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OK, I know there aren't enough NFL fantasy draftniks for an SP league, but I know we have a few active players. I had my first of three fantasy drafts this past weekend with the results as follows:

First thing that threw me off a bit was I thought I was picking 6th in a 12-team, ½ ppr draft with a requirement to pick all of your starters (including DST and K) before selecting reserve players. So your first 9 selections must consist in any order of 1 QB, TE, DST, and K; 2 RBs and WRs; and 1 Flex that can be a RB or WR.

Turns out two of the people who played last year did not return, and it ended up being a 10-team ½ ppr draft, with me picking 5th – which I would have liked to have known before the draft actually started.

1st round, 5th overall – Matt Forte - The 4th pick went with Larry Fitzgerald, so Forte fell to me. Peterson went 1st overall, and Turner/MJD went in some order 2nd and 3rd.

2nd round, 16th overall – Brian Westbrook - Only because we award ½ ppr. Otherwise, I would have gone with Slaton. Slaton is frequently falling to the second half of the 1st round in 12-team leagues, and 2nd round in 10-team leagues. I may still take him in the 9th slot in my 12-team league.

3rd round, 25th overall – Marion Barber - I certainly did not intend to take RBs with each of my first three selections, but you have to call an audible sometimes. The downside to selecting Barber was that we have to fill all of our starters before we pick reserves, so I was done with RBs with this pick, so I lost the opportunity to potentially pick up a flex RB on the cheap in a later round. Barber in the 3rd round was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

4th round, 36th overall – Marques Colston - I got lucky that Colston fell to me. I tier players, and I had Colston in that second tier under the elite WRs. Very happy that he was still there in Round 4.

5th round, 45th overall – T.J. Houshmandzadeh - This is the cost of taking Barber in the 3rd round. I cannot take any more RBs, even though there are some viable options (like LenDale White) available. No QB had unexpectedly fallen, and it’s still a little early for a TE (there were none picked at this point). Since I wasn’t taking a DST or K, that meant I had to take a WR. The players available in that tier were Roy Williams, Housh, Ochocinco, and DeSean Jackson. I went with Housh, although I think an argument can be made in favor of Jackson there. It’s the ½ point per reception that made me lean towards Housh. This was also the last WR selection I could make.

6th round, 56th overall – Dallas Clark - Still no value at QB, so the only other options were TE, DST, and K. This provided some validation with my previous pick, as I still got a good TE. (Yeah, I know he has a concussion – that’s addressed later.)

7th round, 65th overall – Matt Schaub - This still wasn’t great value, but I don’t give a rat’s backside about my DST and K. I was one of three people who had not selected a QB yet, and my options were Schaub, Matt Ryan, and Carson Palmer, and I liked Schaub marginally better than the other two.

8th round, 76th overall – Patriots DST – whatever

9th round, 85th overall – Mason Crosby – whatever

10th round, 96th overall – Felix Jones I like him both as a handcuff to Barber, and as an option to actually start even if Barber is healthy – Jones has value even if you didn’t pick Barber. I also totally don’t expect him to last until Round 10 in most drafts – this is only possible in our league where you have to pick all of your starters first.

11th round, 105th overall – Lee Evans – I needed at least one more receiver with a bye week that was different from Housh and Colston, and I think Evans is good value here anyway (this is the equivalent of the 9th round in a typical draft).

12th round, 116th overall – Donald Driver – or get two more receivers with a different bye week since this is also good value. I considered picking Leon Washington, but I thought he’d still be available the next round.

13th round, 125th overall – LeSean McCoy – And sometimes you are wrong when you think a player will fall. It especially pisses you off when the guy immediately before you takes the player you were targeting. So I was on tilt a bit here, and kind of rushed this pick. It’s not a terrible pick as a handcuff to Westbrook, but it's probably my worst pick of the day. A better pick may have been Forte’s backup, but I don’t even know who that is, as I thought I was picking 6th and Forte wouldn’t be available. Julius Jones was also on the board and picked immediately after my selection, so that also ticked me off as it was the smarter pick there.

14th round, 136th overall – Steve Smith – the Giants version obviously. I really wanted to get one more running back, but there was absolute crap left. Barring a Lawrence Maroney Renaissance, there was literally no scenario in which I could see any of the remaining RBs ever starting for me. I already had handcuffed two of my three RBs, and a receiver would be a better flex option for bye weeks than any RB who was left. Smith at least has some upside as the Giant’s #1 receiver.

