Fantasy Football

So I'm in a league for the first time in years and I can't help but brag. My co-manager and I have a team which is in first place (10 team league). Granted, we're about to start week 3 and you shouldn't count your chickens until they've hatched or have your babies until your plane has landed in Alaska ... but this squad is pretty damn good.

In the draft's #9 slot, I took Randy Moss ... at #12, I passed on the likes of Larry Johnson and Lynch and took Terrell Owens. Right off the bat, I knew that this team would win the WR1 and WR2 match-ups every single week.

I had to wait till #29 for my third round pick, which was Drew Brees - the 5th quarterback taken, after Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb and Carson Palmer.

Brady is out for the year, Manning has a messed up OL in front of him right now (although he still showed that he's elite in the second half of that Minnesota game), the Bengals are a mess, and I wouldn't trust McNabb to play a full season -- even though he's played very well so far. Brees has lost Colston, but the Saints have plenty of receiving options -- Reggie Bush, Shockey, Patten, Meachem & Henderson, etc. And to make our QB crop even stronger, I picked up Aaron Rodgers as a free agent. Rodgers may wind up being better than Brees -- he's looked like a top 5 quarterback so far.

At #32, running back was clearly a priority -- I took Reggie Bush in what I considered to be a reach pick. I believe Brandon Jacobs was still available at the time, but I was worried about the Giants' time share situation at running back. I was wise to pass on others who were available, like McGahee (injury woes) and Maroney (injuries and too many cooks in the kitchen/backs in the backfield). As it turns out, Bush is the 5th ranked RB in fantasy points after two weeks. And he hasn't even done it by carrying the ball ... he's pulled it off as a receiver out of the backfield and also returned a punt for a touchdown.

At #49 (5th round), running back was still a priority -- I took Thomas Jones. While I doubt he'll score many touchdowns, it sure looks the rebuilt Jets OL is going to give him some room to run. He played well in week one against the Dolphins (as any back should), and he wasn't even bad against the Patriots -- although he was on our bench, given the match-up.

At #52 (6th round), the choice was rookie star Darren McFadden. The Raiders cannot pass the ball, but it doesn't even matter. McFadden, Fargas, and Michael Bush can all run, and McFadden is the most talented of all of them. McFadden racked up 160+ yards against the Chiefs (he was on our bench for this game, grrrrr). Granted, the Chiefs are awful ... but I can see McFadden having some huge games this season.

At #69 (7th round), I took Matt Forte, the Bears' new starter at running back. So far, Forte is the 9th ranked RB in fantasy points. I worry about the Bears not being able to establish much of a passing game and facing 8 in the box the whole year ... but Forte looks like the type of back who can handle that. What a steal. Last week, we started Forte over both Thomas Jones and McFadden. This week, we are once again starting him in the backfield with Reggie Bush. He's that good.

Our 8th round pick, Ronnie Brown, was cut. We cut our 9th round pick, Heath Miller, and our 10th round pick, Vernon Davis. Morale of the story: no one on the Dolphins will have value (except for perhaps a tight end) and don't draft tight ends unless you're getting someone elite like Jason Witten. We wound up picking up Tony Scheffler at tight end.

In the 11th round, we took the Pittsburgh D (outstanding during the first two weeks, although I don't like their matchup against the Eagles on the road this week), and in the 12th, it was Nick Folk of the Cowboys (who had 5 extra points on Monday night, a 50+ field goal and a 40+ field goal ... 14 points from our kicker).

I didn't know it at the time I was drafting, but our league starts THREE wide receivers. There is no WR/RB slot -- you can only start two backs. So our deep crop of running backs has largely gone to waste. I picked up some decent WRs off the scrap heap. In week one, we started Kevin Walter of the Texans, who had a touchdown and scored 8 points (our league only awards 1 pt for every 15 yards). In week two, we went with David Patten, who should be the Saints top receiver in Colston's absence. We also have the 49ers' Bryant Johnson on our bench -- not bad for a free agent pickup.

Instead of playing the Pittsburgh D, we'll be opting for the Tennessee Titans this week -- with a very good match-up as they host the Texans (shaking off the rust of an off-week due to the hurricane).

Our starting lineup is:
QB: Brees (vs. Broncos)
RB: Bush (vs. Broncos), Forte (vs. Bucs at home)
WR: TO, Moss (vs. the Dolphins ... he should catch a bomb in this game), Patten or Johnson of the 49ers
TE: Scheffler
K: Folk
D: Tennessee

Bench: Aaron Rodgers, McFadden, Thomas Jones, Kevin Walter, Pittsburgh D

Ideally, I would like to trade for an elite running back. But our stealth crew has been getting the job done in the early going.