Review of my first start 2 QB league

They say you usually learn things the first way the hard way.

That's exactly what just happened to me tonight, as I took part in my first ever league which requires you to start 2 QBs.

I did start the draft taking my number one QB in Aaron Rodgers with the 10th pick, but then I fell trap to all the talent that was falling to me in each round that I put off taking my second QB until Round 11, which turned out to be Matt Hasselbeck. I fell trap to players like Jonathon Stewart lasting until the 9th round and felt he was too good to pass up, even though a guy like Ryan Fitpatrick was sitting there, and I banked on the fact that Fitzpatrick would fall to me in the 10th. He was snagged two picks before my pick at 10.1.

And then Colt McCoy was nabbed at 10.2, another guy I would've taken at 10.3 as my number 2 QB.

So, where do I go at 10.3? Rashad Jennings. Yup, went with the handcuff to Maurice Jones-Drew instead of QBs like Garrard, Sanchez, and Campbell, who also went in the 10th.

So while my number 2 QB isnt the greatest, I certainly have the depth at RB and WR to possibly swing a trade for one. After drafting Darren McFadden in round 2 after also considering Steven Jackson, S-Jax fell to me at 3.10. Then at the turn, at 4.3, I grabbed my top WR, Mike Williams of Tampa Bay. I grabbed my number 2 WR at 5.10 with Buffalo's Steve Johnson, and then went Jahvid Best, Cedric Benson, and Percy Harvin in rounds 6, 7, and 8 respectively. And also taking Mike Thomas and Jacoby Ford in rounds 12 and 13 adds to my WR depth.

And also an effect of waiting on Tight End, I was left with Tony Moeaki as my number 1 TE. Now while I do like Moeaki, I'm just not sure if he's ready to jump into TE1 territory just yet, and for the simple fact of Kansas City has so many receivers, especially now with the addition of Steve Breaston, and the Chiefs run a heck of a lot more than they pass, and they have a much tougher schedule this year than they did last year.

So, the goal at this point is to use my RB and WR depth to improve at QB and TE.

I should just be glad for now that I have Aaron Rodgers leading my troops.

Five Locks and Five Crocks.

While the NFL is still in the midst of a Lockout that has now, just about, eaten up the entire offseason, Fantasy Football preparations are still going strong, as if this lockout never even existed and football has been going as usual. While there are some players whose situations remain unsettled, there are some players who we know what their situation is and what they bring to the table.

1. Adrian Peterson, RB, MIN
Let's be honest here, is there any other Running Back who has been more consistent than All Day AP? He has been top 5 in fantasy points among Running Backs each of the last five seasons. Peterson has not had a season of less than 10 touchdowns since he broke into the league in 2007. Despite suffering an injury last season, Peterson still amassed 1,298 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, 341 receiving yards, and a receiving touchdown, despite missing two games. Even with the possibility of playing with a rookie Quarterback in Christian Ponder, AP still has the ability to break through a defense who decides to stack eight in the box. Peterson never has had much at the QB position, outside of Mr. Favre himself. This season should not be any different.

2. Roddy White, WR, ATL

What Peterson is to Running Backs, Roddy White of the Falcons is to Wide Receivers. In the last four seasons, White has not had a season of less than 83 catches, 1,153 yards, and 6 touchdowns. And he has had double digits TDs each of the past two seasons, (11 in 2009, and 10 in 2010). Coming off a 115-catch season, and being the most targeted Wide Receiver of 2010, White returns to an Atlanta offensive that promises to be just as explosive as last season, with Matt Ryan leading the crew. The presence of rookie Julio Jones may take some targets away from White, but when push comes to shove, Ryan will be looking for #84.

3. Philip Rivers, QB, SD

Having played all 16 games each of the past five seasons, and posting 4,000 plus yards the past three, and leading the NFL in passing yards with 4,710 yards last season, Philip Rivers of the Chargers has become the prototypical steady Quarterback. And he did all this last season with not many weapons at his disposal. Vincent Jackson held out the first ten games of last season, and the man himself, Antonio Gates, missed the second half of the season. With Gates back and healthy, and V-Jax (hopefully) returning to San Diego, Rivers is primed for yet another season of 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns.

