There's good news, and there's bad news.
The good news, is that the Eagles made a number of offseason moves including using 4 of their first 5 picks to shore up the defense. For a fan base that is very aware that the defense was the most noticeable Achilles heel, this offers hope. The bad news is that they continue to ignore people like me who point out that the offense line is a menace to Vick and whoever else will be back there when he inevitably gets crushed by the defensive players answering the open door invitation provided by the neighborhood welcoming committee masquerading as the Eagles offensive line. I'm sorry, but if round 5 and round 6 are the best you can do to protect your most important player, you deserve what's coming.
Maybe that's why they spent the round 4 pick on a QB. He'll probably be needed this year.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
NHNP: 2011 League Awards
League Awards for 2010
No Helmets No Pads
League Champion: daddypoopypants
Silver: Girlz Rule
Bronze: Jcougs
Regular Season Champion: Jcougs
Second Place: No Homers
Third Place: daddypoopypants
Fourth Place: Girlz Rule
League High Scorer: Jcougs
Golden Doughnut: Jcougs (Most high scores, 5)
Most Improved: Girlz Rule (9th to 4th)
The Rodney King Beatdown Award: No Homers (Most blowouts)**
The Mummy's Hand: No winner in 2011*
Toughest Schedule: benchwarmer
League MVP: No winner in 2011*
Wow! What a year! Lockouts, injuries, and record passing statistics in the NFL and in fantasy. In the No Helmets No Pads league, it was also the first time in league history that both the Minnesota Americans and the No Homers franchises walked away without any hardware.
Ugh.
First, congratulations again to daddypoopypants, Girlz Rule, and Jcougs. Poopypants has been knocking on the door for a while, so it was only a matter of time. Jcougs had a strong showing his first time out in the league, and only next year will tell if he can repeat. As for Girlz Rule, I swear I don't know how she does it, but just when you count her out .....what the.....is that Girlz???! Her silver trophy this year makes her tied for the all-time lead in hardware with the unfortunate gentlemen mentioned in the first paragraph.
Next year is going to be u g l y.
For those of you new to the league, you'll notice that I also list the regular season champion. I do this because getting the best record during the regular season is a big deal in a competitive league like this, and has a lot of talent/merit content to me. Jcougs managed an excellent 11-3 regular season record, and No Homers was not too far behind at 10-4. Kudos.
This year's award for most blowouts goes to No Homers. There was a actually a 3-way tie for this award, with Jcougs, and daddypoopypants, broken by the strength of schedule tie-breaker. For the second year in a row, no Mummy's Hand was awarded, though I thought it was cute that Devil Dogs had such a high score the last week of the season. There was no MVP selected this year, although I was tempted to select everyone, but thought that might be a bit corny.
I'm looking forward to next year (2012), so I can erase any memory of what happened to me during "The Season the Lockout Ruined!"
See you in the summer!
No Helmets No Pads
League Champion: daddypoopypants
Silver: Girlz Rule
Bronze: Jcougs
Regular Season Champion: Jcougs
Second Place: No Homers
Third Place: daddypoopypants
Fourth Place: Girlz Rule
League High Scorer: Jcougs
Golden Doughnut: Jcougs (Most high scores, 5)
Most Improved: Girlz Rule (9th to 4th)
The Rodney King Beatdown Award: No Homers (Most blowouts)**
The Mummy's Hand: No winner in 2011*
Toughest Schedule: benchwarmer
League MVP: No winner in 2011*
Wow! What a year! Lockouts, injuries, and record passing statistics in the NFL and in fantasy. In the No Helmets No Pads league, it was also the first time in league history that both the Minnesota Americans and the No Homers franchises walked away without any hardware.
Ugh.
First, congratulations again to daddypoopypants, Girlz Rule, and Jcougs. Poopypants has been knocking on the door for a while, so it was only a matter of time. Jcougs had a strong showing his first time out in the league, and only next year will tell if he can repeat. As for Girlz Rule, I swear I don't know how she does it, but just when you count her out .....what the.....is that Girlz???! Her silver trophy this year makes her tied for the all-time lead in hardware with the unfortunate gentlemen mentioned in the first paragraph.
Next year is going to be u g l y.
For those of you new to the league, you'll notice that I also list the regular season champion. I do this because getting the best record during the regular season is a big deal in a competitive league like this, and has a lot of talent/merit content to me. Jcougs managed an excellent 11-3 regular season record, and No Homers was not too far behind at 10-4. Kudos.
This year's award for most blowouts goes to No Homers. There was a actually a 3-way tie for this award, with Jcougs, and daddypoopypants, broken by the strength of schedule tie-breaker. For the second year in a row, no Mummy's Hand was awarded, though I thought it was cute that Devil Dogs had such a high score the last week of the season. There was no MVP selected this year, although I was tempted to select everyone, but thought that might be a bit corny.
I'm looking forward to next year (2012), so I can erase any memory of what happened to me during "The Season the Lockout Ruined!"
See you in the summer!
Back Alley Knife Fight: The 2011 Awards
League Champion: Drunk (Wielder of the Rusty Dagger)
Second Place: Raider Maniacs
Third Place: Bone Crushers
Fourth Place: HeyYoCraig
League High Scorer: Drunk
The Rodney King Beatdown Award: Raider Maniacs (Most blowouts)
League MVP: Co-MVPs Bone Crushers and Raider Maniacs
Congratulations to Drunk, Wielder of the Rusty Dagger, master of all he surveys! In keeping with the name of the league, the battle for the Rusty Dagger was intense for the last few weeks, and came down to margins of error so small, that the slightest slip could cost you your fantasy life.
