Young & Old

As teams are still processing the draft, a league study reviewed average age by team shows potential directions of the teams.

As expected, Fobsters and Athena Nike are by far the league's youngest teams. Both teams signaled pre-draft that they were building for the coming years by accumulating premium picks. Jimmy and Frank have the only two rosters that who average twenty-six years old or younger (btw, league average across all 180 players is 27.2 years old).

On the flipside, teams clearly gunning for this year are the Jammers and Buffy. Jammers are the de facto favorite to win it all this year while Roger has long known been an opportunist to mine undervalued veterans. Interestingly, the Jubas, last year's champion, have found a way to stay relatively youthful despite a championship-now caliber team. Lei and Roger are potentially facing a narrowing window (they also have the oldest keeper core, Vu's also up there) at 28+ years old...makes sense to see the push this year.

Another interesting look to examine each team's youth is to look at their first five picks.  The first five picks are often times most important and signals likely starters or high potential keeper players.  Jimmy and Jon drafted youngest early. In fact, Jimmy's first 5 picks averaged the ripe old age 22.4 years old - go class of 2017! Jon's sent muddy messages by trading for multiple keepers early but kept his draft varied with an emphasis on youth early and experience later. Interestingly, Frank, who despite openly voiced his intention for this year to be a rebuilding year, mined youth only towards the end of the draft.  Roger and Ping went with the most veteran heavy with their top picks.

How Will FAAB Work?

So with the advent of the new FAAB system upon CTDB, let’s discuss how it’ll work. First, be clear that there are two kinds of FAAB: standard and continuous. Under “standard,” only players actually on waivers are subject to the FAAB system. Players cut from other teams, and all players after the weekend’s teams, are on waivers until Wednesday. This was the old system. But we’re not doing that.

Instead, we’ll be doing FAAB Continuous. “Players remain on waivers continuously and thus are always subject to bidding.” What that means is everyone is on waivers, always. There are no free agents in the traditional sense. FAAB will run every day from Wednesday through Sunday, with 12PM EST set as the run time. That means you submit your bids and then by 12PM the next day, the system will dole out players based on who won each individual player.

Does this change an owner’s ability to react to pre-game changes? Yes it kind of does. Instead of being able to go to the free agent pile to grab a FA right before game time, you’d have to plan ahead some. For example, if you need a kicker going into Sunday but am afraid you’ll lose out on your bids by Sunday’s game time, you have to either a) bid on a whole lot of kickers and/or b) just make sure you have another kicker on hand before Sunday. That is mostly the main difference between last year’s system and this year’s.

We could adjust settings as we go, to dial in exactly what we like (one owner has already vehemently expressed their opinion about “how stupid this is...”) but for now it’s going to be FAAB Continuous and run on Wed-Sun, with a cut off time of 12PM EST the next day. Let's explore this new setup together and we can shape it into what we want it to be. Pull out your fake wallets!

• How to use ESPN's new FAAB feature (2012)
• What is the difference between FAAB and FAAB Continuous on ESPN?

Draft Review: Spunky Misunderstood Geniuses

We had an incredible ninety minute plus live draft, for the first time in CTDB history -- hyperbole, but it sure felt like it! Despite children, families, social lives, TV installs, all ten owners were able to get together on Sunday afternoon to draft players and trade barbs via Hangout. Let's see how our owners did when forced to choose players under the gun! [Inscrutable Drama Kings]

Fobsters (3-10)
Jimmy was the busiest GM the last couple of weeks.  Executing a few blockbusters pre-draft, GM Jimmy had the busiest draft in CTDB history.  With twenty-one total picks, Jimmy nabbed five players in the first fourteen picks!  Jimmy was expected to rebuild and he went heavy on rookies including Mixon (the last of the 4-star rookie backs), Corey Davis (the #1 rookie wide) and a few of the high potential rookies in Samaje Perine, Kareem Hunt, Joe Williams and Cooper Kupp. In other words, Fobsters went all-in on the rookie class of 2017. We think Mixon will live up to expectations and we love the picks of Adam Thielen and Rex Burkhead. Otherwise, we had to scratch our heads at a couple picks particularly Kupp and Perine. Both could've been had much later in the draft. Jimmy will also need to pare down his roster to eighteen spots in the coming weeks which will require some hard decision making soon.  He'll need some home runs to hit this year...otherwise, it'll be a roster of youngsters with unfulfilled promise headed to next year.  Grade: C-

