He Hate Me FF keeper league - yr 7

The Game Room
121

Damn. Won’t someone start at the back? :frowning:

122

New York Fanboys

  1. (5) Brian Westbrook - Always produces, but he’s already injured this time around; usually you get three or four weeks off the injury report with Westbrook. Big reach based on ADP, but he is worth a first rounder.

  2. (24) Anquan Boldin - Yes. Very yes. He’s better than Fitzgerald. Really. Fitz can only go up and catch high passes; Boldin catches everything thrown to him, long, middle or short. Plus, the Cardinals’ bread-and-butter red-zone play is a quick out to Boldin just short of the goal line. Fitzgerald scored more than half his touchdowns when Boldin wasn’t in the lineup for four games last year, I might add.

  3. (33) Jason Witten - Oeeeugh? Bad autodrafter. Bad!

  4. (52) LenDale White - He’s fat, he’s round, he rolls along the ground, LenDale White… LenWhale has slimmed down considerably in the offseason, apparently. Should get more carries.

  5. (61) Lee Evans - I really think he’ll be the big winner beneficiary from T.O.’s presence. Could be a truly spectacular deep threat with a quality starter opposite him.

  6. (80) Steve Breaston - didn’t do an awful lot last year while Boldin was in the lineup. Should do a bit more this year, but still only a spot starter.

  7. (89) Michael Jenkins - I think he peaked last year with 770ish yards. With Gonzalez and Roddy White both ahead of him in the pecking order, I doubt he’ll catch more than 30-40 passes.

  8. (108) Brett Favre - I took him out of desperation in the auction league. The potential is there, but whether it’s potential for big points or complete failure is uncertain.

  9. (117) Shonn Greene - good keeper pick, though it’s not clear that he’ll be the starter next year even if Thomas Jones is gone. Given that you have Westbrook I would have been angling for McCoy, but you used the pick you would have had to spend on McCoy on Lee Evans (which was a smart move).

  10. (136) New York - Bit early, innit?

  11. (145) Derrick Ward - sort of a homer pick, but still a good choice. Increasingly murky depth chart in Tampa should make this a worry, though, with Cadillac now listed as the starter.

  12. (164) Hakeem Nicks - great keeper pick. Probably the best pro prospect out of all this year’s first-round wideouts.

  13. (173) Trent Edwards - what the hell is going on in Buffalo? I mean, seriously.

  14. (192) Nate Kaeding - stolen from under my nose. Damn you.

  15. (201) Ramses Barden - Homerkeeper pick. You know better whether he’ll be any good.

  16. (220) Chansi Stuckey - Vanished from the map after briefly enjoying a spell as the rookie sensation of the first half of last year. Somebody has to catch a pass in New York occasionally. Might just as well be Stuckey.

Score: 2/10. If I went just on your picks you’d get a 5, but the autodrafter really bent you over and made you its bitch.

123

And the beat goes on:

Omni’s Omnipotents

  1. (3) Matt Forte
  2. (26) Marques Colston
  3. (31) Chad Ochocinco
  4. (54) Darren McFadden
  5. (70) Chris Johnson
  6. (71) Jerricho Cotchery
  7. (98) Philip Rivers
  8. (99) Ahmad Bradshaw
  9. (115) Michael Crabtree
  10. (138) Matthew Stafford
  11. (151) Greg Olsen
  12. (158) Laurence Maroney
  13. (171) Chris Henry
  14. (194) Chris Henry
  15. (199) Miami
  16. (211) Jason Elam

Best Pick: Chris Henry. The one who doesn’t suck. Great value, if he can stay out of trouble.

Worst Pick: Chris Henry. The one who does suck. He’ll never play. Even if CJ, TequilalessWhale go down, I like Ringer better. And you know my feelings on Forte.

Strengths: They tell me that starters. They tell me Rivers, Chris Johnson, and Matt Forte are going to rock. I don’t believe it. But they have a nice WR crew in Colston, Ochocinco, and Cotchery. Great job on getting value late in Maroney, even if he busts, you’re not out anything.

Weaknesses: A good solid team of guys I don’t think will perform up to expectations. But even if they don’t, this team has the power to go all the way. They’re that good.

