Last night was the draft for the Fake Teams Reader League and it was one of the most interesting drafts I've had this year.
The league uses the standard Sportsline scoring with a starting lineup of 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 Team DEF. As usual, running backs went off the board first, with fourteen of the first fifteen picks being running backs. It wasn't the fact that running backs were taken early that made it interesting though, it was which running backs were taken. Here are the first two rounds:
| Pick |
Team |
Selection |
| 1 |
Dear Mister Fantasy |
LaDainian Tomlinson (RB SD) |
| 2 |
The Sons of Disaster |
Steven Jackson (RB STL) |
| 3 |
Steve's Staleys |
Joseph Addai (RB IND) |
| 4 |
Shakedown Street Deadheads |
Shaun Alexander (RB SEA) |
| 5 |
Brady Bunch of Pregnant Models |
Frank Gore (RB SF) |
| 6 |
Tim Donaghy's Kneecaps |
Larry Johnson (RB KC) |
| 7 |
Hinz57ers |
Willie Parker (RB PIT) |
| 8 |
Philadelphia Disappointments |
Peyton Manning (QB IND) |
| 9 |
Mama's Boy Otis |
Brian Westbrook (RB PHI) |
| 10 |
Heir Coryell |
Reggie Bush (RB NO) |
| 11 |
Ron Mexico's Dogsitter |
Rudi Johnson (RB CIN) |
| 12 |
Bald Headed Mo Fo's |
Travis Henry (RB DEN) |
| 13 |
Bald Headed Mo Fo's |
Laurence Maroney (RB NE) |
| 14 |
Ron Mexico's Dogsitter |
Maurice Jones-Drew (RB JAC) |
| 15 |
Heir Coryell |
Ronnie Brown (RB MIA) |
| 16 |
Mama's Boy Otis |
Carson Palmer (QB CIN) |
| 17 |
Philadelphia Disappointments |
Marvin Harrison (WR IND) |
| 18 |
Hinz57ers |
Clinton Portis (RB WAS) |
| 19 |
Tim Donaghy's Kneecaps |
Willis McGahee (RB BAL) |
| 20 |
Brady Bunch of Pregnant Models |
Chad Johnson (WR CIN) |
| 21 |
Shakedown Street Deadheads |
Tom Brady (QB NE) |
| 22 |
Steve's Staleys |
Brandon Jacobs (RB NYG) |
| 23 |
The Sons of Disaster |
Reggie Wayne (WR IND) |
| 24 |
Dear Mister Fantasy |
Edgerrin James (RB ARI) |
This is a league of well-informed (because they read Fake Teams) fantasy owners and the draft didn't progress anywhere close to how the "consensus" opinion says it should. There could be any number of reasons for that; the "consensus" is wrong, Fake Teams readers are better informed than most fantasy football owners, heavy amounts of alcohol were consumed before the draft, etc, etc. It likely was a combination of several factors. It just goes to show that no matter how many mock drafts you do or how many Average Draft Position lists you read, there's no way to predict the human element.
Here are some things that jump out of the draft results.
- Addai at #3 and Alexander at #4. Too early? I think it's too early for Addai considering this isn't a point per reception league. In fact, Addai may be one of the more overrated players this fantasy season.
- Gore at #5 and Larry Johnson at #6. Six! Larry Johnson fell to 6! What kind of idiot would pass on Johnson? An idiot like me. Despite posting a story yesterday morning about how Damon Huard makes LJ a legitimate pick at #3, I couldn't pull the trigger. I just kept going back to the last Chiefs game in the playoffs - 13 rushes, 32 yards for Johnson. Errgh.
- Peyton Manning at #8. That was too early and then took Marvin Harrison in the second round. That's a lot of eggs in one basket. To be fair, this owner didn't show up and the autodraft ran this team. It took Antonio Gates in the third and ended up with Adrian Peterson, Chris Henry and Tatum Bell as the running backs. It should be an interesting case study - if you have (arguably) the #1 QB, #1 WR and #1 TE, can you still piece together enough RBs to win?
- Reggie Bush at #10. Again, this isn't a PPR league, so Bush's value drops a bit. Ended up with Ronnie Brown in the 2nd round though which helped.
- Travis Henry at #12 and Maroney at #13. There's a lot to be said for picking at #12. The Mo Fo's picked up two very nice backs at that position.
- Chad Johnson at #20. The first non-autodraft WR taken. I would normally go RB-RB in the first two rounds but this league requires three WRs and I wasn't excited about the RBs left - I had really hoped McGahee would fall to me. I ended up with Cedric Benson in the 3rd round which wasn't too bad.
It was a fun draft with a lot of chatter and some smack talking. I look forward to playing and - of course - winning the league.
