Rate my Team!

[Dutchrudder]

So, this is my money-league team - last year's pot was ~$750. We drafted 3 weeks ago, which was a bit early but the only time we could get everyone together at the commish's house. It is a 12 team, PPR league, with mostly standard Yahoo scoring. 4 pts per passing TD, 6 for all others, negative points for missed FGs >30 yards, -1 point per sack on QB, etc... Kick returning RB/WRs get points for TD returns individually and on the DSTs.

Roster Positions: QB, WR, WR, WR, RB, RB, TE, K, DEF, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Anyways, here's my team in the order drafted, feel free to critique and give feedback. I had the third pick in the draft, snake order.

Round 1> RB Chris Johnson. I don't know why the first two people took Peterson and AJ, but they gifted me CJ and I'm happy with that.

Round 2< WR Roddy White. PPR league, need WRs, so I picked them early.

Round 3> WR Greg Jennings. I am hoping the Packers won't have so many O-line issues, and Rodgers will get him the ball more.

Round 4< WR Steve Smith (Carolina). I am hoping he has a good year and the change to Matt Moore pans out for the Panthers. They play an easy schedule, so that ought to help him get some big plays.

Round 5> TE Vernon Davis - VD for short. TEs started coming off the board in Round 4. Only the big names were gone plus Finley. VD was one of the best TE's last year and I think he will be a top 5 TE this year.

Round 6< RB Arian Foster. Good value for the 6th round. Most people were still picking TEs and WRs at this point, so I decided to go against the flow.

Round 7 > QB Kevin Kolb. Most people had a QB at this point except 2 teams who pick after me this round. I was banking on Kolb dropping this far, because he just isn't proven yet, but given the other options I think he's a good pick.

Round 8 < RB Jerome Harrison. All of the promising RBs were off the board at this point, even CJ Spiller was picked a couple spots before me. I think he has some potential in case Arian Foster doesn't work out.

Round 9 > QB Donovan McNabb. I noticed some teams still had not picked a QB, and being a bit uncertain about Kolb, I thought McNabb would be a good insurance policy.

Round 10 < 49ers DST. I like them a lot this year. Easy schedule plus some decent kick returns in Ginn, they should be a top 5 DST this year again.

Round 11 > WR Jacoby Jones. Breakout potential and he fits neatly with the rest of my WRs. No overlapping bye weeks with my other guys I think he will have a good year and make himself a great WR 2/3 guy.

Round 12 < TE Greg Olsen. I don't like this pick in retrospect, but going off of information 3 weeks ago it didn't seem like a bad idea. At this point I'm just drudging for anyone with some potential. I don't think I will be using him for anything more than VD's bye week.

Round 13 > K Shayne Graham. This league forces position picks. You must draft 2 kickers and DSTs, so the last 3 round are just crap. I already dropped Graham for Lawrence Tynes.

Round 14 < DST Dolphins. Forced pick, but decent DST for Week 2 when the 49ers play the Saints.

Round 15 > Ryan Succop. I wanted to draft Jamarcus Russell instead, but they wouldn't let me. I nearly ran out of time trying to think of a kicker to draft because so many were already gone. I dropped him on the wire and got Thomas Jones instead.

Starting Lineup as of today:
QB: Kevin Kolb
RB1: Chris Johnson
RB2: Arian Foster
WR1: Greg Jennings
WR2: Steve Smith (Car)
WR3: Roddy White
TE: Vernon Davis
DST: 49ers
K: Lawrence Tynes

Bench:
Donovan McNabb
Jerome Harrison
Thomas Jones
Jacoby Jones
Greg Olsen
Dolphins DST

 

[JB]

Nice team. If I had more confidence in Kolb I would probably have said sure to make the playoffs, I think you stand a decent chance of making it anyway.

 

[HOU-TEX]

I think I'd start McNabb over Kolb until he can solidify his fantasy value.

 

[Ckw]

Very nice team. Very impressed. You also did a nice job with getting McNabb as insurance at QB. He may end up being your starter. I'd look for him to really try to show up the Eagles and the rest of the league by having a monster year. I thought about drafting him just for potential trade bait but he got snatched up the round I was going to pick him.

I gave your draft 4 stars.

 

[Dutchrudder]

Thanks for the comments guys! I'm thinking I'll be in the playoffs this year, just like the Texans

Very nice team. Very impressed. You also did a nice job with getting McNabb as insurance at QB. He may end up being your starter. I'd look for him to really try to show up the Eagles and the rest of the league by having a monster year. I thought about drafting him just for potential trade bait but he got snatched up the round I was going to pick him.

I gave your draft 4 stars.

I'm hoping McNabb does what Favre did for me last year and brings his A game against his old team. Favre had his best games of the season against the Packers.

 

[dc_txtech]

I like the starting lineup but your depth looks pretty weak. Only 1 backup WR and RB? I would drop Olson and one of the defenses and try to shore up some depth at those spots.

 

[Dutchrudder]

I like the starting lineup but your depth looks pretty weak. Only 1 backup WR and RB? I would drop Olson and one of the defenses and try to shore up some depth at those spots.

