We’ll be adding unused dollars to people’s FAAB totals. It might be the only way for Court Jesters to salvage a team.
An idea we can discuss - should we be able to involve FAAB dollars in trades? Again, it may be the only way CJ will be able to salvage a playable team, and I think it’s generally in the league’s best interest that his team isn’t total garbage.
But he has good kickers and solid D. 
Self review:
I felt like I got good value throughout, especially compared to the very inflated prices for elite players, although I ended up with a bunch of guys I didn’t particularly want. I’m extremely strong at RB/WR, probably the best 6 WR/RB starters in the league, but at the cost of being very weak everywhere else.
Boldin at $27. I wasn’t targetting Boldin, but considering WRs were going for $41 for Austin, $43 for Calvin Johnson, Reggie Wayne for $40, etc. that Boldin was a pretty good value at $27.
Johnathan Stewart $29. This was a steal. There are plenty of touches to go around in Carolina, and he’s probably going to be even more involved this year. 1000/8 is probably a low projection and 1200/12 is attainable. Backs like his teammate Williams going for $47, Arian Foster at $39, Pierre Thomas at $47, etc. I think Stewart will significantly outperform them per dollar spent and has some good upside.
Jamal Charles $46. I’ve come to regret this pick because I wish I’d have that $46 to work with in the middle of the draft and pick up some late gems. I could’ve made something work at RB without drafting him. But I felt like he was too good to pass up when all of the other top 15 backs were going at $50+. If I could, I’d still take this back and turn my $1-2 players into a bunch of $8 players, but I like Charles’ upside. His productivity per game and per carry is pretty awesome… I’m just afraid that Thomas Jones still has a lot of vulching left in the tank.
Dwayne Bowe at $24. I’m high on Bowe this year. He showed up at camp apparently dedicated and in great shape, having attended Larry Fitzgerald’s offseason camp, and Weis is going to get that passing game going. I see 1100/7 out of him and at $24 I’ll take it. Similar talents went for $5-10 more. I’m happy with this pick.
Jahvid Best at $36. I’m high on Best this year and I think he could be this year’s breakout Ray Rice type candidate. Kevin smith is gimpy and Best could start right up performing well and end up taking 70% of the carries in Detroit. Detroit’s offense in general is going to score a lot of points - both because it’s upgraded (Stafford year 2, healthy megatron, Nate Burleson’s a solid possession guy) and because they’ll be playing from behind a lot. Since Best is a big play guy, and will be involved in the passing game, that’ll help rather than hurt his numbers. At half the price of MJD or Ray Rice I’m happy.
Hakeem Nicks at $21. I like his upside. He barely played the first few games of the year, yet managed almost 800 yards. He’ll hit the ground running this year and I could see him improving up past 1000. Guys at a similar price point were Donald Driver (roboknees), Mike Sims-Walker, Percy Harvin, Robert Meachem.
So, great start. That’s a hell of a 3RB/3WR corps. No superstars but all very good players with upside. Is anyone better at those positions?
And it’s all downhill from there.
QBs Vince Young $4 and Derek Anderson $3. I spent almost all of my money on the above picks. I had $19 to fill out my last 9 roster slots. Both of these players have some upside, but they’ve got low floors. Obviously I’m not terribly comfortable with either, but I’ve also seen what Anderson can do with talented receivers that can pull down his inaccurate passes, and he’s got some of the best in Arizona. I’ll hopefully be able to play matchups and make do here, and hope Anderson finds the '07 Anderson and not the '08-09 version.
RBs Bernard Scott $2 and Javon Ringer $1. These are high upside lottery tickets. If Chris Johnson goes down, Ringer is the guy. If Benson goes down, or gets arrested again, or gets stabbed in the face, or just remembers that he sucks, Scott is the guy.
D Tennessee $2, K Nick Folk $1, TE Bo Scaife. These are unfortunately my starters and they’re not so good. By this time I only had a dollar per player to spend, which means I couldn’t bid on anyone else’s nomination - I had to make my own $1 nomination and hope no one outbid me. So by the time these picks rolled around there was no one good left, and I made the best of a bad situation.