124

Okay, I’m cheating a bit and doing my own team because I have to get some work done after this.

9 Inch Neils (RNATB)

  1. (9) Frank Gore - Oof. Gore has 1,500 yard potential every year, but also has torn ACL potential every week. I generally avoid injury-risk types in the first round, but there was nobody else there who I felt merited the pick (I don’t do first-round wideouts). I would have reached for Marion Barber or Ronnie Brown, but I was fairly certain one of them would fall to me in Round 2…

  2. (20) Marion Barber - …and it turned out that both did. I was really hoping that Brown would keep falling so I could take him in round 3, but he went with the very next pick. I had Barber ranked in the top 5 going into last year, and he didn’t really do much to dissuade me (other than be injured a lot). Assuming the Cowboys run the ball as much as they’re expected to do, he almost can’t fail to put up good numbers.

  3. (37) Larry Johnson - Not a fan of the player or the pick, but he’s looked decent in the preseason (25 carries, 127 yards) and seems fully healthy. His stats from 12 games last year translate into 1150 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns over a full year, which is pretty good for a #3 running back. Besides, I didn’t like any of the wideouts available at this point and I already had Dallas Clark and Matt Schaub coming as keepers.

  4. (48) Braylon Edwards - here, we see the first real boom-or-bust pick of my draft. His 790ish yards in 2008 is just not acceptable from a #1 wideout, but he’ll have the benefit of a slightly more seasoned pair of bad quarterbacks to throw him the ball this year and will be the focus of the offense by default.

  5. (65) Lance Moore - posted 928 yards and 10 touchdowns in fairly limited playing time last season, and seems to have won the job starting across from Marques Colston full-time. Should put up 1,000 yards barring injury, but probably won’t score 10 times again at 5’9".

  6. (76) Matt Schaub - more boom or bust, this time as a keeper. Schaub’s numbers last season would have been about the same as Aaron Rodgers’ had he stayed healthy all year. The problem is that he can’t stay healthy, having missed 5 games in each of the last two seasons. If he can do it this year, I’ll be laughing all the way to a championship.

  7. (93) Dallas Clark - Great value here as a keeper. Had 848 yards last season with Marvin Harrison mostly out. Harrison will definitely be out this year, and Clark should be lined up in the slot on 60% of the Colts’ offensive plays. I foresee his first thousand-yard effort.

  8. (104) Jamal Lewis - Nothing left in the tank, as far as I can tell, but true starting tailbacks are rarer than rocking horse turds in the eighth round of a large league draft. Will hopefully give me 60 yards and a score in spot duty.

  9. (121) Steve Smith - The other Steve Smith is arguably the most likely of the third-year wideouts to have a breakout year. He’s been an excellent third down receiver so far- rare for a young guy- and that should translate into a solid possession receiver. Might catch 80 balls. Won’t score much, sadly.

  10. (132) Jason Campbell - A curious choice of backup, considering I have an injury prone starter, but I think Campbell will have a huge year. It’s not so much that I like him for his own sake- I think he’s good, but not great- but he has so much talent around him that at least three of his receiving options have to put up big numbers, which means he will too. Also doesn’t throw picks, which means he might not win me games but he won’t lose them either.

  11. (149) Percy Harvin - I don’t like Harvin. He’s one of a dozen guys on last year’s Gator team with sub-4.4 speed. He’s a rookie wideout. He’s a bit undersized. However, the Vikings seem determined to get him the ball, whether by throwing it to him, handoffs or even direct snaps, and touches mean production. He might end up being a Reggie Bush wearing a wideout jersey number.

  12. (160) Carnell Williams - My only real homer pick, but Cadillac is on paper the Buccaneers’ starter, and looked scarily good in limited preseason work.

  13. (177) Michael Bush - Bush might prove to be the steal of the draft. At worst, I think he gets a Chris Johnson/LenDale White-style timeshare arrangement with McFadden. At best, McFadden doesn’t produce or gets hurt, and Bush gets most of the carries. I genuinely think he’s a better running back than either McFadden or the forgotten Justin Fargas, especially after watching him roll over my Buccaneers in last years’ season finale even though we weren’t even bothering to defend the pass.

