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The Game Room
101

Exploding Pancakes - SenorBeef

QB - Matt Hasselbeck
Yikes. It’s almost as if you were trying to be the exact counter-point to Jules Andre’s team. This is a wildly unsafe team. I know that Hasselbeck was pick of necessity in the 8th round and it’s clear that he has some upside, but good god he’s all you got. Drafting a backup, even with the immediate next pick (Cassel, Big Ben, Garrard, Favre), was about as mandatory a pick as can be. The later you wait on a QB the more crucial the backup becomes.

Now, about Hasselbeck; Housh should give him a big reliable target and a healthy Burleson and Branch can be productive if the system allows. The O-Line is already falling apart and no one really knows if Mora can coach worth a damn. The running game is made up of a bunch of cast offs and no one knows how his back will hold up. The net-net will be inconsistency in spades. Climb aboard the roller-coaster, you’d better hope there are enough ups to get your through the downs.

Lucky for you there are some starters available in FA. Grade: D

RB - Maurice Jones-Drew, Pierre Thomas, Marion Barber, Ray Rice, Knowshon Moreno, LeSean McCoy, Jerome Harrison
Let me say this, it was faster for me to C&P your entire roster here and delete the non-RBs than to paste them in one at a time. That’s just silly, 7 god-damned running backs on a team that only allows you to start 2, why? I know you claimed to be drafting for value, and I don’t disagree that many of these guys were better players than the other positions available, but perhaps when the entire league seems to be going the other way on something perhaps it’s time to pause and consider if you really are smarter than everyone else.

MJD is going to be great in this league. No question. The Jags lost a lot of O-Lineman to injury last year and addressed the position in the draft, this will help him a lot and the absence of Used-to-be-Fragile Freddy will net him more carries, but it’s worth noting that he’s still essentially unproven. Most people think he can handle the load, but perhaps the loss of Taylor will hurt him over the balance of the season. I loves me some Pierre Thomas, fellow Illini alum, but he’s massively over-valued. The guy looked excellent in limited time but he’s a still basically an unknown. The Saints are looking at a 3 headed RBBC similar to the Ravens last year and it’s unclear which player will be used around the goal line. The depth at RB, as evidenced by the rest of your draft, makes taking him in the second round just to go RB-RB (in a league with just one RB slot no less) very suspect.

The backups are legion. I like all of those guys and frankly they were all great values where they were taken. Barber is a load and I expect him to retain the vast majority of the work, in fact I bet he replaces Thomas as your Flex player before week 4. Everyone loves Ray Rice in Baltimore and they will use him a ton due to the lack of talent at WR but remember that the Ravens have a lot of RBs and they like to use them all. Rice is getting a ton of work in the preseason in all situations but who knows if that will hold in the regular season or not, McGahee and McClain probably won’t be holding clipboards. He’s good but I’m not sure why you think he’ll be more valuable than one of the 3rd tier QBs who were available. Either Moreno or McCoy will probably be a valuable rookie but I don’t think either is likely to be the next Forte or Chris Johnson, which is what it would take to unseat any of the 4 guys ahead of them on your team. Harrison is a upside guy I like and a homer pick, but it’s just asinine overkill considering your roster.

So, how do I grade this team? There’s almost no question that your RBs will produce a ton, and you almost certainly have the very best top 4 backs in the league (though not the best top 2). You won’t have any issues with injuries or bye weeks and you have trade bait. But, you hurt your team elsewhere. I suppose the low marks in other areas will suffice. Grade: A+

WR - Steve Smith, Anthony Gonzalez, Lance Moore, Devery Henderson, Joshua Cribbs
Solid starters for sure and surprisingly you managed some decent depth in spite of the RB madness. As a Bears fan I know all too well how sick Steve Smith can be but I really hate Delhomme this season. Smith is banged up and I think Jake’s potato arm is going to hang him out to dry one too many times this year. We shall see, but he’s a pretty solid value in the 3rd round. Gonzalez is being counted on in Indy and he’ll also put up excellent numbers. I don’t expect him to reach latter day Reggie and Marvin type numbers and the Colts coaching changes have to make you pause a little but again he’s a steal in the 5th round.

Lance Moore and Devery Henderson are going to get plenty of balls in New Orleans, but if Colston stays healthy expect a drop off from last year. Perfectly good backups and the flipside is that Colston might get hurt making them golden. Cribbs is a throwaway homer pick and I doubt he does much besides returns. If he’s seeing time for you that means you suffered a major injury and will be looking for an upgrade elsewhere. The lack of depth makes having 2 Saints a little iffy in the bye week but that’s week 5 and both your starters should be healthy.

All in all not bad, especially the values, and a RB trade for another set of hands mid-season could be big. Grade: B

TE - Visanthe Shiancoe
I like him. Favre throws to the TE a bunch and Shiancoe has played pretty well as of late. I’m not sure he’ll get many red zone looks so long as AP and Chester Taylor are rolling but in the 13th round he’ll over-produce. Grade: B+

**K - N/A **
Strange considering the energy spent discussing kicker values in this thread that 2 people already bypassed the position completely. You’ll probably be dumping one of those Cleveland guys before week one to get one so why not draft one and get a little better choice? Grade: INC

DEF - Cleveland
Homer pick again. You took them in the last round, so that’s fine, but I suspect they’ll disappoint you. Odds are good that you’ll be playing defense roulette all season long here, the penalty for all those RB picks. Grade: C-

Overall: You’ve got pretty good starters at the core positions. Hasselbeck is the weak link for certain but a lot of FFLs have been won by simply getting by at QB in favor of studs at RB and WR. However that strategy requires you to be solid at every other position and flexible at QB. You will be giving away points at QB, TE, DEF and K all season long and the strength at RB and WR won’t be enough to help you every week. There is value left on the waiver wire so you’ll be able to repair it, but you wasted opportunities in the draft unless you can wheel and deal.

Preseason Grade: B-

102

The evil genius to my plan is that I’m going to attempt to covertly add 2 more starting RB positions to the rosters before the season starts.

103

I’ll run through my thoughts on my draft first before moving on to the other teams’ drafts. As always, this is my favorite part of the draft process, so this will be very, very long. I apologize, I hope you all can forgive my indulgence.

I came into the draft with a lot of preparation. I created my own hybrid rankings/ projections for each position, going probably 250 deep total. I had done at least 3 mock drafts at every third draft slot, and once we found out our positions, an extra three mocks at #1. But I didn’t do any additional research in the last week coming up to the draft and I think it showed. And interestingly enough, I abandoned a lot of my pre-draft strategies early on. What’s most interesting to me is that in abandoning my strategies, I adopted ones I’ve never used before.

I again picked at one of the poles of the draft, this time I got the better end of it. This is my first season in any fantasy sport (that I actually cared about and participated in the draft), dating back about a decade, ever having had the first pick. It was really a burden I don’t think I’d want in future seasons. And again, picking at one of the poles, I’d have to anticipate position swings and draft players earlier than I wanted. This was something I completely forgot to do (aside from one exception, more on that later), and I spent the better part of the draft watching the guys I wanted get picked a few spots before my turns. On to the picks!

(1.1 / 1) Adrian Peterson, RB, Min
The evolution of picking first. First you’re excited, you can have anyone you want, and the best chance at the top overall fantasy player. Then, you start to think a bit. “yeah… but I kinda like this guy better.” Then you panic. “What if he goes down? My entire team will be ruined!” You start to think in the panic, “Maybe I’ll just take this other guy, he’s good too!” You start coming up with reasons not to take the consensus #1 guy. Eventually this spirals nearly out of control.

Here’s my thinking: I have two backs that my projections have scoring more overall fantasy points than Peterson. He’s an injury risk, especially this season after almost 370 carries and over 370 touches. He’ll single-handedly win me some weeks, yet lose me twice that. But after everything is done, I don’t want to be the guy who out-thought himself and tried to be clever drafting someone else. This really is the safest pick, and it’s essentially a low risk pick. If I take him and he goes down with a broken neck, nobody can blame me-- and my entire season, while ruined, will carry an asterisk (built in excuses ftw!). If I take MJD (my projected highest scoring back) and he goes down, or Peterson breaks every record known to man, I’ll always be mocked for it. And Minnesota’s schedule is kinda favorable, and with Favre in town he might see slightly bigger holes. It has to be Peterson here.

(2.12 / 24) Marques Colston, WR, NO
(3.1 / 25) Peyton Manning, QB, Ind
Going into the draft, I determined that I could wait on a QB. QB is really deep this season. I would absolutely (and did, in every mock I did) draft two top WRs with my second and third picks. Unless Brady somehow fell to me, in which I would jump on him. I generally tend to wait on QBs, but then a funny thing happened. All the WRs I wanted got drafted, despite not a single WR being taken in the first round.

