Draft Review: Marvel

Take a look at the draft recaps for two of our new teams, as well as the three old returning franchises, who are all at least two-time champs! [ Draft Board 2019 | Capcom draft review ]

LA Buffy (5-8)
The corpse of AJ Green returns to lead this team for his eighth straight season. He’ll be joined by Julian Edelman opposite him, but everyone on the core is new: James Conner, James, White, and Peyton Barber. With his RD1.3 pick, GM Roger eschewed all the rookies and took Devonta Freeman, who was a Phreak keeper the past three seasons. It could be a wise move for a team that has failed to reach 0.500 in two seasons.

As usual, Buffy was first to grab a defense, Bears, using one of their RD4 picks — acquired during last year’s fantastic Conner trade. OJ Howard will start at tight end, Christian Kirk could hit himself to Kyler Murray’s ascending star, and Buffy even has Matt Ryan and Drew Brees on hand to pilot this team back to the playoffs. It’s time for this three time title winner to return to the postseason!

City of Angels Masterminds (6-7)
What a classy name! “City of Angels!” The dispersal draft handed Marcus top pick Ezekiel Elliot and also gave the Masterminds the tremendous duo of Odell Beckham Jr. and TY Hilton. Andrew Luck’s retirement puts Hilton’s status as a top receiver on shakier ground but he shouldn’t fall off too far. The big question is if Todd Gurley is still anywhere close to his old self. The last piece from Marcus' dispersal draft, Cam Newton, will have to fend off Aaron Rodgers (RD3.5) if he falters. Having two great quarterbacks is not a bad problem to have however.

Philip Lindsay was nabbed with RD1.5, and then joined by Mike Williams, who is still awaiting an injury free season to display his full skills. We like the double TE duo of David Njoku and Eric Ebron too. A new franchise has no luxury to overlook character issues, so Kareem Hunt was taken near the end of the draft, and he could pay dividends. Still running deep routes, DeSean Jackson could still be a steal in RD12. We’re not sure why there are two kickers on this team — especially when one of them is the robotic Justin Tucker — but GM Marcus knows what he's doing so who are we to quibble? Taking over from the historically lowest winning team in CTDB, the Masterminds have nowhere to go but up in their journey to a title!

Tiiite End Jammers (7-6)
A team in turmoil, Jammers have been stellar the past three seasons — recording the highest win total in CTDB just three years ago, along with a Finals appearance — but the offseason have been rough. It was LeVeon Bell last year and Antonio Brown this year. With Brown now safely ensconced in Patriot land, there’s a chance he will have a historic year. At least his fellow superstar wideout Julio Jones signed a contract without drama.

Despite possibly needing to shore up the backfield — Jammers’ other keeper running backs were Sony Michel and Kerryon Johnson — GM Lei with with two Tylers for his RD1 and 2 selections, Lockett and Boyd. It wasn’t until LeSean McCoy in RD3 and then Adrian Peterson in RD11 that backups were brought in for his three keeper runners. Jameis Winston will get a start or two before the Kyler Murray train takes over, and Vance McDonald will find out if he’s better than Jimmy Graham. The Jammers are clearly still veteran focused and aiming for a return to proper contention.

Chunky Monkeys (9-4)
After winning the Toilet Bowl a year ago and selecting Saquon Barkley, the vaunted Chunky franchise returned to prominence after an awful 2017 that saw them record only for wins — their worst season ever. An upset by eventual champion Athena Nike wasn’t ideal (even if it was on-brand for Monkeys to gather the most regular season wins and then get tossed early) but it doesn’t matter, the Monkeys were back! It’s been six long years since the Monkeys have won a title and this three-time winner is looking to reassert itself atop the CTDB mountain.

Alongside Barkley, Evan will have Mark Ingram and Damien Williams in the backfield, plus Duke Johnson. Lead receiver Tyreek Hill just got injured in WK1, which makes Stefon Diggs the assumed number one. Unfortunately for Monkeys, I don’t know who RD1.8 pick Chris Godwin is but he’ll have to start playing right away, as well as someone from the Curtis Samuel, Tyrell Williams, and John Brown trio. For a team that paced CTDB in wins last season, this roster seems devoid of stars beyond Saquon. At least Tom Brady is here! Can the greatest ever lead CTDB’s presumptive greatest ever back to the title game? Or are the Monkeys merely back to swimming in mediocrity?

Josh Josh (7-6)
In real life, it’s rare for a returning champ to abdicate the throne but that’s exactly what 2018 champ Athena Nike did. The gaping void left by them will be filled by the still unnamed Josh Josh’s. Perhaps new owner Josh is afraid to curse his team with a bad name until he sees how they perform? The running game should be in good shape at least, with sophomore Nick Chubb, third year man Joe Mixon, and the likely return to form of Leonard Fournette. Having one of the best revivers in the game, if not the best, in DeAndre Hopkins will amp up the Lamar Jackson-led passing game.

GM Josh wisely went almost all receiver for his draft, adding to keepers Hopkins and Robert Woods with the following: Cooper Kupp, TE Evan Engram, Jarvis Landry, Sammy Watkins, Marvin Jones, Geronimo Allison, Courtland Sutton, and TE Mark Andrews. Based on WK1 results, that already looks like enough of a haul to bring the Josh Josh’s into position to challenge for their own title this season. I mean, Lamar Jackson…!!! We advise Josh to sit out the naming game until they can erect the statue of Lamar and let him pick the name.