Fantasy Football

I do!  It’s a great way to enjoy football.  I played for the first time last year.  Now I’m in 3(!!!) leagues…8 team, 12 team, and 20 team.  I feel comfortable with my 8 owner league team but have some early injuries that will impede early wins.  My 12 team is perfect, I think, and my 20 team is a real stretch since (a) so many teams makes good players hard to come by and (b) my computer screwed up and I couldn’t get into the draft so my picks were pretty bad.  The draft rankings automatically are pretty skewed.

Here are some tips that I’ve learned:

1. Know your scoring system, by heart if possible.  this makes a huge difference in who you should draft and play.  The estimates don’t always reflect this.
2. Running backs are almost always your #1 pick as they go fast and produce many points.  QBs that rush are also good choices (Vick, Rodgers)
3. Don’t overthink your placement and don’t get upset if you have someone on your bench that drops 20 points and a starter with a goose egg.  It happens to everyone.  Look at the team they are against and see how they’ve done by the position, it’s usually ranked.  If they have a weak secondary, start the WR for it.
4. Watch games.  That’s a lot of the fun!

If I think of others, I’ll post em.

As for your team:
1. You are pretty solid throughout, you don’t look too bad but I suspect you have at least a dozen teams in your league, probably more. You also have a nice mix of players from various teams which helps with bye weaks and not weakening your point potential.
2. You have a nice core group of receivers but kind of weak in the RB area besides McFadden.  Delone Carter may pan out as he’s probably the #2 back for Indy, he’ll get more playing time with Manning out, and Joseph Addai will invariably get injured at some point, moving him up to #1.
3.  I would drop a receiver and pick up a RB.  Which one is up to you, but a couple of things about that…is that supposed to be Julio Jones from ATL or James Jones on your bench? 
4.  I would put Floyd on the bench as I think he’s supposed to be out, but double check that.  If not, he’s a solid flex but I usually put a RB in that position.  You can’t since Starks already played and I think put up some good numbers.
5. I would probably sit cook and put Gonzalez in.  They are saying good things about Cook (I’m guessing because of new QB means more short passes to TE), but he didn’t do that great last year and Gonz is a strong TE.  However, there are also 2 very good receivers in ATL’s arsenal, and one of them being new shakes that up.  I still think he’ll perform, but it’s something to think about.

Give me a second and I’ll post my rosters.

8 Team League:

QB Tom Brady, NE QB
RB Darren McFadden, Oak RB
RB Pierre Thomas, NO RB (accidentally drafted after I already had Ingram, but gives me trade opportunity)
RB/WR Knowshon Moreno, Den RB
WR Mike Wallace, Pit WR
WR Santonio Holmes, NYJ WR
TE Kellen Winslow, TB TE
D/ST Ravens D/ST
K Nate Kaeding, SD K
Bench Arian Foster, Hou RB (doubt he’ll play, so I sat him for Thomas, who didn’t perform as well as I would have liked, but better than Ingram)
Bench Miles Austin, Dal WR (sounds like he’ll play now, but Holmes will perform better with Dal weak secondary even though I think Austin is the better receiver…could be surprised though)
Bench Mark Ingram, NO RB
Bench Santana Moss, Wsh
Bench Joe Flacco, Bal QB
Bench Daniel Thomas, Mia RB
Bench Johnny Knox, Chi WR

I like this team a lot.  It’s solid throughout, and I’ve got a couple unknowns (Ingram, Thomas) that may be nice surprises.  Early injuries are hampering my ability to set my starters the way I want though.

12 Team League (this one is weird, I’ll explain below)

QB Michael Vick (Phi - QB)
WR Greg Jennings (GB - WR)
WR Dwayne Bowe (KC - WR)
WR Jacoby Ford (Oak - WR)
RB Jamaal Charles (KC - RB)
RB Cedric Benson (Cin - RB)
TE Kellen Winslow (TB - TE)
BN Danny Amendola (StL - WR)
BN Mike Thomas (Jac - WR)
BN Brandon Jacobs (NYG - RB)
BN Marshawn Lynch (Sea - RB)
BN Matt Cassel (KC - QB)
BN Daniel Thomas (Mia - RB)
K Josh Brown (StL - K)
DEF Green Bay (GB - DEF)
D Paul Posluszny (Jac - LB)
D Patrick Willis (SF - LB)
D Brian Urlacher (Chi - LB)
D Lawrence Timmons (Pit - LB)
D Derrick Johnson (KC - LB)

