One of the most notable Fantasy Football experts leagues around had two of their drafts last weekend: 2015 FLEX Fantasy Draft and the 2015 FLEX PPR Fantasy Draft. I took part in the standard league and I figured I’d share some of my strategy and opinions about some of the players here.

The FLEX scoring system is relatively standard with four points for passing touchdowns, but the lineup requirements are a little different.


For one thing, there’s no kicker. This is something the league’s organizer, Jake Ciely of RotoExperts.com, hopes to become an industry-wide thing, as he just thinks kickers are unnecessary and useless in Fantasy play.

At first, I was against it, but during the season last year, it was nice to not have to worry about bye-week replacements at kicker — and then getting kickers back after a bye week.

Also, FLEX starting lineups require TWO flex positions (it is called the “FLEX” league, after all), and this makes for an even more interesting format, considering we also start three wide receivers.

My strategy going into the draft was to load up on three very good running backs early. I like running backs anyway, but in a non-PPR league with two flex positions, I thought I could really do some damage if I got three good running backs among my first four picks. As you can see, I’m not a believer in the Zero-RB Theory.

My 2015 FLEX Fantasy Draft 

Before we get too far into my team, I want you to take a look back at what I thought of the draft overall, and how I think our different strategies worked out.

1.08 Marshawn Lynch, RB, Seattle: I absolutely hate the late middle picks this year — for several reasons. The first of which is that since I love running backs so much, you’re choices at this part of the first round are limited, unless some non-RBs go ahead of you. The second reason is that I’m fine with drafting Frank Gore late in the second round (I really like him a lot this summer), but I just can’t make him an early second-rounder. So if I have a late first-rounder, then I can’t have Gore in the second.

I love reliable, consistent running backs, and that’s exactly what I get with Lynch. Sure, Christine Michael and Robert Turbin might get more touches this year, and Jimmy Graham will certainly steal some touchdowns from Lynch. But the offense should be good enough to get more goal-line looks for everyone. I was considering either Lynch, Matt Forte or LeSean McCoy at this spot. I was just two spots away from getting Jamaal Charles, though!

2.05 Matt Forte, RB, Chicago: I didn’t expect to have another shot at Forte here, but as many ahead of me went for wide receivers (some for more than one), Forte was available as my RB2. No matter what happens going forward, I have the best tandem of Fantasy RBs in this league now.

Forte caught over 100 passes last season, but he loses Marc Trestman to Baltimore. He does get former Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase, though, and with Brandon Marshall in New York, Forte will still see a ton of targets.

3.08 Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Carolina: One of my favorite wide receivers in the game, the former FSU player is still developing into an NFL star. Last season’s numbers all came on just pure ability, and now he has had a full offseason to prepare for Year 2. He can win most 50/50 balls and he has earned Cam Newton’s trust — he just has to become more consistent from play to play and from week to week. Again, the fact this isn’t a PPR league makes this pick even better, since he’s not a guy that will rack up 10 catches per game.

4.05 Carlos Hyde, RB, San Francisco: I regret this pick. I really do. Not because I don’t like Hyde, but because I should have taken Andrew Luck here (he went one pick later). But I did get my third running back in the first four rounds, like I wanted, and I love Hyde running behind the 49ers offensive line. He’ll be my first flex player. We’ll see if I should have taken Joseph Randle here instead.

Now that I have three running backs, I plan to hit the wide receivers group pretty hard in the coming picks.

5.08 Julian Edelman, WR, New England: Obviously, Edelman’s value climbs when Tom Brady is under center, so we’ll be hoping for that suspension to get reduced/removed. Edelman is better as a PPR player, but he can still scoot across the goal line from time to time.

6.05 Peyton Manning, QB, Denver: This is my other least favorite pick, as I really had my eyes on Jarvis Landry or Vincent Jackson here, but they went a couple spots ahead of me. Not happy with the other wide receivers available (Martavis Bryant, Nelson Agholor and Larry Fitzgerald), I decided to pull the trigger on the third quarterback of the draft. In hindsight, I should’ve taken Bryant and gone with Russell Wilson a little later.

7.08 Steve Smith, WR, Baltimore: He’s not really a sleeper, but this veteran is the No. 1 guy in Joe Flacco’s offense (with Trestman as the new OC), and he will serve as my WR3 for now.

8.05 Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia: Hearing that he has a core muscle injury that could end his preseason is bad for my team, but when I picked him, I was happy to get a guy that should pick up Jeremy Maclin’s targets in a high-octane offense.

9.08 Charles Sims, RB, Tampa Bay: Doug Martin currently owns the No. 1 tailback spot, but remember that Sims was Lovie Smith’s draft pick. We’ll see what happens early in the year, when Martin gets dinged up.

10.05 Terrance Williams, WR, Dallas: I’m a big believer in the third-year wide receiver out of Baylor. With DeMarco Murray in Philadelphia, the Cowboys will likely have to go to their passing game more than they did last season. 

11.08 Percy Harvin, WR, Buffalo: Yeah, not really a huge believer in Harvin, but at this point, I figure he has something left and I did good — or he doesn’t and he’s an early cut.

12.05 Cody Latimer, WR, Denver: With Wes Welker out of town, Latimer steps into the WR3 spot in his second year. Granted, the Broncos aren’t expected to throw as much in 2015, but having Manning’s third wideout has never been a bad thing in the past.

13.08 Kyle Rudolph, TE, Minnesota: He’s a perennial sleeper, but injuries have always held him back. With Adrian Peterson back in the huddle, and Mike Wallace on the outside, Rudolph should have a great chance at a good season in 2015.

Since I didn’t do as well as I hoped with my mid-round receivers, I thought I’d double up on talent at tight end. I can play them in the flex position if I need to, so two tight ends isn’t a bad thing.

14.05 Jerick McKinnon, RB, Minnesota: Peterson is on the wrong side of 30 now, and McKinnon is a speedster waiting in the wings with a full year under his belt. 

15.08 Doug Baldwin, WR, Seattle: There wasn’t much left in the wide receivers position, as everyone dove in deep. But Baldwin is a WR1 on one of the best offenses in the NFL, so we know he’ll get plenty of time on the field. Hopefully, that will add up to more targets.

16.05 Denver Broncos, DST: While the Broncos DST isn’t as lethal as last season or the year before, when the opposing offense had to throw it early and often to come from behind, this is still an above-average unit. I have them as a top-10 unit this draft season.

Ciely ran the numbers in the FantasyPros Draft Wizard to see what the projected order of finish would be with our current teams, and I came in second place. With three of the top 20 running backs on my team, I can see why it loves my 2015 FLEX Fantasy Football team!