Fantasy Football 2011 Discussion

[Scoobz0202]

I can get on board with that team. Would love for it to be PPR with some of those players. Some great depth at RB. Not a big fan of Turner at RB1, but you have the depth for sure. Great upside at WR.

[thesloppy]

Burleson is one of my two "sleepers", for whatever that's worth (not much). Dude was putting on a clinic in preseason, with something like 5 TDs in 3 games...which is worth a hill of beans, I know, but he'll be facing single coverage as teams cover Calvin Johnson, and he looks to be motivated to play, and the Lions have been very vocal about their plans to increase their number of 'big plays' this year.

...similarly, my only other sleeper Joe Flacco, has been very vocal about how he and his offense plan to go vertical more this year. Flacco was on the cusp of the top 10 fantasy QBs last year, in most leagues, yet he seems to be consistently rated at 15-20 this year, after adding Lee Evans and drafting Torrey Smith. I wouldn't want to be stuck starting him every week, but he's a great option for QB2 that can be swiped in later rounds.

[B & B]

Ironically.

My FF strategy this year was to target Stafford, and of course, back him up with someone with stability and an upside. That would be Flacco.

Think that both will end up top 10 FF QBs this year. Really just a matter of picking the right one to start week in and week out.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by B & B

Ironically.

My FF strategy this year was to target Stafford, and of course, back him up with someone with stability and an upside. That would be Flacco.

That's the exact QB duo I ended up with. Stafford's got high upside, but I had to grab Flacco in the round immediately afterward, because of the injury/Lions concerns.

I also somehow ended up with Calvin Johnson and Nate Burleson, AND Anquan Boldin and Lee Evans. As the Lions and Ravens go, so goes my fantasy team, I guess....though I've got Brandon Lloyd and Andre Johnson too, so I hopefully won't ever have to start any of those same-team tandems.

[Danny]

Are your RB's Ray Rice and Jahvid Best?

[Danny]

I would be interesting to do a 2 team combo for your whole starting lineup, though you couldn't even get a Houston / Philly Combo

QB Vick, Schaub
RB Foster, Mccoy
WR A Johnson, Jackson, Maclin
TE Daniels

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

I can get on board with that team. Would love for it to be PPR with some of those players. Some great depth at RB. Not a big fan of Turner at RB1, but you have the depth for sure. Great upside at WR.

I went for the upside team, as all the good RB's were gone by my pick in the first, except for Foster. I'm not dicking around with hammy injuries, as were the 10 people in front of me.

[ntndeacon]

I have a draft for a PR keeper league today, and I am excited as we threw everyone back into the mix (about 6 new teams this season)

[Danny]

I just had my money league draft and I'm pretty ecstatic at how it went. 14 team league. The league scoring and lineups are very unique. The scoring and lineups is heavily slanted towards running and receiving. 6 pt for all TD's, but 1pt per 25 passing, 8 rushing and 5 receiving. Also 0.5 per reception. Additionally, defense score big points in the league as a shutout for example is worth 20 points. We start the following: 1 QB , 2 RB, 2 WR, 2 RB/WR/TE Flex Spots, 1 TE, 1 D, 1K, 1DL, 1LB and 1DB. My strategy was to load up on WR and RB who would post good receiving yards.

QB Flacco, Sanchez
RB Jones-Drew, Bush, Hightower, D Murray, Helu
WR C Johnson, M Williams (TB), D Jackson, AJ Green, A Roberts, A Benn
TE Gronkowski, H Miller
K Henery
D Steelers
DL Shaugnassy
LB Laurinitis
DB Rhodes

[General Mike]

so I ended up with Jason Campbell in the 12th and took Neil Rackers in the 13th, since only one other person needed a D at that point. I figure I can get the Chiefs, Rams, Lions or Giants D late and play matchups for the most part all year there.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by General Mike

so I ended up with Jason Campbell in the 12th and took Neil Rackers in the 13th, since only one other person needed a D at that point. I figure I can get the Chiefs, Rams, Lions or Giants D late and play matchups for the most part all year there.

You should probably go with whoever has the best week 1 matchup and just go to week to week with your defense. Since you have shallow rosters, there will always be a defense with a quality matchup available.

[RainMaker]

I usually mix and match defenses based on the weekly matchup. Was able to grab Arizona. They play Cam Newton, Rex Grossman, and Tavaris Jackson the first 3 weeks.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Burleson is one of my two "sleepers", for whatever that's worth (not much). Dude was putting on a clinic in preseason, with something like 5 TDs in 3 games...which is worth a hill of beans, I know, but he'll be facing single coverage as teams cover Calvin Johnson, and he looks to be motivated to play, and the Lions have been very vocal about their plans to increase their number of 'big plays' this year.

I'm intrigued by him with a healthy Stafford. He's a FA in my league and I have Jordy Nelson and Jacoby Ford sitting on the bench. Would you drop either of them for him?

[Danny]

I would drop Nelson for him in a heartbeat. Packers have too much WR depth for anyone outside of Jennings and Finley to be that worthwhile unless someone gets injured.

[Danny]

I would not drop Ford though. I really like Denarious Moore as a talent for the Raiders, but make no mistake, Ford should easily be the Raiders top fantasy receiver this year. He's getting devalued because he was held out of preseason.

[RainMaker]

I guess I looked at what Nelson did at the end of last year and worry he'll turn into a solid 2 in that offense.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Danny

I would drop Nelson for him in a heartbeat. Packers have too much WR depth for anyone outside of Jennings and Finley to be that worthwhile unless someone gets injured.

Agreed. If Stafford performs, he could become a top 10 fantasy QB and an every week starter. On the other hand, you're probably going to spend all year finding ways to NOT start Jordy Nelson, and you could probably find another 3rd WR on the waiver wire if you really need to, whereas QBs will probably get picked up as soon as they start to perform.

[Danny]

sloppy, he meant Burleson is a FA, not Stafford, I believe.

[B & B]

Yeah, Burleson.

I like Jordy but Nate is a better WR3 at this point. When Drivers knee explodes and James Jones drops 3 passes, he could be the #2. Nate is #2 right now.


Any league where Stafford wasnt drafted is paper plate/kiddie table.

Every league Ive seen has the Lions defense drafted, and they project to have the #2 sacks in the league as a team beforehand.

[thesloppy]

When I went back to look at scoring I was surprised at how well the Lions defense did last year....I think they ended up as the 11th defense in my league, which is certainly passable. With an improved backfield, linebacking core AND Fairley, I can certainly see the appeal....that said my biggest worry, from both a fantasy and long-suffering Lions fan perspective, is that their schedule kinda blows.

As I said before, I'm super high on Burleson, but that's at least partially due to Lions goggles AND preseason hype, so I'd take my advice with a few heapings of salt. I'm glad to see other folks on here high on him as well.

I just managed to trade away a part of my Lions/Ravens block, swapping Lee Evans for Cedric Benson, as I was WR heavy and could use a safety valve RB. That leaves me with:

[ QB] Matthew Stafford
[ QB ] Joe Flacco
[ RB ] BenJarvus Green-Ellis
[ RB ] Steven Jackson
[ RB ] LeSean McCoy
[ RB ] Cedric Benson
[ WR ] Andre Johnson
[ WR ] Calvin Johnson
[ WR ] Anquan Boldin
[ WR ] Nate Burleson
[ WR ] Plaxico Burress
[ WR ] Braylon Edwards
[ WR ] Brandon Lloyd
[ K ] Josh Brown
[ D ] Green Bay Packers
[ D ] New Orleans Saints

It's an 8 team, 2-keeper league, so everybody's relatively stacked. As much as 8 players has it's obvious drawbacks, it's kind of nice to only have to worry about 'top-tier' talent, and not have to dig around for the Dolphins 5th WR, or whatever, when I'm usually just borrowing some "expert" opinion at that point anyhow. It's a flex league, you can start up to 4 WRs (and as few as 1 RB), and I seem to have established a pattern over the years of stacking WRs, and rolling the dice on late QBs.....I've had pretty good, but nowhere near spectacular, results.

[wade moore]

Cut down to one league this year because I'm just running out of the time to manage multiple teams. So, I went with the league that I've been in the longest.

Anyway. 12 teams, 1 keeper (has to have been drafted after round 5, can keep for up to 3 years). We get .25 per reception, so not a full PPR, but.

