Fantasy Football 2007
You would not believe how freaking excited I am about the start of this new football season. Fall is my favorite time of year for a million reasons--the end of baseball season, the cooler weather, the changing colors, the fact that I look better in layers than in summer wear--but nothing gets me as excited about autumn as football season does.
Part of this is because I grew up in a football town. Although most of Indiana is basketball country, the small town I grew up in was just miles away from Notre Dame Stadium, and my high school was a class 5A football powerhouse. All the boys in my family played football as long as we were able, and we spent all of our fall Saturdays and Sundays rooting for the Fighting Irish and the Chicago Bears. I was lucky enough to see a national championship for one and a Super Bowl win for the other during my childhood.
Then, when I went to college, I happened to be at IU during the best consecutive years of football in the history of the program. IU went to bowl games in four out of the five years I was there, winning three. And did I mention that my brother-in-law was a star lineman for that team, blocking for current Miami QB Trent Green? Through him, I had a level of access to Big Ten football that not a lot of people get. Ah, good times.
So you can see why I get practically giddy when Fall comes around. I start listening to sports talk radio again. I start reading ESPN.com and tuning in to Sportscenter. I start to look at my teams' schedules and think about postseason scenarios. And along with all of that, I start to plan for the Fantasy Football season.
This year, I'm competing in two fantasy football leagues. Both are on Yahoo Sports, as opposed to most years, when I dabble on ESPN.com, Sportsline.com and AOL Sports. One league is a fourteen-person, premium, auto-draft league run by a friend of my brother. The other is a twelve-person, basic, live draft league run by my best friend from college.
We already had our drafts for both leagues. Here's what I'm dealing with to start the season:
*** MONSTERS OF THE MIDWAY (12-Person Live Draft League)
Part of this is because I grew up in a football town. Although most of Indiana is basketball country, the small town I grew up in was just miles away from Notre Dame Stadium, and my high school was a class 5A football powerhouse. All the boys in my family played football as long as we were able, and we spent all of our fall Saturdays and Sundays rooting for the Fighting Irish and the Chicago Bears. I was lucky enough to see a national championship for one and a Super Bowl win for the other during my childhood.
Then, when I went to college, I happened to be at IU during the best consecutive years of football in the history of the program. IU went to bowl games in four out of the five years I was there, winning three. And did I mention that my brother-in-law was a star lineman for that team, blocking for current Miami QB Trent Green? Through him, I had a level of access to Big Ten football that not a lot of people get. Ah, good times.
So you can see why I get practically giddy when Fall comes around. I start listening to sports talk radio again. I start reading ESPN.com and tuning in to Sportscenter. I start to look at my teams' schedules and think about postseason scenarios. And along with all of that, I start to plan for the Fantasy Football season.
This year, I'm competing in two fantasy football leagues. Both are on Yahoo Sports, as opposed to most years, when I dabble on ESPN.com, Sportsline.com and AOL Sports. One league is a fourteen-person, premium, auto-draft league run by a friend of my brother. The other is a twelve-person, basic, live draft league run by my best friend from college.
We already had our drafts for both leagues. Here's what I'm dealing with to start the season:
*** MONSTERS OF THE MIDWAY (12-Person Live Draft League)
my team: Atlanta Aquamen
| Round | Pick | Player | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | (5) | Joseph Addai | RB |
| 2. | (16) | Willis McGahee | RB |
| 3. | (25) | Torry Holt | WR |
| 4. | (36) | Roy Williams | WR |
| 5. | (45) | Andre Johnson | WR |
| 6. | (56) | Donovan McNabb | QB |
| 7. | (65) | Carnell Williams | RB |
| 8. | (76) | Kevin Curtis | WR |
| 9. | (85) | Chester Taylor | RB |
| 10. | (96) | Jerious Norwood | RB |
| 11. | (105) | Isaac Bruce | WR |
| 12. | (116) | Jacksonville | DEF |
| 13. | (125) | Alge Crumpler | TE |
| 14. | (136) | Derrick Mason | WR |
| 15. | (145) | Matt Stover | K |
Analysis: This draft started out so good for me, but took a bit of a wrong turn in the middle. I like my top two picks, tough McGahee hasn't looked good in preseason. But I went with too many wildcards at WR. Holt is playing injured, Williams has yet to live up to his talent, and Johnson is playing with a first-time QB on a crappy team. There were definitely WRs on the board that would've been safer choices, and I'm kicking myself for not taking them. Also, I grabbed too many backup RBs when I should've been grabbing WRs, so I have no depth. Overall, this team has potential, but I'm going to need to trade one of my RBs for a receiver before the season's done, and I'll also need to figure out a backup situation for my injury-prone QB. I do think I have a chance to win the league, though, if everyone stays relatively healthy and plays close to their talent level. One or two injuries, though, and I'm toast. And since this is the league my college buddy runs, there's a lot of ego on the line.
*** LEAGUE OF PAIN (14-Person Auto-Draft League)
my team: Big Mac's Marauders
| Round | Pick | Player | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | (7) | Rudi Johnson | RB |
| 2. | (18) | Brandon Jacobs | RB |
| 3. | (31) | Antonio Gates | TE |
| 4. | (42) | Randy Moss | WR |
| 5. | (55) | Baltimore | DEF |
| 6. | (66) | Joey Galloway | WR |
| 7. | (79) | Kevin Curtis | WR |
| 8. | (90) | Matt Leinart | QB |
| 9. | (103) | Josh Scobee | K |
| 10. | (114) | Jamal Lewis | RB |
| 11. | (127) | Joe Horn | WR |
| 12. | (138) | Drew Bennett | WR |
| 13. | (151) | Trent Green | QB |
| 14. | (162) | Minnesota | DEF |
| 15. | (175) | Matt Stover | K |
| 16. | (186) | Jerramy Stevens | TE |
Analysis: Okay, in my defense, I've never done an autodraft before. And as a rookie, I stunk this one up. I obviously pre-ranked my players all wrong, drafting the wrong people at the wrong times and having an overall crappy draft. I ranked my defense and TE too high, but at least this is a league where you have to play a TE (as opposed to my other league, where you can play either a TE or WR in that spot). With this being the case, I won't complain too much about getting Gates so early. If he can score similar to what a decent WR would do, I'll have a pretty big advantage at that position. And I can't complain about my D, although I've never picked a defense before the thirteenth round in a live draft. Hopefully, they'll be the Bears of this year and will win me some games solely on defensive scores. Beyond my first round pick, the TE and the D, however, this team sucks. Brandon Jacobs has never been a feature back, and may not have it in him. And even if Randy Moss returns to form, he's playing for a team that's known to share the ball so much that no receiver can become a star. To add insult to injury, I have the worse QB tandem in our league (hey, I love Trent Green, but he has nothing to work with in Miami--it will be a miracle if he gets the numbers he did in KC). In fact, there's not a pick after Randy Moss that I would've taken in a live draft, except for maybe Kevin Curtis (who I only took in my other league because I had his QB) and the kickers. I don't even think I have trade bait on this team. Unless some unknown catches fire and I have a good enough waiver position to nab him, I may be stuck with exactly this team all season. And while I'm not taking this league as seriously as the other one, I hate to lose (and my brother's friends are notorious trash talkers).
Of course, whether my teams suck or soar, it won't really dampen my spirits about the new season. I love fall and live for football, so I'm as happy as puppy with two peters now that pigskin is back. If anyone needs me over the next few months, you'll know where to find me: in front of the computer checking out fantasy scores or in front of the fifty-inch, watching a bunch of grown men in costumes throwing a piece of leather around.
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