As a refresher, here is the setup of the league:
-12 team, ½ PPR, 6 pts for TD’s (4 for passing), one Keeper per team
-Roster: QB, RB x 2, WR x 2, TE, Flex x 2, Kicker, Team Defense
Drew
Coming in to the draft I had Andre Johnson as a Keeper but had to give up my 2nd round pick. I’m cool with that. People didn’t really keep the big names because they had solid late round Sleepers. Other than Ray Rice, Rashard Mendenhall, and Shonn Greene the elite players were on the board. I was slotted in the 9th draft position.
I wasn’t really sure what was going to fall to me but I had an idea that I’d be happy. Jones was picking right behind me which meant I didn’t have to worry about him snaking my player. The first picks were booooring- CJ, AP, MJD, Gore, Turner, Mathews, Moss, DeAngelo. So I’m basically looking at Reggie Wayne, Calvin Johnson, Brees/Manning, or get cute and possibly do something stupid I’ll regret. I basically have a 1st rounder in Andre Johnson and I ask myself one simple question; “self, would you be happy in a draft if you ended up with Andre Johnson and Calvin Johnson in the first two rounds?” Self said back to me “if you don’t take Megatron in the next 3 seconds I’m going to make you punch me in the face.”
Round 1: Calvin Johnson
Round 2: Andre Johnson (Keeper)
The board was chalk full of 4th and 5th round type dudes with all the Keepers. Normally I would never be excited to see Antonio Gates there but in this situation you’re basically getting him for a 5th rounder. Sign me up!
Round 3: Antonio Gates
Oh, I need running backs to play football? Huh, better do something about that. Ochocinco goes right before me and I fist pump because Jones just passed on Ahmad Bradshaw which I never thought he’d do in this situation. Just like Antonio Gates I’m getting a discount on one of my favorite players. YAHTZEE!
Round 4: Ahmad Bradshaw
From here on I’m just getting solid value after solid value. Not getting ridiculously lucky and dominating but not making mistakes either; just making pars. I’ll take eighteen of ‘em, all day long.
Round 5: Jeremy Maclin
Round 6: Kevin Kolb
Round 7: Carnell Williams
Round 8: Montario Hardesty
Round 9: Devin Hester
Round 10: Matthew Stafford
Round 11: Larry Johnson
Round 12: Louis Murphy
Round 13: Tashard Choice
Round 14: Mike Bell
Round 15: Greg Camarillo
Round 16: Davone Bess
Round 17: David Akers
Round 18: New England Defense
So there it is- my team. I think I have the right mixture of depth and upside in order to compete in a 12 team double flex from now through the end of the season. It’s the weirdest draft I’ve ever done. Normally I am either high fiving myself or hanging my head. I feel like I didn’t make a single mistake and when I do that, I typically end up with a ridiculous team. This sentiment could simply be a product of the depth and challenge of this league. It’s not like doing mock drafts or being in a public league. I’m excited to see how the season goes. Alright let’s take a look at Jones’ team, then the two of us will do a wrap-up of the draft overall.
Jones
While Drew doesn’t think he made a single mistake (and I agree though my bench would look a little different) I was kicking myself during and after the draft. This was by far the worst draft I had this year (out of four drafts) for a combination of reasons. First, I made mistakes, which I don’t do often and second, I was faced with a tough board that offered me little value, forcing me to reach or choose players that I’m not particularly fond of. As a result, I was forced to deploy an emergency strategy in an attempt to save the value of my team (to be discussed later)
I started off with the tenth pick in the draft and just as the draft began I jostled a wire on the computer by accident and my screen went black. After a boisterous cry of consternation not unlike that of the Rocky Balboa’s “ADRIAN,” I reconnected but not before my time ran out. By the time I got loaded I had autopicked Reggie Wayne. This isn’t the worst thing that could happen so the penalty was not too severe, though having two Colts certainly influenced my decisions as the draft went on.
Round 1: Reggie Wayne
Round 2: Peyton Manning-I don’t have to defend this pick so I won’t, but it is a bit of a bummer that my two studs play on the same team, especially if they play soft at the end of the season like they did last year. I have already started shopping Wayne and my goal is to trade him at some point in the season as long as the price is right.
Round 3: Ronnie Brown
Round 4: Chad Ochocinco
Rounds three and four killed me as I took two guys that I absolutely never draft. I also broke my cardinal philosophy which is to draft four sure fire studs in the first four rounds. The keeper aspect made this difficult and the fact that Drew stole Antonio Gates directly before me left me with a tough board. TE’s are deep so I did not want to reach for Vernon Davis (Finley, Gates, and Clark were off the board). I thought long and hard about taking Welker here and I kind of regret that I didn’t. I also like Addai a lot but the burden of Wayne and Manning prevented me from taking him. He was off the board two picks later. I felt that Brown was the only top tier back available. After Brown, Forte and Bradshaw were the best options. I also didn’t want to reach for receivers as Ochocinco was the best available and I knew I could get him in the fourth. Brown is a risk but I pulled the trigger. Whether or not he stays healthy will have a major impact on the success of the season. In the fourth I made my first major mistake. I like Forte and I own him in other leagues but I felt the need to grab a good WR. As I stated in my last write up, you can’t punt WR’s in this draft. However, people in this draft were eating up RB’s left and right and in hindsight I wish I chose Forte (who was also taken two picks later).
