Season Preview and Draft Review

Welcome all fans and league members to the 5th edition of the Millbrook Fantasy Football League! The opening kickoff to the 2019 NFL season is but mere days away and excitement around the league has reached its boiling point. (How many joules does it take to boil a fantasy league Spencer?) The league is brimming with interesting storylines to begin the season such as: how will GM David and Late Bloomers continue their success as reigning champions?; will GM Michael and the rebranded Romanian RAPOs win more than 2 games this season?; will GM Darren ever win a playoff game?; and most importantly, how will GM Brody fare after participating in his very first live draft on his own? Before we dive into our Preview of the season and our week 1 matchups, let's take a quick look back at draft night:

Key Draft Storylines:

1. Potentially the biggest development during draft night was RB Ezekiel Elliott sliding down the 1st Round due to his current holdout. The RB fell all the way to pick #8 where GM August of 5 Year Plan scooped him up gleefully, adding RBs Freeman and Montgomery to the ranks in preparation of a potential Bell situation. However, with the Cowboys and Zeke remaining in close discussion over a new deal, Zeke at 8 might just be a steal.
2. GM Connor followed suit later in the 1st Round, selecting 2 risky RBs in Gurley and his arthritis knees along with fellow holdout Gordon at the turn. However, The Leprechaun Soldiers don't quite have the same RB depth as 5 Year Plan, as they waited until the 8th Round to draft a backup RB in Ronald Jones II before closing out the draft with RBs Hyde and Hines. It will be interesting to see if GM Connor makes any changes with the Gordon holdout continuing into the season.
3. With GM Grafton on the clock at the top of the 3rd Round, a trade was executed between he and GM Michael of the Romanian RAPOs. the RAPOs traded up 8 picks in the 3rd, while also trading away their 6th Round pick to Mr. Nice Guy. GM Michael was extravagant with the completed trade, immediately selected his team's 2nd RB Kerryon Johnson. Meanwhile GM Grafton was splendid with the opportunity to obtain immediate added depth, selecting RB Michel and WR Jeffrey with his acquired picks. This draft night trade could prove to be a key piece in the success or downfall of either of these two teams and will be well worth checking back into during the season. 
4. Potentially the biggest and most shocking news in all of sports over the last decade broke not long after the 3rd preseason games where QB Andrew Luck of Mr. Nice Guy announced his retirement from NFL and subsequently from fantasy football. This sent tremors around the league, as the value of all Colts players plummeted, primarily WR Hilton of the Scoregasms. GM Grafton was also forced to make changes, promoting rookie QB Murray to the starting position as Luck's replacement while GM Matt and the Feelers will be waiting anxiously to see if this brings an increase in touches to their starting RB Mack.

Best Picks of the Draft: 

• GM Ian snagged WR Emmanuel Sanders in the 11th Round, a player who finished as a WR2 despite only playing in 12 games. Sanders appears fully healed from his late season achilles injury and ready to rock this season in Mile High Stadium. Sanders should yield an excellent return on investment for Kraft Beer this season serving as a matchup based FLEX play.
• QB Russell Wilson went unnoticed for an entire 12 Rounds before GM Michael hit draft in the back of the 13th Round. A QB1 every year since he has been in the league, Wilson was selected as the 15th QB off the board, jumping right into the starting slot for the RAPOs.

Worst Pick of the Draft:

• While there were a few draft picks that were ruined based on random retirements, gruesome injuries, or cruel cuts; the actual worst pick of the draft goes undoubtedly to GM Grafton and Mr. Nice Guy for selecting RB Kareem Hunt in the 9th Round. Hunt, currently serving an 8 game suspension, will be unavailable until Week 10, and even then will only serve as a potential backup to RB Chubb. A true waste of a pick that will only collect dust and cobwebs forever stashed onto Mr. Nice Guys bench. 

