Woo Hoo!! The gangs all here.
It jsut wouldn’t have been the same kicking the tail of a stranger. 
Oh look at Mister Oh-So-High-And_Mighty. What have you ever accomplished in this fantasy football league? You talk alot, but where’s the action, Mr. Big Head!!!
:whispering:
Oh, fuck. Ummmmm, I take it all back. Go easy on me, OK?
Okay, everybody is in, draft order is tentatively set, and the trading season is now in full swing. Are you ready for some football? I am, but I’ve been watching my tapes of the Giants from last season, and that should hold me until preseason starts. (Just watched that goddawful Vikings game, where the defense crushed the Vikes but offense and 'teams let up 3 return touchdowns. GAH!)
Now seems like a decent time to address the league settings. While I enjoy IDP, (half) points for receptions, and ditching the combo RB/WR slot plus a bench slot to compensate, I can find that in a third fantasy league. I’m digging that the rules for this keeper league are largely unchanging.
Anyone want to see any settings changes? IDP? Reception points? Yardage ratios? (30/10/10/30) Bench size? (7) Starting roster? (QB, WR, WR, RB, RB, TE, W/R, K, DEF) Anything?
My vote is no; I like things fine the way they are. Additional cool stuff like IDP can be found in other leagues. While it might normally make sense in a league with these settings to cut the bench back to 6 players, because it’s a keeper league I think the 7th spot is warranted. (To quote Mundi from the rules ballot thread linked upthread: “7 bench spots, otherwise 2 year keepers become an endangered breed.”)
The second question is free agency and the waiver wire. Last year, Varlosz commished a stathead league where he would lock the rosters from Sunday to Tuesday, and then process FA claims (sent to him by email) on the basis of waiver priority. He admitted this was a ton of work, but as a member of that league I really liked that setup. And as commish, I’m in a position to volunteer for that extra work.
I’d really like to try it, as I think it’s a better system than the race-to-the-computer setup we’ve been using. It messes with my concentration on real live football, especially the 4:00 game, if I see a fantasy FA have a great game, or a starter go down with a bad injury. Better to go by waivers and let everybody make thoughtful FA decisions.
Of course, I don’t actually know how the mechanics of waivers work, but surely Varlosz can answer any questions I might have.
So, who’s for going to a waiver-based FA system?
I just noticed that the league settings show the playoffs to be weeks 15 & 16. Here’s all the choices available:
Playoffs
a) None
b) Week 15 and 16 (4 teams)
c) Week 16 and 17 (4 teams)
d) Week 14, 15 and 16 (6 teams)
e) Week 15, 16 and 17 (6 teams)
f) Week 14, 15 and 16 (8 teams)
g) Week 15, 16 and 17 (8 teams)
Current setting is b), but I vote c). I understand the logic of not playing fantasy games in the final week of the season, but IMO all it really does is give us one less week of fun.
If anyone is interested in trading up in the first round, I’m at 4 and looking to drop.
I always hate having no fantasy to punch up week 17, but I also would hate to have the fantasy bowl decided by how long Dungy or Holmgren will leave their starters in the game before treating us all to the Sorgi & Wallace show.
I wish it were otherwise, but I must cast my vote for the status quo this time.
Trade offer(s) sent.
Always happy to drop a man who’s asking for it. 
I almost finished the sentence with “willing to go down”, but I quickly wised up.
Probably going to wait until around declaring keepers before I pull the trigger unless I get an offer I can’t refuse, but I see two possiblities with your offers that I like.
Fair enough, but I have a couple of other offers floating, just an FYI. It may be a first come, first serve situation. I’m a trading slut and the drinks are flowing.
Well ain’t this a bitch. I was feeling bad after last season because I was going to be drafting Tiki #2 overall, making a mockery of this league. But his value has steadily risen during the offseason, and I just read an article the other day on yahoo debating who should be the #4 overall pick: Tiki Barber or Clinton Portis, and the conclusion was that they’re both equally worthy for that spot. Considering that LJ is a keeper, that bumps Tiki up to a legitimate #3 overall pick, so taking him at #2 is only a one-spot homer bump. Still pretty bad, but by no means a travesty.
