2018 DRAFT RECAPS - 4TH PICK - PEABS — Protector Of The League

Number 4: A Fournettuate Few owned by Ken Peabody

First Five:

Ken drew the fourth pick and decided to take Antonio Brown. Although he passed up on some elite RB talent, getting the best WR in the league isn’t a bad idea. Brown has 5 straight seasons with 100 or more catches, 1,300 or more yards and 8 or more touchdowns. On paper he was the best choice at #4 and I would probably have picked him there as well – or at 5 with my pick. The one nagging seed of doubt is just the fact that he seems to be breaking down a bit. He missed 3 games last year with injury then there’s the obvious - is he really going to repeat those stats SIX years in a row?

Peabs went back to the WRs with his second round pick and took Julio Jones. Despite putting up 88 catches and 1,400 yards, Jones was largely considered a bust last year. He only scored 3 TDs and had 10 or fewer points in 8 of the 16 games. He's constantly dealing with lower body injuries too. All that said, mid-to-late second round is respectable value given the upside. Ken took one more WR in his first 5 picks – Adam Thielen of the Vikings. Thielen is coming off a career year and proved he is a legit receiver in 2017 – WR9 with 91 catches, 1300 yards and 4 TDs. The change of QB is sort of concerning, but he should produce solid numbers again.

The White Boy in Africa addressed his RB group by taking Joe Mixon in the third round and Alex Collins in the 5th. Mixon could break out in his second year after a somewhat uneven rookie season. He only averaged 3.5 yards per carry, but the Bengals offensive line was terrible. He caught 30 of his 34 targets which is promising for his pass catching ability however. Alex Collins is a solid, if boring pick in the 5th. He’ll be a serviceable RB2 for Ken and gets a boost in our points per carry format.

Next Five:

Big Filthy grabbed a TE, while also adding FLEX depth in the middle rounds. In round 6 he took Rex Beevis and Burkhead, who could end up being his RB2. Burkhead is currently banged up, but he’ll have some huge weeks with the Pats offense. The trouble will be figuring out when to start him.

In the 10th round Ken took Isaiah Time to Eat Crowell. Crowell was a popular sleeper pick last year, but finds himself in a time share on the Jets. This could end up as a nice pick but for now he’ll ride the bench.

Adding to his WR depth, we saw Ken make two good value picks in the 7th and 9th rounds. Emmanuel Colonel Sanders looks primed to have a pretty good season - at the very least he has a competent QB this year. Case Keenum made Adam Thielen a star in 2017 and he could very well do the same for Sanders in 2018. Julian Frankenstein Edelman From Big Daddy was a good pick in the 9th round. He’s suspended for 4 weeks but could easily be a top 20 WR after that.

Last but not least was the TE. Evan Can I Get an Engram of weed was Ken’s 8th round pick. This could be huge for Ken or it could be a bust. Engram showed us his talent as a rookie (64 catches, 722 yards, 6 TDs), but he didn’t have much competition for touches. With Odell, Sterling Shepard and Barkley in the mix, he may lose targets. He’s also in the concussion protocol and missed time with a concussion last year.

Last Five:

Ken filled out the rest of his roster and grabbed his QBs in the later rounds. He took Matthew Stafford in the 11th round and Matt Ryan in the 13th. Both of these QBs are good, but I’m not sure they’re great. Ken will generally be at a disadvantage at QB from week to week. I guess Matt Ryan could regain MVP form from a few years ago – that would be huge for the Ryan/Julio stack. Still, both QBs should be top 15 this year so not bad.

Marlon Mack was Ken’s 12th round pick and this will be a steal or a complete waste. He was supposed to be the Colts starting RB this year, but is currently injured. As a result of his injury we’ve seen a committee form in Indi – Nyheim Hynes, Robert Turbin, Jordan Wilkins and Christine Michael are all in the mix for touches. It could be a huge steal, but I could also see Ken dropping him 2 weeks into the season.

Ken went with the Saints D in the 14th round and Chris Boswell (Steelers) in the 15th round. Boswell is a solid pick and benefits from being on a high powered offense. That said the Steelers score a lot of TDs and randomly go for 2 a lot. Oh well, no arguments here. The Saints are a sneaky pick here, touche Ken. They finished as the #7 defense last year and have a lot of young talent.

Grade:

I’ll give Ken a middle of the road B here. His draft was pretty solid, but I don’t think it was anything over the top. While his top 2 WRs are very strong, his RBs are on the weaker side. He’s on the low end for QBs and his TE is at risk of missing significant time with a concussion. I like the draft, but don’t love it.

Prediction:

Ken will finish 6-7 and miss the playoffs on a tie breaker. With all of the wedding and honeymoon stuff going on, he just didn’t have a lot of spare time for research. While he didn’t have a bad draft by any means, I just don’t think his team is a contender.