With 4 RB’s already, missing a kicker, wr4, dl etc., what was I thinking drafting a guy who is listed 4th on the Panthers depth chart. Well, as far as I can tell, Davis will be available in week 1, when healthy he rushes for 1400 yds and the coaches have been non-committal at best, from what I have read. Maybe there is more out there as he fell to the 15th round. Still, K and DL can wait. There is huge upside to this pick. Hey, he took his entire posse to Vegas (like 27 guys), he must still think he has something left in the tank at 30.

Over the last 6 games of 2004, Cooley averaged 4 catches for 33 yards and scored 3 TD's. That's not wildly remarkable, but consider that only 4 TE's scored more TD's than Cooley last season. He was a rookie and seemed to get better as the season went on. My feeling is that he will be a Top 12 TE this season. Big whoop, I suppose, but if you don't have Gates, Gonzo, or Witten you take what you get. After having Gates AND Gonzo last season, I will suck it up and play "crappy TE roulette" in `05.

Hope I don't end up being as upset with myself over this pick as I currently am. Just not real happy with it, but I needed a back up QB and believe he does have the potential to put up some numbers. So, guess this is more of a wing and a prayer pick.

Having been annointed as first-in-line to replace Domminick Davis when (not if) he goes down, I jumped on this 25 yr old rookie out of OK State. I wanted to acquire a sizable stable of RB and WR during the draft. Many of the bottom teams raced into the RIBC playoffs last year based on in season pickups of reserves, ergo, my late round draft picks will focus on unknown (at the pro level) and talented, but unproven players in an attempt to grab reserves that might see some playing time during the season.

Biggest surprise - Patrick Ramsey at 15.09. I know the QB's pickings were slim, but living in DC, I get to see first hand how bad Ramsey is.

Just like Gibril Wilson, his 2004 season stats don’t tell the story. He started the season playing solely in nickel and dime formations, but was promoted to starter at SS for the final 5 games, and if you multiply those 5 games by three (to estimate a full season) you get 108 solos, 18 assists, 3 sacks, 3 INTs, 6 PDs… similar fantasy numbers to what I predict for Gibril and other top DBs. I’ve actually been adding both of these guys in most of my drafts this year, figuring at least one of them will live up to the billing. So now, between my 2 LBs and these 2 DBs, I should now be covered all season long with studly production from my LB, DB, and flex IDP slots.

I waited and waited to grab my least favorite position. I was going to take LJ Smith if he was around and waited 1 round to many for that. Putzier was actually reasonably high on my list and fell to me this far down. He's no Shannon Sharpe, but he is a Denver TE. Stephen Alexander is around, but I've owned Stephen Alexander before and I know I don't have much to fear from him.

I figured it was about time to handcuff Rudi. Would someone else have taken him? I don't know, but I'd already seen a few other cuffs robbed so I figured I'd take him now just to be sure.

When I passed on Stover last round for Davis, I really didn’t expect to see him available but he made it back. I had resigned myself to K nightmares but with Stover I get a top 6 guy whose bye works out well. I was as close as anyone can be to pulling the trigger on William Green, who has been starting pre-season games but I wanted a solid K before my 6th RB.

This pick became one of necessity with my next pick. I knew I was going to be gone all day Sunday. Did not expect both choices to go before I got back online, so figured it was easier to just do a queue of the group of DBs that I felt were fairly close to each other. Had Davis listed as my #6.

One thing I have realized, is at this point in the draft, all my eggs are now in Kerry Collins basket. Hopefully my rationale from round 4 holds up, because the pickings for a backup that could do anything is getting very slim.

I considered a second defense with this pick, but decided that the list of QBs was getting pretty thin, so I decided to get one before all of the NFL starters were gone.

At this point I felt the need to take a DL since most of the top ones were already taken a few rounds ago. Schobel was my best option based on performance last year and bye weeks. He's real active on that Buffalo defense which should have another good season.

The other player I considered was Ronald Curry. I’m a Raiders fan, I love this guy, and figured he might be a good backup in case Jerry Porter gets injured. Still, Jones was just too appealing of an opportunity to pass on. Besides, I have Curry on all of my legacy teams, I needed variety (actually I have both Curry AND Jones on one of them). Curry went 2 picks later…

I don't know much about Witherspoon or Wilson really. I noticed them near the top of remaining players on a few lists, and double-checked to make sure they weren't injured (Wilson is listed as injured on 'Zona's website, but I can't find much more about it, so I assume it's minor) and were still listed as first string. Good enough for me!

