Football catchup

Wow, it's only week 4 and I'm already behind schedule....

Team 1 (1-2)

Week 2: lost

I lost by less than 1.5 points. Schaub went off on my bench and Hasselbeck got hurt at 5 points. Disappointing loss

Week 3: Win

I played against a new fantasy football player whose favorite team appears to be the Bengals. Only 1 RB, 1 WR, and TE were not on the Bengals... I won by almost 40. Another good game from Schaub led the destruction

Week 4: Projected Points- 91.47

MOV: 4.56

This team isn't hit hard with the first bye week, only Fitz is out.

Schaub

Andre

Jennings

Holt

McGahee

Coffee

Daniels

Kaeding

San Diego

The biggest pickups in this team were the RBs. McGahee has just been on fire since the start of the season, and with Gore's injury Coffee becomes the guy to get. We'll see how this one plays out. RBs on the bench are Kevin Smith (hurt), Ryan Grant (vs Minn) and Lynch (fresh off suspension, unsure of timeshare with Fred Jackson). i also picked up Pierre Garcon, WR of the Colts, who seems to be filling in for Anthony Gonzales. Holt gets the nod because of Tenn's awful pass D. I upgraded to Owen Daniels at Te because the Raiders are the worst team I have seen in awhile and I can't count on Zach Miller

Team 2 (2-1)

Week 2 I won by 4 points largely because Matt Ryan and Nate Kaeding over performed for me and Tenn D put up -1 for my opponent

Week 3 I got crushed by Allen largely because MJD went off for 30+ points and I had no studly play.

Week 4 projections: 80.40

MOV: unknown-opponent has not fix bye weeks yet

This bye week hurts this team. I lose Matt Ryan, Fitz and the Atl D.

Sanchez

Calvin

Garcon

Coffee

Donald Brown

Heath Miller

McFadden

Kaeding

Chicago

Brown vs Seattle and Run DMC at Houston get the nod over Grant vs Minn. I was lucky to get Coffee in this league too, and I have Manningham on the bench. Not sure what to make of the young Giants WR yet, but it was a tossup with him or Garcon to fill in for Fitz. Sanchez has been managing the games well, and he will have to pass a lot vs NO I think, so the chance for some points from the off week QB is nice.

Team 3 (1-2)

Week 2 I lost because I did not start Schaub, and although Flacco played great, it wasn't enough.

Week3 I broke 100 points and won by about 6 on the back on Schaub, Celek, and SD D. I was able to overcome an MJD thrashing in this league

Week 4:

Projected Points: 85.88

MOV: only up by 4 and opponent has yet to replace Fitz. This one will be close

Schaub

Moss

Colston

Garcon

DMC

Choice

Davis

Carney

SD

Vernon Davis fills in for Celek on the bye, who was an amazing free agent pickup at TE. I was unable to snag Coffee in this league, but Choice out of Dallas is the next best thing. With Felix out and Barber still hurting, Choice will see a lot of action vs Den, a D which has surprised everyone so far. Garcon makes the cut over Manningham again, and I'm sitting both Sproles and LT vs Pitt. That LT first round pick has come back to screw me...Kevin Smith also benched because he isn' 100%. Saint vs Jets will be interesting. i'd like to see if Revis can shut down Colston like he has shut down every other stud this year.

I'll also have my eye on the Pitt game and Rashard Mendenhall. I had to drop him for Coffee in Team 2, but with Parker battling turf toe, Mendenhall could have a good game and have value in week 5, a bad week for my RBs across the board based on byes and matchups. I'm not comfortable dropping any of my players for him yet, and I only hope I can snag him if he puts up a good game. I just couldn't pull the trigger this week.

I'll also be monitoring Darren McFadden...the Raiders are simply atrocious and the more they play, the more I realize I can't start any of their players. His time to prove himself is running out....

Football Week 2 Rosters and Thoughts

Here are the rosters I'm trotting out for week 2

Team 1.

QB Matt Hasselbeck

WR Larry Fitzgerald

WR Andre Johnson

WR Greg Jennings

RB Ryan Grant

RB Kevin Smith

TE Zach Miller

K Nate Kaeding

DEF Green Bay

Roster Moves: I swapped Schaub out for Hasselbeck, Schaub has to prove himself to me now after that terrible performance. Andre might suffer a little, but there is no way you can bench that guy. Added Carnell Williams and Green Bay Def, dropped Anthony Gonzales and Chester Taylor. Gonzo is going to miss significant time, and Cadillac looks like he did a few years ago and is worth a bench spot. I don't see Taylor having a huge game until AP goes down, and I don't see AP going down against Detroit. Once again, my WRs are going to make or break the team, it will be interesting to see how Fitz deals with triple coverage all day with Boldin and Breaston banged up and less effective. Hightower could be poised for another monster game in the passing department.

