Posted by: Guru
- [330592710] Wed, Aug 18, 2010, 13:51
The RIFC draft will be activated at MFL tomorrow morning (Thursday), but our draft does not officially start until Friday. Early picks are permitted, but not expected. Until the first round has been completed, the clock will be turned off. After one round, the clock will be set at 6 hours, with a moratorium from 1am-7am EDT. Please note: The clock will continue to run on weekends.
I am unsure as to how the MFL draft system will handle it, but the intent is that people at the endpoints of the draft have only one single time limit to make their consecutive picks. Similarly, the clock will be manually advanced to skip past anyone who already has a pick in arrears, unless other arrangements have been made in advance of that pick.
Remember that we are using a “Banzai” draft order, which differs from the traditional snake in that the order of the third round (and only that round) is reversed. The MFL system shows the correct order.
We will maintain a draft discussion thread here, but it will probably not be used extensively. If you know that you have pending time constraints, please post them in this thread. (e.g., "I'll be away until 6pm ET, so if my pick is due before then, you'll have to wait.") To the extent that you can alert everyone to potential availability issues, you can help others to plan their check-in times accordingly. That's simply good draft etiquette. I’ll also use this thread for general announcements about the draft.
There are some important differences in the mechanics of the MFL system vs. the kafenatid.net system that we have used in prior years. Those differences, along with instructions for using MFL, appear below in the next post.
When drafting, there is no need to draft every position. For example, if you want to skip a kicker, be my guest. You will, however, need to start a complete lineup for the first NFL week.
Note that trades during the draft are allowed. Trades should be announced here, and may include any combination of picks and/or players.
Players who are not yet listed at myfantasyleague.com may be drafted, and if so, a placeholder player will be assigned to your roster until that player is available. Once the draft is complete, you may no longer sign (or protect) an unlisted player.
Please be sure you understand all of the scoring and roster rules for this league. The current rules will be copied into post 2 of this thread.
Rationales will be expected for each pick, but delayed by two rounds. When we near the end of round two, I will set up a thread for those.
Please refrain from mentioning undrafted players, either in this thread, or in your posted rationale.
If you wish to track the draft without directly accessing the mfl site (e.g., if that site is blocked from your access at work), the following links may be used:
Only the 50 most recent replies are currently shown. Click on this text to display hidden posts as well. [Lengthy or complex threads may require a slight delay before updating.]
235
Kyle Sustainer
ID: 052753312 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 10:04
Hey big guys! I was wondering if there was any chance I could get someone to move some of the rationales from the AAA #1 draft discussion into our rationales thread. We're doing them 5 rounds at a time, so right now I'm working to get the round 6-10's out, but I have some 1-5's that have placeholders and have been filled out. If need be I can tell you which posts should be moved into which spots. Thanks.
236
Guru
ID: 330592710 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 10:08
Good job on staying reasonably current with rationales (with the exception of one manager). Following are the overdue rationales through pick 11.10.
twilson 4.05 Ochocinco 5.10 Beason 6.05 S. Moss 7.10 R. Williams 8.05 K Winslow 9.10 Royal 10.05 11.10 Briggs
Fugazi 9.14 Berrian 10.01 Fletcher
letterj 10.09 V. Jackson 11.06 Olsen
Promize 10.10 Palmer 11.05 Ware
Slizz 11.04 GB def
239
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 12:28
Man slizz, I was going to look at grabbing Arenas late in the draft. Amendola was someone I was going to look at soon too. Buggers.
243
Building 7 Leader
ID: 171572711 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 12:42
I'll post my 12.14 and 13.01 shortly. I left them at home. And I'm going home for the day.
245
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 13:03
Alright Motley Crue, time to stop picking from my 'hope to grab in a few rounds' list. Thanks :D
249
Guru
ID: 330592710 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 17:04
To overcome the MFL text message limitation that does not send notifications of queued picks, I have written an independent routine to do this.
