BIGFFBL's very own fantasy guru
Draft Review (Part 1)
I'm doing things a bit different than I have in the past for the draft review. I'm going to go through each round and talk about what I was thinking while not only making my picks, but how others also did in that particular round.
First off I'd like to say that obviously some people in the league have been reading what I have to say about things like QB Double up, Early Kickers and Early Defenses. Because of that, we now have a much more competitive league, which is exactly what I was targeting. When I look at all the current rosters, I don't see one clear cut team out of anyone that is "guarenteed" to go all the way this year.
Secondly I'd like to quickly go over some of the no-no's in fantasy football that I've preached and who has listened, and who has yet to learn. As for the QB Double Up's, there were only three teams who used the QB double up situation (2 QB's before the 7th round). That's half the amount as last season. As for early kickers, there were also only three teams that took kickers before the 10th round, which is also an improvement from last year. Finally we have the early defenses in which only three were taken before the 10th round, again, another improvement. All of this, in my opinion, has helped our league improve GREATLY. Although some people might not think of this as a good thing (less competition), I think of it as a good thing for the league in having more competition, and having teams closer together in the standings. That is honestly what my intentions were while creating those articles.
Ok, here we go for the first five rounds......
K Little Red Horse Tory Holt WR
K Flying Hellfish Marvin Harrison WR
K Sadidas 21ers Michael Bennett RB
K Air JC Shaun Alexander RB
K Team Tang Duante Culpepper QB
K Wong's LD's Corey Dillon RB
K Team Goo Ahman Green RB
K Fat British Pigeons Domanick Davis RB
K FFB Superior Priest Holmes RB
K Little Bastards Fred Taylor RB
K Team Nookie Clinton Portis RB
K Team Juice LaDanian Tomlinson RB
FF Superior thoughts: I guess it wasn't a real surprise that I kept Holmes. Even though Edgerrin James is in a contract year and I'm looking for him do have a great year, I had to stick with Holmes because this guy is just money and hopefully he'll stay that way this year as well.
Best keeper besides mine: I'd have to say Tomlinson here because even though Juice had about 4 guys to choose from, if he didn't keep a running back, he wouldn't have gotten anything worth while at the 1.12 position. This guy catches a load of passes and don't look for that to change at all this season either, even though San Diego is just horrible.
Worst keeper: Not that he could do much with the situation but Dillon doesn't have keeper status. If I were Wong, I'd almost rather of kept Hasselbeck and hope for a 2nd tier RB at the 1.06 spot instead of keeping a mid to late 2nd rounder (3rd rounder after all the keepers).
1.01 Little Red Horse Deuce McAllister RB
1.02 Flying Hellfish Edgerrin James RB
1.03 Sadidas 21ers Randy Moss WR
1.04 Air JC Jamal Lewis RB
1.05 Team Tang Rudi Johnson RB
1.06 Wong's LD's Terrell Owens WR
1.07 Team Goo Peyton Manning QB
1.08 Fat British Pigeons Marshall Faulk RB
1.09 FFB Superior Kevan Barlow RB
1.10 Little Bastards Brian Westbrook RB
1.11 Team Nookie Michael Vick QB
1.12 Team Juice Tiki Barber RB
FF Superior thoughts: Well I knew I pretty much had to go with an RB here because I no 2nd round pick so I'd be waiting around for 24 picks before I had another pick. If Moss would have dropped to me however, I would have took him right away, but instead, my choice was between Barlow and Westbrook. The only problem I have with Westbrook is that he's a pretty small guy (5'7'') and who know's if he can take a beating throughout the year. In my opinion, Barlow can be a Tomlinson type back with many catches out of the backfield. So I went with Barlow.
Best pick besides mine: There really wasn't too many surprises in the first round, but I think that James will have a pretty darn good year......but there is one slight problem........Peyton Mannnig was actually a descent value here
Worst pick of round: Besides Rudi Johnson going WAY too early (unless Jonny has some sort of info that no one else has), I'd have to say that the Fish getting James, and Sadidas picking up Moss just wasn't the greatest idea. One other rule of fantasy football I tend to follow is that you never draft two studs from the same team. It's very rare that both players will have great games at one time, plus what happens during your bye week when your top two players are out? Oh yeah, that Vick pick doesn't do it for me either.....nothing like riding your first round pick on Vick's hammy....
2.01 Fat British (from Juice) Stephen Davis RB
2.02 Team Nookie Charlie Garner RB
2.03 Little Bastards Donovan McNabb QB
2.04 Team Tang (from Jugs) Duce Staley RB
2.05 Fat British Chad Johnson WR
2.06 Team Goo Travis Henry RB
2.07 Wong's LD's Thomas Jones RB
2.08 Team Tang Hines Ward WR
2.09 Air JC Santana Moss WR
2.10 Sadidas 21ers Kevin Jones RB
2.11 Flying Hellfish Quentin Griffin RB
2.12 Little Red Horse Curtis Martin RB
FF Superior thoughts: One thing I've learned is that I'm never going to trade my high picks away again. At my pick, I could have been looking at a Chad Johnson or a Thomas Jones.....dammit......I sat through this round thinking about who would be left for me in the 3rd round.
