Lately people have been asking me, “Jesse, are you excited for fantasy football season?” Dude, it’s already started! Ever heard of the Scott Fish Bowl? I’ve only mentioned it in EVERY article over the past month. Okay, maybe you haven’t. Sometimes I need to be reminded that there is indeed a world that exists outside of fantasy football Twitter.
So here’s the sitch. The Scott Fish Bowl is the industry league to end all industry leagues. This year’s installment (it’s the eighth year of the tournament, hence the Twitter hashtag #SFB8) will feature 900 participants. That field includes an impressive cast of Rotoworld writers—RotoPat, Ray Summerlin (a past champion), Lord Reebs, Connor Allen and our editor Aaron Solomon are all giving it a whirl this year—along with a host of other names you might recognize like Adam Levitan, Mike Clay and Matthew Berry (all Rotoworld alums). I got serious FOMO seeing everyone jabber about SFB on Twitter last summer, so I made sure to join the party in 2018 (if I’ve piqued your interest, you can sign up for next year’s Fish Bowl right here).
The league accomplishes two important goals—1) it creates a sense of community within a thriving industry and 2) it promotes a great cause—through donations, tournament founder Scott Fish has already raised over $30,000 this year for Toys for Tots. But mostly, it’s a heck of a lot of fun and a great excuse to hold a 22-round (yeah, you heard me right) slow draft during the annual mid-summer sports lull.
I should probably mention the rules are a little quirky. Each team starts one quarterback, two running backs, three receivers, one tight end and four flexes including a super-flex, which you can use on a second quarterback for a grand total of 11 starters. No defenses, no kickers and absolutely no trading with other owners. Also of note—the league is comprised of 75 12-team divisions, each named after a beloved television character (I’m in the Gob Bluth Division, obviously).
All week I had planned for this article to be a draft recap but here’s the thing—my draft is still going! Come on, guys. While we’re young. Anyway, here’s my team through 19 rounds. Let me know what you think in the comments.
Editor’s Note: Be sure to checkout DRAFT’s $1,000,000 Best Ball Championship. Best Ball is season long but with no management. Just set it and forget it! Once you’re done drafting, that’s it – no or waivers– you don’t even have to set your lineup. Your best players get automatically selected and you’ll get the best score, every week. For a limited time, DRAFT is giving Rotoworld readers a FREE entry into a real money best ball draft with your first deposit! Here’s the link
1.05 – Antonio Brown, WR, PIT
The best receiver in football with the fifth pick? Yes, please. I don’t need to go into any great detail about AB’s awesomeness—that’s well-documented. My only hesitance here was that I knew running backs would be flying off the board and wasn’t sure what I’d be left with in the second round. If one of Todd Gurley, Le’Veon Bell, David Johnson or Ezekiel Elliott were still available, I probably would have gone that route instead.
2.08 – Devonta Freeman, RB, ATL
After seeing so many running backs gobbled up early (nine in the first 14 picks), I knew I had to pounce this round. Taking Freeman here wasn’t sexy but I felt he was a safer choice than Christian McCaffrey and Jerick McKinnon, who have both been going around the same range. I’m not opposed to either one—McCaffrey crushes in PPR while McKinnon warrants RB2 consideration on volume alone. There’s upside to be had with both players, but when push came to shove, I opted for the proven commodity in Freeman, a known touchdown scorer and perennial 1,000-yard rusher.
3.05 – A.J. Green, WR, CIN
This is a great example of something that you would never, ever see happen in a regular league. But this is the Scott Fish Bowl, where chaos reigns supreme. I know it’s a super-flex league but come on guys, a little heavy on the quarterbacks, don’t you think? Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Deshaun Watson and Tom Brady were all taken ahead of Green. That’s just silly. I know Green is coming off somewhat of a down year, at least by his normal standards, but the man has never finished with fewer than 964 receiving yards in a single season, and that was the year he missed six games with a torn hamstring. I swear, I was fist-pumping like Bryce Harper in the Home Run Derby when I saw Green was still on the board at 29th overall. Time to start mapping out the route for my victory parade.
Editor’s Note: The 2018 Rotoworld Draft Guide provides more than 500 extensive player profiles, tiers, projections, Evan Silva’s Sleepers and Busts and much more. Get the NFL Draft Guide now.
4.08 – Rashaad Penny, RB, SEA
It’s slim pickings once you get past the first dozen or so running backs, but if you’re looking for a compass to guide you, let it be volume. Fed up with their lack of running success the past few seasons, the Seahawks went all in by drafting Penny 27th overall in April’s draft. You can stash a quarterback for a year or two but if you’re drafting a running back in the first round, you’re running him until the wheels fall off. I don’t have any strong feelings about Penny as a player (how could I when he hasn’t even played yet?) but all signs point to workhorse usage, which bodes well for his fantasy production.
