Tuesday, September 08, 2009

revealing my big board

Players I Wanted:

Slaton as RB1
Pierre Thomas as RB2

A. Johnson/C. Johnson/Moss as WR1
also liked White & Boldin but didn't think they would fall to WR2 (I think Boldin has better year than Fitz)
Bowe/Colston/Welker/Housh as WR2

Gonzalez at TE

Brees/Brady if possible
Rodgers/Rivers/Ryan/Romo if made sense, otherwise hold out til McNabb

- - -

Basically, I wanted a late round draft slot since I wanted to get a WR first, and I would have felt stupid taking Andre Johnson any earlier. So that worked out. Then I'm sitting there at #12 and Brady is on the board. I was comfortable not taking a QB til late. I was thinking in my first 4 picks, 2 WR, RB and TE--thinking I could get Gonzo with my 4th pick.

So I'm sitting at 12 and I could pair Moss with Andre Johnson and have two of the best receivers, get Slaton, or take Brady. I go with Brady because I've haven't had an elite QB in a while. Moss goes at 16 and Slaton at 25.

So at 29 and Westbrook was the only top running back left after Portis and Barber are gone. I was happy to get Boldin at 32.

First Four: Andre/Brady/Westbrook/Boldin
If I hadn't taken Brady, this would have likely been my team:Andre/Slaton/Boldin/Gonzo

Basically it was either Gonzo or Brady, and I'm happy with what I got.

I was ready to take Gonzo at 49 if he fell, but Mark took him at 41. Then I hoped Pierre Thomas would fall but Matt got him at 47. I was happy with Willie Parker, as long as I got Mendenhall too.

At 52 I take Braylon Edwards as my 3rd receiver. He could be a #1. He could also be a bust. Not sure how to feel about him yet.

From 53 to 68, there weren't any picks that I was excited about. Again, happy with my draft slot to get 6 in the top 52.

Against the advice of Matthew Berry, I grab Moreno as my 3rdRB. I like him a lot. Then I get Royal and I feel really strong about my RB/WR so far.

9th round I get Mendenhall and breathe a sigh of relief for my Parker pick. 10th round for my 5thWR I have a choice between Lance Moore and Santonio Holmes. Surprising depth I thought.

So through 10, I've got 5WR, 4RB and Brady. Everyone else has a TE by round 8 or so, so I'm relaxed thinking I'll have my choice of whatever. I've got my eye on Shiancoe. Then there's a run on backup QB's and I rush to get somebody, Flacco, eh. Then Shiancoe gets taken in the 11th round, as a backup TE. I don't even have my starter yet! Crap.

So I get Donald Brown, mostly so Mark can't get him.

At round 13 I start looking at defenses. I listened to the BS Report with Football Outsiders and wrote down Bears at the top of my big board. I couldn't believe that they were still on the board with a bunch of Bears fans in the room. The three guys in front of me had already drafted a defense before round 13, so the Bears came to me easily.

Then in 14 I get my first TE, and another in 15.

- - -

Of course, I'm happy with my team. Everyone is at this point. Partly I think we're down to a 10-team league so there's more talent to go around. Also the flex helps spread the receivers out more. But seriously, look at my team this year and last year and my team last year looks like a bunch of scrubs.

1 comment:

  1. You're right, that reduction of 2 teams made a huge difference in how many talented players were available.

    ReplyDelete