15th round, 145th overall – Jason Campbell – I needed a backup just in case of a Schaub injury, and Campbell's numbers, while not spectacular, are pretty consistent. In 13 of 16 games last year he passed for 175 or more yards and at least 1 TD – better than the alternatives of Flacco or Pennington.

16th round, 156th overall – Brent Celek – tons of upside at least. If he stinks, I’ll throw him away and pick up someone like Anthony Fasano. And this is really just Dallas Clark insurance if his concussion lingers and the fact that when you get to the 156th pick there isn’t much to pick from. At least this guy has the possibility of starting at least one week when Clark is on his bye, which is more than I can say about anyone else left.

 

My team this year.... 8 team league....

QBs - Brees, Rothlisberger
RBs - Tomlinson, W.Parker, J.Stewart, McGahee
WRs - Boldin, S.Moss, Driver, L.Moore, Holt
TEs - T.Gonzalez, Celek
K - Gostkowski(NE)
D/ST - Chicago, Dallas

 

Out of curiosity, was Brees or LT your first pick, and what position did you pick from?

 

LT was # 1, Brees # 2. My pick was 7th... the 1st six were all RBs, our league is setup to be very point-heavy at running back, something I have been trying to get changed, as the average RB scores about twice the amount the average WR scores over the 5 years we have been running. I prefer a more balanced scoring system, but I seem to be in the minority as it hasn't changed.

 

Last year 3 of my top 5 picks were WR (2RB 3WR with no flex) and I won my league... Though that was only by virtue of picking up DeAngelo Williams off of the waiver wire. Sadly I don't have the money to spend on a paid league right now, so it's continuing with the free and my draft this year is at 4:00 on Saturday.

I miss my league from a couple years ago when I drafted my team during baseball's all-star break. Yep, July 10th or so.

 

Still, in an 8-team league, there should be more than enough good RBs to go around. Everyone should have at least two good ones.

 

I like to draft later, as players get hurt for the season in camp and can really screw over your team. I picked Ki-jana Carter 1st round after an awesome college season and he was hurt 2 days after our draft, it totally effed my team...

 

I agree that July is waaaay early. I'm in three leagues this year, and the one that is the most serious of the three we wait until the week before the season starts to draft, because by then the preseason is over (at least for the starters).

I'm generally conservative in the first few rounds of my draft - I'm never the guy who pulls some obscure player out of my arse in the hopes he has a huge year. You can't win your league with your first few picks, but you can definitely lose it.

Had my second draft last night, and I was in the 7th slot of a 10-team, standard scoring draft. We start 1QB, 3WRs, 2RBs, 1 Flex, 1TE, 1 team defense, and 1K.

Round 1, 7th overall - DeAngelo Williams (RB, CAR) - A pleasant surprise. I was actually trageting Steve Slaton with this pick (who I think is in for a huge year), but that was under the assumption that Williams would be gone by the 7th pick (I did a ton of mock drafts, and he was almost always gone by then). This turned out great beacuse...

Round 2, 14th overall - Steve Slaton (RB, HOU) - There are few pleasures in fantasy football greater than getting the guy you were planning on taking in Round 1 in Round 2. After the first few RBs, Slaton seems like the safest guy on the board to me. There are injury concerns with LT and Steven Jackson, and both Frank Gore and Chris Johnson have competition in the backfield.

Round 3, 27th overall - Marques Colston (WR, NO) - Had to go WR here or miss out on all the good ones. I absolutely love Colston and I've now selected him in both of my drafts.

Round 4, 34th overall - Brandon Marshall (WR, DEN) - I hope that there is a special circle in hell reserved for the person who picked before me in the even numbered rounds. This was the first of several screw-overs I got from him where he picked the player I was planning on taking in the pick immediately before mine. In this case, I was all set to take Wes Welker, and I was not particularly pleased with my consolation prize.

Round 5, 47th overall - Big Fat LenDale White (RB, TEN) - Had over 1,000 yards and 12 TDs last year - I'll take it for a 3rd RB who will usually serve as my flex play.

