Necessary Flaxness
I know that a healthy portion of this site's readership cares as
much about fantasy football as I do. Despite the fact that my indoctrination into
the world of fantasy sports came in baseball, football has become my favorite fantasy
game. Why? Well, I really can't pay attention to a fantasy team for an entire
baseball season. That's pretty much all there is to it. The drafts in high
school were a blast, but since I got to college, that's been taken out of the equation,
leaving not a whole lot. Football, on the other hand, I can really get into,
especially with the week-to-week matchups.
Here, then, is the page nobody asked for but some might like to read: a
week-by-week account of my fantasy football season. (And yes, I'm getting started a
little late; the draft and first two weeks are recapped.)
Record through 2 weeks: 1-1, 341.09 points (4th place)
Week Three - Preview
Week Two was solidly disappointing. As if that
weren't bad enough, Week Three is when the byes start, and guess who goes off right away?
You guessed it, two-time team MVP Curtis Martin. Also, Rodney Harrison, worth
19 points in Week Two.
House Cleaning: With the bye weeks threatening to ravage me because of
how they lined up, it was time to make some changes. It was time to make some other
changes too, as I couldn't sit idly by while Trent Green attempted to singlehandedly sink
my team. The following changes were made:
*Tyrone Wheatley dropped, David Carr picked up. It's going to hurt not having any
bench RBs, but I'm sure Wheatley will still be there for the taking later if I need him.
Why? Because he sucks! And I needed a QB who was actually throwing
touchdowns.
*Deion Branch dropped, Roy Williams picked up. Branch didn't really do anything
wrong, except suck and get injured the week I played him, after I didn't play him and he
did well. I have to figure Williams will do better either way, though - Detroit is
young and quick on offense, and he's now the #1 target.
*Now starting at WR: Amani Toomer. This was out of necessity, as McCareins is off,
but we'll see if Toomer can show me something against the so-so Browns, now that Warner
might be Warner again.
*Now starting at QB: David Carr. This was really a tough call. I
don't want to bench McNair even though he's starting against one of the league's toughest
defenses (Jacksonville), mostly because Palmer is too (Baltimore). I could put Green
in that spot, but he's earned the bench for now, though I'm sure he'll choose this week to
be good again. Worse yet, Houston and Kansas City are playing. I feel good
starting Carr because KC's defense is so bad, but it's not like Houston's is so amazing.
I still refuse to start Green because he has no receivers. So McNair stays
even though I bet he does nothing good.
The Week's Key Matchups: The running backs should be the key. I'm
hoping Portis and Griffin's Week Two stumbles were temporary. Griffin at least
should return to form, running against San Diego in Denver, but Portis gets a relatively
stout Cowboy D. Martin is off and I have no one to put in his place, so I'm hoping
the other two can at least try to pick up the slack. The other guy has Warrick Dunn,
Fred Taylor, and Thomas Jones - at least as of Tuesday. Dunn has a sprained knee and
Taylor a sore foot - but as I already have found out, there really is nobody out there in
free agency. Emmitt Smith is probably the best back available, and he's been okay at
best. We could be in for a low-scoring week.
The Forecast: Considering my #1 back is out and my QB situation has up
until now been a mess, I think it's a good sign that my chances don't look too bad this
week. Still, I hope upcoming bye weeks won't be so lean that I'll be forced to rely
on opponents' injuries to feel okay about my team.
Week Two - Recap
Week Two did not go as well as Week One. That's a
rather painful understatement, in fact. My defense came to play, putting up 84.5
points after its 81-point performance in Week One, but the entire rest of the team could
only muster 65.05 points. Hideous. I somehow lead going into Monday night...
oh, the other guy has Moss and Owens. Ballgame. Final score: Other
guy 176.83, me 149.55.
The Difference Makers: Owens and Moss, obviously - also, his QBs put up
points.
MVP: For the second straight week, it's Martin, worth 20.62 points for
his 119 yards and 2 TDs.
LVP: And for the second straight week, it's Green, worth a horrific -3.51
points for evening out his comps/incs, losing a fumble, throwing a pick, and once again
throwing no touchdowns.
Getting Dropped/Picked Up/Moving Up: We'll cover this in the Week Three
preview.
Shouldn't Have Been Dropped: Amani Toomer, who while unspectacular with
6.60 points, was worth just slightly less than three of the four starting WRs - Johnson,
McCareins, and Branch, who added up to 7.07 - combined.
Week One - Recap
So it's Week One of a new season. I make no
changes before the first week swings into action, and am rewarded for drafting well.
Final score: Me 191.54, other guy 179.41.
The Difference Makers: Easily the running backs. Martin, Portis,
and Griffin combined for 61.54 points, while the other guy's three RBs didn't even total
20 points between them.