Unlike last year, when Raider Maniacs unceremoniously stomped the entire league into submission before intermission, and then left the room to attend to more important business, this year's finish was spectacular! It came down to the final week, the way they usually do in this league, and gave us a nail-biting 3-way tie at the top, where literally every point mattered! 2011 will be remembered for the three teams at the top; Drunk, a first-timer in the league, Raider Maniacs, the defending champion I've been sticking pins into since last year, and Bone Crushers, who had a great year and came so close that I don't want to play him twice next year. Each of those teams finished with impressive 12-5 records. When you consider that Raider Maniacs was rolling with Carson Palmer as his QB, you'll see why that record is even more impressive.
This year's League MVP was awarded to 2 teams: Bone Crushers, for most improved team in the league, and Raider Maniacs for managing to amass the best record in the league 2 years running.
It was fun as usual....okay, not as much fun as winning, but you get the picture.
HA!
See you in 2012!
Second Place: Raider Maniacs
Third Place: Bone Crushers
Fourth Place: HeyYoCraig
League High Scorer: Drunk
The Rodney King Beatdown Award: Raider Maniacs (Most blowouts)
League MVP: Co-MVPs Bone Crushers and Raider Maniacs
Congratulations to Drunk, Wielder of the Rusty Dagger, master of all he surveys! In keeping with the name of the league, the battle for the Rusty Dagger was intense for the last few weeks, and came down to margins of error so small, that the slightest slip could cost you your fantasy life.
Unlike last year, when Raider Maniacs unceremoniously stomped the entire league into submission before intermission, and then left the room to attend to more important business, this year's finish was spectacular! It came down to the final week, the way they usually do in this league, and gave us a nail-biting 3-way tie at the top, where literally every point mattered! 2011 will be remembered for the three teams at the top; Drunk, a first-timer in the league, Raider Maniacs, the defending champion I've been sticking pins into since last year, and Bone Crushers, who had a great year and came so close that I don't want to play him twice next year. Each of those teams finished with impressive 12-5 records. When you consider that Raider Maniacs was rolling with Carson Palmer as his QB, you'll see why that record is even more impressive.
This year's League MVP was awarded to 2 teams: Bone Crushers, for most improved team in the league, and Raider Maniacs for managing to amass the best record in the league 2 years running.
It was fun as usual....okay, not as much fun as winning, but you get the picture.
HA!
See you in 2012!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
NHNP: Judgement Day
Fantasy Drafts 4
Me 0
The fifth annual NHNP draft took place recently. The results were so embarrassing for the commissioner, that a draft recap has been forbidden. The only bit of good news, is that for once, the draft winner (determined by some unknown algorithm, and displayed to the right of your league page) was one of the live draft participants.
Thank God for Sarah Connor!
Also took part in the Fantasy Football Librarian league draft last night. My RB2 is Knowshon Moreno and my QB is Stafford. It got so bad that the neighbors were coming by with butter and jam...and knives in their hands.
One last chance at redemption Saturday.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Back Alley Knife Fight: The Labor Day Massacre
Fantasy Drafts 2
Finally managed to draft my second September team after both NHNP and No Rulez were postponed due to technical difficulties. I'm glad this draft went off as scheduled because I was beginning to get superstitious! So the good news is that we had the draft. The bad news is that I got creamed!
And I'm the commissioner!
The fun got started on a fine Labor Day morning. Fine for those of us on the east coast that is. Seems the commissioner forgot that some of the league members were way out on the west coast. So for them it was an Army-like 7:00 wake-up! Given how well Raider Maniacs did last year, I wasn't inclined to feel sorry for him though. HA!
Me 0
Finally managed to draft my second September team after both NHNP and No Rulez were postponed due to technical difficulties. I'm glad this draft went off as scheduled because I was beginning to get superstitious! So the good news is that we had the draft. The bad news is that I got creamed!
And I'm the commissioner!
The fun got started on a fine Labor Day morning. Fine for those of us on the east coast that is. Seems the commissioner forgot that some of the league members were way out on the west coast. So for them it was an Army-like 7:00 wake-up! Given how well Raider Maniacs did last year, I wasn't inclined to feel sorry for him though. HA!
OK, this league features 2WR, 2RB, W/T, W/R and rewards QBs with a point every 20 yards as opposed to the standard 25 yards, and 0.4 PPR.
The turnout was good, with only a couple of autopicks as far as I could tell. I will spoil the ending by saying that I thought the autopicks actually did pretty well, no very well. I was bummed by that. For the 3rd time this summer it occurred to me that Yahoo has been much more aggressive about the quality and timeliness of their rankings. That might sound like a good thing, but I think that unfortunately this rewards autopicks and penalizes live participation. Since we haven't had that draft yet, I'll be making adjustments to the NHNP settings to counter this.
Now for the fun.
Round 1
- Chris Johnson (Ten - RB) Bone Crushers
- Jamaal Charles (KC - RB) bench warmer
- Aaron Rodgers (GB - QB) HeyYoCraig
- Darren McFadden (Oak - RB) Angry Minnes...
- LeSean McCoy (Phi - RB) Team Faith
- Andre Johnson (Hou - WR) Girlz Rule
As you can see Round 1 went pretty much as expected with some interesting choices in the order of the top 5 based on concerns over Arians' Twittergate hammy. Mendenhall over McCoy and DMC in a partial PPR league is interesting, but not earth-shattering. Let's face it, DMC has injury issues which is why I was disappointed when I signed-on and noticed I would pick out of the 8th slot: I knew I wouldn't be happy with my RB1, which for me, is the cornerstone of any fantasy team. No Jamaal Charles for me, or Ray Rice. I told myself it was just the first round and bargains might slip my way.
I was wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.
Round 2
- Michael Turner (Atl - RB) Girlz Rule
- Roddy White (Atl - WR) Team Faith
- Hakeem Nicks (NYG - WR) Boisebroncs
- Maurice Jones-Drew (Jac - RB) bench warmer
- Drew Brees (NO - QB) Drunk
- Greg Jennings (GB - WR) Raider Maniacs
- Michael Vick (Phi - QB) Bone Crushers
- Frank Gore (SF - RB) Hey Beerman!!!
