Note: The NFFC is 20 man rosters with 3 starting WRs, 2RBs, 1 Flex, 1 TE, 1 QB, DEF and PK.
The NFFC Silver Bullet is a unique national contest. The entry fee is steep ($1000) and the competition is extreme. Unlike other high stakes events, The Silver Bullet only allows one entry per participant. Most national contests allow multiple entries, but in The Silver Bullet you have only one opportunity to win.
Last year I finished second in the entire contest with a loaded team that featured Lamar Jackson, Austin Ekeler, Mark Andrews, Darren Waller, Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill and A.J. Brown. I had a lot of things go well in the playoffs, but ultimately Mike Santos aka Coyote Streakers, one of the best fantasy football players in the country, was the winner.
This year I joined the opening night tip-off contest. There was some very steep competition. Mike Leone of Establish The Run teamed up with Davis Mattek and drew the 1 spot. 2017 NFFC Primetime Champion Paul Dietzman picked 4th. Last year’s winner and NFFC Hall of Famer Santos picked 7th. Longtime successful NFFC players Scott Kaplan and Andy Saxton picked 2 and 11. I drew the 9th spot.
NFFC has a pre-draft KDS (Kentucky Derby Style) pick order. They then will do a randomized order using these preferences. If you requested 7th spot and are the first team drawn, you will get 7th pick and so on. For this draft I wanted the 1st pick and if not I preferred to pick 12-11-10-9. When the draft slots were announced I felt good about my draft position.
DRAFT PREPARATION
For the 9th pick I focused on a few players: Miles Sanders, Derrick Henry, Michael Thomas and Dalvin Cook. My backup was Davante Adams.
For the second round at pick 16, I wanted to get an elite wide receiver like Adams, Julio Jones or Tyreek Hill, but I would have gladly taken an elite running back with pass-catching upside such as Kenyan Drake or Austin Ekeler, if they fell. Due to a potential holdout, I thought there was a chance Joe Mixon would fall here as well.
For the 3rd round, NFFC uses third-round reversal. This means instead of having the 9th pick of the 3rd round like a traditional snake draft, I would pick 28th. Depending on my team build I would go with the best WR or RB. Ideally I would not leave the first five rounds without my RB2.
My build would be to have five backs and five receivers after 10 rounds. I would only take a QB or a TE if exceptional value presented itself. I would then look to double up at QB and TE in rounds 11-20. In traditional years you can get by with rostering only one of these one off positions, but due to the craziness of 2020, I would not recommend it.
I sat down and listed my targets in each round 1-10- usually I have about 5-6 players per round and some rounds have more and some rounds have less. In a draft featuring these sort of experienced high stakes players, you cannot be afraid to reach to get the guy you want. There is no surprising or outsmarting players of this magnitude. Team building is just as important as simply picking the right players.
THE DRAFT
1.09 The usual suspects went in the top 5. 6th Pick was Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Miles Sanders then went at pick 7. Dalvin Cook then went 8th overall and my pick at that point was easy: Derrick Henry. I was thrilled to get him here. If he receives a slight increase in targets this year, it is not out of the realm of possibilities that he could finish as a top three RB.
2.16 After I took Henry, running backs flew off the board. Austin Ekeler, Kenyan Drake, Aaron Jones, Joe Mixon and Josh Jacobs all were selected. At 16, I was extremely happy to get Davante Adams. In my draft preparation, I had considered him at 9 overall. To walk away with two of my top 10 choices was an ideal way to start this draft.
3.28 Mike Leone/Davis Mattek took Travis Kelce with the 24th pick. I was a little surprised he lasted that long. Cooper Kupp, Allen Robinson and Kenny Golladay all were quickly picked. This left me in a great position: Jonathan Taylor, one of my favorite 3rd round RB targets, as well as a number of great WR options were all on the board. However, I immediately pivoted to George Kittle. I have him right up with Kelce among TE values. Taking him here would be a value pick. I drafted Kittle then held my breath as a long lull was about to occur between picks.