But then I caught the ESPN crawl this morning: Jets place Curtis Martin on the PUP list. Fuck! So what, I’m drafting Cedrick Houston in the second round? Now that would be an embarassment. I see bad things happening with my draft value slots.
I can’t even justify taking him in the third, and not just because it’s only 3 picks after my second rounder, what with the snake draft. The Jets OL has two rookeis starting, and there’s an open competition at QB not with two, not three, but FOUR scrubs with a fairly equal chance of winning the job. The Jets are already the front-runner for the #1 overall pick in the draft next year. They’re defense is just as much in shambles as their offense. The lone bright spot, Vilma, is the epitome of a 4-3 MLB, and they’re going to the 3-4. Way to nullify your only asset. Gang Green indeed.
Unrelated to the disarray of the Jets, my favorite fantasy quote so far has been: “Every fantasy league will have somebody taking Eli Manning way too high. Don’t be that guy.” HA! Ironically, this league is one of the few where he won’t be overvalued.
Commisioner Note
I’ve done some thinking about trading draft picks, and come to the conclusion that no matter how many trades are made, I’ll be able to sort through it effectively and keep a handle on things during the live draft, even if picks change hands multiple times. So don’t worry about too much complexity in your trades; go nuts. Armed with my mad spreadsheet skillz, I should be good to go.
I don’t know if this is an amazing bit of serendipity or what, but check this out:
32 * 7 = 224
14 * 16 = 224
Yep, that’s right, our fantasy draft has the exact same number of selections as the real NFL draft. (Barring the extra compensatory picks that the NFL gives out.) The nature of the drafts are different in that the NFL is drafting supplemental players, whereas we are drafting an entire team. Keepers also skew the values of the various picks for several reasons, not all of which are immediately obvious. Even still, given this coincidence, I think the NFL draft value chart may be of passing interest. So here it is, re-formatted to our 16 rounds of 14 teams, but with the pick values left unchanged:
1- 1 ( 1): 3000 5- 1 ( 57): 330 9- 1 (113): 68 13- 1 (169): 24.8
1- 2 ( 2): 2600 5- 2 ( 58): 320 9- 2 (114): 66 13- 2 (170): 24.4
1- 3 ( 3): 2200 5- 3 ( 59): 310 9- 3 (115): 64 13- 3 (171): 24
1- 4 ( 4): 1800 5- 4 ( 60): 300 9- 4 (116): 62 13- 4 (172): 23.6
1- 5 ( 5): 1700 5- 5 ( 61): 292 9- 5 (117): 60 13- 5 (173): 23.2
1- 6 ( 6): 1600 5- 6 ( 62): 284 9- 6 (118): 58 13- 6 (174): 22.8
1- 7 ( 7): 1500 5- 7 ( 63): 276 9- 7 (119): 56 13- 7 (175): 22.4
1- 8 ( 8): 1400 5- 8 ( 64): 270 9- 8 (120): 54 13- 8 (176): 22
