Drafting WR-WR-WR in 2009 (1 Viewer)

[Wally Llama]

OK folks, long-time lurker here who's feeling pretty guilty about taking tons of great info. and providing very little. I'm a professional lurker. So here's my attempt at contribution. What this post lacks in quality I'll make up for in quantity.

2009 has been reported to be the year when stud WRs have increased in importance and RBBCs are so common that the traditional "Stud RB" theory no longer holds, especially in PPR leagues. Several posts on this board have promoted drafting WRs earlier and earlier, and VBD seems to support this idea.

Last night I had my last draft of the year in a friendly 12-team league with friends/coworkers. I decided that I would try out the idea of drafting WRs early to see how things would come out. Anyone can do this in a mock draft, but in this case I'll get to reap the rewards/penalties over the course of the season. In addition, I had this post in mind as I was drafting. Below are my observations on the day after the draft.

This league is a 12-team, standard PPR scoring league. We start 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1K and 1 D/ST. We only get 14 roster spots, though, so we have to be economical with backups.

A quick sidenote: this is definitely not a shark league - most participants are new to FF in the last 2-3 years. I counted 4 of us that have been doing it for 10+ years.

Another quick sidenote: this is not a disguised RMT post. FBG's RMT app is way too cool for me to waste Shark Pool space with that. This is meant to be a lead-in for a discussion about the thought process behind and consequences of a WR-focused draft.

To cut to the chase, here's my team as drafted:

QB: J. Cutler (8.09), C. Palmer (11.04)

RB: D. McFadden (4.09), M. Lynch (5.04) R. Bush (6.09), R. Rice (7.04), M. Bush (13.04)

WR: A. Johnson (1.04), C. Johnson (2.09), R. White (3.04), D. Hester (9.04)

TE: T. Scheffler (14.09)

K: N. Rackers (12.09)

D/ST: San Diego (10.09)

OK, buckle in guys, as we go round-by-round:

1.04 - A. Johnson, WR, HOU

I didn't find out until 15 minutes before the draft that I was picking from the 4th position. I'm not sure this was a great value pick with his ADP closer to the end of round 1, but I wanted to try the strategy. AD and MJD were already off the board, as well as Turner. The RB stud theory in me really wanted to grab Forte or SJax here, but I decided to stick to my plan.

2.09 - C. Johnson, WR, DET

In the 16 picks between my 1st and 2nd round pick I watched 11 more RBs disappear along with Brady, Manning, Moss and Fitzgerald. After double-cheking my scoring system to make sure it was 3WR & PPR, I grabbed Megatron. I was actually stunned he was still on the board. I felt good about this, but I was really getting nervous about my RBs. 14 off the board already....

3.04 - R. White, WR, ATL

I'm ecstatic about having R. White as my WR3. I may have 3 of the top 5 WRs in my starting lineup now. He shouldn't have lasted this long but this draft was turning into a traditional RB-heavy draft. S. Smith, Wayne and Jennings all went before White, so the WR dropoff was pretty steep after him.

At this point I'm still having mixed feelings. I know that the 2nd and 3rd round picks were the best picks by VBD, by far. I now have the best WR corps by far in my league, but while I've hoarded stud WRs, RBs are disappearing quickly. All the stud RBs are long gone, but I expected that. I didn't expect that many of the "good enough" RBs would be disappearing, too. Guys like Jacobs, Portis, MBIII and Grant were all gone before the end of round 2. Perhaps I had taken the plan a little too far.

Anyway, with the WR situation taken care of, it was time to fill the rest of my roster.

4.09 - D. McFadden, RB, OAK

Does anyone else have this guy as your RB1? Fortunately the pace of RB hoarding dropped as other teams started to fill their WR requirements. Only 2 RBs were taken between 3.04 and 4.09 - R. Brown and K. Smith. 8 WRs were taken. By this time 18 RBs had been taken. Also, just to increase my anxiety, I've noticed that 8 QBs are off the board already. And I had 0 RBs and 0 QBs. VBD (and common sense) dictated I look to get some RB help, so McFadden is my top RB. (Mental note - grab M. Bush later)

5.04 - M. Lynch, RB, BUF

5 of the 6 picks between my 4th and 5th rounder are WRs, with Thomas Jones also taken. This pick was a bit of a brain fart as I let the suspension slip my mind. In hindsight, Addai was the proper pick here. The takeaway is that there's still good RB talent available here, as the RB craze has mostly ended and I can play catchup.

6.09 - R. Bush, RB, NO

Again, WRs are now flying off the board. 9 of the 16 picks between 5.04 and 6.09 are WRs. Moreno, Stewart (?) and Addai (poop) are also taken, but all in all there's not a huge dropoff in RBs. Now with 3 RBs, I'm starting to think that, if I play the right matchups, I could still scratch out a pair of top-20 RBs each week. Hey - maybe that WILL be enough to complement my WRs. My confidence rises a bit.

7.04 - R. Rice, RB, BAL

I really had planned to look at QB here, but with 2 more QBs being taken before 7.04 suddenly every team except me had a starting QB. As such, the QB urgency dropped. I'm also a big Ray Rice fan and I just felt that he was too good to let slip past this point. I'm not sure I needed a 4th RB here but the other positions could all wait. Of course, after I realized by "'dis my son" SNAFU, I was thankful I did this. As it turned out, though, this pick was right in the middle of the TE run. 6 TEs went in the span of 12 picks in the late-6th/early-7th. I knew this was way too early, but now I'm left picking off the scrap heap in a TE-required league.

8.09 - J. Cutler, QB, CHI

My hunch about waiting on a QB turned out to be correct. Happily I watched one of the noobs start the D/ST run early in the 8th round. I felt pretty good about this pick as I'm certain he won't be the worst starter in my league even though he was 12th off the board. Still no TE, but I needed a starting QB before the backup QB run starts and the TEs are a crapshoot at this level, anyway. Again, a decent starter that shouldn't cause me to lose too many points to those who took QBs 3-4 rounds earlier.

9.04 - D. Hester, WR, CHI

Still choosing to ignore TE, I decided to grab my bye-week fill-in WR. Fortunately none of my top 3 share a bye week so I should be able to get by with 4 WRs on the season. Again, with the benefit of hidsight, I probably shouldn't have done the QB-WR "hookup" here - especially with a boom/bust player like Hester. I'm not fond of the pick, but other options like Breaston, Morgan and Ginn didn't get me fired up, either. Coles may have been a better pick here. Maybe.

10.09 - San Diego, D/ST

Ds were getting thin so I'm happy to get them as the 10th D off the board, esp. with Sproles returning kicks (hopefully).

11.04 - C. Palmer, QB, CIN

I had my eye on Palmer, Schaub and Garrard as possible complements to Cutler. When Schaub and Garrard went at 10.12 and 11.02, respectively, I knew it was time. I think this may turn out to be another nice value pick, even though I would have rather had Schaub. It turns out his schedule meshes nicely with Cutler's, too.

12.09 - N. Rackers, K, ARI

I still need to get M. Bush, but the guys between me and my next pick are loaded with RBs already, but need kickers. So, kicker in the 12th.

