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