1- 9 ( 9): 1350 5- 9 ( 65): 265 9- 9 (121): 52 13- 9 (177): 21.6
1-10 (10): 1300 5-10 ( 66): 260 9-10 (122): 50 13-10 (178): 21.2
1-11 (11): 1250 5-11 ( 67): 255 9-11 (123): 49 13-11 (179): 20.8
1-12 (12): 1200 5-12 ( 68): 250 9-12 (124): 48 13-12 (180): 20.4
1-13 (13): 1150 5-13 ( 69): 245 9-13 (125): 47 13-13 (181): 20
1-14 (14): 1100 5-14 ( 70): 240 9-14 (126): 46 13-14 (182): 19.6
2- 1 (15): 1050 6- 1 ( 71): 235 10- 1 (127): 45 14- 1 (183): 19.2
2- 2 (16): 1000 6- 2 ( 72): 230 10- 2 (128): 44 14- 2 (184): 18.8
2- 3 (17): 950 6- 3 ( 73): 225 10- 3 (129): 43 14- 3 (185): 18.4
2- 4 (18): 900 6- 4 ( 74): 220 10- 4 (130): 42 14- 4 (186): 18
2- 5 (19): 875 6- 5 ( 75): 215 10- 5 (131): 41 14- 5 (187): 17.6
2- 6 (20): 850 6- 6 ( 76): 210 10- 6 (132): 40 14- 6 (188): 17.2
2- 7 (21): 800 6- 7 ( 77): 205 10- 7 (133): 39.5 14- 7 (189): 16.8
2- 8 (22): 780 6- 8 ( 78): 200 10- 8 (134): 39 14- 8 (190): 16.4
2- 9 (23): 760 6- 9 ( 79): 195 10- 9 (135): 38.5 14- 9 (191): 16
2-10 (24): 740 6-10 ( 80): 190 10-10 (136): 38 14-10 (192): 15.6
2-11 (25): 720 6-11 ( 81): 185 10-11 (137): 37.5 14-11 (193): 15.2
2-12 (26): 700 6-12 ( 82): 180 10-12 (138): 37 14-12 (194): 14.8
2-13 (27): 680 6-13 ( 83): 175 10-13 (139): 36.5 14-13 (195): 14.4
2-14 (28): 660 6-14 ( 84): 170 10-14 (140): 36 14-14 (196): 14
3- 1 (29): 640 7- 1 ( 85): 165 11- 1 (141): 35.5 15- 1 (197): 13.6
3- 2 (30): 620 7- 2 ( 86): 160 11- 2 (142): 35 15- 2 (198): 13.2
3- 3 (31): 600 7- 3 ( 87): 155 11- 3 (143): 34.5 15- 3 (199): 12.8
3- 4 (32): 590 7- 4 ( 88): 150 11- 4 (144): 34 15- 4 (200): 12.4
3- 5 (33): 580 7- 5 ( 89): 145 11- 5 (145): 33.5 15- 5 (201): 12
3- 6 (34): 560 7- 6 ( 90): 140 11- 6 (146): 33 15- 6 (202): 11.6
3- 7 (35): 550 7- 7 ( 91): 136 11- 7 (147): 32.6 15- 7 (203): 11.2
3- 8 (36): 540 7- 8 ( 92): 132 11- 8 (148): 32.2 15- 8 (204): 10.8
3- 9 (37): 530 7- 9 ( 93): 128 11- 9 (149): 31.8 15- 9 (205): 10.4
3-10 (38): 520 7-10 ( 94): 124 11-10 (150): 31.4 15-10 (206): 10
3-11 (39): 510 7-11 ( 95): 120 11-11 (151): 31 15-11 (207): 9.6
3-12 (40): 500 7-12 ( 96): 116 11-12 (152): 31.8 15-12 (208): 9.2
3-13 (41): 490 7-13 ( 97): 112 11-13 (153): 31.2 15-13 (209): 8.8
3-14 (42): 480 7-14 ( 98): 108 11-14 (154): 30.8 15-14 (210): 8.4
4- 1 (43): 470 8- 1 ( 99): 104 12- 1 (155): 30.4 16- 1 (211): 8
4- 2 (44): 460 8- 2 (100): 100 12- 2 (156): 30 16- 2 (212): 7.6
4- 3 (45): 450 8- 3 (101): 96 12- 3 (157): 29.6 16- 3 (213): 7.2
4- 4 (46): 440 8- 4 (102): 92 12- 4 (158): 29.2 16- 4 (214): 6.8
4- 5 (47): 430 8- 5 (103): 88 12- 5 (159): 28.8 16- 5 (215): 6.4
4- 6 (48): 420 8- 6 (104): 86 12- 6 (160): 28.4 16- 6 (216): 6
4- 7 (49): 410 8- 7 (105): 84 12- 7 (161): 28 16- 7 (217): 5.6