My opponent has Drew Brees, so this game could be very close, or he could completely blow me out.

Projected Points: 96. MOV: 9

Team 2

QB Matt Ryan

WR Larry Fitz

WR Calvin Johnson

RB Ryan Grant

RB Kevin Smith

TE Zach Miller

W/R Darren McFadden

K Nate Kaeding

DEF Atlanta

Roster moves: McFadden gets the nod over Donald Brown at the flex spot. I took a chance on Brown and it didn't cost me, but the Raiders are showing that they can use a 2 RB system effectively and that Run DMC has value. Plus he is playing a soft D in KC. Added Atlanta Def and WR Earl Bennett, dropped Chicago Def and Jerious Norwood. Urlacher's injury makes the Bears D unplayable in my opinion, and Atlanta really wowed me. Sure it was against the Dolphins, but I think I picked up a talented squad. Bennett is an option for Week 4 when I get decimated by byes. He got the most targets from Cutler and will probably emerge as their go to receiver. I wanted to lock him up early and Norwood wasn't going to do anything huge for awhile. I guess it really only makes sense to handcuff players if you own them. I am also keeping my eye on Mark Sanchez. Another good game out of him and he'll be my backup over Cassel. I'll need a QB in week 4 for Atl's bye.

I'm up against Peyton Manning and AP, so this one could get ugly. It will be interesting to see who benefits the most from Gonzo's injury.

Projected Points: 93.61. MOV: -4.27

Team 3

QB Joe Flacco

WR Randy Moss

WR Marques Colston

WR Nate Burleson

RB Kevin Smith

RB Darren McFadden

TE Brent Celek

K John Carney

DEF San Diego

Roster Moves: I claimed Celek off of waivers as soon as I could. I couldn't risk losing a good TE option. Good riddance Anthony Fasano. Next, I swapped David Garrard and Felix Jones for Joe Flacco and Nate Burleson. It was a toss up between Bennett and Burleson, but I thought diversity would be a better plan at the start of the year. Justin Gage was also considered, but I just have a good feeling about Seattle's passing attack this year. Joe Flacco looks like a stud in the making and is just head and shoulder's above Garrard. I even decided to start Joe over Schaub. Schaub really left a sour taste in my mouth. I might be overreacting, but at least Schaub is still on the team if and when he returns to form.

The big news on this team is the LT injury. It was a risk to draft him and I even handcuffed him with Sproles so I might be OK in the long run, but there is no way I'm starting Sproles against Baltimore this week. McFadden should get plenty of good looks against KC, and that will be a key to me pulling this one out. I don't feel like any of my opponent's players will explode against me this week, so I'm pretty sure I can tip the scales in my favor.

Projected Points 87. MOV -1

Kevin Smith vs the great Minn run defense is going to be the key matchup across all my teams. I also need Larry Fitz to produce in tough coverage.

Football Week 1 Results

Week 1 has come and gone, and I only managed to win one matchup.

Team 1: lost 91.94-99.42

Busts: Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson combined for 10 points.

Breakouts: Reggie Wayne and Tom Brady wrecked me, and MoJo also over performed.

A good game from Jennings, solid RB play, and excellent TE points from Zach Miller made this one closer that it should have been.

Concerns: Slight concerns for Schaub and Andre, I have Hasselbeck as a backup. Anthony Gonzales got hurt and it looks pretty severe. He is my number 4 WR right now, so I'm not sure if I should drop him or ride out the injury. It's also hard to tell if week1 numbers from WRs that had good games will stand up over the season.

Team 2 Won 92.26-78.28

Busts: No real busts here, but I should have started McFadden over Donald Brown. McFadden and Bush are sharing carries, but McFadden wracked up the yards. he did have a fumble though...Oakland looks to be an actual NFL franchise this year, and they have run the ball well the past few years.

Breakouts: Zach Miller played well and Matt Ryan went above expectations

Concerns: Chicago D loses Urlacher for the year. I'll have to look at schedules and maybe play a rotating D now.

Team 3 Demolished 67.94-117.32

Everything went wrong for me and right my opponent it seemed

Busts: Schaub, Chris Henry, Fasano, and LT, to an extent (Sproles had more fantasy points)

Breakouts: Philly D and Greg Jennings combined with starters who actually performed left me in the dust.