I was stuck. My targets were Roddy White and Reggie Wayne. I was left with Colston (big injury risk, someone I pretty much swore off going into the draft), Steve Smith (banged up, not sure how badly, absolutely terrible QB), Greg Jennings (slightly banged up, slightly risky considering Aaron Rodgers is still a little bit of an unknown), and Wes Welker. I wouldn’t have considered Welker as my #1, because, while consistent and boosted greatly by PPR rules, he won’t ever win you a week. My general philosophy is that your #1 at each skill position should have the potential to win weeks by themselves. On hindsight, I should have gone Colston / Welker and waited for the QB I wanted.

I took Manning because I figured most people would take a QB with one of their next two picks, and I’ve never had Manning. It’ll probably be his worst season of the last eight to ten, but there’s something to be said for automatically penciling in 15+ points every week (and unlike Welker, some weeks he could drop in 4 TDs and win you the week single-handedly). From the highest scoring of the fantasy positions, I needed someone I could count on (especially after Peterson and Colston being such high risks). I decided to abandon my strategy and go for the safe guy. This will be a recurring theme.

(4.12 / 48) Darren McFadden, RB, Oak
(5.1 / 49) **Roy Williams, WR, Dal
**Three quarters of the way through the draft I started to get nervous and disappointed because it seemed like no one I wanted was falling to me. I thought I hadn’t gotten anyone I was targeting. It wasn’t true, I had forgotten about McFadden.

I really, really wanted McFadden this year. He’s been one of the three best looking players this preseason, and has made such an impact in the passing game that’s been been getting the preseason special- “rumors of being split out wide in some sets.” I guarantee he will be the main starter in Oakland, a team which runs, runs more, and runs well. He’ll help out a lot in the passing game, especially with Russell having no reliable targets outside. if Fargas is getting more than 5 carries a week by week 4, without any injuries, I’ll be shocked. The only problem was that he shares a bye with Peterson, which I considered for roughly half a second.

I really didn’t want Williams here. My queue before my pick was McFadden, Barber, Houshmandzadeh, Kevin Smith, Antonio Gates. This was a really bad round for me. Left without many good WR choices (I figured I’d get Ochocinco here, but he went earlier), I was stuck between Williams, Braylon Edwards, and Anthony Gonzalez. I figured Gonzalez might last two more rounds (not sure why, I screwed up the anticipation). I was really high on Edwards going into this preseason, but cooled on him a lot when his QB situation never panned out, and neither did anyone opposite from him. I took Williams because literally everything said about him this preseason until this last week was astoundingly positive. And then he got hurt. I’m not sure if he’ll be able to step up with all the pressure on him, but I really think he had a great preseason. He’s an injury risk, but I like him as a #2 so long as I’m able to pick up a good #3.

(6.12 / 72) **DeSean Jackson, WR, Phi
**(7.1 / 73) **Jay Cutler, QB, Chi
**I knew I would take another WR here, and was really happy to see Jackson fall to me. I would have taken him in under a second, but needed the extra time to figure out my next pick. This, by the way, is the most underrated, and least talked about, aspect of picking 1 or 12 in the draft. Nobody mentions how important this is, but you basically get double the time to make picks, and plenty of time to do a search on recent news about players.

Jackson has been unbelievable this preseason. This is not a homer pick, he figures to post #1 quality numbers (so long as he holds the ball THROUGH the end zone). If I can get 1000 and 8 from him with my 6th pick, I really hit a home run. All reports indicate he’ll get more than that.

Here’s where everything really fell apart. I have never, not once, drafted greed over need. In other words, I’ll take a slightly lesser prospect at a position I need, over a better player at a position I don’t. So what happened? Schaub, Rice (damnit!), and Olsen (damnit!!) all got taken ahead of my pick. I was a little panicked, I had no options here that I liked. I thought Moreno, Wells, and Jones would last. I liked Cutler over Palmer. I really like Cooley, but not at this value over the other guys who figured to last. Knowing that at least three teams would be going QB in this round or the next, and feeling that this would be the year Manning doesn’t last, I went with the best QB available. Considering I rarely draft a #1 QB by this point, it was a really strange pick. For what it’s worth, I think Cutler will have a fine season. Not as good as last season, but top 10.

(8.12 / 96) **Zach Miller, TE, Oak
**(9.1 / 97) **Donald Brown, RB, Ind
**I guessed that TE would completely empty in the next two rounds, so I went with the last TE available with #1 potential. I think Miller has a really good chance to finish top 5 at the position. Looking back over the draft, it appears that I could have waited. But it appears SenorBeef would have taken him with his next pick, and while it may appear early for Miller, his ADP puts him in the 9th round, which is where I got him. The difference between Miller and the other options available to me was a really, really big one. I had to take him. I’m okay with this pick.

Donald Brown was someone I wanted going into the draft. It appears that the consensus is that his fantasy floor is that of Dominic Rhodes last season, which you might not realize, was pretty darn good (840 total yards, 40+ catches, and 9 TDs!). His ceiling is being the main guy in one of the best offenses in the league. I expect he splits time with Addai evenly early on, Addai will take some hits and lose a game or two, and Brown won’t ever look back. If he approaches Rhodes’ numbers, I did really well for myself here.

(10.12 / 120) **Jerious Norwood, RB, Atl
**(11.1 / 121) **David Garrard, QB, Jax
**Norwood was someone I wanted pretty badly going into the draft. Reports say that he’ll get more carries in an effort to keep Turner fresh for the last half of the season (I expect an extra 30 carries over the course of the season), plus his lockdown on third down situations, and his return yardage (possibly), he’s a pretty big upside guy. If you believe in the Curse of 370, which I do, he’s even more exciting. He’s my #4 RB, and has the potential (with an injury to an overworked Turner) to get 1000 yards and 5-8 TDs. Even without the injury, he should still be good for about 600-750 combined receiving and rushing yards and about 3 TDs. Not bad for a #4.

… I don’t know. I really don’t know. Until desperation required it, until last season, I had never even had 3 QBs on my roster at one time. I already had a great backup, with a good bye week matchup. Why did I do this? Well, one, because Hester, Mason, Washington, and Moore were all taken ahead of me. Two, because SenorBeef had only Hasselbeck at this point, and while he can always be counted on to draft a RB instead of something useful, I really couldn’t have taken the chance that he get Garrard. Garrard, last season, without any receivers at all and a completely destroyed offensive line, was a top 10 fantasy QB. He’s really good and nobody has really caught on yet. With a veteran outside and a stronger OLine by default (Tra Thomas will really, really help in pass blocking situations), Garrard should be top 10 again. I drafted greed over need again, and now I have 3 of the top 10 QBs of last season and 3 of the top 12 in my projections. Even if Manning does the unthinkable and dies, I’m still in really good shape. I understand this was a completely frivolous pick, but I still really like it.

(12.12 / 144) **Steve Smith, WR, <s>Car</s>NYG
**(13.1 / 145) Dallas, Def, …Dal
I know I needed another WR. Considering I had planned to go very deep at WR considering the workhorse I had at RB, I really screwed this up. Looking over what was left, nothing stood out to me. Chester Taylor was taken ahead of me (…) as well as Josh Morgan. There wasn’t anyone really left that could possibly be a fantasy starter on day one… except Smith. I was really sold on Hixon up until a couple weeks ago when he suddenly stopped showing anything positive. Nicks has shown even less. Smith has been quietly dependent. I kinda see him being a poor man’s Wes Welker this season. I actually really like this pick, I think Smith leads the team in catches at the season’s end, and will be a flex worthy guy. At round 12, that’s better than expected.

This is the earliest I’ve ever taken a defense. I was going to take the Jets here (having queued them up a round earlier). The Jets defense looks mean this season. I expect them to finish top 5… but at the last second I changed my mind. I still don’t know why, it was dumb. I didn’t really like Dallas. I hate rooting for them. I think I took them entirely based on DeMarcus Ware. I hate myself for this pick.

I went into the draft targeting a rotation (never done this before, but after getting burned by defenses every week, I really need to adjust my strategy and realize that defense is a high scoring position and it kills you to not have a good score there) at the Def spot with the Jets and Packers. I’ll play matchups without getting burned on waiver claims and I think overall this will be a strong spot for me. Except for the whole Dallas thing of course.

(14.12 / 168) **Green Bay, Def, GB?
**(15.1 / 169) James Davis, RB, Cle
Got the defense I wanted as my backup. Green Bay got ruined by injuries last season. So bad that the Football Outsiders wrote that they were one of the unluckiest teams in the last thirty years. They’ll make a really big improvement, especially on defense. I’m not at all worried about the 3-4 (except for Al Harris, who looks lost out there all of a sudden). Strangely, I’m more confident about my Defense position than any other except QB. And I did it with late round picks. Strong at QB and Defense? What the fuck is happening here?