4- 8 (50): 400 8- 8 (106): 82 12- 8 (162): 27.6 16- 8 (218): 5.2
4- 9 (51): 390 8- 9 (107): 80 12- 9 (163): 27.2 16- 9 (219): 4.8
4-10 (52): 380 8-10 (108): 78 12-10 (164): 26.8 16-10 (220): 4.4
4-11 (53): 370 8-11 (109): 76 12-11 (165): 26.4 16-11 (221): 4
4-12 (54): 360 8-12 (110): 74 12-12 (166): 26 16-12 (222): 3.6
4-13 (55): 350 8-13 (111): 72 12-13 (167): 25.6 16-13 (223): 3.3
4-14 (56): 340 8-14 (112): 70 12-14 (168): 25.2 16-14 (224): 3
Note that I linked to three different draft value charts above, and none of them were identical to either of the other two. ESPN’s seems to be in the middle, so I opted to use their values. And the disclaimers on the Pro Football Weekly page are always good to keep in mind:
Happy trading!
Well, I’ve sent out probably a dozen different trade offers over the last week, and nobody seems interested in any of them. Time to rethink my strategy.
As of now, anyone who received an email trade offer from me, consider it withdrawn.
Holy cow Ellis, what a chart. I’ll be sure to check it to make sure the numbers don’t tell me I’m getting ripped off in any potential trades. 
hehheh, you like those offers I sent you?
Munch posted a link to a fantasy draft pick calculator on the league boards. Since googling didn’t turn up any other charts, I put in the time to create a chart based on this claculator. After a half hour of transcription, (during which I surely developed carpal tunnel,) a few minutes of validation checks and formatting, here’s the complete chart:
1- 1 ( 1): 1889 5- 1 ( 57): 519 9- 1 (113): 111 13- 1 (169): 32
1- 2 ( 2): 1823 5- 2 ( 58): 510 9- 2 (114): 107 13- 2 (170): 31
1- 3 ( 3): 1759 5- 3 ( 59): 500 9- 3 (115): 103 13- 3 (171): 29
1- 4 ( 4): 1699 5- 4 ( 60): 491 9- 4 (116): 100 13- 4 (172): 27
1- 5 ( 5): 1642 5- 5 ( 61): 482 9- 5 (117): 97 13- 5 (173): 25
1- 6 ( 6): 1587 5- 6 ( 62): 473 9- 6 (118): 94 13- 6 (174): 23
1- 7 ( 7): 1535 5- 7 ( 63): 464 9- 7 (119): 91 13- 7 (175): 21
1- 8 ( 8): 1485 5- 8 ( 64): 455 9- 8 (120): 88 13- 8 (176): 20
1- 9 ( 9): 1438 5- 9 ( 65): 446 9- 9 (121): 86 13- 9 (177): 18
1-10 (10): 1393 5-10 ( 66): 437 9-10 (122): 83 13-10 (178): 16
1-11 (11): 1351 5-11 ( 67): 428 9-11 (123): 81 13-11 (179): 14
1-12 (12): 1310 5-12 ( 68): 419 9-12 (124): 79 13-12 (180): 12
1-13 (13): 1272 5-13 ( 69): 410 9-13 (125): 77 13-13 (181): 10
1-14 (14): 1235 5-14 ( 70): 402 9-14 (126): 75 13-14 (182): 9
2- 1 (15): 1200 6- 1 ( 71): 393 10- 1 (127): 73 14- 1 (183): 7
2- 2 (16): 1167 6- 2 ( 72): 384 10- 2 (128): 72 14- 2 (184): 6
2- 3 (17): 1135 6- 3 ( 73): 375 10- 3 (129): 70 14- 3 (185): 4
2- 4 (18): 1105 6- 4 ( 74): 367 10- 4 (130): 69 14- 4 (186): 3
2- 5 (19): 1076 6- 5 ( 75): 358 10- 5 (131): 67 14- 5 (187): 2