Round 2 saw MJD dropping lower than some might have thought. I happen to share the concerns about the knee, despite his apparently good showing in the last preseason game. Even Girlz didn't take MJD, which should have alerted veteran GMs that something might be wrong here. More interesting, was Girlz pick of Turner over Gore despite the partial PPR scoring. Of course, I can't remember the last time Gore finished a full 16 game season, so there's that. Five wideouts were grabbed this round including my pick of Calvin Johnson. I can't speak for the other GMs, but my personal rankings call for this strategy once we get below the elite RBs. Look, Gore and MJD could finish top 10. The problem is, they might not finish the season. Benchwarmer and Beerman were the only two GMs to go RB-RB, and I envied them for it. Because even considering the number of questions with the available RBs, I am always uncomfortable leaving round 2 without my second running back.
Round 3
- Tom Brady (NE - QB) Boisebroncs
- Matt Forte (Chi - RB) HeyYoCraig
- LeGarrette Blount (TB - RB) Angry Minnes...
- Ahmad Bradshaw (NYG - RB) Team Faith
- Mike Wallace (Pit - WR) Girlz Rule
Round 3 saw a lot of the expected players drafted, but what was interesting to me was what positions were drafted. Beerman kicked off the party with his third RB! I was not paying attention at the time, but around round 6 I peeked and realized that dagnabit; the autopicking b@&$^#$ was kicking butt! I have Hillis lower in my personal rankings. The drop-off at the end of last year where he ended with like 5 single digit fantasy performances makes me leery of him. I can't tell whether that was just fatigue, or an injury. And while I agree that he will have a significant role in the Browns offense, that Hardesty kid was a pretty high draft pick and is not hurt this year. I was, however, paying attention to Bonecrushers because of his wicked track record and cringed when I realized that he had added a second top 15 RB to Michael Vick for an already lethal little trio. Of all the picks this round Shonn Greene and Blount were the only players that might have gone higher than their ADPs. I justify those picks by saying that look, you need RBs and you have to get past all the questions and just take a few at some point. Drunk was also building up a killer squad, but in my personal version of whistling past the graveyard, I told myself that it's only round 3, so of course everyone's teams look good.
Yeah right.
Fantasy experts tell you not to get attached to particular players, but I physically felt the gut punch when Girlz nabbed Wallace here. For some reason, I had secretly hoped he would make it back to my next pick. For my part I now had 2 RBs and 1WR in my feeble attempt to counteract my personal RB-bias and draft a balanced team. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to have Megatron as my WR1, but the fact that Blount is my RB2 should be a big flashing neon sign that the draft was not going well. It was round 3 and already the draft was extremely competitive.
Round 4
- Felix Jones (Dal - RB) Boisebroncs
- DeAngelo Williams (Car - RB) bench warmer
- Mike Williams (TB - WR) Drunk
- Wes Welker (NE - WR) Raider Maniacs
- Dwayne Bowe (KC - WR) Bone Crushers
- Peyton Manning (Ind - QB) Hey Beerman!!!
I never saw it coming. I was doubled over from the Wallace nab, when I felt a bone-crunching pain in my jaw. That's the feel of a thundering right cross; Miles Austin disappearing just 2 picks before my next pick. You ever get to that stage where your vision begins to dim, and everything is shrouded in a kind of dark filter? You know, like right before you pass out? Well between the gut punch and the right cross, and that crazy 30 second timer the commissioner set up, that was me right before I clicked on the hated, dreaded, starlet-dating Cowboy QB.
This was not going well at all.
Felix Jones may be the most interesting pick this round as he has flown up the ADP ranks as a result of his preseason play and the moving of Marion the Barbarian to the Windy City. I think that getting an RB was the right instinct. (Who am I kidding? I always think it's the right move!) But I wonder if DeAngelo was not the superior choice here. And yes; that meant that bench warmer was still taking names. Beerman's autopick grabbed Peyton, and in the hour after the draft I had ESPN on the TV and heard what is becoming an increasingly loud chorus of concern over #18's health. But to give you an idea of how well Beerman's autopick did; even with a projected score of 0 for Peyton in week 1, Beerman is projected to win his first game. Team Faith had an ideal 2RBs and 2WRs, and good ones at that.
Round 5
- Antonio Gates (SD - TE) Boisebroncs
- Beanie Wells (Ari - RB) HeyYoCraig
- Knowshon Moreno (Den - RB) Angry Minnes...
- Stevie Johnson (Buf - WR) Team Faith
- Matt Ryan (Atl - QB) Girlz Rule
Round 5 was the first round where I thought people's individual preferences were starting to take over from the default settings. But with the possible exception of Gates, I found it interesting that every single pick in round 5 was a high-upside pick. Lloyd and Johnson were both top 10 receivers last year but went in round 5. They could be the bargains of the draft. Bone Crushers showed a lot of faith in Dez, who has so far been all potential and no production. Dez is routinely ranked in the top 15 WRs however, so round 5 sounds cheap to me. I like the Ingram grab by Drunk, which would have been my pick had he slipped. Wells is not my favorite here, as I prefer both Best and Moreno. But to be fair, Wells could be a top 15 RB this year. Again, if he delivers on his potential. As for my Moreno pick, I have Best ranked higher, but was trying to diversify my roster from my other FF teams. I like Moreno for top 15 this year. He finished #19 in this format and I have to believe he's even more settled in the offense, despite the departure of Josh “The Devil's Handmaiden” McDaniels. John Fox may like depth at the RB position, but clearly has no trouble installing a primary back (see DeAngelo Williams 2008). Anyway, it was either that or roll the dice on concussion boy. I chose the Bronco. Now I went into the round with QB/WR/RB/RB, so you might think another WR was in order, but I felt that RB was far thinner here than WR so I had better grab Knowshon now.
