2016 Draft Grades Pt.1

Grading the first 7 draft slots

These draft grades were determined solely by online rankings and comparing where you drafted your players with the ADP (average draft position) data for dynasty start-up drafts. ADP data was pulled from the Dynasty League Football website. Rankings were taken from Dynasty Nerds. Roster Grade compares how your players rank, and Draft Savvy compares how you drafted vs ADP. Drafting players above their ADP is a “savvy” pick, because you got extra value.

Kickers and Defense have no ADP or rankings data so they were not factored in the grade. Obviously, these are just for fun, and if you didn’t get an A, it just means you’re smarter than those websites!

Orlando

Roster Grade: B+
Draft Savvy: B-
Avg Age: 26.7

Orlando drafted consistently well throughout, getting above average scores on both the top and bottom half of the draft. He took a relatively balanced approach, drafting all 4 offensive positions within the first 6 rounds. With the 5th highest average age at 26.7 years old, Lando has plenty of veterans surrounding his 22-and-under core: Treadwell, Yeldon, and Winston. And with Antonio Brown leading the way, he should have no problem competing Year 1.

Biggest Steal: Leonte Caroo, Pick 169 (ADP:89)
Biggest Reach: Ben Watson, Pick 168 (ADP:239/Undrafted)

My Favorite Pick: Coby Fleener, Pick 84
Fleener has easy top-6 TE upside after landing with Drew Brees in New Orleans. Considering Brees turned no-name 34 year old Ben Watson into weekly starter last year, it’s a safe bet to assume Fleener can improve on Watson’s TE8 finish in the same role. Only 27, Coby could put up solid TE numbers for a long time.

Jeff

Roster Grade: C+
Draft Savvy: C
Avg Age: 27.13

With Dynasty rankings rated heavily towards WR’s and their longer careers, Jeff graded poorly due to him drafting three running backs and a tight end after his first round selection of Odell Beckham. Jeff should be a championship contender Year 1, but with an average age of 27.13 and only 3 players under 25, he’ll need to stockpile young talent quickly to stay competitive.

Biggest Steal: Bilal Powell, Pick 226 (ADP: 178)
Biggest Reach: Kolby Listenbee, Pick 142 (ADP: 239/Undrafted)

My Favorite Pick: Emmanuel Sanders, Pick 86
Pick 86 is great value for Sanders, who should continue to put up WR 2/3 numbers for the next 3 years. I think the bad QB situation in DEN is a bit overblown considering how poor it already was last year, and even so Sanders should be the go-to safety valve for whoever the signal caller is.

JR

Roster Grade: B+
Draft Savvy: B+
Avg Age: 25.13

Like Lando, JR scored above average in both the top and bottom half of the draft. He drafted smart, especially early, getting value on 6 of his top 8 draft picks, and took an extremely balanced approach, going WR-RB-TE with his first three picks. With young productive players at all positions and a stud at QB (Wilson), JR should be competitive both immediately, and in the future.

Biggest Steal: Willie Snead, Pick 110 (ADP: 77)
Biggest Reach: Carlos Hyde, Pick 26 (ADP: 53)

My Favorite Pick: Eric Decker, Pick 82
Like Emmanuel Sanders, Decker is another unsexy pick that should quietly win weeks for JR over the next 2–3 years. The most consistent fantasy WR last year, Decker never finished outside of the top-36 receiver weekly scorers in each week. With Fitzpatrick and Marshall back, there’s no reason why that won’t continue.

Binh

Roster Grade: B
Draft Savvy: B-
Avg Age: 25.8

Binh has the best RB duo (Peterson, Gurley) in the league, but didn’t draft a WR until the 5th round, which did him no favors in the eyes of these rankings. However, he redeemed himself by selecting multiple young WRs later in the draft (Thomas, Gordon, Sharpe) that have potential to be big contributors down the road. Binh also had teams scratching their heads with his back-to-back QB picks of Cam and Rodgers, but if he flips one of them and his WR’s break out, Binh could be having the last laugh on the rest of us.

Biggest Steal: Tyler Higbee, Pick 228 (ADP: 188)
Biggest Reach: Rashad Jennings, Pick 109 (ADP: 160)

My Favorite Pick: Tajae Sharpe, Pick 165
The Titans have been singing the rookie’s praises all summer, and wasted no time shipping out DGB to make Sharpe a bigger part of their offense. Binh lucked out snagging him at Pick 165 before the DGB trade went down, making Sharpe the potential steal of the draft.

Marlo

Roster Grade: A
Draft Savvy: A+
Avg Age: 24.67

Marlo had arguably the best draft, consistently getting value by drafting players that fell due to injury/suspension concerns, such as Martavis Bryant and Breshad Perriman, and pairing them with proven top-tier fantasy commodities like Julio Jones, T.Y. Hilton, and Andrew Luck. If the high-risk picks pan out, his young talent, top-tier weapons at WR and QB, and potential stud at RB (Henry) should make Marlo a headache for the rest of the league for a long time.

Biggest Steal: Danny Woodhead, Pick 192 (ADP: 106)
Biggest Reach: C.J. Anderson, Pick 52 (ADP: 65)

My Favorite Pick: Breshad Perriman, Pick 117
Breshad had hype last year as a rookie speedster joining forces with Flacco, who loves to sling it deep. The fit is still perfect, but the consistent injury has dampened his value. Only 22, there’s plenty of time for him to get healthy, and not much competition for the big-play receiver role with Steve Smith Sr. retiring after this year and Mike Wallace getting older as well.

Kurtis

Roster Grade: B
Draft Savvy: B-
Avg Age: 26.27

Kurtis prioritized depth at WR and RB, and waited until Round 10 to grab his QB1 in Andy Dalton. Rawls and Langford should be a strong RB duo for years, with Foster and Williams providing excellent depth in Year 1. At WR, Green and Tate lead the way with rookie/sophomore Fuller and Coates waiting in the wings. With a good balance of experience and young talent, Kurtis’ team isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

Biggest Steal: Jamison Crowder, Pick 219 (ADP: 158)
Biggest Reach: Arian Foster, Pick 107 (ADP: 168)

My Favorite Pick: Sammie Coates, Pick 118
With Martavis Bryant suspended for at least a year, Coates will have every opportunity to step into a big time role, and turned heads during training camp. His preseason performance has been disappointing, but Pick 118 is good value to try and snag a piece of the dynamic Pittsburgh offense.

Kevin

Roster Grade: B
Draft Savvy: B
Avg Age: 24.53

With the second youngest average age, Kevin has tons of young talent to set himself up for the long haul. Don’t count him out this year though, as plenty of his young players have huge fantasy seasons on their resume already (Robinson, Freeman) or should be ticketed for a large role this year (Gordon, Shepard). With 22 year old QB Mariota leading the way, Kevin should be a force in the league for the foreseeable future.

Biggest Steal: Theo Riddick, Pick 190 (ADP: 113)
Biggest Reach: Josh Ferguson, Pick 134 (ADP: 180)

My Favorite Pick: Kamar Aiken, Pick 106
Even though I liked Marlo’s Perriman pick, Aiken is the Ravens receiver I’d rather own right now. While Steve Smith tries to come back from an achilles tear, and Breshad battles Mike Wallace for the deep threat role, Kamar should be quietly racking up the catches. A high-floor, low-ceiling receiver, Aiken is a perfect WR3 to have on your team.

Part 2 and draft slots 8–14 coming soon…