Fantasy draft recap No. 3

My third and final draft of a long fantasy-football-packed weekend ... this one is a 10-team league featuring mostly my Bradenton Herald co-workers. Pretty much standard scoring, and you must fill the following roster spots: 2 QBs, 4 RBs, 4 WRs, 2 TEs, 2 DEFs, 2 Ks. I had the sixth pick in the draft.

My mission this year is to dethrone two-time defending league champion and fellow Herald staffer John Lembo, hence the nickname. My squad (round of selection in parenthesis):

THE LEMBO SLAYERS

QB Aaron Rodgers (3)
QB Matt Cassel (10)

RB Chris Johnson (1)
RB Kevin Smith (4)
RB LenDale White (7)
RB Ahmad Bradshaw (10)

WR Andre Johnson (2)
WR Roy Williams (5)
WR Devin Hester (8)
WR Kevin Walter (11)

TE Chris Cooley (6)
TE Kevin Boss (13)

DEF Chargers (12)
DEF Texans (15)

K Robbie Gould (14)
K Rian Lindell (16)

RANDOM THOUGHTS: I was really unsure about who to take with my first pick at No. 6 overall. I ultimately decided on Tennessee's Johnson over Steven Jackson. I didn't want to reach for a QB at that spot - Drew Brees and Tom Brady went right after that. Johnson's certainly not a no-brainer that high and I may live to regret it - although I do feel better about the pick after getting LenDale in the seventh round as insurance. ...

I do have another problem at RB, however: Three of my four RBs have the same bye week. I didn't want to pass up Smith in the fourth round (he was the only starter-worthy RB left on my board), and I wasn't especially planning on getting LenDale later. But I'm going to have a problem in Week 7 when Bradshaw is my only active tailback. Yikes. I'm currently putting Smith up on the trading block and seeing what's available, but I'm not going to get too concerned yet. ...

Obviously thrilled with getting Andre Johnson with my second pick. He's a top-10 talent in my book ...

Also happy with Rodgers, although I had to take him a little higher (third round) than I would have preferred. But QBs were going quickly, including Tony Romo going in the second round ...

Stuck with Roy Williams again as my No. 2 receiver. Whatever. I'm happy with Hester and Walter on my bench. ...

Also like my TE tandem a lot. I consider them both top-10 guys at their position. I did reach for Cooley a bit, taking him in the sixth when I would have liked to grab a third RB. But I don't like a lot of the middle-tier RBs that would have been drafted around that spot, and I wanted to beef up my receiving corps because of my skepticism concerning Williams. ...

Despite all the concerns about Cassel, I'm pretty comfortable with him as a backup QB, especially with a solid starter like Rodgers on my roster. Cassel tumbled a bit in this draft and I was able to get him after Matt Hasselbeck, Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning were taken by others as their No. 2s. Before his preseason injury a lot of prognosticators had Cassel well ahead of all those guys and a possible fantasy starter. ...

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.

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.

Want to check out my teams?

I know you are intensely interested in my fantasy teams' rosters, so I thought I'd share them with you. I had two football drafts over the weekend - one in person, and one via phone while I was making a seven-hour drive from Columbus, Ga., to Bradenton. Luckily I wasn't behind the wheel at the time.

Here's my roster for the NITTANY LOINS in my 12-team, standard-scoring office league. I had the second overall pick:



QB Derek Anderson
QB Matt Schaub

I have some concerns regarding Anderson (Is he a flash in the pan? How's that concussion?) but at least 10 or 11 other QBs were already taken, so I had to roll the dice. Thought Schaub was pretty good insurance - I've got him ranked 14th among QBs.

RB Adrian Peterson
RB Larry Johnson
RB Brandon Jacobs
RB Chester Taylor

I couldn't pass up Peterson with the second overall pick. I'm usually looking for another RB with my second pick but decided to go receiver this time, so I was glad to see LJ still on the board in the third round - I had him ranked 11th. Obviously it's a creaky group so I decided to get another somewhat injury-prone but studly back (Jacobs) next. I filled out the position with Taylor, mostly as insurance for AP.

WR Reggie Wayne
WR Roy Williams
WR Roddy White
WR Reggie Brown

Went with Wayne in the second round after the elite receivers started getting scooped up. Very happy with Williams as a No. 2 and thrilled to get White later. I think Brown's got some potential, mostly by default since he'll be starting for the Eagles with Kevin Curtis hurt.

TE Tony Scheffler
TE Kevin Boss

Content with this group. Scheffler will be fine and Boss has some upside - though not Jeremy Shockey upside.

K Robbie Gould
K Brandon Coutou

I'm OK with these guys. Didn't reach for Gould but got him very late. Hoping Coutou can beat out Olindo Mare for the Seahawks job. Honestly, I didn't know who he was until about a week ago.

DEF Colts
DEF Eagles

I'm happy with these two, both of which I consider to be top-10.




Now, onto my other team, ACE IN THE HOLE, for which I've shared management duties with my dad for about six years now. It's two divisions of 10 teams (each division drafts separately), points-per-reception scoring and a $100 entry fee. In other words, it's pretty serious.

QB Ben Roethlisberger
QB Matt Hasselbeck

Easily the best QB tandem in our division. I consider Big Ben to be at the top of the second tier of QBs and Hasselbeck right below him. Couldn't believe Hasselbeck was still available in the 10th round (and made me regret taking Ben in the fifth) but I couldn't pass him up. One of them will probably be trade bait at some point, especially when we have the inevitable "star QB gets injured in Week 1" moment.

RB Adrian Peterson
RB Ryan Grant
RB Kevin Smith
RB Chester Taylor

As you can see, I'm on the Peterson bandwagon this year. Wasn't really planning on it - I had the third overall pick here, but Brian Westbrook went second (we're playing PPR scoring for the first time this year) after LaDainian Tomlinson. A lot of people seem down on Grant since he had such an unproductive camp, but I still like him as a No. 2, and I'm thrilled with Smith as a No. 3. And once again, I've got Taylor as insurance. Only problem is Peterson, Taylor and Grant all have the same bye week, so I'll be making a roster move before then I'm sure.

WR TJ Houshmandzadeh
WR Roy Williams
WR Laveranues Coles
WR Donte' Stallworth

I don't have too many worries about TJ or Williams. I like Coles a lot, assuming he clicks with Brett Favre. And I could see Stallworth going off with a big game here and there; it's just a matter of picking the right weeks to start him.

TE Tony Scheffler
TE Dustin Keller

Once again it's Scheffler (he better not let me down), and I reached a bit for Keller. But I like the kid as a sleeper, so it was the right move.

K Robbie Gould
K Jason Hanson

Gould again - it's weird how these things work out. And Hanson's a safe No. 2.

DEF Seahawks
DEF Bucs

I foresee a lot of turnovers from this tandem.

Photos by The Associated Press