32-Person Draft Recap 🏆

The 32-person fantasy football league has become a staple of the WalterPicks team since the league debuted in 2021. Every year, 32 creators compete to become the champion of THE most competitive fantasy football league in the world. This year’s draft took place on Saturday (August 2), with more than half of the league getting together in person to draft.

I sat down with a few of the creators to gain insight into their strategies, favorite picks, and the different players they were considering in the early rounds.

Commanders.WalterPicks

Commanders.WalterPicks had the luxury of picking first overall in this year’s 32-person draft, which came with a lot of pressure. But he decided to target QB early and take Josh Allen at the 1.01 for his superflex slot. He then took care of both his RB and WR spots by taking James Conner and DJ Moore at the 2-3 turn.

To round out his roster, he took Rhamondre Stevenson, Dallas Goedert (x2 PPR), Jaylin Noel, and Quentin Johnston in the first seven rounds.

Interview with Commanders.WalterPicks

Q: You had the first overall pick and kind of set the tone for the draft. What went into your decision to take Josh at the 1.01?

A: Well, I was really considering going with Brock Bowers No. 1. A couple of the guys came to me and were kind of playing devil's advocate, and I started thinking about it, and I started actually doing mock drafts, but I ended up going with Josh Allen because I wanted to play it more safe. I figured since I have to wait 60 picks to come all the way back around, I'll take a QB, knowing I don't need to worry about what happens with the next two rounds.

Q: Do you regret taking Josh Allen, knowing there were still a couple of good QBs on the board at the 2-3 turn?

A: I definitely don't regret it, but there were some guys at the turn I could have waited on, but I think my team is good. I ended up getting Dallas Goedert anyway, so I think that's perfectly fine.

Q: Who was your best value pick?

A: I think my best value pick was Dallas Goedert. I usually never, ever take tight ends, but I got him at the four-five turn, and he's projected for 13 fantasy points in a x2 PPR league. There were no wide receivers at that level there. So I like it a lot.

Q: What’s the ceiling of this team?

A: The ceiling is very high. If Rhamondre Stevenson still has a role with TreVeyon Henderson there and Quentin Johnston can use his hands, I think we have a shot.

49ers.WalterPicks

49ers.WalterPicks was the most active fantasy manager prior to the draft, making more than a handful of trades to secure picks in the middle rounds. He only had one pick in the top-85, but his last pick came in the middle of the 8th round of a 12-round draft. He took Bowers at the 1.03 in a x2 PPR league, and then doubled up on tight end with Mark Andrews at the 3.23.

After that, he “secured” his RBs with a pair of injured RBs in Joe Mixon and Najee Harris, took his Superflex QB in Aaron Rodgers, and his WR1 in Calvin Austin III in the middle rounds.

Interview with 49ers.WalterPicks

Q: You took Brock Bowers at the 1.03. Was that the player you wanted?

A: Of course, it was the pick I wanted. I mean, he should have gone No. 1.

Q: If Bowers was gone, who would you have taken instead at the 1.03?

A: I was debating [Trey] McBride, but I would have gone with Josh Allen. I really was hoping for Bowers the whole time. I got a little nervous that Avery might take him, but in the end, he made the right decision for me.

Q: What was your overall strategy coming into the draft?

A: Coming in the draft, similar to last year, I looked to move a little bit down in the first couple of rounds to move way up in the later rounds. It creates a lot of depth because that creates two-for-one opportunities. People overcommit; they get too many fourths, and they end up starting, like a seventh, eighth, ninth, or 10th rounder as their fifth and sixth starters. And then they realize right when the season starts, like ‘oh my god, I'm starting a guy that's gonna get two points.’

Q: Calvin Austin is your WR1. Are you high on him? Is that just how the cards folded in this draft? What are your thoughts on him being your WR1?

A: Sometimes things happen in drafts, and you get a little carried away. I think with my third-round pick, when I picked Mark Andrews, I got a little excited when he fell to me, and then I didn't think about that position when Joe Mixon was falling. I do like Calvin Austin. I do think he can have weeks of six, seven, or eight points, but could he have a 10-point game? Yes, he can. But that'll be fixed before the season starts.

Lions.WalterPicks

Starting a QB in the superflex spot is a must in this league if you want to compete for a championship. However, Lions.WalterPicks will enter the season with a massive question mark after he took Daniel Jones as his top QB in the seventh round.

Overall, though, he has a balanced squad led by his top two picks (Quentin Johnston and Omarion Hampton).

Interview with Lions.WalterPicks

Q: You took Nico Collins at the 1.22. Is that the guy you were targeting all along?

A: Every time I did a mock, he was up there. I honestly didn't think he was going to be there just because I know a lot of people are high on him, but I was super pumped to get him. There was Amon-Ra St. Brown, which would have been cool because I'm the Lions creator, but I just think Nico Collins, if he can stay healthy, the sky's the limit.

Q: What was your overall strategy entering your first WalterPicks 32 creator draft?

