Draft recap No. 2

My second draft over the weekend was for a 10-team league I compete in with my brother and some of his friends. It's pretty much standard scoring, although a TD pass by a QB is worth 5 points for some reason instead of 6. The starting lineups are normal except for 1 flex position (RB or WR), and there are seven bench slots of any position. I had the third overall pick. Here's my squad (round of selection in parenthesis:

SARASOTA SPARTANS

QB Philip Rivers (4)

RB Michael Turner (1)
RB Marion Barber (2)

RB/WR LenDale White (6)

WR Greg Jennings (3)
WR Roy Williams (5)

TE Greg Olsen (9)

K Jason Elam (15)

DEF Jets (13)

BE DeSean Jackson (7)
BE Donald Brown (8)
BE Carson Palmer (10)
BE Ted Ginn Jr. (11)
BE Rashard Mendenhall (12)
BE James Davis (14)
BE Hakeem Nicks (16)

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I was able to get Turner with the third pick after someone took Drew Brees with the first pick and Adrian Peterson went second. I'm not complaining. ...

The first two rounds were pretty running back-heavy so I felt I had to take Barber at that point with a lot of elite WRs still available. Very pleased to see Jennings still there in the third round. ...

I decided to go for a top QB in Round 4, and Rivers was a guy I was targeting. Really wanted to team him up with Vincent Jackson in the next round but Jackson was taken two spots before I picked. I begrudgingly settled for Roy Williams. ...

Wanted a middle-tier RB in Round 5, particularly Ray Rice, but he was gone by the time I picked. Settled for No-Longer-Fat LenDale. ...

The format of this league, with the open bench slots, really allows you to reach for sleepers with big upside. That's why I went for Donald Brown in the fifth round, Mendenhall in the 12th and James Davis in the 14th. I don't NEED them all to pan out, but if just one of the three becomes a star I'll be in good shape. ...

I like having two young No. 1 WRs (Jackson and Ginn) on my bench, especially since I don't trust Roy Williams that much as a starter. And I took a flier on Nicks, the Giants rookie, with my final pick. ...

Only two kickers had been taken by the time I took Elam, the No. 1 guy on my board.

Three teams I'm trying to avoid

Call me crazy, but an NFL team firing its offensive coordinator less than two weeks before the start of the regular season usually isn't a formula for offensive excellence. That's why I'm trying to avoid most players from these three franchises:

CHIEFS

Of all three of these revamped/reworked/rebuilt offenses I'm talking about, the Chiefs were perhaps the most intriguing. Even though now-departed Chan Gailey was a holdover from the previous (unsuccessful) coaching regime, new K.C. head man Todd Haley is the mastermind behind the Cardinals' electrifying offense from a year ago. The firing of Gailey might not make a huge difference, but there were already warning signs about this offense: the poor offensive line play of the past few years, the decline of Larry Johnson and his various issues, the departure of Tony Gonzalez and the preseason injury suffered by new QB Matt Cassel. The combination of all red flags makes K.C.'s playmakers a little less desirable than they seemed during the offseason. WR Dwayne Bowe and Cassel should probably drop out of the preseason top 10 at their respective positions, and I don't trust LJ as anything more than a No. 3 RB at best. Still like Jamaal Charles as a deep sleeper though.

BUCS

The firing of OC Jeff Jagodzinski kind of came out of left field. Remember when the guy was a big NFL head coaching prospect? Well whatever, I guess being faced with the prospect of Byron Leftwich or Luke McCown as his starting QB, he was probably set up to fail anyway. McCown was traded to Jacksonville over the weekend, and Leftwich is officially the Bucs' Week 1 starter now, which shouldn't excite you much. It doesn't bode well for Antonio Bryant or Kellen Winslow either, so bump them down a peg from wherever they would be with a better QB at the helm. The Bucs do have a promising offensive line and should be able to to run the ball; the problem is they have three decent RBs to share the load, which means you have to be a bit skeptical of Derrick Ward, Earnest Graham and Cadillac Williams until we see their roles.

