WRs? I don't need no stinkin' WRs!! Plus Nick gives insight to his picks

Well it’s been a long week and I thought about taking the day off from blogging because I was pretty beat. Then I got home, took a nap, and there just happened to be 2 preseason games on TV including the NINERS… just the little pick me up I needed. Oh yeah and my mom made tacos, one of the perks of living at home. "MA, THE MEATLOAF!" =)

Anyways, I’m really excited about today’s blog. My buddy Nick is very good at fantasy football. He’s one of the 2 guys that I trust when it comes to fantasy football. Not only is he good at fantasy football, but he’s also a very good writer. Currently Nick and I are drafting in the AntSports $50 Early Draft 11 FFL Draft 2009. I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that he is picking 10^th. His team name is Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, I’m sure the million of fans of that TV show appreciate Nick’s tribute. With his first pick Nick took Chris Johnson and followed that pick up with one of our favorite players this year, Megatron! Without further ado, here’s guest blogger, Nick Dunn’s thought on his first 2 rounds. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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Wow, after waiting nearly 5 hours for this guy to pick I decided to write my part of this blog. I'm so full of angry fantasy rage I doubt I will get any sleep tonight knowing my turn is 4 picks & 2 teams away. I know I won't sleep tonight, who will fall to me? Will it be the lovable, gold grill wearing OchoCinco or the girlfriend beating Brandon Marshall. I like both of their styles, on the field and off, ha... JK.

OK, serious time now. John already did a good job setting up the rules for the league so I'll just jump right into my part.

I joined an early draft this week just to satisfy my fix until the" real" drafts come. I had to, I was getting the shakes knowing that I won't be doing a real, competitive draft for another 2 weeks. So I cracked and signed myself up for a $50 Antsports league. But I couldn't just cure this itch alone, so like any good friend I called up my buddy John and had him do it with me. So now we're at the end of round three waiting... and here is my line of thinking so far.

Round 1, pick 10: I really wanted Slaton here. I was positive I would get him, but just the fact that I was so sure about it made it destined not to happen. So I had to make a choice, my best available options were Gore, CJ3 (Chris Johnson), or Moss. I didn't want Moss this early, just because I knew that my 2nd pick was coming up soon and I knew I would either get Moss, Calvin, or Wayne. So I decided to hold off and grab my #1 RB right now. Gore vs. CJ3, this was tough. Gore is the man in SF, with no other game in town. He is that offense, and he is talented enough to do it all. CJ3 is equally as talented but a has Lendale "Fat" (I nick-named him that, I'm so clever) looking over his shoulder ready to vulture his TDs. I went to their strength of schedules to try to break the tie, no luck, both nearly identical. I went with my gut on this and took Johnson. I just think that he has a better team around him than Gore. A better O-line & defense should guarantee that he is on the field enough to get his touches, thus giving him a better chance for success. I made my pick and went to bed happy.

Round 2, pick 15: Easy pick, I wanted a stud WR, and if Moss or Calvin was there I was going to take them. I got Calvin Johnson aka MEGATRON, probably the easiest pick I'll make all season. I know John was very high on him too. He made the smart move in letting Tron go for 2 studs RBs, and I was happy to be there to pick up his leftovers. Johnson may be the best natural athlete at this position since a young Randy Moss came into the league. I can’t wait to see how further he develops this season.

I've decided to give my analysis in pairs. So I'll be back tomorrow will 3 & 4, assuming we make it there by tomorrow... Sigh...Pet peeve #34 in life: guys who hold up fantasy drafts.

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Thanks Nick! Nick will be a regular contributor to the blog this year and the blog will be better because of it. Now that you know what Nick thought, let’s take a look at rounds 3 and 4.

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 3

1. Smoke on the Water – Drew Brees
2. Slumpbusters – Peyton Manning
3. Flyswatters – Marques Colston
4. Little Urban Achievers – Brandon Jacobs
5. Cobra Kai – Pierre Thomas
6. Kings Alcoholics – Dwayne Bowe
7. Joe Mamma II – Kevin Smith
8. Smack Attack – Terrell Owens
9. Evil Closet Monkeys – Marion Barber
10. Parker Lewis Can't Lose (Nick) – Reggie Bush
11. Villa Novans – Ryan Grant
12. FantasyFootballMMA.Blogspot.com – Aaron Rodgers

My Thoughts on Round 3

The run on QBs began in Round 3 to start off the round. I was surprised to see Marion Barber fall as far as he did. Usually he’s a 2^nd round or early 3^rd round pick. I think the crowded Dallas backfield has some fantasy owners concerned. I’m 50/50 with the guy. Yeah he’s the man, but Felix Jones will get his touches and Tashard Choice is in the mix as well. I don’t know if I want one of my top backs giving away that many touches. Nick made a nice pick with Reggie Bush. I’m very high on Bush this year. I’m glad that Nick took him because if he didn’t, I would have had a hard time not taking him and a third RB is not what I need right now. A WR with this pick would have been one way to go, but I wasn’t impressed with the guys that were on the board like Brandon Marshall and Vincent Jackson. I do like OchoCinco, but I already missed the boat on WRs, so I decided to cut my losses and get my QB here. I had Rodgers last year and he was awesome and consistent, two qualities I want in my fantasy QB. One of the things you want to do is position your fantasy team and create an identity. You don’t always want to do pick a position just because the rest of the league is. I always try to stay ahead of the runs and go after the guys I want aggressively. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get a Top 5 QB if I didn’t get him with one of these 2 picks. With the 2^nd easiest schedule against the pass this year, Rodgers was an easy choice.

ROUND 3 PICK – AARON RODGERS

• CURRENT STARTING LINEUP…
• QB - RODGERS
• RB1 – WESTBROOK
• RB2 - GORE

ROUND 4

1. FantasyFootballMMA.Blogspot.com – Jason Witten
2. Villa Novans – Vincent Jackson
3. Parker Lewis Can't Lose (Nick) – Chad OchoCinco
4. Evil Closet Monkeys – TJ Houshmandzadeh
5. Smack Attack – Tony Gonzalez
6. Joe Mamma II – Roy Williams
7. Kings Alcoholics – Brandon Marshall
8. Cobra Kai – Antonio Gates
9. Little Urban Achievers – Braylon Edwards
10. Flyswatters – Kurt Warner
11. Slumpbusters – Knowshown Moreno
12. Smoke on the Water – DeSean Jackson

My Thoughts on Round 4

Ok so I have my QB and my two studs at RB, time for a WR right? Nope, not here. I took a look at the WRs I could get later and made a calculated decision to take Witten here and lock up the #1 TE. I knew that a run on TEs would start this round and that my chance at a top one had to happen now. I want high impact guys on my team, the four guys I have are all high impact guys. I also continued to carve out my team’s identity with this pick. This is what I know about my team; I have a great QB, 2 top RBs, the best TE and I will have average, but serviceable WRs, but I think that will be enough to put me into the playoffs if my guys can stay healthy. Sometimes your picks may look crazy to other owners, but that’s fine, they can think what they want, it’s not their team. As long as you feel good about your picks and are putting a strong squad together, then that’s all that matters and I feel great about these guys!

ROUND 4 PICK – JASON WITTEN

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

Neither of my draft challenges have made much progress so I’ll save my updates for them tomorrow. If you want to see where they’re currently at, click on the links below

DRAFT CHALLENGE 184

DRAFT CHALLENGE 258

I hope you enjoyed tonight’s blog. I’m gonna get back to the Niners game. Have a great night and I’ll see you guys tomorrow! Check back to see who I get at WR and if I have time I’ll give some insight on tomorrow’s STRIKEFORCE: CARANO VS CYBORG fight.

Thanks again for checking out the blog and as always, YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!

-jg-