Draft Thoughts - Round 1

Here's how the first round of the CKL draft went down last month.

Pick	Overall	CKL Team	Player	Position	NFL Team	Notes
1	1	Kendall	Ezekiel Elliott	RB	DAL	FIRST ROUND
2	2	Norris	Brandin Cooks	WR	NO
3	3	Kirk	Eddie Lacy	RB	GB
4	4	Corey	Blake Bortles	QB	JAC
5	5	Paul	T.Y. Hilton	WR	IND
6	6	Patrick	Jeremy Maclin	WR	KC
7	7	Ben	Kelvin Benjamin	WR	CAR
8	8	Russ	C.J. Anderson	RB	DEN
9	9	Yado	Michael Floyd	WR	ARI
10	10	Rookie	Dion Lewis	RB	NE
11	11	Joe	Matt Jones	RB	WAS
12	12	Ryan	Drew Brees	QB	NO
13	13	Nathan	Eric Decker	WR	NYJ
14	14	Ryan	Matt Forte	RB	NYJ	* Traded from Chad to Ryan

A few thoughts:

• The first three picks were chalk, as everyone I talked to pre-draft assumed Elliott/Cooks/Lacy was the opening trio.
• Corey went rogue with his Bortles pick, but when you fall in love with a player, there is no shame in making sure you get him.
• Three receivers in a row after Corey's QB, with Paul's Hilton pick making a lot of sense, while Patrick's Maclin grab was surprisingly good. Ben taking his namesake might end up being a bit rough, though, as Kelvin still isn't completely back from his ACL injury.
• Had half a mind that Russ would take Forte, but instead he went with Anderson. Shoulda figured there'd be no chance he made it to 13.
• Yado with Floyd, nothing wrong there.
• But Rookie with Dion Lewis!? Ouch. I think there were some warning signs there, but Lewis was clearly a late first round value a month ago.
• Joe with Matt Jones surprised me a bit, but it's still a decent pick. RBs that are virtually guaranteed volume aren't easy to find these days.
• Figured Ryan was going to nab Brees once he traded Brady to Chad. Was semi-hoping Corey took Brees, forcing Ryan to take Roethlisberger. But let's be honest, I totally would've taken Brees if he made it to me.
• Not sure why I took Decker. Mostly because I didn't want Forte.
• And then Chad took Forte.

Winners: Kendall, Patrick, Russ, Ryan

Meh: Norris, Kirk, Paul, Yado, Joe, Nathan, Chad

Losers: Corey, Ben, Rookie