Team Irrelevant is in the books ...
1.09 (9) Kelce, Travis KCC TE1
Kelce in the late 1st almost can't be a bad strategy in TE-premium formats. Having 2 flex spots to play with means I can still grab value later at the position, which solidified the pick. No other considerations here.
2.04 (16) Jacobs, Josh LVR RB8
In best-ball drafts I almost always break ties in favor of "we probably haven't seen his best season yet". That left Jacobs and Chubb as options, and I see less competition for touches with the former. Top-3 upside.
3.09 (33) Golladay, Kenny DET WR12
See above w/r/t Jacobs - with the potential to start up to 5 I knew I needed a WR here and while Moore and Brown were strong possibilities, I like Kenny G's QB much better than Tannehill or the Carolina QB to be named later.
4.04 (40) Gurley, Todd ATL RB20
I took a shot with this pick that Gurley would get traded / released and find himself in a better situation. Safe to say this gamble paid off as Atlanta was close to a dream landing spot - a high-octane offense with lots of other weapons and a QB who isn't afraid to involve his backs in the pass game. He'll be a low-end RB1 come draft season and if healthy should perform accordingly.
5.09 (57) Mack, Marlon IND RB26
I try to avoid the RB22-32 range like the plague in these drafts as they're often replacement-level talents who generally get surpassed via the draft or in-season. Mack seems like an outlier - uber-talented but perhaps without the durability to be a true workhorse. That's fine for my RB3 ... if I get 8-10 scoring weeks out of him he'll more than pay this draft cost. Also considered Wilson here but with just 12 teams felt it wouldn't hurt to wait at QB.
6.04 (64) Chark, D.J. JAC WR25
Another from the bucket of "probably haven't seen his best season yet". Finished WR16 last season despite zero consistency at QB and borderline tankalicious play-calling. If Minshew is more than a flash in the pan Chark could threaten top-12 status this season.
7.09 (81) Steelers, Pittsburgh PIT Def3
I think when the smoke clears on this scoring format, the folks who spent a lot of draft capital on DSTs and had them at worst meet expectations will come out on top. Pittsburgh reloads rather than rebuilding on defense and consistently finishes near the top in almost every statistical measure.
8.04 (88) Hooper, Austin CLE TE10
Mentioned earlier that there was no real rationale behind taking a guy I've never liked at a position I didn't need other than falling value - he belongs alongside Higbee / Henry who went 20+ picks earlier. Probably would have gone Edelman or Lamb here otherwise.
9.09 (105) Allen, Josh BUF QB9
No way should he be the 9th QB off the board in best-ball, especially after the Diggs trade. He'll pull the occasional disappearing act but the 4-total-TD / 40-point weeks more than compensate. Would have opted for Ryan instead before the trade broke.
10.04 (112) Brown, Marquise BAL WR41
60% of his fantasy production came in 4 games. Excuse me ... we're still playing best-ball for this league, right? Okay, thanks. Just checking.
11.09 (129) Lock, Drew DEN QB23
If Hollywood isn't on the board at 112, I double up at QB with Wentz there. Instead, I watch 11 QBs come off the board in between my picks and had to grit my teeth and grab something from what was left. No real reason for Lock over Taylor / Darnold other than that he's likely to be higher-variance and, hey, it's best-ball.
12.04 (136) Seahawks, Seattle SEA Def16
See: everything I said about the Steelers, plus with the NFL's answer to Tony Bennett at HC.
13.09 (153) Henderson, Darrell LAR RB38
After going RB with 3 of my first 5 picks I'd planned on punting it well into the late teens, but Henderson was way too attractive to pass up on the heels of the Gurley trade. I loved him coming out of Memphis, and while he didn't make much noise as a rook I ultimately think he's more talented than both Brown and any Day 2 pick they might score in the draft.