13.04 - M. Bush, OAK, RB

Mmmmm...handcuff

14.09 - T. Scheffler, DEN, TE

Zzzzzzz... This is the situation I'm least happy with. I thought I could do better later in teh draft, but it turned out that 5 teams drafted backup TEs before I grabbed a starter. I'm guessing that a few of those backups will be dropped as bye weeks come into play, so an in-season upgrade is a real possibility.

Final thoughts:

Man, I can blabber.

More to the point, I'm pretty happy with the way this team has come out. I discovered that the value RBs available in rounds 4-8 can be serviceable, allowing one to depart from the tried-and-true-but-not-as-true-as-it-used-to-be Stud RB Theory. (By "discovered" I mean proved to myself what others have already said to be true.) I think this also gived more validation to the VBD theory, as my picks were pretty much on par with VBD. Stud RB may be giving way to Stud WR, which may give way to another theory in time, but VBD is holding true even as the NFL changes.

If I can be bothered, I'll try to report out on how this team fares, if anyone can be bothered to express some interest.

 

[joetrow]

Only 14 roster spots and people were grabbing backup TEs?? Crazy

I think this is another display of how well WR heavy draft can be effective, expecially in a league with some noobs (reggie bush shouldnt be their in the 6th in a PPR league IMO) . However I would say that your RB's in a PPR league are very nice, in a standard league they might not fare as well. I think WR WR WR in a standard scoring league may lead to a bad FF year. Unless of course we continue to get years like last year with Turner, Forte, Chris Johnson, and Slayton all shatering their ADP.

Realy nice write up, and I will bother you, if you can you should post how your team is doing.

 

[dickey moe]

Interesting read. Thanks.

 

[Ray_T]

OK folks, long-time lurker here who's feeling pretty guilty about taking tons of great info. and providing very little. I'm a professional lurker. So here's my attempt at contribution. What this post lacks in quality I'll make up for in quantity.2009 has been reported to be the year when stud WRs have increased in importance and RBBCs are so common that the traditional "Stud RB" theory no longer holds, especially in PPR leagues. Several posts on this board have promoted drafting WRs earlier and earlier, and VBD seems to support this idea.Last night I had my last draft of the year in a friendly 12-team league with friends/coworkers. I decided that I would try out the idea of drafting WRs early to see how things would come out. Anyone can do this in a mock draft, but in this case I'll get to reap the rewards/penalties over the course of the season. In addition, I had this post in mind as I was drafting. Below are my observations on the day after the draft.This league is a 12-team, standard PPR scoring league. We start 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1K and 1 D/ST. We only get 14 roster spots, though, so we have to be economical with backups.A quick sidenote: this is definitely not a shark league - most participants are new to FF in the last 2-3 years. I counted 4 of us that have been doing it for 10+ years.Another quick sidenote: this is not a disguised RMT post. FBG's RMT app is way too cool for me to waste Shark Pool space with that. This is meant to be a lead-in for a discussion about the thought process behind and consequences of a WR-focused draft.To cut to the chase, here's my team as drafted:QB: J. Cutler (8.09), C. Palmer (11.04)RB: D. McFadden (4.09), M. Lynch (5.04) R. Bush (6.09), R. Rice (7.04), M. Bush (13.04)WR: A. Johnson (1.04), C. Johnson (2.09), R. White (3.04), D. Hester (9.04)TE: T. Scheffler (14.09)K: N. Rackers (12.09)D/ST: San Diego (10.09)OK, buckle in guys, as we go round-by-round:1.04 - A. Johnson, WR, HOUI didn't find out until 15 minutes before the draft that I was picking from the 4th position. I'm not sure this was a great value pick with his ADP closer to the end of round 1, but I wanted to try the strategy. AD and MJD were already off the board, as well as Turner. The RB stud theory in me really wanted to grab Forte or SJax here, but I decided to stick to my plan.2.09 - C. Johnson, WR, DETIn the 16 picks between my 1st and 2nd round pick I watched 11 more RBs disappear along with Brady, Manning, Moss and Fitzgerald. After double-cheking my scoring system to make sure it was 3WR & PPR, I grabbed Megatron. I was actually stunned he was still on the board. I felt good about this, but I was really getting nervous about my RBs. 14 off the board already....3.04 - R. White, WR, ATLI'm ecstatic about having R. White as my WR3. I may have 3 of the top 5 WRs in my starting lineup now. He shouldn't have lasted this long but this draft was turning into a traditional RB-heavy draft. S. Smith, Wayne and Jennings all went before White, so the WR dropoff was pretty steep after him.At this point I'm still having mixed feelings. I know that the 2nd and 3rd round picks were the best picks by VBD, by far. I now have the best WR corps by far in my league, but while I've hoarded stud WRs, RBs are disappearing quickly. All the stud RBs are long gone, but I expected that. I didn't expect that many of the "good enough" RBs would be disappearing, too. Guys like Jacobs, Portis, MBIII and Grant were all gone before the end of round 2. Perhaps I had taken the plan a little too far.Anyway, with the WR situation taken care of, it was time to fill the rest of my roster.4.09 - D. McFadden, RB, OAKDoes anyone else have this guy as your RB1? Fortunately the pace of RB hoarding dropped as other teams started to fill their WR requirements. Only 2 RBs were taken between 3.04 and 4.09 - R. Brown and K. Smith. 8 WRs were taken. By this time 18 RBs had been taken. Also, just to increase my anxiety, I've noticed that 8 QBs are off the board already. And I had 0 RBs and 0 QBs. VBD (and common sense) dictated I look to get some RB help, so McFadden is my top RB. (Mental note - grab M. Bush later)5.04 - M. Lynch, RB, BUF5 of the 6 picks between my 4th and 5th rounder are WRs, with Thomas Jones also taken. This pick was a bit of a brain fart as I let the suspension slip my mind. In hindsight, Addai was the proper pick here. The takeaway is that there's still good RB talent available here, as the RB craze has mostly ended and I can play catchup.6.09 - R. Bush, RB, NOAgain, WRs are now flying off the board. 9 of the 16 picks between 5.04 and 6.09 are WRs. Moreno, Stewart (?) and Addai (poop) are also taken, but all in all there's not a huge dropoff in RBs. Now with 3 RBs, I'm starting to think that, if I play the right matchups, I could still scratch out a pair of top-20 RBs each week. Hey - maybe that WILL be enough to complement my WRs. My confidence rises a bit.7.04 - R. Rice, RB, BALI really had planned to look at QB here, but with 2 more QBs being taken before 7.04 suddenly every team except me had a starting QB. As such, the QB urgency dropped. I'm also a big Ray Rice fan and I just felt that he was too good to let slip past this point. I'm not sure I needed a 4th RB here but the other positions could all wait. Of course, after I realized by "'dis my son" SNAFU, I was thankful I did this. As it turned out, though, this pick was right in the middle of the TE run. 6 TEs went in the span of 12 picks in the late-6th/early-7th. I knew this was way too early, but now I'm left picking off the scrap heap in a TE-required league.8.09 - J. Cutler, QB, CHIMy hunch about waiting on a QB turned out to be correct. Happily I watched one of the noobs start the D/ST run early in the 8th round. I felt pretty good about this pick as I'm certain he won't be the worst starter in my league even though he was 12th off the board. Still no TE, but I needed a starting QB before the backup QB run starts and the TEs are a crapshoot at this level, anyway. Again, a decent starter that shouldn't cause me to lose too many points to those who took QBs 3-4 rounds earlier.9.04 - D. Hester, WR, CHIStill choosing to ignore TE, I decided to grab my bye-week fill-in WR. Fortunately none of my top 3 share a bye week so I should be able to get by with 4 WRs on the season. Again, with the benefit of hidsight, I probably shouldn't have done the QB-WR "hookup" here - especially with a boom/bust player like Hester. I'm not fond of the pick, but other options like Breaston, Morgan and Ginn didn't get me fired up, either. Coles may have been a better pick here. Maybe.10.09 - San Diego, D/STDs were getting thin so I'm happy to get them as the 10th D off the board, esp. with Sproles returning kicks (hopefully).11.04 - C. Palmer, QB, CINI had my eye on Palmer, Schaub and Garrard as possible complements to Cutler. When Schaub and Garrard went at 10.12 and 11.02, respectively, I knew it was time. I think this may turn out to be another nice value pick, even though I would have rather had Schaub. It turns out his schedule meshes nicely with Cutler's, too.12.09 - N. Rackers, K, ARII still need to get M. Bush, but the guys between me and my next pick are loaded with RBs already, but need kickers. So, kicker in the 12th.13.04 - M. Bush, OAK, RBMmmmm...handcuff14.09 - T. Scheffler, DEN, TEZzzzzzz... This is the situation I'm least happy with. I thought I could do better later in teh draft, but it turned out that 5 teams drafted backup TEs before I grabbed a starter. I'm guessing that a few of those backups will be dropped as bye weeks come into play, so an in-season upgrade is a real possibility.Final thoughts:Man, I can blabber.More to the point, I'm pretty happy with the way this team has come out. I discovered that the value RBs available in rounds 4-8 can be serviceable, allowing one to depart from the tried-and-true-but-not-as-true-as-it-used-to-be Stud RB Theory. (By "discovered" I mean proved to myself what others have already said to be true.) I think this also gived more validation to the VBD theory, as my picks were pretty much on par with VBD. Stud RB may be giving way to Stud WR, which may give way to another theory in time, but VBD is holding true even as the NFL changes.If I can be bothered, I'll try to report out on how this team fares, if anyone can be bothered to express some interest.

