Ding.
What’s that sound? Oh, the light on my dash just lit up. I’m
running on empty.
Ah, fatherhood. Many of us in the JFL now have gone through
the trials and tribulations of bringing home an infant child to care for.
News Team, Noise, Jawz, Fear, Houserville, Cheese Steaks and
Boyer all have experienced it at one time in their lives.
So does Chalupa Batman, who saw his son arrive three months
ago, and T-Money is going to be joining the party very soon. (I guess he
celebrated his Super Bowl title like a champion!)
T-Money enters the 2015 season with Tony Romo as his keeper…
… OK, I’m back. Diaper
change. Where was I? Ah, yes, T-Money and Romo.
You know, it wasn’t long ago that I would just copy and
paste a Tony Romo critique in T-Money’s keeper announcement as I was not a fan
of it. Too often, Romo would collapse late.
I’ve apologized for my harsh criticism in 2013, and what did
Romo do? He went out and had an awful season. In 2014, I suggested that perhaps
Arian Foster would have been a better keeper selection and what did Romo do? He
threw for 34 TDs and only nine INTs.
So, I’m just going to not comment on this keeper selection.
All I’ll say is, “Good luck. I think it will help you score more points than
you did in your Super Bowl win.”
The best keeper selection of the season belongs to Choo. He
thought I was being sarcastic when I responded with that statement a few days
ago, but I was not.
 |
| Post First-Round Keepers This year, the draft is set up in such a way that the only keepers you have to avoid in the draft are the post-first-round keepers. The nine players being kept as first-rounders will automatically be taken. So, here is the keeper sheet for this year. Print it. Look it over. Use it during the draft. CLICK HERE BECAUSE last year was a trial run and I was lenient after the fact. This year, there should be NO REASON for anyone to draft a player that is designated to be selected later. Punishment will be the loss of your first round pick in 2015, and who ever you choose as your keeper will automatically be a 2nd-round pick. So please, look the sheets over. Move the players on it to the BOTTOM of your draft list and make sure you don't take them. |
Odell Beckham Jr., the 2014 NFL Rookie of the Year, was a
beast as soon as he hit the field in Week 5, scoring one of his 12 touchdowns
on the season. He averaged 14.5 points per week and hit 17 points seven times,
and more than 20 five times, and more than 30 three times.
Those last two stats are matchup difference makers. Sadly,
for Choo, four of the five 20-plus weeks came from Week 14 to 17. He didn’t
make the playoffs and those point totals went to waste.
The upside, though, is that Beckham is on a roll, and his
big-play ability should translate into big points starting right away in Week
1.
Now, you add in the fact that Choo selected him in the 10th
round — yes, we all should be jealous — and you see why he’s the best
keeper pick in the JFL this year. First-round talent in the 10th — that’s
exactly what this system was set up for.
You should be rewarded for great, late draft picks that come
through.
The Cheese Steaks also is locking in with a great young WR
who was in the running for that Rookie of the Year award. If it weren’t for
Beckham, Mike Evans would have won it after scored 12 touchdowns in 15 games.
He averaged 12.1 points per week and hit double-digits eight times last year,
and six of those came Week 9 or later. Like Beckham, he will look to carry that
momentum into 2015.
For the Steaks, he’s a fifth-round keeper, so not as great
as Beckham, but nevertheless, a value keeper pick.
Jerk also joins the late-round picks with the latest
selection in Teddy Bridgewater, who was taken in the 14th last season. It’s not
a bad pick based on the value, however, when I look at the Jerk’s roster, I see
T.Y. Hilton (fourth) and Eli Manning (seventh) who really tempt me more than
Bridgewater. Even Matt Forte in the first, which would be the ninth overall
pick for Jerk, is a tasty choice (he averaged 16.7 points per matchup last
season).
Yes, the 14th rounder is sexy — I know, because I thought
about using my 15th for Blake Bortles — but when it comes down to it, did I
want to jeopardize my team on a prayer that my 15th round keeper can be my
franchise QB?
I’m not so sure. Personally, I’d rather cash in on a
fourth-round pick of Hilton, who I trust more and lock him onto my roster.
Other later-than-first-round picks include Jawz’
third-rounder Rob Gronkowski, Bombers seventh-rounder Ben Roethlisberger,
Chalupa’s fifth-rounder Philip Rivers and Toasters’ second-rounder Russell
Wilson.
