I hope you and yours all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday full of family, food, fun, and football. Now that our belts are breaking, and the weekend has come to an end, it’s time to get back to business in the BFFL.
We have just wrapped on Week 12 of the 2022 BFFL regular season, and while the playoff picture is starting to come into focus, I want to take a trip back to Day 0…where the envelopes were drawn and our foresight, or lack thereof, led us to where we are today. I’ll be going position by position with who I think is worthy of apprehending as a true Draft Day Steal, and in the end booking the Thief of the Year as the GM who dug so deep in the draft they struck gold. None these players were first “Off The Board” for their position which means all but one of you GMs passed on these players in favor of another.
My thought process in determining each these “Steals” was unlike my typical MVP voting style where I would steer towards a consistent high scoring player on a playoff bound team. Instead, since any and everyone had a shot at these players, I’ve decided to disregard their current team’s regular season record and simply go off of the player’s Positional Ranking & Total Points (as of Week 12) compared against where they landed in the draft. Also, I did my best to keep an eye on and exclude players who might have had one or two high scoring games that rocketed them to top of their positional rank (sorry Taysom Hill). Alas, none of you are here to listen to me babble about how my mind works…and if you’ve ever received a trade offer from me then you REALLY don’t want me to keep rambling. So get those future draft picks ready for 2023 Draft Day…while you still can. Here are my 2022 BFFL Draft Day Steals!
Kicker – Daniel Carlson (Bruce Almighty’s)
Drafted: 13th Round | Off The Board: 7th Kicker | Position Rank: 5 | Fantasy Points: 88
Starting it off, just like every NFL game, with a kick. My BFFL Kicker Draft Steal for 2022 is Daniel Carlson of the Bruce Almighty’s. Carlson heads into Week 13 having only missed two field goals and one extra point all season and is only behind league leader Tyler Bass (BUF) by 9 points. He’s been the definition of consistent with fantasy points as well, scoring 7 points or more in every game but two. Finally, not to compare positions 1:1 but total fantasy points wise Carlson is right next big names like Alvin Kamara (92.6), James Conner (89.7), and Mike Evans (88.2); not to shabby for a kicker of the Oakl…Las Vegas Raiders.
Runner Up: Jason Meyers (Isla Sorna Raptors)
Drafted: Undrafted | Off The Board: N/A | Position Rank: 3| Fantasy Points: 91
Defense – Cowboys (Lin Sanity)
Drafted: 12th Round | Off The Board: 9th Defense | Position Rank: 2 | Fantasy Points: 108
Defense wins championships, we all know the phrase, and in fantasy football it still rings true, especially for my 2022 BFFL Defense Draft Steal… the Dallas Cowboys drafted by potential #1 seed Lin Sanity. The Cowboys flew under the radar on draft day , I’ll even admit other than Trevon Diggs I wasn’t even sure who was on the team. In 2022 they are consistently putting up solid stats week to week, even spiking over 15 points in three different games. To top things off they have yet to have a week where they put up a negative point total, quite a feat with today’s high powered offenses.
Runner Up: Patriots (Da Moon’s Huge Craters)
Drafted: 12th Round | Off The Board: 12th Defense | Position Rank: 1 | Fantasy Points: 111
Tight End – TJ Hockenson (Jedi Knights)
Drafted: 8th Round | Off The Board: 8th TE | Position Rank: 4 | Fantasy Points: 84.7
While not technically a position (yet) in the BFFL, I couldn’t make this list without including my favorite NFL position, so here he is my 2022 Tight End Draft Day Steal, TJ Hockenson from newcomers the Jedi Knights. Everyone knows the big TE names Kelce & Andrews, and while not even the leagues top Wide Receivers can currently top Kelce’s 165.7 points on the year, would you believe that difference between TJ Hockenson and Mark Andrews is only 8 points. While a good chunk came from a monster game against the Seahawks early on, Hockenson has, in TE turns, kept fantasy points on the board week-in and week-out. Be on the lookout for TJ next year when Tight Ends join the BFFL full time.
Runner Up: Travis Kelce (Dr. Jenious)
Drafted: 2nd Round | Off The Board: 1st TE | Position Rank: 1 | Fantasy Points: 165.7
Wide Receiver – Amari Cooper (Philippine Garbage Dumps)
Drafted: 5th Round | Off The Board: 34th WR| Position Rank: 8 | Fantasy Points: 116.2
*clears throat* Now here’s a guy……jk, but really here is a player who has carried their stellar NFL career over to a new NFL team and has helped carry their BFFL team, the Philippine Garbage Dumps, potentially back into the wild card discussion, my 2022 Wide Receiver Draft Day Steal Amari Cooper. I don’t remember exactly how early in the season I was pestering PGD with trade offers for this wideout, but they would not let him go, and with good reason. Even with a backup QB, on a worse NFL team, Amari has climbed his way into the top 10 of Wide Receivers for 2022. The 5th round pick has collected 116.2 fantasy points and put his name right next to other big name 1st & 2nd rounders like AJ Brown (115.1), CeeDee Lamb (118.0), and Cooper Kupp (123.4). I couldn’t wrestle him away from the Garbage Dumps this year, so I will definitely be keeping my eye on Amari Cooper come Draft Day 2023.