The system will check on draft results every 10 minutes. If there have been any new picks, a separate message will be sent for each pick. The message can go to an email address, or to a cell phone as a text message. The text will simply say something of this format:
15.09(Motley Crue) Huggins, Kareem TBB RB [Queue] -Next: twilson's MI
If it goes to an email address, that text will be in the subject line, and the body of the email will be blank.
If a pick was made from a queue, that will be noted. If a team name is longer than 12 characters, then it will be truncated after the 12th The email will come from RIFC@rotoguru1.com
If you want to be included on this, send me your email address or your cell# (and cell carrier). It's live!
250
Guru
ID: 330592710 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 17:26
Note: because the pick appears in the subject line, I actually like this better than the email sent from MFL - since I don't have to open the email to see what the pick(s) were.
252
Guru
ID: 330592710 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 18:27
We are moving at a pace faster than we used to with the Kafenatid system. I think that's mostly because people are using queues more often than they used to (and not because queued picks are automated).
Previously, we used to average about 24 picks or day. But since Sunday (after everyone got acclimated to MFL), we have been averaging 45 picks per day, of which about 40% have been from queues.
Question: do you think you have been more prone to use queues with MFL (vs. kafenatid?) If so, is that because of the automatic pick feature, or the round specific feature, or something else?
253
I_AM_CANADIAN Donor
ID: 01361448 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 18:33
For me: Round specific feature... although I always tried to use it plenty on Kafenatid as well.
254
youngroman Donor
ID: 02934823 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 18:40
I use the feature as I did with kafenatid. I guess there are 2 reasons: - round specfic queues - you see which other teams already left a queue and get a feeling how long it takes until it is your turn
255
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 18:43
Could just be people seeing that others have queues set up in front or behind them. There's been a lot of spots where queues should/could have been set up and weren't as well. Setting a 1 round queue at this point is pretty easy, but there's people 7-9 picks out that don't. Because of that, speed can be picked up if needed (if we were drafting closer to the season start) or just to get done earlier and let people get back to their normal days.
I really think 3 rounds a day is a good pace, would set this draft to be done in 8 days.
256
Building 7 Leader
ID: 171572711 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 18:56
I have been more prone to use queues with kafenatid. But, this year I have been around most of the time and haven't needed to use q's much.
259
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 21:22
Man, Amendola is going to be amazing value now.
Would be nice if these picks got in soon. Not sure why a queue wasn't set. Don't like sitting on picks while games are going on, can be a pretty big advantage.
260
I_AM_CANADIAN Donor
ID: 01361448 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 22:33
Just got in from religious engagement. will get caught up and pick shortly.
261
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 22:35
I see, praying for fantasy football success. That's acceptable.
262
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 23:29
Man, I was sweating Tate being taken all night due to the delay and him returning the opening kickoff in their game tonight.
263
Building 7 Leader
ID: 171572711 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 00:14
I'll pick in the morning. Not sure what I'm doing.
264
Frick-phone
ID: 347592516 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 11:52
I apologize for being behind on my picks. I had to do some live scouting at the Colts/Packers game last night. Heading home now and I'll get caught tonight.
267
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 13:21
Sorry, but this is a bit ridiculous if someone is going to come close to timing out a 2nd time. I can understand if things come up, but leave a queue so we can avoid delaying the draft so people can get back to their daily lives. It's so late in the draft that a 6-8 person queue can sometimes last 2 rounds, and even if not, setting a 14 person queue is pretty easy.
268
Promize@Home
ID: 87451913 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 13:36
I agree with Bonka, we stall out on our draft on the same person everytime... This late in the draft? A queue can easily be made.. I know we are way ahead of track though, so not much of a problem. But still would be nice to have this draft over with.
270
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 18:11
At this rate we'll be lucky to get any more than 2 rounds done today.
271
Building 7 Leader
ID: 171572711 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 18:28
I'd be interested in trading my picks in the 18th and 19th for someone else's 18th and 19th. If my guy is still around. Plus we need to see how MFL handles a trade. I have 18.14 and 19.01 if that interests anyone. I may be able to do an upgrade in one of the last rounds to get it done.
