Fantasy Football Talk 2009

[U6C84]

With the Fantasy Football season coming up, and already 2 DVD talk leagues starting, I thought I could start a separate Fantasy Football thread for general questions and discussions about leagues outside of DVD Talk.



So, in my league of 10 teams, I ended up with the 6th pick and we are doing a live draft sometime in August. This league seems to favor QB's a little more and pass catching RB's since there is 1 Point per reception and it's 20 yards per point for QB's with 6 points per TD instead of 4.

The only other difference in this league is that it has 2 RB's, 3 WR's, 1 TE and one flex RB/WR.

That means that you need more WR's...or at least I've never played in a league with 3 WR's and a flex position, usually it's 2 WR's and a flex.

Who should I target in the first few rounds.

My original thought if I had a top 4 pick was go RB then load up on stud WR's.

If I had a bottom 3 pick I was going to go WR WR in the first 2 rounds.

Now I have a middle of the round pick at #6 and I wasn't sure what to do. It seems a bit early for Brees or Brady, a touch too high for Fitzgerald or Andre Johnson...but maybe at 15 I could get Brees or Brady. Should I risk it and go Brady in the first and Moss in the 2nd to get that duo? I am so torn on this pick.

[tbone]

Do you know who the first 5 picks are gonna be? I personally would stay away from Brady. Risk/Reward is not kind to that type of injury...Culpepper and Palmer...never were the same.

[U6C84]

Talking to some other people in the league it looks like Fitzgerald, Peterson and MJD and Matt Forte are definitely going before my pick.

That leaves Steven Jackson, Michael Turner, all the QB's and some top tier WR's to choose from.

I also have a possible trade I could make.

If MJD drops to the 3rd pick, and Fitzgerald drops to my pick, then we will trade the 3rd and 18th pick for the 6th and 15th pick.

[Fandango]

Get Turner or Calvin Johnson.

[Tarantino]

What would everyone say is a good date for a Fantasy Football draft?

[Fandango]

Prob the weekend before Labor Day.

[Red Dog]

Originally Posted by Tarantino

What would everyone say is a good date for a Fantasy Football draft?

Ideally, the Saturday (or any of the days after that) before Week 1 (so Labor Day weekend). Preseason is complete so all the potential bullshit injuries are out of the way. I would certainly do it no earlier than when the 3rd preaseason games are played (Aug 30).

[mgbfan]

So I'm in a dynasty league where we have contracts and a lot of complex rules. Anyway, it's a 16-team league and QBs are at a premium right now. I've got two on my roster right now, Hasselbeck and Cassel, and because of the way bidding works, both are being pursued, and I can defend only one of them. So ...

Hasselbeck at $30
Cassel at $24

Yes, those values are high ($200 cap). However, I have no alternatives and the rest of my team is strong (Jones-Drew, Pierre Thomas, Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss, etc). I could probably pick up Tavaris Jackson cheap, but ... clearly these guys are a better route.

Thoughts? I'm really worried Cassel is going to lay a total egg, but Hasselbeck's recent injury history concerns me.

[Red Dog]

I also play in a $200 cap dynasty league, and while I've done zero research as of yet, those are pretty high dollar amounts. If I were you, I'd release them both and spend your money more wisely in your main auction. If you have to keep one, I'd say Cassel.

[mgbfan]

As I said, this is not a traditional dysasty league. Every player is given a contract. You don't just keep a few, you sign guys to long-term deals. There ARE no other options, short of a trade. There is an auction on players, but there are very few available. Or, like I said, I think Tavaris Jackson is out there.

I agree with you though and I'm leaning toward Cassel.

[U6C84]

Holy crap...that's expensive for those 2 players.

I know taht both of you are leaning towards Cassel, and I guess I'm in the minority, but I'd go for Hasselbeck.

Cassel is in a new system and yes, Todd Haley likes to throw, but the Chiefs lost Tony Gonzalez, so there will be double coverage on Dwayne Bowe. I think Cassel is going to be the Derek Anderson of last year. Cassel played in a relatively safe offense last year with so many different weapons. In KC, he doesn't have that luxury while Hasselbeck plays in a poor defensive conference with the Niners, Rams and Cardinals. He also has TJ, Branch, Burleson and Carlson to throw the ball to.

[Red Dog]

Originally Posted by mgbfan

As I said, this is not a traditional dysasty league. Every player is given a contract. You don't just keep a few, you sign guys to long-term deals. There ARE no other options, short of a trade. There is an auction on players, but there are very few available. Or, like I said, I think Tavaris Jackson is out there.

I agree with you though and I'm leaning toward Cassel.

My league is the same way (with contracts) although you can only carry over 8 players each year. So I wasn't sure what's available in your auction. Also, is it possible that you can release them both and reacquire them for cheaper prices under new contracts in your auction?

[MrX]

I just did a free yahoo league draft where someone took Drew Brees 6th overall and someone else took the Steeler D 8th overall

[BravesMG]

So after two years of my friends leagues all sucking ass (but the DVDTalk leagues being quite good) I finally took the plunge and bought 3 teams for the ESPN prize leagues for $45.

I know the prizes suck for winning (hat, shirt, bobblehead) but I'm hoping the entry fee keeps everybody involved. The main reason I want to join ESPN so badly is for the auction drafts. It's hard to go back to standard drafts after having auction baseball drafts, highly recommend anybody possibly interested to give a mock auction draft a shot.

