This decision will take place in my home league that I have been a part of the longest. My home league consists of my dad, brother, best friend from college, my uncle and some of his friends. For six of the past seven years, someone in my family has taken first place. This includes yours truly in 2021 playing against my own brother resulting in my second championship. It is very competitive to say the least. I got my guy Cooper Kupp in the 5th round, and then rookie Ja’Marr Chase all the way down in the 10th round. Kupp carried me to the title game, and Chase won the title game for me with his performance against the Chiefs in week 17.

What is a keeper in fantasy football? 

I was introduced to a keeper league by a friend from high school and have played that way ever since. It alters your draft strategy in the mid to later rounds by looking for players who may not provide the best return this year, but have a strong chance at hitting it big the following year(s), depending on the player. 

Let’s flashback to Labor Day weekend of 2021. The football season is less than a week away and everyone is eager to compete for this year’s championship. There are narratives flying in every direction about players’ workloads, overall team expectations, injury concerns, and some just plain weird reports. With the preseason over, we begin our draft and the game is on. 

It is important to know this league is a half-point PPR, Superflex league so QBs go early and push so much amazing talent down the board. The keeper rules are:

• A keeper takes your draft pick one round earlier than the prior year
  • Example: a 6th-round pick becomes your 5th-round pick the next year if kept
• Players picked in the first round are not eligible to be a keeper
• A keeper can be held for three years past the original draft date

How Did I Get Cooper Kupp AND Ja’Marr Chase?

Cooper Kupp was a no-brainer in my mind as a 5th rounder because I am a Rams fan, but also the upgrade to Matthew Stafford at QB had me thinking a bounce-back year was in the cards. Even I did not foresee the Triple Crown, Offensive Player of the Year, and Super Bowl MVP season. That shit was awesome. 

Ja’Marr Chase was a player I had my eye on knowing a lot of people had forgotten about him because he sat out the 2020 college football season because of COVID. I remember hearing on a podcast some scouts had thought Chase was better than Justin Jefferson coming out, so that was one thing in my head I could not shake. Jefferson was a baller in his rookie season and I wanted a piece of that. With the QB being valued higher than normal, he along with many other talented players fell down the board a bit.

Everyone in my league also knew about those reports of not playing in 2020, the preseason drops, and the football size comments really hurting his value. I was able to wait for my chance and I struck in the 10th round. From week one it turned out to be a hell of a pick. The preseason drops, and the interview of him talking about the differences between college and NFL football really had him falling into our league.

Statistical Breakdown:

Cooper Kupp

145 REC for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns (17.3 PPG)

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Cooper Kupp was a model of consistency in 2021. He had 11x 100-yard games, and only three games with nine or fewer catches. Kupp and new QB Matthew Stafford clicked like Tom Brady and Randy Moss and now have the chance to be more than just a season of greatness. 

The biggest red flag is regression coming off of the triple crown season. Calvin Johnson set the receiving yards record at 1,964 and “regressed” to 1,492 the season after. Johnson’s touchdowns also jumped from five to 12 in those two seasons. The last triple crown winner, Steve Smith Sr, regressed about 400 yards and four touchdowns the year after taking the title. He still finished as the WR7 that year and would have been a 1-yard touchdown away from jumping to the WR4 spot. 

Regression is real, and Cooper Kupp is almost certain to have some. The good part is he will still likely put up an awesome season. Having an amazing season sets the bar very very high and everything is measured off of it from this point on. The Rams’ offense revolved around Kupp and he saw more targets than anyone else in the league. Kupp relies on quickness, scheming, and size. He is not dependent on speed. Barring injury, he is set up to have a nice run with Stafford at QB for the next 2-3 seasons. 

Ja’Marr Chase 

81 REC for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns (13.2 PPG)

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Ja’Marr Chase had more highlight reel plays than anyone last season. He had only five 100-yard games, but two of those were over 200 yards (201 & 266). No other receiver in the top 12 passed 200 in a game. Those are outlier games and Chase would be lucky to get one this upcoming year.

I won’t be one of those people who “throws out” good performances like that to make a point. The point of bringing those up is to show his consistency isn’t there, yet. There were seven games with 54 yards or less, with three of those having a touchdown to save the day. The Bengals can also look to run the ball more with improvements being made to their offensive line. They relied on it during last season at times, and it works when you have a killer back in Joe Mixon. Not to mention, there is also Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd who will command targets as well.

He is similar to Tyreek Hill in big plays. A lot of his production comes from just a handful of plays. Hill has always been a top 24 overall player because of that, and so can Chase. He had the advantage of surprise being a rookie and now defenses will watch how he was defended against the Broncos (1 catch for 3 yards). 

Chase is young and will have that game-breaking speed just like Tyreek Hill for 4-5 years. He will be unguardable once he gets the ball in his hands, and Joe Burrow will get it to him. He is an excellent choice to be a keeper for a 9th-round selection, but his consistency could be frustrating.

The Decision

This choice is tough, but it’s great to have. I once had Arian Foster as a keeper after he left Houston, then he decided to retire midseason… I had no better options. Essentially I am choosing between the high ceiling big play guy and the very high-floor consistent guy. It is a matter of preference and I am certain it would be a near 50/50 split if I asked 100 people on what they would do. 

This league drafts on August 27, 2022.

I kept Kupp. Both players ended up missing time, but I feel I made the right choice.