  14. (188) Glen Coffee - Again, I don’t like handcuffing, but if I can do it with a throwaway pick, why not? There’s also a chance that Coffee ends up as San Fran’s starter next year, with Gore due big money.

  15. (205) Robbie Gould - Most consistent kicker in football, and the Bears’ offense will do a lot of stalling in the red zone this year.

  16. (216) New Orleans - They might turn into a pretty good fantasy defense this year; lots of talent, and lots of good players returning from injury. Plus, the offense will mean other teams throw a lot, which means lots of opportunities for takeaways and sacks. But really, it’s just that they get to play Matt Stafford in Week 1.

Score: 7/10. I like my keeper potential more than I like my team overall. A lot will depend on whether Braylon Edwards remembers how to catch a ball.

125

Ask, and you shall receive.

Baltimore Weirdos

  1. (14) Clinton Portis
  2. (15) Peyton Manning
  3. (42) Bernard Berrian
  4. (43) Ray Rice
  5. (59) Santonio Holmes
  6. (72) Le’Ron McClain
  7. (97) Philadelphia
  8. (110) John Carlson
  9. (126) Sammy Morris
  10. (127) David Akers
  11. (154) Miles Austin
  12. (155) Mark Clayton
  13. (182) Joey Galloway
  14. (183) JaMarcus Russell
  15. (210) Chase Coffman
  16. (222) Indianapolis

Best Pick: Ummmmm. Mark Clayton?

Worst Pick: Ummmmm? LeRon McClain? The thing is, I can see the rationale for each pick, but I don’t like them. I love the points you get from Manning, but there was too much talent on the board to take him there. But I understand the desire to have a stud QB, so it’s hard to condemn him. Rice was a reach, as was McClain and Berrian. But, again, I can see why they were taken.

Strengths: Ummmmmmm? Solidness? Manning and Portis are solid.

Weaknesses: Ummmmmmm? You know the Ravens were in the bottom half of offense last year.

Overall: Ummmmmmm? Okay? I don’t know what to make of this team. I think most of the guys taken were reaches, with some being incredible reaches. But he’s the Champ and I’ll be damned if I’m going to tell him I don’t like his team. He’s earned that.

126

Best DEF value pick of the draft.

127

DrewBrees’Birthmark

  1. (13) Brandon Jacobs
  2. (16) Andre Johnson
  3. (41) Antonio Gates
  4. (44) Antonio Bryant
  5. (69) Pittsburgh
  6. (83) Kurt Warner
  7. (86) Rob Bironas
  8. (111) Tim Hightower
  9. (114) Willis McGahee
  10. (128) Deion Branch
  11. (153) T.J. Duckett
  12. (167) Pierre Thomas
  13. (170) Dallas
  14. (184) Anthony Fasano
  15. (209) Shaun Hill
  16. (212) John Kasay

Best Pick: Andre Johnson. Guy is a stud, and I was surprised to see him there. I think WR/RB is the way to go at the tail end of the first round.

Worst Pick: Rob Bironas. A kicker? In round 7? In a keeper league? With potential talent still on the board?

Strengths: The useless positions. Gates, Steelers D, Bironas, and their backups. Was this an autodraft?

Weaknesses: Lack of handcuffs. With Jacob’s history, I’m surprised this team didn’t get Bradshaw. Or grab Beanie if you’re keeping Hightower. And seriously, grabbing depth in D and K is silly in a keeper league.

Overall: I don’t like Jacobs and many of the picks were, to me, huge reaches, especially the Def’s, K’s, and TE’s. This team may flash a bit with Warner, Jacobs, and AJ, but there’s little to no depth I like, and the backups at the skill positions are … iffy. Not built for the long haul.

128

Quentin’s JAMmers

  1. (12) Tom Brady
  2. (17) Kevin Smith
  3. (40) Roy Williams
  4. (45) Knowshon Moreno
  5. (68) Donnie Avery
  6. (73) LeSean McCoy
  7. (96) Chris Cooley
  8. (101) David Garrard
  9. (124) Nate Washington
  10. (129) Kevin Curtis
  11. (152) Dwayne Bowe
  12. (157) Tashard Choice
  13. (180) Patrick Crayton
  14. (185) Washington
  15. (208) Mike Goodson
  16. (213) Josh Brown

Best Pick: The first 8 rounds. Actually, I like a lot of these picks. There is a clear emphasis on upside over guys with a record of average production (Roy W., D. Avery, Moreno, McCoy) which I like this year.

