Fantasy football

Our work league is circling the drain after 20-plus years. Hell of a lot of fun, but we barely scraped it together last year. One guy moved across the country and had been drafting over speakerphone the last two or three years.
After the paper was sold, some people were laid off and others got too busy to play, I think we've finally reached the end.
Kind of pisses me off, too. I won it the first two years I worked here, made it to the Super Bowl three or four other times, but never got the trophy again. I still curse the rainstorm that swamped the Oakland Coliseum for the 2002 regular-season finale. My entire team was built around that awesome Raiders offense -- I somehow was able to get Gannon, Charlie Garner (in a league that gave double points for RBs who catch touchdown passes, and bonuses for long touchdowns), Tim Brown and Jerry Rice. I crushed people all year long. All I needed to win the Super Bowl was for the Raiders to rout a shitty Chiefs team at home.
And then it fucking rained like Noah himself was coming in for the halftime show.
The Raiders won going away, and Garner had a decent rushing game, but the rest of the team didn't do squat in that slop. To make matters worse, it was a Saturday afternoon game so I knew when Sunday started I was a dead man walking.

 

Pair of 12-team drafts coming up. Picking 10th and 12th. Ugh.

 

I wouldn't mind either of those spots. If it's a PPR league, it's a perfect spot to grab two elite receivers or Graham and a WR. The only spots I don't want are top 3-4.

 

I don't like the auction system, but I do like keepers with the draft order based on the preceding year's standings.

 

The problem with that is there's a good chance you'll get screwed at RB.

Having said that, I'm more apt to take my chances on RBs later in a PPR format. In a standard league, I'll likely target Bernard or Ball with the wraparound.

 

I just did a mock picking second. I took Charles, but then when it got back to me in the second round, all of the elite WRs were off the board. I took Bernard second, Cobb third, Welker fourth and Richardson fifth. I would not be very happy if Cobb and Welker (both injury risks) were my top two WRs.

I think there is better value at RB in the third and fourth round than there is at WR. I think, especially in a PPR league, you need one stud wideout in the first two rounds. I think the top-tier WRs are 1. Megatron, 2. D. Thomas, 3. AJ Green, 4. Dez, 5. Marshall, 6. Julio Jones and 7. Jordy Nelson before there's a decent-sized drop. In most mock drafts, those guys are gone in the first 20 picks or so.

 

Way, way more depth at WR.

 

Depth? Yes. Value in rounds 3 and 4? Not so much.

After the top 5 backs, there's a pretty big drop. The group right after it is filled with injury risks (Foster, Lynch, Martin, Bush), unproven guys (Stacy, Bell, Bernard, Ball). I'm not entirely sure where to put Murray and Morris. All of those guys are being taken in the top 30 picks.

Other than the top 5 backs, I wouldn't want to use a first round pick on any of the other RBs.

 

That's crazy to me.
A combo of a tier 1 and tier 2 RB in your backfield has way more value than two tier 1 WRs handcuffed with two tier 3 RBs. That latter scenario is a disaster.
You can get a tier 2 WRs with huge upside, maybe even two of them, in the third, fourth and fifth rounds.

 

It's interesting. I think the ideal situation would be picking sixth or seventh and having one of the top-tier running backs like Forte or Lacy fall to you and then get someone like Julio Jones, AJ Green or Dez Bryant when it comes back to you in the second.

In PPR leagues, dominant receivers are more valuable than an elite running back and the running backs come with much more injury risk (usually) then receivers.

Last season, Arian Foster, Ray Rice, Doug Martin, C.J. Spiller, Trent Richardson and Steven Jackson were all top 15 picks and six of the first 10 running backs taken and all were busts.

Among receivers, only three of the top 15 WRs and TEs drafted missed significant time because of injury. (Jones, White and Cobb).

 

Curious, RJ, whom did you bypass to take Welker in the PPR league you mentioned?

And I have no problem with Cobb as a No. 1 receiver when you can get a Charles, McCoy or Forte, who are No. 1 running backs as well as No. 2 receivers in a PPR format.

 

Eight receivers and Graham were off the board when I picked in the second round at No. 23. So Cobb was the ninth wideout taken. I wanted Roddy White in the fourth, but he went two picks ahead of me. Keenan Allen went the pick before me. I was basically picking between Welker and Crabtree and on ESPN's board, Welker is rated six spots higher than Crabtree, thinking I might be able to grab Crabtree in the fifth. After I took Welker, I had Andre Ellington, Crabtree and Trent Richardson in my queue, Crabtree went after me, Ellington went next and then I took Richardson.