This pick was for fun… sorta. I really wanted to fuck with SenorBeef, who has been laying on the shit talking pretty thick all preseason. He’s a homer, and he knows I got the better end of him here on his own team, which has to kill him. Davis has been unbelievable this preseason. Jamal Lewis looks slower than me, and I can’t imagine he’s the full time starter by week 6. Harrison, while talented, hasn’t showed anything exciting since last season, and I’m reading an awful lot of whispering that he could lose his roster spot entirely. At the very worst, he missed 3 weeks and is clearly #3 behind Lewis and Davis. I see either Lewis getting hurt or losing his job by week 6, and Davis stepping up. He either sees a time share behind one of the best offensive lines in the league, or takes the job outright. With how explosive he has been, he’s a perfect boom/bust candidate, which is what your last pick should be.

Er… I guess it should be a kicker. I didn’t take one. Never done that before either. But Kicker is completely random and it isn’t worth taking one when I could get Beef’s goat and hold an extra guy for an extra week. But in reality, I want to see what Davis will do with the final preseason game and how Mangini announces his depth chart. I’ll have a tough choice for who to drop if everything plays out the way I want it to.

Overall I didn’t like my draft. I got too few of the guys I wanted and wasn’t happy how my roster breakdown evolved. I did too many things I’ve never done before and I don’t feel comfortable in deviating from my norm. I didn’t reach for the guys I should have, and reached for a couple guys I didn’t need. But, I don’t (live) draft well. I never have. So maybe I’ll stumble upon something that works. I’ll post my position breakdowns in another post. Sorry for the spam, thanks to anyone who takes the (massive) time to read this.

104

No, by all means, we need more talk in this league, not less. I’m loving these draft analysis/reviews.

Nope. I’m not just saying that to save face - Jerome Harrison has been the love of my life for a few years now. Between the two, I clearly prefer Harrison. I think Mangini isn’t as biased as Crennel (ffs I hope so) and once Harrison is running all over defenses, he’s going to be the starter.

What I should’ve done, though, was probably to forego Cribbs and grab both of them (and add another RB to my roster!), since I doubt anyone would’ve drafted Cribbs anyway and I could snatch him up later. Oh well. If Davis blows up and Harrison doesn’t, I’ll look foolish - but this was my desire before the draft, you didn’t pull one over on me.

It’s cute though that you’re making all these roster moves with the intention of screwing me over. It’ll just be that much more funny when I finish ahead of you in the standings.

105

Kid_A - Kid A

QB - Donovan McNabb, Kyle Orton
I hate the McNabb Fantasy experience. I’ve had him several times and I had him when he had that monster year in 2004, but I still didn’t enjoy it. Reid’s pass happy offense creates points and the volume of screens he throws are easy money. He’s probably valued about right where you took him and the Vick experiment doesn’t worry me but I just don’t see anyone winning with McNabb as their QB. It seems that in weeks 14-17, fantasy playoffs, are when the NFC playoff race heats up and when McNabb melts down. He’s got plenty of WRs, a better crew than he’s had in recent memory (though pixie-like), and there’s no reason to think he’ll be a bust but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Were you aware of Orton’s injury before you drafted him? He split his index finger open during the Bears game and it’s his throwing hand. Even it it’s just a cut it will probably slow his development and if it lingers could cause all types of problems with his accuracy as the season progresses. I suppose as a backup you’ll be unlikely to need him in the first 4 weeks and he ought to be healed by then but it’s worrisome following an already suspect preseason performance. I’m glad you took him and felt me Flacco, but I can’t justify it here.

All in all an uninspired group, and the Orton injury should have led you to finding a better backup option, but you didn’t spend too much. It should work. Grade: B-

RB - Michael Turner, Willie Parker, Kevin Smith, Marshawn Lynch
Michael Turner was kind of a no brainer here with AP and MJD off the board and I’m still a fan. I loved him before his move to Atlanta and I think he’s built to handle the load for at least a few more seasons. A few people have made the case that Gonzo will hurt his TD totals but that doesn’t make a ton of logical sense to me, if anything he’ll open it up and make it easier for him. The Falcons will be scary in the red zone, period. Still, I might have liked to have his handcuff. You’ve edited your roster to reflect Parker as your starter so I’ll keep him there for this discussion. I think Smith and Lynch are clearly better players, but you’ll figure that out eventually. Fast Willie is losing a lot of ground to Mendenhall and simply isn’t going to get into the endzone very much. I can’t quibble with his value in the 8th round but I expect his production to be unpredictable and frustrating week-to-week. He’ll probably wait until you bench him to have a 20 point day.

The backups are stout. Kevin Smith is going to get all the love in Detroit and Lynch will probably be nearly as close to a full time back. Lynch needs to stay healthy and Smith needs Detroit’s offense to be more productive to create some breathing room and goal line chances. I think both are liable to happen. Lynch’s suspension dulls his value and it’s an opportunity for the other RBs on the roster to earn touches but when push comes to shove Lynch is going to be the guy. In Detroit there are positive signs for the offense and they might be involved in some shoot outs. I think Stafford will eventually win the job and Smith’s touches will become productive as he starts throwing downfield.

You took a good, measured approach and got great value and depth. The players you took are solid and mostly reliable, though not particularly explosive. Your upside is less than it could be, but so is the risk. If Parker gets hurt early or isn’t a 100% while Lynch is suspended the first few weeks might get tense, but that’s manageable. Grade: B+

WR - Roddy White, Greg Jennings, Devin Hester, Chris Henry, Josh Morgan
White and Jennings probably aren’t the best known WRs in the league but Fantasy guys know how good they are. I think you’ve got the best starting tandem in the league and since you spent the highest pick value to get them you should. As a Bears fan I dislike the prospect of a explosive Jennings and I can’t think of any reason why his production won’t improve. The Pack play some pretty soft pass defenses, the Bears included I fear, and Rodgers loves him. White is a guy that sort of came out of nowhere but Matty Ice has turned him into a super star. He reminds me of the old Andre Johnson in the way he quietly put up monster years. The only risk with him is that he gets fewer TDs than he should and the addition of Gonzo might exacerbate that issue.

The backups are all terrific picks. Hester is a bit of a wildcard and he and Cutler haven’t made magic in the preseason yet, but he’s getting a lot of looks and he’s been open on a bunch of deep balls. Cutler will start finding him in due time. People love Chris Henry in the absence of TJ and he’s going to be a TD monster but I think the fact that Ocho looks to be elite again could hurt him. He’s still a bit of a headcase and who knows if he’ll be around all year. More pressingly the Bengals offense might be sluggish this year with the issues at TE and RB. Great value nonetheless. Josh Morgan is the only SF WR worth having but he’ll have to manage to stay on the field and the Niners need to figure out the QB situation. I still think highly enough of Crabtree to think that Morgan could end up overshadowed if he ever gets on the field.

In this league WR depth is pretty crucial and possession guys are favored over big play guys and I might like to see another guy like that on this team, especially with the backups, but that’s probably just nitpicking. Grade: A

TE - Chris Cooley, Dustin Keller
I’ve never been a huge Cooley fan. His numbers are tough to argue with but he seems like a guy that liable to put up a goose egg once or twice a season. This is probably true of most TEs, but for how high he gets drafted that’s a big issue. However, you managed to get him in the 7th round which is below where he usually goes so kudos.

I’m not sure you want to draft a backup TE, especially in the 13th round, when you have a supposed stud like Cooley on your roster and I think there were better values than Keller on the board. Grade: B-

K - Nate Kaeding
He’s one of the best on a good offense and a good defense. You got him in the final round. Job well done, he’ll serve you well, especially in those one sided AFC West divisional battles. Grade: A

DEF - Carolina
I think they are a middling unit and they’ve got a pretty brutal schedule. You took them late which is fine and I suspect you will be making a handful of swaps when the matchups are unfavorable. Peppers being back might generate some sacks but they do have to face Atlanta and New Orleans twice and the Pats and Cards once. Grade: C+

Overall: This is a very solid but uninspiring team. I won’t relish facing those WRs and I suspect the RBs will generate a consistent 20+ points a week and there aren’t any holes. Still, I feel like the team is missing a mid-to-late sleeper who’ll propel them to the top.

Preseason Grade: B+

106

Well, he’s terrible, and the opposite of terrible seems like a good strategy.

Well, the plan is for Hasselbeck’s bulging disks to become so bulging that they actually pierce his skin and the result will be so gruesome that defensive linemen will be too disgusted to touch him. Bingo, no sacks.