5.05 – Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, SF
Jimmy G! Garoppolo was the 10th quarterback drafted, which sounds about right (I had him 11th in my initial rankings). What Garoppolo did with a minimal supporting cast last season and barely any time to learn Kyle Shanahan’s offense was nothing short of remarkable. I don’t know if Garoppolo was worth the $137.5 million the Niners threw at him (pretty aggressive for a guy who’s logged just 579 NFL snaps) but he’s definitely on the path to superstardom. And if nothing else, at least I’ll have the most handsome dude in fantasy football on my squad.
6.08 – Kenyan Drake, RB, MIA
Drake … in the sixth round? I feel like a thief snagging him this late (68th overall). There’s some threat of Frank Gore and pass-catcher Kalen Ballage cutting into his workload, but landing Drake a full two rounds later than his ADP still qualifies as a huge victory in my opinion.
7.05 – JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, PIT
I’ll be honest, I don’t love that two of my top three receivers come from the same team. But I couldn’t pass up a bargain this good. Not to play the ADP card again but in most leagues, JuJu is going in the fourth or fifth round. He was far and away the best receiver among last year’s rookie class and should see even more volume this year sans Martavis Bryant. I was also considering Marvin Jones for this round (he went four picks before me), but Smith-Schuster will do the trick.
8.08 – Andy Dalton, QB, CIN
I kind of nailed the first seven rounds (at least in my completely unbiased opinion), so I was due for a good reality check at some point. You have to make sacrifices in fantasy, especially in a 12-teamer comprised of experts who will make you pay for your mistakes. I made a conscious choice to load up at running back and wide receiver, accepting that I wouldn’t be as strong at quarterback or tight end. I took my medicine in this round, cringing as quarterbacks kept coming off the board. In retrospect, I was pretty naïve to think I could nab an Alex Smith-type this late in the draft. Heck, I couldn’t even get my paws on Blake Bortles. Nobody opens a celebratory bottle of champagne after drafting Andy Dalton, but there are worse options out there, especially in a two-quarterback setting. Even with a thin receiving corps outside of A.J. Green, Dalton still managed a respectable 25 touchdowns last season. I debated going Jameis Winston here but with a three-game suspension hanging over his head and an early bye, I decided he wasn’t worth the hassle.
9.05 – Nick Chubb, RB, CLE
Chubb isn’t getting much love compared to other rookies—Saquon Barkley, Derrius Guice, Rashaad Penny, Ronald Jones, Kerryon Johnson, Royce Freeman and even his former Georgia teammate Sony Michel are consistently going ahead of him in mock drafts. Regardless, I think Chubb is a great value here and wouldn’t be shocked if he eventually overtook Carlos Hyde, an injury-prone 27-year-old (28 in September), for the lead role in Cleveland’s backfield. It’s impossible to project rookies this early—training camps haven’t even opened yet—but Chubb is one of my favorite lottery tickets in the mid-to-late rounds.
10.08 – Cooper Kupp, WR, LAR
People forget it was Kupp, not Sammy Watkins, Todd Gurley or Robert Woods, who led the Rams in receiving yards a year ago. Kupp’s consistency last year may have been his greatest asset—he piled up 60 yards or more in seven of his last eight games including the postseason. The Rams did add deep threat Brandin Cooks to their talent pool this offseason, but I don’t see him as a significant threat to Kupp, who is mostly renowned for his slot prowess. I went bargain-hunting again here—the 25-year-old carries a seventh-to-eighth round ADP in PPR leagues.
11.05 – Jack Doyle, TE, IND
Well, they can’t all be winners. I essentially punted tight end, preferring to load up at both running back and wide receiver. In a flex-heavy league (remember there are four flex spots in Scott Fish Bowl), I think that’s the way to go, though I have sensed some judgment when showing this team to other people. “Really, Jack Doyle? That’s the best you could do?” Hey chief, were you there when Doyle logged 80 catches last year, second-most among tight ends? There are concerns. Doyle is basically a catch-and-fall guy in the vein of Jason Witten (8.6 yards per catch last year) and nobody knows what’s going on with Andrew Luck and his surgically-repaired shoulder (he’s throwing high school balls, you guys!). The addition of Eric Ebron, a former first-round pick who flamed out in Detroit, also complicates matters. But with most of my preferred sleepers off the board (Trey Burton, David Njoku and O.J. Howard had already been claimed), I thought I’d roll the dice with Doyle. Roll the dice—that’s the kind of hard-hitting analysis you expect from a fantasy football professional, right? That’s why they pay me the big bucks.
12.08 – Devontae Booker, RB, DEN
We have very much arrived at the handcuff stage of this year’s proceedings. Booker hasn’t impressed me in the slightest (3.6 career yards per carry), but with C.J. Anderson now filling the Jonathan Stewart role in Carolina, the 26-year-old could very well open this year as the Broncos’ starter. I suspect rookie Royce Freeman will usurp that role at some point, but even then, Booker will still be a safe bet for double-digit weekly touches. You’re not going to find a workhorse in the later rounds, but a committee back like Booker still warrants consideration, especially in the latter stages of a 22-round marathon.
