20 years ago this month, I participated in my first WMFFL draft (I was an emergency owner replacement 4-games in to the 2000 season, so I missed the draft that year).  I don't remember much about my first draft except we met in someone's apartment in Maryland (I want to say Ira's maybe?), I didn't know anyone, and I had to draft for Mike as well, since he couldn't make it.  Like the Oscars, he gave me a set of envelopes for each round that I had to open to reveal his picks, which was apparently a good strategy since he went to the finals that year.  Even so, it was fun and I do still miss the in-person draft experience (and the shared laptop that announced our picks).

Enough nostalgia, on to the good stuff. It was an amazingly well executed draft this year, nobody took an excessive amount of time (except me maybe) and no major hang-ups (nicely done Josh!)

Still odd things going on with the team rankings over the past few years.  I don't know if it's a decline in offenses centered around a single talent, or more parity, or just dumb luck but, for whatever reason, for the second year in a row the top scoring team (Squirrels) did not make the playoffs at all.  Not only that but the 2nd strongest team (Norsemen) also didn't make the playoffs AND the third strongest team (MeggaMen) didn't have their playoff fate decided until the final week and was a sub-.500 playoff team.  

So Josh went 12-2 with a team of middling strength (7th overall) and won the title.  Guess it's true that it's better to be lucky then good!

Pretty awful on the predictions from last year.  In 2019, I picked five teams within a single game and got two spot on.  At the very least, that's almost 50% right.  This past year was a shit show though.  I think I'm actually getting worse at picking the winners.   

Nailed it 3 teams

Missed by 1 game 2 teams

Missed by 2 games 2 team

Blew it (missed by 3 or more) 5 teams

On to the fun stuff...

2020 Predicted Finish: 8-6

2020 Actual Finish: 12-2

2020 Results: The stars aligned for Josh this year and everything went his way.  He swept his division and rolled through the playoffs for his fifth title and a 12-2 record, only losing in a blowout to the top ranked team (Squirrels) and to a tough playoff team (Crusaders).  The trade for Lamar Jackson was a high price but it paid off for Josh in spectacular fashion.  The tandem of Jackson and Davante Adams carried his offense and the trio of Aaron Donald, Lavonte David, and Budda Baker anchor a defense that will keep him in contention for the next few years.

Best Pick: Derwin James

Worst Pick: Zach Ertz

Draft Grade: B

2021 Predicted Finish: 9-5

Summary:  Josh had a fine, if unspectacular, draft.  Josh didn't have a fist round pick but taking Trey Sermon was a fine rookie selection.  He'll field a top QB in Jackson but his RBs are severely lacking, with Sermon looking like the best of them from the start.  At WR, Adams again will singlehandedly win some games and with Calvin Ridley now owning the top WR spot in Atlanta, he could top the league in WR points.  His TEs are just ok but he's got a strong kicker in Blankenship.  On D, he has the aforementioned top players in each spot and filled in backups fairly well in the draft.  Josh can't possibly be as lucky as he was last year but he'll still be in contention for the top spot in a revived Burgundy divison.

2020 Predicted Finish: 8-6

2020 Actual Finish: 9-5

2020 Results:  Byron again proved to be one of the strongest teams in the league.  The Norsemen powered through to a 9-5 record, the third straight season of over 9 wins, which is am impressive feat in the WMFFL 12-team era.  Even with McCaffrey banged up most of the year, Byron was able to lean on Alvin Kamara and Patrick Mahomes to roll to another strong season.  With the Burgundy division proving to now be the toughest in the league, he was still unable to make the playoffs, mainly due to two tough (and close) losses to Don and Josh late in the season.

Best Pick: Myles Garrett

Worst Pick: Rob Gronkowski

Draft Grade: A+

2021 Predicted Finish: 11-3

Summary: Byron is probably the best drafter in the league and this year he turned in a gem.  With two picks in the first round, he went WR heavy and secured two very strong starters, in Keenan Allen and Chris Godwin.  He then sealed the deal by bringing back the ever-servicable James Robinson, and top tier options on D in Bobby Wagner and Myles Garrett.  Byron will end up fielding the strongest overall team in the league this year with a top QB in Mahomes, the two top RBs in Kamara and McCaffery, two excellent WRs, and one of the better TEs in Mark Andrews.  On Defense, Garret and Nick Bosa will power a top D line with Wagner heading up the LB group.   His "weakest" group are his DBs, with still solid Taylor Rapp and Khari Willis.  If he avoids the injury bug (see the MeggaMen section below), he'll end up with double digit wins and a cruise to the playoffs.

2020 Predicted Finish: 6-8

2020 Actual Finish: 6-8

2020 Results: Richard's 2020 season was a bit of a stumble and he slightly reversed his winning trend, but not by much.  He had some very narrow wins (5 pts or less) this past year over the MeggaMen and STA so he just as easily could have gone 4-10 last year.  This won't cut it in an extremely tough Burgundy division.

