Fantasy News
I think people might be warming up to the idea of drafting wide receivers with early draft picks. In the Fanex format, at least.
There are two Fanex drafts currently underway. In one of them, 11 of the 24 players picked in the first two rounds were wide receivers. In the other, 10 of the 24.
That’s different than last year, when in each 12-team draft 7 of the first 24 players were wide receivers.
Fanex tends to be dominated by guys selecting running backs. But collecting wide receivers, I think, makes sense in this format. It’s PPR, and you can start up to four wide receivers – you have to start three, and there’s a flex player as well.
I’ve won the Fanex “FAD” draft the last two years by assembling a strong quartet of receivers, and I also won the Fanex head-to-head league last season with four strong receivers. I’m not sure if others noticed this, but I’m seeing more guys select more wide receivers earlier.
I would have considered opening with three wide receivers, but I just selected Drew Brees early in the third round. I tried to trade down (I think Peyton Manning, who’s similar in value, might make it to the end of the third round), but I was unsuccessful.
FANEX DRAFT (AMERICAN LEAGUE)
Results of the Fanex Draft so far:
1.01 RB Maurice Jones-Drew (Rito)
1.02 RB Adrian Peterson (Butler)
1.03 RB Matt Forte (Hickerson)
1.04 RB Steve Slaton (Davis)
1.05 RB Michael Turner (Tinker)
1.06 WR Larry Fitzgerald (Holm)
1.07 RB Steven Jackson (Nulty)
1.08 WR Randy Moss (Perlow)
1.09 RB LaDainian Tomlinson (Cahill)
1.10 RB Chris Johnson (Butler)
1.11 RB DeAngelo Williams (Kellogg)
1.12 WR Andre Johnson (Panizo)
2.01 RB Brian Westbrook (Panizo)
2.02 WR Calvin Johnson (Kellogg)
2.03 WR Reggie Wayne (Perlow)
2.04 RB Frank Gore (Cahill)
2.05 WR Steve Smith (Allan)
2.06 RB Marion Barber (Nulty)
2.07 WR Greg Jennings (Holm)
2.08 WR Brandon Marshall (Tinker)
2.09 WR Roddy White (Davis)
2.10 RB Brandon Jacobs (Hickerson)
2.11 WR Wes Welker (Allan)
2.12 WR Anquan Boldin (Rito)
3.01 WR Marques Colston (Rito)
3.02 QB Drew Brees (Allan)
3.03 WR Terrell Owens (Hickerson)
3.04 RB Clinton Portis (Davis)
3.05 RB Reggie Bush (Tinker)
Scoring system: 6 points for TDs, 4 for TD passes, 1 for every 20 passing yards, 1 for every 10 run/rec yards. Start QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE, one Flex (RB-WR-TE), PK, DEF.
Fanex is a 24-team league that’s set up like European soccer. Top 12 seeds, based on past performance, are in the American League. Other 12 are in the National League. Each year, the bottom four teams in the American League are replaced by the top four in the National. Each league has a separate winner. Overall champion of the Fanex is considered to be the winner of the American League.
To see American League draft so far, click here.
To see National League draft so far, click here.
—Ian Allan
- Comments [2]
Readers' Comments
Add a Comment
Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.
To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.
Posted by GREGORY BLAKE | Aug. 04 at 01:00 AM
Ian - The PPR rules skews things a bit but it's clear that drafting WRs in the first 2 rounds is becoming not just acceptable but en vogue. Do you attribute this to consistent performance at the top end of the WR list (Moss, Fitzgerald, etc.) or the fact that once you get about 15 WRs deep the fantasy talent becomes very questionable?
Posted by IAN ALLAN | Aug. 04 at 01:38 AM
I don't think it's strong enough to say just "skews things a bit". PPR + start 3 WR + add the flex position (which can be a 4th WR) wildly tilts things in favor of wide receiver. And there aren't that many receivers you can count on to catch 80-plus passes and 8-plus TDs. That's why you see them going early, I think.