Gang Green (4-9)
This may be one of the strongest drafts, particularly the top half. Gang Green used their first three picks to round out his starting line up. Rookie Christian McCaffrey has looked amazing in the preseason, Martavis Bryant is a WR2 with WR1 upside as long as he can stay away from the organics, and Matt Ryan is a top five QB -- though with some negative regression potential. GM Greg filled out his bench with some high upside players, and in particular we like Rob Kelley, Devante Parker, Duke Johnson and Cole Beasley. Remember also that Greg snagged Jimmy Graham essentially for free from Dirty Birds pre-draft. Gang Green had a pretty average keeper core coming into the 2017 season but at a minimum, they've refreshed their keeper potential with these picks. Grade: A-

Philadelphia Phreaks (6-7)
Ping chose to stay put pre-draft and went into his draft with his full, original slate of picks. Ping led off with Beastmode in RD1 after the hype train for the rookies reached peak totality, and then paired Lynch with Allen Robinson -- you'll recall they were traded for each other. The Phreaks then picked up some solid veterans to provide depth. We particularly like the middle of their draft, when Ping took John Brown, DeSean Jackson, Frank Gore and Randall Cobb. All were depressed in value due to their age / performance last season but we see several viable returning starters in those picks. The Phreaks will be hoping that a change scenery will rejuvenate some these guys. Btw, shout out to the four straight Eagle picks to finish of the draft. Grade: B

Battle Angels (7-6)
GM Vu acquired Travis Kelce pre-draft but otherwise, chose to stay with the draft to build to the revamped 2017 CTDB season. Like the Jubas, the Angels chose to load up with RB/WRs with their first four picks by selecting Paul Perkins, Josh Doctson, Cameron Meredith, and Tyrell Williams. Meredith and Williams are some of our favorite picks in the draft overall. They are terrific receiving talent and we project at least one of the two will be a full time starter soon enough. QB Cam Newton was drafted in RD5 and makes for an amazing backup to Brees. The Angels went with some solid veterans to load up the bench with Jeremy Hill, Marvin Jones, and Latavius Murray -- two former Monkey hype train machines from last year. We like it! Grade: B

Fat Jubas (9-4)
Defending champ Eric made a flurry of last minute deals to bolster his keeper core to keep pace with the Jammers. This included deals to bring in Isaiah Crowell to team with David Johnson and Jordy Nelson who will anchor a top rated receiving core with Mike Evans and Alshon Jeffrey. the flipside though is that the Jubas didn't make their first pick until the end of the third round. Despite the late start, the Jubas had a solid draft. They kicked off the draft with Tevin Coleman and filled out their roster quickly with five straight picks of RBs and WRs. Our favorite picks included Willie Snead (who has the potential to be a WR2/WR3) and CJ Prosise in RD9.  We're concerned about the Jubas depth at quarteerback and tight end as GM Eric didn't start filling out these positions until the sixth round. We'll see if the gamble pays off.  Grade: B-

Draft Review: Inscrutable Drama Kings

Here we go with a look at the Inscrutable Drama Kings division. And don't forget to see the review for Spunky Misunderstood Geniuses.

Dirty Birds (5-8)
Despite winning the Toilet Bowl, GM Jon wasn’t happy to just sit on his prize, swinging four trades pre-draft to restructure his core and move down to the #4 slot in the 2017 draft. With a competitive keeper core of LeSean McCoy, Todd Gurley, Odell Beckham, and new acquisitions TY Hilton and Dez Bryant, Jon was on the hunt to fill out his QB and TE positions. Andrew Luck and Dak Prescott will timeshare as signal callers while Hunter Henry will figure out when he’ll get more looks aside Antonio Gates — there’s also a third TE on the roster, Delanie Walker. With RD1 pick Dalvin Cook likely to be slow to come around, it may have been shortsighted of Jon to only draft one other running back, Ameer Abdullah. But this team will be loaded with receivers, as ODB, Hilton, and Bryant will be joined by Jamison Crowder, Sterling Shepard, Will Fuller, Laquon Treadwell, and Tyler Lockett. Can the Birds fly high and challenge for a postseason appearance? Or will their post-2015 title slump continue? Draft: B-

