For those who do not know what the “FFPC Pros vs. Joes” is, it is a 12 team league consisting of six “Pros” vs six “Joes”. This league was created by Darren Armani (@fantasymojo) who owns Fantasy Mojo which gives you all you need from draft boards to ADP. For more information on the tournament click here. My draft consisted of five other Pros and six Joes. Before the draft started, there were odds of who would win which I’ve shared below.

 

I was thrilled to have the second-best odds, behind only Jake Ciely, who has previously won this tournament. This is a winner take all-league, with first place receiving a free $1,800 main event entry the following season. Below is the draft board and I will go over all of my picks with a brief description of my reasoning for each pick. Keep in mind this is FFPC scoring which is standard PPR but tight ends get 1.5 points per reception. Below is the draft board to follow along.

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1. Todd Gurley – I debated between him and Le’Veon Bell but ultimately decided on Gurley due to safety with Bell holding out. They say you can’t win your draft in the first round but can lose it, and didn’t want to take chance on losing.
2. Zach Ertz – Was hoping Ertz would fall here. In tight end premium scoring, Ertz will likely outscore many of the wide receivers in this range at a position with a big drop off after him.
3. Doug Baldwin – It may be a hot take but I like Baldwin over Evans. There are so many vacated targets in Seattle while Tampa’s receiving corps gets more and more crowded. Would it surprise you if he leads the league in targets?
4. Rashaad Penny – Was hoping for Mark Ingram here but I got sniped the pick before. Being at the end of drafts I needed to make some “home run” picks and this was one of them. With new offensive coordinator that wants to run the ball, he was one of the few running backs left with potential three-down capabilities.
5. Lamar Miller – I have to stay true to my brand with Lamar. Every season I have one running back I tout endlessly in the middle rounds, last year it was Mark Ingram. When Watson was healthy last season Miller was the RB8. He should have the backfield to himself at least some of the season with the chance of D’onta Foreman starting on the PUP.
6. Michael Crabtree – The Ravens throw more than most teams and I get their new WR1. I am sometimes wary of a wide receiver changing teams but the whole wide receiver corp is new and I expect Flacco to lean on him heavily with not much behind him.
7. Trey Burton – This may seem a little early but the tight end position was getting pretty thin. I like to have 3-4 tight ends I feel comfortable with considering it’s premium scoring. I see no reason Burton can’t reach 60 receptions on the Bears offense which is the equivalent of 90 for a wide receiver.
8. Cam Newton – All Cam does is finish as a Top 5 option in fantasy. His legs will give him a solid weekly floor and he arguably has his best set of weapons of his career.
9. Carson Wentz – I debated going wide receiver here with Pierre Garcon but being on the end I was sure there would be a quarterback run. The run never came but I feel good having Cam and Wentz. Knowing there is a chance Wentz could have setbacks, I planned on reaching on Nick Foles a little early.
10. Giovani Bernard – Many would argue I should have gone wide receiver two times here but I saw a big drop off at running back after these two picks. Gio is one of the guys I am reaching for regularly this year. He has a nice floor of averaging double-digit fantasy points. I love to grab the PPR backs with a chance to become a three-down back if anything happens to the guy in front of them. I am also not a big fan Joe Mixon so this is an arbitrage play on him.
11. Nyheim Hines – I haven’t drafted much Hines this season but I do believe he is a value. In PPR I like the idea of having a guy like him who could thrive with Luck under center and split or wide some with a murky wide receiver core.
12. Kenny Stills – I debated Kenny Stills at the 11.1 and to see him fall to this spot was a blessing as my third wide receiver. Stills finished in PPR as the WR27 last year and they have the most vacated targets of any team this year. Stills may have some boom or bust weeks, making him the perfect WR3 for best ball.
13. Ricky Seals-Jones – Once again I wanted to go wide receiver here but the tier drop after Ricky was huge. With the tight end getting 1.5 points per reception I liked the idea of having a three tight end combo that can be weekly flex guys. Hopefully, Seals learns to hold in his pee while on the field.
14. Josh Doctson – With only three wide receivers on my team to this point I wanted to take two upside guys on this turn. Doctson had one of the hardest schedules against cornerbacks last year and still performed well.
