Instead of sleeping in yesterday, I decided to wake up nice and early (1 p.m.) to take part in my traditional, random Yahoo! fantasy league. Why? Because I feel it’s my civic duty to play against some of the chumps who call themselves knowledgeable regarding the world of football. How did I fare? You’ll have a chance to judge for yourself…
First of all, I got shafted with the last pick of the draft and despite what some people think, I don’t believe it’s a benefit to get those two consecutive picks in a snake-style draft. I’d much rather be somewhere in the middle and benefiting from having a higher first round pick combined with a mediocre second rounder than having the worst first rounder and best second rounder. But that’s just me and this does, in fairness, mark my first time being the last in the draft for an NFL league, although I’ve held the last pick in several of my MLB, NBA and NHL drafts over the years.
So, in a ten team, standard scoring Yahoo! league (1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, etc.), I took, the 1A of WRs and a promising young RB — Terrell Owens and Marshawn Lynch. The days of grabbing every RB in sight early on are over and if you haven’t adapted to that, you’re most likely to be left in the dust. Having a stud wide-out is just as, if not more, important to winning. In these days, with RB committees breaking out pretty much everywhere, there are less stud RBs to be taken so why saddle yourself with a guy like Willie Parker who will split carries with Rashad Mendenhall? Grabbing a top-flight WR will help you more in the long run.
Next time around, I grabbed my QB Drew Brees — who is poised to bring the Saints back to offensive dominance — and Darren McFadden. The thing you have to like (read: I love) about McFadden is that his upside is just as high as Adrian Peterson’s last season and we all know how that turned out. McFadden may not have the same offensive line as AP but he has the same raw talent and does have a relatively easy schedule this season.
My next three picks were Lee Evans (something’s brewing in Buffalo, hopefully they utilize him and the entire passing game), Jeremy Shockey (Brees to Shockey in the red zone will be a strong hook up in fantasy and reality) and then, in the seventh round, I got a guy I would’ve figured to be long gone: Reggie Bush.
Bush is an intriguing pickup. When you think about it, he’s never really lived up to his potential coming out of college and if that’s going to happen, it will have to be this season or he’ll be wearing the Bust tag for the rest of his career. Getting Deuce McAllister back to compliment his elusive style will help his numbers and allow him to get out wide more often. He may never a great “between the tackles” runner, but in space he’s dynamite.
The rest of my draft broke out like this: Reggie Williams (Jags No. 1 TD WR), Ronnie Brown (better O-line in Miami means better chance of staying healthy), Donald Driver (aimed for Anthony Gonzalez but he was taken a pick before. Driver could play security blanket for Rodgers), Eli Manning (decent backup QB), Devin Hester (could be a great steal if the Bears work him into the offence the right way) followed by Indy’s D and Ryan Longwell of Minnesota. I usually wouldn’t take my defence or kicker until the last two picks, but with auto-drafters involved, they would have taken.
So, Mr. Irrelevant is: Justin Fargas. A 1,000 yard rusher and the handcuff to McFadden, what a two-fer!
There is obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points in Features also.