Best pick of round: I'd have to go with Thomas Jones. I'm not sure how other people felt about this guy but I was REAL high on him going into the draft. He's having a great preseason and he's the kind of back that fits well in Chicago's system.
Worst pick of round: I really don't mean to pick on Jonny here again but I think he could have gotten Duce Staley one round later, and not only does he take Staley early, but then he takes Hines Ward who's on the same team! I just don't understand it. Again, McNabb isn't a favorite pick of mine is this round either, especially when this is the fourth team to have two top guys from the same team, on the same fantasy team (Westbrook and McNabb).
3.01 Little Red Horse Trent Green QB
3.02 Flying Hellfish Steve McNair QB
3.03 Little Bastards (from 21ers) Derrick Mason WR
3.04 Air JC Steve Smith WR
3.05 Team Tang Matt Hasselbeck QB
3.06 Air JC (from Wong) Todd Heap TE
3.07 Team Goo Lavernous Coles WR
3.08 Fat British Chris Brown RB
3.09 FFB Superior Joe Horn WR
3.10 Little Bastards Tony Gonzalez TE
3.11 Team Nookie Darrell Jackson WR
3.12 Team Juice Aaron Brooks QB
FF Superior thoughts: As this round began, I was praying that Mason would fall to me but things went as I thought they would, with Mason and Smith going, so I was still able to nab Horn. If Chris Brown would have dropped one more spot, it would have made that Horn decision considerably tougher. Javon Walker was very tempting here too. I briefly thought about taking Gonzo here too as having a top tier TE is almost like fantasy gold.
Best Pick besides mine: Derrick Mason should have a pretty big year and again, I'm a fan of Chris Brown.
Worst pick of round: Too many QB's went in this round....Trent Green as the first pick in the third round? WHAT?? Doesn't Jonny already have Culpepper at the helm?? The only thing that Hasselbeck gives Jonny is trade value otherwise it's going to be many of those weeks where we'll hear "Damn, I shoulda started him instead."
4.01 Team Juice Eric Moulds WR
4.02 Team Nookie Charles Rogers WR
4.03 Little Bastards Koren Robinson WR
4.04 LRH (from Jugs) Andre Johnson WR
4.05 Fat British Javon Walker WR
4.06 Team Goo Chris Chambers WR
4.07 Wong's LD's Peerless Price WR
4.08 Team Tang Rod Smith WR (ROD Smith....hehe)
4.09 Air JC Lee Suggs RB
4.10 LRH (from 21ers) Eddie Geroge RB
4.11 Flying Hellfish Jimmy Smith WR
4.12 Little Red Horse Randy McMichael TE
FF Superior thoughts: Again, I had to sit through another round and watch 9 WR's go. I knew I'd be hurting if I didn't grab a WR in the 5th round when I had my two picks. Things were getting thin already. I had to start thinking about who the hell would be left 9 picks later when I finally got to select a player.
Best Pick of round: Jimmy Smith is great value here. I was starting to think of why he would be dropping so much. When you can get Jimmy Smith as the 21st WR taken, that's some good value for a guy who still has some stuff left in the tank.
Worst pick of round: I'm not a fan of taking McMichael over guys like Shockey, Winslow Jr., Crumpler, or even Boo Williams for that matter. Every year this guy is hyped up and what happens every year....yeah that's right...he's barely a top 10 TE if that at all.
5.01 Little Red Horse Jerry Porter WR
5.02 Flying Hellfish Warrick Dunn RB
5.03 Sadidas 21ers Jeremy Shockey TE
5.04 Air JC Tom Brady QB
5.05 FFB Superior (from Tang) T.J. Duckett RB
5.06 Wong's LD's Keyshawn Johnson WR
5.07 Team Goo Julius Jones RB
5.08 Fat British Amani Toomer WR
5.09 FFB Superior Plaxico Burress WR
5.10 Sadidas 21ers (from LB's) Chad Pennington QB
5.11 Team Nookie Tyrone Wheatley RB
5.12 Team Juice Issac Bruce WR
FF Superior thoughts: Well I came into this round knowing that I needed a 3rd RB real bad and I was real glad that Duckett was still available. So I had to scoop him up right away. I feel that Atlanta will use Duckett even more this season on the ground, keeping Dunn to 3rd down situations. As for Burress, I really wanted Toomer here but Smith was thinking what I was thinking so I had to settle for Burress. He should have a bounce back season this year after struggling last year. Better running game and a better backup QB who should take over for Maddox real quick here.
Best Pick besides mine: I'm kinda of surprised that Shockey fell that far, his injuries are getting better and better every day. I was hoping that Pennington would drop further so that I could grab him but it's a good pick here. I'm also a fan of Keyshawn Johnson in this round. He's back with Parcells and Testeverde so that should help his stats out a little.
Worst pick of round: Not really any horrible picks this round, although I feel that Brady would have been there a while longer since he is always overlooked in drafts. That guy still gets no respect from the fantasy world.
Well that's the first 6 rounds (including keepers). Next issue we get into the real meat of things with the middle rounds. We all know how the middle rounds usually tell us how our year is going to go. If someone nabs that one or two sleepers, his season is likely to head in the right direction. I should have that ready in a few days.