15. Dez Bryant – Dez Bryant was an easy pick here. When he signs, no matter where he signs, he will move up to a 9th or 10th round pick. He has huge upside, with waiting at wide receiver Dez is the perfect WR5 for this team. I just have to hope he doesn’t follow in his ex-teammate Demarco Murray’s footsteps and call it a career.
16. Will Lutz – Was hoping Justin Tucker or Stephen Gostkowski lasted here. The kicker is very under-appreciated in this format. With so much turnover/injuries at the position, I like to grab three every draft that have a secure job. Lutz kicking indoors on a high octane offense is the perfect start.
17. Greg Zuerlein – “Greg the Leg” was the top kicker last year on the highest scoring team in the NFL. He ended the season injured but feel comfortable with him as my second kicker. I went two kickers here thinking there would be a run as well that didn’t happen. In normal FFPC best balls there normally would be that kicker run in the 17/18 rounds.
18. Albert Wilson – Albert Wilson is my highest owned player this year across all formats. As I’ve stated before the Dolphins have the most vacated targets of any team this year and signed Wilson to a lucrative 24 million dollar contract, showing they will use him. Wilson was towards the top of the league in yards created after the catch and evaded tackles. He can line up all over the field including the backfield. Stacking Stills and Wilson should bring me a weekly WR2/3 between the two of them.
19. Houston Def – I wanted to stay on brand and take Javorious Allen here but found it hard to not take the Houston defense. I tend to only take two defenses in best ball since there is no injury risk.
20. Geronimo Allison – Geronimo has the chance to be Aaron Rodgers #3 wide receiver. If I am going light at the position these are the type of players I like to attack later on. Allison should have the upper hand on the handful of rookies drafted by Green Bay, as he’s showed a good rapport with Rodgers last season.
21. Tavon Austin – Tavon Austin is a target of mine in every FFPC draft. He is a cheat code being a wide receiver with a running back designation. The Cowboys have one of the worst wide receiver corps in the league and Tavon should see snaps lined up all over the field including at running back. He may not be consistent but should have some spike weeks throughout the season.
22. Ryan Grant – I love this pick for the same reasons I loved the Allison pick, being tied to an elite quarterback. Grant will be competing for the #2 wide receiver for an Andrew Luck lead offense. He looked very good in Washington last year and if he can secure that #2 wide receiver position he will easily return value at the end of the 22nd round.
23. Rod Smith – At this point in the draft I felt pretty good about my running back corps. If Ezekiel Elliot were to miss any time, Rod Smith would get a bulk of the work, with Tavon Austin getting some of the passing down work. At this point in the draft to get a pure handcuff in one of the most run-heavy offenses is an easy choice.
24. San Francisco Def – I needed another defense with Houston. I am not a huge fan of this pick, but with the offense likely putting up more points this season their defense should have a lot of opportunities to put up points.
25. Nick Foles – There are rumors of Carson Wentz starting camp on PUP (Editors note: It’s since been announced Wentz will not be placed on the PUP) Foles has proved he can slide right in and produce if Wentz misses any time. I think I could have waited until round 27 but did not want to take the chance.
26. Aldrick Rosas – In best ball drafts that include kicker, I will draft three every time. I think the Giants will have a much better offense this season, which will give Rosas more opportunities.
27. Terrence West – I wanted to go wide receiver here but it was pretty dry. West will have at least four weeks of production during Mark Ingram’s suspension. He will likely only have those four weeks of production once Ingram returns but at this point in the draft, there aren’t many guys you can say you would likely get four weeks from. There is always the chance West plays well, the Saints cut him or trade him and he ends up on another team with injury problems.
28. Nick Vannett – Seattle lost a ton of targets between Paul Richardson and Jimmy Graham leaving. Vannett only has Ed Dickson to compete with at tight end, and while he may not have a ton of upside, he could be used in the red zone.

Below is my full squad sorted by position. Being at the 1 spot I had to reach often and while I fell behind at wide receiver I was able to catch some other positions before a huge fall off of talent. Even though I waited on wide receiver I was pretty happy with the second half of the draft. While I missed starting runs by doubling up at positions on the turn at quarterback and kicker, it will work more times than not. In a normal best ball draft this will a lot of times start a run at the position, which would push talent at other positions to you at your next turn. Thanks for reading my Pros vs Joes review and be sure to give me a follow on Twitter @FFLinx .