Round 6
- BenJarvus Green-Ellis (NE - RB) Girlz Rule
Girlz kicked off round 6 with bang, grabbing the law firm. Now BGE finished RB15 last year, so this could be a huge bargain. Except I trust Belichick only slightly more than I trust Shanahan...which is ZERO. The Pats drafted those two rookies and as far as I can tell, are more likely to institute a committee situation than give BGE another 229 carries in 2011. Now the interesting trivia question, is whether I would have taken Best if Faith had passed on him, rather than taking that WR. We'll never know. The top 2 WRs on my board at this point were Super Mario and Maclin. Now Maclin is an Eagle, which you would think would give him the edge. But it was a coin toss and that evil little 30 second clock was in the red, warning me about the dangers of autopick, should I fail to select the player of my choice now!
It's round 6, so most of these picks were still really good. I did not like Boiserbroncs pick of Big Ben here, because he already had Tom Brady. I know we're allowed to do whatever we want with our picks, but this struck me as trying to hurt someone else's team rather than legitimately build your own. In this format you play a total of 6 WRs and RBs compared to the one QB. We'll have to see how that plays out. Other than BGE, Reggie Bush was the only other pick I considered a bit of a gamble. I know he's looked good in preseason, but it's the Dolphins. So it's hard for me to get too excited about his value. But who knows, maybe this is the year where Reggie finally achieves the superstar performance levels that were expected when he was selected #2 overall in the NFL draft. Besides, Raiders kicked my butt last year, so who am I to question his choices.
| Round 7 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Dallas Clark (Ind - TE) | Hey Beerman!!! |
| 2. | Santonio Holmes (NYJ - WR) | Bone Crushers |
| 3. | Marques Colston (NO - WR) | Raider Maniacs |
| 4. | Kenny Britt (Ten - WR) | Drunk |
| 5. | Vernon Davis (SF - TE) | bench warmer |
| 6. | Percy Harvin (Min - WR) | Boisebroncs |
| 7. | Aaron Hernandez (NE - TE) | HeyYoCraig |
| 8. | Owen Daniels (Hou - TE) | Angry Minnes... |
| 9. | Matt Schaub (Hou - QB) | Team Faith |
| 10. | Ryan Grant (GB - RB) | Girlz Rule |
If you had told me Dallas Clark would be available in round 7 of a FF draft, I would have called you crazy. But this was definitely the TE round as 4 of them were grabbed, and for bench warmer, his second. Nothing controversial in the picks, but Team Faith really did well by getting Schaub in round 7?! Even at this round I had Faith pegged as a top 4 team with fantastic overall balance and strength at every position. Hernandez over Daniels at TE is the only eyebrow raiser here. My only speculation is that HeyYoCraig is a closet Patriots fan or went to college with Aaron. Interestingly, Hernandez is a sleeper pick with more than one fantasy expert, and one site has him ranked TE11. So this pick could work out. Ryan Grant was a consensus top 12 back before his injury, who has not looked good in preseason. Given the availability of Hightower and Ochostinko, I wonder if this was the best pick. We'll find out soon.
Round 8
- Austin Collie (Ind - WR) Team Faith 3.
- Jimmy Graham (NO - TE) Drunk 8.
- Tim Hightower (Was - RB) Raider Maniacs 9.
- Julio Jones (Atl - WR) Bone Crushers 10.
- Sidney Rice (Sea - WR) Hey Beerman!!!
I would love to accuse Girlz of a Homer pick, but Lewis finished last year TE4. I have seen plenty of differing opinions about Lewis this summer, which I find puzzling considering how well he did last year. I grabbed Fred Jackson because....okay I was out of ideas. Seriously. By this point of the draft, I didn't like my team, and I liked the available players even less. In retrospect, I should have grabbed Moss given the gaping hole at my W/T, even Ocho or Graham would have been good. But I'm fixated on depth at RB, so I took a Bills player. Yeach! Now he did finish RB20 last year, which means he should definitely be on a roster, but one wonders whether CJ Spiller will emerge this year and destroy Freddy's value. As far as I'm concerned, Moss and Graham were the picks of the round. The Moss pick gave HeyYoCraig a very solid WR corps as Moss is easily inside the top 30 ranks for WR. He had a great preseason, and should finish top 20-25. Drunk getting Graham this late was a silly bargain. I have Graham just below Owens, but I paid a lot more for my TE! Finally, Julio Jones over Sidney Rice is a really interesting choice. Julio will be a WR2 and a rookie with a limited offseason, and Rice is the WR1, albeit with Tavaris, on a team that is now rumored to be dealing for Carson Palmer. Stay Tuned.
Round 9
- Kellen Winslow (TB - TE) Team Faith
- Brandon Jacobs (NYG - RB) Girlz Rule
Round 9 - Can you find the autopicks? In HeyYoCraig's defense, he said he knows baseball, so wasn't aware he should wait on defenses. On the other hand, he got the Jets, so I think he'll be happy. Here's my concern; with the exception of Stafford, it doesn't look like someone autopicking in this league is paying a high penalty for not being live. So I'll be eliminating one of the flex positions in the NHNP league. There. I feel better already.
Bone Crushers getting Stafford is literally a function of his draft spot. I was eyeballing Stafford ever since the last round but felt compelled to grab Jackson for the RB depth that I will almost certainly have to rely on during the season. But it was tough to leave him there for the vultures. Addai down this low has got be a value pick, and my next favorite after Stafford. Me, I was buying handcuffs.
Don't ask.
Round 10
- Mason Crosby (GB - K) bench warmer 7.
- Nate Kaeding (SD - K) Drunk 8.
- Marshawn Lynch (Sea - RB) Raider Maniacs 9.
