This is a guest contribution from Nicholas Savoie. Thanks to Nic for sharing his startup journey and for taking the leap of faith with his very first fantasy football article. Here is his journey:
This is my first time writing any sort of Fantasy Football article, so I apologize if it is lacking in any way – it is also probably longer than most UTH articles. I have broken it up into 4 sections (Pre-Draft, Rounds 1-6, Rounds 7-12, Rounds 13-22 and Rounds 23-30). I will do my best to write as concisely as possible.
This is my chronicle of my startup and how I did my best to do it the UTH way, and how it can be successful. It is a 12-team PPR league that uses Victory Points, and rosters are QB / 2 RB / 2 WR / TE / 2 Flex / D for a total of 9 starters. We have a 30-man roster, so a 21-player bench.
Pre-Draft Process
After joining the league the first real event was the destiny draft, where you choose your own draft spot. This is especially interesting in leagues that have separate rookie drafts, but since ours was occurring post NFL Draft, we had 2015 rookies included in draft.
After the order was randomized, I ended up with 9th pick in the Destiny Draft. Drafted before my turn it went 1.01, 1.02, 1.03, 1.06, 1.09, 1.07, 1.08 & 1.04. While the order in which they went was a little surprising, I still had the selection I expected on my turn. I took 1.05, which is a little out of character for me.
My normal preference is a corner/near-corner pick. That is just my comfort zone, especially in re-draft leagues. But this is not redraft, and I wanted to do this as much by UTH guidelines as I could. So even though 1.10-1.12 were all open, I went for 1.05. I did this for 3 reasons. Firstly, because I believed either Evans or OBJ would fall to me at 1.05. Secondly, because I remembered, in a previous UTH podcast Chad had argued the merits of being in the middle of a round, for trading value at least, than at the corners, and lastly because I wanted to be out of my comfort zone. In fact one of the principles of UTH is that you will NOT be drafting in your comfort zone during the startup because you are avoiding a lot of the players you would feel comfortable drafting if your goal was to win Year 1.
Anyways there was little pre-draft trade talk, but I did my best to market my 1.05 pick and see what I could get. I knew I would NOT move it without a good haul, that had to include a future 2016 1st. In the end I did not move it, but I did do 2 pre-draft trades.
Trade #1 occurred about a week after the Destiny draft (held in Feb). In hindsight, it all worked out, but I would caution against doing this trade in a league where Rookies are included, because it was done before the NFL draft and even NFL Free Agency, so I did not have as good a grasp on where player values would end up on draft day as I should have.
I traded 2.08, 5.05 & 10.08 in exchange for 3.09, 4.04, 8.04 & 2016 2nd
At that time, I did not think that Cooper, White or Gurley would get drafted in Round 2 in startups, and now I do. But in the end it still worked out. I would not have done this trade without the 2016 2nd. At the very worst, it basically ends up being a Round 8-10 value if a year delayed. Basically I felt that the late 2nd round would be players I would be avoiding anyways, such as Graham, McCoy, Murray & A Rodgers. But I could/should have waited until closer to have a better idea. This trade did lead into my other pre-draft trade, which took place a week before the draft. At least 1 other owner told me privately they felt I won that trade so I guess that is something.
I traded 3.09 and 6.08 for 4.07, 5.06 & 2016 2nd
So, the 3.09 I got in Trade 1 helped me acquire another 2016 pick, and I now had 3 Round 4 picks. Again, the only caution I would have is that until you know what the draft flow is going to be like, you are taking a risk on trading out early, so make you get the asset(s) you want, and again I would not have done this without the future pick.
The Draft: Rounds 1-6
Chad calls these the core rounds. These are the crucial rounds where you want to draft players who will be the core of your team for the next few years, and as such you want to make sure you choose players whose value / production will improve.
I tried to trade out of 1.05 during Round 1, but partly due to timing, pressure to make a pick, and due to limited offers, I ended up staying pat and drafting Mike Evans. The closest offer was basically a 3rd & 2 2016 firsts, but I also wanted a move up, and that just did not happen. Basically a player in the top 5 of a startup needs to have a big haul in return, otherwise you are just losing value, and while a 3rd and 2 future 1sts was appealing, it did not match what I felt Evans could earn after a year or 2 with Winston.
