Fantasy Draft No. 3 Recap

Yeah, I know I said that two maybe three teams was about all I could handle and with my auction draft left, this means I’ll have at least four. Well, I wanted a practice draft or two before this one, so things happened, okay?

I drafted second of 12 teams and this is the work league.

By round:

Adrian Peterson – not much suspense picking second, is there?

Marques Colston – I gambled that McGahee would be left for me at 3.2 because the geezurs, who had LT, needed top WRs.

Willis McGahee – The geezurs did indeed grab a top WR, taking Fitzgerald, but they also took Laurence Maroney, probably the first really big reach of the draft. Even if he’s sold on Maroney, the NE back could have been had rounds later.

Santonio Holmes – I have him ranked highly, but his ultimate value depends on whether the Steelers continue passing this year.

Jerricho Cotchery – My evil plan is coming to fruition. I was high on Cotchery as an overlooked WR3 last year and was right. To get him as WR3 now that the gunslinging Favre is in town is a bargain.

Chris Cooley – Tight ends started disappearing at the top of round 4, so I’m very happy to get one of the elite picks at the position in the bottom of the sixth.

Jay Cutler – I know this sounds crazy, but I was considering taking McNabb. However, I would have had to have done so in the fifth, which I knew ahead of time based on my ADP charts, and I didn’t like what that left me with as WR3. This league starts three WRs. Cutler was 10th last year and should improve. This may be my steal of the draft.

Santana Moss – I’ve since cooled on the ‘Skins considering their last two pre-season games were flops, but if they repeat the success of the first two, Moss will be a great guy to plug in.

Chris Johnson – I’ve only got two RBs, so now begins the panic drafting of upside RBs as I try to catch lightning in a bottle. Here’s hoping LenDale eats too much to run anymore.

Patrick Crayton – when I start 3 WRs, I like to have two on the bench. As WR2, his upside is limited, but he will be playing opposite TO and should get his stats. This is a relative steal and there’ll be a few teams wishing he was in their starting lineup.

Jon Kitna – At first I thought the end of the Martz era spelled doom for the career second tier QB, but I’m starting to change my mind due to his pre-season success. This is less than a sure-thing, though, leaving me hoping one of my QBs works out.

Maurice Morris – My second grasp at hope in the RB department. Morris has outperformed Julius Jones, as I blogged he might. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Morris put Jones on the bench before the season is over.

Seattle – I needed a defense. They’ll work. Unlike last year, I don’t have a real good feeling about particular teams – mostly because I didn’t get to watch the preseason games.

Steve Slaton – grasping attempt #3. I later dropped Slaton to pick up Jonathan Stewart, who was drafted in the 10th and then dropped by that player in a waiver wire move. With Stewart, Morris and Johnson on my bench, hopefully one of three will pan out.

Ryan Longwell – I think Minnesota will improve this year and Longwell wasn’t too shabby last year. He has a shot to be the best kicker in fantasy football, I picked him in the last round of our draft. Sweet.

In sum, this draft happened at the top pretty much like my ADP charts predicted. As soon as I learned I had the second pick, I planned my moves and got the first six players I thought I would. At round 5, I considered McNabb, but even before the draft I knew drafting him there would cost me my targeted WR3 – Cotchery.

All in all, it was a good draft, yet I find myself unable to get excited about it for some reason. I think it’s because even though I got a lot of players I targetted, I didn’t end up with a lot of sure bets.

Lesson learned: When playing with co-workers, some of whom even let the site auto-draft for them, the ADP charts are pretty good predictors. They’re not perfect, of course, and I did have to take a few target players a round early because I drafted second, meaning if I passed on a player at times I’d miss almost two whole rounds. But, hey, they’re averages, not prophecy.