Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
#CatTeamBrotherhood
After seeing this post on reddit, I was inspired to do this.
Well worth the time it took to draft. We'll see how this team does in this random public 10-teamer.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
The revival of the college friends league
2 years ago, a buddy and I tried to kick off a would-be keeper league with some college friends of ours. Due to some murkiness of the rules and a few inattentive owners, the league didn't make it to year two.
Well, with a few fresh faces who will hopefully remain active, and a simplification of the ruleset, the league is back in the form of a ten-team, standard roster and scoring, snake draft, $20 league. To the draft!
My team (by round):
5 C.J. Spiller, Buf RB
16 Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac RB
25 Brandon Marshall, Chi WR
36 Peyton Manning, Den QB
45 Marques Colston, NO WR
56 Dwayne Bowe, KC WR
65 Ryan Mathews, SD RB
76 Pierre Garcon, Wsh WR
85 BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Cin RB
96 Mike Williams, TB WR
105 Emmanuel Sanders, Pit WR
116 Jared Cook, StL TE
125 Patriots D/ST D/ST
136 Christine Michael, Sea RB
145 Greg Zuerlein, StL K
I have to say, I'm pretty happy with this team in general. I think it's well-balanced and has a good mix of steady producers and guys who could significantly outperform their draft position. I'm also pretty happy with how I managed this draft and where I took my guys.
My first round decision was between Rice, Spiller and Charles. Since he's my keeper in the family league, I figure I might as well go all-in on Spiller this year. While I think Rice still has plenty to give, his best years are most likely behind him at this point. That leaves Spiller and Charles, two guys in new systems with ridiculous quicks and insane yards per carry averages. In the end, I like Spiller better because, last year, he produced more fantasy points than Charles on fewer touches and was more consistent. And his new coordinator wants to feed him the ball as much as he can.
I like MJD as a high-end number 2 RB this year. I think he's healthy and still has the ability to just pile up stats as perhaps the only reliable weapon on his team. I was tempted by the likes of Dez Bryant, but I felt that there were enough top-tier wideouts left and a pretty big dropoff after MJD at RB. I lucked out and managed to still land Marshall after waiting 8 picks.
Next up, I was deciding between Peyton and Gronk. I felt that Peyton had fallen too far and wouldn't make it back to me at the next pick, but I at least had a shot at Gronk doing so. Unfortunately, I missed out on Gronk by 2 picks, so I took Colston, a top receiver on a powerful passing offense. I would be surprised if he made it inside the top 10. I would also be surprised if he fell outside the top 20, assuming he's mostly healthy throughout the year. While he can be boom and bust week-to-week, I think his overall production is as reliable as it comes.
Approaching the next turn, I had 3 WRs and 3 RBs left in their respective tiers, so I looked at the guys between my next two picks and noticed that many of them still needed tons of help at WR. So I grabbed Bowe first and managed to still land Mathews on the way back. It's strategic moves like this that make snake drafts at least somewhat interesting. Both of these guys are kind of "has-beens" but have shown great things in the preseason, and still have the ability AND opportunity to be top-10 guys at their respective positions. I'll take that out of my 3rd WR and RB in a shallow ten-teamer.
Regarding the rest of the draft, once again, I waited the shit out of TE having missed Gronk. I knew I was never going to get Graham, since that takes a second round pick this year. In terms of value, I think that's a bad move, as it would take a historic TE season to justify that draft position. However, I like Gronk around the 4th round, because he scores more points per game than Graham and I think he is well on his way to a mid-September return to full-speed. So rather than reaching on any other TE, I just took whoever was available when I felt it was time to grab a TE. I like Witten and Gonzalez and the potential of Vernon Davis, but those guys are going too high as well. After those guys, all the Greg Olsens, Owen Daniels, Kyle Rudolphs and Jared Cooks are all the same to me, so I'm fine getting Cook.
Normally, I would say that anyone who takes a defense before the second to last round is a total fantasy n00b. I broke my golden rule this year. Frankly, in a 10-team league, everyone's team is stacked with talent at all the offensive positions and there is always plenty to find on the waiver-wire, so I think that getting a better defense might help me out. I like that the Jets, Dophins and Bills all have terrible QB situations, meaning plenty of opportunities for the Pats D to capitalize and put up good scores.