Round 6, 54th overall - Jonathan Stewart (RB, CAR) - this was the only downside of picking DeAngelo Williams. I always like to handcuff my top RB with his immediate backup in case he gets hurt, and since Stewart is one of the best backups in the league, I had to pick him here or risk having him come off the board. I'm not thrilled with using my 6th pick on a guy who I hope will spend most of the year on the bench, but you have to cover yourself.

Round 7 - 67th overall - Derrick Ward (RB, TB) - I still needed one more RB who did not share a bye week with any of my three starters, and Ward fit that bill. I had considered going WR here as I still need a 3rd starting WR, but there were hardly any starting RBs left, and there were still a ton of receivers left that I considered to be pretty much equivalent players. I'm also getting a little nervous in that the remaining starting QBs are getting thin... Still, I like Carson Palmer this year, and he never goes particularly early, so he'll still be there with my next pick.

Round 8, 74th overall - Matt Schaub (QB, HOU) - That is, Palmer will still be there unless the guy who picks immediately before you evidently has the exact same draft sheet you do and picks him. I had to pull the trigger with Schaub here, as he is the last QB on the board I'm comfortable with as my starter.

Round 9, 87th overall - Laverneus Coles (WR, CIN) - I had to get my 3rd receiver with this pick. Truth be told, I probably put this off too long, because I don't have any coverage for the bye weeks or if one of them gets hurt.

Round 10, 94th overall - Steve Breaston (WR, ARI) - selected because he was the best receiver available who did not have the same bye week as anyone I had picked up to that point. I really wanted Anthony Gonzalez here, but jerk-face struck again. Since we have to start 3WRs every week I need to carry at least one more WR to be confident that I can cover byes and survive an injury. To that end...

Round 11, 107th overall - Terry Holt (WR, JAX) - I don't know how he's going to do in a new town this year, but he's only WR insurance. If everything goes as planned, he won't have to start at all. Now I'm covered for all the important positions, I can start looking for a backup QB, and a TE, DST or K.

Round 12, 114th overall - Jon Carlson (TE, SEA) - "You've got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed as my anticipated pick of Kellen Winslow disappeared off the board the pick before it was my turn. There were still adequate backup QBs left (supply always exceeds demand) so I still went with a TE.

Round 13, 127th overall - Fred Jackson (RB, BUF) - This is how sick I am - Jackson is only expected to be Buffalo's starter for the first three games, while the normal starter, Marshawn Lynch, serves a suspension. So Jackson's value is extremely limited. However, I know that Tennessee opens the season at Pittsburgh, and that's going to be a really tough matchup for my normal 3rd running back, LenDale White. I picked Jackson for that one game. I'll probably drop him after Week 3 so I can handcuff Steve Slaton with his immediate backup, Chris Brown.

Round 14, 134th overall - Matt Hasselbeck (QB, SEA) - at this point I was fully expecting the prick picking before me to take Hasselbeck, but I guess he felt he had tormented me enough for the day. Hasselbeck has been hurt the past two years, but he's great when he stay healthy. In Round 14, this is low risk high reward potential.

Round 15, 147th overall - Chargers Defense - everyone seems to be really down on the Chargers defensive unit this year. They weren't great last year, but they were injury riddled - most notably Shawn Merriman only played one game before being done for the year. They get to play the Chiefs, Broncos and Raiders twice - all of which have serious question marks on offense - and the Browns once, so there's not a ton of high octane offenses there. They also avoid several of the higher point scoring teams of the AFC, like the Colts and Patriots.

Round 16 - 154th overall - David Akers (K - PHI) - because you have to draft a kicker.

 

Carolina has a bad year offensively every other year. Last year they were good...

Do you think Houston will be good this year? I passed on Slaton in my draft to LT and was ridiculed on the boards for it. I just don't see Houston being the team, I personally think their record was better than the team as they had the highest perscentage of missing starters from their opponents line-ups last year. On both sides of the ball. I see a 4-12 or 5-11 season for them. That's one of the reasons Johnson's #s are so good. But we'll see... I like Akers as the kicker though and not just because he is from Philly, but a career high 144 pts last year was nice. He has gotten better with age, as long as he stays healthy.

 

Missed my fantasy football draft cuz I was with my roommate and he went for a "quick stop" at the casino, that ended up lasting 2 hours. Not complaining, he put in 6 dollars and pulled out $1300 at a blackjack table... yeah, insane. As is I got auto-drafted and came up with a solid team.

