Fantasy Football: Hayden Winks' top-five most important lessons learned from Yahoo Fantasy Expert League Draft

The Yahoo Expert League was a 12-team live draft streamed on YouTube. You can watch our analysis and pick-by-pick reactions for full context, but after taking part in the draft myself, I learned some things that will help you during draft weekend. Here are the top-five lessons learned from this half PPR league, one we will be playing out as a real league.

Everyone in the room expressed nervousness about missing out on RBs. This was evident as high as third overall, when Justin Boone drafted Jonathan Taylor, even though it disagreed with his own and everyone's raw rankings. He knew (and was right) that the RB options at the Round 2/3 turn were going to be ugly, and he didn't want to go Zero RB.

Ditto for Scott Pianowski when he took Kyren Williams at 2.07 over literally any of the WRs in the Round 2 tier. Travis Etienne Jr. went 3.02, and Javonte Williams went 3.05. I've seen those players in the fourth round more often than the third round, but in a room full of full-time fantasy analysts, the RBs went at a premium early on.

Josh Allen went at 3.07. That's even after his Yahoo ADP, but his selection was instantly met with live roasts from all of the veteran drafters. Allen has been 18th and 30th overall in my half-PPR fantasy points over replacement per game metric in four straight seasons, but this was more of a supply-and-demand analysis done by the rest of the league.

Pianowski led the vocal charge of mocking every early-round QB selection, knowing he'd get very startable QBs with his last picks. He did just that by drafting Brock Purdy in Round 11 and Jordan Love in Round 14. He had five WRs, four RBs and his TE before selecting his first QB, and it's hard to argue with the results. Streaming Purdy and Love based on matchups will lead to a top-10 scoring QB this year, and he didn't have to spend up for it.

I didn't press my luck that far, but Jayden Daniels was my QB in Round 8 after drafting his top WR, Terry McLaurin. I can defend a three-round premium from Purdy to Daniels, but the fact that I was also able to grab Bo Nix in Round 13 shows the viability of late-round QB this year. Nix was the QB9 in back-to-back seasons and added Jaylen Waddle this offseason.

Lamar Jackson was the 5.12 for those curious, but Caleb Williams fell to 8.12 and Jalen Hurts was 7.03 if you're looking for what I'd view as the sweet spot of waiting on QBs.

It was hard to justify any of our selections from the 5.10 onward. I selected Terry McLaurin at 5.09, and that was easy to defend. My co-host Josh Norris was upset by that, as he had the following selection. He didn't like anyone, paused and ultimately selected Sam LaPorta way ahead of ADP. Zero-floor dead zone RB Bhayshul Tuten went 5.11 and Lamar Jackson rounded out the round. Both picks were mocked by the room.

Unfortunately, there is just a massive tier break at RB and WR in this range. There's no way around it. Some opted to pick the semi-elite QBs, like Drake Maye (6.03) and Joe Burrow (6.08), but as just outlined, it's hard to defend the two-vs.-twos with the teams who waited on QBs until Round 8+. Others took on massive injury risks, like Tucker Kraft (6.01), Mike Evans (my 6.03), J.K. Dobbins (6.09) and MarShawn Lloyd (6.10 — more on him below). It's hard to defend Evans' continued soft-tissue injuries, but the other WR options were Brian Thomas Jr., Marvin Harrison Jr. and Carnell Tate. Tough.

Round 7 was filled with potential NFL team No. 2 RBs like Jonathon Brooks (7.02), Blake Corum (7.04), Chuba Hubbard (7.09) and Kyle Monangai (7.11). Hubbard has done it before but the others have never been top-20 options. The fact that they are in consideration this highly shows how bad this range is.

Eat your vegetables with a TE or veteran WR here because the more heart-racing upside swings are being drafted in Rounds 8+.

Lloyd went 6.10 to Justin Boone, who was elated by his perceived fall. Some believe Lloyd is a Round 5-6 value, while the consensus is probably closer to Round 7-9.

I took Jacobs with 9.09 as my RB4, fully knowing what the range of outcomes are. If charges are somehow dropped or if the Commissioner's Exempt List ultimately follows the Personal Conduct Policy's outline of six game suspensions for first-time domestic violence acts, then the ninth round will likely be of great value (purely in fantasy football terms of course). I'd say that explains about 50% of the outcomes. The remaining 50% of outcomes include an indefinite placement on the Exempt List while they attempt to learn more about the situation or a full Packers release and permanent ban from the NFL if the alleged video is leaked and shows what is alleged to have happened. It's not fair that this is how it works in the world, but the video leaking or not by Week 6 very well could determine if Jacobs is playing in November and December this year. Most players who are suspended for domestic violence continue to play. The exceptions are the ones with video attached.

Quickly on Lloyd, I'm fading him at these new draft prices. Most importantly, it's probably close to 50% that Jacobs is just back halfway through the season, and that's when it's easiest to find other starters in the RB2 and FLEX spots. Beyond that, Lloyd's very unproven, and his injury history could be so extensive that the coaching staff doesn't want to go from 0 to 20 touches per game. It's possible, if not likely, that he's in a committee with Chris Brooks available for pass protection and Kaleb Johnson or Pierre Strong available for change-of-pace duties. Jacobs was the RB12 as a real bellcow last year, and I'd be very hesitant to project Lloyd for the same volume. He'll be the RB20 or so in my early-season weekly rankings.

This training camp was a long one, with many highly-drafted players leaving with injuries. Here's where they went, and my take on the picks:

Ashton Jeanty at 2.21: Very fair. After Hampton, Achane, Henry, Brown, etc.

Malik Nabers at 3.01: Very fair. I'd draft him even earlier if needed. Around 20th.

Jeremiyah Love at 3.09: Very fair. It was my selection, after all. I was stoked.

Rashee Rice at 3.11: Ehhh. Risky in half-PPR with Ladd McConkey, Tetairoa McMillan, Garrett Wilson available.

Emeka Egbuka at 4.05: Fair. He went at the bottom of a big WR tier. Turf toe is real.

Tucker Kraft at 6.01: Ehhh. There will be a ramp-up period and negative regression.

Jonathon Brooks at 7.02: Ehhh. Experiencing soreness after multiple years missed.

Alec Pierce at 7.07: Ehhh. Practicing but slight limp when walking after big surgery.

Kyle Monangai at 7.11: Bad. Everyone groaned.

George Kittle at 8.10: Fair. He's apparently traveling for Week 1. This is a quick return.

Mike Washington Jr. at 10.5: Ehhh. This is a bit early if Jeanty is playing Week 1 or 2.

Jordyn Tyson at 10.10: Fair. Better click in redraft with IR spots. Week 9 return is likely.