Monday, August 15, 2005

The Fantasy Football Draft

This past Saturday, I had my first official money league fantasy football draft. I think my team is fairly good. I had the 10th pick in our ten team league. I drafted Jamal Lewis at 10 and Daunte Culpepper as my first pick in the second round. Now, drafting a QB that high typically goes against all my drafting principles. It is well known that I believe that running backs win fantasy football championships. With that mentality, my first two picks are always running backs. But, how could I pass on a quarterback who had 41 total touchdowns and over 5000 total yards last year? As much as I wanted to draft another running back with my consecutive pick, I had to go with Culpepper. I just cant pass up that kind of production and I knew that the league was deep in running backs this year. So, I figured I could still get a decent back with my 3rd round pick. I never really have a consistent quarterback, and at least I get some consistency with Culpepper. I honestly wasn't expecting Culpepper to fall to me, so he was never in my draft plan. By him sliding to me, it kinda threw a curve ball in my strategy, but I think I adjusted well. I was able to solidify my running backs by selecting Curtis Martin and Stephen Jackson with my consecutive 3rd and 4th round. I was able to get both the Tennessee's running backs (Travis Henry and Chris Brown) in the late rounds to add more depth to my runningbacks. Both of them have potential to be fantasy studs, and I know that one of them will emerge as the feature back due to injury, and I will be there to capitalize on it. I think my receivers are pretty average, but they have potential to post some big numbers. My receivers are Jerry Porter, Donald Driver, Plaxico Burress, Charles Rogers, and Joey Galloway. I usually wait til the late rounds to draft Tight Ends, Kickers, and Defenses. Every year, I always end up playing the matchup game with my defenses, so it's rare if I have the same defense on my roster for more than a couple weeks at a time. I was able to get the Colts' defense. There are plenty good defenses on the board that I will have my choice of once the season progresses. I drafted Ben Troup (Tennessee) as my tight end in the final round. He has all the tools to be a great fantasy TE and really starting playing well at the end of last season. To show you how much I think of Kickers, I didn't even draft one. I think a kicker drafted in the top 13 or 14 rounds is a complete waste of a pick. As long as you have a starting kicker, you're set. I was able to get Josh Brown (Seattle) of the free agent wire. He was only the most accurate kicker in the league last year and kicks for an explosive offense on great turf. If you are to draft a kicker before round 13, please be sure that the kicker at least kicks in a dome. That does provide a slight advantage over other kickers because he won't be bother by the elements come December. I was able to get Kurt Warner and David Carr in the late rounds to back up Culpepper. Niether one of them had a great season last year, but they both have a lot of potential. David Carr has progressively gotten better since he has been in the league and I think this is a do or die season for him. Kurt Warner was once the best QB in the league for a couple years not too long ago. He has battled injuries, but I think he is primed for a comeback under Denny Green in Arizona. I'm not expecting his old MVP like numbers but I do think he will have a decent year. Denny Green resurrected Randal Cunningham's career for a season and I believe he can do the same for Kurt's. So we'll just have to wait and see. All in all, I think I have a decent shot at winning some money this year. I think my darling wife may have drafted the best team. She was able to get Priest Holmes in the first round, Domanick Davis in the second and then comeback to get Donovan McNabb in the 3rd round. Now that's a nice foundation. Her starters are as follows, QB McNabb, RB Holmes, RB D. Davis, WR Hines Ward WR Michael Clayton, WR Isaac Bruce, TE Eric Johnson, K Jeff Wilkins, Def Tampa Bay. Now that's a good team and I wish I had it.
Posted by The Colonel :: 3:04 PM :: 4 comments

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