League is 12 team, with standard scoring, QB, 2RB, 3WR, TE, K, DST...

Round 1, 4th overall - Michael Turner (RB, Atlanta) - Definitely satisfied with this. I don't think he'll surpass last year's numbers, but will set the tone with consistancy from RB which I have lacked in the past. Usually being Brian Westbrook who has a couple statistical duds and injuries each year.

Round 2, 21st overall - Reggie Wayne (WR, Indianapolis) - Maybe a reach here, but he almost has running back consistancy so I can deal with that at WR. With the 3WR lineup I like to load up and having one that is as reliable as Wayne is a plus.

Round 3, 28th overall - Anquan Boldin (WR, Arizona) - OK, I like this one a little less. If he stays happy he is going to put up huge numbers as defenses will likely key on Fitzgerald even more. He's going to get his 1000 yards if he stays healthy and some TDs (7-10). I like WRs, so I am glad that my 2/3 rounders were from the position.

Round 4, 45th overall - Darren McFadden (RB, Oakland) - This one is the riskiest pick of the draft, and has boom/bust potential. The kid could end up as Adrian Peterson-lite if he can stay healthy and get help from a developing offense. Loads of talent, but we'll see.

Round 5, 52nd overall - Donovan McNabb (QB, Philadelphia) - My favorite QB in the league since he came in from Syracuse, so I guess I'm happy there. Normally I wait a bit more for a passer, but as Matt Schaub (who I'd rather have) went the next pick it's in the acceptable range. Hopefully health isn't a concern as he has some talent at WR this year.

Round 6, 69th overall - Laveranues Coles - Don't like this one at all. 31 year old receiver with a new offense, not a fan. However, if healthy Carson Palmer can deal and he needs a threat other than Chad Ochocinco. At least my 3WR are set

Round 7, 76th overall - Kellen Winslow (TE, Tampa Bay) - Very talented player with injury problems. A TE is a TE I guess though, nothing too good here.

Round 8, 93rd overall - Cowboys DST - (DST, Cowboys ) - Not needed this early, so really a meh pick. I prefer to get one late with a good returner if I can.

Round 9, 100th overall - Jason Elam (K, Atlanta) - The run of no fun positions is over. Happy with him as a K I guess.

Round 10, 117th overall - Donald Brown (RB, Indianapolis) - The guy probably won't get a chance, but if Addai gets hurt he could be productive. Might be nice to try and get Addai in some kind of McFadden deal.

Round 11, 124th overall - Jamal Lewis (RB, Cleveland) - He is going to get less touches this season which kind of hurts. At the same time, I think he will be fresher for goal-line situations, so he could end up being the kind of low yards, high TD back that is nice to grab late.

Round 12, 141st overall - Ahmad Bradshaw (RB, New York Giants) - Derrick Ward was a 1000 yard rusher as a complimentary back, and I think Bradshaw has 800 yard potential this year as well. Jacobs runs hard enough that he may take a ding or so... all in all another nice late round RB.

Round 13, 148th overall - Nate Burleson (WR, Seattle) - Has the potential to put up big numbers if he stays healthy. However, he isn't going to be consistent by any means, so definitely drop material if I see a FA gem. May be a good spotter.

Round 14, 165th overall - Mark Clayton (WR, Baltimore) - I expect him to be more reliable, but less explosive than Burleson. I suppose he is a good 14th round pick. Edit- Dropping him for Chad Pennington if I get through waivers with it. I feel like Burleson is due for a big year suddenly, and that Clayton really has hit his peak as a smallish receiver in Baltimore's offense (with Derrick Mason returning).

I'm upset that the autodraft fills out all the starters before going to backups, but I think I got some value with that. Gonna see.

Aldeth you should be fine with John Carlson instead of Winslow. Expect him to be around 700 yards and 7TD's this year, without an injury risk.

 

For an autodraft, that's not bad at all. The only downside is that picking the DST and K before the last two rounds is poor draft AI. Overall, I think you're solid at QB. With RB, McFadden is a bit of a risk there, but with Brown (who many think is going to start before the end of the season), Bradshaw (expected to see 10-15 touches per game), and Lewis (who starts) you have a very deep bench. I don't see you having problems there. With WR, the AI did an excellent job for your three starters, and a rather poor job with the backups. Obviously, I cannot know who else was on the board that late in the draft, but both Burleson and Clayton are major question marks as far as I'm concerned. If your starting 3 WRs stay healthy and those other two are bye week options, you'll be fine. If either of those two have to become regular starters, that will be a concern. I definitely don't see an issue with dropping a 5th WR who likely will never be used for a backup QB - at least you know the backup QB will get on the field one week.

