Draft Thoughts - Round 3 through 5

Today, let's knock out the rest of the Friday night portion of the draft event.

Round 3

Pick

Overall

CKL Team

Player

Position

NFL Team

Notes

3	1	29	Kendall	Frank Gore	RB	IND	THIRD ROUND
3	2	30	Norris	Jordan Matthews	WR	PHI
3	3	31	Kirk	Delanie Walker	TE	TEN
3	4	32	Corey	Coby Fleener	TE	NO
3	5	33	Paul	Josh Gordon	WR	CLE
3	6	34	Patrick	Gary Barnridge	TE	CLE
3	7	35	Ben	Allen Hurns	WR	JAC
3	8	36	Russ	Giovani Bernard	RB	CIN
3	9	37	Yado	Jay Ajayi	RB	MIA
3	10	38	Rookie	Emmanuel Sanders	WR	DEN
3	11	39	Joe	Kevin White	WR	CHI
3	12	40	Chad	Luke Kuechly	LB	CAR	* Traded from Ryan to Chad
3	13	41	Nathan	Marvin Jones	WR	DET
3	14	42	Ryan	Desean Jackson	WR	WAS	* Traded from Chad to Ryan

• Mini tight end run in the first half of this round sees Walker, Fleener, and Barnidge go.
• Josh Gordon goes to Paul, evidence of his perceived upside, as he won't be playing the first four weeks. And heck, I assume the guy could fail another drug test before Week 5, right?
• I like Gio to Russ---I think he'll do very well for The Stick.
• Homer pick by Joe with Kevin White. Sounds like he's had a pretty rough training camp/preseason, though. Doubt he draws a start for quite some time.
• And there goes Chad, with the first IDP off the board. In the third! Chad has his own strategy. Not only is it the complete opposite of mine, you also can't argue it doesn't work. Chad has had one of the better runs of late.
• C'mon now I know you all are jealous of my Marvin Jones selection.

Round 4

Pick

Overall

CKL Team

Player

Position

NFL Team

Notes

4	1	43	Chad	Lavonte David	LB	TB	FOURTH ROUND
4	2	44	Nathan	Danny Woodhead	RB	SD
4	3	45	Ryan	Rashad Jennings	RB	NYG
4	4	46	Joe	J.J. Watt	DL	HOU
4	5	47	Rookie	Sterling Shepard	WR	NYG
4	6	48	Yado	Julius Thomas	TE	JAC
4	7	49	Russ	Eli Manning hahahahaha	QB	NYG
4	8	50	Ben	Navarro Bowman	LB	SF
4	9	51	Patrick	Jamie Collins	LB	NE
4	10	52	Paul	Arian Foster	RB	MIA
4	11	53	Corey	D'Qwell Jackson	LB	IND
4	12	54	Kirk	Torrey Smith	WR	SF
4	13	55	Norris	Justin Forsett	RB	BAL
4	14	56	Kendall	Carson Palmer	QB	ARI

• Chad doubles down on his early IDP approach with Lavonte David. No doubt that guy is a stud. Chad has certain guys that are just "his guys." I like that.
• Ditto for J.J. Watt to Big Joe.
• Rookie with the nice snag of hot rookie (har har) WR Sterling Shepard. Probably has a chance to finish second to Zeke for RoY.
• Love Yado's scoop of Julius Thomas. Dude has top three tight end upside.
• Nice commentary on your QB, Russ.
• Three more IDPs, Arian Foster, and Kendall's epic Palmer meltdown highlight the latter sections of this round.

Round 5

Pick

Overall

CKL Team

Player

Position

NFL Team

Notes

5	1	57	Kendall	Chris Ivory	RB	JAC	FIFTH ROUND
5	2	58	Norris	Philip Rivers	QB	SD
5	3	59	Kirk	Charles Sims	RB	TB
5	4	60	Corey	Stefon Diggs	WR	MIN
5	5	61	Paul	Jimmy Graham	TE	SEA
5	6	62	Patrick	DeAngelo Williams	RB	PIT
5	7	63	Ben	T.J. Yeldon	RB	JAC
5	8	64	Russ	Travis Benjamin	WR	SD
5	9	65	Yado	Tyrod Taylor	QB	BUF
5	10	66	Rookie	Michael Crabtree	WR	OAK
5	11	67	Joe	Zach Ertz	TE	PHI
5	12	68	Ryan	Steve Smith, Sr.	WR	BAL
5	13	69	Nathan	Corey Coleman	WR	CLE
5	14	70	Chad	Willie Snead	WR	NO	END DAY ONE

• I think Norris did well to get Rivers at this point. I think he's a good weekly QB start.
• Corey also looks good with Diggs. Even with the QB change in Minnesota, Diggs looks like good value here.
• I hope Jimmy Graham can provide something for Paul, and I'm sure it's fun to have a local guy on your team, but man, patella tendon tears are no joke.
• Patrick gets his absolutely critical handcuff of Bell, and he didn't overpay for it. Nicely done.
• I like Tyrod, but this smells a touch early for Yado.
• Likewise with Steve Smith. Although I guess you should never count that guy out.

Draft Thoughts - Round 2

On to the second round...