Round 5: Ray Rice (Keeper)
Round 6: Justin Forsett-I had my eyes set on Malcom Floyd but he was literally taken by the guy before me so I went for Forsett (remember, it’s a .5 ppr league). I chose Forsett over Harrison and Reggie Bush who were available because of Forsett’s upside and skill set. He has a chance to be #1 in a decent offense in a weak division. However, Forsett is not the outright starter so I took a risk in taking him.
Round 7: Dez Bryant
Round 8: Santonio Holmes
Rounds 7 and 8 were when my emergency draft salvation project took effect. Let me go through my strategy here. Whereas some people my see my team, which is full of risky picks (Brown and Forsett) and think that I should draft for stability, I chose to fight fire with fire and reach for a couple of guys who have the potential to make my team a championship contender. Without these players, I could have chosen for stability and drafted a decent team (i.e. Knox in 7 and Hardesty or Zach Miller in 8 ) but I didn’t come here to mess around; I came to win a championship. Both players are slight reaches but Bryant, though injured is slated in the starting lineup of what should be one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL (as long as Romo stays upright). Holmes is a stud who should be the number one receiver when he returns from his four game suspension. I believe these two picks are paramount to my draft. If one of these guys can sneak into the top 20 for receivers, the complexion of my team changes dramatically.
Round 9: Visanthe Shiancoe-good value for him and with Rice out, Shiancoe should be Favre’s favorite red zone target.
Round 10: Eddie Royal-someone has to catch passes in Denver and he has the most upside (next to Thomas who is “not close to being ready”)
Round 11: Julian Edelman-Welker has missed time in the past and Edelman looks to be the guy to step into his shoes if he goes down. Edelman has, however, been dinged up as well.
Round 12: Anthony Gonzalez-he has looked good in the preseason and the fact that it is even a possibility for him to be the number two in Indy is worth a 12th round pick.
Round 13: Willis McGahee-RB’s were very thin at this point and Mcgahee is not only a talented runner and a touchdown vulture, he is also my handcuff for Ray Rice.
Round 14: Marshawn Lynch-Gailey likes Lynch and he is back at practice. Spiller is obviously the upside pick, but Lynch is good and I think he is a good sleeper for the simple fact that the Bills may trade him. I could see him fitting in with the Patriots, Browns, Seahawks, Redskins, or Broncos. If traded to one of these teams, his chances of playing increase and he will be in a better offense, thus skyrocketing his value.
Round 15: Jason Snelling-He has proven that he can carry the load and Turner is obviously a guy very capable of getting injured.
Round 16: Jermaine Gresham-He is a freak with Finley-like skills. My goal is to keep him if he is productive and possibly trade Shiancoe if he starts strong.
Round 17: San Diego Defense-Who cares.
Round 18: Josh Scobee-Who cares.
While I am disappointed with the draft overall, I have set myself up with a solid bench and some great sleepers. I will need to be cagey on the waiver wire this year and I will certainly be looking to consolidate for talent via trades as the year goes on. It will be exciting to see what I can do with this squad.
As of now my starting lineup is as follows:
QB: Peyton Manning
WR: Reggie Wayne
WR: Chad Ochocinco
RB: Ray Rice
RB: Ronnie Brown
W/R: Justin Forsett
W/R: Dez Bryant
K: Josh Scobee
Def: San Diego
- 1. Best Picks of Leaguemates
-Soup Nazis: pick 28 takes Matt Schaub (equivalent of 40th w/ Keeper inflation)
-Miracle: pick 31 takes Anquan Boldin (equivalent of 43rd w/ Keeper inflation)
-Maxwell’s Mafia: pick 43 takes Matt Forte (equivalent of 55th w/ Keeper inflation)
-Austrian Hayekians: pick 109, Jay Cutler
-Soup Nazis: pick 165, Legedu Naanee
- 2. Worst Picks of Leaguemates
-Austrian Hayekians: picks 12 and 13 takes Jahvid Best, Ryan Grant back to back
-Austrian Hayekians: pick 60, Santana Moss
-HereForBeer: pick 72, T.J. Houshmandzadeh
-Maxwell’s Mafia: pick 91, Bernard Berrian
-Soup Nazis: 124, Kevin Smith
-HereForBeer: 144, Ted Ginn Jr.