They all are great selections as they are worthy or more
than worthy of the round selections designated to them.
And lastly, there’s Adrian Peterson, who was a first-round
pick last year, but after being dropped by three teams, Houserville swooped in
right before Week 11 to pick him up and get the 12th-round designation due to
the waiver pickup/keeper rules.
This will be the second year in a row that Houserville
utilizes his keeper slot for a waiver-wire RB.
Last year it was Monte Ball and I was very critical of the
selection. In the end, I was more than right as Ball had 55 carries for 172
yards and one TD in 2014. It was a keeper selection that cost him dearly.
This year, Peterson’s projection for 2015 looks much better,
but still, he’s 30, he’s a player coming off a full season out of the NFL and
he’s dealing with off-the-field issues. I personally think this is a bad
choice, but I can’t go all “Montee Ball” on Dawson here, because Peterson has
the ability to go for 1,500 yards and double-digit TDs. That would make the
keeper selection better than Odell Beckham Jr.
Still, I’d take Choo’s keeper situation over Houserville any
day.
So, why is Houserville keeping Peterson? Well, his logical
keeper pick was Aaron Rodgers, and he traded him for second and fourth round
picks from News Team.
Elite QBs can make a difference in the JFL, but Houserville
is looking to cash in with quantity. With the fifth overall pick and two picks
in the front-half of the second round, he really has a chance to bulk up his
squad with talent to surround Peterson.
If he does his homework and cashes in, we’ll be talking
about this move in December.
… Sorry, another break.
I had to set up the pack-and-play. …
The other eight teams have decided to use their first-round
picks on keepers, including six of the nine seven teams drafting in the second
half of the first round.
And that makes sense as those teams are keeping players who
in a fresh draft would never make it to picks 8 through 16.
News Team leads off with his old friend Aaron Rodgers, who
he’ll take with the eighth overall pick. It was a costly trade, but for him,
even if the loss of a second and fourth round pick hurts him for 2015, he’ll
have Rodgers for the foreseeable future. He’s making an investment in the
Rodgers Foundation.
The kind of investment that Team Boyer has made to Tom Brady
over the years. He was his franchise QB from day one, and 10 years later, Brady
will yet again be a keeper for Boyer. Brady is still the only player to remain
with one franchise over the 10 years.
I have to admit, I thought this was if for Tom Brady and the
Spacklers.
He’s led Boyer to compete in a pair of Super Bowls — he lost
in both, but nevertheless, he was there — and he’s been a steady rock in most
seasons for Boyer.
But I really thought that would all come to an end this year
as the four-game suspension kills his fantasy value as a first-round keeper. Add
in the fact that the bye week for the Patriots is Week 4, and that means the
four-game suspension doesn’t end until after Week 5. That would mean Brady
would miss the full first go-round of divisional matchups for Boyer.
That is very risky, as we know poor starts are hard to
overcome, especially if they include an 0-3 record in the division.
But Boyer is looking to cash in on a solid QB for the Week 6
through 13 run. He’ll just need a serviceable backup to help him at least go
2-3 during the first five weeks. That or better is a win-win for Boyer.
The other first-round keepers at the back-end of the draft
include: The Jimmy Jammers is keeping Marshawn Lynch at 12, the Slackers
selected Drew Brees at 13, Fear and Loathing takes Andrew Luck at 15, and
T-Money holding on to Romo at 16.
On the opposite end of that spectrum is Graybill’s Generals
and World of Noise.
Graybill picks No. 1 overall and Noise selects No. 3, and
both teams are using their first-round picks for keepers.
Odd if you ask me.
Graybill is keeping Eddie Lacy, and with the No. 1 overall
pick, I don’t know why you don’t keep someone else on the roster and just draft
Lacy No. 1 overall if you like him that much.
Noise, although he doesn’t select No. 1 overall, is in the
same boat as he keeps Matt Ryan at No. 3. There’s no way Ryan would go at 1 or
2, so why not keep a late pick Jordan Mathews and draft Ryan at 3 if you love
him that much?
It just doesn’t make sense, but hey, I’ll take it. Two extra
players available to draft for the rest of us.
Make that three after Craig selects a kicker in the third
round.
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