Concers: Fasano fumbled twice. I've already dropped up and hope to pick up Brent Celek off waivers tomorrow. More concern for Schaub but I think he bounces back. Chris Henry was targeted in the end zone, but he couldn't come down with it. LT hurt his ankle in this game, which is why I handcuffed him with Sproles. Next week San Diego plays Baltimore, so I think I'll sit Sproles in favor of McFadden in case LT's injury is serious

Notable FA players with good games:

TE Brent Celek, Ben Watson- I prefer Celek here, Tom Brady will the spread the ball more than McNabb's backup will.

WR- Justin Gage, Nate Washington, Earl Bennett, Steve Smith (NYG), Devin Hester, Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson, and Nate Burleson. ATL D also scored huge, but against a bad Miami team

RB Carnell Williams

Anthony Gonzales will probably become one of these players, I'm leaning towards Burleson or Gage. Chris Henry might become one as well, but I don't want to waste a waiver pick on that. I'm not ready to give up on Henry yet, he is my sleeper of the year.

I'm not ready to buy Hester, Meachem, or Henderson just yet, but they are on my radar. I like Cadillac, but I can't pull the trigger just yet.

Football Week 1 Rosters and Thoughts

I've decided to just stick with 3 teams this year.

Team 1:

Matt Schaub

Larry Fitz

Andre Johnson

Greg Jennings

Ryan Grant

Kevin Smith

Zach Miller

Nate Kaeding

San Diego

I decided to drop Winslow for Miller at TE. I think Miller is a surer thing right now, and I was fortunate that he was still available after I dropped him to make room for Jennings and Holt in that 1 sided trade. That guy was collecting Bengals players, as he made another lopsided deal for Ochocinco, but it's all about having fun. Pretty sure this is his first league. My opponent this week has 13.3 points from the Thursday night Pitt vs Tenn game, but his kicker did underperform. A healthy Schaub and good WR play should lock this one down for me.

Projected Points: 99. Winning Margin: 8.

Team 2- Friend League

Matt Ryan

Larry Fitz

Calvin Johnson

Ryan Grant

Kevin Smith

Zach Miller

Donald Brown

Nate Kaeding

Chicago

I am all in on Zach Miller this year. He was dropped for RB Mike Bell, which was probably a smart move. He certainly is an upgrade over Randy McMichael. I'm rolling the dice a little with Donald Brown over McFadden. I can't trust the Oakland offense just yet (save Miller) and Brown is in a timeshare with Addai and will see plenty of carries, I hope. This week's success hinges on that decision, as we have almost dead even on projected points

Projected Points: 89.93. Margin of Victory: .56

Team 3

Matt Schaub

Randy Moss

Marques Colston

Chris Henry

LT

Kevin Smith

Anthony Fasano

John Carney

San Diego

This week is interesting. Injuries to Walter and Berrian both make them Q, so I had to drop Walter and pick up my sleeper WR of the year, Chris Henry. Trial by fire right off the bat for him. I think Berrian has more value than Walter, so Walter was cut. This victory hinges on a few things- Schaub's legs, Chris Henry, and LT's durability. I have Sproles on the bench in case LT goes down early in the season, but I'm not comfortable starting both LT and Sproles, especially over Kevin Smith. This week is so close Yahoo projects it as a draw...My opponent picked up 8.3 points from Hines Ward, who was project at 8, so I just need one offense explosion from someone. My bet is LT.

Projected Points: 96. Margin of Victory 0

Kevin Smith is on all my teams, so he will always factor into my wins. All leagues are set up on a fractional point system, but for some reason 1 and 3 don't project fractional points.

Eagerly awaiting kickoff....

Final (for now) Football Draft

My last league is a 12 man league I'm in with a few friends and friends of friends. I had 8th pick and once again went for the WR-WR draft. This league has a WR/RB flex spot instead of a third WR.

1.	(8)	Larry Fitzgerald
2.	(17)	Calvin Johnson
3.	(32)	Ryan Grant
4.	(41)	Kevin Smith
5.	(56)	Darren McFadden
6.	(65)	Matt Ryan
7.	(80)	Kevin Walter
8.	(89)	Chicago
9.	(104)	Matt Cassel
10.	(113)	Donald Brown
11.	(128)	Chester Taylor
12.	(137)	Domenik Hixon
13.	(152)	Jerious Norwood
14.	(161)	Nate Kaeding
15.	(176)	Randy McMichael

As you can see, it paid off again with two quality RBs in rounds 3 and 4. I know have Kevin Smith on all 3 teams, haha. I think I waited too late on the TE, as Kevin Boss went a few picks before I was ready to snag him, but I keep hearing the Rams offense has improved and Randy should benefit slightly from that. Matt Cassel was an awful pick up, I knew he was hurt and I need a Qb to fill in week 4. Cassel will be less than adequate at that time. Shaun Hill is on waivers, and once waivers clears I think I'm gonna make the swamp. Hixon will become Chris Henry too, Hixon has had a bad camp and preseason and Henry is a super sleeper in my book. Solid backups fill up the bench, which is something I tried to focus on doing this year.

