2017 CKL Draft Preview: The Keepers

Keepers R Kool

Welcome back, foolios. Thought we'd get the 2017 CKL season started with a look at everyone's keepers heading into Saturday's 16th annual draft. Some of you are looking mighty, mighty strong. It will be your charge to not screw up what you've created. Others of us are drowning, and see Saturday's effort as a potential flotation device. The vagaries of fantasy football mean we all still technically have a chance to take the cup away from Russ (congrats, again), it's just that some of us are in much better position than others.

So let's make a list, starting with the worse set of keepers, and heading to the best.

14. Yado

• WR Davante Adams
• TE Jordan Reed
• RB Rob Kelley

Adams had a career year, with 12 receiving touchdowns, a number likely to diminish in 2017. Then again, he does have Aaron Rodgers tossing him the rock. Reed is better than everyone not named Gronk when he's actually on the field, but that's the rub. He is hurt. A lot. And now he has some sort of toe issue? Yoink. Rob Kelley is average, and lots of folks think he'll lose his job before the season even arrives. I get that Yado is a fan of the Potomac River Basin Indigenous Persons football team, but that can hurt you when you decide to keep Rob Kelley instead of a better option like Willie Snead.

13. Nathan

• WR Terrelle Pryor
• WR Jarvis Landry
• RB Derrick Henry
• WR Martavis Bryant

Pryor seems to have the elite athleticism required to make the damn impressive switch from QB to legit #1 WR. Then again, not many teams came a-calling in free agency. So maybe he's just not that good. He has a pretty wide range of outcomes this season. Landry is a great PPR receiver, but this isn't a PPR league. And having Cutler take over for Tannehill doesn't increase confidence in his potential usage. He'll underperform. Derrick Henry is talented, but has a better bank in DeMarco Murray in front of him. In general, it's a bad idea to keep a understudy player. I probably should've kept Brandon Marshall instead, but I didn't want to roll with four WRs heading into 2017. But my team was straight trash last year. One fresh-from-the-refrigerator glob of aloe for the sunburn that is my team is the 10th round price on Martavis Bryant. He's a risk, no doubt, but it sounds like he is on the straight and narrow to once again showcase his crazy skills as a receiver opposite Antonio Brown. I'm excited. 

12. Heath

• RB LeVeon Bell
• WR Doug Baldwin
• QB Ben Roethlisberger

I know this seems overly harsh considering that Bell is one of the best three commodities in fantasy football, and Baldwin has produced as a WR1 over the past two seasons. So, uh, yeah, this ranking is all about Ben Roethlisberger. Dude straight balls at home (QB1 in Pittsburgh) and is Sam Bradford on the road (QB23). Should be better with a full season of Bell and Bryant, but I'd rather have Mark Ingram on my squad.

11. Kirk

• QB Aaron Rodgers
• RB Mike Gillislee
• RB Eddie Lacy

Rodgers is a must-keep stud QB, no doubt. But the running backs have serious questions. Is Lacy good? Will he get the bulk of the carries in Seattle? Gillislee is uber-intriguing, but there are five legit RBs in New England, and history shows Belichick is horribly inconsistent in his RB use. Visions of the 18 rushing TDs Blount left in his wake should probably not be swimming in Kirk's head. Perhaps Keenan Allen would've been a better keeper selection than Lacy?

10. Chad

• RB Jay Ajayi
• QB Tom Brady
• WR Emmanuel Sanders
• QB Jared Goff

No complaints with Ajayi and Brady, they're both good starters. And Sanders isn't horrible, but is definitely limited by his QB (to be determined). Carlos Hyde would look pretty good pared with Ajayi, but I can't begrudge Chad too much for wanting to keep a pass catcher. Goff doesn't cost much, but isn't worth anything. He'll be dropped quickly, I'm sure. Knowing that Chad has the #1 overall pick and has basically already agreed to terms with Jacksonville's rookie RB Leonard Fournette gives the group a boost.

9. Rookie

• WR Mike Evans
• RB Lamar Miller
• QB Cam Newton
• WR Tyler Boyd

Evans is a solid WR1, and was positively drool-worthy on episode one of Hard Knocks (even though Doug Martin stole the show with his Apollo amateur night executioner tribute). Miller is an adequate RB. I guess the issue is QB. Why are so many QBs kept? I guess Cam could bounce back to the upper echelon, but I'd rather have, eh, maybe Michael Crabtree?

