Runner-up: Old Milwaukee (Rashad Jennings). Serves him right for stealing Jahvid Best.'CalBear said:And the winner of the First Screwage Award goes to: Couch Potato, with the announcement that Tony Moeaki is out for the year. And so it begins. At least it isn't me this year (Avery).
Yeah, it's really exciting starting out in a 170 point hole before we even play a game!'CalBear said:And the winner of the First Screwage Award goes to: Couch Potato, with the announcement that Tony Moeaki is out for the year. And so it begins. At least it isn't me this year (Avery).
I had a kicker queued up at 13.11, but after the Moeaki injury I decided to snag Pope instead; if Pope had been the starter at the beginning of the draft he would have gone several rounds earlier. I was definitely worried about the kicker situation but it looks manageable; like you say, with us drafting a few days before the season we don't have to guess who will win the camp battles.Very glad to get my kickers locked in. People make fun of kickers, but it is crucial in this format to avoid getting stuck with a kicker who does not have a secure position. There are typically a few teams that end up getting zeros at a kicker spot because of this. It is probably less of an issue this year, since we are drafting so late. For example, someone will get stuck with the Saints kicker this year... and he will have to choose between Kasay and Hartley.For that reason, I was surprised the three owners who have no kickers didn't take at least one during the run. SLBD, Kruppe, and radballs all going K-K at the 12th/13th round turn really accelerated the run and put the pressure on for those who wanted to wait.
And 27 out of 41 picks in the 12th to 14th rounds.'CalBear said:Wow, 11 kickers in a row, not the in last round. Has to be a record.
By contrast, last year the first kicker was taken at the same time (12.03 vs. 12.04 this year), and the 27th wasn't taken until 17.09. 16 total in rounds 12-14. Odd to see such a panic over kickers.Edit to add: And Matt Bryant, the #5 kicker last year, was taken at 18.10 as the 31st kicker off the board.And 27 out of 41 picks in the 12th to 14th rounds.'CalBear said:Wow, 11 kickers in a row, not the in last round. Has to be a record.
Interested to see whether rzrback77 goes Kasay or Hartley. (Or Reed/Nedney/Graham as a flier? Anyone? Buehler?)I got a kicker, whew!
I'm pretty sure I am not giving away any state secrets. He predrafted Kasay.Interested to see whether rzrback77 goes Kasay or Hartley. (Or Reed/Nedney/Graham as a flier? Anyone? Buehler?)I got a kicker, whew!
That's the way I would have gone, too. You know you'll miss time with Hartley, and there's a possibility that Kasay will kick the whole year. Would be a pretty big last-round pick if it works out that way.I'm pretty sure I am not giving away any state secrets. He predrafted Kasay.Interested to see whether rzrback77 goes Kasay or Hartley. (Or Reed/Nedney/Graham as a flier? Anyone? Buehler?)I got a kicker, whew!
We need one yard, Rodney!Through 4 weeks:1. Duckboy 871.642. Just Win Baby 871.58
With all bye weeks complete, and just past the halfway point of this season that includes playoff games, it seems like a good time to revisit. I am happy my team is in first place, and cautiously optimistic that my team has a good shot at winning it all.Midseason review of my draft picks:My summary of my draft:
1.16 Roddy White, WR, ATL - 3rd WR drafted. Had hoped to get two of the top 5 TEs at this turn, but 4 of them went in the 6 picks prior to mine, so I decided to go WR-TE. Last year, White was #12 overall in total points and #15 overall in average ppg.
2.1 Jermichael Finley, TE, GB - 5th TE drafted. I highly value the top TEs in this format, and IMO Finley was easily the best player available. Last year, before his injury, Finley averaged 19.5 ppg in this format, which would have placed him #4 among TEs and #17 overall had he maintained it all season. That is impressive, considering 10 of the 16 players with higher averages were Team QBs. In addition to his high scoring potential, he will likely get playoff points.
3.16 Mike Williams, WR, TB - 15th WR drafted. I may have reached a bit here, but I liked Williams more than the other available WRs, like Bowe, Marshall, Collie, Lloyd, Colston, and Maclin (the next 6 WRs drafted). Williams was the #16 WR in total points last year. Even though he probably won't have 11 TDs again, I expect he will have more catches and yards, and overall there is a solid chance he will score more points overall. I also think there is a decent chance for playoff points with Tampa.
4.1 Kellen Winslow, TE, TB - 10th TE drafted. At this point, I felt there was a TE dropoff coming after Winslow, Graham, and Pettigrew, and I wanted to make sure to get a second top 10 TE before the dropoff. Last year, Winslow was the #10 TE in overall points and the #9 TE in ppg, and reports are that he has looked very good in training camp this year. I strongly considered Graham, but there are so many targets in New Orleans, I felt Winslow will get more targets and catches... with 2 PPR, that decided it for me. There may also be a very slight value to having both Williams and Winslow, in that if one of them misses time, the other might get more targets. As mentioned, I also think there is a decent chance for playoff points with Tampa. In retrospect, I'm not sure I did the right thing here in choosing Winslow over Graham.
5.16 Santana Moss, WR, WAS - 28th WR drafted. Should be good value here. He finished last year as the #13 WR in both total points and ppg in this format. He remains the #1 WR on the Redskins, and the team will likely have at least a marginally improved QB performance this year. The only negative is that there won't likely be any playoff points.
6.1 Detroit Lions, TMQB, DET - 14th TMQB drafted. I was willing to wait on QB, but the value with the Lions was compelling. Last year, Detroit was the #10 TMQB in total points and the #9 TMQB in ppg... and that was with Stafford playing only 3 games. (And they were 3 excellent games.) Detroit was #3 in the league in passing attempts, and, with Leshoure's injury and strong passing weapons, that doesn't seem likely to come down too much. Perhaps more importantly, I felt there was a healthy dropoff at TMQB after the Lions; I assume some of the teams remaining will outscore them or come close... but it was harder to predict the performance of the remaining teams IMO. Probably no playoff points here.
7.16 Heath Miller, TE, PIT - 23rd TE drafted. This pick locked in my flex, since this gave me 3 TEs. The value was compelling, getting a likely 160+ points from a skill position player at this point in the draft. And 7 of the next 20 picks were TEs, so it was good timing to get him. Last season, Miller was the #17 TE with 180.1 points. That total included 3 playoff games, but he also missed 2 regular season games. Also, he had just 2 regular season TDs, a career low; nowhere to go but up. He will likely get playoff points.
8.1 James Starks, RB, GB - 35th RB drafted. I was finally compelled to take a RB. Clearly, the RB position will be the main weakness of my team, but that was my plan coming into the draft, since RB is the lowest scoring position. In Starks, I got a RB in a great offense that is likely to make the playoffs. I also got a guy that many feel will get more than half of the RB work in Green Bay this season; last year, that didn't add up to much, but in 2009 Green Bay RBs combined for 250 fantasy points in this format. Hoping for 100+ points here. The opening game was encouraging, as Starks looked very good.
9.16 Green Bay Packers, Def, GB - 2nd Defense drafted. Wasn't thrilled with the values at the other positions, and decided to take two defenses back to back to lock in high points and hopefully trigger a run on defenses. Green Bay was the #1 defense in total points last season. They should make the playoffs and there is every reason they will again be a top scoring defense. Some people discount defenses as being unpredictable year to year, and I think there is some truth to that once enough defenses are off the board... but locking up the Packers should be worth well more than 200 points. Should be similar value to the Steelers defense, but taken 62 picks later.
10.1 Philadelphia Eagles, Def, PHI - 3rd Defense drafted. The second of the back to back defenses, as already described. Last season, the Eagles were the #14 defense in both total points and ppg. But with the additions to the team this offseason, they seem primed to move into the elite tier. They also seem very likely to make the playoffs. Hopefully locked up another 200 points here. Also triggered a mini run on defenses, which were taken with 6 of the next 8 picks.
11.16 Bernard Scott, RB, CIN - 50th RB taken. Considered going K-K at this turn, but decided I could afford to wait. I felt there were still a few RBs left with a good shot at 100+ points, and decided I should take two of them, given that there were still at least 16 more RBs to be drafted, and scoring would still likely fall off in that group by 40-50 points. Scott has played well in his limited opportunities, and Benson just got out of jail... there could be some big upside here. Hoping for 100+ points. No playoff points.
12.1 Delone Carter, RB, IND - 51st RB taken. Rationale for going RB is described above. Carter surpassed Brown as the #2 RB in Indy, and the opportunity is there for short yardage and goal line work, and possibly a solid RBBC share. If he plays well or Addai gets hurt, there is good upside, especially if the team relies more on the running game with Manning out. Hoping for 100+ points. Probably no chance at playoff points with Manning out.
