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Stopa 11K Vegas League

The Stopa 11K auction took place Sunday afternoon at a conference room at the Aria hotel in Las Vegas. It's a .5 PPR league with 1-QB, 2-RB, 3-WR, 1-FLX, 1 QB FLX, 2-TE, 1-K, 1-D and five bench spots. My strategy was to punt running back entirely, buy 5-6 of my targeted receivers, spend roughly $15 on TE and $30-$40 on QB.

Here are the results:

Behrens EvansLozaLissEricksonStopa
QBRoethlisberger31C. Palmer25Brees30Cousins18Dalton15Luck39
WRD. Hopkins34K. Allen34J.Nelson25A.Robinson37A. Cooper25Watkins25
WRAJ Green41J. Landry23Decker15TY Hilton27Edelman17M. Floyd9
WRJosh Doctson4Crabtree4 Fitzgerald10B. Cooks31J. Matthews19E. Sanders9
RBDoug Martin26L. Miller36M.Gordon19Woodhead8D. Johnson41L. Bell41
RBMark Ingram25Hyde15J. Charles29A. Foster3Matt Forte14Lacy22
TEM. Bennett7 Ertz9R.Jennings6Barnidge7Greg Olsen21ASJ2
TEV. McDonald1Gates2Cameron7Ebron7D.Allen11J. Graham2
W/R/TAbdullah8D.Murray14L. Murray18Moncrief20Du Johnson10Jay Ajayi13
Q/W/R/TJoe Flacco10Brady24Manning16J.Winston16Derek Carr16T. Taylor18
KDan Bailey1Catanzaro1Janikowski1Gostkowski2
DSTRams D1Raiders D1Broncos D2Bengals D1
BNJ. Stewart7To. Smith2Sanu4Bradford2Bridgewater3J. Starks1
BNZ. Miller1T. Austin2D. Lewis11 Wheaton5 Diggs1Fitzpatrick6
BNL. Treadwell1MThomas2McKinnon3RGIII2Pitta2Ivory4
BN Wentz1J.Ferguson2Aiken2DGB4TJ Yeldon1G. Smith1
BNP.Lynch1Garrapolo3T. Willams2K. Willams9T.Riddick1J. Thomas4
BNP. Dorsett1J Cook2
BNBuck Allen1De.Williams1
Del DonVanRiperSchoenkePianowski Payne Funston
QBStafford16Matt Ryan14A.Rodgers38Rivers17Newton39R. Wilson36
WRA. Brown51Julio Jones47D. Thomas24D.Bryant34Benjamin15D. Parker11
WRBeckham53Mike Evans37R. Cobb21B.Marshall23K. White5J. Brown11
WRM. Jones4 Maclin14 Funchess1A. Jeffery29G. Tate16S Shepard8
RBD.Freeman30 McCoy21Matt Jones18R.Mathews16 Gurley42E. Elliott40
RBJ. Hill11Forsett3A. Peterson40 Bernard14P Perkins6CJAnderson26
TER. Rodgers1Gronkowski39Kelce14C. Clay2J. Reed23Tyler Eifert9
TE Walford1 Witten3Jace Amaro Fleener12L. Green12D. Walker14
W/R/TT Coleman5Benjamin2Gore9D. Baldwin17Langford9T. Rawls18
Q/W/R/TRomo18 Tannehill12 Bortles24Alex Smith10 Mariota19Jay Cutler8
KHauschka1J. Tucker1G. Gano1 McManus1Crosby1
DEFPatriots D1Cardinals D1Seahawk D2Texans D1Panthers D1
BND Jackson4K. Marshall1Osweiler4 Gabbert2V Jackson1J. Gordon2
BNS. Coates1Sanchez2 Smallwood1Hurns7K. Dixon3Lockett10
BNL.Blount1Snead1Garcon1B. Powell2D. Henry3Jared Goff1
BNJeff Janis1Kaepernick1Agholor1C. Sims4C.Coleman3CJ Prosise3
BNK Rudolph1De.Johnson1K. Drake1 Crowell8J. Howard2D. Booker1
BN Washington1
BNR. Matthews1

I more or less accomplished that to which I set out, but unfortunately, like Brad Evans and Andy Behrens, I drank a good deal of the tequila Brad brought and lost track of how much money everyone else had left. As a result, I passed on Giovani Bernard and DeVante Parker in order to save money when I was the only one with money left and would still have landed all my end-game targets. So my team should have had one of those two instead of Karlos Williams/Markus Wheaton.

Even so, I like this team. While I despise Danny Woodhead where he's going in drafts, I think he'll be serviceable enough in .5 PPR to use while I speculate on a long-term solution at the position. Arian Foster will almost certainly sign somewhere and be Matt Forte for as long as he stays healthy, and Buck Allen and Williams both have upside should they see regular work.

In a QB-flex league, you need two good quarterbacks, and I was content to draw from the pool of mid-level options. Jameis Winston rushed for six TDs and threw for 4,000 yards (7.6 YPA) and 22 TD despite Mike Evans catching only three last year. In Year 2, the former No. 1 overall pick could emerge as a star. Kirk Cousins was big down the stretch last year (300 yard games in six of his last nine including the Wild Card loss to the Packers), and the Redskins drafted Josh Doctson in the first round, giving him even more firepower.

But the bulk of my budget was spent on receivers. I bid Dalton Del Don up on Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham, but I wasn't wedded to landing either. Allen Robinson doesn't turn 23 until August, Brandin Cooks in late September. Both are already No. 1 WRs, and should get better. I also rostered the trio of Colts pass catchers (Donte Moncrief, T.Y. Hilton and Phillip Dorsett.) I don't see how the Colts aren't one of the most pass-heavy teams in the league with Andrew Luck healthy, 33-year old Frank Gore atop the RB depth chart and an average-at-best defense.

At tight end, I landed two solid starters, Eric Ebron and Gary Barnidge, which was my aim. Ebron has upside in Year 3 with Calvin Johnson gone and a thin WR tree in Detroit.

For my bench, I stocked it with QB, RB and WR and didn't bother drafting a K or a defense which I can pick up before the season once things shake out more in training camp. I particularly like Allen (think he could start and catch lots of passes in Baltimore), Dorial Green-Beckham - his size and wingspan provide 10-TD upside - and RGIII whose rushing ability ensures a decent floor if he keeps the job.