I’m PROUD of my draft in this team.  Yahoo even named me the best drafted team!  Hahaha.  Anyway, this league is weird.  The point scoring is ridiculous…they are going to be high scoring games.  You get bonus points when a RB rushes every 100, 150, and 200 yards; WRs get them for receiving yards at the same increments, and QBs for throwing 300, 350, and 400 yards.  Drew Brees scored nearly 50 points in this league (he was predicted less than half that) because he threw no picks and over 400 yards.  Also, you usually don’t see a D/ST and then individual defensive players. Additionally, the individual defensive players aren’t positioned (usually one must be a DL, one a LB, and one a DB with a standard D for whoever), so I took all LBs as they get the most tackles (you want players from teams with bad or efficient offenses so they are on the field all the time). AND return yards are counted not only for an individual but also the D/ST (which is why I picked up Jacoby Ford and Danny Amendola)  It’s going to be wild. I’m already destroying my opponent with just my Def and one WR.

20 (!!!) Team League

QB Tony Romo (Dal - QB)
WR Julio Jones (Atl - WR)
WR Dexter McCluster (KC - WR,RB)
RB Jamaal Charles (KC - RB)
TE Jermaine Gresham (Cin - TE)
W/R Delone Carter (Ind - RB)
BN Daniel Thomas (Mia - RB)
BN Nate Washington (Ten - WR)
BN Steve Smith (Car - WR)
BN Ronnie Brown (Phi - RB)
BN Mohamed Massaquoi (Cle - WR)
K Neil Rackers (Hou - K)
D Donte Whitner (SF - S)
DB Antrel Rolle (NYG - S)
DL Kyle Williams (Buf - DT)
LB Paul Posluszny (Jac - LB)

Ughh…I’m disappointed in this team since it autodrafted and gave me some complete crap (2 kickers and 2 TEs, 1 QB…what the hell??).  I’m not even sure who to start in WR (and RBs this week) and that’s my weakest area.  My RBs are ok, but they aren’t going to pan out yet.  I was able to build a great defense lineup from free agents as it drafted me a second string safety (no idea why he was ranked so high), someone already injured of no importance, and a guy who barely played last year.  I’m gonna get destroyed this year unless I can pick up a solid receiver or have some surprises.  On the upside, return yards are counted by individuals, and Dexter McCluster is one of the best.  Too bad I have Jamaal Charles too as they share time.

So there you go.  I probably should have only done two leagues, but it’s fun and with a year under my belt I feel I can handle these.  I don’t waste too much time on analyzing everything and have many of the same players, so it’s no big deal.  I look forward to doing very well in the two smaller leagues and just fooling around in the large one.

Oh, forgot to reply to your last bit in your post.

Ocho is fine.  In fact, I think he’ll do well.  He’s a strong receiver.  But here’s the thing that might be confusing you about him

1. His stats of the past couple years are muddled by an injury and playing across TO (splitting receptions and TDs)
2. He played under a mediocre QB the whole time.  Now he’s with Tom Brady, arguably the best throwing QB in the league.

Oakland may be a good choice for defense.  It depends on how your points are scored.  If you want to post the score settings, I’ll help you decide.  Otherwise, I’d say keep them, especially if return yards are counted.  Jacoby Jones had a massive amount of return yards and a few touchdowns.  They also have some strength in individual defensive positions, so you’ll get some picks and sacks.  They are about average in real life, but that can equate to a nice set of points in fantasy.

@Guerrilla:

Oakland was the only decent Def left in the draft order… The next good one available is Cleaveland. I didn’t know that about Ocho, that makes sense now. Like I said, I haven’t really kept up with Pro sports. This year will probably be the year to start, just so my next year draft will be better. I was told by the draft “leader” that I had one of the better teams selected.

I love your 12 man. Vick, Jennings, Jamaal, Jacoby? Gah… :)

GG

Oakland will probably work fine, although Cleveland put up some good Def numbers on many games last year.

@Guerrilla:

Oh, I also switched out Carter for Starks. Best. Decision. Ever.