13.16 Jason Hanson, K, DET - 17th K taken. Needed to go K-K at this turn. Thought about doing it at the last turn and opted to wait, which could have been a big mistake; 16 of the 30 picks taken between my 12th and 13th rounds picks were kickers. Every year, one or more teams get hurt by taking a kicker who loses his job. To some degree, that risk is mitigated this year, since we still had multiple rounds left in our draft with the season opening just a few days from now, so the jobs had essentially been won. Still, I wanted no additional risk here. I decided to put a lot of faith in Herman's projections. Only two of his top 14 kickers were left on the board - Hanson and Gano, who were tied at #8 in his rankings. Last year, Hanson and Rayner (when Hanson was hurt) combined for 134 points, which would have ranked as K #13 in total points. And that was without Stafford and with Best playing hurt. The offense should be more productive this year, which should provide Hanson with more opportunities. And there is a small chance at playoff points, which really helps at this position... 6 of the top 7 kickers last year were on playoff teams.
14.1 Graham Gano, K, WAS - 18th K taken. Already described the rationale in choosing Gano. He had a strong preseason. There is some risk here, since the Redskins offense is not one of the strongest. Last year, Gano was just #23 in total points among kickers. And no playoff points here. Probably made a strategic error in not taking Kaeding-Crosby at the 11th/12th turn, with only 4 RBs going between my 12th and 13th round picks... might have cost myself 50+ points there.
15.16 Tennessee Titans, TMQB, TEN - 29th TMQB taken. Thought the Titans were clearly better than the other 3 remaining TMQBs (CIN, SF, MIA), and felt certain that if I waited on TMQB at this turn, I'd get the last TMQB taken. Last season, the Titans TMQB was #24 in total points, and that was with Britt missing 4 games. They also finished strong once Britt returned from injury, performing as the #8 TMQB in the last 4 weeks of the season. Hasselbeck is arguably an upgrade at QB. Add it all up, and there is a good chance at 275+ points, which is excellent value here. Playoff points are very unlikely, but the QB situations with IND and JAX may open the door just a little bit.
16.1 Jabar Gaffney, WR, WAS - 71st WR taken. Excellent value here. Gaffney is the Redskins' #2 WR, and Cooley is hurting. Gaffney finished as the #37 WR last season in this format, and Washington traded for him after the lockout, so they wanted him. No playoff points, but could still put up 100+ points.
17.16 Eric Decker, WR, DEN - 82nd WR taken. Hoping for 100+ points here.
18.1 Isaac Redman, RB, PIT - 65th RB taken. Not much value left at RB. Hoping for at least 50 points, with potential for more if Mendenhall misses any time. The team should be in the playoffs, which should help.
Altogether, I'm happy with this team. Injuries are always crucial in this format, so hoping to stay healthy. If that happens, this team should contend.
After the first week of the playoffs:Just Win BabyEntering the playoffs:
Just Win Baby
Lions, Detroit DET TMQB
Redman, Isaac PIT RB
Scott, Bernard CIN RB
Starks, James GBP RB
Decker, Eric DEN WR
White, Roddy ATL WR
Finley, Jermichael GBP
Miller, Heath PIT TE
Hanson, Jason DET PK
Packers, Green Bay GBP Def
Duckboy -82.32
Bengals, Cincinnati CIN TMQB
Green-Ellis, BenJarvus NEP RB
Ridley, Stevan NEP RB
Thomas, Pierre NOS RB
Ward, Derrick HOU RB
Jones, Julio ATL WR
Wallace, Mike PIT WR
Ward, Hines PIT WR
Gronkowski, Rob NEP TE
Pettigrew, Brandon DET TE
Gostkowski, Stephen NEP PK
Giants, New York NYG Def
Saints, New Orleans NOS Def
It doesn't look like any other team is in contention at this point. 13 playoff performers for Duckboy is ridiculous! I don't feel confident at all about holding the lead.
I think you've got it wrapped up; in fact I think the top four are set. 90 points is pretty huge at this point; certainly if Green Bay wins a game you'll be a shoo-in. Well done, sir! My best showing so far, as well; I'll go back and analyze my draft, which will suck less but be more painful because I'm sure that with just one or two plausible changes I could have been on top.
One thing I noticed about this year; having this draft late in the summer reduced my amount of interest in the league, because I was already deep in preparations for my main league. If we're going to do it again, I'd be for doing it early, just to allow more time for smack talk and analysis in the dead part of the year.
Well put.He should be hoping for 6th.I think you've got it wrapped up; in fact I think the top four are set. 90 points is pretty huge at this point; certainly if Green Bay wins a game you'll be a shoo-in. Well done, sir! My best showing so far, as well; I'll go back and analyze my draft, which will suck less but be more painful because I'm sure that with just one or two plausible changes I could have been on top.