4. Chris Johnson, RB, TEN

Three seasons, 5.0 yards per carry for his career, and no less than nine touchdowns in any single season, CJ2K has to be the second lock at Running Back behind Peterson. We all remember his 2,006-yard mega season of 2009, then he “regressed” to “only” 1,364 yards and 11 touchdowns. Johnson is facing the same situation as Peterson, but with Johnson’s speed, he can easily elude any tackler, making him very tough to defend as well. 1,500 yards and 10 touchdowns is always a possibility with this guy.

5. Peyton Manning, QB, IND

Really, is anyone worried about Manning missing games this season? The guy can miss all of Training Camp, and we all know he’ll be right there taking snaps from Jeff Saturday when the Colts take on Houston Week 1. Manning wound up with 4,700 yards and 33 touchdowns despite losing two of his favorite targets, Austin Collie and Dallas Clark. Having Collie and Clark back and healthy, along with Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon, as well as an improved, younger Offensive Line, and having never missed a regular season in his entire career, there’s no doubting the older Manning brother.

So, there are five locks for this season, but of course, where there are locks, there is the opposite end of the spectrum, the Crocks.

1.  

             Beanie Wells, RB, ARI

A surprising rookie season made Wells a pretty popular sleeper pick for many fantasy players in 2010. Unfortunately for those owners, Wells never woke up. Instead, he was hobbled by a nagging knee injury from the preseason and an allergic reaction. Now with Tim Hightower still in the mix, and more importantly, rookie Ryan Williams in the mix, who the Cardinals drafted in the second round, Wells could very well have yet another unpopular season in Arizona. Williams was a guy who Arizona had in their top 15 on their draft board, so the value was tremendous in Arizona’s eyes. And with the Cards’ O-Line not the greatest, things could add up to be another miserable year in the Desert for the Ohio State product.

2.       Knowshon Moreno, RB, DEN

This is mostly based on Denver being able to sign DeAngelo Williams. If they do, I have a hard time believing Moreno will be able to succeed from a fantasy perspective. He disappointed a lot of owners last season with his injury, and just had a tough time finding the end zone. This year could be even worse for Moreno. Even if D-Willy isn’t there, Tim Tebow could very well be the starter at Quarterback, and he could easily take away some Red Zone scores. Tough road ahead for Knowshon.

3.       Michael Crabtree, WR, SF

Ah, the old story of the man who has all the talent in the world, but just doesn’t want to put the work in to keep up and improve. Reports have come out saying Crabtree did not want to participate in 49ers’ Player-Organized Workouts, especially with Alex Smith at Quarterback. Well, it’s looking like Smith will return to San Francisco as the starting Quarterback. At best, this guy is a WR3 in fantasy, but he could very well be the third receiving option on his own team, behind RB Frank Gore and TE Vernon Davis.

4.       Benjarvus Green-Ellis, RB, NE

This is really just a matter of how messy the Running Back situation is now in New England. The Patriots already had Danny Woodhead along with Green-Ellis, and in April, the Pats drafted two Running Backs in the second (Shane Vereen) and third (Stevan Ridley) rounds. So, yards-wise, the Law Firm may still be the top guy, but 13 touchdowns may be out of reach for this season.

5.      

             Dwayne Bowe, WR, KC

Bowe was a tale of three seasons in 2010. From Weeks 1-5 (with a bye in Week 4), Bowe amassed only 9 catches for 152 yards and one touchdown. Bowe’s next seven games went like this: 49 catches, 733 yards, 13 touchdowns, including five games of at least two touchdowns. After that, Bowe came crashing down to Earth; 14 catches, 277 yards, one touchdown, including a complete shutout in Week 13 against Denver and just one catch for three yards against San Diego in Week 14. His total ended up being very good, 72 catches, 1,162 yards and 15 touchdowns, ranking him second among receivers in standard scoring. But this season, he does not have the NFC West to feast on, as he did last year. Matt Cassel struggled against tougher defenses, and the Chiefs run the ball much more than they pass. So while Bowe may not have a terrible season, do not expect 15 touchdowns again.

Breakdown of Draftmaster 87-Part 1

Lockout, schmockout.

Despite the NFL being in a continued labor strife, fantasy football junkies, such as myself, have continued to prepare ourselves for the upcoming fantasy football season. As part of my preparation, I came across a series of mock drafts called the "Draftmasters Series".

