2012 Fantasy Football Draft Recap
So I am in three leagues that are my main focus and important to me. The first two are my money leagues, not a lot of cheddar but enough to keep people honest and active throughout the season. I feel bad that I have not given near as much content for my readers this off season and have decided to recap each of my drafts for those of you who have a late draft still scheduled. I promise you all a much more thorough preseason next year and each year to follow.
Money League #1 – Big Jim’s League of Doom.
I am the commissioner of this league if you didn’t pick up on that by it’s name and I just drafted this team last night. The scoring is pretty much standard except for the following:
+6 points per passing TD (usually 4)
-2 points per INT (usually 1)
+1 point for 100 yards rushing in a game (added)
+1 point for 150 yards rushing in a game (added)
+2 points for 200 yards rushing in a game (added)
I personally have always run my league with this scoring, I love the passing TD’s at 6 points and think that having a high rushing total on a game is hard to come by and worth some recognition on the score board for fantasy owners.
The league consists of my personal friends, some of their friends and some people who I am trying to introduce to the game because I think they would get a lot of enjoyment from it.
I was given the 6th pick in the first round and my team ended up as follows:
| Rnd # | Pick # | Selection |
| 1. | (6) | Tom Brady (NE – QB) |
| 2. | (19) | Jamaal Charles (KC – RB) |
| 3. | (30) | Hakeem Nicks (NYG – WR) |
| 4. | (43) | BenJarvus Green-Ellis (Cin – RB) |
| 5. | (54) | Antonio Brown (Pit – WR) |
| 6. | (67) | Willis McGahee (Den – RB) |
| 7. | (78) | Ben Tate (Hou – RB) |
| 8. | (91) | Malcom Floyd (SD – WR) |
| 9. | (102) | LeGarrette Blount (TB – RB) |
| 10. | (115) | Kendall Wright (Ten – WR) |
| 11. | (126) | Randy Moss (SF – WR) |
| 12. | (139) | Alshon Jeffery (Chi – WR) |
| 13. | (150) | Buffalo (Buf – DEF) |
| 14. | (163) | Owen Daniels (Hou – TE) |
| 15. | (174) | Jason Hanson (Det – K) |
Brady was a no-brainer with the scoring for passing TDs. I stayed true to my strategy of QB then RB in the first two rounds and went with Charles in the 2nd here. I am confident that he is back to full strength and think he will be back to his old self by the first game of the season. Hakeem Nicks was #5 on my WR board at the time of the draft and with 10 other wide receivers already taken, I felt very fortunate to be left the option of Nicks with my third round pick. Fred Jackson, Lynch and Peterson were still available at RB but with 8 picks between then and my round 4 pick, I was pretty sure I could get a suitable RB 2. This was a risky call that paid off for me but barely. Only Law Firm remained on my list of guys that I was targeting at RB2 and I didn’t hesitate to scoop him up. This guy has never fumbled in his career and the Bengals will just be feeding him the ball over 20 times in every game. He is worth a play as an RB2 based solely off the opportunity that this many guaranteed touches will give him.
I was left with a tough choice for WR2 and to be honest, I betrayed my board by taking Brown over Jeremy Maclin with the 54th overall pick. They are right next to each other at the bottom of my top 20 but as I had already gotten Maclin in both of the leagues below I wanted to spread out my bets and go with Brown, who I did plan to target for my WR2 this year anyways. I spent the next two picks on safe and consistent RB depth because I knew I could get some good WR options later on and felt that the value of McGahee and Tate were too high. With such a shallow pool of RB talent this season, to have 3 top 20 guys and 5 top 30 guys by the end, I feel that I am in great shape to make some trades. I also feel really safe in the event that an early RB selection goes down to injury. A few of these guys will turn out to be viable RB2 or flex plays.
The rest of the first 12 rounds were spent on high upside sleeper WRs. I did miss Justin Blackmon but I got each of my other deep targets with Kendall Wright, Alshon Jeffery and Randy Moss. Any one of these guys has top 10 upside but in reality, if I could just pick up a quality WR2 to fill in for the injury prone Hakeem Nicks out of this group, my team will be stacked and poised for a deep playoff run. I reached for Buffalo in the 13th round because I had them at 8 in my rankings after their impressive performance keeping Roethlisberger and the Steelers at bay simply by rushing the front four for almost an entire half. Daniels was also at the bottom of my top 10 TE’s and waiting on these two positions should prove very valuable to me as I was able to ensure I got all my sleeper picks and increased the chance that one of late round guys has a big year.
