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USATSI

In a Dynasty start-up, one thing I preach is letting your first few picks determine the path of your team. If, after five rounds, your team looks like a redraft dominator, then I suggest doubling down and pushing towards a Year 1 win. Flags fly forever. On the other hand, if your team is full of young talent that is better in Dynasty than redraft, I suggest prioritizing youth moving forward and crossing certain vets off your draft list.

But not everyone learns in the same way. Some people can read instructions and follow them. Others need to actually see the mistakes being made before they fully grasp the concept. That's why the team you'll see that I drafted below looks so severely disjointed. Yeah, that's why. I was thinking of you guys.

The team started innocently enough. I took Justin Jefferson with the fifth pick of the draft, and took Jalen Hurts in Round 2 because this was a Superflex mock. After that pick I highlighted Matthew Stafford as the only quarterback I would take in Round 3 if he was still there. Stafford's safe floor was made more attractive by the volatility in Hurts' profile. I do absolutely believe Hurts has QB1 overall upside this season, but I also recognize Hurts could be one bad season away from losing his job. 

While the Stafford/Hurts combo made sense in that way, it didn't really help determine where this team fit in the two paths I laid out above. And D.J. Moore in Round 4 didn't help either. But when I got to Round 5, I saw a game-changer. Derrick Henry was still there. Drafting Derrick Henry gave me a top-five running back, two top-12 quarterbacks, my No. 2 wide receiver overall and another in the top 20. It was clearly time to put the pedal to the metal and win Year 1, right? 

That's not exactly the path I chose.

Sticking to my rankings, I took rookies with my next two picks in Garrett Wilson and Kenneth Walker. Now, I want to be clear: They were the best players on my board when I picked and I would go so far as to say that Wilson was a great value late in Round 6. But they may not help me win in 2022, and Henry may not have any Fantasy value after 2022.

If I had taken Marquise Brown over Wilson and James Conner over Walker, my team would be the clear favorite this year. And I'd still have plenty of youth to prevent the need for a complete overhaul. If we were playing this out, I may be tempted to use those guys or 2023 picks to make a push in-season for a title. Or, if I have a couple of injuries I'd be looking to deal Henry and the other older players to contenders for youth and picks.

As it stands, I have a good team in 2022 that could be great if a couple of rookies hit. It's not the worst of outcomes, but the uncertainty in which direction the roster is moving is one I try to avoid in Dynasty leagues. This team could end up in the middle in a variety of different ways, and there's no worse place to be.

Here are the analysts who participated in the mock draft:

Robby Jeffries, The Fantasy Authority
Ryan Weisse, Club Fantasy
R.J. White, CBS Fantasy
Faith Enes, Women of Fantasy Football
Heath Cummings, CBS Fantasy
Matt Renshaw, Dynasty Dads Podcast
Dave Richard, CBS Fantasy
Adam Aizer, CBS Fantasy
Frank Stampfl, CBS Fantasy
Ben Schragger, CBS Fantasy
Jamey Eisenberg, CBS Fantasy
Chris Towers, CBS Fantasy

And here are the results: 