14.04 (160) Buccaneers, Tampa Bay TBB Def19
Pssst: This Bucs defense is actually good. They finished 5th in FO DVOA, and that was with a QB who gave the other team possession in Bucs' territory about twenty times. I'll go way out on a limb and say Tom Brady isn't going to have that problem.
15.09 (177) Ruggs, Henry FA WR55
So remember when I said on Sunday, "I'll have to grab a couple of veteran possession guys to fall back on week in and week out"? Yeah, not so much. I think Ruggs is an NFL bust waiting to happen and am praying he goes off the board before the Eagles have a chance to make that mistake at 23. Having said that: (a) I'm wrong a lot; and (b) best ball + 4.2 speed = I'll take my chances.
16.04 (184) Gould, Robbie SFO PK7
The last of the week-in, week-out no-brainers at PK.
17.09 (201) Miller, Anthony CHI WR61
He was my second choice in the 15th, so imagine my surprise when he was still available two rounds later. Likely to start the season as the Bears' #2 and as a 95% SPARQ home-run threat should be another best-ball friendly asset.
18.04 (208) McManus, Brandon DEN PK15
Has a safe job. Kicks at altitude. Moving on.
19.09 (225) Hill, Justice BAL RB52
He'll be on every team of mine at this price. A young talent on a run-first team with the league's best OL whose primary competition is on the wrong side of 30.
20.04 (232) Haskins, Dwayne WAS QB32
With 25 roster spots to play with, I'd feel really stupid if Allen got hurt Week 3 and I'm trying to compete in a 12-teamer with a solo Drew Lock. Haskins is the last name on the board more likely than not to play double-digit games. Even if they're unspectacular, some points are better than none if it comes to that.
21.09 (249) Graham, Jimmy CHI TE33
Another guy I'm puzzled fell so far. Trubisky is allergic to downfield throws and Foles is bad at them. Who better to vacuum up the endless series of 5-yard crossing routes? Sure, there's a chance he's cooked, but Ben Watson was a top-5 TE at an older age and I'd take present-day Graham over peak Watson any day.
22.04 (256) Arcega-Whiteside, JJ PHI WR76
Has the clear #2 on a presumptive top-10 offense ever fallen this far in a fantasy draft? Like, ever? It seems a little premature to kick a 2nd-round draft pick to the curb because of one injury-hampered season at age 22.
23.09 (273) Snell, Benny PIT RB66
I'm a huge fan of James Conner the man and the story, but never been a huge fan of Conner the RB. He's probably still better than Snell, but for one of the worst-performing RBs in combine history to still rack up 450 yards in spot duty as a rookie tells me there might be more behind the curtain here.
24.04 (280) Tate, Auden CIN WR86
A poor man's Kenny Golladay, which could be enough when the competition is a 32-year-old Green, a career #2 in Boyd, and human voodoo doll John Ross.
25.09 (297) Hurd, Jalen SFO WR94
Because when the 2020 WR draft class is supposed to be the deepest group in a decade, the obvious strategy is to load up on ... the 2019 WR draft class.
QB: Allen, Lock, Haskins
RB: Jacobs, Gurley, Mack, Henderson, Hill, Snell
WR: Golladay, Chark, Hollywood, Ruggs, Miller, Arcega-Whiteside, A. Tate, Hurd
TE: Kelce, Hooper, Graham
PK: Gould, McManus
DST: PIT, SEA, TB
Should be top-3 at TE and DST. RB should be mid-pack at worst, with best-in-league upside if injury luck breaks my way. Obviously QB and WR are the question marks. Purely in raw scoring terms my total team points at both positions will probably be in the bottom third, but best-ball should keep my weekly numbers competitive ... and since this isn't survivor, the inevitable down weeks from the younger names won't kill me. In other words this team looks a lot like my WSL squad, but the changes to format and scoring mean I like this team's prospects quite a bit better than I do that one.
Thanks to Ref for setting this up, herding the cats and not being afraid to blaze some new trails with the rules. Looking forward to a fun season.