Draft Recap #2

This afternoon was the draft for what will be a twelve team keeper league. The lineup and scoring are all pretty standard. I had the 10th pick of the draft. Did I mention that I get to beat Ahmed in this league?

Round 1:
With 9 RBs gone, I decided to take my #1 WR, Andre Johnson. It just seemed like the thing to do. I considered taking Rodgers, and wasn't ready to pull the trigger on a questionable RB talent with this guy still on the board. He's the number 1 target on a team that can throw the ball very effectively and he's crazy talented.

Round 2:
I still didn't like staring at Steven Jackson or Michael Turner that much, and Roddy White went the pick before mine, so I took Drew Brees. I like to get "sure things" with my first two or three picks and to me, that's what Drew Brees is. I expect him to keep putting up big numbers while scaling back the turnovers a bit.

Round 3:
I wanted Ahmad Bradshaw, but he went 1 pick ahead of me. So I picked Dez Bryant. He's one of the most athletic players in the league and a true big play threat. I think the 'Boys are going to be explosive this year and Dez to be a big part of that.

Round 4:
With Antonio Gates long gone, I pretty much had to take a RB here and I decided on Knowshon Moreno. He's versatile. He'll produce. There are more question marks here than i like, but that's what happens when you wait 4 rounds to take your first RB. I hope I don't regret not taking Felix Jones.

Round 5:
There were a couple good TEs left, more questionable RBs and a couple of WRs here with big potential. I took Mario Manningham. I have high expectations for Mario. He's really the only receiving threat on the team after Hakim Nicks and as we saw in the last couple of weeks of last season, he's capable of being hugely productive.

Round 6:
I was hoping Jermichael Finley would make it around the turn, but alas, he did not. So I went with the last of the proven, "elite," TEs in Vernon Davis. He's the best player on that offense. It has to count for something, right?

Round 7:
By the time the 3rd round came and went, I had my mind made up that I would try to make the rest of my starting lineup as solid as possible and make do with volume at RB. I chose Joseph Addai here. He's not exciting. He is the starter on a good offense. He gets a lot of touches inside the ten. I hope he stays healthy.

Round 8:
Mike Tolbert seemed like the guy to take. He's going to continue to have a role in that offense which could increase if Ryan Mathews struggles. Again, not a fancy player, but he could score a bunch.

Round 9:
Michael Bush. When McFadden is out, he's the man. It seems like whoever is running for the Raiders has big games. Even when McFadden is in, Bush is capable of picking up big chunks of yardage to give the other guy a breather. I really like this pick.

Round 10:
See a trend here? I took another RB. This time I took Willis McGahee. He's attractive in that he knows how to get the ball in the endzone inside the 5 yardline. I also like this as insurance on Knowshon Moreno, who has been known to miss a little bit of time.

Round 11:
Could you tell I'm confident in my first 3 receivers? I took my first backup here with Mike Sims-Walker. I don't really like him or the situation very much, but he was the best available. He had 1 good year in Jacksonville, right? Maybe Bradford will find that again.

Round 12:
I decided to take DeMarco Murray here. I find him to be much more impressive than Choice in the Dallas backfield. This pick will turn out if Felix Jones gets hurt or is unproductive. There's also a little keeper appeal here.

Round 13:
Jerome Harrison. I want to make another Jahvid Best joke.

Round 14:
This is the point in the draft when there's a 1% chance that the player you take will remain on your team more than 3 weeks. Half as a joke, half expecting a "breakout" year, I went with Eric Decker.

In the last two rounds, as always, I filled up my defense and kicker spots. I always wait on these, because even when I've taken a really good one early, I have never kept the same kicker or defense for the entire year. More often than not, I use the waiver wire to play whichever defense is facing a shitty offense and/or rookie quarterback.

Starting lineup:
QB Drew Brees
RB Knowshon Moreno
RB Joseph Addai
FlEX Mario Manningham
WR Andre Johnson
WR Dez Bryant
TE Vernon Davis

Bench:
RB: Mike Tolbert, Michael Bush, Willis McGahee, DeMarco Murray, Jerome Harrison
WR: Mike Sims-Walker, Eric Decker

I'm hoping for the passing game to carry this team, and perhaps to hit the jackpot on one of my 7 RBs. I never pick a backup tight end. There were a couple of guys I looked at as backup QBs but they always got snagged before I felt that they were a good value. I'll hopefully only need one for one week, and after about the 15th one they all look about the same anyway. Here's to hoping the next Josh Freeman goes unnoticed. I don't really like my backup WR situation, but again, I hopefully won't need them much. Then there's always the Brandon Lloyd's of the world that go undrafted.

I think I like this team.