Welcome back everyone, you're just in time because things are really start to pick up. The Draft Challenge is midway through the 4th round and my real draft is 1 pick away from my 3rd round pick. Also, because I purchased a team on AntSports.com, I got an additional entry into the Draft Challenge, so I’ll be picking for that team later today and coincidentally enough in the 12 spot. I would never condone participating in multiple drafts at the same time, unless it has a lengthy time period for each pick like these drafts do (12 hours per pick). Make sure you stay organized. You don’t want to miss out on a guy you really wanted because you didn’t know he was available because you got your drafts mixed up. To make sure I stay organized, I use a spreadsheet where I cross off the players I don’t get and highlight the players I did get. I also use a paper copy to keep with me in case I can’t be by a computer and I need to cross someone off. With that said, let’s catch up with my current drafts.
My first real drafted started yesterday. It’s a 12 team Points Per Reception (PPR) league. The starting lineup is 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, and 1 Defense, no flex. I always love this time of year when my real drafts start up. This year I was going to limit myself to the 4 main leagues that I usually do, but my initial first draft wasn’t until a week from this Saturday (Aug 22nd). I decided to join Nick in this league to get a real draft under my belt before then and give me something to hold me over until my first live draft. This draft is a 12 hour per pick draft just like the Draft Challenge and it is also hosted by AntSports.com. You can follow the draft HERE. We’ll be going 16 round in this one.
But before I get into the draft, I wanted to share a realization that I had the other day. This year is my 10th year of playing fantasy football, which is quite a bit of experience for someone who is 25, so happy anniversary me! And I’m not talking “oh I played in a free Yahoo! League for 5 years before playing in a cash entry league” I’ve been playing in competitive cash entry leagues, including the highest cash stake game- The World Championships of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) since I was 15 (I still remember to this day who my first 3 picks were in my 1st draft (Terrell Davis, Drew Bledsoe, and Jerome Bettis). I’m not saying this to toot my own horn, I’m just saying that for a decade now fantasy football has been a passionate hobby of mine and something that I’d like to consider myself very good at because of the experience that I’ve gained and the amount of time I spend researching anything and everything to achieve whatever edge I can over my competition.
The first decade that I played was awesome, full of ups and downs, including 3 league titles, a trip to Vegas for the WCOFF (an epic fail by the way), a commendable finish in Roto Bowl two years ago, the birth of the Ground & Pound Keeper league, becoming a published writer and more 2nd place finishes then I’d care to admit (probably about 10 unfortunately) and even more sleepless nights about who to start each week. But looking back, I wouldn’t change any of it. When the end of June rolls around each year my fantasy wheels start spinning and the drama and fun doesn’t stop until the end of the December. Not to mention all the conversations I’ve had about fantasy football over the years. In fact two of my good friends become best friends during this time of year as the frequency in the amount of times we talk goes way up and 95% of the conversation is about fantasy football (Nick and Scotty, there’s no one I trust more when it comes to fantasy, you guys are as savvy as they come!).
So without further ado, let’s get this party started! Good luck to everyone this season and I hope my blog can help you, as the great Floyd Mayweather Jr would say, “step yo’ game up!”
Antsports.com $50 Early Draft 11 Fantasy Football League
Follow this draft HERE. I am picking 12th and Nick is picking 10th.
ROUND 1
- Smoke on the Water – Maurice Jones-Drew
- Slumpbusters – Adrian Peterson
- Flyswatters – Matt Forte
- Little Urban Achievers – Michael Turner
- Cobra Kai – Larry Fitzgerald
- Kings Alcoholics – Steven Jackson
- Joe Mamma II – Andre Johnson
- Smack Attack – Steve Slaton
- Evil Closet Monkeys - LaDainian Tomlinson
- Parker Lewis Can't Lose (Nick) Chris Johnson
- Villa Novans – Randy Moss
- FantasyFootballMMA.Blogspot.com – Brian Westbrook
My Thoughts on Round 1
Again we see DeAngelo falling out of the 1st round. Also, all 3 of the top WRs were selected and no QBs. My initial gameplan was to go WR/WR expecting to get Andre Johnson (AJ) or Moss. After AJ got picked I was going to select Moss and Westbrook. I was a little surprised that Moss went right in front of me. Nick was having a hard time selecting between Chris Johnson and Frank Gore and we talked about possible trading our 1st two draft picks so I could move up and get Moss and he could move down and take whoever the Villa Novans didn’t take. But that fell through. I knew I would be picking back-to-back and the 3 players I was considering were Westbrook, Gore, and Calvin Johnson aka “Megatron.” Westbrook was the easy choice for me so I took him first. The next pick I spent a good hour debating which guy I should take.