My selections are in RED
1.01 – Luck – Surprised me but I guess with 6pt TD and a decade of value it made sense to that owner
1.02 – Julio
1.03 – L. Bell
1.04 – Beckham (owner commented that he hopes Madden doesnt jinx Beckham)
1.05 – Evans I had been targeting him since I picked the 1.05 as my start spot
1.06 – Gronkowski
1.07 – Dez Bryant (owner comment: In my opinion a top-3 pick. Got him at 7 was awesome!)
1.08 – A. Brown
1.09 – AJG
1.10 – Jeffrey
1.11 – A. Rodgers (another surprise but this owner continually made weird picks)
1.12 – D. Thomas
At the time I did not realize but now I do that the 1.04 owner while not fully UTH was drafting with a youth based philosophy.
2.01 – Cobb
2.02 – Lacy (why didn’t he draft Lacy first?)
2.03 – Megatron
2.04 – Hopkins
2.05 – Watkins
I tried to move up to see if I could grab Hopkins or Watkins after they fell into the 2nd, but that I no longer had a 2nd round pick prevented that without an overpay.
I then tried to move into the 2.06-2.08 range because I worried I would miss out on Cooper. Came close, but again, I was not going to overpay.
2.06 – Wilson (QB 3 already? – this is where I should have realized the league was putting a premium on QB)
2.07 – Nelson
2.08 – Graham
2.09 – Gurley – Cooper would be next I thought, and same owner picked Beckham
2.10 – McCoy
2.11 – Charles
2.12 – Lynch
Ok, so as I originally thought back in Feb, the late 2nd would be all Veterans I would be avoiding, but I could have taken Cooper at 2.08 had I not traded.
3.01 – Hilton
3.02 – Hill
3.03 – Gordon (Gordon before Cooper??? – 2nd sign after Wilson that this draft might go perfectly for me)
3.04 – Newton – This pick distracted me from his youth based drafting
3.05 – Cooper – Holy Cow!! Cooper fell to me at 3.05, when I would have gone as high as 2.06 if the price had been right. A reminder to LET THE DRAFT COME TO YOU. Very glad I did not overpay to move up.
3.06 – Murray
3.07 – Peterson
3.08 – Benjamin
3.09 – Forte
At this point I was starting to feel cocky. I had 3 round 4 picks, and I felt for sure Cooks, Matthews or White would fall.
3.10 – Hyde
3.11 – Allen
3.12 – Matthews
4.01 – Cooks
4.02 – White
4.03 – Ellington (yuck)
4.04 – Robinson
So some times you let the draft come to you – but some times you HAVE to mine the draft for value also! I had 3 4ths. I should have moved up and grabbed Cooks or White. Only excuse is I was working and picks 3.10 -4.03 went in a 10-15 min span. But optimally you need to see where value is falling and move up if you can.
4.05 – CJ Anderson
4.06 – Miller
4.07 – Parker
4.08 – Foster
4.09 – Yeldon – Same owner took Beckham, Gurley, Newton – signs of youth draft
4.10 – Tate
4.11 – Agholor
4.12 – Bryant
I had 3 4ths. Where were my 3 picks? After the trio of WR I coveted went, I decided to use my capital to move back as I did not really like any 4th round value (Yeldon & Bryant I saw as 5th round value). First I traded the 4.07 for the 12.07 and got a 2016 1st. Basically I saw that as a slight gamble, because I have no idea where it will land but if it is a mid 1st, then I basically traded a 2015 1st for a 12th and a 2016 1st since the owner took Parker with 4.07. Our league also has a 1.13 and 2.13, so this pick will not be the worst 2016 1st.
Then I traded 4.08 & 11.05 for 5.06 & 10.06 & a 2016 2nd. This was my last trade acquiring future picks, but I now have 2 2016 1sts and 4 2016 2nds, so I will have plenty of currency in next years draft.
5.01 – Sanders
5.02 – Morris
5.03 – Edelman
5.04 – Perriman (slightly disappointed but I am not as high on him as many UTH)
This was another sign the 1.04 owner was a youth based drafter
5.05 – DBG – A reach I felt would have considered in 6-7th
5.06 – D. Adams Worth the drop back from 4.08 he is who I valued most in the 5th
5.07 – Stafford – Yikes! Told you QBs highly valued!
