Fantasy Football Draft 2011

Drafted this weekend. I think I did pretty well. Sorry for the weird copy/paste but I’m not gonna type these out myself.

Round 1
1. Adrian Peterson
(Min – RB)
Mike Vick in…
2. Jamaal Charles
(KC – RB)
blckbry WHIT…
3. Arian Foster
(Hou – RB)
Tëëmen da …
4. Ray Rice
(Bal – RB)
OverlyFriend…
5. Michael Turner
(Atl – RB)
FlutieAndThe…
6. Chris Johnson
(Ten – RB)
The Phalluses
7. Michael Vick
(Phi – QB)
TD’s&Ass
8. Rashard Mendenhall
(Pit – RB)
SlobOnMyKolb
9. Maurice Jones-Drew
(Jac – RB)
Freeman On Y…
10. Aaron Rodgers
(GB – QB)
Laces Out Dan!
11. LeSean McCoy
(Phi – RB)
Canadian Bea…
12. Andre Johnson
(Hou – WR)
But Hole Tic…

First 6 drafted were all RBs, which isn’t surprising. Rich drafted Jamaal Charles a little early, but not shockingly so. I also feel Michael Turner went pretty high, but he wasn’t going to make it back to Sean so I guess Sean had to do what he had to do. I was super jealous of how low Jay got Rashard Mendenhall, and how low Ray got LeSean McCoy. I could have gotten McCoy but I’m scared that his QB (Vick) will steal all the touchdowns. I reached a little for Maurice Jones-Drew but I really like him, especially with his talented-but-not-in-the-fantasy-playoffs-when-I-needed-him backup Rashad Jennings out for the season.

Round 2
1. Darren McFadden
(Oak – RB)
But Hole Tic…
2. Tom Brady
(NE – QB)
Canadian Bea…
3. Hakeem Nicks
(NYG – WR)
Laces Out Dan!
4. Calvin Johnson
(Det – WR)
Freeman On Y…
5. Frank Gore
(SF – RB)
SlobOnMyKolb
6. DeSean Jackson
(Phi – WR)
TD’s&Ass
7. Drew Brees
(NO – QB)
The Phalluses
8. Philip Rivers
(SD – QB)
FlutieAndThe…
9. Larry Fitzgerald
(Ari – WR)
OverlyFriend…
10. Roddy White
(Atl – WR)
Tëëmen da …
11. Peyton Hillis
(Cle – RB)
blckbry WHIT…
12. Shonn Greene
(NYJ – RB)
Mike Vick in…

Ray followed up the great pickup of LeSean McCoy with a reacher on Tom Brady, but now that I look at how this draft played out, it was probably less of a reach than I thought at the time. Everyone went QB really early except for Jay and I.

I took Calvin Johnson because he’s an amazing WR, and the skills of the remaining RBs were falling off a cliff, as evidenced by the fact that there was 1 RB taken in the 9 picks after Darren McFadden.

Steal of this round was probably Roddy White at 22nd overall, by Adam.

Round 3
1. Peyton Manning
(Ind – QB)
Mike Vick in…
2. Mike Wallace
(Pit – WR)
blckbry WHIT…
3. Tony Romo
(Dal – QB)
Tëëmen da …
4. Steven Jackson
(StL – RB)
OverlyFriend…
5. Tim Hightower
(Was – RB)
FlutieAndThe…
6. Matt Forte
(Chi – RB)
The Phalluses
7. Mark Ingram
(NO – RB)
TD’s&Ass
8. Felix Jones
(Dal – RB)
SlobOnMyKolb
9. Vincent Jackson
(SD – WR)
Freeman On Y…
10. DeAngelo Williams
(Car – RB)
Laces Out Dan!
11. Ahmad Bradshaw
(NYG – RB)
Canadian Bea…
12. Matt Schaub
(Hou – QB)
But Hole Tic..

Peyton Manning with the 1st pick in the 3rd round. Jimmy has some balls on him, especially considering that he didn’t take a backup until Matt Cassel. The problem with this strategy is that Peyton Manning and Matt Cassel are both likely to miss week 1, so I dunno what he’s gonna do at QB that day. Also, Peyton might miss more games (there’s a rumor that he has to have another surgery) and then he’s playing Matt Cassel at QB. Yikes.

The Tim Hightower pick will define Sean’s team. If he goes crazy good, it’ll be a fine pick. If he’s not good, Sean’s next best RB is Danny Woodhead, who was drafted in the 7th round for a reason: there are 6 rounds worth of players better than him. I was certainly not confident enough in Hightower to pick him in the 3rd round (especially over Matt Forte), but I was hoping he’d fall to me in a later round.

In fact, this entire string of RBs taken in the 3rd round (snapped by my Vincent Jackson pick, which was then followed by 2 more RBs) is questionable to me. I think my pick is the steal of this round, because he’s typically being drafted 17th overall, which would be middle of the 2nd round for us, and I got him late 3rd round.

Humes’ Mark Ingram pick was interesting, but Jahvid Best and Ryan Mathews screwed me over too much last year for me to chance it with a rookie RB.