272
Fugazi
ID: 20202323 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 18:30
Sorry about the holdup guys. My internet has been down for a couple days. Been having my bro make my picks over the phone. Internet is now back up and I will get caught up on rationals shortly.
273
Guru
ID: 330592710 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 18:38
[270] in the Kafenatid era, 2 rounds in a day was a decent pace. I'll admit that we've been faster lately, but the overall pace is still very good. Less than 100 picks to go.
Should be done early next week - at the latest.
274
I_AM_CANADIAN Donor
ID: 01361448 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 19:15
No trades yet this year eh? Surprised it's been so quiet on that front.
275
Building 7 Leader
ID: 171572711 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 19:28
I usually like to make at least one trade, just because you can. We need to see if the trade software works at MFL , so someone needs to take me up on my trade offer. lq
276
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 19:41
MFL trades work fine.
277
Building 7 Leader
ID: 171572711 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 19:46
Yeah. I'm joking.
279
I_AM_CANADIAN Donor
ID: 01361448 Fri, Aug 27, 2010, 20:07
woops, just realized i gave rationals for 17/18 a little early. sorry, my bad.
281
Electroman
ID: 565182111 Sat, Aug 28, 2010, 08:54
Was reading this article, Peyton needs his diaper changed, and wonder if the new umpire placement rule could affect FF late in the season? Or will teams that it affects(like the colts) work around it and steamroll through the season as usual, leading to the resting of the starters late in the year?
287
slizz Donor
ID: 43133920 Sat, Aug 28, 2010, 16:42
Totally agree Electroman...in hindsight, I should've went with him instead of Geno Hayes and you'll read why later in my Analysis.
Per Peter King: "3. Star in the making: Safety Dashon Goldson. The Niners think he is the right combination of big hitter and rangy center fielder, and at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, he's big enough to help in run-support. This could be his breakout year."
288
Electroman
ID: 565182111 Sat, Aug 28, 2010, 17:21
I wonder if we could finish the draft this weekend? It would be nice to not have to get up extra early to set up a queue.
290
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Sat, Aug 28, 2010, 17:43
I left a queue for my next 2 picks, but my round 21 queue might not be long enough, although it should probably last. I have to head out until probably around 8pm eastern.
293
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Sat, Aug 28, 2010, 20:19
The AAA leagues are showing us up with setting queues and getting the draft out of the way. Would be nice to get this done before Monday.
302
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Sun, Aug 29, 2010, 16:20
Wonder what happened to Smith32, he was the 2nd fastest with getting picks off and hasn't been on the site in over a day. Hopefully nothing major.
303
Mötley Crüe Dude
ID: 439372011 Sun, Aug 29, 2010, 16:25
Oddly to me, participants in these leagues tend to be more available during weekdays than on weekends. I'm the opposite way, to my wife's chagrin. He's probably camping or on a weekend excursion. That's the usual story when people get back to the draft after a long absence.
304
Electroman
ID: 565182111 Sun, Aug 29, 2010, 17:01
Is the clock running on the weekend?
305
Bonka Sustainer
ID: 019742310 Sun, Aug 29, 2010, 17:05
Yeah it runs over the weekend. Would be nice to finish up tonight, but that doesn't look very likely due to the holdups this weekend.
306
Electroman
ID: 565182111 Sun, Aug 29, 2010, 17:14
7 picks made today, yeah, I don't see us finishing tonight.
307
Smith32
ID: 406443112 Sun, Aug 29, 2010, 18:32
Sorry guys. Was out of town and got back a little later than expected. I set queues for 2 rds yesterday before I left and thought that would be enough.
315
Guru
ID: 330592710 Mon, Aug 30, 2010, 11:43
As you complete your drafts, go ahead and post your remaining rationales here.
Once the draft is completed, we will lock all free agent pickups, and a waiver period will start. I'm inclined to stretch the waiver lockout though at least Thursday, and maybe Friday (any thoughts on that?) Waiver priorities will be in the reverse order of the draft (round 1). After waivers clear, any player may be added or dropped as free agents.