A: I knew I was gonna go either running back, wide receiver, or wide receiver, running back in the first two rounds. So, that was definitely the strategy. And then I traded back from the 3.22 to the 3.29, hoping there would be either Bryce Young or Cam Ward. I was very mistaken. From that point on, the only other pick that I was really dialed in on was Emeka Egbuka at the 4.23. I think Baker Mayfield is really high on him, and I think he could be the slot receiver and see seven-plus targets a game this season.

Q: Do you regret not going QB early because your quarterback is Daniel Jones?

A: I don't regret passing on that position in the first two rounds. I'm really happy with how my first two rounds went. I do regret going with Jerry Jeudy at 3.29; I should have gone with Geno Smith. I think that would have been a fair value. I could have gone Joe Flacco at the end of the sixth round, but I really like Ray Davis, and I thought Flacco was gonna be up my next pick, but then Chiefs.WalterPicks decided to take a backup QB.

Jets.WalterPicks

Jets.WalterPicks had the massive disadvantage of picking 1.32 in this year’s draft. Mock drafting in this spot is always tough, and you have to wait so long in between picks, especially from Round 2 (2.01) to Round 3 (3.32). But he did a nice job rounding out his squad at this spot.

He took a pair of safe options in Kyren Williams and Ladd McConkey with his first two picks and then targeted Geno Smith (3.32), Khalil Shakir (before his high-ankle sprain), Dalton Schultz, and Cade Otton with his first six picks.

Jets.WalterPicks Interview

Q: You had pick No. 32, not always easy drafting from this spot, you took Kyren and Ladd McConkey at the turn. Is that what you kind of envisioned here at the turn?

A: No, I was in shambles after I made my first two picks. My original plan was Chase Brown and Tyreek Hill. Chase Brown went a little bit too early. My next backup was Josh Jacobs, so when both were gone, I was in pure panic mode. I grabbed Kyren Williams, and that was instant regret. But Ladd McConkey, I'm happy with. I think he's going to absolutely cook with my boy, Justin Herbert. So, I'm not mad about it, but if I had to redo it, I would have actually taken Ladd McConkey and Garrett Wilson.

TIP: The best way to make sure you aren’t in absolute panic mode in drafts is to sync your league in the WalterPicks app. You can draft in real-time with help from Walter. Walter will give you his suggested pick, and you can compare any two players to see their projected points, ceiling, and floor.

Q: What was your favorite pick in the draft?

A: I liked my Khalil Shakir value pick, until the injury news of his sprained ankle. He's a PPR machine. Getting him in the late fourth of a league like this is an insane value if he plays all season.

Q: What was your strategy going into it? What round were you thinking of taking a quarterback? Was there a possibility you took a QB in Round 1?

A: It was honestly out my range of outcomes because there's a significant tier break after the elite guys. So, I figured I'm going to wait for a quarterback. I'm going to take someone later in the draft so I can get positional value early. You have to start a running back and a wide receiver. So I figured I'd lock in my WR1 and RB1 because you have to start one every week.

Q: Are you happy with the team you drafted?

A: Happy? Yes. Content? No. I could have done better.

Dolphins.WalterPicks

Dolphins.WalterPicks became the first manager in the league’s four-year history to own two picks in the top-10. He landed the 10th overall pick and then acquired the 1.04 in a massive deal that sent two early second-round picks to Browns.WalterPicks.

With those two top-10 picks, he took Jahmyr Gibbs (1.04) and Jalen Hurts (1.10). However, his next pick didn’t come until the fourth round, where he took Matthew Golden at the 4.15. He then selected Trey Benson, Kyle Williams, and Jaydon Blue to round out his starting six.

Dolphins.WalterPicks Interview

Q: What was your overall strategy entering the draft?

A: You need to get points in fantasy football. So what I did is I consolidated a bunch of my picks to get two absolute elite players in Jahmyr Gibbs and Jalen Hurts. Those two players alone will give me 40 points minimum a week, and then I have all boom-or-bust players. So, I can either get 50 points a week or 100 [points] on any given week. So, I'm feeling pretty good about that, and my overall strategy was to secure that floor of two elite players.

Q: Getting two top-10 picks in a draft like this doesn’t happen very often. How happy are you with those selections, and who were you debating between at those spots?

A: I was in an absolute blender with those two spots. I knew that it would set up the whole trajectory of my whole season, so I knew I had to nail them. I was between Jayden Daniels and Jahmyr Gibbs at the 1.04. I figured that if I took Jayden Daniels and Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson or Saquon [Barkley] didn't fall at the 10, I'm going to have a running back problem. So, I knew I had to secure the running back. At 10, I was hoping for Joe Burrow or Hurts to fall, and luckily, one did. So, I was very fortunate. I think my first two picks went just as I wanted them to go.

Q: Is the team that you drafted championship-worthy?

A: I definitely think I can get into the championship. If I get in the playoffs, anything could happen with my team’s ceiling. I think I can compete right now with any single team without a trade.