Experiencing the Denver SFB14 Live Draft

We’ve recently completed the virtual portion of a Scott Fish Bowl draft we began live in Denver a week ago. This makes it a good time to reflect on the week.

Anytime my professional self concludes a worship, I ask participants to finish three statements: I like, I wish, I wonder. This is not only important feedback for me but also a means for everyone to pause and think about the totality of the experience. I’m going to take that approach here.

I like that I …

Drafted live. I’m treating my invitation to SFB14 as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I wanted the full experience. So I drove up to Denver where three divisions were drafting. There simply is no substitute for drafting live. I was warmly and eagerly welcomed. I met so many awesome people. I got to meet Scott Fish himself and his son Iain, the single best source of fantasy info in the building. What an experience! 

Stayed flexible and let the draft come to me. I entered the day with several roster build strategies in mind that I was willing to use, but I was also willing to use none of them. And I used none of them. While I would say my first nine or so selections were fairly “unsexy,” I think it’s a solid build for the scoring system.

Got to draft Travis Kelce for the first time ever. I’ve never had him on one of my teams as I’ve been unwilling to pay a first-round price for him and he’s gone by the time I’m on the clock in the second round. Here, he fell to me at 2.08 – the 20^th selection – and the scoring premium makes an elite TE worth a high pick. Welcome, Travis, to my team. At least now when you’re shredding my other teams for my opponents, you’ll be helping me here.

Used a draft board. I’ve never relied on draft sites’ ADP or player rankings, but I’ve only just this season developed my own resource for each slow draft. I started with scoring projections using Mike Clay’s numbers and Scott’s scoring system to develop an initial ranking. Over the month leading up to last week’s draft, I reshaped and re-tiered players following mock drafts and the team builds that arose from them. Then I refined my rankings into tiers and put them in a rough order, clumped by position. Then, being the 50-something that I am, printed them out, put them in sheet protectors and wrote on them with a Sharpie pen as the draft unfolded. It made my decisions easier – maybe not better, but easier.

Paid attention to certain bye weeks. The Scott Fish Bowl playoffs begin with Week 12. Six NFL teams have byes that week, and six more are idle for Week 14. I marked my draft board with a “12” or “14” to denote those players. If several players on my same tier were available, I chose the ones who aren’t on bye during the playoffs. So only three of my 22 drafted players are on bye during the SFB playoffs. If I can qualify for them, I’ll be at nearly full strength.

Took chances on alleged kick returners. Five of my selections are, at this moment, projected to be their team’s primary kickoff returner: WR Marvin Mims (10.05), WR KaVontae Turpin (14.05), WR Velus Jones (15.08), WR Braxton Berrios (16.05) and RB Cordarrelle Patterson (19.08). With the NFL’s new kickoff rules encouraging more returns and the premium Scott has placed on returns, these all could be potential league-winners who I would never otherwise consider drafting.

Brought a donation to the live auction. I’ve had a commemorative Super Bowl football signed by Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith for years. It now has a loving home with Dave Kluge, and Fantasy Cares was the beneficiary. Win-win-win.

I wish that I had …

Taken more pictures. And been in more pictures. And videos. I had one taken of me putting my first selection on the board, but my phone otherwise stayed in my pocket. I’ve been able to find a couple of photos online that I was a part of. I should have been more selfie-aware, which is not an instinct that fifty-somethings possess.

Drafted Rashid Shaheed at 8.05. In hindsight, Shaheed was never going to be on the board when my next pick (9.08) came around. Baker Mayfield, who I drafted instead, probably would have been available then. Shaheed and Khalil Shakir have been the two names most mentioned as providing value both as receivers and kick returners. I also missed out on Shakir, who I could have selected at 9.08. I was hoping he’d still be there at 10.05, but he was selected at 10.02.

I wonder if I …

Will be competitive against the industry pros. This will be the first time I’ve competed in a league with someone who lives, breathes and gets paid for fantasy football. But not just one. Seven: Ian Hutchinson (Underdog Fantasy), Dave Kluge and Jagger May (Footballguys), Josh Larky (4for4, PlayerProfiler), Alex McQuirter (Dynasty Football Key), Queen Roxanne (Club Fantasy FFL) and Ryan Wormeli (FantasyPros).

Will stay in touch with the people I met. They’re awesome people. I like awesome people, especially when I have something in common with awesome people. We were a chatty bunch in Denver, so I hope we will continue the conversations through the upcoming season. And maybe even in person somewhere.

Will get to do this again.  I cannot express how over the moon I was when I opened my golden ticket in April. I am thrilled, honored, humbled and elated to be included in this incredible fantasy football event and to help out Fantasy Cares. Even if this is truly once in a lifetime, I will enjoy every moment and always know that I got an opportunity to be part of the Scott Fish Bowl.