2025 Champions League Draft Recap

Hello Everyone and welcome to the 9th year of the Relegation Fantasy Football Association. And another year of the Champions League. I think we have a few first timers and a few with some experience. Overall this draft was way faster than the minor leagues, so thank you for keeping it moving. 1 week away and we are back to football. Good luck to everyone this year. 

LJ Fresh - 1st Pick (Minor Leagues)

Our reigning champion kicks us off from 1 spot. But there are a lot of questions left unanswered. 3 QBs is pretty typical, but you don’t often see three in the first 5 rounds. Adding a tight end in those rounds leaves the RB and WR positions both lacking. Xavier Worthy as a WR2 could be great pick for the six weeks, but that could take a step back for the critical part of the season.  LJ will still need to really hit on the zero RB strategy. First LJ will be looking toward some elder statesmen in Montgomery, Aaron Jones, and JK Dobbins. Then some fliers on Tuten, Sampson, and Croskey. But I don’t think there is enough there to sustain this team in the long run. One of this team’s first five picks will be on the bench every week. That is too big of a challenge to overcome.

Pierson07 - 2nd Pick (Minor Leagues)

007 Pierson takes a much different approach drafting the latest #2 QB in Daniel Jones which may just pay off as Danny Dimes has the starting role in Indy. However, running back gets thin again for this team. Early indications are putting Breece Hall in a time share and the RB3 is Javonte Williams. Williams is a starter, but that is about the only nice thing someone has said about him all offseason. Kelce in the 7th feels like a bit of a hopeful pick. I think the team will try to rest Kelce all year until the NFL playoffs. And that isn’t going to help anyone’s team. A lot of fortitude to wait so long on a 2nd QB but it doesn’t seem to pay off in this case.

Apot714 - 3rd Pick (Champions League - No Playoffs)

A solid QB room with Jayden Daniels and Justin Herbert anchoring this team. And a strong TE in Kittle makes up for some of the other holes in the team. Tee Higgins, DJ Moore, and Cortland Sutton should all be solid, but none are expected to really be a league winner. The RB room wasn’t terrible at the time of drafting, but now Achane is hurt and Brian Robinson is a backup. I don’t think it sinks the team though. Jaxson Dart, Jayden Reed, and Tank Bigsby might be able to fill some points as the season goes on. It's not quite a playoff team, but it's close. .

Commissioner - 4th Pick (Champions League - Playoffs)

A blue print for a 2025 superflex draft. Feel free to use this in any drafts you still have remaining. First get a top QB and fill in with some later QBs. Maybe McCarthy wasn’t the best pick, but the Vikings made Darnold look good so why not McCarthy. The WRs are full of young upside in London, Harrison, and McMillan. Then there is some late RB potential with Tracy, Jayden Blue, Tajae Spears, and Woody Marks. Surely there is a RB2 in there somewhere. Right? Um sure, definitely a RB2 in there. Then if you miss the top 3 TEs, just wait until the end to get an athletic TE that will probably see plenty of targets. Enter Mason Tayler and Elijah Arroyo. Your welcome on helping you win your other leagues. 

JWEngelhardt - 5th Pick (Champions League - Playoffs)

A very balanced draft taking one of each position in the first 4 picks. Then no position is repeated through the whole draft. Mixon is on the PUP but Pacheco and Ekeler should hold down the early part of the season. Stefon Diggs in the 11th feels like a steal if he still has his athleticism. The only thing taking this team down is injuries. If AJ Brown can’t go and Mixon can’t go all year, there might be some problems. But for now this is one of the top teams. 

Loblaw21- 6th Pick (Champions League - Playoffs)

Now the first team to not go with an early QB but instead to wait until the 4th round to pick up their first QB. It turned out to be a solid pair of Jordan Love and Tua Tagovailoa. This gave a very strong start with Chase, McCaffrey and Bucky Irving. Metcalf and Jameson should be able to cover the WR2 spot. And Jaylen Warren should be a nice flex player. The late fliers leave a little to be desired, but there are some hopes and prayers back there. If that is the only weakness on your team, then you have done well in your draft.   

ElCamino - 7th Pick (Minor Leagues)

This team has some things to like. Bijan always feels solid. Tyler Warren could be a really nice TE in the 9th. But the Top 3 WRs all have concerns. Nacua’s QB doesn’t have a functioning back. McConkey lost some targets to Keenan Allen, and Garret Wilson may not get a catchable target all season. You add that to an 8th round Anthony Richardson pick that could have zero value, and you are starting to get concerned with this team. The RB depth after Pollard appears to be a bunch of low scoring options. And who knows what Godwin will come back to be. I just don’t see this team having enough burst to get into the playoffs.  

TBegun - 8th Pick (Minor Leagues)

This is the seemingly fortunate team to have the Judkins news break while on the clock. It could be a steal in the 8th round. Kyler and Goff are okay QBs. Maybe a bit over priced. Justin Jefferson is coming off a hamstring but should be fine. LaPorta also feels a bit overpriced. A lot of his touchdowns last year came off of gimmicky plays. There is some late WR upside that could help this team. But there isn’t a 3rd QB. That could leave a lot of concern for this team on bye weeks and any injury to the QBs. I have this team just barely out of the top 6 at the end of the year. 

Jessman82 - 9th Pick (Minor Leagues)

The balance of this team is pretty good. I just don’t like the names. Let’s start at the top with Mahommes. He has delivered multiple top 5 seasons in fantasy, but the last two years have not been stellar. So a first round pick seems optimistic. Then RB2 and RB3 is Conner and Swift. Swift’s head coach is the OC that sent him packing from Detroit. And Conner seems like he has to break down at some point. Then Jeudy and Shakir don’t get me excited for some big break out. It feels like this team is going to have a lot of disappointments across the lineup. 

Kbeals - 10th Pick (Minor Leagues)

This team would have been awesome last year. Unfortunately it is not last year anymore. Baker is one of the biggest regression candidates for touchdowns. Right behind him is James Cook. Then the news around Ken Walker feels more pessimistic this year with Charbonnet looking to get more work. Then WR2 for the start of the year is big question mark. Rice is suspended. Then Downs and Mooney are banged up. Maybe they are good to go week 1. But this team may be dipping into the waiver wire early. I see some regression back to the Minors.

YinzerScoot - 11th Pick (Champions League - No Playoffs)

Gibbs and Barkley in the first two rounds is fun. Then Fields and Caleb Williams in the third and fourth rounds are big wild cards. Fields hasn’t had a lot of good press. And Caleb has had flashes of greatness and flashes of last year this preseason. I do like some of the late players with Pickens and Travis Hunter. Loveland even later. Then Jordan Mason, PIttman, and Braelon Allen could all be valuable picks at the end of the draft. I’m just worried the QBs are going to sink this team. And there isn’t a third QB on this team. If Fields gets benched or Caleb doesn’t make a big step forward, this team won’t make it to the playoffs. 

Lefty 2104 - 12th Pick (Champions League - Playoffs)

And we end with a really solid draft. 2 anchor WRs with Lamb and St. Brown. Dak at the end of the 3rd is a good spot. Eventually I think this team will be playing Chase Brown and Treyveon Henderson at RB. Then waiting to the last possible moment and double tapping Cam Ward and Sam Darnold at the 7 8 turn is a great way to fill out the QB room. I love the Egbuka pick in the 9th and Skattebo could be a late gem. And looking back now, Keenan wouldn’t be a 16th round pick. I really like how this team turned out.