SDMB Fantasy Football big league (league full)

The Game Room
181

Sorry for the delay. Please excuse any typos in the second half of the review, as I’m a drittle lunk.

Division 3
We Do HGH

QB: 4. (76) David Garrard, 6. (116) Kyle Orton, 12. (236) Byron Leftwich
I think Garrard is generally undervalued this year, but Roethlisberger was still on the board, and it’s unlikely he wasn’t a better pick. Orton also is unlikely to justify his draft position. I think Leftwich was a fine value in the 12th, but with two starters already on board you simply didn’t need him. I think a team that spent two of its first six picks on QBs really ought to have a better situation than this. Rank: 3rd.

RB: 1. (5) Matt Forte, 2. (36) Darren McFadden, 3. (45) Ray Rice, 11. (205) Kevin Faulk
Very nice group. I mean, it had better be if you’re gonna go RB-RB-RB, but I think you did about as well as you could have. Rank: 1st.

WR: 5. (85) Bernard Berrian, 8. (156) Justin Gage, 9. (165) Hakeem Nicks, 10. (196) Robert Meachem, 13. (245) Laurent Robinson
This group suffers for your decision to devote so many resources to RB and QB. No one here has any real upside this season, and at least three of these guys have the potential to give you nothing but a few hundred yards and a touchdown or two. Rank: 5th

TE: 7. (125) Dustin Keller
I love it, great pick, great value. Rank: 3rd.

DEF: 14. (276) Washington
For waiting so long to take a DEF, not bad at all.

Overall Divisional Rank: 3rd. Too much value spent on too little firepower at QB means that your WR corps has to do something completely unexpected for you to compete.
Antonican Druids

QB: 4. (69) Matt Ryan, 7. (132) Brett Favre
I’m not terribly high on either of these guys this season, but you’ve got two starters who don’t suck, which gives you a leg up a lot of teams. Rank: 4th.

RB: 1. (12) Brian Westbrook, 3. (52) Marshawn Lynch, 10. (189) Earnest Graham
Not bad, pretty much a boom or bust group. I think I like Sproles instead of Lynch, but whatever. Rank: 3rd.

WR: 2. (29) Marques Colston, 5. (92) Derrick Mason, 9. (172) Darrius Heyward-Bey, 12. (229) Joey Galloway, 13. (252) Amani Toomer
Mason is generally underrated (though maybe still a reach in the 5th), and you should be able to find a passable 3rd WR from the last three. I really like Colston. Rank: 3rd.

TE: 6. (109) Jeremy Shockey, 8. (149) Visanthe Shiancoe
Shockey isn’t going to help you, his spot should have been another body at WR or RB, where you’re a little thin. Shiancoe’s a fine pick (or would be if you hadn’t already drafted Shockey – no one needs two TEs here). Rank: 4th.

DEF: 11. (212) New Orleans, 15. (292) San Francisco
Likewise, no one needs two DEFs, and I don’t like these picks at all – is there any particular reason to think that these two units will be a lot better than they were last year? Because they’ll have to be if they’re going to be useful fantasy options.

Overall Divisional Rank: 4th. If Lynch *and *Graham have bigger roles in their offenses than is likely, and if you can cobble together something decent at DEF, you could compete.
Dante’s Torino

QB: 6. (112) Chad Pennington
Boy oh boy, if there’s one fantasy QB that could use a backup, this is it. I like Chad a lot in the real world, but on a fantasy team his upside is basically adequate, and there a very substantial downside here. Good luck. Rank: 5th.

RB: 1. (9) Chris Johnson, 3. (49) Knowshon Moreno, 8. (152) Justin Fargas, 9. (169) Michael Bush
Very nice top two, and hoping to get a decent RB out of Oakland’s backups is interesting, and not the *worst *plan I’ve ever heard. Probably could’ve gotten Fargas a few rounds later, though. Rank: 2nd.

WR: 2. (32) Anquan Boldin, 4. (72) Roy Williams, 7. (129) Ted Ginn Jr., 10. (192) Greg Camarillo, 11. (209) Antwaan Randle El, 13. (249) Roscoe Parrish
Quite solid. Very low risk with the two starters in passing offenses and all those return yards, and some very decent upside if Ginn and Williams click with their teams this year (and if Boldin stays healthy). Rank: 1st.

TE: 5. (89) Dallas Clark
A good TE, obviously, but this is one of the spots you could have used to get a second (or first) QB. I also think Owen Daniels would have been a significantly better pick. Rank: 2nd.

DEF: 12. (232) Atlanta, 14. (272) Arizona
I guess the pickings were pretty slim by the time you got around to taking DEFs. Given that, this isn’t terrible. Not a great situation anyway.