Preseason Power Rankings: a fan favorite segment returns this season and will surely bring tons of controversy and trash talk around the league. These preseason rankings are based on each teams current outlook for the season and are of course subject to major changes as soon as the 1st weekend of games roll around and take a wrecking ball towards all the preseason preparation. 

1. Kraft Beer: GM Ian dominated the draft, starting out with potentially the best player in the draft with RB Barkley while also adding power players in each position such as WRs Allen and Edelman and supporting RB Fournette, all of whom are primed for bounce back explosions. Meanwhile TE Engram is the #1 target for a new look Giants receiving corps. Finally, the key for Kraft Beer being atop the rankings is their depth options for the FLEX position. Between Cohen, Boyd, Williams, and Sanders; GM Ian will have no shortage of viable players for any given week.
2. The Juice is Loose: GM Kelly opted for a RB-RB strategy to start the draft, selecting Chubb and Cook to lead the way for the Juice Boxes. After taking an early TE in the 3rd Round with Ertz, GM Kelly focused on extreme value by taking Pettis, rookie Miles Sanders, Breida, and Valdes-Scantling; all of which are extremely high upside players. A solid starting lineup and immense depth at both RB and WR positions justify ranking the Juice Boxes this high in the preseason. The rest of the league shouldn't worry too much though, Kelly will have dropped or traded away half of these players by Week 3 anyways. 
3. The Underachievers: GM Dom and and The Underachievers did anything but during the draft this season. Boasting a terrorizing QB-WR stack in Mahomes and Hill, The Underachievers also come well equipped at the RB position with a supposedly well rested Bell and Jones who is promised a big increased in looks in the passing game. While their depth is certainly not elite, GM Dom seems to have a sustainable roster of safe backups who will be plausible plug and plays throughout the season.
4. Romanian RAPOs: While trading away their 6th Round pick in the draft may have caused some to worry about a resulting lack of depth, GM Michael was able to craft a well-balanced team that should ROLL into the season on the backs of RBs Mixon and Kerryon. Furthermore, with WR Odell finally having an ACCURATE QB at the helm, his upside for the RAPOs is astronomical. Snagging viable RB options later in the draft with Penny and Ballage will be key for being prepared for the long, grueling season, while breakout candidates at the WR position will ensure the RAPOs are poised for a strong bounce back season, not to mention Waiver-Wire addition RB Duke Johnson who slots into an immediate starting role.
5. 5 Year Plan: With RB Elliott looking to be close to signing a contract extension, the RB alarm can finally start to subside for GM August, who will have a dangerous starting lineup in his hands. Yielding the top RB core in the league, between Elliott, Freeman, and Montgomery; while also having breakout options at WR in Smith-Schuster and Moore, the Quinquennials are set for an excellent start to the season. However, for the 5 Year Plan to actually succeed, GM August will need to address the lack of depth at RB with 0 backups behind their starting 3.
6. Bigpapihugetime: Behind RB David Johnson, who many hope will see a return to elite RB status, the Papis will start the season with 2 oft-injured and volatile WRs Jones and Cooper. Solid safe picks were made to support this high ceiling-low floor strategy by adding RB Ingram, TE McDonald, and support RB Ekeler who will operate as a high volume starter while Gordon holds out. Behind WR Godwin on the bench however, there aren't many options for mid season injury or bye week replacements, as GM Kurt has instead opted for entering the season with 3 QBs.
7. Leprechaun Soldiers: The burning question of when will Gordon return will surely be ringing through GM Connor's ears as the season begins, and until his return, this team has a supremely stunted upside. WR Cooks and Ridley will be required to lead the Leprechauns on the battlefield while the high draft capital TE Kittle will be expected to continue from last season's wonder campaign. Meanwhile RBs Hyde and Jones II will need to step up as the 2nd and 3rd RB for the team, which is never a pretty sight. A top tier QB-WR stack in Watson and Fuller will surely be the Leprechauns' go to air strike as this combo will provide with a high weekly ceiling. Expect to see the Soldiers shoot up the rankings upon Gordon's return.
8.  Late Bloomers: The reigning Champions start the season about right where the did last year: middle of the pack. As the name suggest, this team is still under heavy operation, and GM David will be excited with the foundation he built with returning MVPs Adams and Henry. Surrounded with excellent talent in TE Kelce and a great QB-WR stack between Goff and Kupp, the Bloomers should look to claim a few wins early in the season before bursting with color late in the Fall. 
9.  Tittsburgh Feelers: GM Matt definitely has his work cut out for him after a few injuries and that retirement you may have heard about shook up to outlook for his team. Questions surrounding WR AB's relationship with his new team, RB Mack's role in a new look offense, and injuries with Drake, Coutee, and Burton will certainly need to be addressed before the Feelers can hope to make a run for the playoffs this season.
10.  Scoregasms: GM Brody's first draft definitely did not go by without a few hiccups, but most of the negative vibes about this team revolve around post-draft events that have damaged the value of the core players on Scoregasms. Specifically, WR Hilton will have to operate without his QB which hasn't resulted well in the past. Meanwhile, RB Williams will now likely be stuck in a timeshare with coach-favorite RB McCoy who was recently signed after team cuts. Hopkins will be a surefire staple throughout the season while RBs Coleman and Carson seem to have taken command of their respective backfields and will be pivotal in sparking success for the Scoregasms this season. 
11.  Miking Mikes: GM Darren suffered a devastating loss to RB when Miller went down with a season-ending ACL injury. This puts into question the immediate effectiveness the Mikes may have, since behind star RB Conner, there is a long list of potentials that may breakout later in the season, from rookie backs Jacobs and Singletary to young guns that have an opportunity to earn a larger share this season with Freeman and Barber. The Mikes will have a high floor team at WR with Thomas and Thielen demanding a large target share but not boasting the unearthed potential that other top receivers may have. Finally TE Howard seems prepared to dominate this season but has only shown glimpses of greatness so far.
12. Mr. Nice Guy: A string of reaches and poor picks on top of unfortunate injuries puts the Nice Guys at the bottom of the barrel to start the season. RBs McCaffrey and Michel will look to be as tasty of a RB snack as the M&Ms themselves this season while Guice will be an interesting developing player that will first need to break out of his timeshare. WRs Evans and Jeffrey will need to hold their own until Green's recovery who will look to spark the team after returning from a foot injury. Behind them however, is a murky depth of backup running backs on their own NFL teams without any real viable usage in fantasy.