In all seriousness, I did not intend to be this reckless. But check this out:

Round 11

  1. David Garrard Quentin’s JA…
  2. Trent Edwards New York Fan…
  3. Kyle Orton Kid_A
  4. LeSean McCoy Exploding Pa…

Three guys I had targetted as a potential backup QB went in the 3 spots before my pick. I’m actually kind of high on Trent Edwards as a backup QB this year, and I thought he’d be there. If not him, then at least Orton. At that point, I could reach for Brett Favre or a very mediocre Jake Delhomme, or I could take the waiting stud to be who somehow fell into my lap, LeSean McCoy. My next pick in round 13 rolls around and I have no starting TE - and I’m high on Shiancoe and he was the last TE available that I actually liked, so I took him.

There was no point where IMO a good value backup QB was available in my draft position. This was complicated by my lack of picks in the 10th and 12th round, where I probably would’ve taken a decent backup.

My QB situation is definitely not good. I didn’t want anything to do with Hasselbeck pre-draft, and if you told me I would end up with him - and only him - I certainly wouldn’t have been pleased. Oh well, I’ll make do.

I’m definitely a misunderstood genius.

Actually, a few times during the draft I said stuff like “don’t make me take [running back] you bastards”, because while I wasn’t enthusiastic about the idea I felt like there was value that I couldn’t pass up. I like my first 2 picks very much, and I don’t like Marion Barber, but when a mid-2nd round rated player falls to you in round 4 you have to take him.

And then I’ve already got my starting RBs and a quality backup - but then Ray Rice falls to the 6th round. There are murmurs about a RBBC in Baltimore but from most of what I hear Rice is going to be the clear starter. I can’t pass up a starting running back on a decent running team in the 6th round.

Knowshon Moreno - this was a mistake. I had him rated as a 3rd/4th rounder and when he fell to the 7th he was so much higher up on my rankings list than anyone else that I felt like I should take him. I then scrambled around for a minute and 20 seconds deciding what to do, and finally just went with Moreno. But I regret it. Carson Palmer was there for the taking.

McCoy is just crazy value in the 11th round. He’s going to be seeing decent action even if Westbrook stays healthy, and if he doesn’t, he’s the second best backup RB in the league to hold behind Sproles IMO. I couldn’t pass here.

Harrison I already talked about.

So Moreno was the only error, I think. Sure, I have a lot of RBs - and I suspect I’ll have more than 2 pan out well and I’ll have a lot of bench points. But hopefully I can turn that into trades… there’s always demand for a good RB out there.

Imagine for a moment that I replaced Moreno with Carson Palmer instead and the rest of my draft was the same (I’d have Palmer starter/Hasselbeck backup) - I think if I had just made that one move, you’d switch from telling me how odd my draft strategy is into saying it was one of the best drafts.

MJD is a slam dunk, IMO. Better, healthier O-line, run-focused offense, immense talent, clear starter, lots of receptions - I would’ve probably taken him #1 if I had that pick.

Thomas might be considered a reach, as most probably gave him a third round billing. I’m high on him because while he has a limited number of games under his belt, he played through them with remarkably good consistency. The next few RBs taken were Ryan Grant, Ronnie Brown, Thomas Jones, and Larry Johnson. I like Brown this year, but out of that group I like Thomas, especially since Reggie Bush will probably continue to suck and the Saints great offense will leave plenty of running lanes open. Additionally, if you’re a football player named Pierre and you’ve managed to make it through the various levels of football you’ve played, you must be a bad ass.

Yep, that was pretty much my whole drafting philosophy, so I take this as a compliment. I may have a flawed strategy but I think I executed it well.

I would normally say that if I have 3-4 starting quality RBs I’m sure someone would be willing to give me fair value for them, but unfortunately that may not be the case - there’s not as much trading in this league as I’d like.

If Harrison becomes the starter by week 4, 1200 rushing/400 receiving/10 TDs.

Who do you rate as having the best top 2?

Steve Smith has never been a player I liked owning. And I don’t like his prospects this year that much. But I didn’t like his prospects last year much either and he put up 1400 yards anyway. WRs were flying off the shelves in our draft (I don’t know if it’s the .5 PPR or just the way running backs are changing in FF, but I don’t think we’ve ever had such a WR-heavy draft) and I couldn’t pass up a guy who manages to produce produce produce in sketchy situations.

I don’t even know who Carolina’s backup is…

Cribbs has seriously refined his receiving skills this year, he’s clearly been working on it in the offseason. No one has made much of a bid for the #2 receiver spot on the Browns (Furrey seems like he has the #3 locked down) so Cribbs may be #2 or #4.

He had a high ankle sprain all of last year and only put up 1350ish return yards, but this preseason he’s been back to his old ways, tearing up coverage units. If he could put up a 1600+ return yard season while managing 500 yards receiving, that’d end up with a decent amount of points.

I like him, and he was definitely the best of the group of late pick tight ends IMO.

Kickers are so hard to predict that I doubt I’ll be that much worse off taking one off the free agent list in a week in a half. It gives me more time to see how the playing time situation works out with the borderline players on my roster.

Eh, my options at this point where like Indy, Detroit, Oakland, etc. Nothing exciting. I will probably be picking up and dropping defenses on a weekly basis this year - I like putting thought into defensive matchups.

Thanks for the review. Aside from Moreno (and it’s not like he was a total disaster, I should’ve just gone in different directions) I feel like I had a pretty solid draft. The QB situation is dangerous, but as I described above, I was never in a good position to snatch up a good backup QB.

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If you don’t mind (and if you do, blow it out your ass and move along :D), here’s my positional breakdown and grades on my own draft. I’ll slowly roll out one for every other team as well. Under each position is what I expect the overall league rank for that position as a whole based on projected fantasy finish and adjusted for depth and risk. I tried pretty hard to be impartial on this ranking, but it is based mostly on my own personal projections. Projected starters in bold.

Omniscient, thanks for your grades. I thought your review was really well done, and though I think you slightly overvalued my team as a whole, I thought it was pretty fair. Well done man, thanks for adding something for the rest of us to read!

**QB - Peyton Manning, **Jay Cutler, David Garrard
(Rank: 1)
Overall, this won’t end up as the highest scoring unit by any metric, but there is an absurd amount of depth here-- far more than I’ve ever had. In order to rank highly here you need an elite guy and a good backup with upside. Manning is an every day starter, and should win 1-2 games for me alone, despite likely having an overall down season. Cutler is at worst the third best #2 in our league, and possibly #1. Garrard was a top ten guy last season, and at the highest scoring position in fantasy, I have three of the top 10 from '08. While I don’t think 3 QBs is close to necessary, I have a lot of flexibility at an important position. Bonus points because each guy has a stellar matchup during Peyton’s bye.
Grade: A

RB - Adrian Peterson, Darren McFadden, Donald Brown, Jerious Norwood, James Davis
(Rank: 4)
Hard to believe a team with ADP leading the group could not manage to rank in the top 3, but I found a way. It isn’t that I think McFadden is bad, it’s just that a couple owners prioritized the RB position and just have better second or third options. If McFadden is average, I’m stuck relying on a couple of guys who haven’t proven anything and don’t have starting roles as of now. I tend to always want two workhorses, but this year I strangely abandoned it. It seems a lot of my fantasy hopes ride on McFadden, and he hasn’t even been given the starting job yet. Uh oh.
Grade: B-

WR - **Marques Colston, Roy Williams, DeSean Jackson, **Steve Smith (NYG)
(Rank: 4)
Yes, that’s a four there and it isn’t a typo. Look, I didn’t expect that I had a strong WR group, nor did I expect it to be among the top half of the league. But based on my projections, I gained a lot of points with my third WR, which is important because it’s a startable position. Not too many teams spent a high pick on a third WR, and often when they did, they picked a bad one. My rankings project my group out to be the second best overall unit, but I assume a ton of risk here. Colston is no lock to stay healthy for every 2/3rds of the season. Williams is hurt now, and under tremendous pressure to perform. Jackson should be a solid #2, which I have as a #3, a huge advantage. What’s important is that I have an elite talent (Colston is my 7th projected WR, and typically in the top 8) and a strong #2, be it Williams or Jackson. I’m really shallow beyond those. Note I expect McFadden to start sometimes around week 2 or 3.
Grade: B-, surprising to even me.

TE - Zach Miller
(Rank: 8)
Easy enough to rank. This is where I made my worst mistake of the draft. I think Miller ends up a top 8 fantasy TE, but I couldn’t rank him any higher considering that offense. While he’s really the only reliable guy, and he’s at the perfect position for checkdowns and dump offs from an inexperienced QB, there’s a ton of risk here. I should have taken Cooley, whom I rank the 4th best TE. Luckily, there are three guys from my top 15 on the waiver wire, so I can always pick up a good replacement if I need to. But I’ll certainly be punting points at this spot every week, which I always have anyway. What bumps this to a C is that I got a guy whom I think will finish in the top 8, for a pretty low price.
Grade: C

K - **NONE
**(Rank: 10 tie)
I don’t know what I was thinking. Never done that before, as I said. If nothing else, I guess not drafting a kicker at the most random spot in fantasy is excuseable somewhat. It’s a virtual guarantee that a top 5 kicker goes undrafted every season. I’m not even slightly worried about this spot. It isn’t as if I could reliably determine who would be a top 5 kicker even if I was to draft one.
Grade: D

DEF/ST - Dallas**, Green Bay
**(Rank: 6)
After the top two defenses, which are far better than the others, and possibly including Philadelphia, I give a bump up in rankings for depth here. Defense is a pretty underrated fantasy spot. The top defenses end up being major fantasy contributors and turn an afterthought position into a huge point advantage in every week. The downside is that it’s hard to project, possibly impossible (:D) in fact, so it’s better to be able to play matchups and give yourself a fighting chance if you don’t get one of the top 3. Typically owners play matchups with two lower ranked defenses after having passed on a top defense. I chose two of the upper half defenses, both of which should make plays and have big games. Green Bay especially should be improved. I expect my defense will turn two games in my favor, and cost me one on a bad choice. Had I taken the Jets I might have moved up to 4 or 5 overall. At least I didn’t spend high picks here, which bumps my grade slightly. Stupid me…
Grade: C+

Overall - My initial impression is that I did poorly in this draft. An immediate grade for myself would have been a D or very low C, and a prediction of a lower half finish. I nearly always feel confident after the draft and upon review find that I did noticeably worse than I thought. After reviewing each team and ranking each team at each position now, I’m surprised to do a little better comparatively, and I’m more confident about my team’s chances. I average out to a high C+ on grades, but my league rankings average out to a 5, and even higher if weighted for the skill positions. I’ll give myself a B- overall. I’m shocked, considering I thought Omni’s exact same grade was too high. I guess I’m talking myself into my own team.

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Thanks for the endorsement. I only made the last pick to screw with you specifically, but my QB picks after Manning were certainly inspired by keeping you and others from reliable options. Note, this comes because of all your trash talk, so don’t you go making me out to be the aggressor! :slight_smile: In fairness, as I’ll write up a bit later, I thought you had a really good draft, and you stole several of my queued guys. I think I have an overall better team, but I wouldn’t put money on it. In fact, I thought you had the second best draft. Best of luck to you man, though I’d really hate to see you win of all people. I’ll never live it down.

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As opposed to me, where I had a really good strategy that was terribly executed.

110

Jules Andre’s grades:** Exploding Pancakes (SenorBeef) **
Information on what the rankings are is in my original grades post on my own team.

QB - Matt Hasselbeck
(Rank: 12)
Hasselbeck was a later round pick, which makes such a bad starting grade so misleading. But this really is a problem. Maybe not a big problem, and if anyone can find a way to manage this into a strength, it’s you. For those who have forgotten, Beef lost his first round pick last season in the first quarter of the first game and still ended up in the top 3. Props really should be heartily awarded for that feat.

So we know Hasselbeck is on the decline. We know he’s a major injury risk (bulging disks can FLARE UP AT ANY TIME!). But he’s also got some weapons, and isn’t too far removed from bigtime fantasy success. If you took someone of comparable skill yet less injury prone, your rank would have been a lot higher. As it stands, Hasselbeck isn’t even the worst projected starter in this league, but having such a huge risk without even a single backup is inexcusable. Hasselbeck is a borderline spot start without the injury problems, and yet there is no one to swap him with. Not a problem if you have an open spot to pick up a guy, but you also need a kicker. More on that later.
**Grade: D- **(at least you didn’t take Brett Favre in round 2, like I saw in a public league last season)

RB - **Maurice Jones-Drew, Pierre Thomas, **Marion Barber, Ray Rice, Knowshon Moreno, LeSean McCoy, Jerome Harrison
(Rank: 2)
I would have been very adamant that you had the best top 2 RBs in the league right after the draft. Turns out, you had the third best group, but gain a big edge with your incredible depth. MJD is my pick for top fantasy RB. He was the one I would have taken if I wasn’t somewhat “forced” to take Peterson. Thomas is a great second back, no doubt about it. Barber is probably the steal of the draft. I thought about him in round 2/3 and was hoping against hope to get him with my 4. I think Barber starts more than half of your games for you. Rice is a great pick, but I fear his value is quickly diminishing now that McGahee seems to be set as the goal line back. You claim Knowshon was a mistake, I wish I made such advantageous mistakes. He could end up being McFadden last season, or Peterson his first season. Either way, great value. McCoy is a steal, even if taken two or three rounds earlier. I think Harrison is a good player, but he’s rumored to be losing his roster spot, and at this point is a clear #3. He may move up quickly, and if he does, you got great value there too. An unbelievable RB unit, bravo!
**Grade: A

**WR - **Steve Smith (Car), Anthony Gonzalez, **Lance Moore, Devery Henderson, Joshua Cribbs
(Rank: 9)
I’m a little like you on Smith, he always seems poised to have a big downfall in production, yet never actually does. This is probably the year, but history is on your side. You have a legit #1, which is incredible considering your investment at the RB spot. Gonzales is a great #2, again a fantastic pick, as he could possibly have #1 overall production. You waited a bit on depth, which is alarming considering how Smith is banged up (was reported to be badly injured, but he somehow came back within a week), but I suppose Moore is a good pickup. The problem is you’ll be in a bad position trying to pick who to start between Moore and Henderson should Smith or Gonzo go down. Cribbs was a wasted pick despite his skills and possible starting spot. Your overall rating suffers because I took into account the third WR and Moore projects to have a big downturn in overall numbers. Also Smith’s injury risk and overall risk considering Delhomme is coming off the worst playoff performance of all time, and isn’t good to begin with, influenced your ranking. It’s a little misleading I think, but them’s the breaks.
**Grade: B-

**TE - Visanthe Shiancoe
(Rank: 10)
It’s going to look like I’m sabotaging your rankings here, but I boosted his projection from my spreadsheet because I thought he was a little low and yet he still came out to 10th overall. He’s a high risk/reward pick. He’s a good red zone threat, but on a team with two better red zone options. Favre will help, but touchdowns seem to be very up and down from year to year and his yardage doesn’t help him. I think the ranking is misleading, but it’s likely that you’ll be playing from behind in this position against all but a couple of teams. I would have rather taken an even bigger risk/reward and drafted more depth with this pick, like Pennington (ugh).
Grade: C

K - NONE
(Rank: 10 tie)
Seems to be an epidemic. You might have an easier choice in picking up a kicker as you should find that one or both of Cribbs and Harrison are expendable. I don’t penalize you here as I didn’t for myself. Kickers are impossible to project, and you’ll have a chance at getting a good one before the season starts. The only problem is that you have competition for the scraps with me and Ellis Dee.
**Grade: D

**Def - **Cleveland
**(Rank: 12)
Cleveland is a little soft, even for what you believe will be an improved unit. Even if they are, the bread and butter of a fantasy defense is scoring, not turnovers, and you’ll quickly find they aren’t a reliable unit. Even a single week of a -10 to 2 point performance will be extremely costly for you as you don’t have an advantage at QB, TE, or K to make up for it. The only saving grace is that there are some very interesting defenses on the wire. You play matchups anyway, but I fear playing them with Cleveland will end up hurting your team. I would also expect a team that plays defensive matchups to draft two. You’ll now be forced to look for a QB, K, and Def soon, and you probably don’t have three players to drop. Again, if anyone can manage it, you can, but it looks bad from here.
Grade: D-

Overall -
Ask me five minutes after the draft and I’m depressed about admitting you had the best draft. Upon inspection, your lineup has some gaping holes that your advantage at RB and even WR may not make up for. A single bad break could end this team in a way that most teams aren’t as susceptible. You have stuff to work with in trades, but take it from someone who has lived and died on the trading block, it is very unreliable. Another limiting factor is that aside from Barber, you don’t have any depth to trade that has high scoring potential on week 1 as of right now. This means you’ll have to trade on potential instead of results (it’s likely Moreno, Rice, and McCoy will start slowly) and trading on potential only lasts for so long. As time goes on your prospects for trading diminish unless these guys really break out quickly. Your overall rankings suffer, but I think your team will be very competitive and is a preseason favorite to make the playoffs. I dock your grade slightly because a more balanced, conservative draft strategy clearly puts you on top of the league, and that seems like a wasted chance to me.
Grade: B-

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New York Fanboys - Ellis Dee

QB - Aaron Rodgers, Trent Edwards
I really like this tandem. Rodgers, as previously mentioned, is on track to have a incredible year. His schedule is favorable and he’s got lots of weapons, and a healthy Ryan Grant will probably make him even more explosive. As a Bears fan I hope that the wheels come off somewhere since I’m not sure we have the defense to contend with them, but I can’t really form an argument to predict that. I suppose the weather in Green Bay could be worse than usual keeping his numbers down, especially come playoff time, but that’s a reach.

I had Edwards queued up as my backup of choice in the 11th and consider him a fabulous value here. I’m not high on TO himself but I am convinced that he’ll have a positive net effect on the Bills passing attack, if only to pressure them to be more aggressive to keep him happy. Lee Evans will have a very nice year and I expect Edwards to have an excellent year overall. Certainly his TD total will go way up with Owens around.

Both guys play in Wintery locations and could struggle in those all important playoff weeks, Rodgers are especially bad, and Edwards has been bit by the injury bug but all in all this is a great pairing. Grade: A

RB - Matt Forte, Ryan Grant, Felix Jones, Kevin Jones, DeShawn Wynn
Well, you’ll be watching a lot of NFC North games this year. Forte is a horse and will carry the Bears and your team. It will be interesting to see if he becomes more explosive with Cutler under center or not. Last season he was regular as a metronome but never had the AP-like 30 point week, this year I think he will with a better O-Line and passing attack. So long as the Line run blocks as well as it did against the Giants anyways. You’ll enjoy watching him I think. Ryan Grant I’m less confident in and I don’t think he’s a good fit for a zone blocking scheme. His previous success was in being decisive and hitting the hole hard and upfield, the zone blocking scheme seems to have made him tentative and indecisive. You’ll regret spending such a high pick on him, though there’s something to be said for him being healthy and not being in a timeshare.

You snagged the likely handcuffs for both guys and that’s wise in Forte’s case. Less wise in Grant’s. Kevin Jones is expected to get a lot of work and the powers that be are committed to him. He’s yet to really impress in preseason which is troubling, but there’s no doubt he’d get all the touches if Forte were out. Wynn has a much less firm hold on the 2nd job and frankly the Packers running game on the whole is nothing to write home about. If Grant disappoints you might have been better off looking for another team’s RB instead of an equally disappointing backup. Felix Jones is dynamic but I’m not sure he’ll ever be reliable enough to be a weekly starter if you lose a starter.

You really needed another upside guy, a rookie with a shot to explode or someone’s high priced handcuff. I’m guessing you’ll be stuck starting a WR in your flex spot before too long. Grade: C

WR - T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Braylon Edwards, Donald Driver, Domenik Hixon, Michael Crabtree
Your starters are solid but not impressive. The issue with both is their QB situation. We really have no idea what to expect out of TJ outside of Cincy as the featured guy and the aforementioned Hasselbeck injury situation is dicey. I think he’ll put up similar numbers to last season and frankly those don’t justify the WR1 slot. I think Edwards actually is the better of the two, especially if Anderson wins the QB job, and as he goes the Cleveland offense goes. I expect a pretty good year from him but that’s more or less just a gut feeling. I haven’t seen enough Browns preseason work to gauge the new offense but I think 12 TDs is a realistic expectation. I’m not as high on Mangini as SenorBeef but it has to be an improvement over last year and that helps Braylon.

Driver is an excellent backup, I’ve made my thoughts on the GB passing attack clear. Hixon and Crabtree could be diamonds in the rough, if Crabtree ever gets into camp, but there certainly isn’t anything dependable about them. Hixon is the Giant WR you want to have for my money but I think you drafted both far too early, Hixon is my least favorite WR pick of that round by a wide margin.

All in all this category suffered from your selection of Grant. You should have let someone else make the mistake with him and taken Rodgers there and gone WR in 3 and RB in 4. Grade: C

TE - Owen Daniels
Daniels is a good one and you took him in the right spot. He’ll put up similar numbers to previous years but he’ll still suffer from a lack of TDs, perhaps you might have been better served to wait for a TE later and bolster your WR or RB with this pick considering you have a few guys with question marks. Grade: B-

K - N/A
Again with the no kicker. I did this once before in the He Hate Me League when I accidentally drafted the wrong guy in the 2nd to last round and I regretted it. Kickers are more valuable in this league than that, so bypassing entirely will pose problems. Grade: INC

DEF - New York, Philadelphia
These are going to be two very productive defenses and playing matchups will pay big dividends. I dislike that you took the Eagles so early though. you spent a lot for them and will really need them to outperform those taking in the final 3 rounds to justify it. Generally I think you take 1 defense early or you take 2 late and play matchups, you over spent by doing both. Grade: B

Overall: This isn’t a badly flawed team but it’s a team filled with consistent performers and no difference makers. Forte is the anchor and he’s not going to explode. Neither WR is likely to have a 3 TD day. The Bench doesn’t have a potential top 20 sleeper in it. No elite TE, DEF or K. Frankly it’s a team without a identity. It won’t lay an egg in any given week, but it won’t blow anyone away either. Frankly it looks like a .500 team.

Preseason Grade: C+

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Jules Andre’s grades:** Kid_A (Kid_A) **
Information on what the rankings are is in my original grades post on my own team.

QB - **Donovan McNabb, **Kyle Orton
(Rank: 8)
I’m pretty high on McNabb this season. He has (what should be) an improved O-Line and more weapons on offense. Aside from his former injury risk (always likely with him, regardless) he is astoundingly stable and reliable. He has a fantastic mix of high scoring opportunities and low relative risk that make him an ideal starter. He may no longer win you weeks single-handedly, but he certainly won’t ever lose them for you either.

Orton was someone who seemed like he would be way undervalued going into the drafts. He’s better than most realize, but this isn’t a good opportunity for him. Even with Denver being so bad on defense (shootouts!), the O-Line being really, really good, and the receivers being great, I don’t see much from him anymore. McNabb has a troubling injury history so I would expect a bigger investment on a backup. You’ll be fine here if McNabb is healthy, you’ll regret waiting for Orton if McNabb is hurt.
**Grade: C

**RB - **Michael Turner, **Willie Parker, **Kevin Smith, **Marshawn Lynch
(Rank: 7)
Your ranking may seem too low at first, but I’m a big believer in the Curse of 370. Not drafting Norwood is a mistake, especially considering his low draft position. Even if Turner is healthy, he projects to have lower overall production thanks to a more concerted effort to keep him fresh and not overwork him, and he may not be as successful in the red zone as last season. I ranked Turner a lot lower than 3, and the risk is very real, so that’s what makes the overall ranking seemingly so low.

Smith is a great second back, and Lynch as a third is phenomenal. Lynch was a first rounder a year ago, and you got him in the sixth, which is good value. Even with the suspension. The problem here is that I think when he comes back he splits carries with Fred Jackson, who will have a big first three games against easy defenses. Value potentially lost. Willie Parker is a really good value where you got him, but he isn’t a starter for you. Mendenhall isn’t in the mix right now, but Parker still isn’t a high fantasy scorer. Great strategy, I love how you didn’t force the issue but found the gems where you could, but this is riskier than it looks.
Grade: B

WR - **Greg Jennings, Roddy White, **Devin Hester, Chris Henry, Josh Morgan
(Rank: 3)
Your ranking suffers because, again, of your third WR who doesn’t project to be a reliable starter. Jennings and White are incredible though, and are arguably as good as anyone else’s top 2 (still third on my list). Hester may end up being a very good #3, and I personally like him this season, but you probably won’t need him outside the byes. Henry is a great pick considering his preseason performance, but he’s still a #3 on his own team with a risky player at every other skill position. Morgan is a great pick too, I love the value you got there. If Crabtree ends up being a moron, you possibly hit a home run.
**Grade: A

**TE - Chris Cooley, Dustin Keller
(Rank: 4)
Your ranking might be higher to account for depth, but I really don’t like drafting two TEs. If nothing else, you got the right guy to start, and at good value. He’s my #4 overall projected TE, so you have a real advantage here.
Grade: B

K - Nate Kaeding
(Rank: I didn’t rank kickers, I only gave myself and Beef (and soon Ellis Dee) a 10 because we were clearly last)
Kickers are basically random, but Kaeding is about as sure as you get. San Diego should improve, and the weather at home is usually nice. You didn’t reach and you made a good pick, I like it.
**Grade: A
**
Def - Carolina
(Rank: 10)
Not a playmaking defense last season, but should improve. They have a tough schedule though and you passed up some higher potential defenses for them. They get a boost in that their run game should keep scores low, so overall it’s an average pick. I prefer depth here, but it’s personal preference.
Grade: B-

Overall -
This is a really strong team at the skill positions. McNabb, Turner, Smith, Jennings, and White is a formidable top 5, and possibly the best in the league. Some of your rankings suffer from my methodology, but you’ll compete, and barring injury, easily win a playoff spot. You did it quietly, I hardly noticed your picks, but you built a fantastic team that needs only tinkering with the depth to shine (and probably not even that). I have yet to break down the other teams, but you’re in my preseason Top 2 as of right now.
Grade: A

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Jules Andre’s grades:** New York Fanboys**** (Ellis Dee) **
Information on what the rankings are is in my original grades post on my own team.

QB - **Aaron Rodgers, **Trent Edwards
(Rank: 6)
I was surprised by that ranking. Rodgers is a stud, if slightly unproven. I think he has a fantastic year and ends up in the top 5 overall at the position. The third is right where he should go, so you didn’t reach. I’m not as high on Edwards as others are, but I can understand their position. I think his O-Line is the worst in the league, and he’ll suffer for it. Cold weather, older receivers, and bad blockers isn’t a recipe for success. What I do like is that you don’t need him. You draft a stud, and waited until the latest possible rounds to draft a backup. This is excellent strategy perfectly executed.
**Grade: B+

**RB - **Matt Forte, Ryan Grant, **Felix Jones, Kevin Jones, DeShawn Wynn
(Rank: 5)
Forte solidifies the team. As he goes, you go. I think he has a huge season, especially in the passing game. I’m really wondering how he’ll run, though. His YPC wasn’t anything special, and while he may not seem explosive, he is in fantasy terms. Because of his receiving skills, he’s a good bet for a multiple TD game each time out.

Some are high on Grant, but while I think he’ll improve, he’ll stay average overall. There are two big problems here that affect your grade in my eyes. One, you took Grant way too high, especially with Barber on the board. Two, you’re now tied to Rodgers and Grant, and they don’t coexist well. If Rodgers goes off, it’s likely Grant won’t, and vice versa. Also, being tied so heavily to the NFC North could be a problem late in the season when the temperature falls and scoring does too. I’m guessing you lose a game entirely based on snow late in the season. Grant really drags this team down, I think.

Felix Jones is a great pick, I really like him this season. He may not touch the ball a lot, but he’ll always do something with it. He’s a freak, and if he returns kicks you have a lot of value there. I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s your #2 RB by the end of the year, I project him very highly. Kevin Jones and Wynn are safe picks, but I think Wynn was a waste. He has no upside and you’re protecting an unimportant position. Jones has some upside, and you’re right to handcuff your true stud
**Grade: C-

**WR - **T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Braylon Edwards, **Donald Driver, Domenik Hixon, Michael Crabtree
(Rank: 10)
TJ should be safe, and while he won’t win you any weeks (a necessary thing to have for your #1 WR) he should be reliable. Edwards, if he figures out his hands and his QB is even average, could be your best pick. I think you have a steady, reliable WR and a high upside guy, which is perfect. I’d have rather they switched spots, but it’s serviceable. Driver is a good third, but at some point he’s going to come back down and show his age. I think Hixon is the wrong Giant to have, he’s losing snaps to Nicks and they seem to be in an even split opposite of Smith. Even if he is their #1, you could have gotten him way later. Crabtree is the ultimate boom or bust guy. Rookie WRs rarely make an impact, and he has a uniquely uphill battle for him, but the rewards could be there. Personally, you’re better off passing and using a later pick on your 5th WR for whom you may never start, but may break out in a big way.
**Grade: C-

**TE - Owen Daniels
(Rank: 6)
I think Daniels bounces back in the red zone, and should you make the playoffs, he’ll be a big asset for you. This was a really good pick at the exact right time.
**Grade: B+

**K - **NONE
**(Rank: 10 tie)
Lots of competition for the waiver kickers.
Grade: D

Def - New York Jets, **Philadelphia
**(Rank: 2)
Round 10 is early for a defense, but the top three defenses last year were a huge advantage so I completely agree with the pick. I worry for your sanity, as you’ll find yourself in a strange position rooting for the Philly defense against your loyalties. I wonder if that will impact your starting choices and have a negative impact on your fantasy team as a whole. The Jets are a great second defense, they should finish top 5 minimum. They are swarming. You have the enviable position of having a strong scoring option in every single week, and while I think Philly regresses overall, you’ll be just fine. This is a really big advantage for you.
**Grade: A

**Overall -
Only a couple New York guys, and even some Cowboys and Eagles! A far cry from your storied draft strategies of yore. You’re tied to the NFC North. That will likely be a problem late in the season. You don’t have a lot of depth to play with, which limits your opportunities to improve during the season, but you don’t tend to make in-season moves anyway. Aside from Forte, your team lacks a punch that will win weeks against high scoring teams or lucky opponents. I think Ryan Grant will be the nail in your coffin this season, as his draft position will tie you to him and hamstring your potential. If an aggressive owner has this team and shops around their starters, they have a really good shot at making the playoffs around Rodgers and Forte, a top 5 at both positions. But if you turtle up and don’t make moves, you’ll finish in the bottom half of the league. The upside is that Rodgers and Forte will be steady, and if Braylon breaks out and Daniels finds the end zone, you’ll surprise a lot of teams with your scoring.
Grade: C

114

Jules Andre’s grades:** Court Jesters (D_Odds)**
Information on what the rankings are is in my original grades post on my own team.

QB - **Eli Manning, **Ben Roethlisberger
(Rank: 10)
This is a strange mix here, frankly I don’t understand it at all. You seem to have been mixed up in your strategy concerning this position. You reached for Manning, big time. Schaub, Cutler and Palmer were all still available, all of whom are potential top 5 guys. Manning isn’t. He’s much better in real football, than in fantasy, especially with no receivers. He isn’t a #1 guy, and you drafted him in place of one. His ADP put him in the late 10th. Roethlisberger is even more confusing. Maybe Manning is a steady, if unexplosive QB. You need to pair him with a high risk high reward guy instead of an even steadier, even less explosive guy. Neither guy presents a high scoring potential, though I guess at least Roethlisberger has been a good fantasy QB before.
**Grade: D-

**RB - **Brandon Jacobs, Ronnie Brown, **Darren Sproles, Sammy Morris
(Rank: 6)
Nevermind, I get it now. You’re Ellis Dee’s sock. :smiley: Clearly you have a love of all things Giant, which explains the reach for Jacobs in the first round. He projects out all right, and pairing him with an explosive Brown ends up making for a really strong RB duo. I think you stumbled into this though, but, who is to say? Sproles is fine, and a valuable handcuff to possibly trade. Sammy Morris is a wasted pick, which would be fine if in the 15th, but in the 12th? Jacobs is a big injury risk but you have Brown and a great #3 WR to hedge your bets.
**Grade: C

**WR - **Reggie Wayne, Antonio Bryant, **Lee Evans, Muhsin Muhammad, Hakeem Nicks
(Rank: 7)
You have the requisite stud #1, and a really strong #2, despite his injury troubles lately. High scoring potential here, and Wayne is suitably steady as to solidify your scoring. Evans is a wonderful #3, you really played that well. He could end up pushing Bryant for your #2. Muhammad is nothing to me, I’m kinda wondering if he’s even alive. Nicks was a little early, but my guess is that you couldn’t bear to live without a Giants WR after Hixon and Smith went ahead of you. I would have preferred a bigger potential return instead of Muhammad and Nicks, but I can’t argue with your top 3.
**Grade: B

**TE - Jeremy Shockey, **Kevin Boss
**(Rank: 11)
I don’t think Shockey is a starter, and you really, really reached for him. I suggest visiting a doctor, you might have hyper-extended your elbow on this one. I don’t want to pile on, but aside from a kicker being taken in the 8th, this is the strikeout of the draft. Boss salvages your grade here, but you’re losing points for the blatant homerism.
**Grade: D-

**K - **Kris Brown
**(Rank: None)
At least you didn’t reach for a guy. Brown plays with a high powered offense in a dome, so he should be reliable. Sadly, this might have been your best pick.
**Grade: B

**Def - Tennessee
(Rank: 5)
You got a stout defense from a year ago, but in the 10th? After losing Haynesworth? This is a pretty big reach. But at the very least you have a serviceable starter, though at the expense of depth elsewhere.
**Grade: C-

**Overall -
I don’t intend to be mean, or rude, but this team reeks. I’ve always loved the aspect of fantasy sports that opens your eyes to new players and forces an appreciation of guys you’d never have followed before. I never understood homer picks. So the Giants are your favorite team, are you going to root harder for them now that you’re relying on Jacobs and Manning? I doubt it. You’ll suffer bigtime when New York faces the stout defenses of the NFC East, and you don’t have the big scorers elsewhere to make up for a bad game from Jacobs and Manning at the same time. You have hope, Jacobs is a monster and Brown is really explosive (especially with Pothead Williams losing his touches week by week). Wayne is a stud, and a repeat from Bryant means you have some weapons. Unfortunately the QB position will do you in and you’ll likely finish in the bottom three.
Grade: D

115

Jules Andre’s grades:** Omni’s Omnipotents**
Information on what the rankings are is in my original grades post on my own team.

