Have a conundrum for one of my drafts. Iām picking 2nd and the guy whoās going first is for sure picking up Bruno. With the KDB injury update today, Iām not as confident as I was a few days ago in drafting him at #2. Who would you draft as an alternative at #2 or would you stick to KDB regardless of him possibly missing the first few GWs?
Looking forward to your thoughts. Amazing work as always.
KDB is a top 2 pick. he finished 9th in total points last year and barely played a 1/2 season of minutes. if heās hurt for 2 months heās still going to score top 5-6 overall points and do it at 15+ points per game.
Hey Gaffer, all the talk is around Grealish to City today but I think the bigger news (unconfirmed) would b Lukaku to Chelsea. Stock up: wingbacks mainly Chilwell & James, also Havertz & Mount. Stock way down: Werner. When Lukaku is added to the game is going to b huge whether itās pre draft or post draft. I have to believe some of these assets start moving up the board as City assets move down. Tuschel rotated a ton just like Pep but I feel like he settled in to his top 11 more during the run in. So my long winded rant ends in the question. Will u have any time to update OFPL ranks 1 more time with all this craziness going on? Please??!! Hahahahaha
Hi David, the OFPL ranks generally do not get updated as there isnāt much call for it. Lukaku in makes him a too 10 player overall and drops Werner considerably but not as far in OFPL as other formats because there are fewer good forwards He is still a FWD2 for me in 10-team leagues
Fair enough. Would u b able to give me maybe top 15 forwards after all the shake up? Just so I could rearrange my board before Thursdayās draft? If Lukaku isnāt in yet weāre using a āplaceholderā so he is included n it doesnāt go right to waivers after game week 1. Either way, Thx for answering all the question!
Auba's problems are Auba and his age, not really the team around him. If he moves to City would he score 20 goals? Sure, as a collective that team creates more. But upgrading Xhaka to Maddison, getting 2x the starts out of Partey and hoping Saka and Smith Rowe both take another step forward isn't the kind of shift that suddenly hands PEA or anyone else 30% more opportunities. It's going to hand him maybe 30 more opportunities, period. He needs to be a part of the solution, not just the beneficiary and being 39th percentile for Forwards in xA is fucking awful.
Maddison going to Arsenal is basically a perfect place for him as he'd fill an obvious need for the club and he wouldn't be competing for minutes with a couple of similar players like he current has at Leicester. I would have vastly preferred he move before the season starts because we could be looking at two 30' sub appearances for the Foxes, a move on deadline day and a couple weeks (or worse, months) of integration in the side. And that's all before Arteta gets sacked....By the way, Maddison is the best option Leicester have in that role, just not the only one and Rodgers has been willing to rotate - I still love Madders for his Per Start points and upside.
Morning gaffer, could u give us a few thoughts on how the key Everton players will b affected in terms of draft ranks with the news that James Rodriguez is being shopped & the uncertainty around Gylfi? Iām assuming this is why Townshend was brought in but heās surely not to their level. Attacking players take a hit? Raffa being defensive? Thx
The news from The Echo (I think they had it first) on James was really disappointing given that James/Rafa put together a very good season by James standards for Real Madrid. I'm not ranking Sigurdsson this year. Full stop.
Townsend is quite good but needs a role to suit him. If Rafa brought him in to be the fulcrum in midfield, I'm underwhelmed, but if he's in to filter the play through to the forwards then he could have a solid fantasy season. This team needs some significant overhaul to be anything approaching good and the injury and age concerns around a number of their players are significant. A hard-fought 8th place and a lot of dour matches would absolutely sink DCL and Richarlison's value but James out wouldn't help anything.
Not at all. the smaller the league the more likely i am to try and get tier 1 players in the D/M/F ranks and in that Format TAA may be a top 10 player in total points; may be an order of magnitude better than the next best DEF. Because Rosters require only 30 MID and 18 FWD to be drafted youāll always have plenty of chances to fill depth later.
I really donāt think Kane is leaving Spurs tbh, but if he does arrive Jesus is very much impacted from becoming a 30 start player, but heās never been that for City. in fact thr only reason to consider signing a player like Kane is if you donāt trust Jesus physicality because on-field production from Jesus on a per 90ā basis is already as good or nearly as good a large what Kane brings. And Jesus is 4+ years younger. Anyway, Jesus is valued as he always is: 20 starts, 10-12 goals, four of which you wonāt earn the points from because he scores as a substitute. Massive upside for the year he takes the next step forward.
Hope your first draft went well! Just finished my draft for one of my leagues this year and looking to see your thoughts on the team so far. I did not pick a keeper yet and will pick one as we get closer to the start of the league year.
well i already love the draft since you ignored GK! Thatās the best FWD line iāve seen this summer. Assuming you went Mount - Sterling - Werner - Buendia in RD1-4?
Curious what size league it is but this is a stacked team in 10+ size leagues and would be very competitive in an 8-team league.
Reguilon is a tricky one to judge and SaĆÆss may have to fight for minutes but i think you have plenty of depth there. just be willing to stream DEF in order to hold Raschica and Trossard if they get off to a slow start.
Yesss, agreed on the keeper point! I went Mount - Buendia - Sterling - Werner in RD 1-4 actually. Itās a 10 team league but we have our custom scoring system that gives values actions like big chances created, big chances missed etc. which skewed the scoring away from the likes of Werner last year. Iām still heartbroken neither Grealish or Maddison fell to me, Iāve had one or both every year since theyāve been in the league.
Agreed, will most definitely need to constantly stream defenders. Will be coming to your articles for advice on that . :)
Iāll also probably be looking to run a 352 or 343 most of the year since the team is pretty heavy on the midfield and forward departments.
Hey John. I'm drafting 10/10 this year. I'm struggling to convince myself of taking my MID/FWD 1 along with TAA (presuming hes available).
How do I reconcile TAA's quality and value with the value at DEF in later rounds I could maybe get if I pass on him and grab two of Mount/Son/Sterling/Raphina/Maddison/Buendia (who I am so tempted to just reach for because I want him in my squad no matter what).
I love drafting in last position and being able to grab back to back players, but planning this year is proving tricky. Thanks for the help!
Iād be perfectly happy passing on Trent and grabbing two attacking players youāre happy with, especially in a 10-team league. whatās the worst case scenario there? that you grab Ricardo Pereira or Lucas Digne somewhere between RD3-5? That you take a modest gamble and pick up Doherty in RD6-8? I mean if you get spooked you can always fall back on a solid CB like Vvd or Maguire in the 3/4 turn because thereās no chance theyāre both gone. and if they are? honestly Iād punt DEF further and grab two more attackers since there will be plenty of top-end talent left if that many DEF are going in the first 29 picks. I mean landing Lamptey / Firpo / Ayling can net you 30 ppw when theyāre all starting and you donāt have to take any of them before RD9 in a 10-team draft.
Hey Gaffer, will u b doing anymore OFPL 8 team mocks or are u all Fantrax at this point? I tried a few online but itās a waste of time between auto drafters n flat out horrible picks.
This is the first request I've gotten to do another one, but I'm happy to set one up for later this week. Today is already booked with writing a couple things for the Stacks plus some other fun stuff I can't discuss yet but might publish as early as next week....
well i have KDB at 1-1 in my ranks for Draft purposes but i think KDB falls down below Bruno for OFPL purposes because of the greater chance for Bruno to contribute goals (w/o penalty duty for Bruno its KDB by a good distance)
There will have to be some impact on minutes because he's going to earn more than the 559' which Aguero played last season. The assumption seems to be Kane and Grealish arrive and no one leaves; color me skeptical on that. But Bernardo Silva and Fernan Torres seem the worst positioned if Grealish arrives and he's just fine there. Maybe you knock him back from the start of the 1st to the start of the 2nd? I mean, that is some serious knitpicking becuase if you want him, you're going to have to take him in RD1 or roll the dice.
Moving doesn't impact him per match potential, it does impact his every match status. He's Mahrez 2.0 and that still means a top 20 player for the season and a top 10 player potential any week he starts.
Hello John,
Have a conundrum for one of my drafts. Iām picking 2nd and the guy whoās going first is for sure picking up Bruno. With the KDB injury update today, Iām not as confident as I was a few days ago in drafting him at #2. Who would you draft as an alternative at #2 or would you stick to KDB regardless of him possibly missing the first few GWs?
Looking forward to your thoughts. Amazing work as always.
KDB is a top 2 pick. he finished 9th in total points last year and barely played a 1/2 season of minutes. if heās hurt for 2 months heās still going to score top 5-6 overall points and do it at 15+ points per game.
Also Leon Bailey is gonna b fun once heās settled into that Villa squad!!!
yeah he is. finally got to draft him in a league today and Iām very happy with that!
Hey Gaffer, all the talk is around Grealish to City today but I think the bigger news (unconfirmed) would b Lukaku to Chelsea. Stock up: wingbacks mainly Chilwell & James, also Havertz & Mount. Stock way down: Werner. When Lukaku is added to the game is going to b huge whether itās pre draft or post draft. I have to believe some of these assets start moving up the board as City assets move down. Tuschel rotated a ton just like Pep but I feel like he settled in to his top 11 more during the run in. So my long winded rant ends in the question. Will u have any time to update OFPL ranks 1 more time with all this craziness going on? Please??!! Hahahahaha
Hi David, the OFPL ranks generally do not get updated as there isnāt much call for it. Lukaku in makes him a too 10 player overall and drops Werner considerably but not as far in OFPL as other formats because there are fewer good forwards He is still a FWD2 for me in 10-team leagues
Fair enough. Would u b able to give me maybe top 15 forwards after all the shake up? Just so I could rearrange my board before Thursdayās draft? If Lukaku isnāt in yet weāre using a āplaceholderā so he is included n it doesnāt go right to waivers after game week 1. Either way, Thx for answering all the question!
What happens to Maddison if he makes a move to the Gunners? How does this effect Auba and other Arsenal assets that might get an attacking boost?
Auba's problems are Auba and his age, not really the team around him. If he moves to City would he score 20 goals? Sure, as a collective that team creates more. But upgrading Xhaka to Maddison, getting 2x the starts out of Partey and hoping Saka and Smith Rowe both take another step forward isn't the kind of shift that suddenly hands PEA or anyone else 30% more opportunities. It's going to hand him maybe 30 more opportunities, period. He needs to be a part of the solution, not just the beneficiary and being 39th percentile for Forwards in xA is fucking awful.
Thanks! Makes sense re: Auba. How about Maddison himself - does his value stay about the same?
Maddison going to Arsenal is basically a perfect place for him as he'd fill an obvious need for the club and he wouldn't be competing for minutes with a couple of similar players like he current has at Leicester. I would have vastly preferred he move before the season starts because we could be looking at two 30' sub appearances for the Foxes, a move on deadline day and a couple weeks (or worse, months) of integration in the side. And that's all before Arteta gets sacked....By the way, Maddison is the best option Leicester have in that role, just not the only one and Rodgers has been willing to rotate - I still love Madders for his Per Start points and upside.
Morning gaffer, could u give us a few thoughts on how the key Everton players will b affected in terms of draft ranks with the news that James Rodriguez is being shopped & the uncertainty around Gylfi? Iām assuming this is why Townshend was brought in but heās surely not to their level. Attacking players take a hit? Raffa being defensive? Thx
The news from The Echo (I think they had it first) on James was really disappointing given that James/Rafa put together a very good season by James standards for Real Madrid. I'm not ranking Sigurdsson this year. Full stop.
Townsend is quite good but needs a role to suit him. If Rafa brought him in to be the fulcrum in midfield, I'm underwhelmed, but if he's in to filter the play through to the forwards then he could have a solid fantasy season. This team needs some significant overhaul to be anything approaching good and the injury and age concerns around a number of their players are significant. A hard-fought 8th place and a lot of dour matches would absolutely sink DCL and Richarlison's value but James out wouldn't help anything.
Is it overreach to pick TAA in 6 man OFPL league with 9th pick in 2nd round?
Not at all. the smaller the league the more likely i am to try and get tier 1 players in the D/M/F ranks and in that Format TAA may be a top 10 player in total points; may be an order of magnitude better than the next best DEF. Because Rosters require only 30 MID and 18 FWD to be drafted youāll always have plenty of chances to fill depth later.
Hi John,
Was wondering, how do you rate Jesus in fantrax scoring now that the news of Kane, Grealish landing in City has increased manifold.
Thanks!
I really donāt think Kane is leaving Spurs tbh, but if he does arrive Jesus is very much impacted from becoming a 30 start player, but heās never been that for City. in fact thr only reason to consider signing a player like Kane is if you donāt trust Jesus physicality because on-field production from Jesus on a per 90ā basis is already as good or nearly as good a large what Kane brings. And Jesus is 4+ years younger. Anyway, Jesus is valued as he always is: 20 starts, 10-12 goals, four of which you wonāt earn the points from because he scores as a substitute. Massive upside for the year he takes the next step forward.
Hello John,
Hope your first draft went well! Just finished my draft for one of my leagues this year and looking to see your thoughts on the team so far. I did not pick a keeper yet and will pick one as we get closer to the start of the league year.
D: Cash, Saiss, Tarkowski, Reguilon, Walker
M: Buendia, Mount, Rice, James, Trossard, Rashica, Partey
F: Werner, Toney, Sterling, Maupay
well i already love the draft since you ignored GK! Thatās the best FWD line iāve seen this summer. Assuming you went Mount - Sterling - Werner - Buendia in RD1-4?
Curious what size league it is but this is a stacked team in 10+ size leagues and would be very competitive in an 8-team league.
Reguilon is a tricky one to judge and SaĆÆss may have to fight for minutes but i think you have plenty of depth there. just be willing to stream DEF in order to hold Raschica and Trossard if they get off to a slow start.
Yesss, agreed on the keeper point! I went Mount - Buendia - Sterling - Werner in RD 1-4 actually. Itās a 10 team league but we have our custom scoring system that gives values actions like big chances created, big chances missed etc. which skewed the scoring away from the likes of Werner last year. Iām still heartbroken neither Grealish or Maddison fell to me, Iāve had one or both every year since theyāve been in the league.
Agreed, will most definitely need to constantly stream defenders. Will be coming to your articles for advice on that . :)
Iāll also probably be looking to run a 352 or 343 most of the year since the team is pretty heavy on the midfield and forward departments.
Hey John. I'm drafting 10/10 this year. I'm struggling to convince myself of taking my MID/FWD 1 along with TAA (presuming hes available).
How do I reconcile TAA's quality and value with the value at DEF in later rounds I could maybe get if I pass on him and grab two of Mount/Son/Sterling/Raphina/Maddison/Buendia (who I am so tempted to just reach for because I want him in my squad no matter what).
I love drafting in last position and being able to grab back to back players, but planning this year is proving tricky. Thanks for the help!
Iād be perfectly happy passing on Trent and grabbing two attacking players youāre happy with, especially in a 10-team league. whatās the worst case scenario there? that you grab Ricardo Pereira or Lucas Digne somewhere between RD3-5? That you take a modest gamble and pick up Doherty in RD6-8? I mean if you get spooked you can always fall back on a solid CB like Vvd or Maguire in the 3/4 turn because thereās no chance theyāre both gone. and if they are? honestly Iād punt DEF further and grab two more attackers since there will be plenty of top-end talent left if that many DEF are going in the first 29 picks. I mean landing Lamptey / Firpo / Ayling can net you 30 ppw when theyāre all starting and you donāt have to take any of them before RD9 in a 10-team draft.
Great points, all out attack it is!
Hey Gaffer, will u b doing anymore OFPL 8 team mocks or are u all Fantrax at this point? I tried a few online but itās a waste of time between auto drafters n flat out horrible picks.
This is the first request I've gotten to do another one, but I'm happy to set one up for later this week. Today is already booked with writing a couple things for the Stacks plus some other fun stuff I can't discuss yet but might publish as early as next week....
Sounds good! My draft isnāt until Thursday night the 12th so Iād b in for sure. Looking forward 2 the new content!
Is Bruno the obvious 1st round pick over KDB?
well i have KDB at 1-1 in my ranks for Draft purposes but i think KDB falls down below Bruno for OFPL purposes because of the greater chance for Bruno to contribute goals (w/o penalty duty for Bruno its KDB by a good distance)
If Grealish comes to city how does it effect your ranking of him? And do you think it impacts KDB or just the other attacking players?
There will have to be some impact on minutes because he's going to earn more than the 559' which Aguero played last season. The assumption seems to be Kane and Grealish arrive and no one leaves; color me skeptical on that. But Bernardo Silva and Fernan Torres seem the worst positioned if Grealish arrives and he's just fine there. Maybe you knock him back from the start of the 1st to the start of the 2nd? I mean, that is some serious knitpicking becuase if you want him, you're going to have to take him in RD1 or roll the dice.
Moving doesn't impact him per match potential, it does impact his every match status. He's Mahrez 2.0 and that still means a top 20 player for the season and a top 10 player potential any week he starts.