Well, the draft setup forces you to take 2 of each position, which only leaves two extra spots for WR and RB depth. So my current roster looks like this:

Starting Lineup as of today:
QB: Kevin Kolb
RB1: Chris Johnson
RB2: Arian Foster
WR1: Greg Jennings
WR2: Steve Smith (Car)
WR3: Roddy White
TE: Vernon Davis
DST: 49ers
K: Lawrence Tynes

Bench:
Donovan McNabb
Jerome Harrison
Thomas Jones
Jacoby Jones
Greg Olsen
Dolphins DST

I'm hanging on to the Dolphins DST for now to see how they do week 1. If they look good, I'll start them week 2 against the Vikings instead of the 49ers against the Saints.

Greg Olsen is definitely expendable, but I have no idea who to pick up in his place. A few guys on the wire I could get for him are:
RBs: Leon Washington, Fred Jackson, Cadillac Williams, Michael Bush, Darren McFadden.
WRs: Mike Thomas, Davone Bess, Mike Williams (SEA), Jerricho Crotchery, Jabar Gaffney, Danny Amendola, Devery Henderson, Laurent Robinson, Michael Jenkins, Devin Hester, Sidney Rice, Vincent Jackson

All of these guys are similar potential to me, so I think I would rather hit the wire on Tuesday morning rather than take a flyer on them now, unless someone has a hot tip...

 

[b0ng]

You'd probably be able to have better depth if you watch closely this week pick up a sleeper on the waiver and drop at least one of your defenses.

I advocate not drafting defenses in the draft, unless you're league is weird, and just using the waiver wire for match-ups that you like. Those spots where you drafted D could've been valuable depth.

 

[dc_txtech]

Well, the draft setup forces you to take 2 of each position, which only leaves two extra spots for WR and RB depth. So my current roster looks like this:

Starting Lineup as of today:
QB: Kevin Kolb
RB1: Chris Johnson
RB2: Arian Foster
WR1: Greg Jennings
WR2: Steve Smith (Car)
WR3: Roddy White
TE: Vernon Davis
DST: 49ers
K: Lawrence Tynes

Bench:
Donovan McNabb
Jerome Harrison
Thomas Jones
Jacoby Jones
Greg Olsen
Dolphins DST

I'm hanging on to the Dolphins DST for now to see how they do week 1. If they look good, I'll start them week 2 against the Vikings instead of the 49ers against the Saints.

Greg Olsen is definitely expendable, but I have no idea who to pick up in his place. A few guys on the wire I could get for him are:
RBs: Leon Washington, Fred Jackson, Cadillac Williams, Michael Bush, Darren McFadden.
WRs: Mike Thomas, Davone Bess, Mike Williams (SEA), Jerricho Crotchery, Jabar Gaffney, Danny Amendola, Devery Henderson, Laurent Robinson, Michael Jenkins, Devin Hester, Sidney Rice, Vincent Jackson

All of these guys are similar potential to me, so I think I would rather hit the wire on Tuesday morning rather than take a flyer on them now, unless someone has a hot tip...

Ok, that makes sense. Do you just have to draft 2 of every position or you have to maintain that on your roster at all times?

I think Cadillac has some potential this year. He had over 1,000 yards from scrimmage last year to go with 7 TD's. Nothing amazing but a solid back if you're hurting at the position. I've also heard a lot about his backup Kareem Huggins, apparently he is having a great camp and was a big factor in the decision to cut Ward. Might be something to at least keep an eye on.

Does your league happen to give points for return yards? If so Amendola is a very interesting player. He's returning punts and kicks as well as starting in the slot. PPR super sleeper IMO, but I could be bias being a Texas Tech fan.

 

[Dutchrudder]

You'd probably be able to have better depth if you watch closely this week pick up a sleeper on the waiver and drop at least one of your defenses.

I advocate not drafting defenses in the draft, unless you're league is weird, and just using the waiver wire for match-ups that you like. Those spots where you drafted D could've been valuable depth.

This draft forces you to take 2 of each position. That means you must draft 2 kickers, DSTs, TEs, QBs, which = 8. You also must draft 3 WRs and 2 RBs, so you have 2 slots leftover for whatever you want. I chose to take 1 RB (Jerome Harrison) and 1 WR (Jacoby Jones)with those. After that point, I cannot draft another WR or RB.

I took Jacoby Jones in the 11th round, but between him and my 9th round pick (McNabb) there were only a few WRs taken (49ers DST taken in 10th round). They were:
Jerricho Crotchery, Lee Evans, TJ Housh, Nate Burleson, Robert Meachum, Santonio Holmes and Malcom Floyd (this was before we knew VJax was sitting out).

Out of all those guys, I'm happy with Jacoby Jones, but if I had my pick today it would be Malcom Floyd, then JJ. No big deal as we are talking about a #4 WR who will only start on others bye weeks or in case of injury. This league also gives individual points for return yards (1 point per 50 yards) and TDs, so JJ does get a slight boost from that.

 

[Dutchrudder]

Ok, that makes sense. Do you just have to draft 2 of every position or you have to maintain that on your roster at all times?