Nice draft. This was a good read.I didnt think you could make this work by giving up a top 5 RB at the beginning, but you showed it can be done.granted, you took a chance, but McFadden has the upside of a potential number 1 RB and Lynch is a definite #2 when his suspension is done. Ray rice also has that upside (perhaps even the upside of a low end #1 RB) and you got a very good QB and top end WR's.I could analyze your kickers & TE but that really accounts for a small enough percentage of your overall score that I'm not gonna bother.Nice draft man and congrats.

 

[buck naked]

You are probably going to crush your league.

You have pass-catching RB's - good ones - which will give you big points to go along with your stud WR's. I can tell, however, that your league is not full of sharks when you are drafting Reggie Bush in 6 and Rice in 7 in a ppr league. That is way too late.

I would not have waited that long on TE like you did. There are several guys in the 8-10 range who could explode this year. Scheffler is not one of them. Maybe you can get Finley off waivers.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

Nice job, but I think I'd rather have a K. Jones type than R. White. You pair him with Ray Rice, and if Rice pans out you rival the guys who took Jackson and Gore PLUS you have those two awesome WRs. You could have found a serviceable 3rd WR (Mason?) that would have done just fine.

But maybe that's nit-picking a bit. You did a great job picking at #4 with only a few minutes to plan your moves and you proved that it's a viable strategy. Plus Bush could end up being a good #2 if he's healthy. Personally, I'm not big on McFadden (or any raider) so I'm looking past that spot. If I'm wrong and you're right about him...you're gold. Good luck.

 

[LionOfGosforth]