Round 4
1. LeGarrette Blount
(TB – RB)
But Hole Tic…
2. Greg Jennings
(GB – WR)
Canadian Bea…
3. Antonio Gates
(SD – TE)
Laces Out Dan!
4. Beanie Wells
(Ari – RB)
Freeman On Y…
5. Reggie Wayne
(Ind – WR)
SlobOnMyKolb
6. Dwayne Bowe
(KC – WR)
TD’s&Ass
7. Brandon Lloyd
(Den – WR)
The Phalluses
8. Miles Austin
(Dal – WR)
FlutieAndThe…
9. Stevie Johnson
(Buf – WR)
OverlyFriend…
10. Ryan Mathews
(SD – RB)
Tëëmen da …
11. Chad Ochocinco
(NE – WR)
blckbry WHIT…
12. Mike Williams
(TB – WR)
Mike Vick in…

Antonio Gates breaks the TE seal in the 4th round. He’s probably the best TE in fantasy football, but I got Jamarcus Finley, who is at a very similar level, in round 6. Know your audience: The people in this draft overvalued QBs and undervalued TEs.

I’m not gonna pretend I’m super happy about Beanie Wells, but the next best RB was…Ryan Mathews? There were a mere 6 RBs taken in the next 36 picks, none of them particularly good.

Round 5
1. Dez Bryant
(Dal – WR)
Mike Vick in…
2. Ben Roethlisberger
(Pit – QB)
blckbry WHIT…
3. Brandon Marshall
(Mia – WR)
Tëëmen da …
4. Matt Ryan
(Atl – QB)
OverlyFriend…
5. Wes Welker
(NE – WR)
FlutieAndThe…
6. BenJarvus Green-Ellis
(NE – RB)
The Phalluses
7. Mike Tolbert
(SD – RB)
TD’s&Ass
8. Anquan Boldin
(Bal – WR)
SlobOnMyKolb
9. Jahvid Best
(Det – RB)
Freeman On Y…
10. Cedric Benson
(Cin – RB)
Laces Out Dan!
11. Marques Colston
(NO – WR)
Canadian Bea…
12. Green Bay
(GB – DEF)
But Hole Tic…

Ben Ruthlessburger was drafted earlier than his average draft position, but pretty low for a pretty good QB, compared to the rest of the places QBs were drafted in this draft.

I remember when I took Beanie Wells I was thinking about taking Jahvid Best, but then I saw that Best’s average drafting place was something absurdly low on Yahoo, so either there was something wrong with him, or other people think there’s something wrong with him. Either way, I hoped he’d cycle back and I could get him here, and I did. This was probably my second-favorite move of the draft by me. My favorite was waiting so late for a QB.

Jay’s cousin grabbed the first Defense of the draft. I think he was on autopick. You don’t draft a defense this early unless you’re on autopick. Even then, 5th round? He had a starting WR slot available, and a starting TE spot available, and a flex spot available. The next-best defense was taken in round 7, he could have waited a round and still gotten the Packers defense.

Oh well.

I also like Cedric Benson, because his teammates QB Dalton and WR AJ Green are good but not so good that they won’t need him to run the ball a billion times a game, and he’s really the only RB. These are the same reasons I like Jahvid Best, but I like Best better because his QB (Stafford) is better, the main WR (Calvin Johnson) is better, and he is better.

Round 6
1. Jeremy Maclin
(Phi – WR)
But Hole Tic…
2. Dallas Clark
(Ind – TE)
Canadian Bea…
3. Santonio Holmes
(NYJ – WR)
Laces Out Dan!
4. Jermichael Finley
(GB – TE)
Freeman On Y…
5. Matthew Stafford
(Det – QB)
SlobOnMyKolb
6. Mario Manningham
(NYG – WR)
TD’s&Ass
7. Kenny Britt
(Ten – WR)
The Phalluses
8. Vernon Davis
(SF – TE)
FlutieAndThe…
9. Jason Witten
(Dal – TE)
OverlyFriend…
10. Knowshon Moreno
(Den – RB)
Tëëmen da …
11. Lee Evans
(Bal – WR)
blckbry WHIT…
12. Percy Harvin
(Min – WR)
Mike Vick in…

Knowshon Moreno was a great pickup by Adam, and the last of the really good tight ends are taken here. Mostly an unexciting round, unless you’re a big me-fan. My favorite part of this draft happened here:

I’m sitting there with an early pick in Round 6. My first 5 picks were all RBs and WRs. If I picked another, I’d be drafting someone to put on the bench, because there are only 5 spots total for those positions. I have the Tight End position open, Kicker and Defense open, and Quarterback open. My next pick is very far away. QB is the more important position, but everyone drafted all the good ones (and I don’t regret missing out on them). Meanwhile, two of the best tight ends are available (Antonio Gates is probably better, but he has a nagging minor foot injury so maybe not this year). Ray takes Dallas Clark right before me. I take Jermichael Finley, and I sit and hope that people don’t start picking backup QBs before I get my starter.

As we’ll see next time, Jimmy does indeed pick a backup QB before I pick my starting QB, but it’s Matt Cassel, who I was never going to pick anyway. Meanwhile, there’s a huge run on TEs, and the best TE available for my next pick is Marcedes Lewis, who is far from awe-inspiring. Jay took Stafford for his starting QB that round, and ended up forced into Chris Cooley as TE. No, Chris Cooley is not good.

And with that last paragraph, this post ends on a bright spot, instead of a cliffhanger. I just couldn’t get through Round 6 without saying that part.