A 5 for 5 night, a Super Bowl MVP, and the new TJ Houshmadzadeh?!

There’s a lot to cover so let’s get right into it. Last night’s Strikeforce was ok. I missed the Hieron/Taylor and Pyle/Werdum fights. I’m glad Gil won and was rooting for Mousasi as well. That kid (Mousasi) is a beast and only 24 years old. I’m excited to see what else is in store for him. I was a little bummed that Gina lost, but Cyborg is tough so I wasn’t surprised. Here’s how my picks stacked up last night…

• My Pick: Santos -150, 150 units to win 1 unit…WINNER
• My Pick: Mousasi -220, 220 units to win 1 unit…WINNER
• My pick: Melendez -220, 220 units to win 1 unit…WINNER
• My Pick: Werdum -450, 450 units to win 1 unit…WINNER
• My Pick: Hieron -190, 190 units to win 1 unit…WINNER

Nice 5-0 (+5 units) night. That doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s flippin’ sweet! Yesterday’s wins brings my record and total to 7-2 +5 units. That’s it for MMA, time for some good ol’ FF!

Nick is back with his commentary as well. Here’s his analysis on his 3^rd and 4^th picks, then we’ll get into where we left off and I’ll add his 5^th and 6^th analysis after their respective rounds. Nick’s analysis will appear in the TAHOMA font.

Hey Kiddies, time for another draft analysis. This time I'll be tackling rounds 3-6.

Round 3, pick 34: Another no brainer for me based on who was available. Reggie Bush has dropped the ball with a lot of people but I don't care, because this guy is PPR gold. I'm not too concerned that he is now the backup in NO because he'll still see the field plenty. The Saints plan to use him as a RB/slot receiver because they clearly see that he is at his best catching swing passes out of the back field. As long as he can stay healthy I wouldn't be surprised if he catches 80+ balls this years. I'm also targeting Bush's ex, Kim Kardashian next round for the same reason. She catches a lot of balls... in her mouth! I know from experience, dude...

Round 4, pick 39: As I mentioned last time, this was coming down to BM (Brandon Marshall) vs. CJ (Chad Johnson), assuming they're both still there. And they were. But I've been doing some soul searching since my last blog. I'm not sure I'm digging Marshall as much as I thought. He's complaining about his contract, he's on the record saying he hates living in Denver, and his team's QB position has suffered a serious down grade since last year. That all equals some serious bad vibes. I know Marshall has been a beast the last 2 seasons but everything that's been going on this offseason has left a really bad taste in my mouth with him. And at the time when I was picking there was a chance that he would face a big suspension from the league. I already have a clear cut #1 WR so I don't need to take a risk on a guy who has tremendous upside but a clear downside as well. I went with, in my mind, a safer option. #85, Ochocinco. I believe last year was an aberration. He clearly suffered from the lost of Palmer and some offseason static between him and his coach. Even though I don't think he'll return to form from a few years ago I still think he can put up 1,200 yards and grab a lot more receptions now that TJ has flown west. Plus now I can watch him on Hard Knocks and say, "that's my boy!"

Before I get into the current picks, I want to touch on something Nick mentioned, “the vibes.” Vibes are one of the most important things I consider when picking. I agree with what he said about Marshall and I won’t touch him this year. I don’t need all that negative joo-joo on my team. Same thing with a guy like Braylon Edwards. He’s an amazing talent, but I think the Browns will have some issues at QB and I also think that Eric Mangini is one of the worst coaches in the NFL, I don’t want any part of that either. Vibes are also important because they are a good indication about what to do with a questionable player. For instance, LaDainian Tomlinson has some issues coming into this year. However, from what I’ve read, he seems focused and re-dedicated and also playing in the pre-season which is something he hasn’t done in a few years. Yes, he’s a little older, but he’s still LT, he still plays on a great offense coached by Norv Turner, has a great supporting cast, and runs behind one of the best lines in all of football… all good vibes. Those type of vibes would make me comfortable enough to take LT with one of the first 5 picks this year. Plain and simple, if I don’t like a guy, I’m not taking him. I’d rather not take a guy I don’t like and be wrong instead of taking him and being right… and him sucking on my team. I’ll take what I like to call “the let someone else worry about it’ approach.

Antsports.com $50 Early Draft 11 Fantasy Football League

Follow this draft HERE. I am picking 12^th and Nick is picking 10^th.

ROUND 5

1. Smoke on the Water – Darren McFadden
2. Slumpbusters – Marshawn Lynch
3. Flyswatters – Derrick Ward
4. Little Urban Achievers – Santonio Holmes
5. Cobra Kai – Larry Johnson
6. Kings Alcoholics – Phillip Rivers
7. Joe Mamma II – Dallas Clark
8. Smack Attack – Tony Romo
9. Evil Closet Monkeys – Donovan McNabb
10. Parker Lewis Can't Lose (Nick) – Anthony Gonzalez
11. Villa Novans – Eddie Royal
12. FantasyFootballMMA.Blogspot.com – Hines Ward