BILLS

Buffalo's Turk Schonert is another assistant coach who never even got to start the season in his new position. He's blasting head coach Dick Jauron because the offensive playcalling "wasn't simple enough." A little imagination might not hurt after the Bills have been so ineffective on offense the past few years. Terrell Owens certainly livens things up a bit, but I'm proceeding with caution and treating him like a No. 2 fantasy receiver. Trent Edwards is no Tony Romo (or Donovan McNabb or Jeff Garcia) at this point and has a long way to go before he's anything more than a low-end fantasy backup. Lee Evans is tantalizing as always but seems perpetually bound to disappoint no matter what you expect out of him. And it's tough to take a chance on either Marshawn Lynch or Fred Jackson when you know there will be a major shakeup in their roles once Lynch serves his season-opening four-game suspension.

Draft recap No. 1

Took part in my first of three drafts this weekend. This is my big-money league, which I'm competing in for the seventh or eighth straight year along with my dad. It's a 10-team, PPR (points per reception) snake draft with a whopping $100 entry fee, and we had the third overall pick. Dad fronts the money and I make the personnel decisions. You must carry 2 QBs, 4 RBs, 4 WRs, 2 TEs, 2 DEFs and 2 Ks on your roster. Round of selection in parenthesis.

ACE IN THE HOLE

QB Tony Romo (5)
QB Eli Manning (13)

RB Matt Forte (1)
RB Frank Gore (3)
RB Reggie Bush (6)
RB LeSean McCoy (11)

WR Steve Smith (2)
WR Anquan Boldin (4)
WR Kevin Walter (8)
WR Devin Hester (9)

TE Chris Cooley (7)
TE Donald Lee (14)

DEF Eagles (10)
DEF Patriots (12)

K Neil Rackers (15)
K ? (Dad made the last pick without me)

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I was thrilled to see Forte slip to us at the third pick, and I was surprised to see Adrian Peterson and Michael Turner go 1-2, given the PPR format ...

I wanted to come back with a WR and Smith was the only top-10 guy left on our board by the time we made our second pick ...

Very happy with Gore, still available in the third round. My plan all along was RB-WR-RB or RB-WR-WR with the first three picks ...

Also thrilled with Boldin as our fourth pick. I have him just outside the top 10 WRs this year at No. 11. ...

Wanted to grab Kurt Warner with our next pick; even though I'm not particularly high on him this year I think he's good value for a sixth-round selection and was the best QB available. But he went one pick ahead of us. I settled for Romo, taking him over Donovan McNabb. Those were the only two trustworthy No. 1 QBs left. ...

I'm not a huge Bush fan but I like him in this format, especially as a No. 3 ....

Not thrilled with our WR depth, but I had spent earlier picks on Bush and Cooley (I think he's a top-5 TE). I liked Walter as a possession receiver (wanted Anthony Gonzalez instead but he was gone) and Hester as a possible breakout candidate ...

Defenses were going way too high. Someone took Pittsburgh in the sixth round and the Giants in the seventh ... Will they really be that much better than my selections, the Eagles and Pats, who I got much later? I don't think so ...

I did feel the pressure to reach a bit for the Eagles when top-10 defenses started flying off the board. I really wanted the Jets but they were already gone. It turns out by reaching for Philly I missed out on getting Ahmad Bradshaw and Chris Wells, two guys I probably would have taken ahead of McCoy as my fourth RB. ...

I took McCoy over Sproles because I think the guy he's behind on the depth chart (Brian Westbrook) is more likely to get hurt than the guy ahead of Sproles (LaDainian Tomlinson). ...

A few more surprises from other drafters: Eddie Royal went ahead of Brandon Marshall ... the Bengals' Chris Henry was among the 40 WRs drafted ... LT2 fell to the second round.

9/4 Sleeper of the Day: James Davis

RB JAMES DAVIS, CLEVELAND BROWNS



Davis, a 5-11, 210-pound rookie from Clemson, has been getting rave reviews this preseason. He was once considered a first- or second-round draft pick coming out of college, but an all-around disastrous senior year with the Tigers combined with a lackluster combine relegated him to a sixth-round selection this spring. But he's begun to erase all that with a fine effort thus far as a pro, averaging 7.8 yards a carry through the Browns' first three preseason games and grabbing the attention of the media and new head coach Eric Mangini.