WRs Nate Burleson $2 and James Jones $1. Burleson is a solid possession guy who might do 750/5 or so. James Jones is going into his 4th year in the prolific GB offense. Donald Driver had his knees replaced with hamster wheels, and as he slows down, James Jones is slated to be the guy who picks up the slack. Probably won’t end up amounting to more than a fantasy WR3, but has upside and at $1 it’s a good bet.
I encourage everyone to do self reviews. Or if you have time, do reviews of other teams. Or figure out some sort of review you’d like to write - maybe rank the league’s WR, RB, QB corps against each other. Whatever. The post-draft discussing and review stuff is one of my favorite parts of FF.
Edit: Having difficulty pasting a sorted list. I’ll try it again.
Barely played is one way to put it. Another is that he missed several games after leaving the opening day game on crutches.
WYSIWYG, my ass.
Anyways, here are the WR for the Big Auction group, sorted by $$. I have the excel file, if anybody else wants to take a crack at pasting the data.
**Player Cost Team**
Andre Johnson $52 Unrelated Siblings
Steve Smith $50 Frosted_Lightning
Randy Moss $44 Garcon's Cedilla
Calvin Johnson $43 Up by Three
Miles Austin $41 CMFD
Reggie Wayne $40 Return of Ryan Leaf
Roddy White $38 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Greg Jennings $35 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Larry Fitzgerald $35 Hey There Fancypants
Brandon Marshall $35 Scissor Me Timbers
DeSean Jackson $31 Sizzurp Sippers
Steve Smith $30 Curry Porkrinds
Wes Welker $29 CMFD
Marques Colston $28 The Gusterrhoids
Anquan Boldin $27 Exploding Pancakes
Michael Crabtree $25 No Use For A Name II
Dwayne Bowe $24 Exploding Pancakes
Robert Meachem $22 Return of Ryan Leaf
Percy Harvin $22 CMFD
Chad Ochocinco $22 Scissor Me Timbers
Mike Sims-Walker $22 Evil Monkey
Hakeem Nicks $21 Exploding Pancakes
Donald Driver $20 Unrelated Siblings
Malcom Floyd $19 Return of Ryan Leaf
Jacoby Jones $18 Phoenix Redbirds
Terrell Owens $17 Up by Three
Jeremy Maclin $17 Evil Monkey
Dez Bryant $16 Hey There Fancypants
Braylon Edwards $16 The Brute Squad
T.J. Houshmandzadeh $15 Curry Porkrinds
Hines Ward $15 Sizzurp Sippers
Pierre Garcon $14 Not Sure
Mike Williams $14 Up by Three
Santana Moss $14 Sizzurp Sippers
Devin Aromashodu $13 Frosted_Lightning
Johnny Knox $13 Garcon's Cedilla
Lee Evans $12 The Brute Squad
Jerricho Cotchery $11 Evil Monkey
Santonio Holmes $11 The Gusterrhoids
Vincent Jackson $11 The Brute Squad
Mike Wallace $11 Evil Monkey
Eddie Royal $10 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Steve Breaston $10 Not Sure
Ted Ginn $10 Up by Three
Kenny Britt $10 The Brute Squad
Derrick Mason $8 The Gusterrhoids
Roy Williams $8 Not Sure
Legedu Naanee $8 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Mario Manningham $7 Evil Monkey
Sidney Rice $7 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Jabar Gaffney $7 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Dexter McCluster $6 CMFD
Julian Edelman $6 The Gusterrhoids
Mike Williams $6 Garcon's Cedilla
Joshua Cribbs $6 The Gusterrhoids
Bernard Berrian $6 Garcon's Cedilla
Devin Hester $6 Hey There Fancypants
Mohamed Massaquoi $6 Unrelated Siblings
Devery Henderson $5 Garcon's Cedilla
Demaryius Thomas $5 No Use For A Name II
Darrius Heyward-Bey $5 Up by Three
Devin Thomas $5 Sizzurp Sippers
Kevin Walter $5 No Use For A Name II
Austin Collie $4 No Use For A Name II
