Welcome back to the blog everyone. Sorry it’s been over a week since I last blogged, last week was crazy busy. I want to do a quick recap of last weekend’s UFC event then get into some fantasy football.
UFC 102 Recap
Here’s a look at my picks…
- My official pick: Vera -210, 2.1 units to win 1 unit…WINNER
- My official pick: Marquardt -170, 1.7 units to win 1 unit…WINNER
- My official pick: Couture -200, 2 units to win 1 unit…LOSER
- 2-1, 0 units
That’s the risk you run of taking favorites. With the 2-1 record, that takes my posted record to 9-3 +5 units. Noguiera did not look like the same guy who got beat by Mir. That tells me that Nog was seriously affected by the staph infection he had going into the fight with Mir. When I update my rankings, I’ll have Nog ahead of Mir because of it. I thought the Marquardt KO was awesome and one of the classiest moves when he decided to pull back from hitting Maia again when he was obviously out. Marquardt is the real deal, he deserves another title shot. Anderson Silva’s camp is calling for a Marquardt/Dan Henderson matchup to determine the clear #1 contender. While that would be a good fight, I don’t really think it’s necessary. However, it was announced that Anderson Silva will be having elbow surgery. The surgery will put him on the shelf for the rest of 2009 so Marquardt and Henderson will happen. Marquardt wins that one in a decision. Rosholt’s submission of Leben was awesome. I love the arm triangle, it’s my favorite submission. Thiago Silva proved that he is the real deal. Jardine has fought and beat some of the best competition at light heavyweight and the guys he’s lost too are no joke. Thiago is a dangerous striker, a black belt in jiu-jitsu and extremely motivated…that’s a deadly combination. Finally, the Vera victory was not a surprise at all. Although a popular fan favorite, Krystoff is not a top caliber fighter and Vera proved why with his performance that night. It was a great night of fights and although I was disappointed that Randy lost, I wasn’t disappointed in his performance. That guy is still my hero.
It’s bigger than Spring Break ’99 and the Catalina Wine Mixer, it’s the 3rd Annual Ground & Pound Keeper Fantasy Football League
Last week I had my draft for my keeper league. This is my favorite league of all my leagues for a few reasons. It’s the only keeper league I’m in and it’s been a very tough league. I won this league 2 years ago, but fell off big time last year. Another one of the reasons I like this league is because of how unique it is. We start a total of 11 players; 1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 TE, 2 Flexes, 1 K, and 1 D. We also have a distinctive schedule where we play 2 opponents a week for a total of 26 matchups. Additionally, we utilize a victory points standings system where you get rewarded for wins, but also get rewarded for scoring high on a weekly basis. If you score in the top 3rd of the league you receive 2 victory points (VPs), if you score in the middle third you receive 1 VP, and if you score in the bottom third you receive 0 points. You also get 2 VPs for winning your matchups, so each week you can accumulate 0-6 VPs. We really like this format because it ensures that the best 6 teams make the playoffs.
