We're lucky enough to have a spot in the Buffalo Wild Wings All-Stars League, and I drafted representing RotoWire on Monday night. It's PPR League (full point per reception), and we start 2 RB's, 3 WR's and a Flex, while starting just one QB. Moreover, passing TD's are worth 4 and INT's are minus-1. This format really drove a lot of my decisions in the draft. I had the #3 slot in a 12-team league, bracketed by John Hansen in front of me and Michael Gilbert of RotoXperts after me. I "live-tweeted" (@Jeff|UNDER|Erickson) the picks as the draft was going on - here are my picks and the rationale for taking them.
1.3 - Ray Rice, rb, BAL - I took Rice over MJD both because of MJD's knee issue and because in this format, Rice actually points out a little higher according to our projections. The knee issue isn't major - in fact, had I drafted fourth and Johnson/Peterson/Rice gone ahead of me, I would have taken MJD. But the first round usually is about risk mitigation, and at this point, MJD is slightly riskier than Rice.
2.10 - Brandon Marshall, wr, MIA - suffice to say I'm a believer in Chad Henne and the MIA passing offense. It's worth noting that I was drafting both my home league via conference call and this league online at the same exact start time, so occasionally it was hard to track the picks taken in both leagues - something that became an issue later on in the draft.
3.3 - Jamaal Charles, rb, KC - My year may hinge on him - I have him everywhere. But in a PPR league, I was thrilled to take the gamble on his talent, especially after Hansen took Tom Brady before me, eliminating the temptation to go early on quarterback.
4.10 - Michael Crabtree, wr, SF - A full training camp and a year under his belt - I see him as a 2nd year breakout.
5.3 - Dwayne Bowe, wr, KC - Didn't set out to take two Chiefs, but ended up taking what the draft gives me. A reminder - this is a PPR league, start 3 WR and a flex. Bowe is near the top of my list of "Last Year's Bums" to target. WR's are going to get pretty thoroughly picked over in this league - I might as well get a head start.
6.10 - Johnny Knox, wr, CHI - I don't think he would have come back, and with a flex, I'll take another high-upside guy. In the chat room someone suggested that this was too soon, but I knew better, after seeing Hansen take Knox at 4.13 in the Sirius/XM Experts League that we did on-air a couple of weeks ago. He later confirmed that he indeed would have taken Knox. We're drinking the Kool-Aid on the Martz passing game here at RotoWire, poor preseason notwithstanding.
7.3 - Justin Forsett, rb, SEA - Still gambling on upside and adding a 3rd back before my first QB. Again, the format in this league dictates that this is a viable strategy. Forsett will be frustrating in the first couple of weeks, but talent should will out.
8.10 - Kellen Winslow Jr., TB - Winslow is risky early in the season, between his own health concerns and those of Josh Freeman, but should get a ton of targets in a PPR league. He was the last TE on his tier, in my opinion.
9.3 - Donovan McNabb, QB, WAS - Not in love with the pick, but that comes with waiting on the QBs. This also was where I was up simultaneously in both leagues, and had an entry error with my draft tool, so I was frantically re-entering a couple of picks. I would have preferred both Matthew Stafford and Carson Palmer, who went in the intervening picks before my next selection. Flacco, Kolb, Eli Manning and Cutler were among those in this tier that were long gone, and Matt Ryan went a couple of picks before.
10.10 Chad Henne, QB, MIA - Last to take a starter, first to take a backup. I really like Henne this year, so this partially redeemed the McNabb pick.
11.3 Steve Slaton, RB, HOU - It's not as if Kubiak has ever changed his mind, right? Besides, it's a PPR league, and if nothing else, Slaton should catch a lot of passes.
12.10 Devin Thomas, wr, WAS - going on the "what could go right?" plan. Not much has gone right for Thomas so far in the preseason, but I like what he was able to do at the end of last year.
13.3 Visanthe Shiancoe, TE, MIN - My first TE is a little risky, so adding Favre's red-zone favorite is a nice backup plan.
14.10 Tashard Choice, RB, DAL - Really hard to imagine either Felix Jones or Marion Barber getting hurt, right? Again, if Choice somehow got the Dallas job, he could be a monster.
15.3 Matt Cassel, QB, KC - More insurance given my "Wait on the QB's" plan.
16.10 - Ryan Longwell, K, MIN - Kickers suck, but at least he's indoors.
17.3 - SD DEF - I'll be rotating defenses early on, trying to catch lightning in a bottle. All the elite defenses were long gone by this point.
You can check out the full draft results here.
My final team looks like this:
QB McNabb, Henne, Cassel
RB Rice, Charles, Forsett, Slaton, Choice
WR Marshall, Crabtree, Bowe, Knox, Thomas
TE Winslow, Shiancoe
K Longwell
D San Diego