Runner Up: Christian Kirk (Slam Ball 2K22)
Drafted: 5th Round | Off The Board: 36th WR | Position Rank: 10 | Fantasy Points: 111.2
Runner Up: DeAndre Hopkins (Pool of the Dead)
Drafted: 6th Round | Off The Board: 38th WR | Position Rank: 29 | Fantasy Points: 75.4 (12.6/PPG)
Runner Up: Chris Olave (Isla Sorna Raptors)
Drafted: 6th Round | Off The Board: 44th WR | Position Rank: 14 | Fantasy Points: 97.2
Running Back – Josh Jacobs (Gandalf The Goat)
Drafted: 4th Round | Off The Board: 25th RB | Position Rank: 1 | Fantasy Points: 202.4
It sure is nice when the world makes your job easy for ya, and finding this Draft Steal was one of the easiest decisions of the year, my 2022 Running Back Draft Day Steal and the BFFL’s #1 RB…Josh Jacobs from Gandalf The Goat. Going back to draft day, no one was sure if Josh Jacobs even had a starting job in the NFL, and if he did then it certainly wasn’t his alone, but 12 weeks into the season and we have our first non-QB player to break 200 points on the year. A large chunk of those points came from his monster game last week against the Seahawks where he racked up over 300 scrimmage yards and 2 TDs for 42.3 points. In 2022, Jacobs has solidified himself up at the TOP with big names like Derrick Henry (RB2), Nick Chubb (RB3), and Austin Ekeler (RB4). This is terrific for Gandalf The Goat who was able snag Jacobs in the middle of the 4th round, and terrifying for GMs who drafted these RBs just before Jacobs: JK Dobbins (RB65), David Montgomery (RB24), Elijah Mitchell (RB70), AJ Dillon (RB34), and Cam Akers (RB63). We’ve still got the playoffs ahead of us, but looking even further down the line to the 2023 Draft I’m wondering how far we see Jacobs jump in 2023 Draft position.
Runner Up: Jamaal Williams (How I Kmet Your Mother)
Drafted: 10th Round | Off The Board: 50th RB | Position Rank: 7 | Fantasy Points: 149.1
Runner Up: Rhamondre Stevenson (How I Kmet Your Mother)
Drafted: 7th Round | Off The Board: 39th RB | Position Rank: 13 | Fantasy Points: 133.9
Runner Up: Kenneth Walker III (Lin Sanity)
Drafted: 7th Round | Off The Board: 41st RB | Position Rank: 14 | Fantasy Points: 126.9
Quarterback – Geno Smith (How I Kmet Your Mother)
Drafted: 15th Round | Off The Board: 33rd QB | Position Rank: 7 | Fantasy Points: 215.6
I don’t know if it was just sheer luck, a random guess, or the football gods, but somehow How I Kmet Your Mother pulled of the Steal of the Year drafting Quarterback Geno Smith waaaay back in the deepest of deep, the 15th round. Hell, some GMs were already out of the building when this guy was drafted at 236th out of 240 players. Geno was the last QB taken in the 2022 BFFL Draft, and with good reason; he wasn’t even confirmed to be the starting QB on his NFL team, and surely was (at the time) drafted only to saunter into HIKYM’s starting line up on Matt Stafford’s bye week. But the player we all wrote off, didn’t write back, and jumped into HIKYM’s starting line up in Week 4 after some poor outings from Stafford, and since Week 4 HIKYM has not lost a single game with Geno Smith at the helm. Year-to-Date Geno Smith (QB7) has outperformed fantasy all-stars Tom Brady (QB12), Aaron Rodgers (QB17), and Russell Wilson (QB21), doing so by throwing for more than 2800 yards on 19 Passing TDs and only 5 Interceptions. In a league where we saw four draft picks through the first two rounds get used on QBs, I am guessing almost everyone would trade their 15th round pick to have this QB at the helm of their BFFL team. From the look of things Geno Smith and HIKYM will be cruising into the playoffs, and have a shot at claiming the BFFL Super Bowl crown.
Runner Up: Justin Fields (Sacramento Wolfpack)
Drafted: 8th Round | Off The Board: 17th QB | Position Rank: 6 | Fantasy Points: 225.2
Runner Up: Daniel Jones (Sacramento Wolfpack)
Drafted: 13th Round | Off The Board: 28th QB | Position Rank: 13 | Fantasy Points: 186.9
Runner Up: Tua Tagovailoa (Elk Grove Spartans)
Drafted: 8th Round | Off The Board: 16th QB | Position Rank: 8 | Fantasy Points: 204.5
Thief of the Year – How I Kmet Your Mother
It’s a bold strategy, especially in a league as competitive as ours, to start the draft going WR-WR-WR, but when you’ve got the drafting skill (or luck 😛 ) of How I Kmet Your Mother anything is possible. It truly is an impressive feat to stand back and look upon, seeing that three of HIKYM’s first four picks have spent a considerable amount of time on the IR and then look at their FFC East leading 8-4 record. Just looking at their current lineup they have a roster full of top 10 positional talent: Geno Smith (QB7), Jamaal Williams (RB7), Rhamondre Stevenson (RB13), Tony Pollard (RB8), CeeDee Lamb (QB7), Dallas Goedert (TE6), and the Ravens (D/ST 7). All that talent and don’t forget they still have Ja’Marr Chase (WR18) sitting on the IR just waiting to jump back into the starting lineup. Some GMs like the wheeling and dealing style that trades offer, but no need here, HIKYM had their roster on lock way back on Day 0. They have the Steal of the Year in Geno Smith, and a solid chance to push deep into the 2022 BFFL playoffs. Time has told a prosperous tale for them so far, but we still have a few weeks to go before crowning them quite yet. And that GMs is How I Kmet My BFFL Thief of the Year.
Thanks,
Nick Garrett
GM, Isla Sorna Raptors
Bali's Fantasy Football League 