My Thoughts on Round 5

Hines is not the guy I really wanted. I was licking my chops at the possibility of getting Gonzalez and Royal, well at least one of them. I knew Nick wanted Royal so I wasn’t expecting to get him but I really like Gonzalez and almost took him in the 4^th so getting him in the 5^th would of just made my day! Well after Kyle Orton’s terrible performance Friday night, Nick changed his mind about Royal and picked Gonzalez. No biggie, I still liked Royal. I think that he will be the best fantasy player from the Broncos this year but Villa Novans snapped him up right before me. It’s not the first time the Novans has done that in this draft and he’s done it to Nick also which tells me that he is having a very strong draft. This league has been tough as nails which excites me as a fantasy football player because the tougher the wins, the sweeter the juice…or something like that. Anyways, I went with Hines Ward. In a Points Per Reception (PPR) league he is a nice WR option. I’m not in love with the pick and it’s not sexy by any means, but I think that Ward should be able to nab at least 60 catches. Plus Pittsburgh faces one of the easiest schedules against the pass. Also, keep in mind that Ward’s role on my team is my 5^th point scorer. I’m estimating that I’ll need about 130 points a game to be one of the top 4 teams in the league. I’m going to assume that my kicker and defense will combine for 15 points a week leaving 115 points to score by the rest of my team. I expect my 1^st four guys to combine for 80 points so I’ll need 35 points total out of my WRs which is about 12 points per game from each. In a PPR league there are plenty of ways to do that, 3 catches, 30 yards and a TD = 12 points, 7 catches 50 yards = 12 points, etc. I think that is more than doable on a week to week basis especially for Hines as he is the team’s “possession” WR. (The possession WR is the WR on the team that will be targeted in short to medium routes which usually equates to a higher number of catches.)

ROUND 5 PICK – HINES WARD

• CURRENT STARTING LINEUP…
• QB – RODGERS
• RB1 – WESTBROOK
• RB2 – GORE
• WR1 - WARD
• TE – WITTEN

Here’s what Nick thought about his pick…

Round 5, pick 58: I was targeting either Romo, McNabb, or Cutler here. I'm not usually a "take a Quarterback early" kind of guy, and taking a QB in the 5th is early for me. My logic is this, there are 32 NFL teams that all start 1 QB. They touch the ball every single offensive play (save for the Wildcat plays) so they all have the opportunity to put up good numbers on any given Sunday. Only 12 teams in this league, and assuming everyone takes one backup that leaves 8 starting QBs not even drafted! I can wait and still get a starting QB for my team later in the draft, the same can't be said for RBs & WRs. Especially with so many teams using the running back by committee (RBBC) approach now. So the starting RBs who get a majority of their teams' touches are more of a commodity and I need to get as many as I can while I can. Same with receivers, kind of. But my point still is I can get a better QB in the 8th then I can compared to the RBs and WRs that will be there. Maybe that makes sense to you, maybe not. I don't always follow this plan but I do most of the time and it usually works out pretty good (I got Cutler in the 9th last year, that worked out pretty well). But I think there is a drop off after these 3, and I am comfortable with my lineup right now so I was thinking on splurging a little early, we'll see.

ROUND 6

1. FantasyFootballMMA.Blogspot.com – Laveranues Coles
2. Villa Novans – Jay Cutler
3. Parker Lewis Can't Lose (Nick) – Thomas Jones
4. Evil Closet Monkeys – Joseph Addai
5. Smack Attack – Jonathan Stewart
6. Joe Mamma II – Antonio Bryant
7. Kings Alcoholics – Santana Moss
8. Cobra Kai – Donald Brown
9. Little Urban Achievers – Lee Evans
10. Flyswatters – Donald Driver
11. Slumpbusters – Jerricho Cotchery
12. Smoke on the Water – Lance Moore

My Thoughts on Round 6

In need of another WR, I wasn’t going to risk not getting this guy. I had a greater need for him so I took him earlier than he normally goes which is about the end of the 7^th. I love Lavernaues Coles this year. I’ve always liked the guy, but in recent years I wouldn’t touch him because Eric Mangini sucks as a coach. But I don’t need to worry about that anymore as Coles has a new team and a new role. The Bengals offense seems geared for a comeback and Coles is stepping in #2 WR slot filling the void left buy TJ Houshmazilly (championship!). What really excites me about this pick is that TJH racked up 112 catches, 1100+ yards, and 12 TDs in this offense when it last clicked back in 2007. Even if Coles can hit 75% of that I’ll be looking at 84 catches, 850 yards, and 9 TDs and a 16 point per game average which is more than the 12 points per game I’m expecting from my WRs. If he can do better than that, then this pick will go down as one of the better values.

ROUND 6 PICK – LAVERANUES COLES

• CURRENT STARTING LINEUP…
• QB – RODGERS
• RB1 – WESTBROOK
• RB2 – GORE
• WR1 – WARD
• WR2 - COLES
• TE – WITTEN

And back to Nick…

Round 6, pick 63: This was a hard one. Cutler was taken right before this pick, and I did not take it well. It was like losing my first born... only worse. I had somewhat of an attachment to him from last year and I already had him penciled in as my QB and I was not prepared to draft anyone else (big mistake on my part). So I was left scrambling for someone worthy of this pick. I don't pick again for a long time so I made sure to put a lot of thought into this. I still need a QB and TE, but I also needed a backup running back because I know Bush probably won't make it though the whole season unscratched. I narrowed it down to Fast Willie, Addai, and Thomas Jones. I don't like any of them, but I told myself I had to pick one. I felt like the bachelor, expect I had to pick between a fatty, a girl with a lazy eye, or a chick with too much hair on her arms. I'm not sure which one Jones is, but I got him. He's probably the hairy armed gal, I can learn to live with it, besides she has a great personality... anyways. I like the fact that Jones is in a run heavy offense and I can get his backup (Green) a lot cheaper than I could get Parker's or Addai's (BTW his backup, Brown was just selected in the 6th)! And he did lead the AFC in rushing last year. Not bad for my third running back.

That's all I got for today folks!

Currently the draft is in the 8^th round so check back tomorrow to see who I took. Also, in an effort to keep things simple and not confusing around here, I’m not going to blog about the Draft Challenges until after they are over. But you can follow them here…

DRAFT CHALLENGE 184

DRAFT CHALLENGE 258

Thanks again for checking out the blog and I appreciate all the feedback, keep em comin’! Have a great Sunday and as always YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!

-jg-