Fake Teams fantasy football mailbag: Is Andrew Luck worth drafting?

Welcome to the Fake Teams’ fantasy football mailbag. This week we’re talking Andrew Luck, draft strategies, bad offensive lines & future quarterbacks.

If you want to send in your questions for next week’s mailbag, here are the ways to join:

• tweet @petemrogers or @Faketeams using #FTFFmailbag
• email your questions into FTFFmailbag@gmail.com
• leave your question in the comments!

Onto the mailbag:

Q: I have a draft in 2 days. Would you steer clear of Andrew Luck and TY Hilton, given Lucks "no timetable" to return?
— @MikeCarmanJr

I don’t know if I would steer clear of them, but I certainly would be cautious. Luckily for you, the rest of the fantasy world is being equally cautious as both Luck and Hilton’s ADP have fallen in recent weeks. Since Hilton’s production is pretty reliant on Luck being healthy, I would be hesitant to draft him, especially since there other receivers going around him that don’t have the same worries and can still produce plenty of fantasy points.

Meanwhile, Luck is currently going in the eighth round according to Fantasy Football Calculator which is amazing value if he ends up only missing the first two or so games and comes back healthy, ready to go. If you wanted to go that strat (which isn’t the worst idea mind you), I’d pair him with a late round guy who you can ride until Luck is healthy. If I come out of a draft with Luck in the eighth and say Matthew Stafford in the 11th or Carson Palmer in the 13rd, I’m a happy man.

Q: In a 12 team ppr ESPN league, should I ever consider drafting more than 1 QB, TE, K or DST?
— @whorleyt

I gave a quick answer to this on the twittersphere but wanted to give a little more detailed answer here. Right off the bat, it’s never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever worth drafting two kickers or two defenses. In fact, I often outright ignore one if not both positions in drafts because you can stream those positions with pretty decent success.

Doubling up in quarterbacks and tight ends make sense if you’re taking a risk at either position. In the example I just gave for Luck, I wouldn’t want to not draft another QB otherwise I’d be stuck the first few weeks with whatever signal caller falls to the waiver wire. Not exactly ideal. You can also double on quarterbacks late in the draft as a chance to get two guys you think could have big years. Taking Dak Prescott in the 10th and Tyrod Taylor in the 12th isn’t a bad move because you now have two guys who could be top-10 (maybe even top-7) quarterbacks this year.

For tight ends, I like taking double if the second guy is someone I think could break out. These guys include O.J. Howard, David Njoku, Jack Doyle, Austin Hooper and Julius Thomas. Ultimately, you don’t need to back up either position but if there’s a QB or TE on the board late that you think could have a big year, no reason not to get them.

Follow up question: are there any O-Lines so bad that you would avoid all players on those teams?

There are offensive lines that certainly have me reconsidering some players. Jonathan and myself talked about Leonard Fournette on this week’s podcast and how the Jaguars’ awful offensive line could stunt his fantasy potential. I’m also worried about offensive lines with the Chargers (lots of injuries), Bengals (lost talent in free agency) and with Vikings (just bad). I don’t think any are so bad that I’d avoid all players on those teams though. Maybe only if the offensive line was that of high school players that somehow all magically got the starting gig would I avoid every player on that team.

Q: Keeper league. Wilson or Jameis?
— @PaddiCooper

Short and sweet, I like it.

I think I’d have to go with Wilson simply because you know what you’re going to get with him. Since coming into the league, Wilson has had only one year outside of the top-10 fantasy quarterbacks and that was last year when he finished QB11. Winston might have higher upside from a fantasy perspective—that being said, Wilson finished QB3 in 2015 and 2014—but he also could never pan out exactly how we all expect him to.

If you really wanted to break my mind, ask me Wilson vs. Mariota. That’s a question I can answer at the moment. My gut says Wilson but my body... my body’s telling me Mariota.

Have fantasy football questions? You can email them into FTFFmailbag@gmail.com or tweet them at @petemrogers or @faketeams using the hashtag #FTFFmailbag.