QB: Matt Ryan
RB: Tim Hightower (Keeper), Arian Foster, LeGarrette Blount, Ryan Torrain, Ben Tate, Justin Forsett. Michael Thomas
WR: Reggie Wayne, Anquan Boldin, Chad Ochocinco
TE: Mercedes Lewis
DST: Bears
K: Alex Henery

Obviously I went a ton heavy on RB. I'll probably end up ditching one of those guys before too long to pick up a WR.

[spleen1015]

Here's a team I drafted Saturday night in a 10 team league with the 10th pick. I really like this team.

QB - Schaub
RB - Mendenhall
RB - Greene
RB/WR - Mathews
WR - A. Johnson
WR - Miles
TE - Finley

BN - Cutler
BN - Benson
BN - Bush
BN - Collie
BN - Knox
BN - Rice

[Danny]

Team looks good to me Spleen. Solid QB, Decent RB, Great WR and TE., good Depth.

[bhlloy]

Drafting for my main league today... is it just me or does this scoring heavily favor defenses over the standard?

Scoring for Offensive Categories Setting
FG - Field Goals 3 points
Plus 2 points for a FG of 50+ Yds
FL - Fumble Lost, Including ST plays -2 points
Pa2P - Passing Two-point Conversion 2 points
PaInt - Passing Interception -2 points
PaTD - Passing TD 6 points
PaYd - Passing Yards 0 - 300 PaYds = 1 point for every 25 PaYds
301+ PaYds = 2 points for every 25 PaYds
Re2P - Receiving Two-point Conversion 2 points
ReTD - Receiving TD 6 points
ReYd - Receiving Yards 0 - 100 ReYds = 1 point for every 10 ReYds
101+ ReYds = 1.5 points for every 10 ReYds
Ru2P - Rushing Two-point Conversion 2 points
RuTD - Rushing TD 6 points
RuYd - Rushing Yards 0 - 100 RuYds = 1 point for every 10 RuYds
101+ RuYds = 1.5 points for every 10 RuYds
XP - Extra Points 1 point
Scoring for Defensive Categories Setting
DFR - Defensive/ST Fumble Recovered (ID/DT/DST) 2 points
DTD - Total Defensive and Special Teams TD 6 points
Int - Interceptions 2 points
PA - Points Against, Total Points Scored 0 - 6 PA = 8 points
7 - 13 PA = 6 points
14 - 20 PA = 4 points
21 - 27 PA = 2 points
SACK - Sack 1 point
Plus a 2 point bonus @ 3+ SACK
STY - Safety 2 points
YDS - Yards Allowed 0 - 49 YDSs = 12 points
50 - 99 YDSs = 10 points
100 - 149 YDSs = 8 points
150 - 199 YDSs = 6 points
200 - 249 YDSs = 4 points
250 - 299 YDSs = 2 points

Thinking of pushing defenses at least 2-3 rounds higher than I would usually. Getting a truly elite D would seem to be pretty key... what do you guys think

[Danny]

D scoring looks normal to me. The only thing extra I see is the 3+ sack bonus which most good defense can easily get and the yardage points which most teams will never get more than the 2 points. Additionally because there is not minus points for giving up a lot of points or yards basically nullifies that. Draft defense as normal.

[Passacaglia]

Here's my team, if anyone's curious. I picked 9 out of 12.

Mendenhall
Forte
Wayne
Best
Lloyd
Ryan
Rice
Collie
Bradford
Patriots
Bess
Jennings
Burleson
Cooley
Hunter

I still need a K, and my plan is to drop Jennings for one. I'm also thinking of dropping Cooley and picking up Jared Cook.

[Danny]

PPR or not? In general though I am not crazy about most of your picks. Your RB's look good, but I think you over drafted all of your WR excepy Lloyd. Rice will be a bust with year and Wayne and Collie are going to be hurt tremendously due to Peyton Manning's health issues. If you drafted before recent reports then that is just some back luck.

[Danny]

That said, if Manning can get back soon, your team is solid.

[Danny]

And Pass, you need a different TE. Cooley is not a guy I would want on my roster, even as a backup.