Athena Nike (6-7)
With Ezekiel Elliot out for seven weeks, Athena Nike shifted gears and opted to play future forward by dealing up from #4 for the 2017 #1 overall draft pick: Leonard Fournette. That gives Frank two of the most coveted rookie running backs in back-to-back years behind Elliot and Fournette. Having sacrificed a big portion of his 2017 draft — in order to cash in big next year — Frank mostly moved for rookies with OJ Howard, ArDarius Stewart, D’Onta Foreman, speedster John Ross, and Jamaal Williams. Fobsters aren’t the only franchise to go mostly rookie this year! Even if only one of these guys hits, it’ll be a win for Frank’s draft. Old hands Danny Woodhead, Martellus Bennett, Mike Williams, and Giovani Bernard (a possible steal at RD7) will be around to prop up the starting lineup but Nike is all about upside this season. With a young core of Elliot, Amari Cooper, DeAndre Hopkins, and Michael Thomas, that seems like an excellent strategy. Will Aaron Rodgers be happy punting a year though? Or should he be moved to a contender… Grade: B

Chunky Monkeys (7-6)
We’re not entirely sure how this team made the playoffs last year behind a keeper core of Jamaal Charles, Latavius “Don’t call me Lamond” Murray, Randall “Not Reggie” Cobb, and John "Boring" Brown. The only leftover was Julio Jones, who was shipped off pre-draft to complete an entirely new keeper core. The Monkeys should be younger, if not necessarily better, because 7-6 isn’t awful. New keepers Jordan Howard, Ty Montgomery, Terrelle Pryor, and Tyreek Hill all exhibited great talent but the chances of all four working out are slim. At least TE Greg Olsen will be a mainstay here, as he’ll bring exactly average tight end numbers to the table. We are fans of Spencer Ware here as Evan’s RD1 pick, and having the combo of Marcus Mariota and Philip Rivers to pilot through the rebuild should work out just fine. Evan’s overall strategy seemed to grab youngish veterans who haven’t fully proven themselves — Stefon Diggs, Theo Riddick, Kenny Britt, Robby Anderson, DeAndre Washington — and some old vets for competitive play this season via Pierre Garcon, Kyle Rudolph, and Jacquizz Rodgers (he’s still playing?). Grade: C+, but A+ for making that awesome draft spreadsheet.

LA Buffy (8-5)
Roger probably wishes he had just kept last year’s #1 pick, Ezekiel Elliot, but is making do with the lone holdover from that trade: Rob Gronkoski. Easy Rob’s value has never been higher as the best tight end in the land, if he can stay healthy. He’ll be joined by RD1 pick Jordan Reed, who is oft-injured himself, but if he can get on the field, Buffy could play a nice double TE lineup. From there, it’s a cast of veterans and semi cast-offs. Darren McFadden, Larry Fitzgerald, LeGarrette Blount, Andrian Peterson, Jeremy Maclin, and Matt Forte have all seen better days. Even the quarterbacks here are a little outdated, with Andy Dalton and Joe Flacco being serviceable but nothing exciting. I guess the draft matches the keeper core, as Roger had Julian Edelman, Doug Ballin, newly acquired Mark Ingram, and AJ Green as his keepers. RB Mike Gillislee is the youngest player on this team, but it’s hard to argue he represents upside. On the positive side, Buffy could have just acquired a lot of undervalued veteran talent, and he could find himself right back in the postseason. Grade: C

Tiiite End Jammers (10-3)
Our 2014 Super Bowl winner and last year’s runner-up has assembled an outrageous team. The trade for Julio Jones gives this team a Jones / Antonio Brown / Demaryius Thomas receiving corps to go along with LeVeon Bell and DeMarco Murray. That’s easily the best keeper core around. Add in my personal favorite underrated WR, Golden Tate, in RD1, and this is quite the lineup. Injury prone Tyler Eifert will man the TE position for a team named after tight ends — with Julius Thomas around just in case — while basically everyone else on this roster will be backups if all goes well (Bilal Powell, CJ Anderson, Mike Wallace, Doug Martin, Donte Moncrief, Jamaal Charles). The quarterbacking duties will fall to Jameis Winston (looking for a true break out year) and old hand Ben Roethlisberger. While there was nothing exciting about this draft, Lei clearly set up additional safe depth and if things can just stay even, he’ll find himself challenging for a title yet again. Grade: B

Pre-Draft Trades: 2017

Sure we complained about a lack of movement before, but this off-season exploded with eight big trades before keepers declaration! Sure, there was a huge confusing mix-up, one make-up trade, and general confusion all around, but we do have the largest (by volume) trade in the books for CTDB, and let's hope this leads to more trades during the season. Or dare we say it, the draft?!