 

Had my last draft last night. In hindsight, I’m glad I attempted a couple of mock drafts online where I selected a WR early in the draft, because the way the draft played out, that was the course I ended up taking.

Round 1, 9th overall – Chris Johnson, RB-TEN – The first eight picks were all running backs, and I made it the first 9. Actually, with the exception of Brew Brees who went 10th – the 11 other 1st round selections were all RBs. This really threw me off. I have been in this league for years, I know a lot of the players for a long time, and they are not a group that goes RB heavy in the first round. I had fully expected to see at least two QBs and one WR picked in the first round. I was not thrilled with my pick, but I think the only position that has value in the 1st round is RB, and I took what I thought was the best one left. The top three options still available to me were Johnson, Frank Gore, Steven Jackson, and Brian Westbrook. I definitely did not want Gore or Jackson, and I thought there was a chance Westbrook would still be there on the way back, so I went with Johnson.

Round 2, 16th overall – Randy Moss, WR-NE – Unfortunately, Westbrook did not make it back (he went 12th) and neither did Barber or Jacobs. The only non-RBs taken in the first 15 picks were Brees and Larry Fitzgerald. The best RB available with my pick was Clinton Portis, which I just did not feel good about. He broke down towards the end of last year, and since I already picked one RB that I’m not 100% confident in, Portis actually looked pretty risky here. I went with the safer play by taking one of the four premeier WRs in the draft.

Round 3, 33rd overall – Ryan Grant, RB-GB – And I was right with the previous pick. Clinton Portis is the only RB picked between my 2nd and 3rd picks – everyone else took some combination of WR-QB or 2WRs with their next two picks. So I got in at the front of the WR line, and I would have really screwed myself if I had gone with Portis, because not only would I have not got one of my top targeted RBs, I wouldn’t have got a great WR either. I view Ryan Grant as a comparable player to Portis (when I ranked my RBs, I had Grant just two spots lower than Portis) and he was available 17 picks later. Plus, you want to be the guy who starts the run of a certain type of player (in this case WRs – although several QBs were picked in rounds 2 and 3 as well).

Round 4, 40th overall – Vincent Jackson, WR-SD – This was the first of what would eventually be four guys I picked with the surname Jackson (I don’t think any of them are related though). My options with this pick were either Jackson, or one of three head cases – TO, Brandon Marshall, or Ochocinco. I went with the one that wasn’t a head case.

Round 5, 57th overall – DeSean Jackson, WR-PHI – I like Jackson a lot this year because I think he’s easily the best receiver in Philly, and Philly is still a pass-first team. That the best rated backs left on the board were the likes of Reggie Bush and Knowshon Moreno made this a pretty easy decision.

Round 6, 64th overall – LenDale White, RB-TEN – This is why I hate taking a player like Chris Johnson in Round 1. You always want to handcuff the immediate backup of your best RB, and when the immediate backup is also a pretty good player, you have to spend a high pick to get him. This is why I wanted someone like Slaton with my first pick, because I could have got Slaton’s backup in Round 12 or 13.

Round 7, 81st overall – Dallas Clark, TE-IND – This was really unexpected. I had targeted Round 7 as when I wanted to pick my QB, and the QB I wanted here was Carson Palmer. Somehow six TEs were picked at this point, and Dallas Clark wasn’t one of them. I had Clark listed as the 2nd best TE in draft, and there’s definitely no way he should still be available in Round 7. The plan going into the draft was to punt on the TE position and take one in the late rounds, but that was under the assumption that the best TEs would be coming off the board in Round 5, and by the end of Round 6 the remaining TEs would be fairly equivalent players. To have one of the elite TEs fall to the end of the 7th round was too good an opportunity to pass up. So I rolled the dice and hoped Palmer would be there in Round 8.