QB - **Tom Brady, **Joe Flacco
(Rank: 2)
That Brady lasted until the latter half of the second round is a shock (and god damnit if he didn’t go a little farther!) but you didn’t stick to a silly RB/RB order and grabbed him. You may have been targeting him, but either way, you have arguably the best at the most important position.

I don’t necessarily buy the Brady injury risk, but you can’t ignore his knee and possibly his shoulder. In taking Flacco you got an up and comer who could break out, but I would have liked to have seen a higher reward backup, but in round 11, what else was there with upside? I have a few other guys scoring higher than Flacco overall, and I think Pennington may have been a better choice as a starter. However, Flacco has the better bye matchup, so that was probably the right choice considering Pennington wouldn’t start for you. Well played.
Grade: B+

RB - **DeAngelo Williams, **Jonathan Stewart, Beanie Wells, Ahmad Bradshaw, Fred Taylor
(Rank: 9)
DeAngelo was incredible last season. One of the greatest fantasy performances of all time. I was down on him until Jonathan Stewart couldn’t get on the field. Now, DeAngelo is probably the lead back and an incredible pick. He’ll win you weeks by himself, which is what you need from your first rounder. I have some questions picking Stewart, considering that his upside is diminishing rapidly, but as a handcuff it’s more excuseable. Beanie Wells is a terrific pick if he pans out, but the investment wasn’t staggering if he doesn’t. I would have liked to have seen you grab Hightower instead of Taylor as you’re lacking for a legit #2 and Arizona was very successful running the ball in the red zone last season. Considering the low cost of Hightower, I thought this should have happened to hedge your bet. Bradshaw is a perfect #4.

You’ll suffer with depth. If something happens with DeAngelo, Stewart might not be there to pick up the slack, which puts you behind two picks for one potential injury. A stable, if unappealing, back later on would have fit this team much better than Taylor, but Bradshaw will probably end up being your best RB pick. You gain points for not really needing a #2 RB as you had your Flex set anyway, which is solid strategy.
**Grade: B-

**WR - **Wes Welker, Vincent Jackson, Eddie Royal, **Torry Holt, Ronald Curry
(Rank: 6)
Welker is a fine WR in this format, but you may have overvalued his contribution from catches. He isn’t a #1 because he won’t win a week for you. You have a nice hookup though with Brady and Welker. This is interesting because typically people advise against a QB/WR combo as it’s easy to get shut out completely and lose a week entirely from one game. Here’s why I think this was incredible: Welker is so steady, you aren’t likely to ever suffer from that potential downside. Instead, this is probably the safest QB/WR combo possible. It forms a foundation for scoring that will act a baseline and prevent you from suffering too many low scoring weeks.

What you lost in the chance at a #1 in Welker you gained with Jackson. He’s a prime candidate for a serious breakout, and he provides all the upside you need at the position. Royal is an incredible talent, and with Marshall in limbo, becomes a potential #1 guy (he was 8th overall last season!). Holt is a perfect #4, somewhat reliable, cheap, and steady. He isn’t a #1 anymore, but you could do a lot worse than him on a week where one of your top 3 is on bye. The only downside is that without a true #2 RB, you;ll have to play Holt likely three times, and I wonder if he’ll hinder you those weeks. Curry is a great high upside late round pick, really well planned.
**Grade: A

**TE - Greg Olsen
(Rank: 5)
He’s my favorite TE this season. He may not finish #1 overall, but he shouldn’t be worse than 5 and will certainly shine in a PPR league this season. He has a legit shot to end up the #1 overall. And you didn’t reach for him at 5, with Tony G. and Clark on the board.
**Grade: A

**K - Jason Elam
(Rank: none)
Kicks in a dome, for an improving offense. He’s in that strange middle ground where he isn’t on a super powered offense, so he won’t rack up a million XPs, but he’s also on a fairly good red zone team so he won’t get a lot of FGAs either. A perfectly defensible pick and you took him in the last round to boot.
**Grade: B

**Def - San Diego
(Rank: 9)
The ranking is misleading as they should improve dramatically considering Merriman returning and their schedule being so favorable. For a low valued defense, this is the prime candidate for a return to prominence. The return game is good, too. great pick. They MAY have been there at 14, but really, what’s the difference between 13 and 14?
**Grade: A

**Overall -
It’s way past my bedtime, but in doing these in order, this team was my stopping point. I was too excited to review this draft.

Omni won the draft. Flat out. Hands down. And it isn’t close.

His team has no weaknesses. Every injury risk has a reasonable backup or handcuff. He has a steady scoring attack that will establish a consistent, elevated scoring floor with high potential for monster weeks. He’ll likely have the highest scoring average per game and the highest single game score. His draft was a clinic. He took everyone to school. I’m pissed.

You can nitpick certain parts. The RB depth is alarming, but the risk is mitigated by the outstanding receiver depth. He took the two best possession receivers in a PPR league. He has the 2008 fantasy scoring champion and the 2007 scoring champion. He has the most highly touted TE of all the preseason.

And he took half my picks. I guess that colors my review a little, but I can’t find any holes in this team. Even the kicker and defense were smart and timely. If Omni isn’t in the championship game, he got raped by bad luck. If he doesn’t win outright, I’ll be surprised.
**Grade: A+

**Hopefully I can finish the last half tomorrow. Good night all!

116

The Eagles was a bit of a reach in round 10, but my last pick in the draft was 13-2, which was the Jets. So I kinda did take them late.

After the draft I was pissed that I didn’t take Pittsburgh, Baltimore or the Giants earlier because I forgot that the Eagles lost both Jim Johnson and their MLB, so in a non-fantasy context I’m expecting their defense to struggle this year. Oh well. Probably should have gone with the Titans. I really wanted a quality defense but the top three went super early.

At least I got the Jets, which I expect to be a top 10 defense in real life.

Hey, a .500 season would be a step in the right direction. I’ll take it.

117

Everyone plays their own way. I pick Giants (No way that Jacobs lasted until my second pick) and I avoid Eagles, Cowboys and, to a lesser extent, Redskins.

Hope I remember the bottom 3 prediction 4 months from now. We’ll see.

118

I do too, very much so. So much that I was thrilled he was off the board, allowing me to take Forte without guilt.

This was a big reason I was glad that I moved down two spots. Looks like the swap of first rounders made both me and Beef really happy, at least ignoring the later round picks.

I’m only marginally aware that MJD even exists, so I would almost certainly have taken Turner with the #2 pick and white-knuckled it through the first 8 games. If I had the #5 pick I would have happily taken DeAngelo Williams, but felt he was a reach at #4. So Forte was the target going into the draft, even ignoring PPR. While #3 was on the clock I actually typed out “Dammit, I really didn’t want Turner to fall to me” but luckily wasn’t able to post it when Turner got picked in the final 10 seconds.

For the observations about Ryan Grant by both you and Omni, keep in mind he’s got sentimental value to me as an ex-homer pick.

119

Keep hope alive. Go Big Blue!

I was forced to abandon my all-NY strategy when it became clear that I could no longer physically draft all the players I wanted. I originally pictured limiting myself to only teams that the Giants didn’t actually play that year. I think I even went into a draft with that in mind, but my options rapidly dried up and I ended up taking McNabb. Who SUCKED that year, totally killing my team.

One of the draft reviewers upthread mention how they hated the McNabb FF experience, and I couldn’t possibly agree more. Anyway, that one roster pretty much cured me of my NY homer drafting, since I actually had Donovan friggin’ McNabb and it didn’t detract from my real-life Giants cheering and Eagle hating one iota that season.

120

I can’t for certain say what color the sky is in my world, but I fully expect Jones to take over Barber’s starting job by mid-season, if not sooner. That’s why I wanted no part of Barber. I view Grant as a much higher value, since I expect him to be a below average franchise back all season long. I’ll take a scrub franchise back over a stellar time share any day of the week. Plus I figure to play matchups with Grant and Jones once Jones wins the starting job over Barber. Jones really is a freak.

That was my thought process, anyway.