There were so many trades we're just going to throw up an image and then analyze by team:

Chunky Monkeys - Trade ID#14, 16
Evan started things off by shopping Julio "Not 25 years old" Jones around and had quite a few nibbles before he decided to turn Jones and a 2018 RD5 into Jordan Howard, Tyreek Hill, and a 2018 RD4. With a weak (very weak) keeper roster, the 7-6 Monkeys made the playoffs last season but weren't really a threat. Now it's rebuild time! Of course, most rebuilds don't include trading Mark Ingram to Buffy for a Greg Olsen, a thirty-one year old tight end, but Evan has his mysterious ways. Anyway, let's see if our three time champs can win another title soon -- if Monkeys don't win this year or the next, they're facing their longest title drought since 2006.

Fat Jubas - #17, 19
Our defending champs, and also three-time title winners, are hoping to become the first repeat champs in league history. Eric moved his 2017 RD1, 2017 RD2, and 2018 RD2 to hoover up Jordy Nelson and Isaiah Crowell. Those two will team up with David Johnson and Mike Evans to power Jubas to the title game yet again, maybe.

Battle Angels - #15, 20
Vu's team lost the conference finals to eventual champs Jubas by only 0.4 points last year. Despite that devastating setback, the 2008 champs feel it's time again for another title chase. Completing the rebuild he started last year off the heels of the 2016 draft, Vu grabbed Travis Kelce as his new TE, picked up a 2017 RD2 to recoup value from last season's trade, and then got a compensatory RD2 pick as well for a commish confusion/error (see below). Win, win, win!

Athena Nike - #18
With a huge three way trade, Frank moves into the #1 overall draft pick two years in a row. Last year, Ezekiel Elliot worked out great for him, and Frank is hoping this year's top selection will do the same. Let's just say that we already know who that pick will be, as part of the trade involves Athena Nike selecting a specific player. Frank moves from 2017 1.4 to 1.1 for the cost of Jimmy Graham, Kevin White, both of his 2017 RD2 picks (2.3, 2.4), and his 2017 RD4 (4.4). Sounds like a lot doesn't it? But then next year Nike will receive a 2018 RD2 from Dirty Birds, plus 2018 RD2 and 2018 RD3 from Fobsters. With franchise star Elliot sitting six weeks on a suspension, Athena Nike is clearly already playing for next year.

Fobsters - #18, 20
Upset with his aging keeper core, Jimmy was ready to blow things up in a big way. In the end, he'll move from 2017's 1.2 slot to 1.4, receive Sammy Watkins and Kevin White for his youth movement, and then get five of the first fourteen picks in the 2017 draft -- 1.4, 1.10, 2.1, 2.3, and 2.4. That is a monster rebuild strategy, the likes that CTDB has never seen before! Of course, Jimmy had to send out Dez Bryant and Jordy Nelson -- along with 2018 RD2 and RD3 -- but if Fobsters can draft well, this trade will set him up for a glorious future.

Dirty Birds - #15, 17, 20, 21
Mostly content with his roster a week ago, Jon moved into major trade motion after losing out in the Julio Jones sweepstakes. First, he picked up TY Hilton for the price of Travis Kelce and a 2017 RD2 -- and another 2017 RD2, which will be explained later. He also got a 2017 RD3 back from Battle Angels. He also shipped out Isaiah Crowell for a RD2 -- which will be conveyed to Battle Angels due to the previously mentioned error.

And then there was the big three way trade, which ultimately moved Birds down one slot from 1.1 to 1.2, and then netted them Dez Bryant and Jimmy Graham -- later shipped out for a weak RD6 to Gang Green. Overall, Dirty Birds moved the 2017 1.1 pick, Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins, Isaiah Crowell, two 2017 RD2's, and a 2017 RD13 to move down one slot in the draft, grab a 2017 RD3, Dez Bryant, and a 2017 RD6. Um, sounds like a win?

What was the controversy?!
Due to a combination of miscommunication and clerical error, and ESPN's stupid non-snaking settings, trade #15 between Battle Angels and Dirty Birds was reported incorrectly. The 2.6 pick from last year that was going from Battle Angels to Athena Nike was mistakenly reported as the 2.3 pick, which was subsequently traded to Fobsters in the three way. #mistake

What this meant was that the three way -- and all trades afterwards -- were faced with being overturned, and while many opinions and options were offered, ultimately it was up to the affected parties to work it out. Long story short: Fobsters demanded reparations for his move down from 2.3 to 2.6, threatening many laughable things, while Battle Angels (whose trade was legit, and would have stood) decided to be the bigger man and stay at 2.6 -- and take a 2017 RD2.10 from Jon as compensation.

