This may become a weekly series, so stay tuned on my blog.
Let me begin by singing my praises to Justin Jefferson, the best wide receiver in football. I took Jefferson with the 4th overall pick in my 14-team PPR league, and he put up a mind-bending 39.4 points in Week 1, hauling in 9 receptions for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns. Wild. And he gets bonus points from me as a Bears fan for doing it against the Green Bay Packers. As far as I’m concerned, Jefferson can do no wrong, and he is locked in as my WR1 every single week.
In the second round of my draft, I took Travis Kelce. I was ecstatic that he fell to me here, and like Jefferson he too had a big Week 1 performance, producing 26.1 points as the Chiefs offense demolished the Cardinals. The one-two punch of Kelce and Jefferson gives my team a strong foundation week in and week out, and at the same time a near-limitless ceiling when both players boom.
At the beginning of the third round I grabbed Tee Higgins, but later traded him in a swap for new Eagles receiver A.J. Brown. In the late fourth I picked up Jerry Jeudy, another solid player with upside. Up to this point my draft was very receiver heavy, and I needed to start snagging running backs. This led me to make the only pick I really regret when I look back on my draft, which was taking Devin Singletary in the fifth round. The Bills lead running back has been very underwhelming thus far despite playing in one of the NFL’s elite offenses, and I might look to move him soon.
Soon after I made that selection, quarterbacks started flying off the draft board, so my focus shifted to making sure I could get an elite one. However, I began to get worried. Allen, Mahomes, Herbert, and Lamar had gone early on. Then Russell Wilson was picked, then Dak, then Trey Lance. With the number of elite QB’s dwindling, I wasn’t sure if one would make it back to me after all. But then it happened. Jalen Hurts fell to me at pick 81. I do not know how it happened, but I did not hesitate to take him.
In the late rounds I aimed to round out my roster at the RB position. I took Cowboys change-of-pace back Tony Pollard in the seventh, and a few handcuff RB’s later on, namely Nyheim Hines, Alexander Mattison, and Mark Ingram, all of whom could be thrust into a large role if the starters in their respective offenses miss any time. I also took a chance on Falcons rookie running back Tyler Allgeier, intent on stashing him on my bench, and after adding Chase Claypool and Jarvis Landry for some depth at wide receiver, my draft was complete.
Week 1 saw me matched up against Ian Boggs, who has quite a scary team that features Patrick Mahomes, Mark Andrews, and Cooper Kupp. It was an extremely high scoring matchup, with both of our star receivers and quarterbacks putting on absolute fireworks displays as they soared past their projected points totals. I was helped on by a monster performance at tight end from Kelce, and ultimately Jerry Jeudy was able to bring it home for me , breaking free for a 67-yard touchdown against the Seahawks on Monday Night Football and winning me the week 163.32 to 151.
Week 2 did not go as swimmingly. I was facing Lex Nunnally, and right from the jump things got ugly. Amon-Ra St. Brown had a career game against the Washington Commanders, torching them for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns, and putting up nearly 40 fantasy points in the process. This gave Lex an early lead that proved to be insurmountable. A lot of my players underperformed in their respective matchups, and my team couldn’t quite complete the Monday night comeback despite a spectacular game from Jalen Hurts. I lost to Lex 92.82 to 113.66.
Going forward, I am excited about what my team may be able to accomplish this season. I have multiple big names and playmakers on my team, and when they all go off the sky’s the limit. I got a glimpse of that ridiculous ceiling in Week 1, and though Week 2 wasn’t the same, there were still some bright spots. Hurts’ performance was nothing short of great. Tony Pollard was impressive as well, and he may prove to give me the consistent starting-level RB production that I am searching for. I have a tough matchup in Week 3 against none other than Vishal Yelamanchili, and I will update you all on how it goes.
Hello Jack! I just started to get into football this year. My parents spend every Sunday watching games and I normally see myself out. But the truth is ever since Senior year started I have been attending all the Football games. When I am occasionally in the front row I get quickly intrigued. I have a new respect for the sport. I do like to cheer for something I am apart of. So of course the Huskies are by far my favorite team. Since I have so recently found enjoyment in our school football team it makes sense to me that you are optimistic about a team you created. Because its your team. When you feel that comradery or pride in something you created or apart of there’s nothing like it. No bandwagon just pure support. I also wanted to point out that you wrote more for this post than your literacy narrative. I noticed the same thing within myself. It is a real life test of what we are truly passionate about. If you’re passionate enough about something you should be able to talk/write about it forever. I saw that in your writing and I hope you took note of it too. Overall great work, I am cheering for your team!
So Jack, I know that we faced off this past week and I will have won when you read this. But aside from that, I can feel the passion in the writing. You clearly had a good amount of knowledge as well as you were able to describe and explain the situations with your draft very deeply. I can say that I have that same passion towards fantasy football to the point of me checking in on games every 5 minutes or so to see if I gained any points. Also, I especially love watching my players live when they face other teams, because seeing Ja’Marr Chase score a touchdown or David Montgomery going for a huge run always makes me feel so happy inside. Also, fantasy football also provides me with something to pass the times. It makes my sundays a day to look forward to. Instead of a day where I cram all of my homework, I can cram all of my homework and watch the bears lose! Anyways. I seriously love playing fantasy football and I am very happy to be in a league with my friends so when I win it all, I have the ultimate bragging rights.