This year I had a very intriguing group of keepers. Last year I drafted Aaron Rodgers in the 14th round. He’s a stud and went on to finish 2nd among QBs last year. This year I’ll be getting him in the 12th, I love that because he’s been going in the 3rd/4th rounds in all other drafts. Another reason, I’m stoked on Rodgers is because I get to keep him for 2 more years after this year and the most I’ll have to pay for him is an 8th round pick in 2011. Having Rodgers that late gave me a lot of freedom in my draft. My 2nd keeper is RB Ronnie Brown. I picked him in the 7th round last year so this year he would be kept as a 5th round keeper. I’m not wild about Brown this year, but getting him in the 5th is a great value as he has been going in the 2nd/3rd round is most other drafts. Finally, I kept Ray Rice as well. I picked Rice in the 12th round last year and getting him in the 10th is a great value considering he’s been picked in the 4th - 7th rounds. So going into the draft my team is looking like this…
QB – Rodgers
RB1 – Ronnie Brown
RB2 – Ray Rice
WR1 -
WR2 -
WR3 -
TE -
Flex1 -
Flex2 -
Not too shabby. Now, I knew that this draft would probably be the toughest draft I’d ever been in and that I would need to get creative with my draft strategy to stay ahead of the game. There were two major challenges I would be facing with this draft. The first was that I would be picking at 11 and Nick who would be targeting a lot of the same players as me would be picking 10th. The other challenge was that because of all the guys being kept, there would be about 25 of the top 60 guys out of the draft pool before the draft even started, so I would need to get in the mindset of targeting the guys I wanted a few rounds earlier than I was used to. And picking 11th in this draft would mean that I wasn’t going to be looking at any RBs worthy of a 1st round pick unless Westbrook fell to me. With all this in mind, I decided that I would position myself by picking quality WRs and filling out the rest of my RBs with some upside guys. Going into this draft, my top 3 choices for my #1 pick were Brian Westbrook, Reggie Wayne, or Steve Smith from the Panthers. In the 2nd round I planned on taking whoever was left from the 1st round or Chad Ochocinco. My ceiling would have been Westbrook and Wayne and my floor was Smith and Ochocinco. I ended up with Reggie Wayne and Steve Smith. I was thrilled with those 2 guys. That gave me two top 10 WRs to go with a stud QB and some decent points per reception (PPR) RBs. So after 2 rounds, I’m feeling pretty good about my team.
QB – Rodgers
RB1 – Ronnie Brown
RB2 – Ray Rice
WR1 – Reggie Wayne
WR2 – Steve Smith (Panthers)
WR3 -
TE -
Flex1 -
Flex2 -
In the third round I was targeting a handful of players but when it came time to pick it was between Vincent Jackson and Braylon Edwards. I wanted to make sure that I got three top 20 WRs. Nick took VJack and so I snagged Edwards. Before the draft I was targeting Beanie Wells in the 4th round, but I didn’t expect Antonio Gates to fall either. I looked at it like this, would I rather have a stud, proven TE or would I rather have an unproven rookie RB with a history of injuries, easy decision, Gates.
QB – Rodgers
RB1 – Ronnie Brown
RB2 – Ray Rice
WR1 – Reggie Wayne
WR2 – Steve Smith (Panthers)
WR3 – Braylon Edwards
TE – Antonio Gates
Flex1 -
Flex2 -
With most of my starting lineup filled out, my draft strategy would shift to stacking up high upside guys who will make good flex starters and bye week fill ins. The 5th round was my Ronnie Brown pick. In the 6th, 7th, and 8th, I took Leon Washington, Rashard Mendenhall, and Fred Jackson. With Marshawn Lynch suspended for 3 weeks, Fred Jackson will give me another starting RB. To start the season this is how my starting lineup will look…
QB – Rodgers
RB1 – Ronnie Brown
RB2 – Ray Rice
WR1 – Reggie Wayne
WR2 – Steve Smith (Panthers)
WR3 – Braylon Edwards
TE – Antonio Gates
Flex1 – Leon Washington
Flex2 – Fred Jackson
Because this is a keeper league, I like guys like Mendenhall who could be starting in 2010. If he is, then I’ll have a good starting RB at the cheap price of a 5th round pick. In the 9th round I got Joey Galloway and the 10th was my Rice keeper.
Starters
- QB – Rodgers
- RB1 – Ronnie Brown
- RB2 – Ray Rice
- WR1 – Reggie Wayne
- WR2 – Steve Smith (Panthers)
- WR3 – Braylon Edwards
- TE – Antonio Gates
- Flex1 – Leon Washington
- Flex2 – Fred Jackson
- K – Longwell
- D – Packers
Bench
- RBs – Rashard Mendenhall, James Davis, Mike Bell, Bernard Scott, Mike Goodson
- WRs – Chris Henry, Joey Galloway
If I can maintain an average of about 140 points a week I should be in good shape. This team should be able to do that based on my projections. This team has a nice blend of studs, solid vets, and young, upside players. This team should be built to last. We shall see.
Thanks again for checking out the blog and here’s to a great fantasy season. I have two more drafts this week, I’ll let you guys know how it goes and as always, I will be playing to win the game!
-jg-
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