While there was no admission of sole guilt by any party, especially Jon, despite him paying the iron price, we can assign a bit of fault here. So, let's go:

• ESPN: For not having the ability to set up a non-snaking keeper draft. Thus leading to the confusion.
• The commissioners: For not catching the mistakes until too late, and not informing the wider CTDB league about the ESPN non-snaking issue.
• Battle Angels: Forgetting about their 2016 trade that had a 2017 RD2 already gone, and then getting confused about the numbering due to ESPN's wacky ways.
• Dirty Birds: Not reporting the trade correctly, and not clarifying that the 2.3 should really have been a 2.6. And for creating chaos.
• Fobsters: For demanding a 2018 RD1 and Todd Gurley from Dirty Birds as compensation for moving down three slots...
• Athena Nike: Trying to find logic in an illogical (Trump)world. And for also demanding compensation for time wasted negotiating a three way trade that might be verified.
• Chunky Monkeys: For giving Jammers Antonio Brown and Julio Jones duo to go along with the rest of Lei's amazing roster. RIP 2017 title hopes for anyone else!
• Jimmy: For the poop he / his son left on my carpet. And for being a d!ck.

See you all at the draft!

Adding Roster Slots and FAAB

We haven’t had new rules since 2010, when we cut out carryovers for bye weeks and bonus points for long touchdowns. Plus we are adding a new rule that was shot down back then, Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB)! Oh wait, we also had 2011, where we added decimalization of scores and illegal lineups scoring zero points — plus an adjustment to waiver running days. Take a quick refresher of all the current rules if needed by going through the "rules" tag on the blog.

So this year we voted on three new rules, and they passed by simple majority:

1) Adding a mandatory TE position + 1 new bench spot (9/10 "yes" votes)
Welcome back the tight end to CTDB! We’ve been running WR/TE combos since the beginning but after 10+ years, we’re finally bring tight ends into the fold. NFL teams regularly have two TEs on the field now so we follow suit by requiring at least one. Note: This will come with an expansion of a new bench slot as well.

2) Adding a RB position + 1 new bench spot (7/10)
With the changing NFL roster dynamics, the days of the single running backs are (mostly) long behind us. Also, with a ten team league, requiring two RBs was seen as a necessary change. Note: This change will also come with a new bench spot.

3) Changing our Waiver system to a Free Agent Acquisition Budget (6/10)
We’ll detail out what days we run FAAB -- still figuring out that detail. The beginning FAAB budget is $100 and there can be no trading of FAAB budgets. However, an owner could trade for a player that someone else bids on for them, similar to acquiring a player using another owner's waiver wire spot. Here's some FAAB articles if you need an explainer:

• How to use ESPN's new FAAB feature (2010)
• Your League Needs to Change Your Waiver System ASAP (2016)
• The Ultimate Guide to Waiver Wire & FAAB Strategy (2016) 

So moving forward, we have new roster limits and starting lineup requirements:

New Roster Limits

• 10 active starters, 8 reserves, 1 IR slot
• Any player can be placed on the IR slot, but once there, they no longer allowed to be active for the rest of the season. The player in the IR slot can be released. (??)
• Five players may be designated as keepers each year

Starting Lineup 

1 QB
2 RB
3 WR/TE
1 TE
1 RB/WR/TE  (Flex)
1 K
1 Def

• Illegal rosters score zero points in standings
• Lineup deadline: Five minutes before gametime for each player

Rules not voted on but discussed:

• Making some sort of official outlawing of keeper slot manipulation
• Moving the WR/TE designation to simply WR for some of the WR/TE slots
• Expansion and/or reset

2017 Draft Order

1. Fobsters (3-10)
2. Gang Green (4-9)
3. Dirty Birds (5-8)
4. Athena Nike (6-7)
5. Philadelphia Phreaks (6-7)
6. Battle Angel (7-6)
7. Chunky Monkeys (7-6)
8. LA Buffy (8-5)
9. Tiiite End Jammers (10-3) *Runner Up
10. Fat Jubas (9-4) *Champion

Toilet Bowl Win: Dirty Birds
TB Loss: Fobsters

Tie-Breakers
1) Chunky Monkeys vs Battle Angel (7-6): H2H, Chunky Monkeys defeated Battle Angels 1-0, WK7