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Subject: RIFC AAA#2 draft recaps
Posted by: russelldl
- [28533110] Thu, Aug 31, 2006, 09:46
Ok, start recapping!!
I won't make any suggestions as far as what to put in. You guys know how to recap and you can make them as short or as long as you want.
Enjoy! |
| 1 | Nerfherders
ID: 501035289
Thu, Aug 31, 2006, 13:27
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Draft Recap
1. The strategy
I’m one of those kind of drafters without a real strategy going in. I usually target specific positions based on the needs of my team at the time and how the draft is going along. Sometimes I will skip that position if I feel the talent isn’t up to par with the draft slot. Generally, this is how I draft:
Round 1: RB #1
Round 2: RB #2
Round 3: WR/TE (Gates)
Round 4: QB
Round 5: WR/TE
Round 6: WR
Round 7: LB
Round 8: #3 RB
Round 9-15 IDP/DEF
Round 15-24 Backups/Fillers/Kicker
2. The outcome
I did pretty well and in fact drafted the player I was targeting in each of the first 6 rounds. The biggest blow came later when it came to light that Davis was hurt enough to possibly go to IR. This is one of the problems with starting a draft so early. At the time Davis was fine and a great pick at 2.08. Now it might sink my season. Other than Davis I like my starting squad. They are pretty much all good players.
Reaches: I reached a little for McNabb. I might have been able to get him in 5th round but I didn’t want to take the chance. I think he will be back to his normal ways and I’m really liking him now that he has Stallworth to stretch the defense. The Eagles defense was a big reach at that spot but I really believe they will put it all back together. They have most of the returning secondary and linebackers from a year ago and they bulked up the defensive line. The key to the Eagles blitzing scheme is having depth at DL where they can keep fresh pass rushers in the game at all times. Last year they didn’t have that depth and they suffered.
Steals: I can’t think of any real steals in the draft. I picked every player pretty much on target. I think that Mark Clayton will have a big year with a real QB throwing to him. Coles will be better as long as Pennington is healthy. I could potentially have three 1000 yard WR which would be a first for any fantasy football team I’ve been involved with. Chris Brown and Derrick Blaylock are two potential starting RB that I almost need to succeed, so I’m hoping they are steals as well.
3. My chances
Last year I had a much worse draft and would have won the league if not for the AA point discrepancy that gave points for return yardage to team defense. My #1 was Dillon he wasn’t much of anything. #2 was Westbrook who missed the last 4 games of the season. #3 was Gonzalez and he was merely the second-best TE. My best player was Tom Brady. The rest of the team was cobbled together week to week and managed to win anyways. So really you cant predict this stuff. A lot depends on injuries, a lot depends on your matchups and the timing of those matchups. That being said, coming out of this draft I think I have as good of a chance as anyone. My team is well rounded and the IDP has some nice depth. I worry about my RB situation and my depth at WR and QB so I cant have any injuries.
Remaining rationales
8.08 Chris Brown (RB) – I was looking for a #3 RB and almost could not believe he was still on the board. One usually does not find a starting RB in the 8th round. Hopefully he keeps that job because I might be losing my #2 RB for the season.
9.07 Derrick Brooks LB – He’s been a good linebacker for a long time and the only thing holding him back from scoring a lot of points is his increasing age. This was a pretty easy pick here.
10.08 Michael Strahan DL – I wanted Jason Taylor here but he was picked just a bit earlier. Strahan is one of the best DL around so I won’t lose too much if anything with him in this spot.
11.07 Mark Clayton WR – A potential steal of my draft. He broke out a bit last year with Boller throwing to him so I’m looking forward to seeing how he works with McNair. He’s got 1100 – 10 potential.
12.08 Brian Dawkins DB – Year in year out one of the best DB’s in the league. Possibly the best free safety of the last 10 years. Only question is his age, but I think he’s got one or two great years left in him.
13.07 Gary Brackett LB – I don’t know anything about this guy but he plays middle linebacker and makes a lot of tackles. And tackles equals points. So there you go.