Pick

Overall

CKL Team

Player

Position

NFL Team

Notes

2	1	15	Chad	Golden Tate	WR	DET	SECOND ROUND
2	2	16	Nathan	Donte Moncrief	WR	IND
2	3	17	Ryan	Randall Cobb	WR	GB
2	4	18	Joe	Melvin Gordon	RB	SD
2	5	19	Rookie	Duke Johnson	RB	CLE
2	6	20	Yado	Julian Edelman	WR	NE
2	7	21	Russ	Greg Olsen	TE	CAR
2	8	22	Ben	Larry Fitzgerald	WR	ARI
2	9	23	Patrick	Ben Roethlisberger	QB	PIT
2	10	24	Paul	Ryan Mathews	RB	PHI
2	11	25	Corey	Ameer Abdullah	RB	DET
2	12	26	Kirk	DeVante Parker	WR	MIA
2	13	27	Norris	Travis Kelce	TE	KC
2	14	28	Kendall	John Brown	WR	ARI

• Tate to Chad at the turn was one of the easiest picks of the entire draft. No way this wasn't going to happen.
• Glad to grab Moncrief, even if it was a bit of a reach. No way he makes it back to the 3/4 turn. He'll be starting a bunch of games for my team this season.
• The Cobb through Mathews run is totally blah, blah, blah. Actually I take that back a little bit, as Edelman seems like maybe a semi-steal for Yado.
• Corey surprises again with Abdullah, but then again, he's a Lions fan. Guy certainly has some upside, if he can hold on to the ball.
• Parker to Kirk is way too high, but no one saw the hamstring issues, poor performance, and ascent of Kenny Stills this time last month.
• Kelce will disappoint Norris.
• Brown is a good pick by Kendall, but his concussion thing is kinda scary.

Winners: Chad, Nathan, Yado

Meh: Ryan, Joe, Rookie, Russ, Ben, Patrick, Paul, Corey, Kendall

Losers: Kirk, Norris

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

RIP 2015 Barclay Street Bruisers

A postmortem:

Defending champ. Draft was solid, unsexy, and under-appreciated. Picked up Dion Lewis in preseason, also solid. Had talent and depth at every position for most of the year, with possible exception of TE, which was generally a headache but not a total bust. At one point mid-season, had 4 of the league's top 12 RB's, and probably still would now if Lewis hadn't gone down. Tried to trade RB depth for upgrades at TE or WR, not much luck, definitely should have tried harder. I still love ALshon but he was a PITA for most of the season with the injuries, and I may have missed a few opportunities to trade him for decent value when he was healthy. Generally did okay with start/sit decisions, but left enough points on the bench to cost me a win or two, as well as the Jenna. Actually didn't feel too bad about starting Big Ben, especially in a down year for the Ravens. Not the first time I've had a Steeler on my roster, but definitely the first time one has seen the starting lineup.

CKL 2015 Final All-Play Numbers

Let's not even mention how long it's been, OK?

All-Play

•  Damn, that's close. KAG with the one All-Play victory win over OO Pro. And they finished within two-tenths of a point in total points. Totally cray cray. Further proof that keeping the two of them away from me in the semi-finals was my only play.
• Paul's 162.5 not only was the highest score in the league this season, but the highest score in league history. Damn.
• The "I Didn't Inhale" award for lowest high goes to Patrick's 105.9. I don't know, JPA seems more like a vaporizer guy to me.
• Ben is "Hard to Kill" with the highest low of the season at 74.9. Ben's weekly name change slightly distracted from the fact that his team was actually kinda good. Definitely above average.
• Norris was worried that his 42.3 low was going to set a CKL record, but never fear: it was only the third lowest ever.
• "Mr. Explosion" is Paul's, which makes sense with that historic points explosion. He had the highest standard deviation this year with 24.11.
• On the flip side, with the lowest STD DEV is "Mr. Reliable" Kirk, with 13.34. Kinda harsh to have a top four team and not make the six-team playoff.
• Not to pile on, but it was a season to forget for Russ.

Luck

• The top two seeds and the playoff byes go to the two luckiest teams in the league. I guess it really is better to be lucky than good. Or wait, it's better to be lucky AND good. There. That's better.
• Harsh times for Corey and Patrick, although they're laying pipe in the Conso and are meeting for the right to the most theoretical 2016 CKL draft ping pong balls.
• Chad was also remarkably unlucky, proving once again that luck ain't mean shit if you've got a bad ace team.
• The Stick's three wins were the most accurate, although even they were ever so slightly generous.

Hotness

• This was briefly mentioned in a smack board, but it's a damn good thing Corey didn't make the Championship bracket. Only Chad would've been able to defeat him over the last two weeks. I bet it's starting to smell like a Conso out west in Iowa.
• Wolf was a bit hotter than OO Pro heading into the playoffs. Will that matter? Doubt it.
• I've always been told never to start making bullet points unless you're prepared to go at least three deep. Sorry, Russ, but bullet number three is how horribly you ended the season. 13.6 points below your league-worst average. Needs improvement.

Jenna Von Oÿ

• Chad is trying to make like 2012 Ben and ride Ms. Von Oÿ to a Cup. She don't necessarily look it but that woman is nothing but good loving.
• Paul was in contention most of the year and truly looked the part of a playoff team. He scored more points this season than two-thirds of the playoff entrants. At least he gets to keep the Cup for another few days.
• Kinda seems like a big divide between the top five and the bottom four. Yep, 130+ points is a big divide.