- Daniel Thomas (Mia - RB) Bone Crushers 10.
- Neil Rackers (Hou - K) Hey Beerman!!!
Valley of the autopicks round II. You'd think I'd be used to Girlz nabbing players I like, but I still swore when I saw the New England defense disappear off the board. Cedric Benson may end up being the steal of the draft. He finished RB16 last year, which means he should be starting in our league, not slumming in round 10 among the kickers and defenses! Of course, I hate Cedric Benson and passed on him despite my obsession with RBs.
Probably the most disturbing realization came to me when I started to do my patented Power Rankings Assessment. My quick eyeball test of all the drafted teams told me that there were a lot of good teams. In other words, there is a lot of parity in this league. This is not a foregone conclusion by the way. I have been in many leagues that started off lopsided with 2 or 3 powerhouses surrounded by the sheep to be slaughtered. But what made me do a double-take was the fact that of the top 5 teams based on the draft, 3 of the teams were autopick! And those were all of the autopick teams! In other words, every single one of the autopicked teams did well by my own personal power ranking assessment!
Shocking and depressing!
BAKF 2011 Post-Draft Power Rankings
1. Drunk – Drew Brees, Arian Foster and a solid overall lineup with no perceivable weaknesses makes this a really tough team. Of course, he'll be praying for the Saints to do well, as he has 3 starters from that team.
1. Faith – No weaknesses. May even have an edge over Beerman considering #18's condition.
3. Hey Beerman!!! – No weaknesses. If Peyton plays 12 or more games, Beerman should be in the playoffs.
4. Bone Crusher – Michael Vick could single-handedly win him the title. Only weakness is at W/R, which, given his level of activity in the league, will probably disappear by week 2 or 3. He is one RB sleeper from being tied for or in sole place of best overall team, and with all those injuries out there....
5. bench warmer – Top 5 QB, excellent RBs. Weaknesses at WR2 and possibly W/T, but easily addressed on waivers.
As for my team, I'd say the good news is that it isn't terrible. The bad news is, it has a lot of holes. Romo is ranked/projected for the back half of the top 10. Which means he won't hurt me, but in this league, he won't help me. That means I need to make up for that with strength in another area, and I don't see that on my roster. My biggest weakness is at WR or W/T depending on how you move the players. Super Mario is more of a solid WR3 or W/T, which would make my weakness at WR2. Unfortunately, I know of no easy way to address a WR2 weakness without causing an equivalent weakness at another position in a trade. While my bench is littered with lottery tickets (potential fantasy sleepers and gems), let's all keep in mind that I've never won Powerball. My plan going forward has to be for one of my bench players to pay off and either fill the gap (Jordy, Greg, or Emmanuel) or become valuable enough as trade bait for me to upgrade Floyd to something like a top 20 WR. If I can manage that, I think I have a decent shot at a top 4 finish.
All told, a fun, competitive draft. Good Luck this season!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Yahoo Problems!! NHNP Alert!
Due to Yahoo's server problems, our entire league was autopicked. The NHNP draft has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Sept 6 at 11:00 PM eastern. BYOC
Bring your own caffeine.
Bring your own caffeine.
Razzball Draft Recap: Crash and Burn!
Fantasy Drafts 1
Me 0
Just participated in the first of my “serious” drafts and let me tell you, it was ug-ly! This was the draft hosted/sponsored by one of my favorite fantasy sites, Razzball. The Razzballin' Rough Riders met tonight, at 7:30 eastern to draft fantasy teams that would duke it out for the 2011 season. I expected some really tough competition given the host, and was not disappointed, though (spoiler alert) some guy named Chedda seems to have decided to lose the league before the draft was over. Personally, I figured “That's novel”, but hey, it's a free country and a free league, and maybe he doesn't take it as seriously as a fantasy nerd like me. Anyhow, there was a good turnout, and the guys who showed up made it lots of fun. This league features 3WRs, 2RBs, and a flex. On to the carnage.
Me 0
Just participated in the first of my “serious” drafts and let me tell you, it was ug-ly! This was the draft hosted/sponsored by one of my favorite fantasy sites, Razzball. The Razzballin' Rough Riders met tonight, at 7:30 eastern to draft fantasy teams that would duke it out for the 2011 season. I expected some really tough competition given the host, and was not disappointed, though (spoiler alert) some guy named Chedda seems to have decided to lose the league before the draft was over. Personally, I figured “That's novel”, but hey, it's a free country and a free league, and maybe he doesn't take it as seriously as a fantasy nerd like me. Anyhow, there was a good turnout, and the guys who showed up made it lots of fun. This league features 3WRs, 2RBs, and a flex. On to the carnage.
ROUND 1 | ||
| 1 | Adrian Peterson, Min RB | The Rhinos |
| 2 | Ray Rice, Bal RB | That's So Ravens |
| 3 | Jamaal Charles, KC RB | Belichick's Video Rentals |
| 4 | Chris Johnson*, Ten RB | Schmohawk Surprise |
| 5 | LeSean McCoy, Phi RB | Salty Chocolate Balls |
| 6 | Darren McFadden, Oak RB | Clear Eyes Full Hearts |
| 7 | Rashard Mendenhall, Pit RB | My Forte |
| 8 | Andre Johnson, Hou WR | Killa Beez |
| 9 | Arian Foster, Hou RB | Ten Inch Ditkas |
| 10 | Aaron Rodgers, GB QB | MAD MEN |
| 11 | Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac RB | RT Langes |
| 12 | Roddy White, Atl WR | Chedda Bob |
The first thing that should pop out at you, is Arian Foster slumming at the 9th draft slot, a neighborhood he has heretofore been unseen in. This free-fall was courtesy of his freedom of information slash open source posting of the MRI of his gimpy hammy on Twitter. He insisted that he was okay, and wouldn't have posted it if he were hurt. Hmmm...well, 8 fantasy football GMs disagreed with Dr. Foster and left him to the tender mercies of, you guessed it, autopick. Could this turn out to be the steal of the draft? Sure. And that blind date your aunt Selma set up for you could turn out to be a supermodel. But let's not put all our allowance money on it. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that the Texans will be the first professional sports franchise with a MRI/Twitter policy.
