My Fantasy Football World

(LG3K) -- I only did two fantasy football teams this year. This is probably considered blasphemy in the fantasy sports world, but it is fun to think about what could have been. Since I did not have insider information on Peyton Manning’s neck, I eventually crashed and burned in a money league. However, I finally did well in a public league.

My first league was a public league on ESPN. I have always felt that in comparison to a snake draft, the auction draft was the one in which you could theoretically build your dream team. Kind of like the Philadelphia Eagles, except you can actually win. If you ever wanted to live out your dream to be the next Billy Beane/Paul DePodesta, the auction draft is the way to go.

This was our (macdaddyx4) only league together in 2011. The rest of the players in the league were unknown to us. Most of the people stayed active throughout the year, but the bottom two or three became inactive. Looking back at the draft, I lucked out multiple times. My first pick I won was Aaron Rodgers for $60. Here’s the funny part: I didn’t even want him. I was actually going to target Tom Brady and had predetermined I would have spent up to $40 on him, much higher than he was being valued for at the time. Anyways, my colleague macdaddyx4 is a BIG Packers fan. I was just one-upping him to get him to overpay and test his man-love. By the time the bid got to $50 for Rodgers it was down to the two of us. I knew he would pay a lot for him. When it got to $60 he decided to stop so I got stuck with him. I think he was mad at me.

Like Adam Dunn, if I don't hit a home run,
I strikeout. A lot. 

The rest of my draft:

Mike Williams- I was one of the sheeple who thought his arrow was pointing up and his ceiling was high. Turns out it was probably the floor that was high.

Calvin Johnson- He was my top targeted WR, so I was prepared to overspend.

Hakeem Nicks- I thought he was going to be good but not for this price. I was just trying to get the guy to pay closer to what I paid for Megatron and ended up getting stuck with him too.

Jeremy Maclin- I was happy for $10. I figured if Vick could stay healthy and produce even 75% of what he did last year, Maclin should thrive.

Tony Romo- This was the first time I ever horded. I only took him to protect myself and for trade bait should someone’s QB go down. I thought he could do well with 2 dynamic WR’s.

Eagles D- The media brainwashed me into thinking they were going to be amazing for $4.

Austin Collie- I was giddy over this since I thought he would be a steal at $2 if he could just avoid concussions. Never happened thanks to Peyton’s neck.

Rob Gronkowski- This is what the 124^th pick is supposed to look like: $1 to fill out depth. Talk about riding a guy to the championship! I only picked him because it seemed like every TE was gone by this point. It’s got to be scarce when Zach Miller is taken already.

Darren Sproles- I don’t know why I used my last dollar on him back then. But he became ESPN’s #8 RB and my #1 RB. Who said you didn't need a little luck to win the championship.

Long live Peyton’s neck.

My other one was a money league with my friends at college on NFL.com. It was a 2QB league with PPR. By doing thorough research on how the commissioner set up his points, I determined the top 5 QBs last year were the highest scoring position by an average of 52 points over the top 5 RBs and an average of 71 points over the top 5 WRs. I had the 10^th pick in a 10-man snake. I decided to go with two QBs on the first two picks for the overall consistency. When it got to my turn, Vick, Rodgers, Brady, and Rivers had all been selected. That guy who selected Rivers must have done some quick research, because NOBODY selects Rivers in the first round. Drew Brees had a down year and was getting older, but he was also in a contract year. Easy pick.. Next, let’s just say I drafted Peyton Manning before anybody knew how serious his neck was. I always draft right before the first week of the season. This was my first time doing a league with them and our schedules dictated an early August draft, well before Manning was placed on IR.

Number crunching.

In hindsight it’s always easy to laugh at who people passed up, especially in a snake draft.


If I could go back in time and change one pick, I would trade Peyton Manning for Matthew Stafford. Looking back I had an OK draft after Peyton. Miles Austin, Matt Forte, Mike Wallace, Blount (POS), Ryan Mathews, Mike Williams (POS), and Mike Tolbert.  I didn’t know Matthew Stafford was going to be healthy and throw 40 TDs to Megatron. I’m not going to say Cam Newton because nobody in their right mind would have drafted him with the 11^th overall pick on standard scoring settings. Hindsight! 

Looks like a good week 16 lineup...for the constellation bracket. Starters in bold.

The team name? “Thanks a lot Peyton Manning.” For my draft, and an easier season for my Houston Texans.