2- 6 (20): 1049 6- 6 ( 76): 350 10- 6 (132): 66 14- 6 (188): 1
2- 7 (21): 1023 6- 7 ( 77): 341 10- 7 (133): 65 14- 7 (189): 1
2- 8 (22): 998 6- 8 ( 78): 333 10- 8 (134): 64 14- 8 (190): 1
2- 9 (23): 975 6- 9 ( 79): 325 10- 9 (135): 63 14- 9 (191): 0
2-10 (24): 952 6-10 ( 80): 316 10-10 (136): 62 14-10 (192): 0
2-11 (25): 931 6-11 ( 81): 308 10-11 (137): 61 14-11 (193): 0
2-12 (26): 910 6-12 ( 82): 300 10-12 (138): 61 14-12 (194): 0
2-13 (27): 890 6-13 ( 83): 292 10-13 (139): 60 14-13 (195): 0
2-14 (28): 872 6-14 ( 84): 284 10-14 (140): 59 14-14 (196): 0
3- 1 (29): 853 7- 1 ( 85): 276 11- 1 (141): 59 15- 1 (197): 0
3- 2 (30): 836 7- 2 ( 86): 268 11- 2 (142): 58 15- 2 (198): 0
3- 3 (31): 820 7- 3 ( 87): 261 11- 3 (143): 57 15- 3 (199): 0
3- 4 (32): 804 7- 4 ( 88): 253 11- 4 (144): 57 15- 4 (200): 0
3- 5 (33): 788 7- 5 ( 89): 246 11- 5 (145): 56 15- 5 (201): 0
3- 6 (34): 773 7- 6 ( 90): 239 11- 6 (146): 56 15- 6 (202): 0
3- 7 (35): 759 7- 7 ( 91): 231 11- 7 (147): 55 15- 7 (203): 0
3- 8 (36): 745 7- 8 ( 92): 224 11- 8 (148): 55 15- 8 (204): 0
3- 9 (37): 732 7- 9 ( 93): 217 11- 9 (149): 54 15- 9 (205): 0
3-10 (38): 719 7-10 ( 94): 211 11-10 (150): 53 15-10 (206): 0
3-11 (39): 707 7-11 ( 95): 204 11-11 (151): 53 15-11 (207): 0
3-12 (40): 694 7-12 ( 96): 197 11-12 (152): 52 15-12 (208): 0
3-13 (41): 682 7-13 ( 97): 191 11-13 (153): 52 15-13 (209): 0
3-14 (42): 671 7-14 ( 98): 185 11-14 (154): 51 15-14 (210): 0
4- 1 (43): 660 8- 1 ( 99): 179 12- 1 (155): 50 16- 1 (211): 0
4- 2 (44): 648 8- 2 (100): 173 12- 2 (156): 49 16- 2 (212): 0
4- 3 (45): 638 8- 3 (101): 167 12- 3 (157): 48 16- 3 (213): 0
4- 4 (46): 627 8- 4 (102): 161 12- 4 (158): 47 16- 4 (214): 0
4- 5 (47): 616 8- 5 (103): 156 12- 5 (159): 46 16- 5 (215): 0
4- 6 (48): 606 8- 6 (104): 151 12- 6 (160): 45 16- 6 (216): 0
4- 7 (49): 596 8- 7 (105): 146 12- 7 (161): 44 16- 7 (217): 0
4- 8 (50): 586 8- 8 (106): 141 12- 8 (162): 43 16- 8 (218): 0
4- 9 (51): 576 8- 9 (107): 136 12- 9 (163): 42 16- 9 (219): 0
4-10 (52): 566 8-10 (108): 131 12-10 (164): 40 16-10 (220): 0
4-11 (53): 557 8-11 (109): 127 12-11 (165): 39 16-11 (221): 0
4-12 (54): 547 8-12 (110): 122 12-12 (166): 37 16-12 (222): 0
4-13 (55): 538 8-13 (111): 118 12-13 (167): 36 16-13 (223): 0
4-14 (56): 528 8-14 (112): 114 12-14 (168): 34 16-14 (224): 0
Note that none of my “lopsided” trade offers end up favoring the people I offered them to. Going by the NFL’s value chart, I was trying to give away an extra 100 points, but by this one I was actually taking in upwards of 60. I’m glad I withdrew the offers before anybody accepted; I would have felt like an asshole. (Unlike my trade with Mundi, which actually just makes me laugh every time I think about it. heh.)