[RainMaker]

Sorry for the confusion earlier. I didn't mean that Stafford was a free agent. Burleson was the free agent. I did drop Nelson for Burleson today. Also dropped Torain for Roy Helu. It's a 4th RB and figure I might as well take a flyer on a guy who could end up being their top back in a few weeks.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I have two drafts tonight.

One starts and 7:30 pm. The other at 8:00 pm.

Madness!

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by Danny

And Pass, you need a different TE. Cooley is not a guy I would want on my roster, even as a backup.

Kendricks from the Rams is a good sleeper TE option if he's available.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I have two drafts tonight.

One starts and 7:30 pm. The other at 8:00 pm.

Madness!

My 8th and final draft is tonight at 7:30pm. This is the league that I have been commishing since 1999. We always have a good time.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Sorry for the confusion earlier. I didn't mean that Stafford was a free agent. Burleson was the free agent. I did drop Nelson for Burleson today. Also dropped Torain for Roy Helu. It's a 4th RB and figure I might as well take a flyer on a guy who could end up being their top back in a few weeks.

Wait.. is Helu ahead of Torain on the depth chart?

If so, crap. Grabbed Torain as a handcuff to Hightower and someone else grabbed Helu.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Danny

PPR or not? In general though I am not crazy about most of your picks. Your RB's look good, but I think you over drafted all of your WR excepy Lloyd. Rice will be a bust with year and Wayne and Collie are going to be hurt tremendously due to Peyton Manning's health issues. If you drafted before recent reports then that is just some back luck.

It's not PPR. And yeah, I kept getting screwed out of the TEs I wanted, then I waited until near the end, and Cooley was all that was left. It was before the recent Manning reports (last Thursday).

[spleen1015]

Yeah he is a risk, but I took Austin Collie every chance I could. He was the #1 fantasy WR last year before he suffered his first concussion. I believe he would do the same thing this year without the injury.

Now that Manning is going to miss Week 1, I'm not so sure about how good Collie is without him. This is kind of screwing with my teams.

[Danny]

Any of these guys available?

Brandon Pettigrew
Dustin Keller
Jared Cook
Greg Olsen
Jermaine Gresham
Zach Miller
Lance Kendricks

?? And if not, I would still go with a guy like Evan Moore, Celek, or Shancoe over Cooley
Heath Miller (19.08)

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Danny

Any of these guys available?

Brandon Pettigrew
Dustin Keller
Jared Cook
Greg Olsen
Jermaine Gresham
Zach Miller
Lance Kendricks

?? And if not, I would still go with a guy like Evan Moore, Celek, or Shancoe over Cooley
Heath Miller (19.08)

Cook is available -- like I said, my plan is to take him and drop Cooley. Gresham and Kendricks are also available, though.

[Danny]

Actually I take that back, I would still go with Jackson

[Danny]

Is that Rashad Jennings you have? If so, drop him and Cooley and pick up Cook and Kendricks.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Ouch!

A buddy of mine just texted me, asking which QB he should pick up in our league.

His starter: Peyton Manning
Back-up: David Garrard

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Ouch!

A buddy of mine just texted me, asking which QB he should pick up in our league.

His starter: Peyton Manning
Back-up: David Garrard

ROFL.

[stevew]

Manning went in the 5th round of our draft on Sunday night. I was going to take him on the next time it got to me, but someone else had the same idea. I already have the dog killer, no need for boyscouts on my squad.

[Honolulu_Blue]

A guy in our (12 team) league, drafted Drew Brees with the 12th pick overall and Mike Vick with the 13th pick overall. You can only start one QB in the league. A bit baffling to me.

[stevew]

I was half tempted to go Vick at 11, and like Rivers/Brees at 14, but felt like I was going to never get a good enough offer for him. And I hate trading generally.

[bhlloy]

So round 9 - pick up Manning to stash on the bench (I already have Vick) knowing that if he comes back he's got ridiculous value?

Quick answers appreciated

[thesloppy]

Rd 9 seems like good value.

[thesloppy]

He went in the 5th of an NFL draft I had today.



.....'course some toolbag also picked Tashard Choice in rd. 2. Ahhh, the joys of public leagues.

[bhlloy]

someone got to him right before I did... shame. That could have been a league winning pick I think, assuming he comes back at some point. Oh well, picked up Bradford instead who I think will have a very good year.