Hello again RotoViz subscribers. It’s been a year since you last heard from me, when I decided to crown Daniel Jones and Kenny Golladay the Stefon Diggs and Josh Allen of 2021. Well … after that, I was forced to serve a (self-imposed) one-year suspension, but I’m back now and will stick to touting #good players in 2022. That starts today. Below is the first in a three-part series, where I recap three drafts in the FFPC “Never-Too-Early” $125 entry best ball tournament. This tournament features a 20-round format, with 1152 total teams, and a $25,000 prize for first place. For part one, we’ll focus on drafting out of the 1.01, and analyze the decision points we face out of that slot.

1.01

The options: Jonathan Taylor or Christian McCaffrey

The debate: Michael Dubner recently analyzed roster construction and found that anchor RB is a “silver bullet” in best ball. So, the decision at the 1.01 comes down to which of these two RBs you prefer. McCaffrey comes with the workload and elite ceiling that no other back can touch, but he has injury concerns. Taylor is the best rusher since Adrian Peterson, and he should have improved quarterback play this season.

The pick: Jonathan Taylor, as Shawn and Blair elected in February, as I don’t want to be underweight on his elite talent.

2.12 and 3.1:

The options: Darren Waller, George Kittle, Tee Higgins, and Mike Evans

The debate: Ideally, the path to an anchor RB roster will be WR-heavy in Rounds 2-6, with one out of structure pick for an elite tight end. At the 2/3 turn, only two elite tight ends remain, and even the next tier of tight end is unlikely to make it back to me. So, I’m drafting at least one of Kittle or Waller. At WR, Evans’ ADP was much lower before Tom Brady’s return, so I’m leery of him here, as I’ll need to make up value later. Higgins is tempting and fits well with an anchor RB strategy. However, Higgins and one of the elite tight ends will likely be a common three round start.