327
Mötley Crüe Dude
ID: 439372011 Mon, Aug 30, 2010, 17:26
Guru, yeah, go ahead and push the waiver period back a few days.
328
Guru
ID: 330592710 Mon, Aug 30, 2010, 22:02
Does anyone remember how we handled partial lineups last year? Did we allow teams to score points with a partial lineup?
331
Promize@Home
ID: 87451913 Mon, Aug 30, 2010, 22:24
I'll try and catch up on these tomorrow... been a crazy last 4 days.
Glad this has ended :)
332
Kyle Sustainer
ID: 052753312 Tue, Aug 31, 2010, 01:25
RE 328: I may be remembering old RIFC leagues but as I recall teams with invalid rosters didn't score. I think there was an issue about this rule last year in AAA #2, but I'd have go go back and look to see what the ruling was.
333
Guru
ID: 330592710 Tue, Aug 31, 2010, 09:26
[328 & 332] I know that Fanball did not allow partial lineups, so it was a moot point back then.
MFL does allow partial lineups (unless we force it to require full lineups.)
My inclination is to allow partial lineups - as it's almost never to a team's advantage to leave a slot empty. (A crappy defense might be the one exception.) Allowing partial lineups also permits greater flexibilty in setting midweek lineups, if you are in transition for roster moves.
334
Frick
ID: 97321912 Tue, Aug 31, 2010, 09:43
My initial thoughts are that partial line-ups shouldn't be allowed. The main reason is people have illegal rosters so they can horde a few specific positions. The reason we have a short bench is to keep the WW with a few players worth picking up.
343
Guru
ID: 330592710 Wed, Sep 01, 2010, 17:12
Rationales overdue: twilson 24.05 Haggan 23.10 Abraham 22.05 M. Moore 21.10 Hobbs 20.05 Miami 19.10 A. Gonzalez 18.05 Akers 17.10 Session 16.05 Pats defense 15.10 Murphy 14.05 Dawkins 13.10 B. Scott
I'm for partial lineups. If a manager wants to play with a handicap because he thinks it can help him, then I'm OK with that.
345
twilson
ID: 221142214 Wed, Sep 01, 2010, 19:54
9.10 Eddie Royal, WR, DEN I hate using the “somebody has to catch the ball” reasoning for a pick, but this is a situation in which it definitely applies. From what I have read, Royal will be getting a chance to redeem himself after the lost season he put forth last year. The upside is his 2008 line of nearly 1000 yds and 5 TDs. I am expecting a significantly lower performance, perhaps 600 yds with a handful of TDs. Combining that production with his historical numbers as a return man place him squarely in the WR3 tier. Since I’m getting him at a WR4 price, I think it’s worth the gamble.
10.05 Ben Roethlisberger, QB, PIT In the last three years, Roethlisberger has been ranked #4, #22, and #3 as his position in PPG. He will likely be suspended for the first 4 weeks of the season, but that shouldn’t affect him once he returns. It isn’t often one can take a guy who puts up those kind of numbers as the 15th QB off the board. McNabb would’ve been another consideration had he dropped.
11.10 Lance Briggs, LB, CHI Briggs is a proven low-end LB1. He has averaged at least 7.8 ppg for each of the last 6 years, and at age 29, his physical prime has not yet fully passed. I really like having 2 very reliable IDPs around which I can try fliers, and Briggs will join Beason as part of this year’s core. This is the 4th year of 5 in which I have owned Briggs in my RIFC league (and the latest I’ve drafted him), so there’s clearly something that draws me. I seriously contemplated picking up Thomas Jones as a handcuff at this spot, but decided to take a risk. This is probably something that I’ll look back upon negatively at the conclusion of the draft, but what’s done is done.
12.05 David Garrard, QB, JAC Garrard may not offer the upside of the other QBs available, but he is tremendously consistent year in and year out. The WR corps is gradually improving (though it still has a ways to go), and despite some rumors to the contrary his starting job looks to be safe. Since Big Ben is going to be out for the first 5 weeks (including bye), I wanted to lock down my preferred backup before the long wait until my next pick.
