Fantasy Football Open Thread

• I wanted Finley but he was just going too high to justify. I’d rather draft a solid WR and put off the TE for a double digit rounder like John Carlson.

• I think Charles is a top 5 RB this year. Not so sure about Benson.

• I complemented VY with Joe Flacco in one league. We’ll see how that goes.

• People are still actually drafting Roy Williams. Amazing.

• I picked up Shipley with my last pick in a 14 team deep league. I still need to drop someone for a kicker and assumed it would be Shipley, but I’m sort of reconsidering.

Dexter McCluster is a WR/RB in Yahoo.

You don’t often that position flexibility. If Haley gets him significant touches and he is a force in the return game, he’s not a bad plug and play for bye weeks.

…but I would have drafted him in tandem with a more established QB than Stafford so that if Vince wasn’t putting up the numbers, you would have had something reliable (if unremarkable) to fall back on (like jc25 did with Flacco, above). But you’re stacked at RB and I assume you’re not in a PPR league so the lack of superstar WRs isn’t that big of a deal. Plus you have so few bench spots that there will always be random WR’s on the waiver wire for you. And who knows, if both VY and Stafford break out, you might have a nice trade chip on your hands, something that wouldn’t be possible if you drafted an established but mediocre #2.

I managed to snag Adrian Peterson (I know, I know, I don’t like it either) and Rashard Mendenhall with my first two picks (and got LaDanian in the 12th round—huge value pick—along with Arian Foster) and pick up Reggie Wayne in the 3rd round. But by the time we wrapped around to me again, there had been a run on QBs and there wasn’t much left so I held out a few more rounds for Eli and picked up Dallas Clark and Welker in the interim. My 3rd WR slot is wide open (took a flier on Vincent Jackson playing sooner rather than later, otherwise it’s Lee Evans, Braylon Edwards or Johnny Knox….yuck), but I figure I can find someone on waivers or turn my excess RBs into WRs.

And this concludes today’s edition of “shit nobody cares about but you.”

We added Individual Defensive players and allowed QB’s to be played in the flex position which completely changed my draft strategy.

I was pick 7 and went Drew Brees and Tom Brady in consecutive picks. I picked up Garrard in free agency for their bye weeks

Running backs I went with Shonn Greene and Matt Forte. Even with LT in NY (who has burnt me 2 years in a row) I still feel Greene will get the bulk of the carries and TD’s and Forte was the best value at the time and he will catch a lot of balls. I added Jerome Harrison and Fred Jackson in late rounds

WR’s I got Ochocinco and Desean Jackson. Again, good value at the time and they will be 7+ points a game guys. For back ups I have Dwayne Bowe and Nate Washington (going to catch a ton of balls from Vince)

TE’s I tried to go with Finley but I lost him the pick before so I went with Vernon Davis, bad consolation, I know. I got John Carlson as a back up.

Defense I got Philly and Chicago. Philly led the league in forced To’s last year and they are always solid. Chicago is kind of a boom homer pick.

Kicker – My Bironas.

IDP I went with James Laurinitis. Best player on a terrible team and he will make a ton of tackles. For back up I went with Trent Cole.

For some boom picks I would go with Devin Aromashadou and Johnny Knox. Knox is a big play threat and has caught a ton of balls in the pre-season and Aromashadou had a huge last three weeks last year. This is kind of homer since I am a Bears fan but I lost them in mid-late rounds with others who felt the same.

Can’t imagine that Vince Young is a very good fantasy QB.

I got Hartley, Maclin, Spliller, and the NY Jets D

My sleeper pick was Dez Bryant. I think he will lead the ’boys in receiving TDs.

I am convinced that Chris Johnson is going to get injured this year. Cannot see that kind of work load not affecting him. Do not understand all the love for RBs this year.

…Instead of the snake draft, replace it with an auction format. I have been in the same league for 14 years now and while the first two years took some getting used to regarding the auction, it is now a glowing highlight on the calendar. Three members of the league, myself included, fly in for our auction which, is always held on the Wednesday evening following Labor Day.

12 Team league
14 Roster spots
$150 salary cap.
$1 minimum bid increments…thus, no $1.35 for the Seattle Defense

You want Chris Johnson (will take about $57) or one of the big four? You can get them. Gotta have Peyton Manning (Will take about $30-34)? Again, you can get him. Think Andre Johnson walks on water? Prepare to plunk down about $36-38 of your bankroll for him. Our league awards 1 point per reception. We found that this helped the hawking of RB’s early on and brought in more strategy to the mix.

And man is there strategy…the very reason I love the auction format so much is it involves MUCH more strategy. From bidding up a player you have no intention of wanting (but, at times you get him if you press your luck), to casually throwing a player up for auction that you really want and need and somehow sneak him through based on tracking other team’s needs, you really become the GM of your team.

The knock on the auction format is it takes longer…um, hello??? THIS night is arguably the greatest night of the football season. Why must we rush home? In our league, we arrive by 6:30, begin the auction by 7:00 and are usually out of there by 11:00-11:30. I will not lie…the end of an auction drags…just like the end of a draft. But, if you manage your bankroll effectively, you can steal some special talent towards the end of your auction.

Do some research on making this switch…you will create a legacy league that nobody wants to leave…we have only had one owner leave in 14 years. Snakedraft leagues just do not deliver the same atmosphere.

But I thought this would be the best place to ask this, but are we going to have a BON pick em again?