Preseason Awards:

• Murphy Mixup:

The first Murphy Mixup of the season of course goes to the man himself: GM Darren! Darren of the Miking Mikes has already made 11 transactions since the draft, as much as the next two managers combined! Among all these transactions, he has added and then dropped free agent RB Jay Ajayi, adding and then dropping RB Alfred Blue, adding and then dropping RB Damarea Crockett, and finally adding and then dropping Kicker Matt Bryant. Darren is well prepared to complain that any player that does well sometime during the season he "had at one point, but was just to early on them".

• WTF Waiver Wire:

While Darren reclaimed his coveted Murphy Mixup Award, GM Kelly also wasted no time in reminding the league that there is no manager quite like him when it comes to the waiver wire. GM Kelly made the very first transaction of the league this season, placing a $5 bid on the Cleveland Defence over a month before the start of the season. Why Kelly thought he needed to place a bid on a defense so early into the preseason I'm not quite so sure. Why he thought that not just $1 or $2 would be enough, but $5 would surely secure his pick, well it's Kelly. If you ask him why he will probably just respond with "The Juice is Loose", and then proceed to drop the Cleveland Defense for some new waiver wire victim.

That'll do it for the Season Preview edition of the Weekly Wrap-Up! Make sure to check out the Weekly Awards tab to see the full list of preseason awards (and see how many transactions GM Darren has already made). May the force be with all of you this season as we look to make our 5th year of the MFFL our best year yet!