Overall Divisional Rank: 1st.* That’s a big asterisk. You need Pennington to stay both good and healthy, which could well be less than a 50% proposition.
Unrelated Siblings

QB: 3. (47) Eli Manning, 5. (87) Ben Roethlisberger
Eli with the 47th pick? I’m a Giants fan, and even I think that’s a huge reach. In most leagues he’ll go after Roethlisberger, which means you could’ve gotten him at least 40 picks later. Still, having two good-but-not-great QBs on the roster means you’re well above average at the position. Rank: 1st.

RB: 1. (7) Reggie Bush, 8. (154) Chester Taylor
I’m actually a little more optimistic than most about Bush’s chance to become to a quality feature back, but no matter how you slice it you could’ve gotten a safer bet with the 7th overall pick. Taylor isn’t a bad pick in the 8th, but a 3rd (and preferably a 4th) RB is an absolute necessity. Rank: 5th.

WR: 2. (34) Hines Ward, 4. (74) Devin Hester, 7. (127) Isaac Bruce, 12. (234) Brandon Stokley, 15. (287) Matt Jones
Again, Hines Ward is reach city – a good bet to have a very graceful decline full of productive, 1000/8-type seasons, but nonetheless someone you could have had at least two rounds later (probably). I think the Devin Hester pick is fine, but you need a better 3-4-5 than you’ve got (especially as Matt Jones is unemployed at the moment). Rank: 4th.

TE: 10. (194) Todd Heap, 14. (274) Benjamin Watson
Perfectly acceptable, aside from the fact that that a second drafted TE is unnecessary. Rank: 5th.

DEF: 6. (114) Baltimore, 11. (207) Tampa Bay
I think Baltimore is the best DEF to have, and that they’re even a pretty good value pick at #114. Given that, however, TB is unnecessary.

Overall Divisional Rank: 5th. You’ve only two playable WRs, and (literally) only two playable RBs, both of whom are rather iffy. A pity, because aside from that I think it’s a very strong team. A little bit more depth would go a long way.
Stinkers

QB: 3. (46) Donovan McNabb, 8. (155) Kerry Collins
A solid core. Both players went roughly where they were supposed to, and you got the high-upside/high-variance starter paired with the dependable, low-downside backup. Good job. Rank: 2nd.

RB: 1. (6) DeAngelo Williams, 4. (75) Le’Ron McClain, 13. (246) BenJarvus Green-Ellis
I’m not at all a believe in McClain or BJGE, so I, personally, am not thrilled with this group. That could just be me. Objectively, though, I think you need a 4th RB one way or another with this trio. Rank: 4th.

WR: 2. (35) Greg Jennings, 6. (115) Steve Breaston, 7. (126) Nate Washington, 11. (206) Michael Clayton, 12. (235) Limas Sweed, 14. (275) Shaun McDonald
Jennings is a good value, and Breaston, though very unlikely to repeat his receiving numbers from last year, will benefit enough from his return yards to more than justify being taken in the 6th Round. After that, though there is some upside in the remainder of the group, the most likely scenario is that you’ll be scrambling to attain mediocrity. Rank: 2nd.

TE: 5. (86) Greg Olsen, 15. (286) Donald Lee
Olson is fine in the 5th, and overall a very dependable TE, though another RB would have been better. No need for Lee, but it’s your 15th Rounder, so whatever. Rank: 1st.

DEF: 9. (166) New York Jets
I, personally, don’t see what separates them from other DEFs taken 1 or two rounds later, but in general this fine.

Overall Divisional Rank: 2nd. It’s all about McClain and Green-Ellis. If I’m wrong about their being mostly useless, than I’m wrong about your not being the best team in the division.

182

Man am I taking a risk on QBs this year in FF. In the all-pro league my only QB is Matt Hasselbeck. In this league my only QB is Cassel, who, even if his knee is alright, is due for major regression this year.

This wasn’t a deliberate plan - my strategy is just to draft for value, value, value. I only make desperation picks when there’s a major drop off in talent and I still haven’t filled out a starter. And then I end up not being in a good position to snag a backup QB. Cassel is all I’ve got and he’s 50/50 to play tomorrow - and even if he does play the Baltimore defense is going to destroy him. There’s no one to grab in the free agency pool to plug in at QB, so I’m facing the very real prospect of having a big fat 0 in that slot this week.

183

My day 1 fantasy QB starter? Brodie Croyle.

It’s all over, son. You’re all going down.

184

I missed a bullet there when you decided you weren’t interested in trading him.

But at least the Browns finally announced Brady Quinn will be the starter, a whole three hours before game time.

185

Great. My weakest position is WR, and my top WR pick is out with a hamstring injury this week.

I guess one upside is that my 5th-string WR (15th round pick) is on the same team, and could get some catches. But Schaub will probably just throw everything to Andre Johnson.