Best Pick: Jessie Bates

Worst Pick: Tyler Boyd

Draft Grade: D

2021 Predicted Finish: 4-10

Summary: Richard had 18 picks in this year's draft and he'll need them to overhaul this roster.  His first pick of Zeke Elliott was a no-brainer and he continued re-vamping his offensive (and league worst) offense from there, by picking offensive players with his first 5 selections.  I didn't like most of his picks and thought he reached on a number of them, when better players were available.  He'll field either a rookie QB in Trevor Lawrence or Zach Wilson, or perhaps serial massage patron in Deshaun Watson, IF he get cleared to play on that dumpster fire of a team.  At RB, Elliott is a solid anchor and Joe Mixon makes this a good combination.  At WR, things are a bit messy with the Tyler twins leading the way and a bunch of maybe's behind them.  On D, Sweat and Ogbah are servicable, the LBs are middling at best, but his DBs are very strong, with Jessie Bates and John "JJ" Johnson.  Unfortunately a draft like this won't help Richard get past any of the 3 other teams in his division.  It's possible his record is even lower than I predict and I would rank him as a prime toilet bowl contender this year.

2020 Predicted Finish: 4-10

2020 Actual Finish: 9-5

2020 Results:  In the annuls of picking winners, there is rarely a prediction that is blown more than the one I made for Don last year.  He (somehow) turned a 4-10 predicted team into a 9-5 winner and a playoff berth.  How he did this with a middling offense and he worst defense in the league, I don't know but (like Josh), I'm sure a monster luck rating played a big part.  He pulled off the upset over the Crusaders in the first round before dropping the "Battle of the Luckies" in the finals against Josh.

Best Pick: Adam Thielen

Worst Pick: Rashaad Penny 

Draft Grade: F

2021 Predicted Finish: 6-8

Summary: Yuck!  I hated everything Don did in this draft.  Taking Brady this early was an overreach, especially since he was fantasy's overall QB #10 last year in points per game and several younger, and equally as strong if not stronger, QBs in Russel Wilson and Justin Herbert were still available.  The overreaching didn't improve from there with the no-longer top tier JuJu Smith-Schuster, oft-injured (and with questionable role) Sony Michel, and finally the "who knows what their role will be?" pair in Russell Gage and Sammy Watkins.  His next pick was a player who's already in IR for the entire season Travis Etienne) and it didn't improve from there.  Don will end up fielding Brady at QB, solid Nick Chubb at RB (without a real other option), and the strong Adam Thielen will lead his WRs.  TE may be his best position, with George Kittle and Logan Thomas.  His entire defense is mediocre, at best, so it could be another year in the cellar for his defense.  All-in-all, this won't be a strong enough team to get Don back to the playoffs and he is one season-ending injury away from all-out catastrophe.  

2020 Predicted Finish: 8-6

2020 Actual Finish: 9-5

2020 Results: It was another strong year for Hall and, if you throw out the 2018 season (we all need a mulligan sometimes), Hall hasn't posted a sub-.500 season in the past 10 years.  Not only that, but over that time Hall had 5 seasons of 10+ wins!  No other team has had more than 2 so that's a tremendous achievement that speaks to his managerial skill and the overall shittiness of his division.  Another strong year was not enough for Hall to overcome the streaking (and aforementioned lucky) STA and he dropped his first-round playoff game to them.

Best Pick: Russell Wilson

Worst Pick: David Johnson

Draft Grade: B

2021 Predicted Finish: 7-7

Summary: It's hard to bet against Hall but he has to have a down season at some point.  He had a good draft and brought back Russell Wilson to pair with Robert Woods and Kareem Hunt.  Overall, his team is powered by three players; Wilson, Dalvin Cook, and Darren Waller and if one of them goes down or takes a step back, it could devastate his season.  That said, Hall always finds a way to power through and his division mates always find a way to suck.  He'll field a top QB in Wilson with a potentially strong backup in Stafford.  At RB, Cook leads the way and he'll have to hope Kareem Hunt gets a good workload to carry the 2nd spot.  At WR, aside from Woods, things look pretty bleak and he may struggle mightily at this position this year (as he did last year).  Waller is really his best receiver and he tends to make up from the poor WR play.  On D, he has strong but not top tier options in Cam Jordan and Josh Allen.  at LB, Zach Cunningham and AJ Johnson will average out to be an ok pair but at DB things are more bleak, with not great options.  DB was a strong spot for Hall last year so we'll see how this plays out.  

2020 Predicted Finish: 6-8

2020 Actual Finish: 8-6

2020 Results: Talk about a reversal of fortune.  Brian turned this team around last year and guided them to their first winning record in 5 years.  They narrowly led the league in total points (over Byron) and had a great season on both offense and defense.  This well-rounded team was not enough to overcome a tou