Money League #2 - Interweb Pigskin 2012.
For those of you who don’t know me personally, I am a reasonably competitive Magic: The Gathering player and joined a league commished by the owner of my local card shop. The scoring is set up as standard with the following tweaks:
+6 points per passing TD (usually 4)
-3 points per INT (usually 4)
+1 point per reception
-2 points per FG missed 0-19 yards (added)
-1 points per FG missed 20-29 yards (added)
+3 points per defensive INT (usually 2)
+5 points per safety (usually 2)
+3 points per blocked kick (usually 2)
Here we go, nightmare announcement… 12th pick in the draft. =(. Ok not really, this isn’t the worst spot you can be in so don’t panic. Here is my logic on why I like drafting last more than anywhere else in the 2nd half of the first round; In almost every draft I do, someone takes a player in the first round who I do not think is worthy of a first round selection. No draft has ever followed my exact rankings for longer than 6 selections and I am always able to get two players who I have given a first round grade on. Picking in round 7 or later just means that the elite talent has passed me by and now im taking a risk on someone with some substantial downside to keep him from being inside that top tier. If I must take that risk, I’d prefer to get two of them to make make it even more likely I have a top 5 scorer at the end of the season. Here is how it worked out for me in this one:
| Rnd # | Pick # | Selection |
| 1. | (12) | Matthew Stafford (Det – QB) |
| 2. | (13) | Matt Forte (Chi – RB) |
| 3. | (36) | Antonio Gates (SD – TE) |
| 4. | (37) | DeMarco Murray (Dal – RB) |
| 5. | (60) | Stevie Johnson (Buf – WR) |
| 6. | (61) | Jeremy Maclin (Phi – WR) |
| 7. | (84) | Nate Washington (Ten – WR) |
| 8. | (85) | C.J. Spiller (Buf – RB) |
| 9. | (108) | LeGarrette Blount (TB – RB) |
| 10. | (109) | Malcom Floyd (SD – WR) |
| 11. | (132) | Mario Manningham (SF – WR) |
| 12. | (133) | Alshon Jeffery (Chi – WR) |
| 13. | (156) | Toby Gerhart (Min – RB) |
| 14. | (157) | Ryan Fitzpatrick (Buf – QB) |
| 15. | (180) | Atlanta (Atl – DEF) |
Another league with 6 points per passing TD means that a lot my QB’s are first round guys. Stafford was the 5th one taken and the last QB I think has the potential to lead this entire league in points. He has some injury risk so I made sure to draft a backup and decided to not take a kicker yet so that I can drop Gerhart should AP indeed make it back for week 1. I decided to go with Forte at the top of the second because of the PPR scoring. He is a lock at 4 in the rankings for PPR in my opinion and was a very safe pick this late with 4 other backs already gone. Antonio Gates is as healthy as he has been in the past few seasons and the options that Rivers has left are not that strong. Say what you want about Meachem but there is definitely not the same trust that he has with Gates and now that Tolbert is gone, Gates is by and far the best red zone threat for Rivers. I wasn’t wild about my WR options and thought this would likely give me the best overall roster since I could get so many more quality receivers late. DeMarco Murray is somewhat involved in the receiving game but really, he was just as good of an RB2 as I could have hoped for this late as he is 8th in my rankings for standard leagues and PPR only matters so much.
When I play in PPR leagues, I really try and avoid the big-play receivers. I can field a much more consistent team in this format by taking those receivers who are the primary 3rd down target for the team. First was Stevie Johnson, who is the #1 guy for my Bills and Fitpatrick’s most trusted receiver over the past couple years. He has had some issues with drops in some key plays but for PPR owners, Johnson is a very good WR2. For me he will serve as my WR1 but he sat within three spots in my rankings from Jeremy Maclin at the time and I went ahead and scooped up Maclin with the very next pick. After two rounds of picks, I decided that I would get both a good WR and RB to split time in my flex spot throughout the season. Both Nate Washington and C.J. Spiller are more valuable in a PPR format than they normally would be and I think they were solid choices for the 7th and 8th round. Spiller has not made much of his opportunities thus far but his physical abilities are not in question. He is a dynamic playmaker who just hasn’t put it together in the run game. The Bills have Fred Jackson playing at an elite level so I expect Spiller to serve as the third down back in passing situations and I also expect them to do a fair amount of motioning him out of the backfield or just lining him up at receiver in certain situations to try and get him the ball with space.