8. Corey

• RB David Johnson
• WR Allen Robinson
• QB Matt Ryan
• WR Leontee Carroo

I think Corey had the best set of keepers heading into last season, but he is more in the middle of the pack now. That's due to the shine coming off of Robinson (and Blake Bortles) while Ryan is likely to regress a bit from a historical offensive performance. Too bad about the ending of that Super Bowl, eh? That was tough to watch. But let's focus on the positive: David Johnson is giving me LaDainian Tomlinson/Marshall Faulk flashbacks. He's so good he's like having an extra starter every week. That means something. I probably would've kept Nuk Hopkins over Ryan, but everyone knows I hate QBs and I was the worst team in the league last year. So don't listen to me. In fact, stop reading. Just a guess but Carroo doesn't make the squad.

7. Joe

• WR A. J. Green
• RB Jordan Howard
• QB Andrew Luck
• RB Wendell Smallwood

Gotta remember to quit trading with Joe. Granted, shipping A.J. Green off to him two seasons ago helped me make my sole run to the Cup, but now Joe is sitting pretty with one of the best wideouts in the game. Howard was an exceptional midseason pickup turned keeper, and his ceiling seems relatively high considering how well he played on a poor Bears team. Seems like it won't matter that he'll be on another bad Bears team in 2017. And hey, auspicious start for Trubisky last night, right? Luck is, well, concerning. I imagine lots of tossing and turning in the Wompas bed while Heather grows increasingly concerned about hearing "Andrew Luck" escape Joe's sleeping lips. But hey, Luck is just a QB, and those things are always available. Once he has his Luck back (har), Joe will be in the playoff running, just like he always seems to be. Smallwood might be the only non-Martavis redshirt that sticks to his roster in the early going, too.

5. Norris (tie)

• WR Julio Jones
• WR Brandin Cooks
• TE Travis Kelce

Norris has the squad to make his second ever postseason appearance. Top 3 WR? Check. Explosive WR moving from one of the best offenses in the league to one of the best offenses in the league? Check. Premier TE? Check. High draft spot with which to secure a top RB? Check. Four checks, Norris. Don't screw it up.

5. Paul (tie)

• RB Melvin Gordon
• WR T.Y. Hilton
• WR Alshon Jeffrey

Another team with an excellent core. Gordon proves that subpar rookie seasons don't always indicate future performance. Hilton and Jeffrey are a solid WR duo, provided that Jeffrey's hamstrings don't get tweaked by the harsh Philadelphia atmosphere. Plus, he has lots of options at the third pick, after Chad and Norris are finished scooping up high end RB talent. Lots of reason to expect Paul to make a run as his second cup.

4. Ryan

• WR Odell Beckham Jr.
• TE Rob Gronkowski
• QB Drew Brees

So, uh, Ryan might be good at this whole fantasy football thing, eh? He made the playoffs in his first season, and has a set of keepers that could all realistically finish at number one at their position. The only thing missing is a running back. It's kinda scary to think there are three teams with better keepers. Maybe my list is wrong.

3. Kendall

• RB Ezekial Elliott
• WR Michael Thomas
• WR Amari Cooper

Oh joy we get to watch Kendall slide back into the playoffs and make another serious run at his own personal "one for the thumb," a phrase I'm sure he just loves. Zeke fell in his lap last year with the first overall pick, Michael Thomas was freed from the target bondage of Brandin Cooks, and Amari Cooper is straight up good. I guess the potential silver lining for the rest of us is that Michael Crabtree has outproduced Cooper the last two seasons. Nah, that probably won't happen again. We're screwed.

2. Russ

• RB LeSean McCoy
• WR Jordy Nelson
• WR Dez Bryant

Gulp. Like having three top  20 selections in a redraft league, Russ has curated quite a collection of talent. Shady is way good, even at 29 years of age. Nelson has two Top 2 WR seasons the last two complete seasons both he and Rodgers have been healthy--scary. And Dez is a touchdown hog. Coming off his first cup, can Russ pull off the back-to-back championships, something not achieved since Kendall did it in '03 and '04? Yes. Yes he can.

1. Ben

• WR Antonio Brown
• RB Devonta Freeman
• RB Todd Gurley

Ah but Ben stands in his way. His worst keeper is the guy he named his team after. Brown and Freeman are both first round redraft selections. HOO GAVE BEEN TWO FIRST ROUNDERS!? If Gurley rebounds, Ben is a shoe-in for the playoffs. Oh the dreaded Calcutron kiss of death. Seriously, though, nice keepers.