This evening, some of my cousins and one uncle gathered 'round the fictional table that is the internet and drafted our teams for the 4th year of our fantasy football league. When I got called out for escalating the pre-draft smack-talk, I simply had to remind the one who called me out that I am the reigning back-to-back-to-back champion of this league and as such, get to talk forever. It took a lot of luck and a couple good (it would be fair to call one unfair) trades to pull it off. The fantasy noobs among the family are now either gone or seasoned veterans at this point. The chances of another repeat are slimmer than ever. But I'll be damned if I don't try. Without further ado, the recap:
This league is a 12-teamer, standard lineup and scoring. I drafted in the 11th spot.
Round 1: RB, Maurice Jones-Drew
I think I said enough about MJD in my last post. I think this is right about where he should be taken, if not sooner. The only really notable thing about this round is that it included Cam Newton and Matthew Stafford, highlighting the trend (as I see it) of my family overvaluing QBs.
Round 2: WR, Larry Fitzgerald
I thought about taking Matt Forte. But I ranked Fitz in the same tier as Calvin Johnson, and I didn't want to miss out on the chance to have a solid base at the WR position. I wish he had another Kurt Warner throwing to him. But he's still the most fundamentally sound receiver in the game with excellent leaping ability and ball skills, making him both an excellent possession receiver and big play threat. When it comes down to it, it hasn't ever mattered who his QB is, he puts up numbers consistently, which is what I like to get out of my first couple picks. Being MN homers, AP went in this round.
Round 3: WR, Roddy White
If I liked him enough to grab in the middle of the second in a 10-teamer, you can imagine how giddy I was to select him at the end of the 3rd in a 12-teamer. I'm going to go on record as saying that Victor Cruz at pick 26 will end up proving to be one of the top 5 worst picks of the draft, especially considering, White, Welker, Marshall, Jennings, Julio Jones, Hakeem Nicks, and Andre Johnson were all still available, all of whom I LOVE compared to Cruz. I think at least 2, if not 4, of his big scoring plays last year were very fluky. Take those away and his numbers were like the Mike Wallace - Brandon Marshall cohort. I just don't think he has the talent to repeat that kind of year. Plus, it's damn near impossible to guess which guy Eli is going to be throwing to most in any given year.
Round 4: WR, Andre Johnson
He had fallen too far. I had to take him. I was really contemplating going with Fred Jackson, but I just had to take him. He belongs in the conversation for best (talent-wise) receiver in the NFL. I just don't know enough about what Fred's got in him after the injury last year (and getting older) and how the workload is going to get split in that backfield to not go with Andre. I just hope he can avoid the nagging injuries this year and play like he did in the playoffs.
Round 5: RB, Willis McGahee
If I knew I'd be landing Andre and Roddy, I would have taken Forte. Frankly, I needed sure RB points at this point. Aaron Hernandez was tempting. Apparently, one of my cousins hasn't figured out how to have consistent success in fantasy, as he again drafted a backup for every position and took San Fran's defense in this round.
Round 6: QB, Eli Manning
I think it's safe to say I'm getting 4000+ yds and TDs approaching 30 with this pick. Not bad. He might go back to bad Eli and start throwing more picks again. But this is really the best I could do at QB. The other quality guys would be gone by the time I got to pick again. Also, the second defense went in this round.
Round 7: RB, Ahmed's boy, C.J. Spiller
It'll be interesting to see how he gets used this year. He was great in somewhat of a featured role in the last third of last year. I needed some RB depth and things were getting thin fast. He was the guy with the talent and potential to be huge and is already in a position to contribute at least something each week. Miles Austin and Aaron Hernandez are some potential steals from this round.
Round 8: TE, Fred Davis
He was on a nice pace last year. Then came the suspension. He's a little bit of a risk but he says he's changed his ways. Basically, I wanted to fill out my starting lineup before anything else and he was the best TE available.
Round 9: WR, Darrius Heyward-Bey
I think he's the best bet among the Oakland receiving corps to have a big year. If he doesn't turn out, it's fine, because I've got 3 guys who can very easily be top 10 receivers. First kicker taken.
Round 10: RB, Ryan Williams
From what I've heard, his legs are now held together by twigs and twine. The patellar tendon sounds like an awful thing to tear. But apparently he's got some talent and he's in the running for a starting job. Welcome to my bench. Way too many defenses and kickers taken at this point.
Round 11: RB, Pierre Thomas
One can only hope that the Saints will realize that Frenchy carries the ball a whole 1.2 yards further per carry than Mark Ingram does. Don't even try to tell me that that's because they carry the ball in different situations. It's because Mark Ingram is awful. He gets what is blocked and falls forward. Which is great if you're running a wishbone offense. He isn't even a better "goal line" runner than Frenchy. Oh well. Despite only getting about 10 touches a game he managed to scrape together almost 1000 total yards. I was desperate for some RB depth here.
Round 12: WR, Greg Little
I don't feel the need to back up Eli. I kinda wanted another receiver. He's the best (read: only) pass-catcher on his team. I'll take it.
Round 13: RB, Taiwan Jones
Darren McFadden isn't known for playing whole seasons. Taiwan Jones is firmly planted as his backup.
My lineup at a glance:
QB: Eli Manning
RB: MJD
RB: Willis McGahee
WR: Larry Fitzgerald
WR: Roddy White
TE: Fred Davis
flex: Andre Johnson
bench: C.J. Spiller, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Ryan Williams, Pierre Thomas, Greg Little, Taiwan Jones
DST: NYG
K: Alex Henery
I generally like this team. But unless I get really lucky on the waiver wire and/or make a significant trade, I don't think this team is built for a championship. I've gambled on trying to carry teams on the backs of WRs before. I think it may have been somewhat successful once. Every other time has been a horrible failure. I don't love my lack of RB depth. So I'm a little worried about that. I didn't realize that Fred Davis is one violation from a full-year suspension. In the end I think there are 2 or 3 teams that drafted better than me, and inevitably there will be 2 or 3 others that surprise you and remain dangerous competition all season. This should be fun.
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