One of the most exciting times of the year is back for sports fans as the NFL season has just started and the NBA season is just on the horizon. This semester, the sports writers at The Cascade decided to draft a fantasy football team and document it as the NFL season plays out.
The strategy for our fantasy draft was to get a balanced team that could score points, but not be reliant on too many positions. To us, securing strong and consistent receivers and tight ends was key.
Starting off our picks this year, we were greeted with the ninth pick out of ten, which disappointed us at first but turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the ninth pick gets the second pick of every second round. That gave us the opportunity to take almost back-to-back picks. For The Cascade’s first pick, we selected Kansas City’s premier tight end Travis Kelce. Kelce has been the best tight end in the league for a few years, so he was a no-brainer for us in the first round.
For our second round pick The Cascade chose another consistent player in superstar wide receiver Davante Adams. Adams has had a spectacular career playing for the Green Bay Packers, but this season he has joined the Las Vegas Raiders. With the new scenery should come a lot of opportunities for Adams to thrive.
For our secondary receiver position we chose Jaylen Waddle. He’s joined on the Miami Dolphins by generational talent, Tyreek Hill, and young quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, which we hope will set Waddle up for a solid season.
With a strong foundation for our receiving core selected, our attention turned to the back field and the second year running back, Javonte Williams, from the Denver Broncos. Williams is a power back who gets utilized in the pass game often, and with Russell Wilson at the helm this year, Williams is set for a big season.
Last season changed the landscape of fantasy football. Typically, running backs are the most valuable and are usually drafted first, but this past season we saw the wide receiver position possibly surpass running backs as some teams were starting to use wide receivers in more creative ways. We selected Cordarrelle Patterson, who currently plays running back for the Atlanta Falcons and is utilized heavily in their offense as both a receiver and a running back. This brings extra value in the fantasy football world.
Happy with our picks, we felt comfortable enough taking the best remaining quarterback in the fourth round, Justin Herbert. Herbert, the 2020 offensive rookie of the year, has been nothing short of amazing in his short time with the Los Angeles Chargers, and with all the weapons the Chargers have, he has helped usher in a new era in Los Angeles. With their fortified defense, Herbert and the Chargers will be tough to beat.
Entering the seventh round, our roster was shaping up and we decided to select a defence and kicker at this point. Unfortunately, our first choice at the kicker position, Younghoe Koo, was selected in the round prior, so we decided on veteran kicker, Ryan Succop, for his reliability.
The final piece to the fantasy puzzle was the defence and there was only one team that we wanted: the Chargers. This offseason the Chargers added Pro Bowl cornerback, J.C. Jackson, and 2017 defensive player of the year, Khalil Mack, to an already impressive defence that makes the Chargers defence one of the most talented in the league.
Some players we drafted as backups and for our flex positions were James Robinson, Brandin Cooks, and Micheal Carter. All three of these players showed immense potential last season and should have lots of opportunities this season to score a lot of points for our team. Lots of injuries happen in football, so it’s important for a good fantasy football manager to keep an eye on players and positions that are injury prone as the season plays out.
After the draft was completed we took a step back and were happy with how our team looked. We couldn’t have been happier with our team’s week one performance where we took a commanding win and scored an impressive 185.46 fantasy points. Keep an eye out on upcoming issues, where the fantasy football team will return.
Esher is a second year law & communications student who is invested in sports. When he isn't filming and writing about basketball, he can often be found washing cars or cutting the grass. Esher hopes to one day enter the field of law enforcement and start his own media group.