Meanwhile, starter Jamal Lewis hasn't exactly been Jim Brown out there on the heels of a less-than-impressive season in which he barely cracked 1,000 yards. It seems like a perfect situation in which the two backs are headed in opposite directions. Lewis should still be drafted ahead of Davis, of course, as he's No. 1 on the depth chart. But he's also a 30-year-old back who's taken years of abuse, and I expect him to continue his decline. Davis, on the other hand, has pretty much already surpassed the injured Jerome Harrison and risen to backup status. He's at least earned his way into some sort of timeshare this season and perhaps consideration as the Browns' RB of the future. He's certainly worth a look as a Lewis handcuff or a late-round selection in 12-team leagues at this point.

9/3 Bust of the Day: Percy Harvin

WR PERCY HARVIN, MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Don't get me wrong, I respect Harvin's playmaking abilities and the Vikes' willingness to utilize him in a variety of ways on the field. But I'm hearing a bit too much hype about a rookie wide receiver, a position that often tends to disappoint.


Minnesota has been in desperate need of a playmaker not named Adrian Peterson, and Harvin, the electrifying former Florida Gator certainly fits the bill. I think he'll be a big contributor and end up with decent numbers on the season. But the problem is his production won't come consistently - not with him being used in gimmicky formations like the Wildcat and as a returner. I see him being a boom-or-bust type player, and I'm not sure that's the guy I'd want as my No. 3 WR when I can take a Ted Ginn Jr., Devin Hester, Kevin Walter or Jerricho Cotchery who I know will be getting targeted on a more regular basis. I'd be thrilled if he falls to me as my No. 4 WR, because he's exactly the type of big-risk, big-reward player you'd want in that slot, but I have a feeling he'll be taken much too early for that in most leagues. If that's the case, I'll pass.

9/2 Sleeper of the Day: LeSean McCoy

RB LeSEAN McCOY, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES



The rookie known as "Shady" will be playing the Correll Buckhalter role this year for Philly - which means he'll be called on whenever Brian Westbrook can't go. And if you've followed football the past few seasons you know that could mean often.

Westbrook is constantly banged-up, partly because the Eagles haven't had a dependable or dynamic back that could spell him and have had few other offensive options. That's not the case this year, as Philadelphia is counting on an infusion of young skill players - DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and McCoy - to get the Eagles over the hump and into the Super Bowl. With Westbrook still recovering from offseason ankle surgery, McCoy has gotten plenty of first-team reps in training camp and the preseason, which will only help prepare him for a big regular season role.

Shady is a younger version of Westbrook: a small, shifty runner who can catch. At the very he'll least make a strong handcuff for Westbrook owners, much more valuable than Buckhalter has been the past few years because he should see the field more often and he's more talented. If Westbrook were to miss any significant length of time this season, McCoy would instantly become a must-have RB.

9/1 Bust of the Day: LaDainian Tomlinson

RB LaDAINIAN TOMLINSON, SAN DIEGO CHARGERS



I know, it's almost sacrilege to associate the great LT2's name with the term "bust." He's been so great for so long, the consensus pick as fantasy's best player for several years now ... but 2008 was a struggle for the San Diego Chargers' superback, the first real adversity he's had to face in his Hall of Fame-caliber career. The numbers were still fine - 1,110 rushing yards, 426 receiving yards, 12 total TDs - but that was still a career low for yards on the ground, and his fewest trips to the end zone since his rookie year.

If Tomlinson duplicates last year's numbers, he's a top-10 back. But here's the problem: I think those stats now represent his ceiling, not his floor. In other words, he has to stay healthy all year - which he didn't do last year - to reach those stats. And I'm not sure I'm willing to take that risk with a 30-year-old back with so much mileage on his legs. I'm not taking him in the upper half of the first round. I'd consider him at the end of the first and I'd most likely grab him if he fell into the second - but I have a feeling he'll be taken before then in a lot of drafts just based on reputation alone. And if that's the case I'm afraid he'll disappoint - which would make him a bust in 2009.