Speaking of Chris Henry...I was OFFERED this deal in my 2nd league. Greg Jennings AND Tory Holt for just Chris Henry. I'm stupefied. I accepted in a heartbeat, but I decided to drop my backup TE Zach Miller, who is the best passing option on the Raiders. Hopefully I can reclaim him if/when Winslow gets hurt. The trade is pending review from the league, and I highly doubt that it will pass, but if it does I have no doubt that I will finish top 2 going into the playoffs.

Football Draft 2

This draft went very well. I had 7th pick and a lot of players slipped farther than they should have. I'm very excited.

1. (7) Larry Fitzgerald 
2. (14) Andre Johnson 
3. (27) Ryan Grant 
4. (34) Kevin Smith 
5. (47) Marshawn Lynch 
6. (54) Matt Schaub 
7. (67) Anthony Gonzalez 
8. (74) Bernard Berrian 
9. (87) San Diego 
10. (94) Kellen Winslow 
11. (107) Zach Miller 
12. (114) Matt Hasselbeck 
13. (127) Chester Taylor 
14. (134) Chris Henry 
15. (147) Nate Kaeding

I was able to try the WR-WR strategy in this draft, and was rewarded when I was able to pick up both Ryan Grant and Kevin Smith as starting RBs in rounds 3 and 4, and then Marshawn Lynch(!) as a "backup" once his 3 game suspension is up. Schaub and Andre are a nice connection, and I have some options at 3rd WR. 

I drated more tradtionally this time and didn't focus as much on handcuffing injury prone players. I did pick up Chester Taylor just in case AP breaks down though. This cleared up some space for a backup TE to Winslow, who is an amazing talent but a huge health risk.

I focused more this draft on not getting hosed by a bye week like I did on my first draft. I still only drafted 1 K and 1 DEF, so week 5 could still be tricky, but I am fully confident that this team has all the tools to win this league if everyone stays healthy.

Football Season! Draft 1

Turns out baseball is too hard to blog about. Too many games, and I'm in too many leagues. I am doing very well, my worst team in daily league scoring is a 4th place team on Yahoo. 

Tonight I finished my first of three (for now) fantasy football drafts on Yahoo. It was a 10 man league and I had 6th pick. 

1. (6) LaDainian Tomlinson 
2. (15) Randy Moss 
3. (26) Marques Colston 
4. (35) Kevin Smith 
5. (46) Matt Schaub 
6. (55) Bernard Berrian 
7. (66) Darren McFadden 
8. (75) Kevin Walter 
9. (86) Darren Sproles 
10. (95) Felix Jones 
11. (106) Chester Taylor 
12. (115) David Garrard 
13. (126) San Diego 
14. (135) Anthony Fasano 
15. (146) Josh Brown

A few picks, mostly in the mid-late rounds were stolen 1 or 2 slots before me, but for the most part I like this draft. I had planned to try a draft WR-WR back to back plan, but when LT landed in 6th I couldn't pass. Fitzgerald flew off the board as the 2nd pick, and I couldn't see myself taking any other WR over LT.  The WRs still look great, with Moss and Colston leading the charge. This could be a huge year for Berrian with Favre at the helm, but Favre is at the helm, so...

I started drafting bench players before my TE, DEF, and K because I wanted to shore up some bye week problems, particulary in week 5. Knowing I was going to have trouble in week 5, I hesitated on drafting San Diego, but it looks like I might just be punting week 5 anyway, and SD is going to be stellar this year. 

After plugging some bye week holes, I focused on grabbing high-end backups. I handcuffed LT with Sproles, then picked up Felix Jones and Chester Taylor. These are lottery tickets, if the starter goes down my BE players suddenly become amazing.

I think I screwed up my TE pick, Heath Miller and Todd Heap were still available. I just missed out on Shiancoe, who I had been hoping would fall far. (He did, just not far enough)

I also think I screwed up passing on a ridiculously late Frank Gore to pick up Moss. Gore ended up going 18th! Hard to tell which 4 is better though LT, Moss, Colston, Kevin Smith, or LT, Gore, Colston, Houshmazadeh (or an equivalent WR in the mid 4th round)

This team will live and die with the WRs.