I think Cadillac has some potential this year. He had over 1,000 yards from scrimmage last year to go with 7 TD's. Nothing amazing but a solid back if you're hurting at the position. I've also heard a lot about his backup Kareem Huggins, apparently he is having a great camp and was a big factor in the decision to cut Ward. Might be something to at least keep an eye on.

Does your league happen to give points for return yards? If so Amendola is a very interesting player. He's returning punts and kicks as well as starting in the slot. PPR super sleeper IMO, but I could be bias being a Texas Tech fan.

I was actually thinking of grabbing Amendola, but I just can't feel the need to start him over Roddy White, Greg Jennings or Steve Smith. Jacoby Jones is my backup for those guys too, and Amendola would have to put up some great numbers for me to rethink this. I'll have to wait and see on him.

Btw, I actually did meet him a few times back in high school. We had some mutual friends in common. I liked him until I found out he went to Tech

 

[Dutchrudder]

Ok, so now that my week 1 totals are in with this team, I'm thinking of ending the Kolb experiment and getting another QB. With the exception of my DST, the rest of my team was solid yesterday and I want to win. I don't want to mess around with a QB controversy. I do have McNabb but he looked horrible yesterday. Here are the QBs available on the wire to swap either for:

Michael Vick - He's not the starter... yet. Looked good yesterday against the Packers, but until he gets the starting nod, I'm not risking it.
Josh Freeman - Looked good against the Browns, but I bet Dan O would look good against them
Derek Anderson - Looks OK with his passes, but his accuracy is awful past 10 yards
Jake Delhomme - ...
Sam Bradford - I like his upside. It looks like the Rams will be more of a passing team this year and he's looking good as a starter.
Trent Edwards - Buffalo...
Matt Moore - Might have potential here, but he was yanked from the game and they put Clausen in, so I doubt he's more solid than Kolb

*A friend of mine has Brees and Orton on his team, so I may be able to work a trade with him for Orton. He's hurting for WRs.

I'm thinking Sam Bradford as a stopgap this week, Vick if he gets the start, or Freeman if he has a favorable schedule. What do you think?

 

[Dutchrudder]

Here's an update on my big money team. Pot is around 800+ right now with transaction fees, most of which are mine

I'm tied for 1st in the league with one other team, and I have an 8-3 record and the most points scored so far at 1459! The next highest point total is 1329 by the guy in 3rd place. I have made a lot of adds and drops to my team over the season, particularly at the DST and QB positions. My current roster is:

Starting Lineup as of today:
QB: Josh Freeman
RB1: Chris Johnson
RB2: Arian Foster
WR1: Greg Jennings
WR2: Roddy White
WR3: Danny Amendola
TE: Vernon Davis
DST: Patriots
K: Mason Crosby

Bench:
Donovan McNabb
David Garrard
Steve Smith (Car) - About to drop for Joel Dressen in case VD is hurt
Thomas Jones
Mike Thomas - WR Jac - Good 3/4 WR, got me a buttload of points against Houston
Redskins DST - Dropping for Seattle this week at home against KC - Seahawks DST has be stellar at home, averaging 16 pts @ home.

 

[dc_txtech]

Danny Amendola FTW!

These are his point totals in my money league (.5 ppr, 20 return yards - 1 point)

11
5
9
6.5
14
7.5
18.5
13
19.5
18

Not bad for a sixteenth round pick, glad to see he's helping your team as well.

 

[Blake]

Here's an update on my big money team. Pot is around 800+ right now with transaction fees, most of which are mine

I'm tied for 1st in the league with one other team, and I have an 8-3 record and the most points scored so far at 1459! The next highest point total is 1329 by the guy in 3rd place. I have made a lot of adds and drops to my team over the season, particularly at the DST and QB positions. My current roster is:

Starting Lineup as of today:
QB: Josh Freeman
RB1: Chris Johnson
RB2: Arian Foster
WR1: Greg Jennings
WR2: Roddy White
WR3: Danny Amendola
TE: Vernon Davis
DST: Patriots
K: Mason Crosby

Bench:
Donovan McNabb
David Garrard
Steve Smith (Car) - About to drop for Joel Dressen in case VD is hurt
Thomas Jones
Mike Thomas - WR Jac - Good 3/4 WR, got me a buttload of points against Houston
Redskins DST - Dropping for Seattle this week at home against KC - Seahawks DST has be stellar at home, averaging 16 pts @ home.

Yeah you must be killing it with Foster/CJ and White. Jennings had a huge game too. Looking good!

 

[Dutchrudder]

Well, I ended up winning my big money league after all! It is my first FF championship since I started playing two years ago! I don't think there is a trophy, but ~800 bucks will do

My Super Bowl lineup:

Starting Lineup as of today:
QB: Josh Freeman
RB1: Chris Johnson
RB2: Arian Foster
WR1: Greg Jennings
WR2: Roddy White
WR3: Danny Amendola
TE: Vernon Davis
DST: Patriots
K: Mason Crosby


I still have Roddy White going on MNF, but the guy I'm playing is down 143-136 points and has no one else left. So unless Roddy pulls a Jay Cutler, I think I'll be fine. What great timing for Josh Freeman to have a career day!