Worst Pick: Kevin Smith. I keep going back and forth on this pick. While I really like Smith, he is a Lion. And while I think he could have a breakout year, I wonder if you should have gone with Wayne, Smith, or another stud receiver. But I won’t say it’s a horrible pick, especially with Bowe already in the fold.

Strengths: A very good all around team, with a ton of upside. If he hits on just two of his more risky picks, like McCoy, Moreno, Avery, RoyWill, or Curtis, he’ll have a great team.

Weaknesses: Like my team, risky. Moreno has been injured and may not even start at all, McCoy looks good, but needs Westbrook to get injured, Avery may have QB issues, Williams hasn’t looked as good as he should for the #1 WR in Dallas, and Brady is coming back from injury.

Overall: Swinging for the home run. Either he’ll put it out of the park or strike out. I suggest a change of name to Dave Kingman or Reggie Jackson.

129

Yeah, big time. Combine the fact that I slept through the first five rounds with the plethora of keepers that weren’t in the draft pool, by the time I joined the draft there was practically nothing but dregs to pick from.

I hate LenDale White at any round, much less in the 4th. I’d ideally like to package him with Westbrook to acquire two journeymen RB starters, like Ryan Grant types. If anyone is interested, let me know.

Witten in the third was a travesty.

I don’t think the Jets in the 10th is early at all. They should be a top 5 fantasy defense this year if you sit them during Patriots games. The best defenses in this league produce top 10 points – Pittsburgh was in the top 10 overall last year – and there is a precipitous dropoff in defensive production. Meaning that defenses merit the same consideration as the premiere positions.

The top 3 defenses were gone in the 5th & 6th rounds, as I recall. That’s probably a tiny bit early, but not by much based on value and dropoff. I know that nobody gives the Jets defense much credit in fantasy this year so I could wait on them longer than normal, but every other defense still available sucked and the LenDale pick meant I couldn’t afford an average or worse defense. I just couldn’t risk them getting snatched up. The Jets are easily an 8th round value under our scoring system, so I view this as one of my better picks.

For an 11th round keeper, Ward’s a steal.

Next year Barden should at very least be the primary red zone target, plus there’s a good chance the two starting wideouts will be him and Nicks. Not a guarantee, but way better upside than guys like Steve Smith, Mario Manningham, or Sinorice Moss, who will be career third WR possession guys. Hell, Smith and Manningham are practically the same guy, and I don’t see Smith ever being a legitimate starter. Great #3, though.

I was going to flip a coin between Stuckey and Clowney, but then decided to just go with the higher yahoo rating. Stuckey it is.

Understand that I don’t have much knowledge of scrubs. I know the ones on my teams, and nobody else. So going with scrubs whose potential I can guess at is infinitely preferable to blindly choosing a scrub based on yahoo rankings and praying it works out.

I totally agree with your 2/10 score, and think your 5/10 ignoring the autodraft was generous. Only my first ever draft (Pennington at #10 overall!) was worse than this one. All I have to do to feel better about my team is package Westbrook and White for a couple below-average starters and I’ll be much happier.

130

I’m listening… Actually, you can keep White, but I’d be willing to give you two starters for Boldin.

131

I’ll bite. I’ll send you an offer, let me know what you think.

132

Back to the top:

Crabby Hermits

  1. (4) Michael Turner
  2. (25) Terrell Owens
  3. (32) Marshawn Lynch
  4. (53) Ben Roethlisberger
  5. (60) Santana Moss
  6. (81) Donald Driver
  7. (88) Domenik Hixon
  8. (109) Visanthe Shiancoe
  9. (116) Devin Hester
  10. (137) Ricky Williams
  11. (144) Limas Sweed
  12. (165) Michael Vick
  13. (172) Ryan Longwell
  14. (193) New England
  15. (200) BenJarvus Green-Ellis
  16. (221) Mewelde Moore

Best pick: Turner. I think the 370 rule is selective statistical manipulation. He’ll have another good year. I also thought Lynch was a good value pick, but the Bills’ offensive woes concern me.