Overall, there's only 2 or 3 teams I can look at and say that I would much rather have my team than theirs. Everyone else is pretty strong across the board. Such is life in a ten-team league. Looking at draft results is kind of boring. I was hoping to get to 12 strong, but it wasn't to be. We'll see how this one plays out. It should be fun, anyway.
Well, with a few fresh faces who will hopefully remain active, and a simplification of the ruleset, the league is back in the form of a ten-team, standard roster and scoring, snake draft, $20 league. To the draft!
My team (by round):
5 C.J. Spiller, Buf RB
16 Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac RB
25 Brandon Marshall, Chi WR
36 Peyton Manning, Den QB
45 Marques Colston, NO WR
56 Dwayne Bowe, KC WR
65 Ryan Mathews, SD RB
76 Pierre Garcon, Wsh WR
85 BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Cin RB
96 Mike Williams, TB WR
105 Emmanuel Sanders, Pit WR
116 Jared Cook, StL TE
125 Patriots D/ST D/ST
136 Christine Michael, Sea RB
145 Greg Zuerlein, StL K
I have to say, I'm pretty happy with this team in general. I think it's well-balanced and has a good mix of steady producers and guys who could significantly outperform their draft position. I'm also pretty happy with how I managed this draft and where I took my guys.
My first round decision was between Rice, Spiller and Charles. Since he's my keeper in the family league, I figure I might as well go all-in on Spiller this year. While I think Rice still has plenty to give, his best years are most likely behind him at this point. That leaves Spiller and Charles, two guys in new systems with ridiculous quicks and insane yards per carry averages. In the end, I like Spiller better because, last year, he produced more fantasy points than Charles on fewer touches and was more consistent. And his new coordinator wants to feed him the ball as much as he can.
I like MJD as a high-end number 2 RB this year. I think he's healthy and still has the ability to just pile up stats as perhaps the only reliable weapon on his team. I was tempted by the likes of Dez Bryant, but I felt that there were enough top-tier wideouts left and a pretty big dropoff after MJD at RB. I lucked out and managed to still land Marshall after waiting 8 picks.
Next up, I was deciding between Peyton and Gronk. I felt that Peyton had fallen too far and wouldn't make it back to me at the next pick, but I at least had a shot at Gronk doing so. Unfortunately, I missed out on Gronk by 2 picks, so I took Colston, a top receiver on a powerful passing offense. I would be surprised if he made it inside the top 10. I would also be surprised if he fell outside the top 20, assuming he's mostly healthy throughout the year. While he can be boom and bust week-to-week, I think his overall production is as reliable as it comes.
Approaching the next turn, I had 3 WRs and 3 RBs left in their respective tiers, so I looked at the guys between my next two picks and noticed that many of them still needed tons of help at WR. So I grabbed Bowe first and managed to still land Mathews on the way back. It's strategic moves like this that make snake drafts at least somewhat interesting. Both of these guys are kind of "has-beens" but have shown great things in the preseason, and still have the ability AND opportunity to be top-10 guys at their respective positions. I'll take that out of my 3rd WR and RB in a shallow ten-teamer.
Regarding the rest of the draft, once again, I waited the shit out of TE having missed Gronk. I knew I was never going to get Graham, since that takes a second round pick this year. In terms of value, I think that's a bad move, as it would take a historic TE season to justify that draft position. However, I like Gronk around the 4th round, because he scores more points per game than Graham and I think he is well on his way to a mid-September return to full-speed. So rather than reaching on any other TE, I just took whoever was available when I felt it was time to grab a TE. I like Witten and Gonzalez and the potential of Vernon Davis, but those guys are going too high as well. After those guys, all the Greg Olsens, Owen Daniels, Kyle Rudolphs and Jared Cooks are all the same to me, so I'm fine getting Cook.
Normally, I would say that anyone who takes a defense before the second to last round is a total fantasy n00b. I broke my golden rule this year. Frankly, in a 10-team league, everyone's team is stacked with talent at all the offensive positions and there is always plenty to find on the waiver-wire, so I think that getting a better defense might help me out. I like that the Jets, Dophins and Bills all have terrible QB situations, meaning plenty of opportunities for the Pats D to capitalize and put up good scores.
Overall, there's only 2 or 3 teams I can look at and say that I would much rather have my team than theirs. Everyone else is pretty strong across the board. Such is life in a ten-team league. Looking at draft results is kind of boring. I was hoping to get to 12 strong, but it wasn't to be. We'll see how this one plays out. It should be fun, anyway.
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