Laurent Robinson $4 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Chris Chambers $4 Not Sure
Anthony Gonzalez $4 Frosted_Lightning
Patrick Crayton $3 Hey There Fancypants
Sammie Stroughter $3 Up by Three
Sam Hurd $3 Unrelated Siblings
Mike Thomas $3 CMFD
Golden Tate $3 The Gusterrhoids
Nate Washington $2 Frosted_Lightning
Louis Murphy $2 Garcon's Cedilla
Nate Burleson $2 Exploding Pancakes
Greg Camarillo $2 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Arrelious Benn $2 The Gusterrhoids
Chansi Stuckey $1 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Torry Holt $1 Sizzurp Sippers
Justin Gage $1 Sizzurp Sippers
Damian Williams $1 Unrelated Siblings
Sam Aiken $1 Unrelated Siblings
Antonio Bryant $1 Phoenix Redbirds
Brandon LaFell $1 Phoenix Redbirds
Brandon Tate $1 No Use For A Name II
Josh Morgan $1 No Use For A Name II
Lance Moore $1 Scissor Me Timbers
Courtney Roby $1 Scissor Me Timbers
Brandon Lloyd $1 Scissor Me Timbers
Davone Bess $1 The Brute Squad
Deon Butler $1 Curry Porkrinds
Earl Bennett $1 Return of Ryan Leaf
Danny Amendola $1 CMFD
Jason Hill $1 Hey There Fancypants
Deion Branch $1 Curry Porkrinds
Chaz Schilens $1 Curry Porkrinds
Brandon Stokley $1 Court Jesters
Laveranues Coles $1 Court Jesters
Early Doucet $1 Court Jesters
James Jones $1 Exploding Pancakes
Mark Clayton $1 Court Jesters
Jason Avant $1 Frosted_Lightning
Similarly, here are the TE:
Jermichael Finley $30 Phoenix Redbirds
Vernon Davis $27 Evil Monkey
Antonio Gates $26 Curry Porkrinds
Dallas Clark $26 No Use For A Name II
Jason Witten $19 The Gusterrhoids
Brent Celek $14 CMFD
Visanthe Shiancoe $13 Frosted_Lightning
Zach Miller $12 Curry Porkrinds
Tony Gonzalez $11 Sizzurp Sippers
Kellen Winslow $9 The Brute Squad
Owen Daniels $8 Unrelated Siblings
Greg Olsen $6 Return of Ryan Leaf
Heath Miller $6 Sizzurp Sippers
John Carlson $6 Garcon's Cedilla
Chris Cooley $5 Not Sure
Jeremy Shockey $5 Evil Monkey
Dustin Keller $5 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Todd Heap $4 Not Sure
Marcedes Lewis $2 Frosted_Lightning
Benjamin Watson $2 Court Jesters
Jermaine Gresham $2 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Kevin Boss $2 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Brandon Pettigrew $1 Up by Three
Rob Gronkowski $1 Sizzurp Sippers
Jerramy Stevens $1 Phoenix Redbirds
Tony Scheffler $1 Phoenix Redbirds
Fred Davis $1 The Brute Squad
Anthony Fasano $1 Unrelated Siblings
Donald Lee $1 Scissor Me Timbers
Will Heller $1 Hey There Fancypants
Kellen Davis $1 Court Jesters
Bo Scaife $1 Exploding Pancakes
Onto the RBs:
Chris Johnson $85 Scissor Me Timbers
Adrian Peterson $72 No Use For A Name II
Maurice Jones-Drew $71 The Gusterrhoids
Ray Rice $70 Up by Three
Frank Gore $66 Hey There Fancypants
Rashard Mendenhall $65 Not Sure
Michael Turner $60 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Steven Jackson $58 Garcon's Cedilla
Ryan Mathews $50 The Brute Squad
Shonn Greene $49 Frosted_Lightning
DeAngelo Williams $47 Sizzurp Sippers
Pierre Thomas $47 Sizzurp Sippers
Jamaal Charles $46 Exploding Pancakes
Ryan Grant $43 The Brute Squad
Cedric Benson $40 Return of Ryan Leaf
Arian Foster $39 Evil Monkey
LeSean McCoy $39 Garcon's Cedilla
Beanie Wells $37 Phoenix Redbirds
Jahvid Best $36 Exploding Pancakes
Ahmad Bradshaw $34 No Use For A Name II
Joseph Addai $31 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Knowshon Moreno $29 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Jonathan Stewart $29 Exploding Pancakes
