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With the NFL regular season less than three weeks away and the preseason well underway, it’s now crunch time to prepare for your upcoming drafts. Don’t worry, because we’ve got you covered with content to help you get ready just in time.
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With #DRAFTSZN chugging along as the season continues to get closer, we’re giving position-by-position analysis of the King’s Classic Salary Cap Draft, which had a $200 budget. This draft features some of the most pristine names in the industry including our very own Patrick Daugherty (@RotoPat) from Rotoworld. With just under three weeks until the season beings, the wide receiver landscape continues to be one of the toughest to put in order. However, our very own Zachary Krueger (@ZK_FFB) does his best to analyze the bids on the wideouts in the King’s Classic. Just how much were these drafters willing to spend on studs like Cooper Kupp and CeeDee Lamb?
Let’s get into it:
King’s Classic Salary Cap Draft
King’s Classic Drafters
Jeff Ratcliffe - Fade the Noise
Britt Flinn - Fantasy Alarm
Dave Richard - CBS Sports
Billy Muzio/Jody Smith - Full Time Fantasy
Bob Harris - Football Die Hards
Jim Coventry - RotoWire
Bob Lung - Big Guy Fantasy Sports
Howard Bender - Fantasy Alarm
Patrick Daugherty - Rotoworld
Brad Evans/Kyle Stuebs - Bally Sports
Andy Behrens - Yahoo! Sports
Colby Conway - Fantasy Alarm
Curtis Patrick - RotoViz
Dom Cintorino - Fantasy Points
Wide Receivers
Justin Jefferson - MIN ($60) - Andy Behrens
Cooper Kupp - LAR ($50) - Bob Lung
Ja’Marr Chase - CIN ($47) - Andy Behrens
CeeDee Lamb - DAL ($46) - Curtis Patrick
Stefon Diggs - BUF ($42) - Billy Muzio/Jody Smith
Davante Adams - LV ($40) - Bob Harris
A.J. Brown - PHI ($37) - Colby Conway
Deebo Samuel - SF ($36) - Jeff Ratcliffe
Tee Higgins - CIN ($35) - Jim Coventry
Tyreek Hill - KC ($35) - Howard Bender
Mike Evans - TB ($32) - Britt Flinn
Keenan Allen - LAC ($32) - Howard Bender
Zach Krueger’s analysis: The drum beat for Justin Jefferson as the WR1 in drafts has grown louder in recent weeks. That drum beat turned to applause when Yahoo’s Andy Behrens bumped his bid to $60 to secure Jefferson, pairing him with another elite receiver in Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase ($47). It was an aggressive move by Andy, who I thought put together one of the best receiving corps of any team in the King’s Classic. The highest-priced receivers are the typical cast of characters in most seasonal leagues, but AJ Brown going slightly ahead of Deebo Samuel and Tyreek Hill is a bit uncommon – although still a fine pick. Brown joins a run-heavy Philly offense after an offseason trade from Tennessee but has been one of the most efficient receivers since entering the league in 2019. As a rookie, Brown ranked first among receivers with 75.8 fantasy points over expected and was third with 73.6 FPOE in 2020. Even in a run-heavy Philly offense, Brown will be locked in as the Eagles’ WR1 and could be the beneficiary of a generous target share. Assuming a healthy campaign in 2022, there’s no reason to think Brown can’t be the efficient player he was in a Tennessee offense that was also run-focused. For as impressive as Brown has been, we have yet to see his full ceiling.
To see who @RotoPat used his budget on and the rest of the King’s Classic Salary Cap Draft, check out the revamped 2022 Football Draft Guide!
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