Been in the bunker the last few days preparing for my annual fantasy football draft, which was last night. Details after the break if you're interested.
Our league is a 14-team, non-head-to-head, 8-man roster (QB, 2 RB, 3 WR/TE, K, D), yardage league. It's pretty typical of yardage leagues with the exception that receptions are worth two points, making pass-catching RBs even more valuable. I generally roll the dice once per draft; this time I did it at least twice and arguably three times.
- (pick 2) LT over Alexander and Barber. I would have preferred LJ, but it's not like I've got anything to complain about here.
- (27) Randy Moss. I'm really hoping Aaron Brooks throws the ball forwards this year.
- (30) Dice-roll #1 - Reggie Bush. Passed up Julius Jones and Chester Taylor, both of whom would probably have been safer picks.
- (55) Andre Johnson. At that point in the draft, he was my highest-rated WR left, and was about 10 spots higher than the next available WR.
- (58) Dice-roll #2 - Daunte Culpepper. The knee must have scared a lot of people off; he was the 10th QB chosen.
- (83) Seattle D. My #3-ranked defense, taken as the 9th defense.
- (86) Ryan Longwell. Another case of me having somebody ranked much higher than the group consensus. I had him as the #4 kicker, expecting a bounce-back year (especially now that he's in a dome); the other guys I talked to afterwards ranked him around 8th.
- (111) Troy Williamson (arguably dice-roll #3). Keyshawn would have been a safer pick, but what's not to like about a #1 WR in a Brad Johnson offense, especially as the last WR taken?
I'll be revisiting this post at the end of the season.
I'd probably have taken Chester Taylor. Who did you pass up for Longwell?
I figured with LT as one RB I could afford to take a chance on the other.
For Longwell, I passed up Wilkins, Kasay, and Vanderchoke (and, of course, 20-some other kickers, but those three are the most interesting).