The National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) runs a variety of leagues, ranging from $125 to $20,000 buy-ins, in formats that play stand-alone for league prizes or National Contests that include thousands of teams across hundreds of leagues competing for large overall prizes. One of my favorite formats that has become increasingly popular over the past few years is the Draft Champions format.
These Draft Champions leagues consist of a PPR scoring format with heavy quarterback scoring (six point pass touchdown, one point per 20 yards passing) and teams are created through an extensive draft, but then no further roster moves are made; there are no trades, no free agents and most importantly no lineups, as teams get their “Best Ball” lineup by recording their scores at each starting roster spot automatically after the week is over. The league plays out as a 16-week total points competition with no weekly head-to-head or playoffs.
This is not your normal 16-round Yahoo league. The format requires a deep knowledge of the player pool as the NFFC Draft Champions format consist of 12-team leagues and 35-round drafts (420 total players). Breaking down the player pool, generally every offensive player, other than blocking tight end, are selected; this usually breaks down somewhere in these ranges:
- 45-50 quarterbacks (All starters and about half the backup quarterbacks)
- 50-55 tight ends (All starting tight ends and a majority of second string tight ends)
- 110-120 running backs (Three to four running backs from each NFL team)
- 130-150 wide receivers (Four to five wide receivers from each NFL team)
- 35-40 kickers (All starting kickers and most kickers in camp battles)
- 32 defenses/special teams
There are two additional aspects to the NFFC leagues that add some unique twists to the format: KDS and 3RR. The KDS draws its name from the Kentucky Derby System of choosing post positions for the annual horse race. It is a method which allows teams to better choose their own slot in the draft order by submitting a priority list of their favorite draft position. Teams are then awarded their top choice of pick when selected in the KDS order. In an effort to better balance the strength of later draft slots when compared to early draft slots, the NFFC instituted the 3RR which stands for Third Round Reversal. This setup flips the order of the draft in the third round resulting in a shift from the standard snake draft format to an order consisting of the following:
- First Round: 1-12
- Second Round: 12-1
- Third Round: 12-1*
- Fourth Round: 1-12
*The draft order flips in the third round, so that Team 12 makes selections 12/13/25/48 and Team One selects 1/24/36/37, continuing in a normal snake order for the remainder of the draft.
Currently, I am participating in a $150 12-team Draft Champions league, where the top three scoring teams after Week 16 receive $800, $300 & $100 respectively, but the big carrot is the overall competition where all leagues compete for the Grand Prize of $20,000. The drafts are conducted in a slow manner with an eight-hour limit per pick; although teams are encouraged to make their selections as soon as they can, the clock allows for time when needed if work, family or sleep obligations arise during your pick.
The draft pool is fairly deep at the top this year, as there are nine or ten players who could arguably be worthy of the top overall pick in the draft. With this in mind, I settled on a KDS to try to obtain a selection in the seven to ten range, going with a priority list of 9-8-10-7-11-12-2-1-6-5-4-3. As luck would have it I was assigned my top choice, the ninth draft slot.
1.09 Demaryius Thomas (wide receiver/Denver) – Thomas is actually my fifth-ranked player overall after Adrian Peterson (running back/Minnesota), Antonio Brown (wide receiver/Pittsburgh), Le’Veon Bell (running back/Pittsburgh) and Eddie Lacy (running back/Green Bay), so I felt fortunate to obtain his talents at the ninth pick. My other options included Dez Bryant (wide receiver/Dallas) or Rob Gronkowski (tight end/New England).
2.04 Marshawn Lynch (running back/Seattle) – Since this league incorporates the 3RR setup, typically there is still a decent RB available at 3.04, so I was targeting Calvin Johnson (wide receiver/Detroit) at this pick. Calvin was selected the pick before me, so I debated Jordy Nelson (wide receiver/Green Bay), Arian Foster (running back/Houston) or A.J. Green (wide receiver/Cincinnati), but settled on the security of a safe RB1 in Lynch.
3.04 Justin Forsett (running back/Baltimore) – With three picks to go before me, I was targeting Alshon Jeffery (wide receiver/Chicago) or Mike Evans (wide receiver/Tampa Bay), with a backup plan of Brandin Cooks (wide receiver/New Orleans), but they were the first three picks of the third round. I was left with a decision between Forsett, DeAndre Hopkins (wide receiver/Houston) and Jimmy Graham (tight end/Seattle). I like Hopkins, but am concerned with him being viewed as “the guy” in Houston now that Andre Johnson is gone, with opposing defenses scheming to stop him. I am a huge Jimmy Graham fan, but did not think pairing him with Lynch was a smart move. Enter Forsett who gains offensive coordinator Marc Trestman on the Ravens coaching staff. Trestman runs an offense that targets running backs in the pass game heavily. Matt Forte had 176 receptions in two seasons and Charlie Garner had 211 receptions in three seasons.
4.09 Julian Edelman (wide receiver/New England) – Got fairly lucky at this spot, needing a WR2 with two picks to go in front of me. I was looking at Edelman and Kelvin Benjamin (wide receiver/Carolina Panthers). Benjamin went two picks ahead of me. As I sweated the next pick, I realized the next options were Amari Cooper (wide receiver/Oakland Raiders) or Golden Tate (wide receiver/Detroit), both of whom have talent and upside. Neither are guys I was ready to rely upon as my WR2 in the fourth round. That point ended up being moot, as the team ahead of me selected Melvin Gordon (running back/San Diego) and I was able to snag Edelman at pick #45, well past his ADP of 37.1.
5.04 C.J. Spiller (running back/New Orleans) – The pool of solid running backs & wide receivers tends to die out towards the end of the fifth round, so even though I could have opted for Greg Olsen (tight end/Carolina) or grabbed a solid quarterback such as Russell Wilson or Drew Brees, I decided to go with a running back with massive upside. Playing the old Darren Sproles role, coupled with the loss of Jimmy Graham, I feel Spiller can be a PPR monster this year. Spiller offered a little more upside than safer options like Carlos Hyde (running back/San Francisco), Jonathan Stewart (running back/Carolina), Brandon Marshall (wide receiver/New York Jets) or Jarvis Landry (wide receiver/Miami).
In my next article, I will highlight my selections in rounds six through 13.
Main Photo:
