State Of The State

The state of the state is good.

Beat Chris Liss 1 sold out, and we already got our draft order. I drew eighth, and I already know it’s between one of two players. If they’re both gone, it means I’m getting a windfall, someone I don’t expect to get, but I don’t know ADP, so what the hell am I even talking about? I’m not really worried about the first-round pick, it’s the second where it gets interesting.

The NFFC playoff contest is over for me. I’m in 726th place, so even though I have 4x Patrick Mahomes and Christian McCaffrey, I have to imagine *someone* else among those higher-scoring teams has too much in common with me. Probably a lot of the top teams had 2x Josh Allen and 3x Travis Kelce, so maybe 4x Mahomes will make a dent, but that’s too many teams. It’s annoying because I had it right — Mahomes as a seven-percent sleeper, and Lamar Jackson getting 3x, but the Chiefs-Ravens was low-scoring, while Allen went bananas in the games he played. That and going Rashee Rice over Kelce is what cost me.

But the good news is the NFBKC squad I did with Sasha is doing well. I’m a little concerned all three of our centers (Brook Lopez, Clint Capela and Myles Turner have either injuries or personal issues), but otherwise this team is in good shape — 9th overall with 30 games to go.

Knock on wood because I know the second-half is where all the brutal shutdowns and load management ahead of the playoffs kick in, but so far we’ve been pretty lucky with injuries.

We also picked up Immanuel Quickley and Brandin Podziemski and re-acquired Colin Sexton and Russell Westbrook who we dropped. The only bad drop we had was Jonathan Kuminga who has been balling of late, but most of our initial draft picks are still on the team and producing — even the mid-to-late-round guys like Lopez, Bradley Beal, Khris Middleton, Bennedict Mathurin and Capela before the injury.

Kevin Durant in the second round was a gift, and now Steph Curry (who forgot how to shoot for a month) is heating up. Long way to go still, but I’m enjoying it, and it was Sasha who insisted on Lopez who has been great as a sixth rounder. Again, knock on wood, but we’re right where we need to be.

The only dead spot is “white Kobe” Gordon Hayward, who I picked up for $135 in FAAB, could have gotten for $1 and who has not played since 2023 with a calf injury. I’m assuming he’ll be traded, but maybe it’s time to cut bait.

Here’s the initial draft board if anyone’s curious: