The Fine Line Between Brilliance and Stupidity in Fantasy Football

Well kids…the time has come for the DeCon to take his rightful place behind the altar in the church for those of us who can’t just watch football, but need to play out fantasies of being an NFL General Manager by running their own teams in “fake life.”  Now I will submit to the congregation that I am sure there are many of us who could do this job in “real life” better than one Jerry Angelo…I mean cutting Al Afalava who started 13 games last year for Josh Bullocks who got beat like a drum repeatedly???  Oh well, I digress and I really shouldn’t mix fake life with real life anyway.

So, I wanted to share some nuggets on my general skills and actual drafts thusfar to give you a little direction on your upcoming drafts.   I will also share with you my roster from one of my leagues with draft position to demonstrate and you can judge for yourselves.

So, on to my draft day nuggets to keep you right ON the fine line between brilliance and stupidity:

  1. Don’t draft your QB too early, regardless of the scoring system (unless you are in one of those crazy “you must start 2 QB leagues”).  You can wait on your QB and stockpile talent at RB and WR which are considerably more important.
  2. Ryan Matthews is a stud and is getting a lot of love. If you think you can wait until the end of the second round, you can’t.  I have seen him go as high as 9 in a 10-man PPR league, a reach in my opinion.  For me, I never take rookies in the first round.  I want a proven guy with a history of results.  I just wanted to point out, if you are in love with Matthews, you better jump on him quick.  Don’t be afraid to reach for a player you believe in, I just don’t suggest reaching for rookies.
  3. Don’t sleep on players on suspension, i.e. Big Ben, Santonio Holmes and Vincent Jackson.  You can generally get these guys later in your draft if you time it right.  On the roster I will share with you below, I actually drafted ALL THREE.
  4. Don’t take a RB for the sake of taking a RB…you need to evaluate the talent on the board.  This gets tricky in the 4th and 5th rounds.  I had a choice between Matt Forte, LeSean McCoy and another player in Rd 4 in my lineup below…see for yourselves who I picked.
  5. Know the rules of your league. For example, if you have to start a TE but also have the ability to start a TE as a flex, exploit it!  I am not saying you have to start both TEs each week, but it gives you solid trade bait without damaging your team too much.  For my roster below, I will be starting both of my TEs regularly in the same week and wait for some sucker to make me an offer later in the season.
  6. Don’t look at bye weeks PERIOD!!! If you have a bunch of guys on a bye, so what!!!  Give your league a week to beat you because you aren’t going undefeated anyway.  If anything, having a bunch of guys on a bye the same week is a blessing, so you aren’t getting nickled and dimed each week missing a player here or 2 players there.

On to my roster for one of my teams along with the round I drafted them in.  Bear in mind this is a 10 man PPR league and all TDs are 6 points.  I had the 6th pick overall and it was a snake draft.  I would love your feedback in the comments.

  1. Andre Johnson – STUD and at number 6, I will take the best WR in the game any day.
  2. Shonn Greene – I was hoping to take a chance on Ryan Matthews here, but very happy with Greene.
  3. Arian Foster – This is a perfect example of the fine line between brilliance and stupidity – might be a reach, but he has serious skills and never would have lasted until rd 4.
  4. Calvin Johnson – SHOCK OF THE DRAFT!!!  I love me some Megatron!!!
  5. Dallas Clark – I started the run on TEs, so I made sure to get the best.
  6. Vernon Davis – Don’t ask me how, but 4 TEs were drafted after I drafted Clark and none were named Vernon Davis – since I can start a TE as a flex, I decided to exploit it.  I’ll take 20 TDs from my 2 TEs, thank you league!!!
  7. Ahmad Bradshaw – now starting for NYG and my 3rd RB.
  8. Beanie Wells – tweaked a knee last night, but says he’ll be fine – lots of upside and good value in Rd 8!
  9. Jay Cutler – yes, I did it…I was the only team without a QB at this point and I think JC will have a good year despite what the O-line looked like in preseason.
  10. 49ers DST – Samurai Mike will have the boys killing people, plus a weak division doesn’t hurt.
  11. Santonio Holmes – sure he sits for 4 weeks, but with Johnson and Johnson, I am in no rush to start him.
  12. Ben Roethlisberger – JC can keep the seat warm for Big Ben if nothing else.
  13. Johnny Knox – I just love him and expect big things from him this season – he made some incredible catches this preseason and a value pick in Rd 13, plus it is also his jersey #.
  14. Stephen Gostkowski – only Patriot besides Brady and Moss worth drafting.
  15. Vincent Jackson – I really believe he plays this season, somewhere, and for a 15th round flier, I’ll take my chances.
  16. Peyton Hillis – could actually be the starter in Cleveland ahead of James Harrison and with Montario Hardesty blowing out his knee, he could see a heavy workload OR he could be dropped from my team by week 2, we’ll see.

I will take to the pulpit on a weekly basis for as long as my fantasy football advice is helping or for as long as Boomer lets me.  You can also send me emails with any fantasy football questions at beargoggles.decon@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter @DeCon76.  I am here for your enjoyment, but I hope to help guide you to the championships in your leagues as well.

CAN I GET AN AMEN!!!

The DeCon has spoken, so let it be written, so let it be done.

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