The Sanderson Gazette - 2025-08-11 - Year Eighteen Begins

Draft Information

The draft is this coming Saturday, August 16, at 2:00 PM. If you can't make it, please make sure you leave instructions with someone.

Rule Change Proposal & Clarification

The following proposal and clarification was sent in an email on August 1st. If you have not yet voted on the proposal, please do so as soon as you can.

Rule Change Proposal - Prohibit Two First Round Keepers

Beginning with the 2026 keeper declarations and draft, keeping two first round picks (historically by spending a first and a second) will no longer be allowed.

For 2026 only, there will be exceptions for players kept heading into the 2025 season. That is, if a player was kept for a first, second, or third round pick in 2025, they can be kept alongside another first round keeper in 2026. After that, it will not be allowed at all.

This proposal will require eight "yes" votes to pass.

A note from me: we have voted on this two times before and it has narrowly failed to pass both times. Since the last time we voted on this (after the 2022 season), teams have kept two first round players five times, as opposed to just twice in the fourteen prior years. Since the environment has shifted, and it feels to some like this rule is being exploited, I'm putting it up for another vote.

While I have taken advantage of the current rules myself, I have consistently voted for this rule to be changed. I personally view it as a poor decision when we first made the keeper rules - something we would do differently if we were creating the league now - and hope that the rule change proposal passes this time around.

Rule Clarification - Two-Way Player Stats

Travis Hunter appears to be a special case where he will play a lot on both offense and defense. Since we do not use individual defensive players (IDP) in Blingaleague (sorry, Pulley), we do not count any stats that happen while a player is on defense.

In other words, since our league has been established, the intent has been for players to only score points while on offense or special teams.

Based on the scoring settings in Yahoo, I don't believe Hunter would get six points if he returns an interception or a fumble for a touchdown on defense. However, if Yahoo does wind up counting any defensive touchdown he scores in Blingaleague, I will manually adjust the scores after his game is over to remove any points he got from those plays.

This rule applies for other players as well, I only cited Hunter here because he's the only player expected to play meaningful snaps on both sides of the ball.

(All kick and punt return scoring will remain as it has been, counting for both the player and the team defense.)

Keepers

All right, now onto what you have all been waiting for - some actual 2025 content!

(All ADP data taken from Fantasy Pros.)

Dave

  • Bijan Robinson, 1.14 (ADP: 1.03)
  • Justin Jefferson, 2.01 (ADP: 1.05)

Dave once again kept the two players he traded for while still in contention in 2023. It all worked out last year, so there's no reason to doubt his choices this time around.

Rob

  • Saquon Barkley, 1.13 (ADP: 1.03)
  • Brock Bowers, 7.13 (ADP: 2.04)

Rob returned to the Blingabowl with Barkley in 2024, so hanging onto him for a late first this year was a no-brainer. Bowers was voted Best Prospective Keeper by all of us at the end of last season, so we shouldn't be surprised by Rob keeping him, either.

Mike R.

  • Puka Nacua, 6.03 (ADP: 1.10)
  • Trey McBride, 7.12 (ADP: 2.13)

Mike kept McBride - who joins Bowers as the two TEs with second round ADPS - and made a big trade to get Nacua last year, making him the third straight team who had two obvious choices.

Babel

  • James Conner, 3.11 (ADP: 4.06)
  • Bo Nix, 9.11 (ADP: 6.04)

Finally, we get to someone who had to actually deliberate about his keepers! While Conner's raw ADP makes him look like pick 4.06, because of the other players off the board, his current ADP means he'd be drafted just about where Babel is keeping him.

Meanwhile, Nix brings several rounds of surplus value after a surprisingly effective rookie year.

Richie

  • Tyrone Tracy, Jr., 8.05 (ADP: 6.13)
  • Darnell Mooney, 9.10 (ADP: 11.08)

Tracy is another keeper acquired via trade and should produce value for his cost. Mooney, like Conner for Babel, looks like a net negative, though he too would see his "real" ADP bumped up due to kept players.

Matt

  • George Kittle, 3.06 (ADP: 3.09)
  • Bucky Irving, 9.09 (ADP: 2.05)

Irving is one of the best keeper values on this list; let's hope Matt didn't force him into an internship during the offseason. Kittle, on the other hand, probably volunteers to work the Hammers, Inc. Intern Boneyard for fun.

Rabbit

  • Chase Brown, 6.08 (ADP: 2.10)
  • Brian Thomas, Jr., 7.07 (ADP: 2.01)

Rabbit got the better end of a trade involving two rookie WRs last year, as Thomas was the runner-up to Bowers in last year's Best Prospective Keeper voting. To sweeten the deal for Rabs, Brown was also one of the nominees for that award.

Schertz

  • Kyren Williams, 6.06 (ADP: 2.11)
  • De'Von Achane, 7.09 (ADP: 1.14)

Schertz joins Dave as the only teams to keep the same two players as last year. His two players might not both have top five ADPs like Dave's, but they cost a whole lot less.

Ed

  • CeeDee Lamb, 1.05 (ADP: 1.06)
  • Courtland Sutton, 6.10 (ADP: 4.11)

Ed's keepers aren't very sexy; while both should be solid WRs this year, neither provides a ton of surplus keeper value.

Pat

  • Derrick Henry, 1.07 (ADP: 1.10)
  • Malik Nabers, 3.07 (ADP: 1.11)

Nabers was Pat's jewel all last year and will return for 2025. Henry might not provide a lot of value compared to ADP, but it would have been very unlikely for him to slide to Pat at 1.07 had he not be kept.

Kevin

  • Ja'Marr Chase, 1.04 (ADP: 1.01)
  • Jahmyr Gibbs, 2.11 (ADP: 1.04)

It turns out that Dave does not have the highest value keepers by ADP; that distinction goes to his rival. While Kevin's final place last year left a lot to be desired, his week 14 performance showed just how dangerous having Chase and Gibbs makes his team.

Scott

  • Drake London, 2.14 (ADP: 2.04)
  • Jayden Daniels, 8.14 (ADP: 3.02)

Adding the first overall pick to two strong keepers means that Scott might finally make the playoffs this year.

Before you all react to that, I did say "might".

Pulley

  • Jaxon Smith-Njigba, 6.12 (ADP: 3.03)
  • J.K. Dobbins, 9.03 (ADP: 8.12)

"Dobbins is a Bronco?! News to me!" - Babel

Pulley found himself in the rare position of trading for Smith-Njigba as a keeper last year, but it looks like it will pay off for 2025.

Derrek

  • Ladd McConkey, 7.02 (ADP: 2.11)
  • Ricky Pearsall, 12.13 (ADP: 8.05)

D is rolling with two second-year WRs. McConkey quietly had an outstanding rookie year, while Pearsall's cost is effectively zero. This is a good start toward pulling out of the cellar.

Closing Thoughts

Looking forward to the draft on Saturday! Remember to vote on the above rule change proposal and to send in your league dues ($50).