Also, how did you get both Vick and Charles?! That’s nuts.

GG

Haha, a little bit of luck, a little bit of planning and autodraft being silly.  Only 5 people were in drafting, I had 5th pick (had 5th pick in every league).  My buddy had 1st pick and is a huge Eagles fan.  I drafted Charles first, everyone else did RBs or Rodgers, Brees, or Brady 1st and 2nd round.  Vick was still up so I chose him and pissed off my friend (did that a couple times). I may try to trade Bowe or possibly Charles for a WR or RB on another team though…both are strong but together it’s more a risk of diminished points.

I may pick up the hobby next season. I already watch 15-20 hours of football a week. What’s going on in your mind whenever one of your players is playing opposite of your favorite team?

@ABWorsham:

I may pick up the hobby next season. I already watch 15-20 hours of football a week. What’s going on in your mind whenever one of your players is playing opposite of your favorite team?

Unless you’re a diehard fan, you can usually separate it.  I’ve always had at least 1 person from my favorite team.  I think there is more pressure with that for them to do well.

That said, Brady made me and killed me in 2 leagues.  The one I lost in was ridiculous.

I’ve been playing for a while and I’m usually in 2-3 leagues a year.  One league is what I’d consider my “real” league and that I play with my old college buddies.  But the others I do mainly for fun.

Don’t worry about your defense all that much.  Statisically speaking there isn’t much difference between good defenses and avg defenses.  Oak is decent.  I will typically play the matchups and add/drop defenses almost weekly and just try to find a defense that is playing a really bad team.

(10 team League) My Team is:

QB:  Rodgers, GB
RB:  MJD, Jax
RB:  S. Jackson, St.L
WR:  Wallace, Pit
WR:  Austin, Dal
Flex:  Boldin, Balt
TE:  Finley, GB
Def:  SD
K:  Viniteri, Indy
BN:  Bradford, St.L (QB)
BN:  Benson, Cin (RB)
BN:  Addai, Ind (RB)
BN:  Tomlinson, NYJ (RB)
BN:  L. Evans, Balt (WR)
BN:  S. Smith, Car (WR)
BN:  B Edwards, SF (WR)

This week, I’m trying to pick up C Williams from St.L on the waiver wire since it looks like Jackson is hurt.  I’ll be dropping Addai for now.  Indy right now isn’t good, and they play Pit in week 3 so its not like I’d be starting him the next two weeks.  I’m starting Benson in Jackson place.

@ABWorsham:

I may pick up the hobby next season. I already watch 15-20 hours of football a week. What’s going on in your mind whenever one of your players is playing opposite of your favorite team?

I used to worry about this when I started but it doesn’t bother me at all now.  I do usually try to draft 1-2 players from my favorite teams (Pit or Chi).  I also will always root for my favorite team regardless of fantasy numbers b/c frankly too much can change from play to play or game to game to worry about fantasy points.  I just sort of set my line up and let the chips fall where they may.  And being in a couple leagues now that means there is so much cross over it really doesn’t matter so I just always root for my favorite team.  I mean in this League I have Rodgers, so I’d want him to do well, but in my two other leagues I’m going to play against him at some point.  So, I don’t really worry about it anymore.  Every week I root for the Pack to lose and the Bears to crush him when they play, but in reality he’s going to be putting up 250-300 yds, and 2 td a game.  It doesn’t change much from my rooting perspective.

One last thing, you do want to like your team and have fun, and if that means picking a few more of your home town players by all means do it.  In one of my for fun leagues, we are serious (but its still just for fun) but because we are all in Chicago that means Bears players go a bit higher then normal and its nice to root for a home town player.

That’s a nice lineup, DM.  How many in that league?  Also, why don’t you start an RB in flex rather than a WR?  I also had Steve Smith on my bench, hahahaha.

GG…how’d your game go?  He’re my scores:

20 team: (Me)105.25 vs. 73.97
8 team: (Me) 102 vs. 87

As for the 12 team league, I’m going to let the pic speak for itself (still a chance stat corrections could change it).  I am Tecmo in that league.  I couldn’t effing believe it.

My League is a 10 team league, so everyone seems to have decent teams.
I had the 7th pick and went Rodgers in Rd 1, then MJD in Rd 2.

Outside of the top 4-5 RBs I felt there were a lot of guys that are kind of the same and could be drafted in the middle rds, so I went with an Elite QB.  I normally go RB in rds 1-2 but I haven’t been doing well the past few years, so I just went #1 QB.  Plus QBs do well in our league (we get a point for every 5 completions and 6 pts for tds.).  So yeah, like you said, good reminder for knowing the scoring system for your league.

We can only start a Maximum of 2 RBs.  Our Flex guy is actually just an extra WR/TE spot.

Yeah tough to see Smith put up 30 on the bench, but if he (and Cam) do that against GB this week, then I’ll have some tough calls to make. In a good way. lol!

Edit:

Oh man, losing by .3!  Brutal!

@DarthMaximus:

Oh man, losing by .3!  Brutal!

It’s not even really that.  I mean, sure, I agonized that if Jacoby Ford (he was the last player to play for both teams, needed only 1 point) hadn’t fumbled I’d have won, or if Vick rushed for 2 more yards, or if Dwayne Bowe caught one more pass…

None it was that.  I was leading by more than 100 points going into Monday with a WR to play.  She had Brady, her kicker, and a couple defense players.  The thing that killed me is that BRADY SCORED 76 POINTS!!!

I mean, he had an INCREDIBLE game (and saved my ass in my money league).  He should be top scorer.  But he scored triple on Vick, and Vick had a good game.  He get 30 bonus points (more points than all but 2 quarterbacks in the league for the day) for simply passing for 400 yards. 5 at 300, 10 at 350, 15 more at 400.  It doesn’t make any sense.  I even looked at it before we started and assumed it was either/or/or but not cumulative.  A QB in our league can garner 34 points by passing 101 yards after 299.  It’s absolutely absurd.  I don’t even know why there are bonus points…the kickers, IDPs, and Def/ST don’t get any bonuses, and they actually could use help to score.  Tom Brady was nearly half the teams points, and that’s not right.  i’m just hoping stat adjustments change it in my favor.

Oh, and just to put it more into perspective:
Brees and Rodgers had nearly identical games, both over 300 yards, 3 TDs, no fumbles, no interceptions. Brees was sacked 3 times while Rodgers was sacked twice. Brees had 107 yards more than Rodgers. Yet, Brees scores 63.56, Rodgers scores 34.58.
Are you seriously telling me that Brees deserves 28.98 points more than Rodgers for throwing only 100 yards more than him? A QB that only throws 100 yards gets 4 points (8 points at 200 yards, 17 points at 300 yards, 29 points at 350 yards, 46 points at 400 yards). (cut and paste from my post to the league)

As it turns out the league head thought it was incremental and not cumulative, and hoped it helped against ties, which they had many last year.

@Guerrilla:

Jermo, he killed me (see below). I did do one stupid thing, I started Jared Cook instead of Tony Gonzalez (the latter had 72 points in our league), but it wouldn’t have mattered. I have a feeling I’ll have a better match against Kyle Orton next week.

GG

Well don’t sweat it, it wouldn’t have mattered and you know better.  I’d consider dropping Cook altogether, but that’s your decision.  I think you’ll do fine this week, giving your matchup a cursory glance.

@Guerrilla:

I am going to drop Cook if he does nothing this next week. I should figure that “Hassle” wouldn’t throw worth anything in Tennessee. Right now, I am working on getting Marion Barber off waivers. Someone dropped him cause of the injury and hopefully I’ll nab him in place of Delone Carter.

I dropped Andre Roberts for Emmanuel Sanders, and I am thinking of dropping him for Brandon Lafell, but that’s putting a lot of faith in the golden arm from Auburn.

GG

Marion Barber should have an upswing year, especially if Forte needs to sit.  I always liked him but his production had gone downhill in Dallas.  I think the O-Line is part of the blame there.  I also dropped Carter knowing if he does show up later he’ll be available from waivers/FA.  I still have Daniel Thomas and am unsure what he’ll do and may need to trade him out for someone else.

Also, as of right now, I’m leading the game I previously lost with the new stat corrections by .6 points (instead of losing by .3).

Start Sanders. He and Mike Wallace are the now and future in Pittsburgh, and Ocho has to compete with Welker, Branch, Gronkowski, Hernandez, and others.