OK folks, long-time lurker here who's feeling pretty guilty about taking tons of great info. and providing very little. I'm a professional lurker. So here's my attempt at contribution. What this post lacks in quality I'll make up for in quantity.2009 has been reported to be the year when stud WRs have increased in importance and RBBCs are so common that the traditional "Stud RB" theory no longer holds, especially in PPR leagues. Several posts on this board have promoted drafting WRs earlier and earlier, and VBD seems to support this idea.Last night I had my last draft of the year in a friendly 12-team league with friends/coworkers. I decided that I would try out the idea of drafting WRs early to see how things would come out. Anyone can do this in a mock draft, but in this case I'll get to reap the rewards/penalties over the course of the season. In addition, I had this post in mind as I was drafting. Below are my observations on the day after the draft.This league is a 12-team, standard PPR scoring league. We start 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1K and 1 D/ST. We only get 14 roster spots, though, so we have to be economical with backups.A quick sidenote: this is definitely not a shark league - most participants are new to FF in the last 2-3 years. I counted 4 of us that have been doing it for 10+ years.Another quick sidenote: this is not a disguised RMT post. FBG's RMT app is way too cool for me to waste Shark Pool space with that. This is meant to be a lead-in for a discussion about the thought process behind and consequences of a WR-focused draft.To cut to the chase, here's my team as drafted:QB: J. Cutler (8.09), C. Palmer (11.04)RB: D. McFadden (4.09), M. Lynch (5.04) R. Bush (6.09), R. Rice (7.04), M. Bush (13.04)WR: A. Johnson (1.04), C. Johnson (2.09), R. White (3.04), D. Hester (9.04)TE: T. Scheffler (14.09)K: N. Rackers (12.09)D/ST: San Diego (10.09)OK, buckle in guys, as we go round-by-round:1.04 - A. Johnson, WR, HOUI didn't find out until 15 minutes before the draft that I was picking from the 4th position. I'm not sure this was a great value pick with his ADP closer to the end of round 1, but I wanted to try the strategy. AD and MJD were already off the board, as well as Turner. The RB stud theory in me really wanted to grab Forte or SJax here, but I decided to stick to my plan.2.09 - C. Johnson, WR, DETIn the 16 picks between my 1st and 2nd round pick I watched 11 more RBs disappear along with Brady, Manning, Moss and Fitzgerald. After double-cheking my scoring system to make sure it was 3WR & PPR, I grabbed Megatron. I was actually stunned he was still on the board. I felt good about this, but I was really getting nervous about my RBs. 14 off the board already....3.04 - R. White, WR, ATLI'm ecstatic about having R. White as my WR3. I may have 3 of the top 5 WRs in my starting lineup now. He shouldn't have lasted this long but this draft was turning into a traditional RB-heavy draft. S. Smith, Wayne and Jennings all went before White, so the WR dropoff was pretty steep after him.At this point I'm still having mixed feelings. I know that the 2nd and 3rd round picks were the best picks by VBD, by far. I now have the best WR corps by far in my league, but while I've hoarded stud WRs, RBs are disappearing quickly. All the stud RBs are long gone, but I expected that. I didn't expect that many of the "good enough" RBs would be disappearing, too. Guys like Jacobs, Portis, MBIII and Grant were all gone before the end of round 2. Perhaps I had taken the plan a little too far.Anyway, with the WR situation taken care of, it was time to fill the rest of my roster.4.09 - D. McFadden, RB, OAKDoes anyone else have this guy as your RB1? Fortunately the pace of RB hoarding dropped as other teams started to fill their WR requirements. Only 2 RBs were taken between 3.04 and 4.09 - R. Brown and K. Smith. 8 WRs were taken. By this time 18 RBs had been taken. Also, just to increase my anxiety, I've noticed that 8 QBs are off the board already. And I had 0 RBs and 0 QBs. VBD (and common sense) dictated I look to get some RB help, so McFadden is my top RB. (Mental note - grab M. Bush later)5.04 - M. Lynch, RB, BUF5 of the 6 picks between my 4th and 5th rounder are WRs, with Thomas Jones also taken. This pick was a bit of a brain fart as I let the suspension slip my mind. In hindsight, Addai was the proper pick here. The takeaway is that there's still good RB talent available here, as the RB craze has mostly ended and I can play catchup.6.09 - R. Bush, RB, NOAgain, WRs are now flying off the board. 9 of the 16 picks between 5.04 and 6.09 are WRs. Moreno, Stewart (?) and Addai (poop) are also taken, but all in all there's not a huge dropoff in RBs. Now with 3 RBs, I'm starting to think that, if I play the right matchups, I could still scratch out a pair of top-20 RBs each week. Hey - maybe that WILL be enough to complement my WRs. My confidence rises a bit.7.04 - R. Rice, RB, BALI really had planned to look at QB here, but with 2 more QBs being taken before 7.04 suddenly every team except me had a starting QB. As such, the QB urgency dropped. I'm also a big Ray Rice fan and I just felt that he was too good to let slip past this point. I'm not sure I needed a 4th RB here but the other positions could all wait. Of course, after I realized by "'dis my son" SNAFU, I was thankful I did this. As it turned out, though, this pick was right in the middle of the TE run. 6 TEs went in the span of 12 picks in the late-6th/early-7th. I knew this was way too early, but now I'm left picking off the scrap heap in a TE-required league.8.09 - J. Cutler, QB, CHIMy hunch about waiting on a QB turned out to be correct. Happily I watched one of the noobs start the D/ST run early in the 8th round. I felt pretty good about this pick as I'm certain he won't be the worst starter in my league even though he was 12th off the board. Still no TE, but I needed a starting QB before the backup QB run starts and the TEs are a crapshoot at this level, anyway. Again, a decent starter that shouldn't cause me to lose too many points to those who took QBs 3-4 rounds earlier.9.04 - D. Hester, WR, CHIStill choosing to ignore TE, I decided to grab my bye-week fill-in WR. Fortunately none of my top 3 share a bye week so I should be able to get by with 4 WRs on the season. Again, with the benefit of hidsight, I probably shouldn't have done the QB-WR "hookup" here - especially with a boom/bust player like Hester. I'm not fond of the pick, but other options like Breaston, Morgan and Ginn didn't get me fired up, either. Coles may have been a better pick here. Maybe.10.09 - San Diego, D/STDs were getting thin so I'm happy to get them as the 10th D off the board, esp. with Sproles returning kicks (hopefully).11.04 - C. Palmer, QB, CINI had my eye on Palmer, Schaub and Garrard as possible complements to Cutler. When Schaub and Garrard went at 10.12 and 11.02, respectively, I knew it was time. I think this may turn out to be another nice value pick, even though I would have rather had Schaub. It turns out his schedule meshes nicely with Cutler's, too.12.09 - N. Rackers, K, ARII still need to get M. Bush, but the guys between me and my next pick are loaded with RBs already, but need kickers. So, kicker in the 12th.13.04 - M. Bush, OAK, RBMmmmm...handcuff14.09 - T. Scheffler, DEN, TEZzzzzzz... This is the situation I'm least happy with. I thought I could do better later in teh draft, but it turned out that 5 teams drafted backup TEs before I grabbed a starter. I'm guessing that a few of those backups will be dropped as bye weeks come into play, so an in-season upgrade is a real possibility.Final thoughts:Man, I can blabber.More to the point, I'm pretty happy with the way this team has come out. I discovered that the value RBs available in rounds 4-8 can be serviceable, allowing one to depart from the tried-and-true-but-not-as-true-as-it-used-to-be Stud RB Theory. (By "discovered" I mean proved to myself what others have already said to be true.) I think this also gived more validation to the VBD theory, as my picks were pretty much on par with VBD. Stud RB may be giving way to Stud WR, which may give way to another theory in time, but VBD is holding true even as the NFL changes.If I can be bothered, I'll try to report out on how this team fares, if anyone can be bothered to express some interest.

Very interesting read...I did something similar last night only from the 11 spot in a 12 team, start 1QB, 2/3RB, 2/3WR...went WR-WR-WR-RB-RB-RB-QB. Went like this:Fitz-Moss-S.Smith-D.Mcfadden-W.Parker-T.Jones-D.McnabbI had planned to do the Fitz+Moss thing if they were there but wanted a Grant or K.Smith in round 3...unfortunately they got picked right in front of me and I ended up taking by far the best WR (and player) left in Steve Smith. After Smith the WR pool dropped to the V-Jax, Evans, Housh group. Not sure if this will work out or not but one thing is for sure, nobody can touch my WR's in this league...hope they might win me some games anyway

 

[pantherclub]

From the 5 spot. I really love this team and I fully expect this to be a trend next year. This is a 12 team .05 ppr 6point td league.

Fitz

S Smith

Bowe

Romo

Mcfadden

Ray Rice

Cedric Benson

Felix Jones

Chris Henry

Lesean McCoy

Vincase TE Minn

Matt Cassell

Shown Green

NE defense

Kris Brown

Nate Washington

My strategy was that I would load up on WR's and everyone else would take at least 2 RB's in the first 3 rounds and that would enable me to get a bunch of good mid tiers and starters in the mid rounds when everyone else was picking WR's. I think it worked like a charm. My draftmates were making fun of me after the first 3 rounds then the catcalls ended once they figured out what had happened.

 

[jon_mx]

Getting McFadden, M. Lynch, and R. Rice made your draft. Not sure those guys will always fall that far, but it worked out for you just fine.

 

[pantherclub]

Getting McFadden, M. Lynch, and R. Rice made your draft. Not sure those guys will always fall that far, but it worked out for you just fine.

Well my strategy worked because as i predicted the WR run started heavy at the end of round 2 into round 4 therefor I knew it would push a couple of "quality" RB's my way and if i just keep picking them while others are sorting through the low level WR's then I potentially would get a stud. My my logic all I need is for one RB to pan out to win. The other wr's will make up my points.

 

[Crippler]

Pretty lucky because in any PPR league I have done, the latest I have seen for Calvin is 2.2 and White has been 2.10.

Lots of good RB's to be had later. Parker I got at 8.6 in a league. Beanie went 10.7 in another. Washington goes 9th round or so. Just such an easy strategy to do in PPR especially.

 

[pantherclub]

Pretty lucky because in any PPR league I have done, the latest I have seen for Calvin is 2.2 and White has been 2.10. Lots of good RB's to be had later. Parker I got at 8.6 in a league. Beanie went 10.7 in another. Washington goes 9th round or so. Just such an easy strategy to do in PPR especially.

I would say in a ppr CJ's value goes down a bit because of his lack of receptions and plus the fact that Stafford is throwing to him.

 

[jestertj]

You picked out of the 4 hole and passed on Moss?

 

[SeniorVBDStudent]

Sadly, in my league, McFadden, Lynch and Bush were gone early in the third (14teamer, 2RB/2WR/1Flex, non PPR) so I had to reach to get LJ late in the 3rd (passed over some guys that vanilla projections would tell you to take like Jones, Benson and Smith) and got Rice in the 5th and Bradshaw in the 8th.

Moss/Jennings/LJ/Witten/Rice/AGonzo/Hasselback/Bradshaw/Shockey/Henry/Crayton/Flacco/JCharles(handcuff)/kicker/defense

 

[MrSoup]

I have a similar team. 10 teams, 4 keepers, PPR

QB - Rodgers

RB - Rice, Moreno, McFadden, Wells, Charles

WR - Moss, R. White, Boldin, Driver, Mason, Breaston, Crayton, Henry, Kelly

TE - Boss (no back-ups. Will trade for a premier tight end when the oppurtunity presents itself.)

 

[Black]

I like this team alot, esp for 12 team league.

Ray Rice is already listed as the #1 RB in BAL and was a freaking steal. I love the MiBush/DMC handcuff, and think Reggie Bush is a great value in PPR for whatever games he plays. Hopefully Lynch gets that job back. I like the QBs you have alot.

The only changes I might have made is to go Fitz over Andre (esp since Schaub is already injured) and get a better TE, which seems to be discussed. Maybe a Jared Cook or someone will come out of nowhere.

 

[Native]

Like the team too.

 

[toebel]

Amazingly, this is very similar to how my draft turned out in a 12 person PPR, Flex league as well, except I went RB and then 3 WRs. I think that with PPR leages where the history of the league is to go RB (and/or QB) early then there can be some nice arbitrage value with heavy WR early.

I'm a bit better at TE and RB than you (assuming Steven Jackson stays healthy), but have more weakess at QB. I'm holding out hope that with the Marshall situation improving in Denver, the Denver QB situation is being seriously discounted in fantasy circles. It may not always be pretty, but with one of the best 3 offensive lines, the New England spread offense and one of the best WR/TE/receiving RB combinations, this has the making for a good fantasy year even with a sub-par dink and dunk quarterback.

One other thing that scares me about my team as I look at it is how many players I took from bottom 10 teams this year. Especially usettled that 3 of my 4 RBs are from bottom teams.

I picked 7th:

Round 1: Steven Jackson - RB (just hope he stays healthy)

Round 2: Andre Johnson - WR (my top rated receiver)

Round 3: Calvin Johnson - WR (my 4th top rated receiver)

Round 4: Dwayne Bowe - WR (Screwed up by not taking Ryan Grant here but really like him this year)... at this poin, I feel I have 3 of the top 10-12 WRs and one top RB... now going heavy RB

Round 5: Darren McFadden - RB (like him better because the PPR, but still a bit nervous about him)

Round 6: Marshawn Lynch- RB (don't need to pay him until he clears his suspension, but man I hate that Buffalo offensive line)

Round 7: Ray Rice - RB (Of course worried about 3 back rotation, but figure he'll be a great flex with his PPR). .... still no QB and 10 have been picked (early QB picks in my league).....He's also my only player on a GOOD team.

Round 8: Owen Daniels - TE (after a big run on these pretty happy with this).... nervous that I still haven't taken a QB though with about 12 gone

Round 9: David Garard - QB (I hope that all the love for him on this site is waranted!)... now need some back up QBs

Round 10: Kyle Orton - QB (huge denver fan and as I noted, think that whoever is QB will have a good year.... took Simms later s insurance)

Round 11: Minnesota D (If I had grabbed D one round earlier could have had Pitt... just hope Williams brothers aren't suspended)

Round 12: Zach Miller - TE (liked the value here... and may like better than Daniels)

Round 13: Shaun Hill - QB (needed more back-up value since I waited so darn long... debated between Quinn, Hill, Russel, Stafford)

Round 14: Kaeding - Kicker (dime a dozen... should have waited another round probably)

Round 15: Chris Henry - WR time to add another WR)

Round 16: Chris Simms - back up to Orton... one of these will hopefully be starting for me much of the year

Round 17: Mike Bell... off waivers

 

[Lord Fantasy]

Thanks for posting this. I pulled a similar move in my auction league and finished with:

Schuab

Garrard

A. Johnson

C. Johnson

White

VJax

Henry

K. Smith (who people forgot about so I ended up with him for cheap)

Moreno

Rice

L. Washington

McCoy

The catch is that I'm in a TD-heavy league. So one of my RBs really has to pop for this to work. Otherwise I'm screwed.

Final thought:

I have a feeling that everyone who used this strategy ended up with Ray Rice. Fingers crossed that he's what we all hope he is.

 

[Da Guru]

14 team non-PPR I drafted 12th and my first three picks were Fitz, Calvin, and Ochocinco. Then took four RBs McFadden, Wille Parker and Beanie Wells and Lendale White. Then went back to back on QBs Palmer and Hasslebust. Got Cooley after that.

I liked the way it turned out. Our league drafts RB heavy early.

 

[rolliehouliranson]

I went WR/WR/WR from the 10 spot. Ended up with a WR crew of Fitz/AJohnson/Welker/Royal/Winslow, starting 3, and have to rely on Bush/Moreno/Ward/DBrown/JStewart, starting 2, to carry me at RB. Scares me to death. Didn't really plan on taking Welker in the 3rd, but the 11 and 12 spots had taken RB/RB, so I thought they were going to go WR, so I took Welker. I think they ended up taking two more RB over the next four picks, leaving me hanging a little bit.

 

[swampdog]

You picked out of the 4 hole and passed on Moss?

I agree here with Moss, I took Moss in a QB heavy league (our own scoring which negates Fantasy websites) with my first pick at slot #8/11. We had 5 QB's go and AP with Turner then my Moss. I don't normally go WR but had to at #8. WR's in our league went Moss, Fitz, Wayne, A. Johnson, Jennings, A. Gonzalez and Calvin. Undrafted in a 11 team ($500 entry, 17 year league) 17 player roster, were Chris Henry, Tory Holt and Jamal Lewis.Great story, by the way.Swamp

 

[bushdocda]

The differential you'll get from your wrs in a 12 team league should be huge. Mcfadden and rice should provide enough and could break out this year for sure. A lot of he early wr drafting hinges on guys like PT (already stressing people out if thy were hoping he'd be rb1) and mcfadden and rice.

 

[SeniorVBDStudent]

I like this team alot, esp for 12 team league.

Ray Rice is already listed as the #1 RB in BAL and was a freaking steal. I love the MiBush/DMC handcuff, and think Reggie Bush is a great value in PPR for whatever games he plays. Hopefully Lynch gets that job back. I like the QBs you have alot.

The only changes I might have made is to go Fitz over Andre (esp since Schaub is already injured) and get a better TE, which seems to be discussed. Maybe a Jared Cook or someone will come out of nowhere.

