The 4th of five fantasy football drafts occurred last night. It is The Turf Show Times League over at the SB Nation's St. Louis Rams site, and I was very pleased. Not so much with my team (although I did what I planned to do) but because it was finished in 50 minutes! Why? I can only guess drafting teams know who to take after a month of mock drafts.
I landed the 10th pick in the 10-team league and felt compelled to take two RBs if only to prevent an even better player falling to the team drafting #1 overall. As it was, that team still gets an elite WR and a decent RB2. There has to be something that can be done to prevent that kind of advantage.
Prior to learning my draft position, I had toyed with the idea of taking Titans' wunderkind Vince Young with my third or fourth selection, but the last pick in the round made that inconceivable given those selections were 30th and 31st overall. Instead I grabbed my two starting WRs - Larry Fitzgerald and Marques Colston.
The Colston selection signaled the change in draft strategy as I decided to take higher reward players to back-up my RBs and WRs. Without a Flex option, I'd be starting my first four selections every week. So I allowed myself the luxury of taking RB Adrian Peterson with my 5th selection (50th overall), and Lions WR Clavin Johnson with my 8th (71st overall). I do not expect either player to be automatic fantasy starters in this format (QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE) for the first month of the season, but, as roles begin to change/players become ineffective, I can see both moving to the top of their teams' depth charts.
To wrap up, I also grabbed Steelers' WR Santonio Holmes and Packers' RB Brandon Jackson. I hope to have some depth by mid-season to make some trades to patch holes or to have ready replacements in the event of normally calamitous injuries to my top RBs and WRs.
Round | Pick | Player | Position |
1 | 10 | Laurence Maroney | RB |
2 | 11 | Willie Parker | RB |
3 | 30 | Larry Fitzgerald | WR |
4 | 31 | Marques Colston | WR |
5 | 50 | Adrian Peterson | RB |
6 | 51 | Kellen Winslow | TE |
7 | 70 | Matt Leinart | QB |
8 | 71 | Calvin Johnson | WR |
9 | 90 | Santonio Holmes | WR |
10 | 91 | Ben Roethlisberger | QB |
11 | 110 | Brandon Jackson | RB |
12 | 111 | Chris Chambers | WR |
13 | 130 | Oakland | DEF |
14 | 131 | Stephen Gostkowski | K |
15 | 150 | DeMarcus Ware | DL |