Ronnie Brown $28 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Jerome Harrison $27 Curry Porkrinds
Matt Forte $27 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Marion Barber $25 Evil Monkey
Felix Jones $25 CMFD
C.J. Spiller $24 Phoenix Redbirds
Michael Bush $23 Frosted_Lightning
Reggie Bush $22 CMFD
Justin Forsett $22 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Ricky Williams $20 Unrelated Siblings
Brandon Jacobs $20 Hey There Fancypants
Donald Brown $18 No Use For A Name II
Fred Jackson $16 Return of Ryan Leaf
Darren McFadden $14 Curry Porkrinds
Tashard Choice $13 Up by Three
Clinton Portis $11 Phoenix Redbirds
Carnell Williams $10 CMFD
Kareem Huggins $10 Hey There Fancypants
Thomas Jones $9 Curry Porkrinds
Tim Hightower $9 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Steve Slaton $9 Court Jesters
LaDainian Tomlinson $8 Not Sure
Fred Taylor $7 Return of Ryan Leaf
Darren Sproles $7 CMFD
Jason Snelling $6 Up by Three
Chester Taylor $5 Unrelated Siblings
Correll Buckhalter $4 Not Sure
Laurence Maroney $4 Not Sure
Julius Jones $4 The Gusterrhoids
Leon Washington $4 Garcon's Cedilla
Willis McGahee $4 The Gusterrhoids
Anthony Dixon $3 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
James Davis $3 Scissor Me Timbers
Mewelde Moore $3 Evil Monkey
Larry Johnson $2 Frosted_Lightning
Bernard Scott $2 Exploding Pancakes
Marshawn Lynch $2 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Brandon Jackson $1 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Willie Parker $1 Not Sure
Mike Tolbert $1 Up by Three
Peyton Hillis $1 Garcon's Cedilla
Maurice Morris $1 Up by Three
Toby Gerhart $1 Sizzurp Sippers
Brian Westbrook $1 Phoenix Redbirds
Derrick Ward $1 The Brute Squad
Le'Ron McClain $1 Unrelated Siblings
Jerious Norwood $1 Scissor Me Timbers
Rashad Jennings $1 Scissor Me Timbers
Kevin Faulk $1 Scissor Me Timbers
Leonard Weaver $1 Scissor Me Timbers
Sammy Morris $1 Return of Ryan Leaf
Mike Bell $1 Return of Ryan Leaf
Christopher Ivory $1 Hey There Fancypants
Ladell Betts $1 Court Jesters
Kevin Smith $1 Court Jesters
Javon Ringer $1 Exploding Pancakes
Justin Fargas $1 Court Jesters
The QBs:
Aaron Rodgers $60 Curry Porkrinds
Peyton Manning $52 Not Sure
Drew Brees $45 Scissor Me Timbers
Tom Brady $43 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Matt Schaub $35 Return of Ryan Leaf
Philip Rivers $34 Phoenix Redbirds
Tony Romo $32 The Brute Squad
Joe Flacco $30 Unrelated Siblings
Jay Cutler $22 Hey There Fancypants
Matt Ryan $17 Frosted_Lightning
Brett Favre $15 Sizzurp Sippers
Eli Manning $15 Evil Monkey
Kevin Kolb $14 Up by Three
Matthew Stafford $14 Frosted_Lightning
Donovan McNabb $13 The Gusterrhoids
Chad Henne $12 Phoenix Redbirds
Carson Palmer $10 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Kyle Orton $9 Garcon's Cedilla
David Garrard $8 The Gusterrhoids
Ben Roethlisberger $8 Evil Monkey
Alex Smith $6 CMFD
Jason Campbell $6 CMFD
Matt Cassel $5 Not Sure
Sam Bradford $4 No Use For A Name II
Matt Moore $4 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Vince Young $4 Exploding Pancakes
Mark Sanchez $3 The Brute Squad
Derek Anderson $3 Exploding Pancakes
Tim Tebow $2 Evil Monkey
Trent Edwards $1 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Jake Delhomme $1 Garcon's Cedilla
Matt Hasselbeck $1 Scissor Me Timbers
Byron Leftwich $1 No Use For A Name II
Charlie Whitehurst $1 Curry Porkrinds
