The 2012 "Rate My Draft" Thread

[Mr. White]

I drew #3 in a 10-team, 16 round snake draft. I usually start with 2 RB's, but I went BPA instead this time for the first 3 rounds.

1. Ray Rice
2. Cam Newton
3. Rob Gronkowski
4. Trent Richardson
5. Steve Smith (CAR)
6. Demariyus Thomas
7. BenJarvus Green-Ellis
8. Philip Rivers
9. Tony Gonzalez
10. Michael Crabtree
11. Sebastian Janikowski
12. Steelers DST
13. Darius Heyward-Bey
14. Falcons DST
15. Greg Little
16. Bernard Pierce

It seems like there wasn't a whole lot to choose from, but I say that every year.

I also used a new FF service this time around. Their waiver wire advice was great last year, but I didn't get to use them for the draft.

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by Mr. White

I drew #3 in a 10-team, 16 round snake draft. I usually start with 2 RB's, but I went BPA instead this time for the first 3 rounds.

1. Ray Rice
2. Cam Newton
3. Rob Gronkowski
4. Trent Richardson
5. Steve Smith (CAR)
6. Demariyus Thomas
7. BenJarvus Green-Ellis
8. Philip Rivers
9. Tony Gonzalez
10. Michael Crabtree
11. Sebastian Janikowski
12. Steelers DST
13. Darius Heyward-Bey
14. Falcons DST
15. Greg Little
16. Bernard Pierce

It seems like there wasn't a whole lot to choose from, but I say that every year.

I also used a new FF service this time around. Their waiver wire advice was great last year, but I didn't get to use them for the draft.

Richardson and Green-Ellis both seem fairly high and why draft 2 DST's much less 1? I'm not saying there is only one way to draft but typically there are anywhere from 15 to 22 DST units available after a draft and why not use those picks on skill players who might have a good preseason? Riding match ups (say whoever was playing the Colts in a given week last year) will still get you a ton of points.

[Blake]

12 Team standard. Picked #6.

Went McCoy 1, Cam 2, Green 3, Jones 4, Finley 5, Bradshaw 6, Texans D 7, Blackmon 8, DWilliams 9, Akers 10, Wilson 11, RWilliams 12, Wright 13, Giants D 14, Moss 15, Flynn 16, Lewis 17.

QB Cam Newton, Car QB
RB LeSean McCoy, Phi RB
RB Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG RB P
WR A.J. Green, Cin WR
WR Julio Jones, Atl WR
WR Justin Blackmon, Jac WR
TE Jermichael Finley, GB TE P
D/ST Texans D/ST D/ST
K David Akers, SF K

Bench DeAngelo Williams, Car RB
Bench David Wilson, NYG RB
Bench Ryan Williams, Ari RB P
Bench Kendall Wright, Ten WR
Bench Giants D/ST D/ST
Bench Santana Moss, Wsh WR
Bench Matt Flynn, Sea QB
Bench Dion Lewis, Phi RB

[Ryan]

12 team league. Picked 5th. PPR.

Starting lineup:
QB Aaron Rodgers(1st round pick)
WR Larry Fitzgerald(2nd round pick)
WR Jeremy Maclin(5th round pick)
RB Trent Richardson(3rd round pick)
RB Darren Sproles(4th round pick)
TE Tony Gonzalez(10th round pick)
W/R Antonio Brown(6th round pick)
K Robbie Gould(15th round)
D/ST Seattle(11th round)

Bench:
Peyton Hillis
David Wilson
Reggie Wayne
Ryan Fitzpatrick
James Starks
Mario Manningham

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by Blake

12 Team standard. Picked #6.

Went McCoy 1, Cam 2, Green 3, Jones 4, Finley 5, Bradshaw 6, Texans D 7, Blackmon 8, DWilliams 9, Akers 10, Wilson 11, RWilliams 12, Wright 13, Giants D 14, Moss 15, Flynn 16, Lewis 17.

QB Cam Newton, Car QB
RB LeSean McCoy, Phi RB
RB Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG RB P
WR A.J. Green, Cin WR
WR Julio Jones, Atl WR
WR Justin Blackmon, Jac WR
TE Jermichael Finley, GB TE P
D/ST Texans D/ST D/ST
K David Akers, SF K

Bench DeAngelo Williams, Car RB
Bench David Wilson, NYG RB
Bench Ryan Williams, Ari RB P
Bench Kendall Wright, Ten WR
Bench Giants D/ST D/ST
Bench Santana Moss, Wsh WR
Bench Matt Flynn, Sea QB
Bench Dion Lewis, Phi RB

Not a big fan of Bradshaw as an RB, but Giants RB's are hard to pin down from year to year anyway. I'm also not a big fan of rookie WR's (Usually only 1 or 2 end up being good their rookie year). Boom or bust team.

Originally Posted by Ryan

12 team league. Picked 5th. PPR.

Starting lineup:
QB Aaron Rodgers(1st round pick)
WR Larry Fitzgerald(2nd round pick)
WR Jeremy Maclin(5th round pick)
RB Trent Richardson(3rd round pick)
RB Darren Sproles(4th round pick)
TE Tony Gonzalez(10th round pick)
W/R Antonio Brown(6th round pick)
K Robbie Gould(15th round)
D/ST Seattle(11th round)

Bench:
Peyton Hillis
David Wilson
Reggie Wayne
Ryan Fitzpatrick
James Starks
Mario Manningham

How was Richardson at catching the ball out of the backfield at 'bama? I know hillis isn't going to get a lot of passes out of the backfield but in a PPR league RB's that catch the ball a lot are pretty valuable as well. I think Wayne is going to end up with more catches than Maclin but other than that seems decent all around.

I still hate seeing people draft DST's with anything other than the last pick if at all. Those spots could be late round flyers on guys who could contribute more and there's almost certainly a defense or 5 that didn't get picked this year that are going to be stellar. It always happens like that.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by b0ng

How was Richardson at catching the ball out of the backfield at 'bama? I know hillis isn't going to get a lot of passes out of the backfield but in a PPR league RB's that catch the ball a lot are pretty valuable as well. I think Wayne is going to end up with more catches than Maclin but other than that seems decent all around.

I still hate seeing people draft DST's with anything other than the last pick if at all. Those spots could be late round flyers on guys who could contribute more and there's almost certainly a defense or 5 that didn't get picked this year that are going to be stellar. It always happens like that.

Richardson can do it all. If he's healthy I bet he can touch the ball well over 300 times this year including 40-50 times catching.

Drafting a D/ST at that spot is really not much of a risk at all. I let people get all the big name defenses like the Texans and the Niners early and just grabbed a solid defense late(I was the second to last person to pick a defense). I don't have any ties to be forced to keep Seattle if they're doing poorly and i usually pick up 4 or 5 different defenses during the year during bye weeks and bad matchups.

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by Ryan

Richardson can do it all. If he's healthy I bet he can touch the ball well over 300 times this year including 40-50 times catching.

Drafting a D/ST at that spot is really not much of a risk at all. I let people get all the big name defenses like the Texans and the Niners early and just grabbed a solid defense late(I was the second to last person to pick a defense). I don't have any ties to be forced to keep Seattle if they're doing poorly and i usually pick up 4 or 5 different defenses during the year during bye weeks and bad matchups.

I just waiver wire defenses and go by match-ups unless I grab a defense that gets hot. Last year my "Pick up defenses playing against the Colts" strategy worked pretty damn well about 12 of the 16 weeks of the football season. That 11th rounder in my league could've been one of Robert Meachem, Justin Blackmon, Ben Roethlisberger, Santonio Holmes, all kinds of guys that could possibly be a nice sleeper.

There will still be defenses and special teams units that will probably put up 140 - 160 points this year that did not get drafted.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by b0ng

I just waiver wire defenses and go by match-ups unless I grab a defense that gets hot. Last year my "Pick up defenses playing against the Colts" strategy worked pretty damn well about 12 of the 16 weeks of the football season. That 11th rounder in my league could've been one of Robert Meachem, Justin Blackmon, Ben Roethlisberger, Santonio Holmes, all kinds of guys that could possibly be a nice sleeper.

There will still be defenses and special teams units that will probably put up 140 - 160 points this year that did not get drafted.