ETA:

Choosing players to start my other league really brings home how deep this league is. In my other league, i’ve got players on the bench who would be my first- or second-string starter in this league. After trying to cobble together a full set of starters here, my other team looks ridiculously strong. I like the fact that we have to start so many marginal players, and have to deal with problems like bad QBs, or no backups, or no second DST.

186

We have most of our matches coming down to the MNF games.

Cobra Kai needs Lee Evans and Fred Jackson to score more than 17.96 to beat SenorBeef

Justin Bailey needs Owens, Tomlinson, and Gostkowski to overcome 17 points plus what McFadden scores to beat Stringer

Furt has to overcome 32 points + Kaeding’s score with Philip Rivers and Darren Sproles to beat Kid_A

Very close game - Retroveritgo and Trent Edwards are at a 3 point deficit behind Quentin’s Jammers and the Chargers defense

Even closer - Phoenix Redbirds needs to overcome a 2 point gap with Wes Welker over Chris Chambers to beat Munch

And another close one - Ed Gruberman with a 2 point advantage needs to hold it with Fred Taylor vs Antonio Gates D_odds

187

Ugh, Trent Edwards beat me, really? My team’s success comes down entirely on Brees winning the week for me, and if I still lose when he throws for 6 TDs, I can’t imagine I’ll get a single win this season. This loss really stung, sonfofabitch.

188

My team, Phoenix Redbirds, did pull it out this week with almost nothing from the RB slots. I’m not sure I can keep that up all season.

189

Not only that, but you started TWO TEs!! I noticed that last night, and cursed your name. If you’re looking to move a decent WR for an RB, let me know.

I’d also be interested in a QB upgrade, but understand that may not be a desireable move for people. Though having a bunch of bench points from a QB2 isn’t ideal…

190

Oh my. Ed Gruberman wins 97.34-97.10. Not gonna brag, because a) any scoring adjustment over the next couple of days could change that, and b) I beat an autodraft team that had Tyler Thigpen as their starting QB (who got fewer points than the margin of victory).

191

Wow - the Too Many Giants Fans division has 4 teams who scored within .24 points of each other!

192

Well, the Master Baiters got beaten convincingly. While one game isn’t really enough to judge, i think that the Jay Cutler gamble is looking pretty dodgy right now. He had four interceptions the other night, at least two of which were really the fault of his inexperienced receiving corps. And that’s something that will change pretty slowly, if at all.

193

Little consolation when LT and TO couldn’t come through for me on Monday night.

194

At least Thigpen beat out my other quarterback to keep it that close.

I still don’t know how I got two kickers, including one early, and a pair of quarterbacks that barely know what a pro football’s shape is.

195

I accepted a trade from Scissor Me Timbers sending Welker in exchange for Carnell Williams.

Yeah, with my roster, I figured putting a second tight end in my flex spot was the right move.

196

We have 3 pending trades.

Scissor Me Timbers gives Mike Bell to Stinkers for Steve Breaston
We Do HGH gives up Kyle Orton to Donte’s Torino for Ted Ginn, Jr.
Scissor me Timbers gives up Carnell Williams for Wes Welker.

I don’t see any reason not to approve these, but as a general procedure I like to give trades a bit in case someone objects for some reason. One of those trades strikes me as somewhat unbalanced, but it’s a not unreasonable gamble.

197

Whoops.

I guess I should have gone in and cancelled the rest of my pending trades, eh? I didn’t exactly want to completely deplete my RB corp, but Breaston (when healthy) should be solid, especially with boosted return yardage. If he goes 50/750/5, I’ll be happy.

198

Anyone else noticing a problem picking up players? Everyone I try to grab is involved in a pending transaction (and have been for the last 20 minutes).

199

Thanks for going through the trouble to do this. I agree with everything you said, I was really dependent on Miami, with Pennington and 2 of his receivers. Ironically, that trade almost divorced me completely from Miami’s fate.

The Dallas Clark pick and Arizona pick were autodrafted when my internet hiccuped. I don’t mind the Clark pick, but the Arizona pick was really bad. They have the same bye week as Atlanta, so they don’t even work as a backup.

200

Saints D is going to be good this year (he said hopefully, with fond memories of the Dome Patrol).

Also expecting a big year from Shockey. He’s healthy this year, and has something to prove.

I took the extra DEF and TE because I can’t stand to have empty slots on gameday. I drafted with an eye on bye weeks, wanting to have at least a warm body in every slot every week. This may prove to be a sub-optimal strategy. In theory, I was going to drop those folks once the bye weeks have passed, but the waiver wire is pretty thin. I’ll be hurting at RB at least until Lynch can play–didn’t realize he wasn’t eligible for the first three weeks.

I’ve never been particularly good at fantasy football, but it’s fun to play. Hoping to avoid a dead last finish, but we’ll see.

On a brighter note, I’m in first place in the Confidence Points Pick 'em league. Likely won’t stay there long or ever return, but at least I won a week :smiley: