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!
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