My 2011 Fantasy Football team

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Being a Pats homer, I can tell you he wasn't on the field that much. This is going to be the Welker and TE show this season. I'm not convinced anyone can cover those three guys.

 

Yeah, I noticed that the Pats lined up their TEs out wide. Nothing revolutionary there - lots of teams do that, just not with the frequency that I saw from the Pats. I have to take back what I said about Gronk, Snook. While Hernandez had the better day of the two, they both had several catches, and they both caught a TD pass. Both look like they are not just ownable, but startable.

I'm genuinely curious as to what Ochocino's role in the offense is going to be. (Thankfully, I only picked him in one league, and even there, he's the backup.) 8 catches for Welker, 7 for Hernandez, 6 for Gronk. Even Branch - their 3rd WR supposedly, caught 7 balls. Slater - I don't even know who the heck that is - had more catches the Ocho, although Ocho was able to outproduce Julian Edelman. Seriously, 48 passes thown and you get one? It's not like Brady was looking his way a lot either. He was only targeted three times.

 

Multiple TE sets force the Defense to not utilize Nickel and Dime packages. It allows for a ton of different offensive sets IF your TEs can both block and catch. The Pats have those type of TEs. It keeps the defense guessing with their basic 11 man package on the field. It allows for Brady to read the defense at the line of scrimmage, audible and adjust routes and make the big play. It requires a very smart QB. Brady is such a QB. Plus when you know you are facing the same defense sets over and over, it is alot easier to set your blocking schemes to p/u blitz packages with your RB. Hence Brady doesn't get knocked down as much as some other QBs, like some other pocket passers. Cutler would be a good example of that. Though I hate to say it, their Head Coach is the best there is.

 

Blades, that's true if you keep both TEs close to the offensive line. Practically all offensives have double TE sets that they run plays from. The difference from the Patriots is that in a lot of their double TE sets, they line the TEs out wide - in positions you normally see WRs in. And they mix that up of having both wide, one wide, and both tight. That's what causes the biggest confusion. It's not that there are two TEs on the field, it's that the two TEs are constantly being lined up in different places, and you don't know what look you're going to see until after they break the huddle, when it's too late to make defensive replacements.

 

Umm... that was my whole point Aldeth...

 

Oh, OK - I guess it's two ways of saying the same thing.

 

1-2 this week, so now I'm 1-1 in all three leagues. Last week screwed by Welker, this week screwed by Jeremy Maclin.

 

My opponent piled on 154 pts this week. I was crushed. I faced Brees, Maclin, F. Jackson, Johnson(Buf), PIT def, etc... Everyone of my opponents players put up at least 12 pts. Gates put up a big, fat Zero this week. Williams of TB sucked as well. 0-2 now.

 

Now I'm pissed.

In my big league I lost by .8 all because Jamal Charles was shot by a sniper from the grassy knoll. Now I'm 0-2 and I've lost Charles for the season, and have no idea when Steven Jackson or Brandon Lloyd are coming back. I also have a QB controversy as I don't know if I can go another week without starting Cam Newton.

In my other league I almost hit 200 points and even though I'm 1-1 I'm in the scoring lead by thirty points.

 

If you are in a ppr league that you lost Charles, Dexter McCluster should do adequately as a replacement. He had 12 touches between runs and catches after the Charles injury. Is he as good as Charles? Well, no - they're not in the same league. But it's about as good as you can do in terms of a replacement.

Other RBs to consider that are getting more and more looks in their repsective offenses: Delone Carter (clearly looks better than Joseph Addai) and Isaac Redman (sharing the load with Rashard Mendenhall).

On Jackson, since he nearly played this week, I think he's near certain to return next week. On Lloyd, I'm not as sure.

Who is your starter in the league you picked Newton? Newton does have a good matchup on paper next week against Jacksonville. He's a borderline top 10 QB in my opinion, so it all depends on who your starter is. I would not start him over:

Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Rivers, Romo (assuming he plays), or Vick (assuming he plays). I also would rank him behind some other guys who have been superb so far this year. For example, I couldn't sit Matthew Stafford in any league right now. 600 yards passing and 7TD passes this year. I may consider starting him over someone like Roethlisberger though. The Steelers have Indy this week, and if the first two weeks of the season are any indicaiton, Indy can't stop the run. The Steelers should win handily, which means a lot of Mendenhall, and not much need to throw much. It might be a day where Big Ben is 14/22 with 200 yards and a TD.

 

That is my thought as my other QB in that league is Big Ben.

 

Trouble brewing in our league. Trading issue. Our trade rules show an approval by our commisioner is necessary. But, like idiots, we don't have a clause when the commisioner is part of the trade in question.

Our commish, my eldest nephew(who I am going to pound on next time I see him!..) approved a trade today with his little brother. The commish traded Sproles, Bradshaw and Branch for Fitzgerald, Gore & TG. It's a bit lop-sided. The commish, who is already 2-0, traded with 0-2 younger brother who is a notorious quitter. Can you say trying to load a team! I will not be able to count on their dad, also a team owner, to put a stop to it. Luckily I haven't paid dues yet.

 

OK, I'm not sure who TG is. I cannot think of anyone with those initials that's any good. Tony Gonzalez? Toby Gerhardt? Who is it?

Fitz is way better than Branch. That's a WR1 for a WR2.
Gore is better than Bradshaw, but not hugely better - I consider Gore a high RB2, and Bradshaw a low RB2.
So unless Sproles is way better than TG (and even if it's Toby Gerhardt or Tony Gonzalez, Spoles isn't WAY better) it's a very lopsided trade.

The thing is, I don't see what's in it for the younger brother. Sproles has been good this year, but you wouldn't make the trade just for him. You wouldn't improve your flex position at the cost of those other positions.