Round 8, 88th overall – Cedric Benson, RB-CIN – Obviously, Palmer didn’t make it back to me, and I knew that was a possibility. He usually goes by the end of Round 7, so I knew that the opportunity cost of taking Clark with the previous pick may have been losing Palmer. When you wait as long as I do to pick a QB, you always have a plan B, C, and D ready – so this isn’t a complete disaster. And Benson will actually start as a flex player most weeks for my team, and you can’t beat that for an 8th round pick.

Round 9, 105th overall – Darren Sproles, RB-SD – Now I’m just picking quality backups – none of these guys will start regularly in all likelihood, but could be bye week backups. The remaining QBs I’m targeting won’t be selected until very late, if at all, so I’m still waiting on that position.

Round 10, 112th overall – Torry Holt, WR-JAX – I like him as a potential sleeper. He was OK with St. Louis last year, when the team absolutely stunk. I’m hoping with more talent around him this year he can produce numbers similar to what he did a couple of years ago.

Round 11, 129th overall – David Gerrard, QB-JAX – Gerrard was a top 10 fantasy QB last year who is always wildly under-rated. He’s my starter for the year. He probably could have been had a little later, but Gerrard was the last QB on the board I was comfortable with starting, so I couldn’t wait any longer.

Round 12, 136th overall – Fred Jackson, RB-BUF – He’ll start the first three weeks, and I think he has an outside chance to get continued playing time (although less of course) after Lynch comes back. At this point, you’re just trying to grab anyone who as any potential.

Round 13, 153rd overall – Brandon Jackson, RB-GB – He’s the immediate backup to my 3rd round pick, Ryan Grant. I’ve reached the point in the draft where I feel there’s a better chance of one my players getting hurt than there is of any of the remaining players on the board ever starting for my team. Too bad there wasn’t a Kicker in the league who’s last name was Jackson, because then I would absolutely change my team name to the “The Jackson 5”. Or, I could have taken Steven Jackson with my 1st round pick even though I really don’t like him as a player – that would have worked too.

Round 14, 160th overall – Jason Campbell, QB-WAS – I think I’m OK with Gerrard, but just in case, I’ll take a backup QB, and I think Campbell has some potential this year. Ideally, he’ll play well enough that he can be a situational starter with a good matchup in addition to playing during Gerrard’s bye week.

Round 15, 177th overall – Patriots Defense – because you have to draft a defense.

Round 16, 184th overall – Adam Vineteri, K-IND – because you have to draft a kicker.

Projected Starting Lineup:
QB – David Gerrard
RB1 – Chris Johnson
RB2 – Ryan Grant
WR1 – Randy Moss
WR2 – Vincent Jackson
FLEX (two of the following three, based on matchup): LenDale White, DeSean Jackson, Cedric Benson
TE – Dallas Clark
D/ST – Patriots
L – Adam Vineteri

 

Other than Benson, who i think is a major bust, the picks look good. Look at the teams of your players, most are from offensive powerhouses. That always promising! Good job not picking Gore, SF will have another terrible year offensively, he is a waste, though not by a lack of effort on his part. That orginazation is a mess. Wish they would trade him to Philly! What a compliment for Westbrook he would make.

 

Benson will not be a weekly starter, but by Round 8, any starting RB is a pretty good pick. If he averages numbers similar to what he did when he started the last 6 games for Cinicinnati, he'll get you 70-80 yards per game, and an occassional touchdown, which is exactly the kind of production you hope for out of a flex play. Now, I won't do something dumb like start him when the Benglas play the Steelers or Ravens - but the Bengals also get to play the Browns twice per year...


FROM THE POOR TASTE DEPARTMENT:

Remember when I said I would change my team name to "The Jackson Five" if I could get one more player named Jackson? Would it be considered extrememly poor taste to go with a team name "The Jackson Five Minus One" and change the team logo to a Michael Jackson picutre from the Thriller video?

 

One draft done, one more to go on Monday. This one is a twelve team league with 1 PPR and six points for passing touchdowns. I had the seventh pick

Steven Jackson- I may have screwed up by not taking LT. Time will tell
Calvin Johnson- I love Megatron- hopefully the QB can get him the ball
Ronnie Brown- I like this pick
Darren McFadden- I didn't like this pick, but the at least there is a lot of upside.
Braylon Edwards- I'm hoping he learns to catch and not drop
Santonio Holmes- I was very happy to get him here
Chris Cooley- There was a big drop off in tight ends after him
Ben Roethlisberger- I was the last team to pick a QB
Fred Taylor- I'm a Pats fan and I'm hoping he will be the goal line guy
David Garrard- Can you say "QB by committee"? Between him and Ben I should be OK
San Diego defense- I was surprised they were still on the board
Stephen Gostkowski- I'm a Pats fan and I'm hoping they will put up a lot of points
Steve Smith- The Giants have to throw the ball to someone
Laurence Maroney- I'm a Pats fan and three years ago I took him in the first round. I had to do it for nostalgia sake.

