Fantasy Football 2019: Redrafting the first round after 8 weeks

 As we hit the halfway point of the fantasy football season, what would the first 12 picks look like if we redrafted today?

Week 8 is officially in the books. We are at the halfway point of the fantasy football season. Things have not played out the way we thought they would in both real and fantasy. The 49ers are undefeated. A few backup quarterbacks ended up in starting roles and some of them are playing very well.

As far as fantasy goes, some first-round picks have panned out while others have lost some value. Then again, players who were drafted late have stepped up and are top-20 players at their respective positions. But, what if we can start over and redraft at this point in the season?

Who would move out of the first round and who would take their place? Would any players stay in the first round? But before we do that, let’s take a look at who was drafted in the first round in drafts before the season started.

These players were drafted in the first round of a 12-team league according to ESPN’s ADP.

Saquon Barkley, RB

Christian McCaffrey, RB

Ezekiel Elliott, RB

Alvin Kamara, RB

DeAndre Hopkins, WR

Michael Thomas, WR

David Johnson, RB

Dalvin Cook, RB

Le’Veon Bell, RB

Julio Jones, WR

Tyreek Hill, WR

Davante Adams, WR

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As you can see, the first four picks and seven of the 12 were running backs. With teams going with the committee approach, finding a three-down back early is important. They are guaranteed at least 180 touches which leads to a lot of fantasy points, especially for those players.

The five wide receivers are game-changers. They are the clear No. 1s for their respective teams and can haul in over 100 receptions in a season. In a PPR league, those are 100 extra points you won’t find anywhere else.

At this point in the season, some of those players are still putting up top-10 numbers while others are looking forward to a fresh start in 2020. But, if we were to redraft the first 12 picks after eight weeks of play, what would the first round look like?

No need to wait any longer, let’s find out. There are some guidelines for this, though. Despite how well the Patriots defense is playing, they will not be included. No one has or will ever draft a defense in the first round. I will also not include a tight end on this list.

As you can see, there are still a couple of names still in the top-12. For those new on the list, there are a few reasons why they made it. Let’s start with the quarterbacks. While I’m not a fan of drafting a quarterback in the first round, let alone three, the three listed have been difference-makers in fantasy football this season.

Christian McCaffrey, 208.8 PPR points

McCaffrey moves to the No. 1 spot. He’s the only player with over 200 fantasy points. With the injury to Cam Newton, the Panthers offense revolves around CMC and his fantasy owners are happy about that.

Dalvin Cook, 192.6

Cook is leading all running backs in rushing yards, 823, and touchdowns, nine. The Vikings want to limit how many times Kirk Cousins throws and Cook benefits from that.

Aaron Jones, 180.1

Jones is finally getting used the way he should. He has 466 rushing yards, six rushing touchdowns, 355 receiving yards and another three scores. The Packers are still relying on Aaron Rodgers but having Jones in the backfield makes this offense more dynamic and he’s getting carries and targets

Deshaun Watson, 197.4

Watson is sixth in passing yards, second in touchdowns, third in rushing yards and first in touchdowns among quarterbacks.

Michael Thomas, 183.6

Thomas is leading the receivers in fantasy points and yards with 875. Jones is third in yards and seventh in receptions.

Cooper Kupp, 170.6

Kupp had a great 2018 season and is having an even better 2019. He has 58 receptions, 792 yards and five touchdowns. He is the clear No. 1 while Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods compete for targets

Russell Wilson, 187.3

Wilson does a great job taking care of the ball with his 17-1 TD-INT ratio along with his three rushing touchdowns.

Austin Ekeler, 170.8

Ekeler benefitted from Melvin Gordon’s holdout. He doesn’t make much of an impact in the running game with just 251 yards. However, Ekeler is a beast in the passing game. He has 51 receptions for 507 yards and five touchdowns. It’s hard to find those numbers from a running back, especially in PPR leagues.

Leonard Fournette, 147.4

Fournette is second among running backs in rushing yards but he has just one rushing touchdown. The Jaguars offense is playing pretty well under Gardner Minshew. Fournette is getting touches but the team seems to be passing more once in the red zone as he has 31 attempts in the red zone this season.

Chris Godwin, 155.5

With the Buccaneers moving away from DeSean Jackson and Adam Humphries, many expected Godwin to step up as the No. 2 wide receiver. And, so far, that seems to be the case. He has 47 receptions, 705 yards and six touchdowns, leading the team in all three stats.

Lamar Jackson, 175.6

Jackson is the ultimate dual-threat. While his passing yards are low, he has 11 passing touchdowns, 576 rushing yards and three scores.

Julio Jones, 145.3

Jones is third in receiving yards with 50 receptions and four touchdowns. The Falcons as a whole are struggling but Jones is still putting big numbers on a weekly basis.

It’s interesting to see how much changes over the course of a few weeks. Whether it’s because of injuries, game flow or just skill, the top-10 list is always changing. I wonder how different this list will be at the end of the fantasy football season.