As usual, I loaded up on deep sleeper WRs by taking Malcom Floyd, Mario Manningham and Alshon Jeffery late. I think Manningham is the most interesting PPR sleeper in the draft. Rumor has it that he has been the hardest receiver to cover in training camp and as Alex Smith develops a report with him, it will be interesting to see how the targets get divided up. I will happily the upside of a top 15 WR in end of the 11th round. Not the best draft ever but I will be a contender and with some smart moves, I could be a force to be reckoned with.
“Tailgating At Tha KRIB Podcast” League - GRIDIRON Dawgz
This is the league that was set up by @wcsteelerfan that consists of writers and experts in the wide world of sports. @buccos12 and myself co-host with @wcsteelerfan producing and playing with us is @BoxingVoice_Vic @Pacman453323 @SethDaSportsMan as well as numerous others. The league’s scoring and settings differed from standard leagues because of the following changes:
+6 points per passing TD (usually 4)
-2 points per INT (usually 1)
No more than 4 RB’s per team
No more than 4 WR’s per team
This draft was done live and on air by all of our league’s owners and you can listen to it right now on Blog Talk Radio. I was given the 2nd overall pick and here is how it went down:
| Rnd # | Pick # | Selection |
| 1. | (2) | Aaron Rodgers (GB – QB) |
| 2. | (23) | Jamaal Charles (KC – RB) |
| 3. | (26) | Adrian Peterson (Min – RB) |
| 4. | (47) | Brandon Lloyd (NE – WR) |
| 5. | (50) | Jeremy Maclin (Phi – WR) |
| 6. | (71) | Beanie Wells (Ari – RB) |
| 7. | (74) | Malcom Floyd (SD – WR) |
| 8. | (95) | Toby Gerhart (Min – RB) |
| 9. | (98) | Denarius Moore (Oak – WR) |
| 10. | (119) | Baltimore (Bal – D/ST) |
| 11. | (122) | Owen Daniels (Hou – TE) |
| 12. | (143) | Carson Palmer (Oak – QB) |
| 13. | (146) | New York (NYG – D/ST) |
| 14. | (167) | Kellen Winslow (Sea – TE) |
| 15. | (170) | Jason Hanson (Det – K) |
Rodgers shouldn’t have made it to me even with the #2 pick so I was happy to add him. A #2 overall pick is very risky and Rodgers is a guy I am positive will return my expected value. Charles fell pretty far to me in the 2nd round and I followed him up with Peterson in the third, just 3 picks after I took Charles. Peterson has been coming back from injury faster than I thought he would and while I still expect that he will be slow to get back to his old self, he is pretty likely to see the field in week 1 from what I have heard thus far. Brandon Lloyd was a big get for me here as I think he easily has top 5 receiver potential in that offense. Brady will look for him and McDaniels will call his number. Since I waited on WR and don’t really have a sure-fire WR1, I was pleased to get a sure-fire WR2 in Maclin.
My next two picks were unfortunate. Many of us guys were not aware of the cap at four WRs and RBs. So I would very likely have taken a flier on a QB or reached on a lesser TE here rather than add Floyd and Wells to my squad. I think both guys will do OK but they have very limited upside and I would have rather gone with a couple of late-round sleepers. However after that, I was able to scoop up Gerhart to handcuff Peterson and he will provide me with some good insurance in case of injury. I was able to get Denarius Moore to serve as my sleeper but I usually like to have 3 or 4 sleeper picks coming out of a draft. From here on out I just ensured that I had backups for my QB, TE and D/ST as there was nothing better to do with these bench slots after I capped out at RB and WR. If Adrian Peterson doesn’t get hurt again, I feel as though I am a lock for one of the top playoff seeds. The roster requirements make us all a LOT more vulnerable to fantasy-season-ruining injuries but that increased risk isn’t specific to me so I like my odds to take home the bragging rights for this league.