Chris Johnson did not drop as much as I would have thought. Apparently Mr. Schmohawk (who ruined my draft by picking extremely well right NEXT to me!) is confident that the Titans know where their bread is buttered and will be forthcoming with the Chedda. Spoiler alert, Schmohawk, by my reckoning, had the best draft.
Now I'm not saying I want CJ2K to hold out, but......
MADMEN grabbed Aaron, and by the time we got to the 4th round it seemed to me that he had gotten away with it. Yes, I'm envious. I would NEVER take a QB in round 1, especially when we have to play 6 running backs and wide receivers, and that's before bye week considerations and injuries. Of course, he had a better draft slot than I did. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
ROUND 2 | ||
| 13 | Calvin Johnson, Det WR | Chedda Bob |
| 14 | Drew Brees, NO QB | RT Langes |
| 15 | Frank Gore, SF RB | MAD MEN |
| 16 | Larry Fitzgerald, Ari WR | Ten Inch Ditkas |
| 17 | Tom Brady, NE QB | Killa Beez |
| 18 | Michael Vick, Phi QB | My Forte |
| 19 | Hakeem Nicks, NYG WR | Clear Eyes Full Hearts |
| 20 | Michael Turner, Atl RB | Salty Chocolate Balls |
| 21 | Steven Jackson, StL RB | Schmohawk Surprise |
| 22 | LeGarrette Blount, TB RB | Belichick's Video Rentals |
| 23 | Matt Forte, Chi RB | That's So Ravens |
| 24 | Vincent Jackson, SD WR | The Rhinos |
Not much to see here folks. Three more QBs were snagged in this round. The only pick that was out of order, I think, was my pick of Blount over Forte and Vjax. I'm not saying Marion Barber gives me the willies so much as I'm saying that Forte's production is erratic and he plays behind a Godawful offensive line. I like him from his rookie year, when I got him cheap and he gave me great numbers, but What have you done for me lately? As for Vjax, love him this year, but this roster demands that I attend to the RB slots early, so I did...and I payed for it!
ROUND 3 | ||
| 25 | Mark Ingram, NO RB | The Rhinos |
| 26 | Philip Rivers, SD QB | That's So Ravens |
| 27 | Shonn Greene, NYJ RB | Belichick's Video Rentals |
| 28 | Mike Wallace, Pit WR | Schmohawk Surprise |
| 29 | Greg Jennings, GB WR | Salty Chocolate Balls |
| 30 | Felix Jones, Dal RB | Clear Eyes Full Hearts |
| 31 | Peyton Hillis, Cle RB | My Forte |
| 32 | Miles Austin, Dal WR | Killa Beez |
| 33 | Reggie Wayne, Ind WR | Ten Inch Ditkas |
| 34 | DeAngelo Williams, Car RB | MAD MEN |
| 35 | DeSean Jackson, Phi WR | RT Langes |
| 36 | Antonio Gates, SD TE | Chedda Bob |
The Ingram pick is the flashing neon sign of round 3. It's completely out of line with his ADP, but if we ever have a real live league Happy Hour, maybe I'll get to ask Rhino whether his underwear is Crimson, or Black and Gold? I was appalled by how ravaged the RB ranks were by this point, and gambled my entire season on the idea that the flashes we saw at the end of last year, as well as 2009, and this preseason, really are a sampling of the fantasy goodness to come from the Greene Machine. I mean I passed up Wallace, Jennings, Austin and Wayne for crying out loud. Shonn had better perform dagnabit! The other interesting picks in this round were Felix Jones and DeAngelo Williams, both of which I rate reaches warranting emergency chiropractic intervention . Felix was autopick, which implies that the absent GM actually valued him that highly. But MAD MEN doesn't have that excuse, as he was present and accounted for. DeAngelo has been good to fantasy owners in the past, but to me it's too much wear and tear, and, um, tear. Chedda grabs the first tight end in what I consider to be the first of several questionable choices by our resident cheese GM. I've loved Gates in the past, but as with so many of this year's players, his health is a mystery wrapped in a riddle, hidden by a cloaking device.
Um, no thanks.
So after 3 rounds, I've got myself 3 RBs and am in sole possession of the dreaded RB-RB-RB strategery.
ROUND 4 | ||
| 37 | Mike Williams, TB WR | Chedda Bob |
| 38 | Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG RB | RT Langes |
| 39 | Knowshon Moreno, Den RB | MAD MEN |
| 40 | Peyton Manning, Ind QB | Ten Inch Ditkas |
| 41 | Beanie Wells, Ari RB | Killa Beez |
| 42 | Jahvid Best, Det RB | My Forte |
| 43 | Dez Bryant, Dal WR | Clear Eyes Full Hearts |
| 44 | Tony Romo, Dal QB | Salty Chocolate Balls |
| 45 | Dwayne Bowe, KC WR | Schmohawk Surprise |
| 46 | Wes Welker, NE WR | Belichick's Video Rentals |
| 47 | Tim Hightower, Wsh RB | That's So Ravens |
| 48 | Ryan Mathews, SD RB | The Rhinos |
Round 4 was, for some GMs, the beginning of the end. Although hilariously, I'm not sure they were aware of it. MAD MEN in contrast, was setting himself up for a rather nice season with the snag of Mr. Moreno, probably the most underrated RB on the boards. Remember, MAD MEN has Aaron “the boy” Rodgers, and Moreno is his RB3!! Ditka, by this point, was single-handedly making this draft worth my attendance. Seriously, with all the question marks on this team, I thought he'd change his name (mid-draft) to the Riddlers!