14.08 Philadelphia Eagles (DEF) – A big reach here but I explained above why I took them here.
15.07 Samie Parker WR – There wasn’t a lot of WR left and this one has a starting job in a good offense so I figure he could fill in for bye weeks and injuries if need be. Not really expecting much here.
16.08 Jeff Wilkins K – Wilkins was the kicker I was targeting. I looked at his percentages of 40+ kicks over the last few years and he’s about as good as it gets. He plays at least 8 games in a dome which also helps. Rackers was tempting but his year last year was nothing like his previous seasons. A bit more of a risk imo.
17.07 Champ Bailey DB – I couldn’t believe he was still on the board. He finished last season with a top 5 points/game among DB. He’s good enough I might actually use him in the IDP slot over one of the LB.
18.08 Jerry Porter WR – High risk/reward pick but not so much at 18th round. If he starts every game this is a great pick and if he doesn’t, oh well probably a decent 5th WR anyways. I Couldn’t go wrong here.
19.07 JP Losman QB – QB #2 was a problem. I wanted a 4th tier guy in the likes of Brad Johnson, Brett Favre, etc but they were taken earlier than I wanted. The pick of Losman basically came down to the fact that he’s young, he’s starting, and he has a pretty decent matchup (at home vs GB) during McNabb’s bye week. If McNabb goes down it could be a Loseman season. Haha!
20.08 Denver Broncos DEF – This would have been even a solid pick at 14th. The Broncos always seem to have a good defense. Between the two teams I should find the matchups to score well in this slot.
21.07 Derrick Blaylock RB – With the news of Davis possible drop to IR I was scrambling to find any backups who could potentially play this year. Blaylock was one of the few with a good chance at starting for the Jets. How he will do is anyone’s guess. One doesn’t expect much at 21st round but for me I almost need him to succeed.
22.08 Joey Porter LB – A classic pass rushing LB in the mold of Derrick Thomas. Gets more points for sacks and big plays than he does from the every-day tackles of most LB. Should be good in the IDP slot.
23.07 Michael Bennett RB – As a Chiefs fan the last thing I want is for LJ to go down, but if he does Bennett might do a good job in his stead. He’s been a #1 RB before but injuries have held him back. He was about the only #2 RB left on the board at this point.
24.08 Trent Cole DL – Cole started halfway through last season and did a good job in his rookie year so I expect to see improvement. The only potential problem I have is that I drafted him as a DL and he’s listed at LB in AOL. Not sure how that works for football. If Cole stays LB only he’s not really worth keeping.
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| 2 | Bandos
Sustainer
ID: 279492419
Sat, Sep 02, 2006, 10:40
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Well, I have to admit that, for a variety of reasons, I just didn't put the time into the research the way I have in the past. Certainly not as much as baseball (but considering how well I do in the RIBC formats, maybe next year I'll wing that one too!)
So yeah, kinda just felt my way through this draft. My draft was so unlike my previous football drafts and so unusual in this group. In the past when I shouldn't have, I have taken DP early. I maybe should have in this draft and didn't I was surprised initially by the amount of IDP taken and how early, but when I did the math it made a lot of sense. By that time there was no value there and much elsewhere so I just kept on putting it off.
I guess I followed my intital plan of shoring up RB ealry and often, waiting on a QB as long as was possible, having good depth at WR but not necessarily overpay for a superstar. Otherwise look for value.
Team strengths: I love my RB situation. With Lundy looking like a starter I have 4 starting RB's and Reggie Bush, who seems poised to do it all. That alone has to cause scarcity for others and puts me in a good spot to make trades if need be. I was happy to get the WR that I got especially as late as I got them. No one is gonna win a week for me alone the way a Moss might (or he might kill you as a past 2 year owner) but they are #1's or PR/KR who will put up consistent points. I was very happy to get Randle El so late. Team D is obviously great for me as I really stretched to get CHI in the 6th round. With points against being a new point category I remember winning all those under bets in CHItown with those 7-3 or 10-7 scores. They only got better. I will be shocked if a healthy NE D isn’t in the top 10 by the end of the year. Frankly, had I known that I could get NE in the 20th round, I might have skipped CHI and joined that IDP run (11/18 picks).
