fantasy football - draft 3

i had my third draft with bockmed yesterday.  (see his post for scoring details).  i've never played with any of these guys before, so it should be an interesting league.

i had the 4th overall pick.  on my board there are 4 undoubtedly-top-tier-RBs-who-stand-out-from-everyone-else.  they are foster, AP, charles, and rice.  thus, with the 4th overall pick, i was guaranteed one of them.  i decided that whoever fell into my lap would be my pick.

that being said, chris johnson went #1 overall, and i thus ended up having a choice between charles or rice.

first round: ray rice.

i love the guy.  from his rushing ability to his dump-off sideline plays that he can turn into a 20-yarder, the man is a beast.  i had him a little higher than charles (although i love that kansas city has the highest rushing rate in the league) so i went with rice.  i don't have him in any other leagues, so it will be fun cheering for yet another player.

round two: hakeem nicks.

i got nicks on the comeback at number 21 overall.  at that point the elite RBs were off the board and the upper echelon QBs were gone.  bock took andre at 9 and roddy and calvin soon followed.  nicks was the next highest on my board.  he's young and athletic and is in a high-passing NYG offense.  what's not to love.

round three: peyton hillis.

i was really hoping that matt forte would fall to me, but he didn't.  i was surprised that mike wallace went ahead of hillis because i thought that manager would have had hillis over wallace (although he did already draft 2 RBs so he didn't exactly have a need).  i didn't want hillis at all since i already own him in my other league.  plus he shares his bye week with rice...which will make my week 5 pretty dicey.  still, he was the best player on the board and i couldn't let myself take blount/bowe/bradshaw over him.

round four: mike williams (TB).

he was the best receiver on my board.  i was looking to snipe a QB, but i felt that williams had better value here.  hopefully freeman holds up this year...

round five: benjarvus green-ellis.

now i know what you are thinking: are you just re-drafting the same team you had in that other league?  honestly, no.  generally i have a WR as my flex.  but this league isn't PPR, so you generally want your flex to be a guy who will get good yardage and a solid amount of TDs.  green-ellis is basically good for 1000 yards and will get every goal line opportunity for the pats.  i mean, the guy is a tank.  i can easily see him getting 11 or 12 TDs this year.  so he made sense for my flex.

round six: matt ryan.

best QB on the board.  i'm pretty high on the falcons' offense this year.  i like this pick.  'nuff said.

round seven: A.J. green.

i don't know what i was thinking here.  i really wanted a TE and had been targeting owen daniels.  daniels actually fell to me, but at the last second i thought that i would have a #1 receiver just in case something happens to my two starters.  plus, if he pans out, he'll be a good flex play and a potential keeper next year.  still, in retrospect, i should have taken daniels.

round eight: pierre garcon.

i really hesitated with this pick.  i don't trust manning at all in indy.  he could be the starter on day one and have a career year.  he could be out six weeks.  it's a risk.  i like garcon coming off of the bench and if peyton has a good year...well....this could be another keeper.

round nine: C.J. spiller.

clemson connection!  actually, i needed another RB to fill in for my week 5 bye.  he fit the bill.  and i have a spiller boner.  what more can i say.

round ten: matt cassel.

hopefully he survives his rib injury.  i've never been big on the chiefs' passing game (because all they do is run) and it doesn't help that moeaki is out for the season.  still, the addition of breaston will take some pressure off of bowe.  but i'm not sure that translates into a pick worth keeping.  either way, he's a serviceable backup to ryan.

round eleven: brandon pettigrew.

i desperately needed a TE.  i love him in PPR leagues, but in non-PPR leagues his value is minimum.  i have to hope that stafford targets him more in the red zone...but i just don't see him taking many balls/targets away from calvin.  dang.

round twelve: thomas jones.

i took him a.) for the week 5 bye dilemma but b.) in case spiller really sucks behind fred jackson.  someone is gonna have to start week 5...

round thirteen: davone bess.

i know i know i know.  i'm way too high on bess this year.  he's another perfect example of a great option in PPR leagues but a pretty pointless one in non-ppr formats.  what was i thinking?

round fourteen: chargers DST.

let's just hope they improve their punt/kick coverage.  as far as DSTs go, it's a crapshoot every year.  maybe they'll be a top-10 defense.  maybe they'll be horrible.  that's what free agents/the waiver wire is for.

round fifteen: alex henery.

the most accurate field goal kicker in college history.  

round sixteen: jared cook.

you can write it down right now: he's one of my keepers for next year.  now that tennessee is finally rid of bo scaife, cook will have a chance to shine.  look what he did in the last 2 games of last year.  if he can keep up that production (especially if hasselbeck pans out) he'll be VERY worthy of my 14th round pick next season.

starting lineup:

qb: ryan

rb: rice

rb: hillis

wr: nicks

wr: williams (TB)

flex: green-ellis

te: pettigrew

dst: chargers

k: henery

overall assessment:  i'll be lucky to make it in to the playoffs.