[Ready for grading - 1390 words]
Hello everyone and welcome to the next edition of Taco Tuesday! A quick recap of what Taco Tuesday is in case you weren't here last week:
Taco is a character from the TV show "The League" who makes very questionable picks in his fantasy draft. In the essence of his character, Taco Tuesday is a series about the lowest scoring player in NSFL fantasy football, or the "Taco" of the league. I analyse the user's draft to see what might have happened using BigRed's ADP tool, observation of other available players, and some good old fashioned hindsight. THIS IS NOT A ROAST. If the same person is still last in the next episode, I will choose the next to last player to add some variety. (NOTE: no drafts/late drafts were not included)
NEW SEGMENT: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Last weeks Taco was @TomHanks, who in my opinion had a better team on paper than his players' performances on the field reflected. There were a few picks that could have been better, a couple that I personally would have picked differently, and a little bad luck factoring in to Hanks' low score last week. This week, some good news as Mr. Hanks seems to have moved up a bit towards the middle of the pack, moving up a spot in his group with 781.48 points, all without any waiver claims. See, I knew your team shouldn't have been that bad! Keep moving up!
Now, let me introduce our new Taco for this week!
@caltroit_red_flames
I'm sorry Mr. Caltroit, but it looks like you have acquired the title of Taco for this week. Unfortunately, the season hasn't turned out well for Caltroit so far as a lot of his picks obviously aren't panning out. Let's take a look at his fantasy team:
Francisco, S. 137.96
Brown, M. 168.5
Anoa'i, D. 73.5
Hardwick, S. 25.7
Brannigan, Z. 58.8
Justice, T. 22.2
Donaldson, N. 99
Orange County Otters 89.1
TOTAL: 674.76
At first glance it is easy to see this teams biggest weaknesses: The receivers, flex, and quarterback positions. Before doing a deep dive on Caltroit's draft, I have no idea why better prospects weren't taken, especially with his premier draft positioning and another user not participating. It might be a lack of experience, a lack of league knowledge, or not using available resources that may have contributed to this draft, but that is all purely speculation. With that, let's take a closer look at Caltroit's fantasy draft:
Rd 1, Pick 1 - Marquise Brown, RB
The first thing I noticed when seeing this is I have to quickly scroll past Caltroit's signature while I'm here at work because that GIF in it is definitely NSFW. Lol. The second thing I'll say which is more on topic is that this is a great pick and a solid start to the draft. I personally picked Brown with my first pick as well and it has paid off. With an ADP of 1, this was the consensus best player available sans a couple that passed up on him, and he is currently the top running back in the league.
Rd 2, Pick 14 - Stan Francisco, QB
I understand that Caltroit was skipped, but...why? It appears we have already gone off the rails just as quickly as we started. Out of all of the QB's available in this draft position, the only worse quarterbacks that could have been picked were rookies Easton Cole and Wolfie McDummy. New Orleans was set to be one of the worst teams in the league in the upcoming season. To top it off, Gus T.T Showbiz was still available! If you're going to pick a QB, go that route. Alternatively he could have picked a high-upside wide receiver and waited to pick this QB with the last pick of the draft because nobody was going to touch him. With an ADP of 60, or undrafted, this was a hell of reach. Francisco is performing to those low expectations as the 8th QB in fantasy points.
Rd 3, Pick 15 - Zapp Brannigan, TE
To round off the first set of back-to-back picks, Caltroit goes with TE...Zapp Brannigan. Not the worst tight end pick by any means, but again at this point it was a slight reach. With an ADP of 22, there were other options available, not just at TE but at WR and RB (for the flex) that could have helped as well. Johnny Blaze was right there for the taking and would have been an awesome pick. As the third best TE, it could have been worse, so in the end this pick isn't terrible although there were a lot of other options I would have gone with instead as it was highly likely Brannigan would have been available with his next pick.