13.05 – Baker Mayfield, QB, CLE
Not bad, right? It’s not every day a Heisman Trophy winner falls in your lap. Baker has stood up to his fair share of critics (Colin Cowherd among them) along the way, continually bristling at the inevitable Manziel comparisons. A completion artist with plus mobility, Mayfield is as NFL-ready as any first-year quarterback not named Josh Rosen. And for a team that’s won just one game over its last two seasons, the Browns actually have a pretty stacked receiving corps with Josh Gordon, Jarvis Landry and former first-rounder Corey Coleman. The biggest obstacle to Baker’s fantasy success is the presence of Tyrod Taylor, but I still think we’ll see the No. 1 pick sooner rather than later.
14.08 – Cameron Brate, TE, TB
I was Babe Ruth calling my shots early in this draft, but by Round 14, I was getting sniped left and right. Penn State alum Mike Gesicki has been a go-to backup for me in fantasy drafts this offseason but apparently I wasn’t the only one tantalized by his 99-percent SPARQ score at the Combine. Brate was supposed to fall by the wayside when the Bucs drafted Alabama stud O.J. Howard last year but he remained a red-zone favorite with six touchdowns and parlayed that success into a six-year deal this offseason. I didn’t knock it out of the park with this one, but landing Brate here is a solid single up the middle.
15.05 – Peyton Barber, RB, TB
As you can see, I went through a bit of a Bucs phase in the later rounds. That’s not because I’m particularly bullish on Tampa Bay. I just felt the trio of Brate, Barber and Jackson all made for relative bargains at this juncture. USC standout Ronald Jones would seem to have a leg up for the starting job this year, but don’t sleep on Barber and his 225-pound frame. The 24-year-old has goal-line vulture written all over him and could ascend to workhorse status if Jones gets injured or falls short of expectations.
16.08 – Martavis Bryant, WR, OAK
Well, well, well. Bryant had quite the interesting return from suspension last year, throwing Instagram shade at JuJu Smith-Schuster (which got him into trouble with coach Mike Tomlin), then disappearing from the fantasy landscape altogether before resurfacing with a late-season renaissance. His most productive weeks came with Antonio Brown nursing a torn calf muscle, but the 26-year-old still showed flashes of what made him one of the most dynamic touchdown scorers in football before substance abuse derailed his career. There have been rumblings that Bryant may have had another off-field hiccup, which could result in a lengthy suspension. But in the 16th round where draft fatigue is beginning to set in, the YOLO gods were telling me to pull the trigger. Like a gambler on a blackjack heater, I decided to let it ride.
17.05 – DeSean Jackson, WR, TB
Is disaster too strong a word to describe Jackson’s first year in Tampa? Whatever word you want to use for it, D-Jax didn’t deliver last year, which would explain why he was still floating in Scott Fish purgatory at pick 197. It’s entirely possible that A) the 31-year-old has nothing left, B) that Jackson will never show a lick of chemistry with professional head-case Jameis Winston and C) all of the above. But let’s not forget the veteran is less than two years removed from a 1,000-yard receiving season with Washington, and when D-Jax has it all working, he’s one of the most explosive deep threats in all of football. Chris Godwin’s ascension could throw a wrench in Jackson’s fantasy aspirations but let’s be honest—you’re not going to find your knight in shining armor in Round 17. The draft started a week ago—every player left has baggage.
18.08 – Keelan Cole, WR, JAX
Not to point a finger at anyone, but I can’t help but think this is kind of Bryce Harper’s fault. Seriously, Bryce—how dare you distract me with your home-run hitting heroics in the middle of my Scott Fish Bowl Draft. I’m usually Johnny-on-the-spot when it’s my turn to pick, but with Harper putting on a clinic in last night’s Home Run Derby, I let this one sit for hours. Cole was sort of a lazy pick—he’s a true shot in the dark in an absolutely jam-packed Jaguars receiving corps. Heck, he might be as low as fifth on Jacksonville’s wideout totem pole behind the likes of Marqise Lee, Dede Westbrook, Donte Moncrief and second-round burner D.J. Chark. But Cole did finish fourth among rookies in receiving yards last year and led all PLAYERS in receiving yards over the final five weeks of the regular season. That must count for something, right?
19.05 – Samaje Perine, RB, WAS
Ugh. I got cocky and thought I could snipe Corey Grant this round (apparently continuing my theme of only drafting players on Florida-based teams) but alas, I pulled a DJ Khaled and played myself. I tried but couldn’t find anyone better than Perine at this juncture. The 22-year-old was lousy as a rookie (3.4 yards per carry) and will probably spend the year glued to the bench while Derrius Guice and Chris Thompson unleash fantasy mayhem, but at least I’ve heard of the dude. Here’s a sampling of other running backs still available in Round 19—Ito Smith, Trenton Cannon and Matt Dayes. (Immediately drinks from flask)
Well, this has officially become the Isner/Anderson of fantasy drafts. Godspeed to my fellow combatants still on their Scott Fish Bowl grind. You can follow the action, or what’s left of it, at this link. And feel free to donate to Fantasy Cares. Win or lose, this draft has been a blast and I’m proud to finally have an SFB on my resume.