13.10 Bernard Scott, RB, CIN As two of my first three RBs shared a bye week, I wanted to pick up another RB to cover me for those situations. Cincinnati likes to run the ball, and I’m of the opinion that Cedric Benson is much more a product of his environment than the other way around. Even if Benson stays healthy and productive, Scott should see a handful of carries every game. In addition, he is a good kick returner and has solid matchups during the bye weeks for my starters. As it turned out, I think I should’ve waited one more round to draft him because I was hoping to grab Tyvon Branch around the turn. Youngroman denied me that opportunity, so I was forced to change plans on the fly.
14.05 Brian Dawkins, DB, DEN I had no positions here where I felt I could not wait and get pretty much the same value, so I went for an IDP since depth is a littler nicer there than elsewhere at this point. Dawkins put up 8 ppg in his first Denver year. I don’t expect him to keep up that pace, but it’ll be nice to own the former Eagle.
15.10 Louis Murphy, WR, OAK Louis Murphy was the best WR in Oakland last year as a rookie, easily outperforming the 1st rounder Heyward-Bey. Now that he has a QB capable of throwing the ball, I expect a significant boost in performance. Whether or not that boost makes him relevant fantasy-wise is the question, and I can’t say for certain which way it will end up.
16.05 New England Patriots DEF The Patriots were a respectable though unexciting fantasy defense a year ago as they embarked on their transition away from the veteran group that had helped them win their Super Bowls. Another year should only enhance the unit’s performance. It doesn’t hurt that the QBs in their division are quite weak on the whole. I also strongly considered the Giants, Bengals, and Dolphins.
17.10 Clint Session, LB, IND Session is another returning LB to my team. The WLB spot in Indy has produced good fantasy players dating back to Cato June, and Session continued the tradition last year. I probably would’ve gone with Gary Brackett here had he not had the injury scare the night before. The Giants DEF may have been appealing had they made it 5 more picks.
18.05 David Akers, K, PHI Akers has been a top 3 kicker for both of the last two years. I believe in the talent that has been aggregated in Philadelphia on the offensive side of the ball. Also, Akers has a late bye week that is not common on my team thus far, particularly in comparison to the others I was considering. At this point in the draft, I see value in grabbing a highly projected kicker instead of grabbing IDP #5 or DEF #2.
19.10 Anthony Gonzalez, WR, IND Gonzalez was a top sleeper pick going into last year until he hurt his knee and the Colts decided to lie to everyone for 15 weeks. According to the news reports, he’s still not 100%, but if he regains the role he was supposed to fill last year, he will significantly outperform this draft slot. A high risk high reward pick, which is what I want at this point in the draft.
20.05 Miami Dolphins DEF I think the Dolphins defense will take a step forward this year. Their young secondary is a year older and more experienced, and they brought in Karlos Dansby to be a difference maker in the front 7. If it doesn’t happen, then I’ll drop them for another team after a few weeks.
21.10 Ellis Hobbs, DB, PHI Had been targeting Bulluck and Bradie James as late game LBs, but they went off the board. Back in his NE days, Hobbs was a top DB performer, combining a starting job with consistent kick return performance. He got knocked out for the season early last year but seems to have recovered enough that the Eagles felt comfortable trading away [undrafted]. Hopefully that means he will be back to his old tricks as a CB/KR. Since the pick was made, the Eagles have declared him the primary kick returner.
22.05 Mewelde Moore, RB, PIT He’s the clear #2 RB in Pittsburgh, so I picked him up as a handcuff. I drafted him now rather than later because I didn’t yet have other targets picked out.
23.10 John Abraham, DE, ATL He has produced fairly well in the past when healthy and faces the statue known as Byron Leftwich in Week 1.
24.05 Mario Haggan, LB, DEN Wanted another LB for lineup flexibility. Haggan will be the other ILB in Denver next to DJ Williams, so he should have a good number of chances. I have no idea if he’ll convert them or not. He may not even be on my roster by Week 1, but he’ll do for now.
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