Rd 4, Pick 20 - Django Anoia, WR
Rd 5, Pick 21 - Sam Hardwick, WR
I'm combining these two picks because what I'm about to say applies to both of them. I'll try to start of positive: at this point, considering the other positions picked (talent aside), I absolutely love that Caltroit went with two WR's in his back-to-back pick position. And with that he had a decent haul of players in that position he could choose from, even if they weren't elite. That said, I don't understand the reasoning behind picking these two receivers at all. James Bishop, Jordan von Matt, Brock Landers, all were still there and would have been much better picks. Along with that, a flex pick of Forrest Gump would also have been a good alternative. Both of these guys had an ADP of undrafted at 54 and 56 respectively, and Anoia is the only one of the two producing anything and even he isn't doing a whole lot compare to the other receivers. Further, both of these guys play for Austin, who is an expansion team with a true rookie quarterback and probably is the worst team in the league. Picking one WR from them is already questionable, but two? These are my least favorite picks of the draft - so much more value could have been acquired.
Rd 6, pick 30 - Otters Defense
Rd 7, pick 31 - Neo Donaldson, K
The turn of the 6th/7th round was outstanding for Caltroit. Putting all of the other picks in the past and ignoring those, I really like that he went with a really good defense as well as the a top 3 kicker. Especially with the flex talent already dwindling, it was unlikely Caltroit would have got something better here than he would with his last pick. OCO was 35 in ADP, while Donaldson was 46, but that positioning is least relevant for kickers and defenses as they can be picked all over the place. I really like these picks and they are looking like the highlights of Caltroit's draft, even if that isn't saying much.
Rd 8, Pick 40 - Ty Justice, WR
With his last pick, Caltroit picked Ty Justice. According to ADP, he could have picked literally anyone else and it would have been a better pick as Justice ranks dead last. I understand that there weren't many options, but I don't think I'm a fan of picking a WR here in general. The obvious pick that would have been outstanding here is Sam Torenson. Along with this, Terry Taffy was available, Jeff Murphy, Ricky Adams, etc. would also have been better picks in my opinion. Unfortunately, Justice hasn't panned out as he's one of the lowest scoring receivers in the league.
In conclusion, there were a lot of picks that I can't help but question. So much value could have been gained, and so many better opportunities were available especially with an inactive draft participant. If I could offer some advice for next season, I'd say to use your teammates as resources for help, research more into the players you are picking, and look at how other drafts are going to get a feel for where players are going. It is getting to be too late now, but I'd also suggest nabbing somebody off of waivers for both Hardwick and Justice if you want to improve your scores. Best of luck to you for the remainder of the season!
Thank you to everybody who read this! I will see you next week!
Hello everyone and welcome to the next edition of Taco Tuesday! A quick recap of what Taco Tuesday is in case you weren't here last week:
Taco is a character from the TV show "The League" who makes very questionable picks in his fantasy draft. In the essence of his character, Taco Tuesday is a series about the lowest scoring player in NSFL fantasy football, or the "Taco" of the league. I analyse the user's draft to see what might have happened using BigRed's ADP tool, observation of other available players, and some good old fashioned hindsight. THIS IS NOT A ROAST. If the same person is still last in the next episode, I will choose the next to last player to add some variety. (NOTE: no drafts/late drafts were not included)
NEW SEGMENT: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Last weeks Taco was @TomHanks, who in my opinion had a better team on paper than his players' performances on the field reflected. There were a few picks that could have been better, a couple that I personally would have picked differently, and a little bad luck factoring in to Hanks' low score last week. This week, some good news as Mr. Hanks seems to have moved up a bit towards the middle of the pack, moving up a spot in his group with 781.48 points, all without any waiver claims. See, I knew your team shouldn't have been that bad! Keep moving up!
Now, let me introduce our new Taco for this week!
@caltroit_red_flames
I'm sorry Mr. Caltroit, but it looks like you have acquired the title of Taco for this week. Unfortunately, the season hasn't turned out well for Caltroit so far as a lot of his picks obviously aren't panning out. Let's take a look at his fantasy team:
Francisco, S. 137.96
Brown, M. 168.5
Anoa'i, D. 73.5
Hardwick, S. 25.7
Brannigan, Z. 58.8
Justice, T. 22.2
Donaldson, N. 99
Orange County Otters 89.1
TOTAL: 674.76
At first glance it is easy to see this teams biggest weaknesses: The receivers, flex, and quarterback positions. Before doing a deep dive on Caltroit's draft, I have no idea why better prospects weren't taken, especially with his premier draft positioning and another user not participating. It might be a lack of experience, a lack of league knowledge, or not using available resources that may have contributed to this draft, but that is all purely speculation. With that, let's take a closer look at Caltroit's fantasy draft:
Rd 1, Pick 1 - Marquise Brown, RB
The first thing I noticed when seeing this is I have to quickly scroll past Caltroit's signature while I'm here at work because that GIF in it is definitely NSFW. Lol. The second thing I'll say which is more on topic is that this is a great pick and a solid start to the draft. I personally picked Brown with my first pick as well and it has paid off. With an ADP of 1, this was the consensus best player available sans a couple that passed up on him, and he is currently the top running back in the league.