Run by my new good friend Jim Day (who you can and should follow on Twitter: @Fantasytaz), Draftmasters is a series of mock drafts that have been going on all throughout the summer. They are currently gearing up for number 100.

These are not your typical mock drafts. Particpants take part just like a normal draft and then teams are locked for the season. No transactions of any sort take place after the draft. Scores are kept for each team in a Best Ball format, meaning the best scorers at each position count towards the team's weekly score. So, even if one of your players has a bad week, chances are someone else on your team at that position has a good week and will override a bad week. So players with the potential to breakout on any given week are perfect for this format.

These drafts are Points per Reception leagues (PPR) and sport a starting lineup of 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 2 Flex (RB, WR, TE, one of each) 1 TE, 1 DEF, and 1 K.

This will be a breakdown of the most recent Draftmaster I took part in, which was Draftmaster 87. Those who joined me in this draft were Jim Day (@Fantasytaz), Zach Law (@zach_law), @eyeofthegator, Craig Southwick (@C_Southwick), Bill Cervi (@wcervi), Arthur Shellz (@big_jubes), @electricrelish, Chad Parsons (@NFL_Fantasy1), @RedRum26, @Slammers08, and Bruce Kimbrough (@FatKat52).

Note: Rounds 3,5,7,9,11,13,15 are the same order as Round 1, Rounds 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16 are the same order as Round 2


Round 1
1. @big_jubes Arian Foster, RB, HOU
2. @C-Southwick Jamaal Charles, RB, KC
3. @wcervi Chris Johnson, RB, TEN
4. @wildbill0962 Adrian Peterson, RB, MIN
5. @Slammers08 LeSean McCoy, RB, PHI
6. @eyeofthegator Ray Rice, RB, BAL
7. @electricrelish Roddy White, WR, ATL
8. @NFL_Fantasy1 Calvin Johnson, WR, DET
9. @FatKat52 Frank Gore, RB, SF
10. @RedRum26 Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, JAC
11. @Fantasytaz Andre Johnson, WR, HOU
12. @zach_law Larry Fitzgerald, WR, ARI

After seeing a bunch of drafts, it's starting to become clear how the first round will start to shape up. The top six RBs look like they are taking shape. No surprise seeing Foster number one. Great young back who Houston has said will not be part of a committee, running behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, and playing on a team that will never see a stacked box thanks to Schaub and AJ. Add in the fact that Foster had the most receiving yards and 2nd-most receptions among running backs, and you have yourself a strong contender to return to the top 5 among running backs, especially in PPR leagues.

A little surprising seeing Charles go #2, but I can understand it. AP and CJ2K are both looking at the possibilty of playing with rookies quarterbacks, while Charles will still have Matt Cassel at QB and a strong WR in Dwayne Bowe. And coach Todd Haley has said he wants to see more of Charles next season.

Not much needs to be said about Peterson and Johnson, two of the most reliable backs in the game, and both should continue to put up strong numbers this season.

McCoy is one RB I really like this year. McCoy has become an integral part of the Philadelphia offense, rushing for over 1,000 yards last season, while also adding over 500 yards receiving and catching the most balls among running backs. With Michael Vick back at QB and DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin holding the fort on the outside, this could once again be an explosive Eagles' offense, and McCoy will be right in the thick of it.

Rice is coming off a season where he "disappointed" owners. Rice was a consensus top 4 pick last year, but got off to a slow start, but eventually got his game back up. With Willis McGahee possibly gone from Baltimore, Rice may finally get the short-yardage and goal-line carries, which only adds to Rice's fantasy value.

While just about everyone has Andre Johnson as the #1 WR, the first receiver taken here was Atlanta's Roddy White. I personally love White, I'm a huge fan. Last year's leader in targets and receptions should continue to produce even with the Falcons drafting Julio Jones.

I also like Megatron this year, especially if Matthew Stafford can finally play a full season. This man caught 12 TDs with 3 different QBs last year.

Gore and MJD are both coming off injuries, but when healthy, both are very strong plays week in and week out.

The first round ended with two top receivers, Andre Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzy will acquire even more fantasy value if and when the Cardinals acquire a QB either through Free Agency of via a trade.

Overall, a good round, pretty much went as expected, and I was more than happy to select AP at #4.