The grand poobah of expert leagues kicked off Sunday Night – the live draft of the Fantasy College Football Invitational.  This year, we combined our longest standing league and its name with a several other expert leagues in the industry to form the grand-daddy league. A whopping 20 owners comprised the field  with each team selecting 20 players for a total of 400 players. Surprisingly, the draft moved swiftly and we were done in a little over 3 hours.

The starting lineup for the league consists of:

• 2 QB
• 2 RB
• 2 WR
• 1 TE
• 1 Flex (RB, WR, TE)
• 1 Defense
• 1 Kicker

My Fantasy College Blitz entry had the 20th pick in the draft (scroll WAY to the right), the lowest I have ever drafted in any league in any sport. My strategy going in was to get solid low risk running backs and wide receivers in the first 4 rounds.  After that, I would load up on high upside guys at those two positions the rest of the way.

If a top quarter back didn’t fall to me at picks 20/21, I knew that by the time my next picks came up at 60/61, at least 15-20 QBs would be off the board.  Therefore, I planned looking for value QBs later in the draft if that happened. The TE position is not very exciting so I planned on taking a few sleepers late. The defensive scoring is not strong enough to use anything more than a late pick and the same goes for kickers.

Pick 1.20

RB Kendall Hunter – Oklahoma St. (right, courtesy of SMI)

The Cowboys offense is going to put up a ton of points and Hunter is as a lock for Top 10 RB if he can stay healthy. Quickly adapting to his dual-purpose role.

Pick 2.21

RB Noel Devine – West Virginia

Devine is a special back who will eventually be playing on Sundays.  He will be good for 1,500+ total yards and 12+ TDs. With this pick, I accomplished my first goal of getting two low risk stud backs.  I will say that I was tempted to take Tulsa QB G.J. Kinne who went the next pick.

Pick 3.60

WR Jermaine Kearse – Washington

I fully expect Jake Locker to take a step forward as a QB this year which means Kearse should be the biggest beneficiary. I expect 10+ TDs this year and 1,000 yards although Kearse isn’t the low risk WR I was hoping for with this pick.

Pick 4.61

WR Darvin Adams – Auburn

We are very high on the Auburn offense this year which should see vast improvements across the board. Adams was a bit too inconsistent last year for my taste but that should be better this year.

5.100

RB Alexander Robinson – Iowa

Robinson lacks the upside but should be a consistent player that I can plug in when not playing the top defenses. This is the definition of a value pick as he was easily the top rated player left on my board.

6.101

WR Chris Rainey – Florida

I might have been able to wait on Rainey till later in the draft.  However, as I was finding out, 40 picks is a lot of picks to wait so I decided not to delay on one of my biggest sleepers at the WR position.

7.140

RB Mike Ball – Nevada

Everyone assumes RB Vai Taua is going to get the majority of carries now that Luke Lippencott is gone…however that is not the Nevada offense. The #2 back is going to have a good shot at 1,000 yards and 10 TDs.  That #2 back appears to be Ball. This pick is in keeping with my goal of choosing high upside RBs/WRs.

8.141

WR Vidal Hazelton – Cincy

Hazelton has the talent to play for USC but now finds himself with a fantasy juggernaut offense in Cincy. He has as much upside as just about any WR this year and I was more than willing to take the gamble 140 picks into the draft.

9.180

QB Taylor Potts – Texas Tech

If Potts wins the starting job and if he keeps it for the entire year and if the Texas Tech offense continues to air the ball 50 times a game…then I just got a Top 10 QB with the 180^th pick in the draft. One might say my fantasy season rests on Potts (although I won’t say it).

10.181

QB Zac Dysert – Miami (OH)

Dysert is one of my favorite sleepers at the QB position as he really started coming into his own late last season.

11.220

RB Marcus Lattimore – South Carolina

There is always at least one true freshman running back who makes an impact. The key is opportunity and talent. Lattimore has both of these. Now playing in the SEC and with Steve Spurrier as his coach work are things against him but high return type pick at #220.

12.221

QB Jacory Harris – Miami

Harris started out last season on fire before interceptions galore during the stretch brought him down to earth. With another season under his belt, I expect to see the mistakes cut down and for Harris to throw for 3,500+ yards.

13.260

WR Malcolm Williams – Texas

Williams is a NFL talent who has yet to put it together on the field. The Longhorns are desperate for a new playmaker at WR so it was worth a shot here.

14.261

TE Dwayne Allen – Clemson

I really wanted Lee Smith or Jordan Reed as my TE, but in a league of experts they weren’t going to let them slip. No worries as Allen is a nice consolation.  He is a big-time talent on a team that is lacking big-time receivers.

15.300

TE Phillip Lutzenkirchen – Auburn

As I mentioned before, we are high on the Auburn offense so grabbing their pass-catching TE was a no brainer for me here. With Allen and Lutz, I have two TEs with great upside but picking which one to start now becomes the challenge.

16.301

QB Kevin Newsome – Penn State

People seem to be discounting Newsome because he is raw in the passing game but that is exactly why he has value. I expect a very similar game plan that Penn State used when Michael Robinson took over.  This means Newsome should be good for 600-700 yards on the ground. If the passing game is better than expected, look out.

17.340

WR Jesse Grandy – Ole Miss

My favorite super sleeper is Jesse ‘McCluster-Lite’ Grandy. I have him finishing as a Top 50 receiver, which is a bold statement considering no one else in the industry seems to be drinking the Kool-Aid. Assuming you draft him late like I am in all my leagues, it is a low risk, big return pick.

18.341

RB Jared Hassin – Army

Hassin is a fullback for Army so his upside is limited by default, but he is a nice talent by Army’s standards.  I believe he is a lock for 10+ TDs this year.

19.380

Def California Bears Defense

I waited to draft my defense so my objective was to take the best defense available that didn’t have an early bye nor a difficult schedule to start. Based on who was left, Cal was the defense that fit the bill. I will have to play the waiver wire matchup game later in the season.

20.381

K Jake Rogers – Cincy

The final piece to my draft day strategy was to wait until round 20 to take a kicker on the most potent offense available. Rogers was that guy.

Overall thoughts…

Looking at my team, it is easy to see that I will only go as far as my QBs take me. I feel very confident with everything else on my roster so with some solid QB play, I like my chances. Trading for a QB is also a strong option for me because of my expected depth at RB/WR. Picking 20^th was certainly challenging but I can’t say I would have done things differently now that I can reflect on it one day later.

Related posts:

1. Fantasy College Football Invitational: Expert League Draft Results
2. Fantasy College Football Invitational: Expert League Report, Grading the Draft
3. PODCAST: Fantasy College Football Invitational Playoff edition
4. CFO Drew’s take on the Athlon Mock Draft
5. Drew and Vince owned the CF Geek Draft

Tags: FCFI, Noel Devine