Round By Round
Round 1
Pos Team Player
1 Jamey Eisenberg
2 Matt Renshaw
3 Dave Richard
4 Ryan Weisse
5 Frank Stampfl
6 R.J. White
7 Faith Enes
8 Ben Schragger
9 Robby Jeffries
10 Chris Towers
11 Heath Cummings
12 Adam Aizer
Round 2
Pos Team Player
13 Adam Aizer
14 Heath Cummings
15 Chris Towers
16 Robby Jeffries
17 Ben Schragger
18 Faith Enes
19 R.J. White
20 Frank Stampfl
21 Ryan Weisse
22 Dave Richard
23 Matt Renshaw
24 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 3
Pos Team Player
25 Jamey Eisenberg
26 Matt Renshaw
27 Dave Richard
28 Ryan Weisse
29 Frank Stampfl
30 R.J. White
31 Faith Enes
32 Ben Schragger
33 Robby Jeffries
34 Chris Towers
35 Heath Cummings
36 Adam Aizer
Round 4
Pos Team Player
37 Adam Aizer
38 Heath Cummings
39 Chris Towers
40 Robby Jeffries
41 Ben Schragger
42 Faith Enes
43 R.J. White
44 Frank Stampfl
45 Ryan Weisse
46 Dave Richard
47 Matt Renshaw
48 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 5
Pos Team Player
49 Jamey Eisenberg
50 Matt Renshaw
51 Dave Richard
52 Ryan Weisse
53 Frank Stampfl
54 R.J. White
55 Faith Enes
56 Ben Schragger
57 Robby Jeffries
58 Chris Towers
59 Heath Cummings
60 Adam Aizer
Round 6
Pos Team Player
61 Adam Aizer
62 Heath Cummings
63 Chris Towers
64 Robby Jeffries
65 Ben Schragger
66 Faith Enes
67 R.J. White
68 Frank Stampfl
69 Ryan Weisse
70 Dave Richard
71 Matt Renshaw
72 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 7
Pos Team Player
73 Jamey Eisenberg
74 Matt Renshaw
75 Dave Richard
76 Ryan Weisse
77 Frank Stampfl
78 R.J. White
79 Faith Enes
80 Ben Schragger
81 Robby Jeffries
82 Chris Towers
83 Heath Cummings
84 Adam Aizer
Round 8
Pos Team Player
85 Adam Aizer
86 Heath Cummings
87 Chris Towers
88 Robby Jeffries
89 Ben Schragger
90 Faith Enes
91 R.J. White
92 Frank Stampfl
93 Ryan Weisse
94 Dave Richard
95 Matt Renshaw
96 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 9
Pos Team Player
97 Jamey Eisenberg
98 Matt Renshaw
99 Dave Richard
100 Ryan Weisse
101 Frank Stampfl
102 R.J. White
103 Faith Enes
104 Ben Schragger
105 Robby Jeffries
106 Chris Towers
107 Heath Cummings
108 Adam Aizer
Round 10
Pos Team Player
109 Adam Aizer
110 Heath Cummings
111 Chris Towers
112 Robby Jeffries
113 Ben Schragger
114 Faith Enes
115 R.J. White
116 Frank Stampfl
117 Ryan Weisse
118 Dave Richard
119 Matt Renshaw
120 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 11
Pos Team Player
121 Jamey Eisenberg
122 Matt Renshaw
123 Dave Richard
124 Ryan Weisse
125 Frank Stampfl
126 R.J. White
127 Faith Enes
128 Ben Schragger
129 Robby Jeffries
130 Chris Towers
131 Heath Cummings
132 Adam Aizer
Round 12
Pos Team Player
133 Adam Aizer
134 Heath Cummings
135 Chris Towers
136 Robby Jeffries
137 Ben Schragger
138 Faith Enes
139 R.J. White
140 Frank Stampfl
141 Ryan Weisse
142 Dave Richard
143 Matt Renshaw
144 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 13
Pos Team Player
145 Jamey Eisenberg
146 Matt Renshaw
147 Dave Richard
148 Ryan Weisse
149 Frank Stampfl