I'd give them a call and tell it like it is. The older brother is a snake - or perhaps a weasel. Maybe a d-bag even. He is derelict in his duties as commissioner. And he should forfeit that title after this year.

OK, let me apologize in advance for what is likely to be a rant. I am a commissioner in one of the three leagues I'm involved in. I was asked to be the commissioner in a second league I'm in, but I turned it down, because if you want to do your job well, one is enough. (Unless you don't have a family or a job, then you can be the commissioner in as many leagues as you like.)

To be a good commissioner, you are going to have to invest some time in it. You are organizing, and quite possibly hosting the draft, and the end of the year get together. You are prepping a great big draft board which displays all the names of the players picked. You are entering the teams drafted, setting the schedule, the divisions, and updating your league Constitution annually. Now a lot of that stuff happens before the start of the year, and it's hard to do two at once.

But your biggest job during the season is that ultimately, as commissioner, you are the final arbiter in each and every transaction that takes place in your league. If you take your job seriously, you should look at the transaction page every week. So the biggest challenge you have as commissioner is to be as impartial as possible. If you aren't as even-handed and fair as possible, the league will suffer.

Just because someone is willing to setup an internet hosted league doesn't mean he has to be the commissioner. The commissioner should be appointed by league vote. (Obviously, you should only vote for people who are willing to take on the responsibility - don't pick someone who doesn't want to do it.) But unless no other member of the league is willing to take on this duty, your oldest nephew should not be the commissioner. He has proven he is unfit for this role by his own actions. So calling him a snake or a weasel really isn't fair - why unnecessarily insult animals. The word filter prevents me from the term I would use to describe your nephew, but to keep with the football theme, it rhymes with punt.

 

For this weekend, I have one win, one loss, and one to be determined based on the performance of Romo tonight.

 

I'm in a desperation spiral. I've been decimated my injuries and I'm now 0-3 in my money league and 1-2 in my other league. I am not a happy camper. At least Gronkowski is living up to my expectations (and even beyond)

 

With the exception of Cam Newton, Gronk was my worst call of the season.

 

Ugh... 0-3. Unless Sanatana Moss can drop 67 points tonight.... Rivers had a NEGATIVE point output! Another zero for Gates. My team flat out sucks this year. Unfortunately I will have to go with Rivers again this week vs. Miami as Flacco is facing the Jets. My running game is nothing after AP. Benson will be suspended, Moreno isn't doing crap and my league is full of RB hogs. There is no one to p/u. I'm screwed....

---------- Added 0 hours, 27 minutes and 32 seconds later... ----------

TG is Tony gonzalez. Sorry, I thought that was a no-brainer, my fault.

And yes, he is a little d-bag right now. Which is odd for him, he is usually the level headed type. Can you say "BUSTED!" Luckily, my older brother grew a pair and gave him a rash of **** over it. Several of my older bro's buds are in the league as well and didn't like it. So the trade was voided. The younger bro wasn't looking to gain, just load his brother's team up. He started 0-2 so said eff it and tried to dump some stars... I am still beating their asses next time I see them, just on principle. I have playing fantasy sports for over 20 years, going back to pen and paper leagues and Strat-o-Matic leagues and this is the first time someone tried that nonsense... ugh....

 

If you're desperate for RBs, you may have to look to swing a trade. For example, AP should land you two starting RBs in exchange. Don't give him away or anything - you'd need two RBs that are both ranked in the top 20 in exchange. Something fair would be AP for two of the following: Ahmad Bradshaw, LaGarrette Blount, Fred Jackson, Ryan Matthews, and many others.

Ideally, I'd look to do something like one of those guys and see if you can snag Chris Johnson from a disgruntled owner. (He's been terrible so far this year, so you might be able to get him on the cheap, and let's face it, he's going to produce at some point this season.) If you deal with an owner that has three starter quality RBs, he may be willing to do that deal. Obviously, an owner that only has two quality starters won't do it, because then he'd be in your boat.

Failing that, in a 10 team league there has to be something on the waiver wire. There are a host of guys who get carries every week, and while they aren't world-beaters, they won't embarass you, and they occassionaly get goal line carries. Michael Bush, Isaac Redman, Kendall Hunter, and Ricky Williams are just a few examples of people in this class, and some of them have to be available on waivers.

On the other positions, I'd preach patience. Rivers is going to produce this year. I doubt I'd ever sit him. How did Rivers finish with negative points? What's the scoring system in your league? TD only? He had 266 yards passing with two INTs. In a standard scoring league with a point per 20 passing yards, that's 6 - granted that sucks, but it's better than negative.

There are at minimum 20 starter quality TEs this year - if you aren't comfortable with Gates (although he's hard to sit), you can definitely get your hands on one of them. Hell, with a flex position, starting two TEs isn't a bad idea.

 

I cannot believe the different directions my teams are taking this year. The team I liked the least when I left the draft is 3-1, and the one I liked the most is 1-3.

At least there is an explanation for the 3-1 team. I was greatly concerned leaving that draft because while I had great receivers, my starting RBs were Beanie Wells and Fred Jackson. Well, those two have been awesome, and therefore my team is very solid.

The 1-3 team is kind of mystifying. Part of it is bad luck, but Stafford as QB, Rice and Bradshaw as RBs, Wayne, Mike Williams (TB), and Percy Harvin as WRs, are a pretty solid core. While Reggie Wayne isn't as good as I would have hoped (draft was pre-Manning not playing this year), none of those guys have crapped the bed. I'm just coming up a little short every week.

 

I'm stunned by the ineptitude of my teams. I just had another 0-2 weekend and even before week 5 I am almost out of the playoff hunt.