Well, at this point I’m pretty much just covering byes, adding depth, etc… and there was nobody left I felt I needed to grab who I couldn’t get a round or two (or three or four) later. Over half the teams still needed to grab Ks, so even though there’s not much difference between them all at this point, I figured I might as well snag one who I like... who also happens to kick in a dome. Could be advantageous come December. I think the Rams will put up a lot of points this year, so he should provide some consistent points, but I don't expect a massive number of field goals. Still, I feel he's bound to score at least as well as most of the other kicker's who are still available at this point. [edit: I got nervous when it looked like his knee bent backwards in tonight's game... but he came on for a few more FGs after that, so it seems all is well in Whoville. No rhyme or reason for the Grinch reference... just felt like it.]

On my radar, the best player available at this point. Considering Bubba Franks might be the most inconsistent scorer at the TE position, this was my first pick with the doubleheader in mind. I figure I can throw Pollard and Franks both out there, and hope for the best, and then if it comes down to a close game, a zero from Bubba not might kill me. Just worth a shot. After both their bye weeks are done, I probably will drop one for more depth somewhere else.

This became my second DB in a row when I ended up with problems and didn't get back on line as I thought I would. Don't feel too bad about it, as I see him as the #9 DB. Really expect him to be active for the Cleveland D.

18.01 Dallas Cowboys, DEF
Had the "Boys" last year, and their SoS and injuries to key players made it really hard for them to put up good #s. Last year, I dealt them away early and road out Atlanta then moved over to the Bills. Just goes to prove how you just never know with defences. I wanted a 2nd Option with potential, in order to play matchups. I also was considering heavily the Vikings, who went off with the next pick.

I like Northcutt as a fill in as he has potential to explode on any given week. Obviously the Browns are a play action team who throws the ball deep. Also, he returns punts. Not real happy about the QB or about the Browns in general, but now that I own 3 Browns, looks like I am hoping for 1) a foolish commitment to the running game that 2) leads to being down 21-3 in the 3rd quarter so that they have to start throwing the ball and 3) the opponent puts in the second team and punts a lot. But of course, only on the bye weeks when I need them. Man, If only I could really draw this stuff up.

Biggest surprise - Nick Goings at 18.06. He was the 4th RB from Carolina drafted...has that ever happened in a fantasy league before?

I could bore you with thoughts on Kyle Boller’s maturity, and the fact he has more weapons, but there is one reason I picked this bum- not only was he one of the few starters left, but he plays Detroit in week 5 when Kerry Collins is smoking cigars on his bye week. In a dome, against a weaker defense…hopefully he doesn’t throw 5 INT’s. Other than that, he can rot on my bench wishing he was as cool as Kerry Collins.

Biggest Surprise - Wesley Welker at 19.04. I like Doug's rationale for getting him, but it was still a surprise pick to me.

I felt compelled to have a 3rd LB at this point. I was looking for a guy who gets his share of tackles. Big Al's name stuck out to me because he was solely responsible for one of my losses in another league last year. He had a monster game with a TD return (on a Monday night IIRC), it was absolute torture watching him get the pick and score.

IIRC I drafted Jeffy last season as well. I have no particular affinity towards him. It's just that if you wait forever to take a kicker and your one rule is that they have to play in a dome your likely to end up with him I guess.

Biggest surprise - Troy Williamson at 20.06. Good upside pick, which is what you are looking for late in the draft, but Robinson and Taylor were still around and are ahead on the depth chart (for the time being).

I had Scott ranked in the top couple of DB’s but I see he made the switch to FS from SS. Not sure what that will do to his close to 100 tackles. I figure I can use him to spell both LB as a flex and my DB. We will see how it works as a roster efficiency move.

Minnesota is supposed to be good, right? Daunte, ok too? Well, his bye week sucks which is why I didn’t draft Marcus rounds ago but in the 21st round the WR2 for Minny being available is puzzling. In Chicago he was not a factor as their QB’s kinda sucked. The 21 st round seems like a good round for this kind of high upside pick/ he might be dropped soon to fill bye issues.

I type these up and I just shake my head and laugh. Not because I think I'm a hilarious kind of guy, but because I marvel at how some of you guys can come up with actual analysis and real thought for guys taken beyond the say 17th round. I know, Motley, you took Gates in the 18th round last year (how many times have you slipped that into one of these rationales, we GET it ;)