Josh Freeman $1 Curry Porkrinds
Matt Leinart $1 Hey There Fancypants
Tarvaris Jackson $1 Court Jesters
The Defense/Special Teams:
New York Jets $7 Hey There Fancypants
Minnesota $7 Not Sure
Pittsburgh $6 Frosted_Lightning
San Francisco $6 Evil Monkey
Philadelphia $5 Return of Ryan Leaf
Baltimore $5 Unrelated Siblings
New Orleans $5 The Gusterrhoids
Dallas $4 CMFD
New York Giants $4 Court Jesters
San Diego $4 Sizzurp Sippers
Miami $2 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Cincinnati $2 Garcon's Cedilla
Tennessee $2 Exploding Pancakes
Green Bay $2 Hamlets Out of Ideas
Chicago $2 Phoenix Redbirds
Indianapolis $1 Up by Three
New England $1 No Use For A Name II
Atlanta $1 Scissor Me Timbers
Arizona $1 The Brute Squad
Oakland $1 Curry Porkrinds
Washington $1 Return of Ryan Leaf
Seattle $1 Curry Porkrinds
Denver $1 The Brute Squad
Carolina $1 Court Jesters
(hey, i’m getting the hang of this)
And finally, the kickers:
Nate Kaeding $11 Court Jesters
Neil Rackers $10 Unrelated Siblings
Stephen Gostkowski $8 The Gusterrhoids
Garrett Hartley $6 Hey There Fancypants
Mason Crosby $6 Court Jesters
Kris Brown $6 The Brute Squad
David Akers $5 Not Sure
Lawrence Tynes $5 Hey There Fancypants
Ryan Longwell $4 Return of Ryan Leaf
Matt Prater $4 Phoenix Redbirds
Dan Carpenter $3 Phoenix Redbirds
Billy Cundiff $3 Garcon's Cedilla
Adam Vinatieri $2 Frosted_Lightning
Matt Bryant $2 Frosted_Lightning
Rob Bironas $2 No Use For A Name II
Robbie Gould $2 Hamlets Out of Ideas
David Buehler $2 Varlos' Zzzzzzz
Joe Nedney $2 Return of Ryan Leaf
Ryan Succop $1 Up by Three
Jeff Reed $1 Evil Monkey
Jay Feely $1 Sizzurp Sippers
Rian Lindell $1 Unrelated Siblings
Josh Scobee $1 No Use For A Name II
Sebastian Janikowski $1 CMFD
Nick Folk $1 Exploding Pancakes
Again, PM me if you want me to e-mail you the excel sheet.
Analysis of my own team will wait until I get some sleep…
Good luck to all.
I didn’t set out to do it, but I recreated nearly half of my Dynasty League team in last night’s auction. I never did an auction before and it was an interesting experience. I think I prefer snake though.
Self Review…
2. (22) Marques Colston (NO - WR) $28
I imagine 2010 is going to feature announcers yelling “Brees to Colston” a lot. Compared to other WRs, a steal at $28.
3. (23) Maurice Jones-Drew (Jac - RB) $71
8. (136) Julius Jones (Sea - RB) $4
12. (182) Willis McGahee (Bal - RB) $4
My stud. I may have slightly overpaid, but MJD should another great year. And he better, because my best choice behind him is Willis McGahee.
4. (57) Donovan McNabb (Was - QB) $13
7. (125) David Garrard (Jac - QB) $8
McNabb is a steal at $13, but I know he’s shaky, so I grabbed Garrard too. I’m happy with both picks.
5. (101) Jason Witten (Dal - TE) $19
I love TEs and I think Witten is one of the best.
9. (143) Derrick Mason (Bal - WR) $8
10. (144) Julian Edelman (NE - WR) $6
11. (157) Santonio Holmes (NYJ - WR) $11
14. (192) Joshua Cribbs (Cle - WR) $6
Yes Santonio Holmes is out the first 4 games. And yes, he’s a head case. But he’s my head case and I think when he comes back he’ll put up some decent numbers. Which is all I can say about my WR corps, they’re a group of pretty decent guys. Cribbs will return for 2000 yards, minimum, you watch.
**Miscellany
Okay - I feel physically ill after looking at my team. I was an auction virgin, but I’d done plenty of research. I’m going to walk through my method, and explain where things went terribly, terribly wrong.