I have yet to see anything definitive on this...its a little maddening.

 

[John Mamula]

I did the same thing with this from the 10 hole in a 12 team PPR league.

Got Fitz, Moss, and Ochocino then grabbed Moreno, McFadden, and Leon Washington.

I am happy.

 

[SeniorVBDStudent]

I like this team alot, esp for 12 team league.

Ray Rice is already listed as the #1 RB in BAL and was a freaking steal. I love the MiBush/DMC handcuff, and think Reggie Bush is a great value in PPR for whatever games he plays. Hopefully Lynch gets that job back. I like the QBs you have alot.

The only changes I might have made is to go Fitz over Andre (esp since Schaub is already injured) and get a better TE, which seems to be discussed. Maybe a Jared Cook or someone will come out of nowhere.

I have yet to see anything definitive on this...its a little maddening.

Just read a thread in the forums on the ravens website that refers to rice being called the "featured back" this weekend. Seems there is dissention in the ravens fan community over whether or not mcgahee or rice should be "the man"...

 

[Mimo]

10 team PPR

I did this from the 5 hole.

QBs Palmer and Ryan

RBs P Thomas, DMac, Moreno, D Brown, Stewart, Leon, McGahee

WRs AJ, Jennings, Colston, Cotchery, Hester, Morgan, Rice

TE Z Miller

Rly wanted Schaub for the combo with AJ but overall I'm OK with this team.

 

[Wilbur Wood]

Nice write-up and nice draft. I actually consider 2007/2008 the year of the "WR/WR" movement in PPR leagues as that was when this strategy proved to be wildly successful. Markets adjust and efficiency returns and 2009 will yield less robust results in this regard at least in the leagues that I play in.

Not to disparage at all but your league and a few others that other posters have similary mentioned have not "adjusted" and the fact in a 12 team PPR league some folks are still drafting guys like Andre and Calvin Johnson in the mid to late 2nd round is evidence of a league that has not yet "corrected" its valuation norms.

I was hoping to again effectuate the WR/WR/WR strategy from the 8th slot in a 12 team (1 QB, 2 RB, 4 WR/TE, 1 Super Flex, 1 D, 1 K), high performance PPR (for WR/TE only, not RBs) league. Alas by my pick in the 3rd round all of Fitz, Andre, Calvin, Moss, Smith, Wayne, Jennings, Boldin, White and Colston were off the board. Thus I zagged instead of zigged and went RB for 3 straight picks. Here's how my draft played out:

1.08 Fitzgerald

2.05 Steve Smith (in 2008 I clearly would have landed Andre or Calvin in this slot but times have changed)

3.08 Ryan Grant (a big drop off to me after Colston)

4.05 Ronnie Brown

5.08 Larry Johnson

6.05 Donavan McNabb (you can start 2 QBs in this league so I was fortunate having waited this long)

7.08 Felix Jones (I'm a believer and love his ceiling)

8.05 Antonio Bryant (stock had dropped due to injury, I think he's healthy and will be a great #3WR)

9.05 Donnie Avery (stock had dropped due to stress fracture that appears to be healed)

That is the nucleus of the team. I also picked Owen Daniels and Kellen Winslow at WR/TE (TE is not a stand alone position in this league), Jamaal Charles and Michael Bush as RB fliers late and Kyle Orton and Jake Delhomme as QBs that will sometimes start based upon matchup in my Super Flex slot.

I found similar "corretions" in values in my 2 auction leagues that also are PPR.

 

[Wally Llama]

UPDATE - PROGRESS THROUGH WEEK #4

So we've played 4 weeks now and I figured it's about time to give my first progress report. I'm going to try and keep my discussion relevant to the results of the draft strategy and not the nitty-gritty of daily team management. I'll list several of my initial impressions and replies from the posts above and address how things are panning out against each one.

Here's a little backgound on the team & league for reference:

Average league team score: 109 points
My team's average score: 112 points
My team's average against: 115 points
Team record: 1-3 (one game out of 3rd place!)1. WRs should be exceptional

While the combination of AJohnson, CJohnson and RWhite has been good, it's not been the exceptional unit I expected. In only 2 out of 12 WR starts have I had a WR score 18 points or more, while I had 10 or fewer in 5 of 12 starts. I'm still outscoring the other team's WRs in total by a 40.9-34.5 margin for a 6.4-point advantage. With team scores in the 110's, though, I hoped for (and needed) better than this.

2. RBs need some work, but could be serviceable

Finding RBs to start on this team has been a real juggling act, but this position has not been the weak point I imagined it would be. (so far...) The committee of Rice, RBush, RunDMC and MBush has allowed me to outscore opponents at this position, too, by about 3.3 points per game. (28.5-25.2) Now the big concern is whether or not Lynch gets his job back.

I've also hit the waiver wire pretty hard here as I've scuttled my heavy investment in the Oakland backfield and grabbed Coffee for bye week coverage and and Sims-Walker as potential trade bait. I also gave up on RBush when Moreno was unexplainably dropped.

3. QBs should be serviceable, but won't win me anything

Cutler's exceeded my expectations here with the exception of the week 1, 4-INT turd. Despite facing Peyton, McNabb, Brees and Big Ben, I'm also outscoring opponents here by 2.8 points per game, 20.1-17.3.

4. You really drafted Scheffler as your top TE?

Yeah - I cut him loose after week 1 and picked up Heap, but I'm still getting drubbed at this position by an average of 6.1 points per game. (13.3-7.1) This position has completely negated my WR advantage. Ouch.

Final thoughts through week #4

I was really down on this team before I did this analysis. Now, despite being 1-3, I think this team is still pretty solid. I'm outscoring my opponents at WR, RB and QB. The TE issue is really bothersome, though, and it appears to a big flaw in my draft plan.

The other flaw was the choices I made in the 4th & 6th rounds - I've already dropped my top 2 RBs in RunDMC and RBush. I regretted not grabbing Addai the day after the draft and I'm still kicking myself for it.

Current Roster:

QB: J. Cutler (8.09), C. Palmer (11.04)

RB: M. Lynch (5.04), R. Rice (7.04), G. Coffee (FA), K. Moreno (FA)

WR: A. Johnson (1.04), C. Johnson (2.09), R. White (3.04), D. Hester (9.04), M. Sims-Walker (FA)

TE: T. Heap (FA)

K: M. Prater (FA)

D/ST: Buffalo (FA)

I hope you find this update a useful reflection on this draft strategy. I'll keep up with the updates if you keep up with the good discussion.

 

[MCguidance]

Gotta move a WR for a RB, I think it's almost that simple. Maybe even move a top WR for a good RB and a QB.

EDIT: I do like your team though, I think picking up MSW was huge and could either net you good value or let you trade a big name for a big name RB.

 

[bulger2holt]

Very similar to my draft. 12 team PPR. I went wr/wr/wr also from the 7 spot. 1 qb, 2 rb, 3 wr, 1 flex, 1 te, 1 k, 1 d

aj

wayne

welker

ray rice

pierre thomas

Lynch

d.brown

daniels

schaub

chester taylor

norwood - dropped

jenkins

eli

choice

49ers

3-1 and only 5 points behind the leader. I think wr/wr/wr was the way to go this year.

