Last night was a momentous one for Audacy Pittsburgh.
The inaugural “Audacy Fantasy Football League” draft was held at Maxx in Warrendale. Although it’s an “in-house” league, all of us at 93.7 The Fan intend to give you weekly updates on the results, trash talk, mistakes and moments of glory along the way this season. a
I mean, we’ve got plenty of sports talk “experts” here at the station, but who can actually put their money where their mouth is when it comes time to compete? Let’s give you all the info on the league and Tuesday’s night draft…
Format: 12-team league. Standard (non-PPR) scoring. Roster composition is as follows: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, Flex (W/R/T), K, D/ST, and then six bench players. There will be 1 IR spot per team. Six (6) teams make the playoffs.
Stakes: Each owner on the winning team receives a $300 gift card to the store or restaurant of their choice, as well as the coveted Audacy Fantasy Football Trophy.
Each owner on the second place team receives a $150 gift card to the store or restaurant of their choice, as well as a "cute" second place award.
Combatants:
1. The PM Team…Team: (host Andrew Fillipponi, host Chris Mueller, producer Kraig Riley)
2. CBDD: (former Pitt star, NFL player Dorin Dickerson, producer Cale Berger)
3. Sunday Grinders: (host/reporter Shelby Cassesse, host Josh Taylor, producer Greg Finley)
4. Zeise Is King: (host Paul Zeise, Audacy Pittsburgh market manager Michael Spacciapolli)
5. Fan Morning Squad: (host Colin Dunlap, host Chris Mack, producer Matt Koll)
6. Beldoon & Falloooon: (ad executives Keith Belden & Christine Fallon)
7. Mean Machine: (ad executives Brent Weiner, Ernie Massa & Cara Shultz)
8. The Marty Party: (ad executive Marty Tougher & digital sales manager Ryan Croyle)
9. Suba’s Sackers: (sales manager Denise Suba, promotions director Amy Mauk, sale assistant Julie Walker)
10. Bishop Sycamore: (host Joe Starkey, producer Joe Kapp, sales assistant Andrew Brncic)
11. Kosher Nostra: (ad executives Jeff Martin, Jen Halle, Anthony Fontana)
12. Amanda’s Astounding Team: (account executive Amanda Gorecki, sales assistant Amanda Hunt, regional promotions director Amanda Silay)
DRAFT HIGHLIGHTS
Run on Running Backs: The first 8 picks were running backs, capped off by Bishop Sycamore’s (potential reach?) Najee Harris pick at 8th overall. Davante Adams (9th), Travis Kelce (10th), Tyreek Hill (11th) & Austin Ekeler (12th) rounded out the first round
Yinzer-ific: Kosher Nostra was clearly impressed by those 2 preseason TD catches against Detroit. They spent a 9th round pick on Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth
Zeise Takes Command: While he couldn’t be there in person, Paul Zeise wasn’t afraid to buck up to his boss and co-manager Michal Spacc. Zeise DEMANDED via text that they take Steelers WR Chase Claypool with their 6th round pick. Spacc followed the advice and threw his support behind him. “Paul Zeise is a next level fantasy owner who will undoubtedly bring a championship over the course of this season,” Spacc said.
Bold words.
PM Team’s Controversial Picks: At one point, Chris Mueller stood up, announced to the entire draft room that this was going to be the first controversial pick of the draft and proceeded to take Antonio Brown with the 77th overall pick in the 7th round. They were immediately met with boo’s and disappointment from other teams who had their eye on him.
Statement from the team on this: “We here at the PM Team…Team feel like AB provides tremendous value and is the best receiver on the Bucs. He’ll be on his best behavior with Tom Brady around, and ultimately we think Mr. Big Chest will be Mr. Big Steal in this fantasy draft.”
Keep an eye on our old friend, AB. Could be the value pick of the draft. Another controversy came when The PM Team…Team later drafted Latavius Murray, publicly proclaiming that he was going to be in Baltimore soon after being released from the Saints…when Le’Veon Bell had been signed to Baltimore’s practice squad an hour or so earlier. The Fan Morning Squad scooped up Bell thereafter.
Draft Grades: For what it’s worth, Yahoo! Sports gave letter grades to each team’s draft. Here’s how it ended up:
The Fan Morning Squad: A
Beldoon & Falloooon: A-
CBDD: B
Kosher Nostra: B
Amanda’s Astounding Team: B
Mean Machine: B-
The PM Team…Team: C+
The Marty Party: C+
Zeise Is King: C
Suba’s Sackers: C
Bishop Sycamore: C
Sunday Grinders: D
We’re ready to roll. Week 1 starts Thursday night with Cowboys-Bucs at 8:20 pm.