#8 Peyton (8-6) $172
2021 In A Nutshell: This is the part of the article where some nice things can be said. Peyton started last season with the lowest draft grade of C-, a 11% chance of making the playoffs, and like the 2nd lowest amount of starting cash and he turned that into a fantastic season that he should be proud of. Give the 6 previous teams these circumstances, and I bet the majority would be happy to finish with 5 wins, let alone 8.
Players / 2022 Keeper Price:
Stafford $10
Elliott $140
Carter $18
Landry $10
Di. Johnson $22
Kittle $62
Swift $28
Boswell $10 (FA)
Rams D/ST $6
Garoppolo $10 (FA)
Dar. Williams $8
Pollard $12
Thielen $34
Lazard $2
Toney $2
Giants D/ST $10 (FA)
Guyton $10 (FA)
Investment options:
Toney $2
Pollard $12
Buy it now options:
Stafford $10
Swift $28
Toney. The one that got away from Brian. Looking back on the season, I’m getting shades of Swift level love of Toney. The fact he wasn’t shipped to Brian for what I could only assume would be an extortion level price, still blows my mind. Peyton has some fun possibilities here. Some real team definers. If I had to choose, July 20th. I would say it’s another year of Swift. Peyton is fetching around a $12 discount on him.
Questionable from Week 1-16:
Swift $28
#7 Cal (8-6) $150
2021 In A Nutshell: Aside from being unceremoniously destroyed in the first round(116.84-58.46), Cal put together a pretty interesting team. He was able to pull off the 5 guys only approach that Brian couldn’t. Eventually flipping those pieces into a win-now move that got him a first round exit and a worse finish behind Christian, who was blatantly selling off his team in the final weeks of the season.
Players / 2022 Keeper Price:
Brady $14
Ekeler $106
N. Harris $98
Lamb $72
M. Williams $18
Ertz $4
A. Brown $20
Joseph $10 (FA)
Bills D/ST $4
Watson $2
Hunt $54
Der. Johnson $10 (FA)
D. Jackson $2
Patrick $10 (FA)
Bourne $10 (FA)
Palmer $2
Investment options:
Watson $2
Watson’s 20 settlements $40,000,000
Buy it now options:
Brady $14
M. Williams $18
Cal held Watson all year on his bench, for this opportunity right here. Imagine if he realized that he could have dropped him September 6th and still picked him up December 28th – could he have been able to finish better than 7th? Probably not. But I honestly can see Cal keeping Watson for $2, just to prove us all wrong in 2023.
QB6 in 2023:
Watson $2
#6 Christian (7-7) $250
2021 In A Nutshell: A lesson to anyone who dabbles with selling the farm off. GET A KEEPER WORTHY PLAYER IN RETURN. How teams fail to capture this point is beyond me. However, Christian nailed this. Like last year, he gathered a fine crop of potential keepers through FA. This year, while still competing, he was able to sell off the right pieces and get back… another Bengal.
Players / 2022 Keeper Price:
Prescott $32
Gordon $18
J. Jackson $2
Higgins $4
V. Jefferson $10 (FA)
Everett $10 (FA)
Peoples-Jones $10 (FA)
Gould $10 (FA)
Patriots D/ST $4
Jon. Williams $10 (FA)
McKissic $6
Lindsay $14
Gibson $100
Ingram $4
Ma. Jones $8
Seahawks D/ST $2
Ridley $80
Investment options:
Higgins $4
Buy it now options:
N/A
Unlike his bro, Christian has not dropped his entire team, even though his keeper decision is painfully obvious. Higgins' shine is a little dampened by the rise of Chase. But at the end of the day, he’s still going to net WR2 or better value. I see Higgins and Chase as bizarro-Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. With the Bengal counterparts being the younger, hotter, better versions than the original cast of Chargers.
10+ TDs, 1,000 yards and traded by year’s end:
Higgins $4
#5 Jadon (7-7) $208
2021 In A Nutshell: Quietly, one of the better teams last year, Jadon set the record for most WR points scored in a season with 608. No other team has crossed that 600 point threshold. There is definitely a story Jadon can tell himself that if he got another RB not named Carson, and a QB not named Tannehill, he could have made a very deep run. I really believe with those two players swapped out, Jadon could have gone the distance.
Players / 2022 Keeper Price:
Tannehill $22
Jam. Williams $24
Kamara $138
Jefferson $12
Knox $10 (FA)
Dallas $10 (FA)
Bass $6
Dolphins D/ST $10 (FA)
Carr $10 (FA)
Bolden $10 (FA)
Collins $10 (FA)
Evans $62
T. Smith $4
Harry $10 (FA)
Steelers D/ST $8
Investment options:
Jefferson $12
Buy it now options:
Knox $10
I kept it short last year, and I’ll keep it shorter this year. Jefferson is the choice from now until 2024.
Jadon’s first NFL jersey:
Jefferson $12
#4 Zach (7-7) $170
2021 In A Nutshell: It’s hard not to be proud of this team. I definitely feel like I cashed in on a lot of draft day steals for this year. Nailing a WR corps like I did from scratch to be neck-and-neck with Jadon all year, who hit historic highs is a great feeling. All-in-all one of my favorite seasons that led to my 7th Top 5 finish. Basically, what we’ve all grown groan to expect.