5.08 – Ingram
5.09 – Kelce
5.10 – Ryan
I traded out of 5.10 after Kelce went. Traded 5.10 & 9.05 for 6.06 & 8.06
5.11 – Bernard
5.12 – Floyd Floyd & Bernard were 6th round targets for me
6.01 – Olsen
6.02 – Landry
6.03 – Abdullah
6.04 – Coleman
6.05 – Maclin
6.06 – Moncrief – Have to trust he will beat Dorsett/Carter for WR3 and expect AJ or Hilton to be gone by 2017. If so, WR1 for Luck and becomes Top 15 -20 value
6.07 – Tannehill – Would have taken 1-2 rounds later
6.08 – Jackson
6.09 – Sims – whoa! Although I can see the upside – this with the Newton pick kept me from thinking the owner was a UTH follower
6.10 – L. Murray
6.11 – M. Bennett
6.12 – J. Bell
Core Roster
Evans, Cooper, A. Robinson, Adams, Moncrief
Lessons Learned & Relearned
- Let Draft come to you, do not overpay to move up
- If value is screaming at you – make sure to get it.
- Try to get an idea of what your fellow owners are doing before making moves. Or make sure your value in return is enough to risk moving pre-draft.
The Draft: Rounds 7-12
This was probably my favorite section of the draft, and as mentioned by UTH, it is vital that you stick to your guns and pick young players with upside.
7.01 – Z. Ertz
7.02 – B. Marshall
7.03 – Julius Thomas
7.04 – ASJ Yes the team I was starting to realize was drafting young – I had targeted ASJ for my next pick. I did not expect him to take ASJ and we had waited 4 hoursfor him to make a pick, so I didn’t think to move up.
7.05 – Cody Latimer – Had both Latimer and ASJ been taken I would have moved back. Have to trust Latimer will flash enough this year.
7.06 – T. Smith
7.07 – Big Ben
7.08 – Winston (really early?)
7.09 – Bridgewater – Ok it is a QB Run
7.10 – Freeman
7.11 – K. Wright
These next 2 picks were made by the team that traded me their 2016 1st. They acquired another 2016 1st earlier in the draft, and used that future asset now to move up to draft these 20 players. I am feeling pretty confident their 2016 1st will be pretty valuable. I had been in negotiations with them for the 1st, but they wanted 2 of my 8th round picks, and I only wanted to give up one.
7.12 – Forsett
8.01 – Andre Johnson
8.02 – Spiller
8.03 – Cruz (Really??)
8.04 – Crowell I did need an RB and this intersected well with BPA
8.05 – Jordan Cameron
8.06 – Eric Ebron I had thought about taking Ebron 1st, but felt he would fall to me and he did.
8.07 – Wallace
8.08 – Funchess I am not as high on Funchess as some, but I am trusting UTH so I took Funchess now and not move back and hope.
8.09 – Fitzgerald This was the owner who was drafting young, so again a curveball that distracted me from noticing his youth-based approach early on.
8.10 – Harvin
8.11 – Ajayi
8.12 – Stills
9.01 – Gore
9.02 – Eifert
9.03 – Peyton
9.04 – Buck Allen – The youth guy again.
9.05 – Maxx Williams – Might have targeted in 1-2 rounds
9.06 – DMC – Wow!
9.07 – Decker
9.08 – Charles Johnson – Decent pick – was thinking of him
9.09 – Strong – now other owners are starting to consider rookies
9.10 – John Brown
9.11 – Rivers – Damn! I was targeting him in the 12-14 round range – you can see how much value some owners are placing on QB – this was his 2nd QB after ARod
9.12 – Stewart
10.01 – V Jax
10.02 – D Martin
10.03 – Roddy White
10.04 – Duke Johnson
10.05 – Drew Brees (same guy took Winston so I suppose this made sense for them)
10.06 – David Johnson – I was thinking him, Mason or McKinnon, glad I took him
10.07 – Dorset
10.08 – Gordon – guess someone had to take him but pretty early for a 2016 hold
10.09 – McKinnon
10.10 – Patterson
10.11 – Vereen – Sometimes I wonder if I am the only one who thinks players leaving NE lose value more often than gain. Think Branch / Welker / Maroney
10.12 – Coates
11.01 – V. Davis – Takes a rookie and a TE in decline b2b lol
11.02 – Garcon
11.03 – Sankey – Was targeting him
11.04 – Quick – youth owner pick
11.05 – Mason
3 solid picks in a row – just couldn’t get a deal to move up done
11.06 – Cobb
11.07 – T. Williams (yuck)
11.08 – Lafell – could be decent value
11.09 – Lockett
11.10 – R. Jennings
11.11 – Carr – was hoping he would fall to me in 12-13 and this is the guys 3rd QB!!
