Oh Canada! Part 1 - CNBBCL Team Grades

OH CANADA! THE CNBBCL HAS HIT THE GREAT WHITE NORTH, EH!

If you are on @Twitter and part of the fantasy football community, you have probably seen the #CNBBCL floating around the Twitterverse over the last couple of weeks. Are you wondering what it could be?

The inaugural Canadian National Best Ball Championship League (CNBBCL) is a 32 team, two conference, Superflex, TE Premium Best Ball Canadian Championship with three goals:

1. 1. To have a ton of fun for those fantasy football enthusiasts participating

2. 2. Crown a Best Ball champion of Canada

3. 3. Most importantly, to raise money for charity across this great nation of ours (100% of the league fees will be donated to charity)

It started off from the doldrums of the Covid-19 quarantine and was hatched inside the mind of Will Harris (@itsharristime, @TrueNorthffb). In such a short span, the CNBBCL has already doubled to two conferences (Gord Downie and Jim Lahey) and has an immense following on Twitter. It is truly exciting how it has grown organically and needless to say, there are big plans in the future for the CNBBCL!

In fact, it has gotten so big, that it attracted the attention of Best Ball expert and fellow Canadian @JamesBrinscome, aka Eaglezzz on Twitter. James has done over 600+ drafts this year alone and did over 2,200 last year. His Top 250 Best Ball Rankings just dropped on The Football Guys website and he's a MUST follow for all things fantasy and Best Ball.

James has been extremely kind to review and rank the Gord Downie Conference’s draft that just recently wrapped up. Even if you aren’t part of the league, you’ll have some laughs at the Tragically Trailer Park themed team names (Tragically Hip + The Trailer Park Boys = Two Canadian Institutions) and enjoy his analysis and insights that you would expect from a Best Ball guru. His overview can also help you find value and evaluate your own Best Ball and season-long drafts.

Without further ado, I’d like to welcome @JamesBrimacome to the TNFF and CNNBCL community with this special write up!

*Each grade is out of 10

THE TRAGICALLY SWIFT

It is definitely QB or bust for this team! I respect the Mahomes and Wentz selections, but even in a superflex league, I can’t love the pick of old man Drew Brees in RD2. By far the weakest position on this team is the RB position. You will be hoping and praying for at least two of Swift/Hunt/Moss to hit a home run. My favorite pick is easily JuJu in Round 4 as he has the potential to rebound this year in a huge way. I also, like the Hooper/Doyle TE combo that you drafted at a discount. A pretty “Swift” draft overall.

Grade = 7.0

CAM-SQUANCH

Who needs a QB when you can get CMC at 1.02 eh! Even better, is when you can draft CMC and Ryan/J.Allen as your QB combo. Even greater is the Ertz/Waller TE combo. I love the build of this team that locked in the QB/TE positions, as it could be huge in a 16-team league. My favorite part of this team’s draft was when from Round 8-13 they went with six straight WRs. The names aren’t big at the WR position but they are also all guys who are WR2s on their respective teams.

Grade = 7.5

BOURNE IN THE WATER

I have looked at this team’s roster several times and I can’t find a QB on the roster! What I do see are a few strange names in Stidham, Mullens, and Keenum. It probably wasn’t the strategy this team wanted to use going into the draft, considering he “snagged” Stidham in RD4 at the tail end of a huge QB run. Being on the wrong side of a position run can hurt a team more than anything, especially in a 16-team league. I have to say I like the RBs and WRs though and I don’t even mind the pieced together tight ends. If this team had one QB ahead of Stidham I think it could be a contender.

Grade = 5.5 (If there was another serviceable QB 7.5/8.0)

THE BASTARD

Passing on Drake for JT feels wrong to me but so does passing on Zeke/Kamara/Cook for MT in RD1. I am not loving the overall depth on this team, as I feel it will need some of the deep fliers/sleepers such as Darrynton Evans, and Taysom Hill to really come out of nowhere and deliver big seasons. My favorite pick is Mack in RD9. Although he is a great pair with JT in Indy, I would much rather have drafted a Zeke/Drake/Mack RB combo to the MT/JT/Mack picks. It is going to be an uphill climb for The Bastard this season!

Grade = 6.0

What'reYaLookinAtMyGutFer?!? (?????????)

A Lamar/Goff/Minshew QB trio in a 16-team superflex league might just be considered stealing. I like all three of those QBs. The trio have huge upside and a very safe floor each week. Also, the Godwin/Kupp WR combo is money, especially with devoting so much draft capital into QBs already. Mostert/Michel/Henderson is a trio of RBs that fantasy football players hate and that is why you got them at a value. I don’t hate your RBs at all and I love the Brown and Wilson handcuffs that you drafted later on. I like the roster construction on this team but I think a better team name is a no brainer. This team is a contender!

Grade = 8.0 (Team name grade = 3.0)

FIFTY MISSION KAEP

I really like this roster from start to finish. I went down the entire roster and really couldn’t pick out a player that I didn’t like, at where they were drafted. I think Kaep hit on some good fliers at the end of the draft and hit home runs at all the positions at the top half of the draft. If I had to pick a favorite to win the league this team would be it!

Grade = 9.5

@CONNORTEN

I like this roster minus the single QB build of Teddy Bridgewater. I think this team will score high on a weekly basis at the RB and WR positions but going single QB and punting with 3 later round TEs, might be leaving too many potential points on the table each week. I think this team will be a top-half team but the lack of QB/TE depth will make it hard for them to really hit that top 3 team level.

Grade = 6.5 (If this team had a QB2, I would go with a grade of 8.0)

LOCKED IN THE TRUNK OF A CAR

This is the team that drafted 6 QBs. I am not sure if the strategy was to hoard all the QBs or they just thought Hoyer/Winston/A.Smith will give them an advantage. I like the Stafford/Carr/Fitzmagic QB trio and probably would have stopped drafting QBs there. This team brings a very solid build to it (minus the 6 QBs). I like the RBs, WRs and TEs ... and QBs. This team has a good shot at being a contender come the end of the season, but really they must have been locked in the trunk of a car with those last three QB selections!

Grade = 8.0

BLOW @ HIGH FOLES

The fact that they drafted a CFL player makes me want to cheer for Foles here. I think this team has a great build from top to bottom, as it looked like a ton of thought went into each pick. The Henry/Chubb RB combo looks great and I love all the upside WRs. Three starting QBs with a solid Carolina backup makes for a covered position. This is a top third of the league type of team that will be there at the end with a fighting chance just based on roster construction and player selection.

Grade = 8.0

COACH DANNY O’SHEA

I have mixed feelings on this team, as I love the Mixon and Ekeler picks, but hate the Fournette pick in RD3. I would have rather drafted ARob in that spot, especially after realizing that you got Singletary as your RB3 in RD6. There is a solid build all around at the RB, WR and, TE spots but this team might be somewhat short at QB with Rivers and Tagovailoa but I like the idea of adding Mariota and Brissett as insurance pieces.

Grade = 7.0

FULLY COMPLETELY

The WR trio of Ridley in RD5, Lockett in RD6 and, Fuller in RD7, are pretty nice selections. I also didn’t mind the Hill/Gus RB combo in the mid-rounds. After that, I feel like there are too many long shots in the latter half of the draft. The last eight rounds of players I feel will get about seven 0’s each week! I give the top half of the draft an 8.5 grade but the last half of the draft I think it is a dud and I would go with a 3.0 ranking.

Grade = 6.0 (8.5 if you erased the final 8 rounds of drafting)

NEVER KISSED A GURLEY

This team has quality skill position players drafted all around with lots of them being the high ceiling type of player. There will be a lot of spike weeks with this team but the overall success really comes down to Big Ben putting together a full 16 game season and hopefully Herbert winning the starting job by Week 6. This is the most high-risk high reward type of team but that formula is often great for Best Ball. Robert Woods in Round 6 is a steal by the way!

Grade = 7.5

A-ROBCAYGEON

It is hard not to hum Bobcaygeon when I review this team and it is a winner at every position and especially with the team name and A-Rob player selection. I predict a top 3 finish from this team, as I love all the high end picks at the top of the draft and agree with almost all of the late-round fliers.

Grade = 9.51 (I had to give that extra 0.01 grade to make this my fave team)

WHEAT THINGS AND TIGER KINGS – LATE BREAKING STORY….

I like the top half of this team and feel like it will field a solid roster each week but I also see lots of wasted picks over the last 10 rounds. I don’t mind the Ozigbo pick but every other late-round pick is a head-scratcher. But I think the early picks will make up for it and this team can still be a top 8 type of team based on talent. Wheaaaat Kings and Pretty Things wait and see what tomorrow brings…

Grade = 6.5

COLD CALCULATIONS

Another Dobbins truther here. Great third-round selection … if you were in a dynasty league maybe! I am one of the Dobbins haters for Best Ball in 2020 as I just don’t see the opportunities for him and I value him more in the RD8-10 range. I do think you made up for it with the Gordon selection in RD5. It looks like this team got Begelton 2.0. Maybe every team should just draft a Begelton. I think there is some depth lacking after the starters with this team. Maybe, you should have made some better late-round cold ‘calculations’.

Grade = 6.0

BTR

I love the Conner/Ingram picks at the 5/6 turn and think this is incredible value in a 16-team league. Just good drafting here and my favorite part of the whole team was when I read Percy Harvin’s name at the end of the draft. I have to admit that I laughed out loud and just reading his name gave me an instant headache (I am sure he has one too). This team’s drafting at the turn, shows a perfect example of how at this position, you can really let some of the value picks fall to you. BTR did just that and pounced on them. Percy Harvin, hahaha!

Grade = 7.5

FINAL GRADES

ARob = 9.51

Fifty Mission = 9.5

Locked in Trunk = 8.0

Foles = 8.0

What’re alskj sldakhjfldsa jslkjus lakj sjslky8heihha826 = 8.0

BTR = 7.5

Never Kissed a Gurley = 7.5

Cam = 7.5

Coach Danny = 7.0

Tragically Swift = 7.0

Wheat Things = 6.5

@Con = 6.5

Bastard = 6.0

Fully Completely = 6.0

Cold Calculations = 6.0

Bourne in the Water = 5.5

That is all I got. Have fun in the league folks and please don’t take my insights and team grades as an attack. I am sure Bourne in the Water will dominate this league and Percy Harvin will score double-digit touchdowns. Happy Drafting!

James (aka Eaglezzz) @JamesBrimacombe

Edited by: Joe Simonetti (@joesimonetti77)