4.45 Terry McLaurin has been a highly targeted player of mine all summer. I took him here over D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. I felt great about McLaurin as my WR2.
5.52 With only one RB on my roster, I went with Cam Akers. It was VERY difficult to pass up Lockett as my WR3 (he went one pick later at 53), but positional scarcity came into play. Akers should have a nice role as a two way RB for the Rams. It is very difficult to walk away from the 5th round without your RB2. In retrospect and after seeing the way the draft played out, I made the correct decision.
6.69 Value was sapped right and left after my Akers selection. I went with Jarvis Landry. He was a safe selection who would be a nice WR3 with a high weekly floor. I prefer him as a 7th rounder, but this was the tail end of the 6th.
7.76 Mark Ingram and Devin Singletary went at the tail end of the 6th round. I was pleased to get James White as my RB3/Flex. He should mesh well with Cam Newton and I viewed him as a solid value in the early 7th.
8.93 Jalen Reagor, Ceedee Lamb and Christian Kirk all went near the 7/8 turn. I would have considered all three of them here. I was pleased to get Jamison Crowder. He should lead an awful Jets team in targets and the WR spot had been hit very hard. Between Landry, White, and Crowder I added three very safe high floor players.
9.100 I went for a high upside handcuff with some standalone value in RB Chase Edmonds. Arizona should run a high number of plays and Edmonds should have a role behind Kenyan Drake. If Drake were to go down, Edmonds would be a potential league winner.
10.117 I went with Preston Williams. This was about a round higher than he usually goes, but I saw him as an upside WR with potential to crush his ADP. This is the sort of high upside player I can afford to take on after the high floor Landry/Crowder plays.
11.124 In retrospect, taking a RB here could have been a safer play for my team build, but I could not pass up the upside of WR Curtis Samuel. The new system in Carolina could be beneficial to Samuel and I liked adding another high upside WR. At this point I had taken 5 WRs.
12.141 12 QBs had been selected. I had two left that I like a lot in this range: Cam Newton and Matt Stafford. I went with Stafford.
13.148 Following my draft plan, I looked to double up at QB with the player I nearly took 7 spots higher in Newton. I will be able to get a positive match-up weekly by streaming these two. I like this combination a lot.
14.165 I had planned on taking Benny Snell, Darrynton Evans or Jerick McKinnon but all had gone off the board. I went with yet another WR in Steven Sims. Sims is very underrated as the #2 option in Washington.
15. 172 I was very thin at RB at this point in the draft. I went with Malcolm Brown to lock up Akers current handcuff. Darrell Henderson is banged up and the injury could linger. If Akers went down, Brown could be a weekly starter. I do not mind handcuffing this late.
16. 199 Ronald Jones had his foot injured earlier in the day at Bucs practice. I went with LeSean McCoy. Do I anticipate McCoy winning the job in Tampa? Absolutely not. But there is a non-zero chance he carves out a role. He could be an eventual cut candidate for me but at round 16 I did not mind getting a piece of what could be a very good offense.
17. 206 With Newton and White already in the fold, I selected Mohammed Sanu. I now had a potential Patriots stack. Sanu is value here in the 17th.
18. 213 I went with my kicker in Matt Gay of Tampa Bay. I think Tampa will move the ball well this season.
19.230 I was pleasantly surprised to see O.J. Howard available in the 19th. Last year he was one of the bigger busts in all of fantasy. He went from being a top 6 round selection to a bench warmer or in many instances, cut entirely. All reports have him doing well in training camp.
20.237 I added my team defense in Chicago. Last year, the Bears failed to return any investment as the top defense drafted in fantasy finishing outside the top 12. Two years ago they were the top unit by a significant margin. They suffered a number of injuries last year and also upgraded a few key positions. They could be a weekly defensive start.
All in all I was pleased with my draft. There is an outside chance I have the top RB, WR and TE in football. The Henry-Adams-Kittle start was better than I anticipated. I was also very pleased with how my WR group turned out. My biggest weakness is RB depth.
This team has a chance to do well in this league and qualify for the Silver Bullet playoffs. Final board below (thru 16 rounds):