Worst Pick: Ben Rothlisberger. After McNabb went, I think the next group of QBs are all pretty much the same. Rothlisberger doesn’t excite me at all, and is actually in the lower tier. And you don’t have a backup.

Strengths: Solid productive players in the early-middle rounds. Moss and driver aren’t that exciting, but they’re solid.

Weaknesses: Running backs. After Turner, you have a question in Lynch (and the first 3 games without him). Ricky Williams, BGE, and Moore are moore (oooh, a Bermanesque play on names) likely to be worthless than to emerge as scoring threats.

Overall: The start of the season without Lynch will put this team in a hole, and while there are a lot of WR’s on the roster, I don’t think Hixon/Hester/etc. will do anything for this team. I don’t think this team has much of a chance.

133

New York Fanboys

  1. (5) Brian Westbrook
  2. (24) Anquan Boldin
  3. (33) Jason Witten
  4. (52) LenDale White
  5. (61) Lee Evans
  6. (80) Steve Breaston
  7. (89) Michael Jenkins
  8. (108) Brett Favre
  9. (117) Shonn Greene
  10. (136) New York
  11. (145) Derrick Ward
  12. (164) Hakeem Nicks
  13. (173) Trent Edwards
  14. (192) Nate Kaeding
  15. (201) Ramses Barden
  16. (220) Chansi Stuckey

I’m not going to spend a lot of time covering the poor job the autodrafter did. Westbrook without McCoy is a scary and unnecessary risk, and I think there was too much thinking of the future (there is no reason to have Nicks AND Barden AND Stuckey) and not enough putting together a good team.

134

This was my toughest pick, and when I made it, I knew it was a reach. I’m not high on Barber this season, and I think Smith having the full time job with less upside is better for me than Barber. (Had I known I would take Choice later, I would have taken Barber) It really came down to committee vs. full time. Ronnie Brown was another guy I could have taken. I don’t know if I would have been comfortable with him as my #1. Either guy is arguably a better pick, no doubt.

I didn’t consider WRs for two reasons. One, I kept Bowe and had a #1 guy already. Two, if I didn’t take Smith, it was 23 picks until my next spot? I was assured of not having any #1 quality RBs left at that point. I was completely right as it turned out. So while I don’t like the pick and I wouldn’t argue if someone said I made a mistake not taking Barber or Brown, I think I made the right choice in taking a RB there. Plus, Smith looks good and should be much improved by, of all things, a real blocking TE.

Absolutely right. That was the plan all along too. I looked over the keeper list and realized that unless you have a 1st round quality guy coming back to you in the mid-late rounds, you aren’t winning. And while the league rules make it so you can’t punt a season for a high draft pick, I was definitely drafting with an eye for high reward risks late. I’ll be content to make the playoffs taking over a team with one good keeper, but only if some of the later guys turn into top talents. I’ve never been very good at predicting those types of breakouts though, so we’ll see.

Spot on analysis though, thanks!

135

Whoever came up with the “consolation bracket wins the top spot” was brilliant. I HATE it when people punt to get a high pick the next year, and this just solidifies how well this rule works.

136

I’m not going to do my usual team-by-team grades and analysis. I did a time consuming extensive one for the All-Pro league and several players are already taking that approach in this thread already. Instead I’m going to do a round-by-round analysis and ranking based wholly on value. For the most part I’ll be dismissing drafting for need simply as a convenience and because in a keeper league upside really matters.

Keep in mind I wasn’t really focusing on who was on Autodraft and when.