Overall, I'm very happy with this team. I've pencilled in a loss for week 9 as I get killed on skip week, but I think I should do well.

---------- Added 0 hours, 3 minutes and 50 seconds later... ----------

You are a fool if you don't do it. Then again this is coming from the same guy who named his team "The Nappy Headed Hos" after the Don Imus comment. If your team name doesn't make at least one person laugh and one person be horrified then you aren't trying hard enough.

 

TGS - I like your team. About the only comment that you made that I would disagree with is I think Run-DMC is a much better pick than Ronnie Brown. The problem I have with Brown is 27% of his total point production last year came in the game against the Pats where they first employed the wildcat option, and Brown scored 5 TDs (as a Pats fan, I'm sure you are familiar with this game). Take away that one game, and Brown's stats are pretty pedestrian.

To me LDT versus Steven Jackson is a toss-up. I think there's a distinct possibility of either of them getting hurt and missing playing time. However if that doesn't happen, and you actually get 16 games out of them, they both can be monsters. When you think about it, Jackson is the whole team in St. Louis. Can you even name more than three players on that team? (Remember Torry Holt is now in Jacksonville.)

I also really like the San Diego defense pick. That defense has historically been a top producer fantasy-wise, and only had a down year because they were hit really hard by injuries (most notably Shawn Merriman who essentially missed the whole year).

Finally, as a Steelers fan, I think you'll want to start Garrard more than Roethlisberger (yes, you read that correctly). While I think that Big Ben is a great real-life QB, he is a substandard fantasy option. Obviously, you'll want to start him when the Steelers play the Bengals and Browns, but most week you're looking at somewhere around 200 yards and a TD. For example, I think you're nuts if you start Big Ben this week against a very good Tennessee defense, when the alternative is starting Garrard against Indianapolis, who is already without thier best defensive player, Bob Sanders.

Finally, I went with the team name "The Jackson 4", and changed my team logo to a picture of a Michael Jackson action figure from the Thriller video. (Yes, apparently there was an action figure of zombie-MJ.) It's a little more subtle than "The Jackson Five Minus One", but I'm a big believer in not making the joke for you.

 

90 yards, 2TD's... I knew you'd be happy with John Carlson

As for me, it's looking like a loss unless McFadden can pull off an Adrian Peterson impersonation.

 

I'm getting sunk in all three leagues this week in all likelihood. In an amazing stroke of bad luck, all three of my opponents happened to start the Eagles defense this weekend. While it varies somewhat based on scoring system, the Eagles were good for about 40-50 points this week. But I will concede that the one league where I own John Carlson is the one league I have a shot at victory. I'm up by about 40 points going into tonight's game, but my opponent still has LT, McFadden and Gates left to play. So I could certainly still lose that one as well.

Of course, it didn't help that I started Matt Schaub in two of my three leagues, and he gave me a whole 4 points.

 

Thank you Drew Brees! I know it will be his high point of the season for me, but a got a whopping 43 pts from him this weekend. Detroit is atrocious, as expected. I have a 27 point lead going into tonight, with LT and NE's kicker still to go, my opponent is done for the week. The Victory bash/opponent bashing starts today. Wahoo! Of course, my opponent was a girl, but she did have a nice roster, unfortunately for her , she started Delhomme at QB. My Eagles decimated the Carolina offense with a superb display of defense, even without Jimmy Johnson at the helm of the D. Great job Birds! That one was for you Jimmy!

 

My week had a few reasons for not going well. First was McNabb got hurt and missed some time... Though I don't think he would have produced much more, he already had 3 TD's. Michael Turner didn't get loose. I still don't like Laveraneus Coles, and he didn't do anything. The Cowboys DST got swamped as well.

The good news is Burleson is going to be targeted often by Hasselbeck this year, and I expect Reggie Wayne to keep putting up huge numbers.