While I stand by my efforts at keeping this chart free of errors, it did involve manual data entry of 190 numbers. As such, I recommend using the calculator linked above before making any final decisions. (Assuming it doesn’t get moved to the pay content section of that site.) This chart is mostly useful for printing out and obsessing over potential trades. (Wait, I’m the only guy doing that, aren’t I?)
Actually I don’t think I ever received any, perhaps you’re thinking of another team?
Although from your tenor, it sounds like I wouldn’t have wanted to take the offers anyway.
I amended this on the yahoo boards, but those posts don’t persist forever, so:
- You can trade anyone on your eligible roster at will until the offseason trade deadline. (8/28)
- You can declare keepers early without effecting offseason trading rules.
- At any time after declraing keepers – even after the deadline – if one of the four exceptions arise, you can either drop that keeper or switch it to somebody else on your eligible keeper list.
So technically you do still have some rights to your complete roster after the deadline, though not a lot.
If an exception happens too close (commish judgement call) to the live draft, you can still drop the keeper but not select a replacement.
neuroman, sorry, I had you mixed up with Nurse Carmen. I sent out too many offers to remember them all. There’s a decent chance I’ll be sending you an offer in the near future, though.
So in retrospect, you were just busting my balls, eh? Ya rat bastard! heh.
The New York Fanboys trade my 5th & 11th (5-2, 11-2) round picks to Rhinosaurs(neuroman) for his 6th & 7th rounders. (6-12, 7-3)
In absolute terms, my #58 and #142 for his #82 and #87. If anyone is both curious and lazy, I gave 568 value to get 561 value by the calculator.
Note that previously I also swapped 6th, 7th and 15th rounders straight up with Mundi. That trade was based on something other than pick value. (But there was/is legitimate reasoning behind it.)
So Ellis, now that the trade is done, would you mind on elaborating your strategy? If that would involve tipping your hand to an unacceptable degree, I understand.
I had no great strategy, other than it seemed cool to have two picks in a row at the top of the 5th round.
heh. Dont forget your pick toward the end of the 4th as well, making it a cluster of three picks near each other. (Munch would have had 3 in a row if he’d been 40 minutes quicker on the draw.)
Trying to avoid charity drafting, I’d like to earn my team by drafting everyone around 10 picks early, based on my estimate of where they’d normally go. (Using our draft history from all 3 seasons plus the yahoo rankings and yahoo Draft Analysis under Draft Central.) Last season, I think Tiki & Curtis both fell to me due in some part to charity, so I’m trying to avoid that this year.
I don’t value any NY players that I want anywhere in the 5th round. I pegged a crapload of them in the scary, unpredictable 7th, 8th and 9th rounds, though. (Seriously; Omni, wtf was up with keeping Carolina in the 6th last year? That’s killing me.)
I’m a little surprised you guys aren’t trading draft picks amongst yourselves. If I were playing a non-homer game, I’d be trading like a motherfuck.
Oh yeah, Munch, I received your offer, upgrading my 14th rd pick to a 13th if you get the 5th and 11th rounder.
Guys drafted in rounds 13-16 are a total crapshoot, and odds are that all of them will be dumped to the waiver wire by the season’s midpoint. The allure of upgrading a 14th round pick to a 13th round pick is very small.