Fantasy Football Drafts 2012 Part 1

The 2012 NFL season has begun, and despite the opening day loss to the Cowboys, I will persevere. The Giants are always slow starters, and we were down to our 5th string CB. I have worries, but we’ll get it together. Anyways, with the season starting, it’s time to talk fantasy football.

I love fantasy sports; it’s basically Dungeons and Dragons for sports fans. It allows me to flex my football (or baseball) IQ. Knowing who to draft and when to draft a player comes with studying and experience. But of course, that’s only half of it. There’s also luck. You have to be lucky sometimes to get the player you want. You also have to hope that the guy you drafted stays healthy, or that the sleeper pick you got pulls through. Or that a certain player isn’t a one year wonder (ex: Victor Cruz). All these things make every season exciting.

This year, I’m participating in 4 leagues. One is with a bunch of old acquaintances from back home in Bama. The other 3 are with random people on ESPN. I’ll be doing a post on each draft since it’s going to be really long. Here’s my first team and the league it’s in:

Asian Invasion/Gumptown’s Finest, my friends’ league
8 teams. 7th pick in draft. 17 roster spots. Head-to- head scoring.

QB — Peyton Manning (Denver)
RB — LeSean McCoy (Philadelphia)
RB — DeMarco Murray (Dallas)
WR —  Mike Wallace (Pittsburgh)
WR — Victor Cruz (Giants)
TE — Rob Gronkowski (New England)
FLEX — Hakeem Nicks (Giants)
DP (Defensive player) — Jared Allen (Minnesota)
D/ST (Defense/special teams) — Giants
K — Stephen Gostkowski (NE)
BE (Bench) — Willis McGahee RB (Den)
BE — Eric Decker WR (Den)
BE — Roy Helu RB (Washington)
BE — Miles Austin WR (Dal)
BE — Matt Schaub QB (Houston)
BE — Torrey Smith WR (Baltimore)
BE — Donald Brown RB (Indianapolis)

Draft recap here. Now for my reasoning behind my picks.

I like being one of the last two picks in a snake draft. I hate being the 1st or 2nd since you have to wait a while to get to your 2nd round pick. I was happy when I saw I was 7th.

For my 1st round pick, I chose LeSean McCoy (7). I don’t know why he was still available. He is top 3 RB because of his pass catching abilities. For some reason, people like drafting one of the Big 4 QB’s as early as possible. To be quite honest, there are less elite RB’s than elite QB’s. Surprise pick: none.

For my 2nd round pick, I chose Rob Gronkowski (10). There are 2 elite TE’s in the NFL; the rest are far inferior. The other elite TE is Saints TE Jimmy Graham. I had to jump on one ASAP. Larry Fitzgerald was still available, but there are plenty of good WR’s. There’s only one TE spot on the roster. Gotta fill it. Surprise pick: none.

For my 3rd round pick, I chose Mike Wallace (23). In hindsight, I don’t like this pick as much. I needed a #1 WR, so I chose Wallace. I wish I had picked A.J. Green, who was drafted 2 spots after. I believe I felt that Green was going to be covered moar, and that the Bengals had a harder schedule this year. Surprise pick: Ben Roethlisberger (18). Went way too early in my opinion. Tony Romo, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, and Matt Ryan were all still available.

For my 4th round pick, I chose  DeMarco Murray (26). Wanted to get that second RB spot out of the way, and if he stays healthy, he’ll be dynamite (just look at Wed. night’s game -_-). Darren McFadden, Jamaal Charles, and Adrian Peterson were on the board still, but McFadden can never stay healthy, and Charles and Peterson are coming off major injuries. Surprise pick: none.

For my 5th round pick, I chose Victor Cruz (39). Grabbed a solid #2 here. I truly believe he’ll repeat his performance from last year. Surprise pick: Trent Richardson (33). Drafting a rookie RB with questionable knees over the likes of Fred Jackson or BenJarvus Green-Ellis (who will be a fantasy stud) had me scratching my head. The guy who drafted him is a huge Bama fan so…

For my 6th round pick,  I chose Hakeem Nicks (42). Grabbed the other great Giants receiver. Only question is if he can stay healthy. I consider this pick a steal. Can’t believe he was still available. Surprise pick: Jason Pierre-Paul (47). JPP is a stud, but seriously? Wasting a 6th round pick (in a 8 team league!) on a defensive player?

For my 7th round pick, I chose Willis McGahee (55). Time to start shoring up the bench. Also have to start thinking about bye weeks for my main guys. McGahee should have another good year especially with Peyton at the helm. People don’t realize that Peyton does like to run the ball, especially in the red zone. Surprise pick: Michael Vick (54) and Dez Bryant (56). Why would you draft your backup QB this early? But Bryant is a good surprise. Great value for where he was drafted.

For my 8th round pick, I chose Peyton Manning (58). If I don’t grab at top QB early, I wait. And my patience paid off. One team went for their 2nd QB in the previous round while I got my starter this round. Some people need to learn to fantasy. Surprise pick: 49ers D/ST (57) and Sebastian Janikowski (63). Way too early for both picks. Janikowski had me scratching my head. Akers and Gostkowski were still available. If you’re going to draft a kicker, get one of them instead.

For my 9th round pick, I chose Eric Decker (71). I’m all in with the Broncos skill players. Peyton will turn them into pro-bowlers. Surprise pick: Ravens D/ST (67) and Garrett Hartley (70). Again too early for both picks. In 8 man leagues where there’s still a ton of good bench players, I don’t know why you would waste picks on defenses and kickers.

For my 10th round pick, I chose Roy Helu (74). With Washington, it’s always a guessing game to which RB will play. But Helu has huge upside, so I picked him to stash him away. Surprise pick: the kicker and defenses drafted. See 9th round explanation…

For my 11th round pick, I chose Miles Austin (87). Again, another steal. His health remains a concern, but he’s good when on the field. Surprise pick: Sam Bradford (82), Santonio Holmes (84), Texans D/ST (86), and Colin McCarthy (88).  Why Bradford? Matt Schaub, Jay Cutler, RG3, Josh Freeman, Alex Smith, Andy Dalton, and Joe Flacco (!) were all still available. Santonio Holmes? Really? Miles Austin, Jeremy Maclin, Torrey Smith, and Pierre Garcon were all still available. With the Texans, yet again, drafting a defense too early. And who the hell is Colin McCarthy? Really?

For my 12th round pick, I chose Matt Schaub (90). Had to get my backup QB to play in Peyton’s bye week (7). Although Schaub does play the Ravens in week 7. Surprise pick: none.

For my 13th round pick, I chose Torrey Smith (103). Make no mistake, Smith will be a star in Baltimore this year. Flacco should come into his own this year, and Anquan Boldin isn’t getting younger. It’s Smith’s time. Surprise pick: Karlos Dansby (99). I don’t know if the people drafting realized that IDP’s points come from sacks and creating turnovers…neither of which Dansby does well. He’s a better real life player than fantasy player.

For my 14th round pick, I chose Stephen Gostkowski (106). I have no problem drafting a kicker in the last 4-5 rounds. One of the best two kicker in my opinion. Surprise pick: none.

For my 15th round pick, I chose Donald Brown (119). He might have a breakout year. Stashing him away. Surprise pick: Brandon Spikes (114). See Dansby.

For my 16th round pick, I chose Jared Allen (122). Sack machine. I can’t believe no one drafted him or DeMarcus Ware. Surprise pick: none. You really can’t mess up now anyways.

For my 17th round pick, I chose the Giants D/ST. They have the best pass rush in football. The defense should be better, although it will take some time, as usual.