I opened the 2009 fantasy football season with a solid 5-0 record. Below is my breakdown of each league. Who my playmakers are and my strategy each week.
Team, League – League name links to actual league.
Jukebox Heroes, Junk In Your Face
League background: This is a custom league with 16 teams, all friends of mine with a few friends of friends. The scoring is not standard, in that QBs are more valuable (6 pt/TD, 1 pt/25 yards). It is a keeper league, broken into 4 divisions. Each division winner goes to the 8-team playoff, with 4 Wild Card spots to the best 4 teams remaining.
Draft:
Week 1: Being a deep league, there is not alot of bench talent to choose from. I chose to bench Julius Jones because I’ve been burned him too many times in the past, and elected to go with Felix Jones. I leaned heavily on Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald and the Titans D/ST to win week 1.
Outlook: Brees will be a stalwart for this team, but 6 TD games will not happen every week. Matt Forte and Jonathon Stewart will have to return to 2008 form and Fitzgerald’s value is directly tied to Warner’s ability to pick up where he left off in 2008-09 season.
Outcome: def. Chicken Crave 96-71
Flutie Flakes, Triple Threat League – Football
League background: This is the league that I have mentioned in previous posts during baseball season, which I finished the regular season in 13th out of 14 places…so that was good. This league carried over most of the owners, although I believe we lost 3 or 4 due to inactivity. I traded my 1st overall pick in the NBA league for the 1st overall in the NFL league, giving me the top 2 picks. The league has an extra WR position and 6 IDP utility positions, along with 2 IR spots, and is also a keeper league.
Draft: I took Adrian Peterson and Michael Turner with the top 2 picks. Other key players include: Marques Colston, Darren McFadden, Antonio Gates, Patrick Willis, D’Qwell Jackson
Week 1: I felt pretty good about my match-up with the Chicago Bagmen, but I wouldn’t secure victory until late in the 4th quarter of the Chargers-Raiders game. Turner flopped for many compared to his draft position and Matt Schaub did not perform as well as I expected. Peterson dominated and the play of my IDP players helped carry the load. The Bagmen left 46 points on the bench, which helped more than anything else.
Outlook: The WR corps will have to step up in order for the team to be consistent and QB play will continue to be a factor.
Outcome: def. Chicago Bagmen 131-127
The Brees Knees, NO QUITTERS ALLOWED
League background: This is a standard ESPN 10-team league that was drafted via Auction.
Draft: Given $200 to spend on a roster of 16, I spent most of it on 5 players: Peterson ($64), Brees ($42), Clinton Portis ($33), Colston ($20), T.J. Houshmanzadeh ($17). The remainder of my roster I got $1-2 players with the exception of Chris Wells at $9. I traded my backup Trent Edwards and Wells for Schaub and Julius Jones.
Week 1: Brees, Peterson and John Carlson (TE) combined for 94 points, enough to beat my opponent, Danger Zone, on their own. I did leave Tim Hightower and Jones on the bench which was a significant amount of missed points.
Outlook: Spending the money on Brees and Peterson seems like a good move. I might not be as balanced as other teams, but if I get the right matchups my players can score in bunches.
Outcome: def. Danger Zone 124-87
Aluminum Curtain, HITMAN
League background: Standard ESPN 10-team league with a snake draft.
Draft: Tom Brady was taken 8th and Brees fell to 10th, where I snatched him up. I also drafted Frank Gore cause I wanted more of a power back rather than Steve Slaton or DeAngelo Williams. Other stars: Thomas Jones, Colston, Vincent Jackson. My backups are fairly decent as well.
Week 1: Going up against a team fielding Peterson, Marion Barber and Joseph Addai at RB I was initially worried. My key guys battled them point-for-point and then some. Brees, Gore, Jones, Colston, Jackson and Carlson combined for 115 points. I also chose, based on initial injury reports, to play Steve Breaston over Patrick Crayton, so I left an additional 19 points on the bench.
Outlook: This team might be my most balanced team across all 5 leagues. I feel pretty good about this team week in, week out.
Outcome: def. cleveland browns 126-94
Backyard Heroes, Dilbert
League background: A horrible choice for a league name, whoever chose it. This is also an ESPN standard 10-team league with Auction draft.
Draft: I chose not to chase Peterson and was outbid for Brees. So I spent my money on Forte ($58), Barber ($28), Terrell Owens ($21), Colston ($19), Thomas Jones ($16), Schaub ($13), Jackson ($12), Larry Johnson ($11).
Week 1: A very week showing by my team, I was down 1 point heading into Monday night’s Buffalo-New England game. Owens’ 4 points put me over the top. Jones and Barber saved me this week, while both teams left a lot of points on the bench.
Outlook: I’m not too excited about this team. I have a decently strong RB/WR corps, but everything else feels flat except for Kicker, but I don’t want to rely on Mason Crosby to win.
Outcome: def. gorga hippos 75-72
Week 1 Total: 5-0
Season Total: 5-0