- Arian “327 carries and a bad hammy” Foster
- Larry “Cards got Kolb 2010 NOT Kolb 2009” Fitzgerald
- Reggie “Painter? Really?! LOL or , oh that's right, I threw Collins under the bus” Wayne
- Peyton “Did we pay Kerry $4 mil to sit on the bench?” Manning
Don't get me wrong, if all of those picks work out, he's in the playoffs. But you're not betting my lunch money on that proposition. A Six foot six QB with orthopedic issues, at 35 years of age, with a juicy new contract under his belt, with a lockout extended period of non-professionally assisted not-quite recovery, is not how I want to start my 2011 fantasy season.
Beanie Wells at 41 is the worst pick so far. We've seen Beanie. We know Beanie. “He is, who we thought he was.” And what he's not, is a 4th round pick!! I'd take any of the other players in this round over Wells. Go with God Killa. Go with God.
In a pattern he was to repeat throughout the draft, Schmohawk Surpise T-Boned me by taking the Rainbowe. I was not a happy camper. After the second or third snarffle of one of my prospective picks, I actually chatted that he really should have bought me dinner first. Seriously though, I much prefer an idiot next door during the draft. I enjoy it more, and I end up with a much better team. When the guy next to me drafts like he has spyware on my computer, it makes for a loooooong night.
The Hightower pick unleashed a torrent of dark sentiment concerning the Redskins and as well as Shanahan. And while I would usually chuckle and agree, the fact is that even in this early round the pickings really were getting slim. I've seen Hightower this preseason. I'm not so sure that was a bad pick here.
Anyway, my draft was tanking because the best player available was Welker. In case you don't get the reference (which would make you a fake football fan) my team name is disparaging of the Patriots. To my chagrin, this would happen again as several Pats now infest my roster.
Mike Wallace as my WR1 is starting to look better than Shonn as my RB3. But I've always been a sucker for a good RB, especially when he has top 5 potential (see Thomas Jones 2009). So pangs of regret mixed in with hand-rubbing glee and optimism is how I would describe it.
Mike Wallace as my WR1 is starting to look better than Shonn as my RB3. But I've always been a sucker for a good RB, especially when he has top 5 potential (see Thomas Jones 2009). So pangs of regret mixed in with hand-rubbing glee and optimism is how I would describe it.
ROUND 5 | ||
| 49 | Santonio Holmes, NYJ WR | The Rhinos |
| 50 | Brandon Lloyd, Den WR | That's So Ravens |
| 51 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pit QB | Belichick's Video Rentals |
| 52 | Marques Colston, NO WR | Schmohawk Surprise |
| 53 | Jeremy Maclin, Phi WR | Salty Chocolate Balls |
| 54 | Steve Johnson, Buf WR | Clear Eyes Full Hearts |
| 55 | Jermichael Finley, GB TE | My Forte |
| 56 | Fred Jackson, Buf RB | Killa Beez |
| 57 | Jason Witten, Dal TE | Ten Inch Ditkas |
| 58 | BenJarvus Green-Ellis, NE RB | MAD MEN |
| 59 | Jonathan Stewart, Car RB | RT Langes |
| 60 | Percy Harvin, Min WR | Chedda Bob |
Round 5 finds me panicking about my QB position, because while I usually like to wait on this position, there are limits to even my fortitude. Eli Manning anyone? Um, no. It was extremely difficult to pass up on Colston, Maclin, Stevie Johnson, and Witten, but all I had to do was picture rolling with Eli. Twenty-five interceptions and delusions of grandeur in that recent interview are quite enough thank you. Big Ben? Click. Here's a guy who was clocking top 10 QB numbers and around 270 YPG when he finally got on the field last year, and I grabbed him at like QB8. Given that this is a 12 team league, and they picked up in pre-season where they left off last year, I'll take it. Not to mention that I hate the Giants anyway. MAD MEN made his first mistake in the draft by grabbing the law firm instead of Harvin. The Patriots drafted at least two rookie running backs who have looked good in preseason. I just don't see BGE getting the workload he did last year which is the only way this price is justified. Britt, Manningham, and Marshall were also available. But would I get any of those guys? Noooooooo!
Because the fantasy gods hate me!
ROUND 6 | ||
| 61 | Cedric Benson, Cin RB | Chedda Bob |
| 62 | Kenny Britt, Ten WR | RT Langes |
| 63 | Mario Manningham, NYG WR | MAD MEN |
| 64 | Ryan Grant, GB RB | Ten Inch Ditkas |
| 65 | Dallas Clark, Ind TE | Killa Beez |
| 66 | Brandon Marshall, Mia WR | My Forte |
| 67 | Matthew Stafford, Det QB | Clear Eyes Full Hearts |
| 68 | Austin Collie, Ind WR | Salty Chocolate Balls |
| 69 | Joseph Addai, Ind RB | Schmohawk Surprise |
| 70 | Owen Daniels, Hou TE | Belichick's Video Rentals |
| 71 | Anquan Boldin, Bal WR | That's So Ravens |
| 72 | Vernon Davis, SF TE | The Rhinos |
Round Six started off with another classic move by the Big Cheese: Cedric Benson?! I am still convinced that Chedda made this pick just so he could get the complimentary orange jump suit. I don't like Cedric, I never have. He had a ridiculous (300+) number of carries last year and a poor YPC, he clearly has a discipline problem, and frankly, I think he's worn down. But most importantly, I really don't like Cedric Benson! Chedda is going straight to the underworld, and that's all there is to it. This was the last round with serious talent, and I note that it's an even-numbered round, and the good stuff was gone by the first half of the round....leaving me SOL. The only good news is that I can take this experience into my 12 team draft this weekend. Unfortunately for me, even the Addai pick will probably work for Mr. Schmohawk. Based on some analysts' observations, Addai has apparently outplayed both Donald Brown and Delone Carter. Now I haven't had a chance to watch Indy this summer, so I do not have my own, independent opinion on this, but the Schmohawk may benefit from this with the Addai snag. Boldin was tempting, particularly considering the need for 3 or even 4 WRs in this set-up. So of course I went with........TE. At this point I was more afraid of what comes after Owen Daniels, than I was of missing out on Anquan, and his unimpressive start in Baltimore last year. But seriously, I knew the wheels were falling off my draft wagon by how unappetizing the remaining names were already. Ditka made an impressive comeback from last round's bout of sanity (with Witten!) by going with Ryan Grant?!? A player coming back from injury, who has not played well in preseason, was already being eclipsed by a younger RB, on what is clearly becoming an increasingly pass-first team. Good Move Ditka!
