The final Fanex drafts of the summer are underway. A couple of surprises at the top, I thought, and we can see the difference in value in LeVeon Bell, now that his suspension has been shortened to two games. I also made a mess of my first two picks.

At the top of the draft in the American League, Greg Kellogg selected Matt Forte No. 1 overall. I thought this was a colossal blunder. Forte caught 102 passes last year (making him really good in this PPR format) but that was last year. They’ve got a new coach, a new offense, and Kellogg will be left holding a back that I’m not sure even belongs in the top 10.

In the National League, Adrian Peterson went No. 1 overall. Not a terrible choice, but not a guy who would have even been in the mix for the No. 1 spot if I was picking.

Bell is more palatable now that he’s slated to play in 14 of the 16 games. He went 2nd and 3rd in the two drafts. (So if you were to average the results, it would be Peterson first and Bell second).

Meanwhile, I didn’t do too well with my own first two picks.

I drew the 8th slot. My hope (fantasy) was that Antonio Brown would be available. He’s the guy I would have taken No. 1 overall. But he went fifth. So on the clock, my top 2 options were Julio Jones and Odell Beckham, Jr. Those guys are 3rd and 5th on my overall board. (This is a PPR format, with three starting wide receivers and a flex player – so you can start four wide receivers.)

Anyway, based on earlier Fanex drafts (The FAD in June and the Auction in July) it was my belief there was maybe a 30-40 percent chance Jones might make it to 2.05. So I took Beckham, even though Jones was a little higher on my board.

This proved to be a pipe dream. Jones went with the next pick.

Coming back at 2.05, the highest-rated guys on my board were wide receivers (Randall Cobb, Calvin Johnson, Emmanuel Sanders). In this format, I think they’re a lot better than the two elite quarterbacks (who are both available). Or I could select a running back, with Jeremy Hill, Arian Foster and Melvin Gordon the three leading options. I don’t like Foster’s durability, and Gordon might not catch enough passes right away.

I ended up going with Hill, even though he’s much lower than Cobb on my board. This might end up biting him in the rear. The thinking is that it will give me a little more flexibility in the next four rounds, when I think there will be some receivers there that I will value a lot more than others. Had I opened with two wide receivers, I might have been forced into burning a pick on a running back in the fifth or sixth round who really isn’t worth that choice.

I like C.J. Anderson a lot in this format, but he went just before I choose.

Anyway, I’m off to a lackluster start. Didn’t particularly care for the 8th slot, or what I did with it.

FANEX NATIONAL DRAFT
1.01MINAdrian Peterson
1.02PITLeVeon Bell
1.03GBEddie Lacy
1.04KCJamaal Charles
1.05PITAntonio Brown
1.06NERob Gronkowski
1.07DALDez Bryant
1.08NYGOdell Beckham Jr.
1.09ATLJulio Jones
1.10CHIMatt Forte
1.11DENDemaryius Thomas
1.12SEAMarshawn Lynch
2.01GBJordy Nelson
2.02BUFLeSean McCoy
2.03PHIDeMarco Murray
2.04DENC.J. Anderson
2.05CINJeremy Hill

If you’d like to follow along with these drafts, the the action is occurring at MyFantasyLeague.com.

—Ian Allan