Players / 2022 Keeper Price:
Herbert $20
Jacobs $72
Mixon $84
K. Allen $58
Kupp $46
Goedert $6
Jav. Williams $40
Gay $2
Saints D/ST $10 (FA)
T. Huntley $10 (FA)
Foreman $10 (FA)
Thomas $18
Da. Williams $4
Renfrow $10 (FA)
Kmet $2
S. Perine $4
M. Boone $10 (FA)
Investment options:
Kmet $2
Goedert $6
Buy it now options:
Herbert $20
Kupp $46
Williams $40
TBH, the Buy It Now options here are reasonable, but my aggression has got me in another pickle where if I were to opt for the $40 boys, I’d be tasked to build out a playoff team with only $130 dollars. Not the least amount ever, not impossible, but an extra challenge that might force more risks instead of safer bets. I think it’s easy to say this ship is going to be led one more time by the Herb.
Drops 40+ points after I already won by 20:
Herbert $20
#3 Kaden (8-6) $183
2021 In A Nutshell: Losing a keeper before day one is definitely a bummer, but gaining the year’s sleeper RB immediately after in Mitchell was the fantasy gods verison of a fair trade. Kaden owned multiple weeks during the season as the team to beat, being effectively carried by Taylor all year. He was even able to make some money back. An “A-” season that had the right investments in the right places that has got to make Kaden feel a little sour that it didn’t turn into a Finals appearance.
Players / 2022 Keeper Price:
Hurts $14
Mitchell $10 (FA)
Taylor $104
McLaurin $62
Adams $104
Friermuth $2
Boyd $14
Butker $6
Colts D/ST $2
Z. Wilson $4
J. Wilson $10 (FA)
Mattison $16
Hubbard $4
Callaway $14
D. Harris $10 (FA)
Chargers D/ST $10 (FA)
J. Cook $2
Investment options:
Z. Wilson $4
Friermuth $2
Mitchell $10
Buy it now options:
Hurts $14
I’m going to make a case here that the choice here isn’t so obvious and easy. I think Hurts stands as a very viable option. Kaden would get about a $6 dollar saving from this choice compared to his Sleeper price. Mitchell is the bigger deal, but there isn’t a world where Mitchell has a better season than what he had last year.
17 Weeks of realizing how bad Hurts is at winning NFL games:
Hurts $14
#2 Mitch (8-6) r-$199
2021 In A Nutshell: Mitch and Jesse have been sapped of at least 6 months of their life because of that championship game. On Mitch’s side of the equation, it was a loss that either would drive you to drink for the rest of your life or force an early retirement. For the past few years, Mitch has been in the Cody/Brandon tier of suck. Let it be known that even Brandon and Cody went to the finals. The pressure is on this year to prove the NUT Report wrong.
Players / 2022 Keeper Price:
Rodgers $12
D. Cook $148
D. Harris $46
Waddle $16
Aiyuk $30
Andrews $40
Valdes-Scantling $2
Tucker $6
Packers D/ST $8
Fields $4
Gore $10 (FA)
Herbert $10 (FA)
D. Moore $32
Meyers $4
T. Johnson $10 (FA)
Eagles D/ST $10 (FA)
Etienne $10 (FA)
Investment options:
Fields $4
Etienne $10 (FA)
Buy it now options:
Waddle $16
Rodgers $12
Rodgers can’t be the pick here. No way. No fucking way. According to Sleeper he’s not even a Buy It Now steal, he’s $4 over his projected Sleeper price. I also can’t believe the NFL gave him the MVP last year to just get booted in the first playoff game. So yeah, Rodgers can’t be the pick here… and yet, I just can’t help but think that Mitch is going to keep the MVP cheesehead. Etienne and Waddle are very, very intriguing options in this spot. I hope to see one of those two names called in early-September. But at this moment, I don’t see it happening.
The douchiest three-in-a-row MVP:
Rodgers $12
#1 Jesse (8-6) $198
2021 In A Nutshell: Your 2021 DVFFL Champion… No thanks to Henry and all thanks to $9 phenom, DEEBOOOOO (JK). Jesse crushed the draft with forgotten, passed over bets that could easily be carried by the dynamic Allen/Henry combo. It’s been two years of Finals appearances using that duo. I have my doubts that it can work three times in a row. But Jesse has a good amount of cash to make some big money bets.
Players / 2022 Keeper Price:
J. Allen $8
Vaughn $10 (FA)
Hines $16
H. Brown $10
D. Samuel $18
Gronkowski $8
Kelce $98
Succup $2
Buccaneers D/ST $6
Tagovailoa $2
Fournette $18
McNichols $2
J. Patterson $2
Juszcyk $10 (FA)
Beasely $4
Parker $6
Henry $144
Investment options:
J. Allen $8
Tua $2
Buy it now options:
H. Brown $10
D. Samuel $18
Fournette $18
There is only one name on this list that Jesse is keeping. However, I will use the rest of this space to antiagnize any other team who has a shit keeper situation to at least price check the three Buy It Now options here. Each one of these players represent MASSIVE deals based off their projected Sleeper price. Especially if you’re a team that is north of $200, and made deals to receive nothing valuable in return (Brandon).
Fantasy God:
Allen $8
Disclaimers:
*The total cash number represents the total amount of cash BEFORE keeper selections have been made.
**The price you see next to each player is the real price to keep them. You don’t need to double that number.
***All keepers must be decided on the day BEFORE the draft. Draft is currently scheduled for Saturday, Sept 3rd.