Rd 2, Pick 14 - Stan Francisco, QB
I understand that Caltroit was skipped, but...why? It appears we have already gone off the rails just as quickly as we started. Out of all of the QB's available in this draft position, the only worse quarterbacks that could have been picked were rookies Easton Cole and Wolfie McDummy. New Orleans was set to be one of the worst teams in the league in the upcoming season. To top it off, Gus T.T Showbiz was still available! If you're going to pick a QB, go that route. Alternatively he could have picked a high-upside wide receiver and waited to pick this QB with the last pick of the draft because nobody was going to touch him. With an ADP of 60, or undrafted, this was a hell of reach. Francisco is performing to those low expectations as the 8th QB in fantasy points.
Rd 3, Pick 15 - Zapp Brannigan, TE
To round off the first set of back-to-back picks, Caltroit goes with TE...Zapp Brannigan. Not the worst tight end pick by any means, but again at this point it was a slight reach. With an ADP of 22, there were other options available, not just at TE but at WR and RB (for the flex) that could have helped as well. Johnny Blaze was right there for the taking and would have been an awesome pick. As the third best TE, it could have been worse, so in the end this pick isn't terrible although there were a lot of other options I would have gone with instead as it was highly likely Brannigan would have been available with his next pick.
Rd 4, Pick 20 - Django Anoia, WR
Rd 5, Pick 21 - Sam Hardwick, WR
I'm combining these two picks because what I'm about to say applies to both of them. I'll try to start of positive: at this point, considering the other positions picked (talent aside), I absolutely love that Caltroit went with two WR's in his back-to-back pick position. And with that he had a decent haul of players in that position he could choose from, even if they weren't elite. That said, I don't understand the reasoning behind picking these two receivers at all. James Bishop, Jordan von Matt, Brock Landers, all were still there and would have been much better picks. Along with that, a flex pick of Forrest Gump would also have been a good alternative. Both of these guys had an ADP of undrafted at 54 and 56 respectively, and Anoia is the only one of the two producing anything and even he isn't doing a whole lot compare to the other receivers. Further, both of these guys play for Austin, who is an expansion team with a true rookie quarterback and probably is the worst team in the league. Picking one WR from them is already questionable, but two? These are my least favorite picks of the draft - so much more value could have been acquired.
Rd 6, pick 30 - Otters Defense
Rd 7, pick 31 - Neo Donaldson, K
The turn of the 6th/7th round was outstanding for Caltroit. Putting all of the other picks in the past and ignoring those, I really like that he went with a really good defense as well as the a top 3 kicker. Especially with the flex talent already dwindling, it was unlikely Caltroit would have got something better here than he would with his last pick. OCO was 35 in ADP, while Donaldson was 46, but that positioning is least relevant for kickers and defenses as they can be picked all over the place. I really like these picks and they are looking like the highlights of Caltroit's draft, even if that isn't saying much.
Rd 8, Pick 40 - Ty Justice, WR
With his last pick, Caltroit picked Ty Justice. According to ADP, he could have picked literally anyone else and it would have been a better pick as Justice ranks dead last. I understand that there weren't many options, but I don't think I'm a fan of picking a WR here in general. The obvious pick that would have been outstanding here is Sam Torenson. Along with this, Terry Taffy was available, Jeff Murphy, Ricky Adams, etc. would also have been better picks in my opinion. Unfortunately, Justice hasn't panned out as he's one of the lowest scoring receivers in the league.
In conclusion, there were a lot of picks that I can't help but question. So much value could have been gained, and so many better opportunities were available especially with an inactive draft participant. If I could offer some advice for next season, I'd say to use your teammates as resources for help, research more into the players you are picking, and look at how other drafts are going to get a feel for where players are going. It is getting to be too late now, but I'd also suggest nabbing somebody off of waivers for both Hardwick and Justice if you want to improve your scores. Best of luck to you for the remainder of the season!
Thank you to everybody who read this! I will see you next week!