11.12 – Blount
12.01 – Brady – NE Fan with consecutive Patriot picks?
12.02 – K. Davis
12.03 – Colston
12.04 – Mariota
12.05 – A. Williams
12.06 – Eli
12.07 – Christine Michael
That wait of 2 rounds was almost excruciating. Couldn’t move up (without overpaying) and several 12-14 round targets went. But happy with Michael!
12.08 – Ivory
12.09 – M. Davis – youth owner picking again
12.10 – Kaepernick – Was going to be my 13th round pick after Carr went lol
12.11 – Romo – The QBs keep going!
12.12 – Reggie Bush
The Draft: Rounds 13-22
After Round 15 I am going to be only show picks I think have merit. I will list all team rosters at the end of the draft. The early section of this area was also fun, and almost felt like I was taking candy from a baby. But I also started to realize that I had to pay attention to that other youth owner who would occasionally snipe me.
13.01 – M. Lee
13.02 – Duron Carter (later round target for me)
13.03 – D. Smith
13.04 – Marvin Jones – once again the youth owner throws a curve
13.05 – Matt Jones – As long as Jones or Johnson hit, I should be good at RB
13.06 – Rudolph
13.07 – M. Ball – nice pickup if early – CJA better but Denver invested in Ball
13.08 – D. Allen
13.09 – Mathews
13.10 – J. Hill I liked that pick
13.11 – Fleener
13.12 – Bradford (yuck)
14.01 – Randle – decent short-term upside pick
14.02 – Bortles- QB #4 for this owner
14.03 – O. Daniels
14.04 – Crabtree
14.05 – Hunter – could be his last real shot
14.06 – L. Green – Was trying to decide between Hill & Green, choice made 4 me
14.07 – Dalton (yuck)
14.08 – Tre McBride – It could easily be McBride & DBG in a couple of years
14.09 – Flacco
14.10 – Langford
14.11 – Gates
14.12 – Texans D – First D off the board
15.01 – Foles
15.02 – Conley – nice upside pick!
15.03 – RG3
15.04 – K. Bell – I had wanted him. This was the exact moment I realized that this owner was a youth based drafter, and likely using RSP as a guideline.
15.05 – Hardy – Tried to get Bell. Owner wouldn’t budge – will be fine with Hardy
15.06 – Amaro – Solid TE pick
15.07 – Bills D
15.08 – D. Walker
15.09 – J. Reed – upside fading fast imo
15.10 – Artis-Payne – Stewart gets injured a lot
15.11 – Riddick
15.12 – Seahawks D
Halfway through the draft – feeling very confident – but must remember to stay focused.
16.07- K. Williams – solid upside pick especially with B. Brown & Fjax in decline
16.08 – Walford – Almost took with previous pick, but glad I got him here
7 rounds after M. Williams but similar upside
16.09 – J. Robinson – an RSP favorite
16.11 – J. Huff – solid shot at beating Cooper
17.01 – C. Shorts – last chance at relevance?
17.04 – Smelter – Sniped!
17.06 – D. Waller – maybe early but got to swing for fences now
17.08 – Randle – If Cruz doesn’t return should have short-term value
18.04 – M. Wilson – Lost a lot of value with K. White but I still believe he has a shot
18.06 – Turbin – locked up both likely candidates if Lynch goes down.
18.07 – Helu – good pick
18.09 – Greene – RSP favorite also – would have considered in 1-2 rounds
18.12 – T. Austin – still has a chance
19.05 – Zenner – Rather have Zenner than J. Bell or Riddick
19.06 – Geno Smith – Every time I target a QB they go a round ahead of my pick
19.09 – S. Diggs – not sure I like his situation
19.11 – Janis – nice late value
19.12- Gaffney – early but has value
20.03 – Palmer – Ugh I wanted Smith or Palmer this round
20.08 – Manziel – Ok I still did not have a QB – at some point need has to outweight BPA and Manziel could still be a starter – will target McCown later
20.09 – Denver D – Youth team taking a D, proving again he isn’t UTH but still follows a youth is best philosophy
20.11 – T. Rich – He keeps falling!
21.01 – S. Johnson – solid pick
21.03 – Blackmon – wasted pick but I guess he still has a tiny chance of value
21.04 – Hundley – there went my long-term upside QB target
21.05 – Beasley – Slot receiver in Dallas could pay dividends
21.06 – Dobson – might have taken if Beasley was gone
21.09 – Carey – I still feel he could beat out Langford but a long-term hold at best
21.10 – Toon – can he do it?