[amplified]

Originally Posted by BravesMG

So after two years of my friends leagues all sucking ass (but the DVDTalk leagues being quite good) I finally took the plunge and bought 3 teams for the ESPN prize leagues for $45.

I know the prizes suck for winning (hat, shirt, bobblehead) but I'm hoping the entry fee keeps everybody involved. The main reason I want to join ESPN so badly is for the auction drafts. It's hard to go back to standard drafts after having auction baseball drafts, highly recommend anybody possibly interested to give a mock auction draft a shot.

Not sure why but auction drafts have never appealed to me. I guess it's based on my desire to have a "NFL like" draft.

[Tarantino]

Originally Posted by MrX

I just did a free yahoo league draft where someone took Drew Brees 6th overall and someone else took the Steeler D 8th overall

Depends on how the scoring is...my buddy is running a league in which passing is EXTREMELY favored, and picking Brees right away would be a great move.

The defense thing though...you never take them that high. Never.

[U6C84]

If you want an in depth draft rater check out this site.

http://subscribers.footballguys.com/...-team/form.php

[mgbfan]

Originally Posted by Red Dog

My league is the same way (with contracts) although you can only carry over 8 players each year. So I wasn't sure what's available in your auction. Also, is it possible that you can release them both and reacquire them for cheaper prices under new contracts in your auction?

Ahh if only it were that simple. Okay, I'll dive into the league. You sign guys to either restricted (R) contracts or unrestricted (UR) contracts, along with a set number of years (for example, if I signed one of my rookies to an R3 contract, the contract goes for 3 years). With R contracts, I'm on the hook for whatever I sign them for (there's a complicated buyout system) and they're safe. Anyone signed to a UR contract can be cut at any time with no penalty. BUT ... they can also be headhunted in the offseason. So another team can place an R bid on a player if the salary is higher. That happened to both Cassel and Hasselbeck.

What I did was acquire Sage Rosenfels and lose the bid on Hasselbeck. I matched the bid on Cassel for $24R2.

Anyway, all of that on the off chance that anyone was interested. It is by far the most involved and in depth FF league I've ever played or heard of. But it's also the most fun.

[DVDMagic]

I'm in a league on NFL.com and despite yet to check my team, I did receive notification that someone wants to trade Adrian Peterson for Wes Welker and Michael Turner.

I'm thinking I might not bother with this since all it would take is for Peterson to get injured, but then again its all about risks and gambles.

What would you do?

[starman9000]

I'd keep Welker and Turner.

[raven56706]

Rate my fantasy team: League is 14 teams.



My Team:

QB:
Jay Cutler
Joe Flacco

RB:
Chris Johnson
Beanie Wells
Ahmad Bradshaw

WR:
Lee Evans
Andre Johnson
Dwayne Bowe
Percy Harvin

TE:
Jason Witten
Brandon Pettigrew

K:
Nick Folk

Def:
Patriots
Falcons

[Daryl]

Originally Posted by amplified

Not sure why but auction drafts have never appealed to me. I guess it's based on my desire to have a "NFL like" draft.

The actual drafts are a ton of fun, but they take FOREVER to get through (online, at least). And my experience is you either get a great team you love filled with a bunch of steals (like when I got Tom Brady in 2007 for $8) or a team you hate with guys you spent too much because most of the top guys were gone - doesn't seem there's much middle ground. Plus the whole strategy of how you nominate guys to bid on. I tend to nominate guys I don't want, trying to get other owners to spend their money.

[mgbfan]

Originally Posted by DVDMagic

I'm in a league on NFL.com and despite yet to check my team, I did receive notification that someone wants to trade Adrian Peterson for Wes Welker and Michael Turner.

I'm thinking I might not bother with this since all it would take is for Peterson to get injured, but then again its all about risks and gambles.

What would you do?

How deep is the league? If it's a deep league (12 or more teams) I'd probably pass. If it's a shallow league, I'd do it.

[U6C84]

Originally Posted by raven56706

Rate my fantasy team: League is 14 teams.



My Team:

QB:
Jay Cutler
Joe Flacco

RB:
Chris Johnson
Beanie Wells
Ahmad Bradshaw

WR:
Lee Evans
Andre Johnson
Dwayne Bowe
Percy Harvin

TE:
Jason Witten
Brandon Pettigrew

K:
Nick Folk

Def:
Patriots
Falcons

Depending on Scoring and how many players start at each position, you can't really tell how good/bad this team is.

Was there a reason you decided to keep 2 defenses?

WR and TE are your strong points, and if this is a PPR league you're looking better than most.

Your RB's are very weak though. It would have been nicer if you had Hightower over Bradshaw. Sure Bradshaw may be better, but with what you have both Beanie Wells and Bradshaw, Bradshaw is a definite 2nd stringer after Jacobs and Wells is in a battle with Hightower. If you had both Hightower and Beanie, then you would have had a definite starter.

Hopefully you can start 3 WR's, or else I'd try to trade Evans for an upgrade at RB, but in 14 team leagues, teams don't really have much depth to trade. All in all, your team is average or a little above average. That RB2 spot is really killing it unless Wells comes out of camp as the clear cut #1.

[the_dude8]

What websites do you guys/gals use for doing research on your drafting?

Thanks