Starting from the top:


Round 1. ****       
1. **Adrian Peterson **       Moridwon (Hamlet)
2. **Maurice Jones-Drew **       Varlos' Zzzzzzz
3. **Matt Forte **       Omni's Omnipotents
4. **Michael Turner **       Crabby Hermits
5. **Brian Westbrook **       New York Fanboys
6. **LaDainian Tomlinson **       Spiritus Mundane
7. **Drew Brees **       RealCarmenOfGenius
8. **Steven Jackson **       Fightin' Quakers
9. **Frank Gore **       9 Inch Neils (RNATB)
10. **Larry Fitzgerald **       Fourth & Nineteen
11. **Randy Moss **       Off Constantly
12. **Tom Brady **       Quentin's JAMmers
13. **Brandon Jacobs **       DrewBrees'Birthmark
14. **Clinton Portis **       Baltimore Weirdos

The first round of the draft is always difficult to dissect and grade. You essentially take what the fates have given to you and it’s impossible to do “good” but it’s quite easy to do “bad”. So, in that vein the winners in this round tend to be those folks who either were lucky enough to have optimal draft spots or have people in front of them pass on the wrong players.

I’ve stated in other discussions that this round was essentially 6 players deep (and one of those is someone keeper). Those six players being the six top RBs and after that you are in a pickle, so these best picks are heavily dependent on who was able to draft those 6 (5) guys or wisely avoid reaching for a RB who doesn’t belong in that group.

Best Pick(s): Adrian Peterson, LaDainian Tomlinson
AP gets the nod simply because the RB situation is very muddled at the top this year and getting the #1 overall guy with the fewest questions is a real asset. It’s not like drafting LDT back in the day, but it’s still worthy of recognition.

I give Spiritus credit for landing LDT with the 6th pick. I think he’s the last of the Big 6 and you could have very defensibly taken him as high as 2nd. The difference between him and MJD is small enough that the benefits of drafting earlier in the 2nd far outweighs it.

Worst Pick(s): Brian Westbrook, Steven Jackson
Westbrook is the odd man out in the top of this draft. He’s well behind the Big 6 and passing on LDT will hurt you a ton. You simply cannot have a guy like Westbrook who’s hurt that regularly and has a potential stud rookie splitting time and waiting to step up once he does get hurt. He’ll score a bunch of points when he’s in there, especially in the first few weeks but could kill you come playoff time. He should have lasted until the end of this round.

Steven Jackson is going to be a total bust. He’s only ever had one season that can be considered very good and that was in 2006 when the Rams were actually a decent team and the NFC West was extraordinarily shitty on defense. This year’s Rams are going to be terrible again with an awful O-Line and passing attack, don’t expect many TDs for him. When they are 0-4 and SJax is dinged up he’ll be asking out of games and complaining. I have him ranked 14th on my list of RBs (10th of non-keepers) and wouldn’t have taken him before the 2nd round.

Most Upside: Brandon Jacobs
Jacobs is like Westbrook in that he has a scary habit of missing time but with the 13th pick of a keeper draft he’s pretty great even if he just equals last season’s work. For my money, with the loss of Ward and the death of the Giants passing game he’s got huge potential to be a top 3 back this season. That I watched him make a mockery of the Bears defense in the preseason certainly elevated him in my eyes.

Biggest Risk: Larry Fitzgerald
Fitz is in the discussion for best real life WR in the NFL, though I’d rank him behind Megatron myself, and he’s a potential fantasy stud but he’s got tons of question marks that make me dislike taking him so high. As noted by about everyone a ton of his production came when Boldin was out and that scenario isn’t likely to repeat itself. A healthy motivated Boldin and Breaston will lower his weekly totals and the potential for an explosive running attack from Beanie Wells can’t be overlooked. People like to dismiss and mock preseason, and when it comes to final scores I agree, but when a teams first unit struggles horribly in every preseason game you better take notice. Warner and the Cards looked beyond inept when the 1s were on the field. Larry is Scary this year.

Keeper Potential: N/A

137

Spiritus Mundane

Since this was an autodraft I’ll just do a generalized analysis.

  1. (6) LaDainian Tomlinson
  2. (23) Greg Jennings
  3. (34) Reggie Bush
  4. (51) Tony Gonzalez
  5. (62) New York
  6. (79) Stephen Gostkowski
  7. (90) Wes Welker
  8. (107) DeSean Jackson
  9. (118) Matt Cassel
  10. (135) Tennessee
  11. (146) Muhsin Muhammad
  12. (163) Nate Burleson
  13. (174) Correll Buckhalter
  14. (191) Brady Quinn
  15. (202) Kevin Boss
  16. (219) Rian Lindell

Great #1 RB, #1, #2 and #3 Wrs, and #1 TE. Everything else sucks. Cassel is a keeper prospect, not a bona fide starter. Reggie Bush is definitely not a #2 back and probably not even a #3.