 

[Skilo]

Without turning this into an AC post and keeping the integrity you have tried to keep since the OP, I find the results interesting. I too had tried drafting this way and going WR, WR, RB in mock drafts and even though I had good teams, I didn't think it was going to be enough to win. It was a good thing I strayed away from this approach as none of my real drafts followed my mock drafts at all. I think the experience factor and more importantly the local factor played big as well. I live in Houston, so where Houston players tended to fall a bit lower in mock drafts, they went before I was willing to pull the trigger except for one out of four drafts (Schaub pick).

I think White's dropoff is the only thing really killing your team up to this point, and depending on the defensive scoring, maybe defense. Then again you have such a deep WR bench Im sure its more of picking who to start in that 3WR that is the hardest. Please continue with the updates, would be interesting to see what comes of it.

 

[Skilo]

Very similar to my draft. 12 team PPR. I went wr/wr/wr also from the 7 spot. 1 qb, 2 rb, 3 wr, 1 flex, 1 te, 1 k, 1 dajwaynewelkerray ricepierre thomasLynchd.browndanielsschaubchester taylornorwood - droppedjenkinselichoice49ers3-1 and only 5 points behind the leader. I think wr/wr/wr was the way to go this year.

Good god, you are in an incredible position at this point in the year. I would be satisfied with my results as well.

 

[bulger2holt]

Very similar to my draft. 12 team PPR. I went wr/wr/wr also from the 7 spot. 1 qb, 2 rb, 3 wr, 1 flex, 1 te, 1 k, 1 dajwaynewelkerray ricepierre thomasLynchd.browndanielsschaubchester taylornorwood - droppedjenkinselichoice49ers3-1 and only 5 points behind the leader. I think wr/wr/wr was the way to go this year.

Good god, you are in an incredible position at this point in the year. I would be satisfied with my results as well.

You really think so ? My only concern is WR depth. I don't want to trade a RB yet until I figure out who is going to step up between Lynch and Brown. I know as soon as I trade one, their rbbc will get hurt and I will be kicking myself. So I have been stuck using Jenkins filling in for Welker in wks 2 and 3. He has done ok, considering. Elaborate why you think I am in an incredible position. TY. Don't mean to hijack, OP, but this is relevant to the wr/wr/wr scenario imo.

 

[BalcoBomber]

It didn't work so well for me in my 14 team PPR:

AJ

Steve Smith - Car

Braylon Edwards

Left me with Portis as my best RB

I picked Mike Sims-Walker off the WW to add to Hester and also got MoMass this week.

However,I just swung a trade than landed me Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor for AJ, Braylon, Portis and Betts

My line-up looks a lot better now:

Flacco

AP

Steve Smith and MSW

Carlson/Heath Miller (1.5ppr for TE's)

Gostlowski

49ers

Started 0-4 but fortunes have turned, time for a winning streak

 

[cubbie5150]

A guy in my division (12 team redraft, .5 PPR), picking from the 9-spot went AJ/Wayne/TJH. He got Addai & McGahee along w/ Schaub. He's 3-1 & is in 1st place of our division as he leads me in pts by about 10.

 

[Skilo]

Very similar to my draft. 12 team PPR. I went wr/wr/wr also from the 7 spot. 1 qb, 2 rb, 3 wr, 1 flex, 1 te, 1 k, 1 dajwaynewelkerray ricepierre thomasLynchd.browndanielsschaubchester taylornorwood - droppedjenkinselichoice49ers3-1 and only 5 points behind the leader. I think wr/wr/wr was the way to go this year.

Good god, you are in an incredible position at this point in the year. I would be satisfied with my results as well.

You really think so ? My only concern is WR depth. I don't want to trade a RB yet until I figure out who is going to step up between Lynch and Brown. I know as soon as I trade one, their rbbc will get hurt and I will be kicking myself. So I have been stuck using Jenkins filling in for Welker in wks 2 and 3. He has done ok, considering. Elaborate why you think I am in an incredible position. TY. Don't mean to hijack, OP, but this is relevant to the wr/wr/wr scenario imo.

After I started to reply I felt like it was more of an AC opinion so I'll PM you my thoughts if you want.

 

[Matt Waldman]

In my 4 WR, 2 RB local league, I drafted 8th in a 10-team league:

1. Randy Moss

2. Greg Jennings

3. Ochocinco

4. Ray Rice

5. Marion Barber

6. Marshawn Lynch

7. DeSean Jackson

8. Reggie Bush

9. Carson Palmer

10. Felix Jones

11. Vernon Davis

12. Steve Smith

13. Trent Edwards

14. Willis McGahee

15. Earl Bennett

16. Ravens D

17. Chargers D

18. Ryan Longwell

19. Chris Brown

20. Troy Williamson

Currently 3-1 and lead in points. I dropped Brown, Davis, Williamson, and Chargers D and I now have Heap, Cadillac Williams, and Dwayne Bowe. This is truly the worst drafting by my fellow leaguemates in years, but no complaints...

 

[two_dollars]

I'd like to provide an alternate approach to this. Apparently WR/WR or the likes became VERY popular in my 12 team PPR (2rb / 3wr / 1te). So, drafting out of the 1 hole...

1.01) MJD.. Lovde him in PPR, don't even think he's scratched the surface yet

2.12) Gore.. Due to everyone grabbing WR's, 10 were gone, as well as Brady and Brees. Very happy to see Gore.

3.01) Colston.. best wr available, I needed to grab one here.. huge drop after the top 15

4.12) Ochocinco.. had my eye on him, too many people were grabbing the percieved rd3/4 rb value, as well as the top TE's.

5.01) Bryant.. prob should have taken one of the Jacksons, but now I had my starting core.

6.12) Reggie Bush.. moved him in a trade, but great upside if the chips fell right for him.

7.01) McNabb.. manning, rivers, romo, warner, as well as brady and brees were long gone

8.12) Daniels.. TE is deep this season, knew I could grab one later.

9.01) Moreno.. while everyone else is grabbing wr's I'm stocking my RBs, knowing I'll hit FA WR's hard with bid money.

10.12) Schaub is still here? sweet, 2 brittle qb's should get me through the year!

11.01) Morgan.. a long shot that didn't work out, dropped him and got LRobinson.. didn't work either. Ended up working a trade for bradshaw

finshed out with keller/harvin, then 2 dst's and 2 k's to fill the rest of my roster reqs ( we have to carry backups)

and our last round is a "flex pick" where we can add a player over the roster req limits. I had my eye on coffee to cuff gore, but he was sniped, so I had to settle for my gamble for the year, mike Sims-Walker. THAT has worked out well! Also moved bush/harvin for ronnie brown and picked up a dropped ginn jr.

4-0 on the season, high point scorer.

RB/RB was still sound, it just depended on what your league did.

This all stems from the "do the opposite" strategy. VBD, The Wr/Wr trend, ALL of it! When the "trend" is the trend, don't follow the trend.

