On Monday July 13, we had our annual staff Vegas draft consisting of two 14-team-leagues, the winners of which meet in the finals at the end of the playoffs. Scoring is standard except only three points for a passing TD. Rosters consist of 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 FLEX, 1 TE, 1 (team) K, 1 D and six bench spots. Here are the results of the league in which I participated:

This is usually my strangest draft because many of the Vegas attendees aren't full-time football guys, so they're not entirely up to speed on the NFL in mid-July. As a result, some of them rely more heavily than they would on the rankings in the RotoWire magazine, a newly minted copy of which greets them at the draft. Because I wrote the rankings, it's often like drafting against several versions of myself mixed in with a few others who have their own ideas. Consequently, the players I've ranked more aggressively don't often fall to me, and I wind up with a black sheep team in my portfolio. That's not always a bad thing. Last year, I made it to the finals and would have won but for a 20-yard completion to Demaryius Thomas that was called back on a phantom offensive pass interference penalty.

In any event, I picked eighth, and I expected to get a receiver - either Beckham, Thomas, Bryant or Julio Jones, and I happily took Bryant, a TD machine, in this non-PPR format. But starting in Round 2, I took old, worn players I probably won't own in too many other places like Arian Foster, Frank Gore, Jason Witten and Peyton Manning. In fact, the only young player I have in the first seven rounds is Ameer Abdullah, and he doesn't fit this format especially well. I'd have liked to get more players on the rise - the Allen Robinson/Jordan Matthews/Jeremy Hill types, but they weren't available in the appropriate rounds when it was time for me to pick.

The team is also thin at receiver after Bryant with only Victor Cruz, Stevie Johnson and Stedman Bailey in a three-WR league. There's a chance I could trade one of my backs (or even a QB as I drafted both Brady and Manning), but it's unwise to count on that. The key is for Foster and Morris to pull their weight, and to get something out of either Gore, Abdullah or Devonta Freeman. With Bryant, Brady/Manning, two backs and the flex covered, I should be able to finesse the weakness at WR and TE in a 14-team non-PPR.