MVP: Martin, rushing for 196 yards and a score, and catching another.
LVP: Trent Green, failing to justify his lofty draft position by tossing
up a heinous line of 16-for-32, 174 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT. He was worth 0.63 points for
the week. Combine that with McNair not exactly setting the world on fire and it's
almost amazing that I won at all.
Getting Dropped: Marcus Pollard didn't record a catch and he plays on the
same team as Dallas Clark; Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila didn't play and I can't find anything
saying why. No dead weight on this team, Kabeer.
Picked Up: Antonio Gates at tight end and Travian Smith at DL.
Moving Up: Deion Branch put up 10.86 points (86 yr and a TD) while on the
bench, while Amani Toomer had just 4.73 points and plays for a bad team with a QB
controversy. Carson Palmer was also worth more on the bench than either of my
starting QBs - by quite a bit - but I hesitate to start him when they should be
good.
Draft Recap
I got into fantasy football last year; after being
invited to join a league by friends in the Rotten Tomatoes forums and declining, I
realized I wanted to participate after all. Fortunately, one guy abandoned his team
(after having an absolutely shitty draft that saw him take Brad Johnson in the first
round). Stepping into the void, I took the team to the top of the league and on to
fifth place overall after the playoffs (in a league with a lot of teams). I
also had an auto-drafted team in an eight-team Full Squad league, which brought up the
rear for most of the season before pulling together to win a couple.
This year I only did the Full Squad team. In this league you play
the following rotation: 2 QBs, 3 RBs, 4 WRs, a tight end, a kicker, four DLs (DTs and
LBs), four DBs, and three defensive players who can belong to either category. You
also only get three bench spots, which makes things damn tight. There are only eight
teams in this league, though, which means that in general there shouldn't be much dead
weight forced onto your team.
I don't go in for a lot of research, so I drafted almost exclusively
based on last year's fantasy stats. My draft went as follows:
Round One: I have the sixth pick. With Tomlinson, Holmes,
McAllister, Moss, and Ahman Green going top five, my choice is Clinton Portis. Yeah,
he's in a new system and his old one was Denver, the running back factory, but you gotta
like him.
Round Two: After Peyton Manning goes 8th overall, I take co-MVP Steve
McNair with the third pick of the second round. He's the second QB drafted. I
take some heat for picking up McNair with Daunte Culpepper still on the board.
Round Three: Deciding to go for a wide receiver next, I nab Chad Johnson.
Round Four: Looking for another QB, I take Trent Green. This turns
out to be much too high.
Round Five: Chris Chambers.
Round Six: Tedy Bruschi. He's the third defensive player taken, but
the first not named Strahan or Lewis. Underrated fact, though - last year, Bruschi
was worth more points than anybody still on the board.
Round Seven: Mike Vanderjagt. Again I go with a more surprising
pick - but again, Vandy last year was worth more than anyone else left. Kickers are
like catchers - there's a few really valuable ones, and the rest aren't worth a damn in
fantasy.
Round Eight: I snatch up Curtis Martin, who claims to have hooked himself
up to the Juvenation Machine.
Round Nine: To finish out my RB corps, Quentin Griffin. With a team
like Denver, he has to be good!
Round Ten: Back to the D, as a few others are now starting to realize
that at this point, the top D players are worth more than any of the second-tier O players
remaining. I pick up Andra Davis, DL, Cleveland.
Round Eleven: Back to the offense with Amani Toomer.
Round Twelve: Rodney Harrison, DB, New England.
Round Thirteen: Justin McCareins, who was big for me last year as a free
agent.
Round Fourteen: David Thornton, DL, Indianapolis.
Round Fifteen: Fred Thomas, DB, New Orleans. I get the top two
defensive backs from last year.
Round Sixteen: Looking for a dark horse, I use a bench spot on Carson
Palmer.
Round Seventeen: Akin Ayodele, DL, Jacksonville.
Round Eighteen: Tony Parrish, DB, San Francisco.
Round Nineteen: Marcus Pollard, TE, Indianapolis.
Round Twenty: Marcus Coleman, DB, Houston.
Round Twenty-One: Back to the bench, I pick up possibly my most iffy pick
to date: Deion Branch.
Round Twenty-Two: Nick Harper, DB, Indianapolis.
Round Twenty-Three: Back to the bench. Yes, Tyrone Wheatley sucks,
but he's the only option in Oakland.
Round Twenty-Four: I take Anthony Simmons, somehow overlooking the fact
that he had already been taken. I am assigned Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila instead, which is
okay by me.
Round Twenty-Five: I close with Derek Smith, DL, San Francisco.
I'm immensely happy with my defense. The offense looks fine so far, but we'll see, won't we?