glad I didn’t bench Derek Carr for Malik Willis! That was a close one.
- WTF happened there? Davante Adams barely beat out DeVante Parker this week, and Parker played like 1 play.
Leaderboard Updates
- Josh Allen getting complacent up there, after my Week 6 serenade. HEY JOSH, YOU SUCK wait they’re playing the Jets this week JOSH YOU’RE STILL AMAZING!
- Good luck to those plugging in Chuba for Chubb on bye this week.
- Big week for a lot of familiar faces climbing the board – Henry, AJ Brown. Kamara came off the red list.
- Don’t look now, but from weeks 5-9, 6 of the top 9 FGW leaders are RBs (1. Ekeler, 2. Henry, 3. Kamara, 4. McCaffrey, 7. Chubb, and 9… Rhamondre Stevenson.)
- There’s definitely an emotional attachment to the first few weeks of the season – would have never guessed Waller is now below Pitts.
- Speaking of emotional connections, Tom Brady still at the bottom.
- This is a really fun chart to look at! Check out the funky purple color choice.
- Not fun for Jonathan Taylor owners, 2022.
- Would you believe Courtland Sutton is that low? If you watch him play lately, you probably do.
- My biggest takeaway here? Draft QBs whose names start with J.
The Full List
- There are leagues out there with 1st overall pick team getting Taylor, Deebo, and Javonte, and the 2nd overall pick team getting CMC, Tyreek, and Mandrews. Fantasy football is cruel.
Gotta go, still have to figure out how to fit the expansion for Air Land & Sea into the same game box. Here’s hoping the win column expands a bit for the Jonathan Taylor owners. And if it doesn’t, remember we’re all going down in this ship together. It’s been a privilege and an honor.
Byron Cobalt's Lazy Analysis 