None of those guys were available at that point. Some of the sleeper QBs i wanted were gone although i still got Fitz in the 13th i believe. Seemed like the best option. A good defense won't win you many games in fantasy, but a bad one can certainly lose it for you. Playing matchups is no guarantee. I played the Vikings D last year against the Broncos and Tebow last year and got a nice -3 and a loss.

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by Ryan

None of those guys were available at that point. Some of the sleeper QBs i wanted were gone although i still got Fitz in the 13th i believe. Seemed like the best option. A good defense won't win you many games in fantasy, but a bad one can certainly lose it for you. Playing matchups is no guarantee. I played the Vikings D last year against the Broncos and Tebow last year and got a nice -3 and a loss.

Why would you knowingly play the Vikings defense last year? Even without hindsight that's just a bad idea all around for last year. The idea behind match-ups is that you want to play a team that is going up against a terrible offensive team. The Broncos may have qualified for that at some points last year but the Colts/Browns/Jaguars/Bucs were all consistently terrible on offense and pumped up otherwise mediocre defenses to 20 point games for them.

If you could, I'd love to see what got taken in the 11th and 12th rounds of your draft. I'm absolutely sure there's a player on those lists that will have a shot at getting you a decent amount of points that could even be considered trade bait for people who are desperate. Picking a DST in a draft is for suckers.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by b0ng

Why would you knowingly play the Vikings defense last year? Even without hindsight that's just a bad idea all around for last year. The idea behind match-ups is that you want to play a team that is going up against a terrible offensive team. The Broncos may have qualified for that at some points last year but the Colts/Browns/Jaguars/Bucs were all consistently terrible on offense and pumped up otherwise mediocre defenses to 20 point games for them.

If you could, I'd love to see what got taken in the 11th and 12th rounds of your draft. I'm absolutely sure there's a player on those lists that will have a shot at getting you a decent amount of points that could even be considered trade bait for people who are desperate. Picking a DST in a draft is for suckers.

1.

Green Bay(GB - DEF)



2.

Alex Smith(SF - QB)



3.

Denarius Moore(Oak - WR)



4.

Matt Flynn(Sea - QB)



5.

Andy Dalton(Cin - QB)



6.

Nate Burleson(Det - WR)



7.

Seattle(Sea - DEF)



8.

Matt Cassel(KC - QB)


9.

Josh Freeman(TB - QB)


10.

Kansas City(KC - DEF)



11.

Darrius Heyward-Bey(Oak - WR)



12.

Coby Fleener(Ind - TE)


Only person i would have considered taking is Heyward-Bey but i felt good about my receivers. There is a lot of chopped liver in those picks. I wanted Dalton but he didn't fall to me.

[Dutchrudder]

I like Coby Fleener, I think he could be a sleeper TE this year.

[b0ng]

I would've taken a flyer on DHB in that draft, over a DST possibly Freeman as well if I felt like taking a chance. Either way the amount of DST units that are usually left over in FA and how little separation there is between their outputs means you can get away with slamming it if you aren't able to snag a hot one off the wire.

[gtexan02]

I majorly died in my draft. Heres my team (auction league is just so freaking hard)

QB: Eli Manning
RB1: Adrian Peterson
RB2: Trent Richardson
WR/RB: Reggie Bush
WR1: Steve Johnson
WR2: Vincent Jackson
TE: Tony Gonzalez
DST: Texans
Kicker: Garrett Hartley

Bench1: Toby Gerhart (handcuff for AP)
Bench2: Reggie Wayne

[Mr. White]

Originally Posted by b0ng

Why would you knowingly play the Vikings defense last year? Even without hindsight that's just a bad idea all around for last year. The idea behind match-ups is that you want to play a team that is going up against a terrible offensive team. The Broncos may have qualified for that at some points last year but the Colts/Browns/Jaguars/Bucs were all consistently terrible on offense and pumped up otherwise mediocre defenses to 20 point games for them.

If you could, I'd love to see what got taken in the 11th and 12th rounds of your draft. I'm absolutely sure there's a player on those lists that will have a shot at getting you a decent amount of points that could even be considered trade bait for people who are desperate. Picking a DST in a draft is for suckers.