Ten inches my @$$ !
ROUND 7 | ||
| 73 | Matt Ryan, Atl QB | The Rhinos |
| 74 | Sidney Rice, Sea WR | That's So Ravens |
| 75 | Chad Ochocinco, NE WR | Belichick's Video Rentals |
| 76 | Matt Schaub, Hou QB | Schmohawk Surprise |
| 77 | Reggie Bush, Mia RB | Salty Chocolate Balls |
| 78 | Lance Moore, NO WR | Clear Eyes Full Hearts |
| 79 | Marshawn Lynch, Sea RB | My Forte |
| 80 | Mike Thomas, Jac WR | Killa Beez |
| 81 | Mike Tolbert, SD RB | Ten Inch Ditkas |
| 82 | James Starks, GB RB | MAD MEN |
| 83 | Marcedes Lewis, Jac TE | RT Langes |
| 84 | Sam Bradford, StL QB | Chedda Bob |
First of all, kudos to Rhinos for waiting this long on a QB. And Matty ice no less. At this point of the draft I still only had one WR!!! So of course the best player available was....a (&*@#&$*(&^$% Patriot! I am hoping that folks are nice enough to trade for these Patriot players, but I'm not holding my breath. Schmohawk getting Schaubby this late just proves that life is not fair. I believe that was the pick that sealed his championship. Reggie Bush on the radar means you've gone p r e t t y deep into your draft. Will he outscore Lynch? Who knows. But I think I would have picked Tolbert over those two, which is weird because now I can't make fun of Ditka this round! I thought Starks was a decent pick down here. A bit of a gamble, but seriously, take a look at the neighborhood! Lewis down here, could be a steal. Some sites have him as high as TE5.
ROUND 8 | ||
| 85 | Josh Freeman, TB QB | Chedda Bob |
| 86 | Pierre Garcon, Ind WR | RT Langes |
| 87 | Santana Moss, Wsh WR | MAD MEN |
| 88 | Brandon Jacobs, NYG RB | Ten Inch Ditkas |
| 89 | C.J. Spiller, Buf RB | Killa Beez |
| 90 | Julio Jones, Atl WR | My Forte |
| 91 | Michael Bush, Oak RB | Clear Eyes Full Hearts |
| 92 | Jordy Nelson, GB WR | Salty Chocolate Balls |
| 93 | Jimmy Graham, NO TE | Schmohawk Surprise |
| 94 | Johnny Knox, Chi WR | Belichick's Video Rentals |
| 95 | Robert Meachem, NO WR | That's So Ravens |
| 96 | A.J. Green, Cin WR | The Rhinos |
Apparently, the Big Cheese actually wins the prize for waiting on QB, and does it the right way by taking Freeman and Bradford with back-to-back picks. See, he did something right! I thought there were some decent values in this round starting with Santana Moss. I like Jordy Nelson at this value, and Schmohawk getting Jimmy Graham in the 8th round was a clear message that I need to get my butt to church more often.
After that round, the picks get ugly and the names become absolutely obscure. I'm not sure what I would do differently, though obviously moving down in draft order would be the first step. I thought the clear overall winner of the draft was Schmohawk, followed by:
Salty
Ravens
Forte
Mad Men
Oddly, I thought Chedda had the best corps of WRs, but since he devoted like 4 of his first 5 picks to WRs, you kind of expect that. HA! As for myself, here's what I ended up with:
| BELICHICK'S VIDEO RENTALS | ||
| 3 | Jamaal Charles, KC RB | |
| 22 | LeGarrette Blount, TB RB | |
| 27 | Shonn Greene, NYJ RB | |
| 46 | Wes Welker, NE WR | |
| 51 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pit QB | |
| 70 | Owen Daniels, Hou TE | |
| 75 | Chad Ochocinco, NE WR | |
| 94 | Johnny Knox, Chi WR | |
| 99 | Malcom Floyd, SD WR | |
| 118 | Lee Evans, Bal WR | |
| 123 | Patriots D/ST D/ST | |
| 142 | Darren Sproles, NO RB | |
| 147 | Rob Gronkowski, NE TE | |
| 166 | Jacquizz Rodgers, Atl RB | |
| 171 | Steve Smith, Phi WR | |
| 190 | Alex Henery, Phi K | |
| 195 | Isaac Redman, Pit RB | |
I had Jamaal Charles on literally every one of my fantasy teams last year. Obviously, the bandwagon's a little crowded this year because you need a top 4 pick to get him. I'm hoping he has one more ridiculous year left in him. I've got Patriots at WR1, WR2, Defense and TE2. Ugh. And don't discount that TE2 slot, because Gronk finished top 10 last year. The cupboard was bare after round 7, as you can see from the scraps I ended up with. There is an outside chance, that I might get some late season production out of Steve Smith. There is a greater chance that it'll all be over by then anyway.
Now that I've been properly humbled, hopefully I'll do a lot better tomorrow night at the NHNP draft.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
