Online drafts and leagues are fun. It's nice that we have the ability in this day and age to play fantasy football with people from all over the globe. I've played in online leagues for over a decade now and have had a blast. But nothing compares to a live draft with friends you've played with for years. Nothing.
This past weekend was the 7th annual draft for the Icon Fantasy Football League. I'm co-commisioner with my good friend Dave Hatfield. Dave and I have played fantasy football together for sixteen years. Also in our league is my girlfriend Penny, Dave's brother John (who I can't seem to beat if my life depended on it), a police officer, a police CHIEF, and other good old boys from around the area.
Last season I defeated Dave for the 2008 Championship. I received the traveling trophy with extreme humility. Okay, make that extreme glee.
This year I picked from the 10th spot. (Out of ten.) Decided going in that I would take some chances and pick players I liked rather than necessarily go with value. It's what Penny (who is very smart about such things) considers a high risk/high reward team. Here's how it went:
RD 1: RB Chris Johnson (Ten) Had hoped Peyton Manning (Colts TMQB) would fall but he went 6th. Considered Warner or Rodgers but decided I liked Johnson's big play potential more. It sucks that LenDale White will sap some goaline TDs, but Johnson will break off the long ones.
RD 2: WR Randy Moss (NE) Again I could/should of grabbed a TMQB but I knew all of the good WRs would be gone by the time it back to me and I was hoping to start a 1 RB/4 WR lineup this year. So went with Moss because I do believe he can score in the area of 15-17 TDs ... and a few of them should be long ones.
RD 3: WR Chad Ochocinco (Cin) As I predicted, a lot of WRS went in the 2nd and 3rd rounds so I felt compelled to take a chance on Chad rebounding this year. Had a few people mumbling about how they were hoping to get him in the 4th.
RD 4: TMQB Dallas (Tony Romo) Debated between him and Matt Ryan but decided to give the Cowboy QB the nod. Worried that without T.O., he might not have the deep threat to get long TDs.
RD 5: WR DeSean Jackson (Phil) I was pleased he was still here. A solid third WR who has breakout potential in his sophmore campaign.
RD 6: RB Chris Wells (Ariz) He seems to be doing better now and I wanted at least one Arizona player. A bit of a reach considering there were still plenty of RBs left including Ronnie Brown and LenDale White.
RD 7: RB Darren McFadden (Oak) Nice third back. I think I got good value here. He might actually be my second back depending on how Wells starts out.
RD 8: TMQB Cincinnati (Carson Palmer) In this scoring system, I needed to take a backup QB sooner rather than later. Liked Palmer's matchup with the Texans on Romo's bye week. Might even start Palmer in Week 1 at home against the Broncos over Romo who playing the Bucs in Tampa.
RD 9: WR Devin Hester (Chic) He's got the strong armed QB to get him the ball deep. Could get a few 12 point TDs out of him. Was extremely glad to get him here.
RD 10: RB Felix Jones (Dal) He won't be the red zone back, but he might get a few long TDs and a couple 100 yard games.
RD 11: WR Steve Breaston (Ariz) Love him as my fifth WR. Not a huge TD scorer, but could be more valubable if Boldin gets traded mid-season.
RD 12: RB LeSean McCoy (Phil) Had planned on grabbing Michael Bush to handcuff McFadden with my last RB slot, but McCoy's upside was too much to pass up. He's only a Westbrook injury away from huge value.
RD 13: K Ryan Longwell (Minn) With the long field goal bonuses I had to get a kicker who has the leg and plays over half of his games inside a dome. Got my man.
RD 14: DST NY Jets - Got them mainly because of Leon Washington's return ability.
RD 15: WR Mohammed Massaquoi (Clev) Always like to grab a rookie and with my sixth pick I decided to go with Massaquoi over Robiske or Britt. He'll most likely be my first waiver wire casualty if it doesn't look like he'll pan out.
RD 16: K Nick Folk (Dal) A solid backup kicker ... here's hoping he hits the scoreboards with his kickoffs ... just for errr.... kicks.
RD 17: DST Carolina - Last pick of the draft, just threw a dart at what was left.
So there it is, the 2009 Miami Waves. It's going to be a very tough road defending the championship, but I look forward to it. Only a little over a week away from the first game! I'm getting tingly just thinking about it!!
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