This hasn't been my experience at all. In a 16 round draft, picks 9-16 are pretty much a crapshoot IMO. The way to build a roster that'll make it to the playoffs is to minimize risk.

I think there's a lot less risk involved in taking a proven DST. Otherwise you're stuck a bum WR3 or RB3 and pray that they get the ball. Since that hardly ever happens, then you have to pray even harder that the guy in front of them goes out for the season.

Not to mention I've yet to participate in a league where every owner doesn't draft for DST.

[gtexan02]

Which team do you think had the best draft?

Team 1
QB Matthew Stafford
RB Matt Forte
RB Darren McFadden
RB/WR Stevan Ridley
WR Brandon Marshall
WR Mike Wallace
TE Fred Davis
D/ST Packers D/ST
K Jason Hanson
BE Philip Rivers
BE Isaac Redman

Team 2
QB Michael Vick
RB Ahmad Bradshaw
RB BenJarvus Green Ellis
RB/WR Larry Fitzgerald
WR Julio Jones
WR Antonio Brown
TE Antonio Gates
D/ST Eagles D/ST
K Mason Crosby
BE Doug Martin
BE Demaryius Thomas

Team 3
QB Tony Romo
RB Marshawn Lynch
RB DeMarco Murray
RB/WR Brandon Lloyd
WR Greg Jennings
WR Dez Bryant
TE Vernon Davis
D/ST 49ers D/ST
K Stephen Gostkowski
BE Ben Roethlisberger
BE Ben Tate

Team 4
QB Matt Ryan
RB Donald Brown
RB Chris Johnson
RB/WR Fred Jackson
WR Denarius Moore
WR Marques Colston
TE Aaron Hernandez
D/ST Seahawks D/ST
K Dan Bailey
BE Jonathan Stewart
BE Torrey Smith

Team 5
QB Tom Brady
RB Steven Jackson
RB Michael Turner
RB/WR DeSean Jackson
WR Steve Smith
WR Dwayne Bowe
TE Jason Witten
D/ST Jets D/ST
K David Akers
BE Eric Decker
BE Jermichael Finley

Team 6
QB Aaron Rodgers
RB Ray Rice
RB Mark Ingram
RB/WR Malcom Floyd
WR Wes Welker
WR Jeremy Maclin
TE Jared Cook
D/ST Falcons D/ST
K Alex Henery
BE Peyton Manning
BE Matt Schaub

Team 7
QB Cam Newton
RB Arian Foster
RB Peyton Hillis
RB/WR Beanie Wells
WR A.J. Green
WR Calvin Johnson
TE Brandon Pettigrew
D/ST Cowboys D/ST
K Robbie Gould
BE Lance Moore
BE LeGarrette Blount

Team 8:
QB Eli Manning
BE Reggie Bush
RB Adrian Peterson
RB/WR Trent Richardson
WR Vincent Jackson
WR Steve Johnson
TE Tony Gonzalez
D/ST Texans D/ST
K Garrett Hartley
RB Toby Gerhart
BE Reggie Wayne

Team 9:
QB Andrew Luck
RB Darren Sproles
RB Willis McGahee
RB/WR Percy Harvin
WR Victor Cruz
WR Andre Johnson
TE Jimmy Graham
D/ST Steelers D/ST
K Matt Prater
BE Roy Helu
BE C.J. Spiller

Team 10:
QB Robert Griffin III
RB Jamaal Charles
RB Ryan Mathews
RB/WR Frank Gore
WR Jordy Nelson
WR Hakeem Nicks
TE Rob Gronkowski
D/ST Ravens D/ST
K Sebastian Janikowski
BE Miles Austin
BE Michael Bush

Team 11:
QB Tim Tebow
RB Maurice Jones-Drew
RB Jahvid Best
RB/WR Santonio Holmes
WR Roddy White
WR Pierre Garcon
TE Jacob Tamme
D/ST Lions D/ST
K Rob Bironas
BE Anquan Boldin
BE James Starks

Team 12:
QB Drew Brees
RB LeSean McCoy
RB Cedric Benson
RB/WR DeAngelo Williams
WR Randy Moss
WR Andre Caldwell
TE Greg Olsen
D/ST Bears D/ST
K Neil Rackers
BE Shonn Greene
BE Robert Meachem

