Just had my fantasy football draft...

[IgnatiusTheKing]

What do you think? I'm in a 12-team keeper league.

Starters
QB Peyton Manning (my keeper)
RB LeSean McCoy
RB Shonn Greene
WR Percy Harvin (took a chance on him)
WR Pierre Garçon
TE Kellen Winslow

K Adam Vinatieri

DEF New Orleans

Bench
QB Donovan McNabb
RB Brandon Jacobs
RB Mike Bell
WR Terrell Owens
WR Steve Breaston
WR Mario Manningham

 

[stonyc]

I like every single one of your bench WR more than I do Percy Harvin. He's too much of an injury risk, especially if he's going to be Favre's number one target.

RB is not very deep, but your two starters are due to be solid producers... Eagles need to maintain a solid running game to give Kolb a chance, and I like Greene a lot on that Jets team. Jacobs is going to get some carries taken away by Bradshaw (Bradshaw had a much better YPC last year compared to Jacobs too)... I think you're kind of hurting yourself by keeping both McCoy and Bell. If you're keeping Bell as insurance in case McCoy isn't starting... eh, maybe.

What FA QBs are available?

Consider trading McNabb and one of your RBs maybe to upgrade at RB. Maybe you could get a Ricky Williams or a Jahvid Best/Kevin Smith type?

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

Good points. The league is only 12 teams, so McNabb isn't really in demand preseason. I'm hoping he will start hot and I will be able to flip him for a good RB or WR. There aren't a lot of decent QBs on the FA list (guys on bad teams like Jason Campbell or Trent Edwards or guys on run-oriented teams like Leftwich and Sanchez), but since I (hopefully) will only need a starter for Week 7 (Indy's bye), I'm just going to wait and see how things go. If it makes sense to hold onto McNabb until Week 8 and then deal him, that's probably what I'll do.

As for WR, by the time I got around to grabbing one, Harvin was the only "top line" type left. I knew it was a big risk grabbing him because of his migraine issues, but since I was able to get Breaston and TO in later rounds, I figure I can play it week-to-week and not worry too much.

As far as RB, when I was looking for depth at the back end of the draft there wasn't much left. Jacobs is clearly my #3, but after last year, I'm not expecting much and don't plan to start him unless he really comes on. I grabbed Bell with my last pick, only because McCoy is still pretty young and was nicked up a bit last year. All the other choices at that point were similar types of backups, so I figured I might as well get one of my starter's backups, just in case.

 

[stonyc]

12-team league, I'd say if roster stays the same, you'll be right in the pack. Peyton will win you a couple games on his own, and I actually like your bench WRs quite a bit.

Garcon is coming on, and even though he's probably Indy's 3/4 receiver right now, Gonzalez could go down again. Indy's #3 receiver is like having a #2 receiver on any other team.

TO is a cancer, but between Carson, OchoCinco and TO... they're going to winging the ball. I think TO might be a little underrated at this point.

Breaston is solid, it's mostly going to be a question of who is Arizona's QB. I actually thing Fitzgerald is likely to be affected more by the QB position than Breaston is. Breaston has always (back to his Michigan days) been more of a yards after the catch guy... Fitzgerald is your more prototypical WR who stretches the field. Breaston I think will be fine, he doesn't need Leinart or Anderson to get him the ball 20-30 yards downfield... he'll do most of his damage on underneath routs, etc.

Manningham, I don't think he's consistent enough to be a #1 receiver yet... but he could still get you 800 yards and 6-7 TD's. He'll have that odd game where he teases you with 8/150/2TD, but then he'll throw up a couple 2/28/0TD games... he needs to mature mentally and he'll be a force. But probably not consistently enough this year to be considered a star. But for a backup WR in a 12-team league, 800-900YDS/7TD's is great.

 

[bamaworks]

Hmm, I don't like this team as much as I should. McCoy is going to be mediocre at best and Greene is in a serious timeshare in NY. I just don't know how consistent your RBs (read: bread & butter) are going to be. Manning is always excellent, however, but having a QB & WR from the same team is a recipe for disaster. If Peyton has an off game, Garcon does as well...

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

Hmm, I don't like this team as much as I should. McCoy is going to be mediocre at best and Greene is in a serious timeshare in NY. I just don't know how consistent your RBs (read: bread & butter) are going to be.

I'm not really worried about Greene. LT gets hurt, a lot, and hasn't really been all that effective for a couple of years now. I don't know why, but I've just had a feeling since the middle of last year that McCoy is going to explode. Also, the way this league is set up is more balanced than most leagues. RB are still the big point-generators, but WR can get big points, as well, because the point system is:

Rushing

• 1 points per 10 yds
• 6 points per TD
• +2.5 points at 150 yards
• + (another) 2.5 points at 200 yards

Receiving

• 1 point per 1 reception
• 1 point per 20 yards
• 6 points per TD
• +2.5 points at 150 yards
• + (another) 2.5 points at 200 yards

It's set up that way so a WR getting 5 catches for 100 yards and a TD gets the same amount of points (16) as a RB who runs for 100 yards and a TD. In most leagues, that scenario would only generate 11 points for the WR, which doesn't seem fair.

Manning is always excellent, however, but having a QB & WR from the same team is a recipe for disaster. If Peyton has an off game, Garcon does as well...

Yeah I'm always a little leery of that myself, but at the time I was drafting him, I didn't want to pass him up for someone inferior just because he's on the same team. Manning doesn't have many off days, anyway, so hopefully I'll get away with it.