22.02 – Mayle – I was thinking about him this round
22.04 – Escobar – Nice late upside TE pick
22.08 – R. Williams – Loving this pick. All DMC has to do is get hurt and at worst he will show enough to sell for a future pick
22.09 – Malcolm Brown – Another RSP Favorite
22.10 – P. Richardson – Lockett hurts him
The Draft: Rounds 23-30
Final Rounds of the draft – Just draft the guys you like the best in the order that you like them – Most of them will likely get cut or not pan out so anything that hits is a bonus.
23.02 – Devante Davis – solid choice
23.05 – Fiedorowicz – Happy with this late round TE flier
23.09 – M. Dyer – Could surprise
23.11 – Garoppolo – QB #5
24.01 – Campanaro – I was high on him but not so much now
24.02 – Montgomery – All GB WRs have value right?
24.05 – M. Floyd – nice late steal
24.08 – B. Coleman – I think he has a better shot than Toon or Jones in NO
24.09 – Patton – I wanted to draft him for Doug
25.01 – Dunbar – Every RB in Dallas has some value
25.05 – Osweiler – I am starting to believe. Probably won’t be next Rodgers but now going into year 4 of development and has Peyton to mentor still
25.08 – Cunningham – Maybe he will be the Rams COP back
25.11 – Petty – QB #6 not that I quibble with his choice here – just 6 QB out of 25!
26.08 – Varga – We have to cut back to 25 come Week 1 but have time to see if he will stick with Indy
26.11 – Mallet – Could have QB 2 value
27.02 – Rawls – I almost took over Varga, but did I really need every Seattle back?
27.05 – Sanchez – The fact that Bradford is behind schedule could make this a steal
27.07 – Heuerman – He already had his ACL and we have to cut – wasted pick imo
27.12 – DeAndre Carter – very solid late
28.08 – Darius Davis – RSP favorite – could be next Boldin
28.09 – Coxson – RSP favorite
29.02 – S. Days – longshot but still a shot
29.07 – McCown – My probable QB starter in Round 29 – what if he returns to 2013 form? With him, Sanchez & Manziel I have some QB upside.
29.09 – Jarius Wright – could win slot role?
30.04 – S. Jones – very nice last pick
30.06 – Cowboys – had to take a Def!
30.09 – Dreamious Smith – nice late pick by youth team
30.12 – Brian Hartline – Mr. Irrelevant
Here is a link to the team rosters page:
http://football25.myfantasyleague.com/2015/options?L=65964&O=07
- 1.05 – M. Evans
- 3.05 – A. Cooper
- 4.04 – A.Robinson
- 5.06 – D. Adams
- 6.06 – D. Moncrief
- 7.05 – C. Latimer
- 8.04 – I. Crowell
- 8.06 – E. Ebron
- 8.08 – D. Funchess
- 10.06 – David Johnson
- 12.08 – Christine Michael
- 13.05 – Matt Jones
- 14.06 – Ladarius Green
- 14.08 – Tre McBride
- 15.05 – Justin Hardy
- 15.10 – Cameron Artis-Payne
- 16.08 – Clive Walford
- 18.06 – Robert Turbin
- 19.05 – Zach Zenner
- 20.08 – Johnny Manziel
- 21.05 – Cole Beasley
- 22.08 – Ryan Williams
- 23.05 – CJ Fiedorowicz
- 24.08 – Brandon Coleman
- 25.05 – Brock Osweiler
- 26.08 – Tyler Varga
- 27.05 – Mark Sanchez
- 28.08 – Darius Davis
- 29.07 – Josh McCown
- 30.05 – Cowboys
Final Roster
- Manziel, McCown, Osweiler, Sanchez
- Crowell, David Johnson, M. Jones, Artis-Payne, Michael, Turbin, R. Williams, Z. Zenner, T. Varga
- Evans, Cooper, A. Robinson, D. Adams, D. Moncrief, C. Latimer, D. Funchess, Beasley, McBride, Hardy, Coleman, D. Davis
- Ebron, Green, Walford, Fiedorowicz
Future capital – 2 2016 1sts, 4 2016 2nds
Final Thoughts – It was scary but still fun. I have NEVER waited so long for a QB. I do not see myself competing in 2015 – but 2016 looks really good, especially if I can take full advantage of my extra picks and l can trade value at the right time.