There’s so much receiving talent here that the lack of running back depth may not matter, but somehow I doubt it.

RealCarmenOfGenius

  1. (7) Drew Brees - a top three quarterback, no doubt, but he didn’t throw that many touchdowns and I think he’s a bit overrated. Was almost invisible for the first four weeks of fantasy last year- can you afford that?

  2. (22) Ryan Grant - solid running back with 1,500 yard potential, though he’s more of a #2.

  3. (35) Jonathan Stewart - Ouch. He’s stuck behind arguably the best back in the league. I think he hit his ceiling last year at ~900 yards; he’s not going to put up starters’ numbers unless he or Williams leaves.

  4. (50) Anthony Gonzalez - High pick for a wideout who hasn’t had a 1,000 yard season yet. I’m starting to wonder if all the talk about moving Gonzalez into the slot is because he isn’t fast enough to get open against #1 and #2 corners.

  5. (63) Kellen Winslow - I think you could have had him later, but I expect Winslow to be closer to 1,000 yards this year than 500.

  6. (78) Cedric Benson - You took him right before I was going to. He’s not really a starting-caliber back but he does have upside, particularly if the Bengals’ passing game returns to form.

  7. (91) Fred Jackson - interesting pick; Lynch will be back before the bye weeks start, and Jackson didn’t really see significant carries last year. You’ll have to hope that Jackson has some huge games and holds onto the job when Lynch returns for this to be a worthwhile pick- which could happen.

  8. (106) Eli Manning - the ultimate fantasy backup. Hard to predict how he’ll do without Plax, though.

  9. (119) Joe Flacco - I don’t understand why you kept him. You really don’t want to be carrying more than two quarterbacks, except maybe during a bye/injury situation- which you aren’t in.

  10. (134) Minnesota - well, they’re pretty good, but they don’t produce a lot of takeaways and there’s a good chance the Williamses will miss time. Reach.

  11. (147) Eddie Royal - superb keeper, especially if Marshall winds up missing games or getting traded. Royal showed early on last year that he can get open regardless of whether Marshall is there or not.

  12. (162) Heath Miller - The least consistent player in the universe. Miller either has 15 points or less than 2. There’s no in between.

  13. (175) Brian Robiskie - not a bad pick, although the Browns offense (and franchise) are pretty moribund.

  14. (190) Kenny Britt - Britt might turn into a good player, but who’s going to throw him the ball?

  15. (203) Mohamed Massaquoi
    } have no idea who these guys are, so fuck ‘em.

  16. (218) Jaymar Johnson

Overall score: 4/10. Brees might go win you a championship all by himself, but if he doesn’t, you’re in trouble, because there’s nobody else on your roster capable of carrying your team.

138

Fightin’ Quakers

  1. (8) Steven Jackson - Augh. Ugh. Ick. Do not want!

  2. (21) Ronnie Brown - Ah, here we go. Ronnie’s got MVP potential. He’s been going as late as the fourth round in lots of drafts I’ve seen, but the net effect of larger leagues is that more and more backs are taken early. He was definitely the best choice available at this point.

  3. (36) Hines Ward - Bwuh? Ward’s production has declined every year, and I have to believe his uptick last year was an aberration.

  4. (49) Donovan McNabb - Ah, here we go. McNabb has MVP potential too, and doesn’t cost you the sort of pick that a Brees or a Brady will.

  5. (64) Rashard Mendenhall - That’s awfully early to draft a guy who barely saw the field as a rookie.

  6. (77) Chicago - Um… ‘kay?

  7. (92) Brandon Marshall - Oh, here we go. #1 WR with #5 WR potential. Remains to be seen if Marshall will even see the field this season, or if Orton will be able to see him once he’s out there, but it was worth rolling the dice in round 6.

  8. (105) Derrick Mason - You like old wideouts. Derrick Mason is reliable, but he actually pulled a Favre and retired and unretired in the offseason. Doubt he’s got anything left.