Weaknesses: QB and IDP. I took both very late. Still Smith, Simmons and Peterson were in several top 30 listings that I saw and went a bit higher in the other drafts. MY DB’s are top notch but I just don’t know how it will all play out. As far as QB, I had Warner/Brees targeted and was about to take them then news from both camps caused me to pause and wait one more round – then they were gone. Favre is Favre – not sure how good GB will or won’t be. Rivers seems to be everyones sleeper pick. I might be okay here or I might need to trade some depth to upgrade QB/LB.
Other teams: I can’t really tell as I do not know what the impact of the IDP rule change will be. If there is a huge difference between those that got lots of LB early, than those teams will do well. If it remains a RB/WR dominated league, I might have a chance.
I was very encouraged by Promize’s projections. The last three years I have had the all projections team in RIBC and ended up 12th, 10th and now I’m currently at 7th :) The all-projection team is a kiss of death for me.
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| 3 | Kyle
ID: 52753312
Tue, Sep 05, 2006, 00:54
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I know it's a little late for this but it's better late than never.
1. What was your plan/strategy entering the draft? Were you able to execute as you had planned?
My strategy for all my drafts are fairly similar, draft RB-RB-QB. Or at the worst finish the first 3 rounds with 2 RBs. I feel the drop off after 42 picks of RB quality is significant and you have to almost draft a backup and hope for injury. Last year I got lucky trading for Willie, and I like his chances of doing better this year without Bettis.
I also wanted to get 2 pocket QBs. I didn’t follow this strategy last year and it killed me (C-Pep and Leftwich). I like the protection that both my guys should get this year, and I don’t think I have to worry about a Manning getting hurt. Peyt hasn’t missed a game due to injury, maybe it’s in the genes.
After I got my 2 RBs and QB, I focused on WR, TE and Team Def. Last year my WRs and T-Def (S. Smith, Plax, Carolina) won games single handedly for me so I never underestimate the ability of these positions. I like to get #1s on the teams they play for even when it comes to my backups. This strategy may come to backfire, but if it works in the past, why not continue? I am still not sure how to draft IDPs. Last year they hurt me with good and bad performances. I never had a consistent player week in and week out. I hope Merriman will change that for me. The main thing I looked at was constancy in tackles each week. I am impressed with everyone’s ability to scout IDPs and pick the ones I wanted before I did. Bravo!
2. What were your favorite picks? Which do you wish you could do over?
I really like the Westbrook pick. I was hoping he fell to me, but I wasn’t to surprised by when he did because I know he’s injury prone. Hopefully I can get a good solid 12-14 weeks from him, and he can help at least push me into the playoff picture. Barlow was also a nice surprise in Round 10. This was right after he was traded. I feel he would have gone in round 6 or 7 if he had been on the Jets as a #1 back from the start of the draft. The luck of the slow draft, because I wasn’t even looking backup RB at that point. To have 3 starters in non-RBBC is fairly exciting, but the luster is slowly losing it’s shine when I see Mangini is taking a cue for Belicheck and not listing who he likes to start the season. Whatever. I still like the pick. I also like McMicheal in the 7th round. He was the 9th TE drafted and I think he’ll put up big numbers week in and week out. I mean look at Kleinsasser 2 years ago with Daunte. He loves his TEs, almost as much as a fat kid loves cake.
3. Looking over all of the teams, which ones do you like the most (other than your own)?
I think we are all evenly balanced with some holes and some strong points. It was a well drafted league.
4. What surprised you most about the draft?
The lack of a really dominant team coming out of it. Usually it looks like one team will just own everyone, only to get decimated by injuries and come back down to earth. Also the IDP research. That was well done by all I believe.
5. If you could start over, would you do anything differently?
Draft some IDPs earlier more than often, like I did. I would have liked to focus more on backups in 15-24 than IDPs. But you live you learn. I like my team, I liked my draft position for the ease it brought me, I liked the guys who kept the draft moving, I like Russell for taking this league and making it work even when it kinda got a rocky start. I say 3 cheers for Russell. And we’re doubling you wage you are earning for this (Twice of nothing is…)
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