ROUND 1 PICK – BRIAN WESTBROOK
- CURRENT STARTING LINEUP…
- RB1 – WESTBROOK
ROUND 2
- FantasyFootballMMA.Blogspot.com – Frank Gore
- Villa Novans – DeAngelo Williams
- Parker Lewis Can't Lose (Nick) – Calvin Johnson
- Evil Closet Monkeys – Greg Jennings
- Smack Attack – Reggie Wayne
- Joe Mamma II – Ronnie Brown
- Kings Alcoholics – Clinton Portis
- COBRA KAI – Wes Welker
- Little Urban Achievers – Tom Brady
- Flyswatters – Anquan Boldin
- Slumpbusters – Steve Smith
- Smoke on the Water – Roddy White
My Thoughts on Round 2
This decision was really tough. I love Gore this year and new OC Jimmy Raye is building the offense around him. I also love Megatron also. I read an article yesterday that described Johnson as a once in a decade type of player and think that description is dead on. I decided to go with Gore because he a top 10 back and with the 3 WRs going in the first round and lack of tops backs remaining, I predicted that there would be a big run on WRs in round 2. So my logic was to corner the market on top RBs so to speak. Most of the teams in this draft will have gone RB/WR or WR/RB with their first 2 picks. Only one other team went RB/RB and while Portis is a good #2 RB, he is not widely considered a #1 RB (in terms of fantasy) like Gore. I rolled with the punches here and feel that as long as Gore and Westbrook are both healthy I could have one of the best RB combinations in the league. I was also keeping in mind that in this league you only start 2 RBs and no flex so having 2 solid RBs will allow me to take some fliers at WR later on. It’s always important to know the specifics of your league like scoring and starting rosters that way you can come into the draft with more than one gameplan and not be caught off guard if things don’t go the way you think they will. As far as the rest of the round, there wasn’t anything too surprising. I was right about the run on WRs as 7 of the 12 picks in round 2 were WRs.
ROUND 2 PICK – FRANK GORE
- CURRENT STARTING LINEUP…
- RB1 – WESTBROOK
- RB2 - GORE
Antsports.com Draft Challenge League #184
Follow this draft HERE
Round 2
- FantasyFootballMMA.Blogspot.com – Brian Westbrook
- Missouri Bushwackers – Clinton Portis
- Glory Hog – DeAngelo Williams
- Boomer’s Big Bad Beer Bandits – Drew Brees
- Ghost Mountain Elephants (formerly Mountain Gorillas) – Greg Jennings
- Space2 – Calvin Johnson
- Gold Team – Brandon Jacobs
- Mud Grubbers 1 – Reggie Wayne
- Outlaws – Tom Brady
- Phenom – Steve Smith
- Burly Virgin – Marion Barber
- My Turn (this is a team name, not my team) – Anquan Boldin
My Thoughts on Round 2
After getting Wesbtbook, there wasn’t a lot in the round that really stood out to me. In the first round, there weren’t any QBs selected so I thought in this round we would see at least 1 get taken and turns out 2 were (Brees, Brady). If you compare the players selected in this round to their Average Draft Positions (ADP), you might some players were taken too early. I think it depends on how much you like a guy. I really like a guy or if I like him the best out of the available players and know he won’t fall to me in the following round, I will take him ahead of his ADP . All of the guys selected in round 2 are legitimate 2nd rounders.
ROUND 2 PICK – BRIAN WESTBROOK
- CURRENT STARTING LINEUP…
- RB – WESTBROOK
- WR1 - MOSS
Round 3
- My Turn (this is team name, not my team) – Roddy White
- Burly Virgin – Wes Welker
- Phenom – Marques Colston
- Outlaws – Kevin Smith
- Mud Grubbers 1 – Dwayne Bowe
- Gold Team – Peyton Manning
- Space2 – Brandon Marshall
- Ghost Mountain Elephants – Jason Witten
- Boomer’s Big Bad Beer Bandits – Roy Williams
- Glory Hog – Pierre Thomas
- Missouri Bushwackers – Terrell Owens
- FantasyFootballMMA.Blogspot.com – Reggie Bush
My Thoughts on Round 3
Again in this round, nothing too outrageous, except maybe with my pick. We did see our first TE go off the board in Witten , but that didn’t surprise me. The guy is a stud. I decided to go with Reggie Bush. In the Draft Challenge format, you start 1 RB, but can also start a RB at the Flex position. I probably picked Bush a little early, but I really like the guy and think he bounces back from the injury-ridden season he had last year. I didn’t mind picking him a little early though. I would be taking my picks back-to-back and Bush would not have fallen to the 5th round, so the time to grab him now would have been with one of these 2 picks. I think he makes a great flex especially in a PPR format.
ROUND 3 PICK – REGGIE BUSH
- CURRENT STARTING LINEUP…
- RB – WESTBROOK
- WR1 – MOSS
- FLEX - BUSH
That's it for now, I expect an even busier day. Check back tomorrow to see what I thought about the 3rd and 4th rounds in my real draft. Also, congrats to Mike Vick for signing with the Eagles. I think that's a great place for him.
Thanks again for reading and as always, YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!
-jg-
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