 

[The Deathstar]

I'd like to provide an alternate approach to this. Apparently WR/WR or the likes became VERY popular in my 12 team PPR (2rb / 3wr / 1te). So, drafting out of the 1 hole...1.01) MJD.. Lovde him in PPR, don't even think he's scratched the surface yet2.12) Gore.. Due to everyone grabbing WR's, 10 were gone, as well as Brady and Brees. Very happy to see Gore.3.01) Colston.. best wr available, I needed to grab one here.. huge drop after the top 154.12) Ochocinco.. had my eye on him, too many people were grabbing the percieved rd3/4 rb value, as well as the top TE's.5.01) Bryant.. prob should have taken one of the Jacksons, but now I had my starting core.6.12) Reggie Bush.. moved him in a trade, but great upside if the chips fell right for him.7.01) McNabb.. manning, rivers, romo, warner, as well as brady and brees were long gone8.12) Daniels.. TE is deep this season, knew I could grab one later.9.01) Moreno.. while everyone else is grabbing wr's I'm stocking my RBs, knowing I'll hit FA WR's hard with bid money.10.12) Schaub is still here? sweet, 2 brittle qb's should get me through the year!11.01) Morgan.. a long shot that didn't work out, dropped him and got LRobinson.. didn't work either. Ended up working a trade for bradshawfinshed out with keller/harvin, then 2 dst's and 2 k's to fill the rest of my roster reqs ( we have to carry backups)and our last round is a "flex pick" where we can add a player over the roster req limits. I had my eye on coffee to cuff gore, but he was sniped, so I had to settle for my gamble for the year, mike Sims-Walker. THAT has worked out well! Also moved bush/harvin for ronnie brown and picked up a dropped ginn jr.4-0 on the season, high point scorer.RB/RB was still sound, it just depended on what your league did.This all stems from the "do the opposite" strategy. VBD, The Wr/Wr trend, ALL of it! When the "trend" is the trend, don't follow the trend.

Good write up - I did very much the same in a 13 Team, PPR League. I was drafting out of #11 spot. My first 6 picks:1. A Johnson2. S Smith3. Ochocinco4. Addai5. Ray Rice6. CutlerRest of my squad:Ricky WilliamsLendaleOrtonSid RiceDaniels and VDavisVikings DSTKnoxGouldSo far I am 3-1, second in scoring in my league. We'll see how it works out!

 

[Da Guru]

In a 14 team league I drafted four WRs in a row out of the #12 slot.

1.Andre Johnson

2.Reggie Wayne

3.Ochocinco

4.Desean Jackson as my flex

Then I went

5.Mendenhall

6.Lynch

7.McGahee

8. Julius Jones

Got lucky on a couple of RBs.

9. Garrard

10. Flacco

And a few bums in the later rounds.

At the 12 spot I hated all the RBs that were there so I took Andre. When it came back to me in round two I was going to take Gore or Pierre but both went right in front of me so I took Reggie Wayne.

In round three I was going to go RB but by then it was slim pickens and I knew the WR/QB run would start so I picked Ocho Cinco. I really wanted Jackson so when he was there in round four I said screw it and took him. Then I was drafting RBs while everyone else was filling out the WRs/QBs/TEs.

This is the best team I have had in years in a 14 team league.

 

[habsfan]

Then I went5.Mendenhall6.Lynch7.McGahee8. Julius Jones

This is an advertisement for the benefits of being patient. You would have had just enough help early to hold you in there and by Week 4, the "reinforcements" have started to arrive.

 

[rrhartjr]

I don't have much to add to this, but I've always favored the top heavy WR strategy.

There seem to be more turnover at the RB spot during the year, affording more opportunity to improve RB quality through waivers (Caddy, Coffee, Choice, Harrison, Mendenhall already in just 4 weeks)

The same useful turnover doesnt seem to happen at WR. About the only useful pickup this year has been MSW.

You can recover from a less than useful RB draft, but a bad draft at WR almost always seems to be fatal.

 

[Matt Waldman]

It's interesting to see the number of teams listed here who had a bad experience led off with McFadden as their top RB.

 

[5-ish Finkle]

It's interesting to see the number of teams listed here who had a bad experience led off with McFadden as their top RB.

It may be "interesting" but it's completely logical the # of team's are so high...he's been awful. Signed,A guy who took him as a RB2 in a couple leagues.After loading up early on WRs I was torn between he and Rice as my second back on two different teams. Clearly I guessed wrong on that one. Seriously though, in hindsight McFadden wasn't a TOTAL loss the first couple weeks as a flex/RB2, but everyone pretty much could tell trouble was brewing. I attempted to deal him off, for pennies on the dollar, prior to week 3 with absolutely no takers.Both teams where I was "counting" on him have managed to go 2-2 so far, but with just about anyone else I'd have considered at that pick(Rice/Benson/D.Jackson) I'd probably be undefeated in both(one of them for sure). I guess, in the sense that these two teams haven't totally fell apart in spite of the giant hole at RB2/Flex to date, the "Early WR Strategy" is working so far.

 

[Steed]

Props to EBF and Waldman's RSP who lead the charge on DMC being a bust coming outta college. Most couldn't get past his speed and production.

 

[Duke1948]

Props to EBF and Waldman's RSP who lead the charge on DMC being a bust coming outta college. Most couldn't get past his speed and production.

not sure i understand this...sure he has under produced, but isn't that more of a result of injury(s) and team, rather than talent?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

i went this route. we pick our draft spots a la the kentucky derby. i chose #10. my draft went as follows. 12 team ppr. can start 3 wr. mix of fbg's, average players, & a few guppies.

r moss

jennings(so far this pick sucks! where's that sick ### preseason offense?)

housh(this was a little bit of a reach, but i saw him killing it. so far, not so much)

k smith(LOVE this guy!)

bmarsh(very stoked to get him here, would have gone rb, but could not pass him up. lynch, lj, fwp, t jones, moreno, benson & jstew were still on the board)

cutler

beanie wells (was counting on more, but time will tell)

s moss(of course he was on the bench against detroit )

j lewis(aquired harrison via waivers)

ginn

keller

farve

k faulk(now have t choice)

l robinson(stud 14th rounder! now on IR )

some d

some k

-----------------------------------------

end result so far, 3-1 with the 8th highest points by starters, 5th highest possible points.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

how goes it people?

i am in the playoffs. 9-4 3rd in power ranking. 7th in overall points by starters. i've had 3 of the lowest scoring weeks

i have scrambled for waiver wire rb's all year. i now have rock cartwright & jamal charles as well as my original draft picks of k smith & beanie wells.

eta ww pick up shiancoe in week 4-5 was key & favre in the 12th is ending up

so far so good. i like my playoff matchups & will hopefully take it all!

 

[CaptainHook]

I'm in 4th and on the playoff bubble right now after doing this in my 10 team .5ppr league. AJ,Fitz,Colston with my first 3 picks. Pretty disapointed that none of my RBs worked out especially well:

I drafted Pierre Thomas, McFadden, Moreno, Felix Jones, Beanie Wells, Mccoy, and Ahmad bradshaw. (15 man rosters)

my bench was entirely composed of RBs that didnt really work out all season. I honestly can't comprehend how every single one of these guys avoided becoming an rb1.

luckily hit pretty hard on schaub and owen daniels in the late rounds and basically ended up with a mediocre team.