One thing I noticed about this year; having this draft late in the summer reduced my amount of interest in the league, because I was already deep in preparations for my main league. If we're going to do it again, I'd be for doing it early, just to allow more time for smack talk and analysis in the dead part of the year.
After the second week of the playoffs:Just Win BabyAfter the first week of the playoffs:Just Win BabyEntering the playoffs:
Just Win Baby
Lions, Detroit DET TMQB
Redman, Isaac PIT RB
Scott, Bernard CIN RB
Starks, James GBP RB
Decker, Eric DEN WR
White, Roddy ATL WR
Finley, Jermichael GBP
Miller, Heath PIT TE
Hanson, Jason DET PK
Packers, Green Bay GBP Def
Duckboy -82.32
Bengals, Cincinnati CIN TMQB
Green-Ellis, BenJarvus NEP RB
Ridley, Stevan NEP RB
Thomas, Pierre NOS RB
Ward, Derrick HOU RB
Jones, Julio ATL WR
Wallace, Mike PIT WR
Ward, Hines PIT WR
Gronkowski, Rob NEP TE
Pettigrew, Brandon DET TE
Gostkowski, Stephen NEP PK
Giants, New York NYG Def
Saints, New Orleans NOS Def
It doesn't look like any other team is in contention at this point. 13 playoff performers for Duckboy is ridiculous! I don't feel confident at all about holding the lead.
Starks, James GBP RB
Decker, Eric DEN WR
Finley, Jermichael GBP
Packers, Green Bay GBP Def
Duckboy -87.54
Green-Ellis, BenJarvus NEP RB
Ridley, Stevan NEP RB
Thomas, Pierre NOS RB
Ward, Derrick HOU RB
Gronkowski, Rob NEP TE
Gostkowski, Stephen NEP PK
Giants, New York NYG Def
Saints, New Orleans NOS Def
I'm sorry?Well put.He should be hoping for 6th.I think you've got it wrapped up; in fact I think the top four are set. 90 points is pretty huge at this point; certainly if Green Bay wins a game you'll be a shoo-in. Well done, sir! My best showing so far, as well; I'll go back and analyze my draft, which will suck less but be more painful because I'm sure that with just one or two plausible changes I could have been on top.
One thing I noticed about this year; having this draft late in the summer reduced my amount of interest in the league, because I was already deep in preparations for my main league. If we're going to do it again, I'd be for doing it early, just to allow more time for smack talk and analysis in the dead part of the year.
Calbear said"the top four are set" and he is forth. I'm fifth and I think Calbear and I will be lucky to end up sixth. I think we will be both fall below sixth.So, I was saying the top 4 are not set. Calbear should be hoping for 6th. Hope that clears it up.I'm sorry?Well put.He should be hoping for 6th.I think you've got it wrapped up; in fact I think the top four are set. 90 points is pretty huge at this point; certainly if Green Bay wins a game you'll be a shoo-in. Well done, sir! My best showing so far, as well; I'll go back and analyze my draft, which will suck less but be more painful because I'm sure that with just one or two plausible changes I could have been on top.
One thing I noticed about this year; having this draft late in the summer reduced my amount of interest in the league, because I was already deep in preparations for my main league. If we're going to do it again, I'd be for doing it early, just to allow more time for smack talk and analysis in the dead part of the year.
This decision cost me the title.4.1. Winslow is TE #8 so far and is outperforming his draft pick, but what a disaster that I chose him over Graham! Graham has almost 100 more points right now, and will make the playoffs, while Winslow will not. If my team doesn't win the title, it could come down to this decision. Disastrous 3-4 turn.4.1 Kellen Winslow, TE, TB - 10th TE drafted. At this point, I felt there was a TE dropoff coming after Winslow, Graham, and Pettigrew, and I wanted to make sure to get a second top 10 TE before the dropoff. Last year, Winslow was the #10 TE in overall points and the #9 TE in ppg, and reports are that he has looked very good in training camp this year. I strongly considered Graham, but there are so many targets in New Orleans, I felt Winslow will get more targets and catches... with 2 PPR, that decided it for me. There may also be a very slight value to having both Williams and Winslow, in that if one of them misses time, the other might get more targets. As mentioned, I also think there is a decent chance for playoff points with Tampa. In retrospect, I'm not sure I did the right thing here in choosing Winslow over Graham.