  9. (120) James Davis - Can’t tell who’s where on the Browns RB chart, so I don’t know if this is a good pick or not.

  10. (133) Jerious Norwood - …but this is. Norwood will produce whether or not Turner is on the field. He’s a poor man’s Leon Washington.

  11. (148) Chad Pennington - Backup quarterback. Nothing to see here, folks.

  12. (161) Darren Sproles - Never liked Sproles, never will, but he’ll get receiving and return yards.

  13. (176) Jeremy Maclin - keeper with a hint of value for this season. Good pick.

  14. (189) Brandon Pettigrew - A Lions early round pick? Can’t be worth anything.

  15. (204) Earl Bennett - A sleeper darling. Can he catch? Worth a 15th-rounder to find out!

  16. (217) Cornelius Ingram - He’s on IR. Worst pick ever.

Overall: 5/10. Love some of your picks. Hate others. On balance, should be a decent team.

139

**Fourth & Nineteen **
Another autodraft team, I think, so general thoughts only.

  1. (10) Larry Fitzgerald
  2. (19) Steve Smith
  3. (38) DeAngelo Williams
  4. (47) Tony Romo
  5. (66) Willie Parker
  6. (75) Kevin Walter
  7. (94) Baltimore
  8. (103) Kris Brown
  9. (122) Zach Miller
  10. (131) Kyle Orton
  11. (150) Earnest Graham
  12. (159) Owen Daniels
  13. (178) Mark Bradley
  14. (187) Justin Fargas
  15. (206) Tampa Bay
  16. (215) Nick Folk

Don’t like the Fitzgerald pick. Don’t like the WR-WR draft combo (though I like both players individually). Don’t like Romo. Do like Willie Parker. Don’t think Earnest Graham will see the field much this year. Love Owen Daniels. Don’t like the Bucs defense- we have the most ridiculously tough schedule in the world and there’s not much leadership left. Don’t like Orton. Really don’t understand why you need two kickers, let alone one eighth-round one.

Overall: 4/10, but it’d be a lot higher if the Kris Brown pick had gone towards somebody useful.

140

Off Constantly

  1. (11) Randy Moss

  2. (18) Reggie Wayne

  3. (39) Calvin Johnson - Not really sure why you kept going with receivers. Having a Calvin Johnson or a Reggie Wayne on your bench is a total waste; I’d rather start a mediocre running back in the flex spot than a top wideout. Great trade opportunity, though.

  4. (55) Steve Slaton - keeper, and a totally worthwhile one.

  5. (58) Donald Brown - ooh. Not sure about this. Brown doesn’t seem to have won the starter’s job, and Indy doesn’t generally run a platoon. Picking him here means you’d have to keep him in round 3, which is only going to be worthwhile if he wins the job.

  6. (74) Julius Jones - A serviceable #2 RB, if the rest of the offense comes around.

  7. (95) Jamaal Charles - too small to start. Only worth it as a handcuff pick.

  8. (102) Jay Cutler - well, he comes with risk, but you can’t argue with a starting quarterback in the eighth round.

  9. (123) Fred Taylor - the only NE tailback worth drafting, for my money. Expect lots of yards, no scoring.

  10. (130) Chris Chambers - Slowly working his way down the San Diego depth chart. This is a good spot for him, and he’s got upside.

  11. (143) Mark Sanchez - Why? I mean, what are the odds he’ll outperform a 9th round pick next year?

  12. (166) Matt Ryan - see, if you’re going to draft a rookie quarterback, do it late, like this. Great keeper.

  13. (179) San Diego - Over-rated. Shawne Merriman may end up in choky himself, which is bad news for you.

  14. (186) Brent Celek - good value. Of course, if he doesn’t produce, you’re a bit effed.

  15. (207) Chris Brown - this is the way handcuffing is done. Cheap and cheerful.

  16. (214) Neil Rackers - leg gets shorter every year. Fortunately, the Cards offense gets better every year, meaning his field goal attempts are shorter.

Overall: 8/10. You could have had a 10, but you wasted an opportunity to get a really good back to pair with Slaton by drafting Reggie Wayne as a luxury pick. I guess if you want to start three wideouts, you can, but personally I think it’s a horrible idea.