[Dutchrudder]

I would say Team 7 or 6:

QB Cam Newton
RB Arian Foster
RB Peyton Hillis
RB/WR Beanie Wells
WR A.J. Green
WR Calvin Johnson
TE Brandon Pettigrew
D/ST Cowboys D/ST
K Robbie Gould
BE Lance Moore
BE LeGarrette Blount

Team 6
QB Aaron Rodgers
RB Ray Rice
RB Mark Ingram
RB/WR Malcom Floyd
WR Wes Welker
WR Jeremy Maclin
TE Jared Cook
D/ST Falcons D/ST
K Alex Henery
BE Peyton Manning
BE Matt Schaub

Why are there only two bench spots?

[gtexan02]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

Why are there only two bench spots?

I don't really know. I hate it, in reality. The team with Aaron Rodgers got screwed because autodraft chose 2 backup QBs for him. He'll now have to trade or drop them, and both of those guys are valuable

[Dutchrudder]

Originally Posted by gtexan02

I don't really know. I hate it, in reality. The team with Aaron Rodgers got screwed because autodraft chose 2 backup QBs for him. He'll now have to trade or drop them, and both of those guys are valuable

Well, that does tell me that your league has a very deep waiver wire, and that bye weeks could kill a team. If I was in your league, I would strategize to get my best players all on the same bye week and just take the loss. Then start everyone the other 15 weeks and blow everyone away. Use those two bench spots sparingly, but try to pick up good players when they have a big game.

Edit:
So Week 7 is the week that 6 teams are on bye this year. They are: Atlanta, Denver, Kansas City, Miami, Philadelphia, San Diego

In an auction league, I would plan out this sort of roster based on those team's fantasy values. A lineup could be something like this:

QB: Peyton, Matt Ryan or Rivers
RB: McCoy (Must have), Turner, Jamaal Charles, Peyton Hillis, Reggie Bush (if PPR), McGahee
WR: Julio Jones (must have), Roddy White, Dwayne Bowe, Maclin, Djax, Michael Floyd, Davone Bess, some Denver WR nobody cares about
TE: Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez or Celek
K: Take your pick, but I would go with Prater out of this bunch.
DST: Take your pick, I would go with KC or Philly

Starting a full team built around week 7 would annihilate everyone else who will be resting a starter each week. I used this strategy for a draft last year, and it worked out really well for me. Went 11-3 in the regular season and won the playoffs by a hefty margin too.

[majestrate]

Originally Posted by gtexan02

I majorly died in my draft. Heres my team (auction league is just so freaking hard)

Try a 14-team, 16-man roster (10 starting, 6 bench) where bonuses will decimate your opponent (plays >20 yds, plays >40, TDs 50-69yds, TDs >70yds, passing >300, passing >400, passing >450, passing >500, rushing >100, rushing >150, rushing >200, rushing >250, receiving >100, receiving >150, receiving >200, receiving >250)

QB
Flex (QB/RB/WR/TE)
RB
RB
WR
WR
WR
TE
K
DST
Bench
Bench
Bench
Bench
Bench
Bench
IR (can only be used is someone is ruled "Out" of a game)

This is a rough league where after 4 rounds, you're really looking at low-end #2s and high-end #3s, or fliers

If anyone's interested in how this draft played out, I'll post it once we're done (takes about a week, we don't do auto-draft because we usually have 2 or 3 people overseas at any given time). I can also give the bonus details, if there's interest in how this particular league is setup

[Kaiser Toro]

14 team draft, 14 rounds. PPR, keeper league, can keep up to 4. QB, RB, WR, TE, 2 FLEX, D/ST, K.

Drafted 13th, snake draft.

1. Roddy White
2. Arian Foster (keeper)
3. Steve Smith
4. Eli Manning
5. Darius Heyward-Bey
6. Rashard Mendenhall
7. Peyton Hillis (keeper)
8. Jimmy Graham (keeper)
9. Aaron Hernandez (keeper)
10. David Akers
11. Patriots
12. David Wilson
13. Vincent Brown
14. Ryan Tannehill