In an auction, you need to do to things to prepare. Predict every single player that will be drafted (in this case, 300), and spend every single dollar allotted in the auction ($4,000). So I went through cheatsheets, selecting the top 300 players. I took 30 quarterbacks,defenses and kickers (thinking some people would still take backups), and then the rest of the RB/WR/TEs I could find. So far, so good. Then I started alloting points. I could do one of two things: (1): Double everyone’s price from a 10-team league auction cheatsheet or (2): Distribute the funds on a steeper curve. I went with a little of both.
What happened was ©: everyone freaks out about high prices, sticks with a 10- or 12-team auction mindset, and spends the remaining money way down the line on guys I had pegged at $1. Of course, looking back, that should have been obvious. Fantasy teams are made in the mid- to late-rounds, especially this league. As such, I ended up with, basically, a 4 player team.
My specific draft strategy was to take 1 stud RB, 3 solid WRs, and spend $10 on a QB. Let’s see what happened… (I’d like to mention all projected values I had for everyone, but I don’t have it in front of me. I’ll guess.)
**1. (1) Chris Johnson (Ten - RB) $85: **Blam. I had CJ projected at a $115 value, and I just KNEW people would look back to this around Pick #75 and lament and gnash their teeth. How foolish everyone would feel! Holy mother of God…
**2. (4) Drew Brees (NO - QB) $45: **On one hand, this isn’t terrible - other top QBs went for high prices as well. On the other hand, Kevin Kolb went for $14… I believe I had Brees pegged around $85 or so.
3. (14) Brandon Marshall (Mia - WR) $35: WRs were going pretty low (from my perspective), and I wanted a good one. Looking at the list, $35 isn’t too bad - but I probably could have used that money getting 2 mid-round WRs to actually start… My value for Marshall was around $50.
4. (91) Chad Ochocinco (Cin - WR) $22: And thus ends my draft - it was here when I realized things had gone horribly, horribly wrong. Prices were starting to rise for the mid-draft players, and I was about to be outside-looking-in as everyone flush with cash started spending money. I needed one more piece to stay competitive, and I needed one fast. I don’t mind Ochocinco, but his situation isn’t ideal (nor is his age).
5. (225) Matt Hasselbeck (Sea - QB) $1: Wow, a backup QB! I didn’t have one of those last year…
**6. (239) James Davis (Cle - RB) $3: **Apparently has about a 10% chance to get the starting gig. I’ll take 10% of the carries at this point.
7. (257) Jerious Norwood (Atl - RB) $1: I figure grabbing handcuffs isn’t a terrible idea, especially with guys who could be goalline backs.
**8. (269) Rashad Jennings (Jac - RB) $1: **This pick could actually really pay off. I believe MJD’s knee isn’t a huge concern, but it is still a concern (especially in a league this friggin’ huge).
**9. (279) Lance Moore (NO - WR) $1: **Another pick I’m pretty happy about. Moore doesn’t have a great chance at the WR3 job in NO, but he can start in the slot for me any day!
**10. (287) Leonard Weaver (Phi - RB) $1: **A fullback in the NFL? What is this, 1996? I’d probably like this pick better if Westbrook was still around.
**11. (291) Brandon Lloyd (Den - WR) $1: **I see a lot of depth charts with him actually starting. Certainly that can’t be right. I take this Demaryius Thomas cat took the job?
**12. (293) Atlanta (Atl - DEF) $1: **Best available.
13. (295) Courtney Roby (NO - WR) $1: Who? He’s a return guy. Let’s see if it pans out.
**14. (297) Kevin Faulk (NE - RB) $1: **No one knows who gets the ball in NE. Faulk is currently listed at #4. I think that means he gets to start every 4th game…
**15. (299) Donald Lee (GB - TE) $1: **A #2 TE as my #1. Lee gets a surprising amount of targets even with Finley on the field. Not any sleepers left, so I’ll go with consistent (if tiny) production.
And now comes the picking scabs part of fantasy football drafting, the “Lessons Learned…”
My team, the Sizzurp Sippers
This was my first auction, and like Munch, I thought I did enough research, had my list of auction values and projections, and then, unlike him, tossed most of it in blind panic. I try to get my RBs out of the way first, figuring that it’s harder to find consistent production from RB in later rounds. The prices for the first tier of running backs got crazy, fast. There were a lot of bargains in the $1-10 range. I just ran out of money too fast too do much with them. For all of my picks, I pretty much used Yahoo’s projection for how they’d do over the season, with some editorial vetos on my part where I didn’t trust the projection. One of these days, I’ll pick up Football Outsiders’ KUBIAK product. Didn’t use it, other than for paying special attention to guys their discussion boards alluded to being relatively undervalued, like Mendenhall, Ward, or Brady, or relatively overvalued like AP, or bust potential like Edwards. Usually, I’ll use more than one projection system, input it all in excel with our league’s scoring settings, and look at average projections. I just didn’t have time to do all that this year. So if you wondered why I was breaking the bank for DeSean Jackson, or kicking myself for not getting a higher bid in time for Harvin, that’s why.
With that in mind, I overpaid a bit for DeAngelo Williams and Pierre Thomas at $47, particularly when SenorBeef was later picking up J. Stewart for $29. Williams is projected to finish 9th out of the 47 RBs I ranked; Thomas is projected 6th. Benson, projected 7th, would have been a much better buy at $40 than Williams. FWIW, the CJ/MJD tier is proj. to be a lot better than everyone else; AP is in a lower tier with Rice and Gore. I just got gun-shy at the idea of blowing 40% of my budget on one guy, with 7 other significant offensive guys still to draft. I also would have liked to have had Ronnie Brown at $28 (proj. 12th) or C.J. Spiller at $24 (proj. 21st, and I think the projection understates his return contributions.) I’ve never played in a league with return yardage/TDs and I may be overthinking it. With RB out of the way, needed a WR, but the prices just floored me: Megatron for $43, Andre Johnson for $52, Marshall for $35. Percy Harvin came by at $22, and I was trying to type in $25 when the auction ended. Just too slow tabbing between fields. He’s proj out at 3rd among WR, mainly due to return help.
Soon after that, Favre came around. Brees($45), Flacco ($30), Rodgers ($60!—I know, it was a typo’d bid) and Peyton ($52) had gone before. When there wasn’t that much bidding on Favre, I figured that him and his 8th place projection at $15 was better value than the big three at 3X more. (Brady eventually went for $43). No, I don’t think he’ll equal last year, and yes, I’m screwed if he goes down. The next best proj. current-FA QB is Mike Vick, FWIW.
Now to find 3 WRs, a TE and a Flex for about $80. Waited awhile until my #1 proj. WR came up, DeSean Jackson, and I spent heavily, $31. God, I hope Kolb likes to throw the ball deep.
Work’s calling, I’ll finish the rest of this post soon.
I need some serious help at WR. I’ll trade either Rivers or Henne for one.
For me too. Some things I think I’ve figured out since the draft is that with 20 teams, even the ones I thought would be cheap steals were costly. I also wish we had more bench spots, but that’s probably asking too much out of the draft.
You team is basically MJD, Colston, McNabb, and Witten. I have no idea if 4 guys can carry a team in an 20 team league, but I’m guessing no. It seems to me that spending too freely on a single, or even a few guys, will lead to poor showings in the starting rotations. Sure you have MJD, but behind him you have nobody I would want to start. At WR, you have Colston and nobody I would want to start. I have no idea if your way is better, I’ve never done this before. But I wanted to get more starters at a lesser price than a few studs. Of course, I spent 60 bucks on Michael Turner, so what the hell do I know?
That just boggled my mind. In your case, you spent 42.5% of your entire budget on just one guy. And you had him valued at being worth over half your budget. That kinda surprised me.
I actually went about it differently. I looked at my budget, and tried to figure out how much I could spend at each position, rather than looking at the player and deciding a value. For example, I had RB1 being $62, RB2 $34, QB1 $24, QB2 $4, WR1 $25 WR2 $20, and on and on. I used it a bit in the mock auction drafts, but those were pretty useless because the computer ends up playing all the other guys. Of course, I knew I had to be a bit flexible to get guys I really liked, but I thought I could do that on the fly.
As I posted above, I seriously tried to avoid that. I knew I’d have to sacrifice somewhere on the roster in a 20 team league and I didn’t want to compound that sacrifice by spending too much on one guy. But, again, who knows how it will all work out.
Those are my four big play guys, sure, but I’ve got a few mid-level guys behind them.
Derrick Mason did 1000 yards and 7 TDs last year. Julian Edelman has a shot to come into his own this year (it sure as hell ain’t going to be Randy Moss). Santonio Holmes could be great or could be a bust, for $11, I was looking for great. And Joshua Cribbs did 2000 return yards last year.
Trying to move this along. After Jackson, I had $60 for 2 WR, a TE and a Flex, plus everyone else. Hines Ward came along for only $15. He projected out to 21st place for WR and I was already wondering if he was going to outperform that projection. I’m happy spending $15 for a WR1/2.
TEs were coming off the board around this time: Clark $26, Celek $14, Finley $30 (He’s a monster, after all), Witten $19, and Winslow $9. With that market set, I was happy when Tony Gonzalez rolled around for $11. Tony G projects to 2nd place for TE, behind only Clark. I don’t agree with that projection—I think Finley will indeed have a monster year and I see a lot of “Brent Celek, Security Blanket” happening–but for $11, I’m happy. I think Greg Olsen for $6 is much better value, though. $34 left for everyone, mainly 1 WR, 1 Flex, and a Defense.
Santana Moss for $14 was an editorial override. Unlike many, and Yahoo, I think Moss still has another big-play threat year in him. McNabb, unlike Captain Checkdown last year, will try to stretch the defense once in awhile and I think will provide good value (he’s not a good value yet). A bit steep for a WR3, especially with the likes of Early Doucet $1, Jabar Gaffney $7, Greg Camarillo $2, and Bernard Berrian $6(!) available, and I probably panicked a little again. Similarly, I totally choked on nominating and then stupidly bidding $5 on Devin Thomas. Yahoo, at #59, likes him a lot more than I do. And bidding on Thomas, stopped me from making a serious bid at Clinton Portis, who went for $11 a few players later.
Lots of TEs were still available, and since they’re eligible for the Flex, I was surprised that Heath Miller only went for 6. I think that everyone other than the auto-picker was running out of at that point. Miller proj to 12th for TE, and will do at the Flex, but I would much rather have had Portis. $9 for 6 players meant I was pretty much done. $4 for San Diego got me the 4th ranked D. $2 for Green Bay would have been better, and I’m not too sold on San Diego, but I can at least leave them plugged in at DEF and not suffer too badly.
At that point, I was only able to acquire players I nominated for $1, which made what was up til then a very exciting draft, a pretty dull one. Trying to grief with the highest valued Kicker didn’t work, which is how I ended up with Jay Feely. He’ll do I guess. I like Toby Gerhart as a touchdown vulture, provided he can see the field. I drank the Simmons Kool-Aid on Rob Gronkowski, which is why I’ve got 3 TE. Worst comes to worse, he’s good trade bait. Things were getting very slim at this point, and I wasn’t fully up on who’s still in the League, which is how I ended up with Torry Holt. Probably should’ve grabbed James Jones instead, but if my team depends on this decision, I’m totally screwed. Justin Gage completed the “just a guy” rummage sale.
Missed on Patrick Crayton and Bernard Scott, dammit.
The waiver wire is hilariously depleted. Per Yahoo, the top four WR left are: Jordy Nelson, Michael Jenkins, Antwaan Randel-El, and Brandon Gibson. Top 4 RB are: LaRod Stephens-Howling, Aaron Brown, Brian Leonard, and Heath Evans. Bonus points if you know without looking which team each of them plays for.
Should be a fun year. Looking at everyones’ teams, it looks like that it’s going to be VarlosZZZ’s world, and the rest of us just live in it.
And that’s where we differ, on the relative value of those guys. The Ravens went out and got Boldin, Stallworth, and Housh; and they grabbed 2 pass catching TE’s to add to Todd Heap. I think Mason is primed for a huge drop in numbers, ala Torry Holt. Edelman was a nice find last year, but Welker is apparently back and I think the Pats actually like Brandon Tate better than Edelman. Holmes is on a run heavy team with an iffy QB, and Cribbs is pretty much just a return guy and an unreliable producer. But, as usual, I could be very, very wrong.