We have our annual company trip to Vegas during the All-Star break as usual this week, and also as usual we drafted today after brunch in our first play-out-the-season draft.
As such, I don't have a full idea in my mind yet where I want to slot everyone, just a few general concepts and strategy ideas.
- The way running backs are being used in the NFL generally has changed a lot of my approach to the draft. There are very few "sure things" any longer, and I don't want to settle for the next best running back in the first round, just to take a running back in the first round. Of course, that also means that the elite guys are at an extra premium. In many cases, if I'm drafting after a particular slot in the first round, I'm not going to take a RB there, and I might not take one for a long time, instead preferring to attack the position like I do pitching in baseball, with volume, and active free agent bidding.
- This is still evolving for me, but here are the RB's in my initial first-round circle of trust: Arian Foster, LeSean McCoy, Ray Rice, Maurice Jones-Drew, Ryan Mathews (yeah, this is possibly a stretch). I might extend this to Trent Richardson or Chris Johnson later on, but not right now, at least not in the top 10-12 spots.
- This league gave 3 points for a passing touchdown, and we only start one QB, against three WR's, two RB's and a Flex. So while the stability of an elite QB is nice, QB's generally are devalued.
If you're thinking this is a long-winded discussion of why I went WR-heavy in a non-PPR league, well, you're right. Drafting ninth out of 14, here's what I ended up with.
1.9 - Larry Fitzgerald
2.6 - A.J. Green
3.9 - Jordy Nelson
4.6 - Jeremy Maclin
5.9 - Willis McGahee
6.6 - James Starks
7.9 - Michael Bush
8.6 - Robert Griffin III
9.9 - Isiah Pead
10.6 - Shane Vereen
11.9 - Jacquizz Rodgers
12.6 - Carson Palmer
13.9 - Kyle Rudolph
14.6 - Javon Ringer
15.9 - CIN defense
16.6 - Nate Kaeding
So, it's not pretty at RB, but I think I have a decent combo of playing time and stability among my seven RBs. The tough part about this team will be to be patient when some of that upside isn't realized early on. After all, how many people owned and dropped C.J. Spiller and Roy Helu Jr. before they returned any value last year?
I'm happy with my QB combo given the wait at the position - both have top-10 potential. Had one pick gone my way in the fifth round, I would have taken Antonio Gates and waited even later for a running back! But Gates went two picks before mine.
This league is a bit of an experiment for me. I want to try to just find value where I can, and turn over some of the truisms in the hobby if possible. But I believe I have really solid production from my first four spots, and given that there are slots for all of them to start each week, it doesn't matter where I get my production from, so long as I get that production.