150 R.J. White
151 Faith Enes
152 Ben Schragger
153 Robby Jeffries
154 Chris Towers
155 Heath Cummings
156 Adam Aizer
Round 14
Pos Team Player
157 Adam Aizer
158 Heath Cummings
159 Chris Towers
160 Robby Jeffries
161 Ben Schragger
162 Faith Enes
163 R.J. White
164 Frank Stampfl
165 Ryan Weisse
166 Dave Richard
167 Matt Renshaw
168 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 15
Pos Team Player
169 Jamey Eisenberg
170 Matt Renshaw
171 Dave Richard
172 Ryan Weisse
173 Frank Stampfl
174 R.J. White
175 Faith Enes
176 Ben Schragger
177 Robby Jeffries
178 Chris Towers
179 Heath Cummings
180 Adam Aizer
Round 16
Pos Team Player
181 Adam Aizer
182 Heath Cummings
183 Chris Towers
184 Robby Jeffries
185 Ben Schragger
186 Faith Enes
187 R.J. White
188 Frank Stampfl
189 Ryan Weisse
190 Dave Richard
191 Matt Renshaw
192 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 17
Pos Team Player
193 Jamey Eisenberg
194 Matt Renshaw
195 Dave Richard
196 Ryan Weisse
197 Frank Stampfl
198 R.J. White
199 Faith Enes
200 Ben Schragger
201 Robby Jeffries
202 Chris Towers
203 Heath Cummings
204 Adam Aizer
Round 18
Pos Team Player
205 Adam Aizer
206 Heath Cummings
207 Chris Towers
208 Robby Jeffries
209 Ben Schragger
210 Faith Enes
211 R.J. White
212 Frank Stampfl
213 Ryan Weisse
214 Dave Richard
215 Matt Renshaw
216 Jamey Eisenberg
Team by Team
Jamey Eisenberg
Rd Pk Player
1 1
2 24
3 25
4 48
5 49
6 72
7 73
8 96
9 97
10 120
11 121
12 144
13 145
14 168
15 169
16 192
17 193
18 216
Matt Renshaw
Rd Pk Player
1 2
2 23
3 26
4 47
5 50
6 71
7 74
8 95
9 98
10 119
11 122
12 143
13 146
14 167
15 170
16 191
17 194
18 215
Dave Richard
Rd Pk Player
1 3
2 22
3 27
4 46
5 51
6 70
7 75
8 94
9 99
10 118
11 123
12 142
13 147
14 166
15 171
16 190
17 195
18 214
Ryan Weisse
Rd Pk Player
1 4
2 21
3 28
4 45
5 52
6 69
7 76
8 93
9 100
10 117
11 124
12 141
13 148
14 165
15 172
16 189
17 196
18 213
Frank Stampfl
Rd Pk Player
1 5
2 20
3 29
4 44
5 53
6 68
7 77
8 92
9 101
10 116
11 125
12 140
13 149
14 164
15 173
16 188
17 197
18 212
R.J. White
Rd Pk Player
1 6
2 19
3 30
4 43
5 54
6 67
7 78
8 91
9 102
10 115
11 126
12 139
13 150
14 163
15 174
16 187
17 198
18 211
Faith Enes
Rd Pk Player
1 7
2 18
3 31
4 42
5 55
6 66
7 79
8 90
9 103
10 114
11 127
12 138
13 151
14 162
15 175
16 186
17 199
18 210
Ben Schragger
Rd Pk Player
1 8
2 17
3 32
4 41
5 56
6 65
7 80
8 89
9 104
10 113
11 128
12 137
13 152
14 161
15 176
16 185
17 200
18 209
Robby Jeffries
Rd Pk Player
1 9
2 16
3 33
4 40
5 57
6 64
7 81
8 88
9 105
10 112
11 129
12 136
13 153
14 160
15 177
16 184
17 201
18 208
Chris Towers
Rd Pk Player
1 10
2 15
3 34
4 39
5 58
6 63
7 82
8 87
9 106
10 111
11 130
12 135
13 154
14 159
15 178
16 183
17 202
18 207
Heath Cummings
Rd Pk Player
1 11
2 14
3 35
4 38
5 59
6 62
7 83
8 86
9 107
10 110
11 131
12 134
13 155
14 158
15 179
16 182
17 203
18 206
Adam Aizer
Rd Pk Player
1 12
2 13
3 36
4 37
5 60
6 61
7 84
8 85
9 108
10 109
11 132
12 133
13 156
14 157
15 180
16 181
17 204
18 205