Week 1: A Win and a huge Loss

Week 1 is in the books.  I was able to pull out a W, but I lost my best player, and the only player I was able to draft before my computer shat the bed.  Ryan Grant is now out for the season.  So my choices are:  use most of my free agent budget to pick up Brandon Jackson, leaving me little extra money to make moves the entire rest of the season, or let someone else get a stud RB to fill out their team.  Just thinking about what this season has become makes me want to throw up.  Not to mention the fact that I was willing to pay $20 for Arian Foster, but instead he went to someone else for $6.  It's no wonder baseball is my game.  I am cursed when it comes to football. 

Not so bad off afterall...

So after my embarrasing showing at the draft, I've been able to make a few moves, and grab a couple guys off of waivers so that I feel a lot better about my team.  I used some of my depth at WR and TE to fill a couple holes, and now I'm not feeling so bad.  This is a 12 team league with standard ESPN scoring.

QB: Tom Brady
RB: Ryan Grant
RB: Ronnie Brown
WR/RB: Beanie Wells
WR: Percy Harvin
WR: Steve Smith NYG
TE: Dallas Clark $10
DEF: Jets D $4
K: Ryan Longwell $1

BN: Hines Ward
BN: Ricky Williams
BN: Visanthe Shiancoe
BN: Sammy Morris
BN: Mohammed Massaquoi
BN: Laurent Robinson

So I've kept some pretty good depth at WR and improved my QB and RB situation.  Not saying I have the best team in the league, but I think I can definately do some damage.  Also, we have a $100 waiver budget for the season, and I was able to add depth cheap.  Should be an interesting season.

Rookie mistakes...

Alright... this is embarrasing.  I was hoping to write today about the awesome, studley, well planned, over researched fantasy team from last nights auction draft.  All the mock drafts I've done.  My spreadsheets with all the possible value combinations... all wasted.  The bar where a bunch of the league was drafting from hated my computer... or my computer hated it.  Every time I tried to bid, I lost my connection.  Everytime I tried to log in and set to auto draft, I lost my connection.  After about pick 15, I was able to set auto draft, and then I raced home to find the draft almost done.  In between all the madness, I was able to get a winning bid in on Ryan Grant.  So here is my team as drafted:

QB:     Eli Manning              $1
RB:     Ryan Grant               $42 <-- only player I was able to bid on
RB:     Ronnie Brown          $17
WR/RB:  Ricky Williams     $11
WR:    Steve Smith Car       $26
WR:    Steve Smith NYG     $20
TE:      Dallas Clark             $10
DEF:   Jets D                       $4
K:       Ryan Longwell          $1

BN:    Hines Ward               $14
BN:    Percy Harvin              $12
BN:    Micheal Crabtree       $15
BN:    Mike Sims-Walker     $15
BN:    Antonio Gates           $11
BN:    Adrian Peterson         $1 <-- Had on nominate list to thow people off, but got stuck with the "other" AP

So, lesson learned kids.  Even if you plan on being at the draft... always set your auction values before hand, because you never know.  Overall, not a bad autodraft... extremely deep at WR.  Arguably the best TE tandem (one of these guys will be traded for better RB/QB), and solid DEF and K considering.  We'll see what happens... plenty of trade requests out there to better balance out the offense.  Can't believe I blew the draft, but who knows, maybe I'll be better off.

Daily $200 Fantasy Football Auction team -- Bye week Experiment #7 -- Week 10

Week 10 offers probably the most balanced options of all the bye weeks.  Solid QB's, solid RB's and solid WR's.  You can go with a value pick at QB with Rivers, and get Grant and Matthews at RB, or take a Brees/Rodgers at QB and go with Pierre Thomas at RB.  Also solid upper tier and value WR's:

QB:     A.Rodgers  $44    Also Avail:  Brees $51, Rivers $20
RB:      R. Grant    $40
RB:      R. Matthews $27  Also Avail:  Bush $10
WR/RB:  P. Thomas $20
WR:     G. Jennings $25
WR:     M. Colston  $24   Also Avail:  V. Jackson $15
TE:       J. Finley      $12    Also Avail:  A. Gates $17
DEF:    Packers       $1
K:        Kaeding       $1

Week 10 bye teams:  Chargers, Packes, Saints, Raiders

Only $6 to fill your bench, but a solid, balanced team!

Search Amazon.com for fantasy football

Daily $200 Fantasy Football Auction team -- Bye week Experiment #6 -- Week 9

If you're going for an All-Bye-Week-9, you will have to take some risks.  Week 9 is all Running Backs, all the time.  There is a scarcity of good WR's with week-9 byes, and you will have to take some risk at QB as well.  Here we go:

QB:     V. Young           $3  Also available:  D. McNabb $5, A. Smith $3, T. Tebow $2
RB:     M.Jones-Drew    $65
RB:     F. Gore               $58  Also available:  C. Johnson $71, S. Jackson $60, K. Moreno $29
RB/WR:  C. Portis         $10
WR:    M. Crabtree       $17
WR:    M. Sims-Walker $18
TE:     V. Davis              $16
DEF:   49ers                  $1
K:       Bironas               $1

Week 9 bye teams:  Titans, Jaguars, 49ers, Redskins, Rams, Broncos

Only $11 left for you bench, but your RB situation is strong!

Search Amazon.com for fantasy football draft

Daily $200 Fantasy Football Auction team -- Bye week Experiment #5 -- Week 8

Unlike weeks 4-7 that only had 4 teams on a bye, week 8 has 6 bye teams, and it is stacked.  So you will not just be able to pick out the top picks, you will have to have a plan.  You probably can't afford Ray Rice and Michael Turner.  So here is one possibility, with options to the right:

QB:     Joe Flacco     $10         Also available:  M. Ryan $11,
RB:      Ray Rice       $63
RB:      L. McCoy     $20         Also available:  M. Turner $53, M. Forte $24
RB/WR: R. White     $34
WR:      A. Boldin     $22
WR:      D. Jackson   $28        Also available:  S. Smith $19, H. Nicks $18, J. Maclin $13
TE:        T. Gonzalez  $13        Also available:  B. Celek $14
DEF:      Ravens         $1         Also available: Phili $1, Giants $1, Bears $1
K:          Gould            $1

Week 8 bye teams:  Falcons, Ravens, Eagles, Bears, Browns, Giants

This only leaves $8 to fill your bench... but there's some solid names here.

Search Amazon.com for fantasy football auction

Daily $200 Fantasy Football Auction team -- Bye week Experiment #4 -- Week 7

Week 7 has some definate stregnths at QB and WR, but is pretty slim at RB (unless you are completely sold on Jahvid Best).  Week 7 is another week I might avoid:

QB:     P.Manning    $33
RB:     S. Greene     $35
RB:     J. Addai       $15
WR/RB:  J. Best     $18
WR:    A. Johnson  $40
WR:    C. Johnson  $32
TE:     O. Daniels     $8
DEF:   Jets           $5
K:       Vinatieri    $1

Week 7 bye teams:  Colts, Texans, Jets, Lions

This to fill your bench.  Other Week 7 bye players:  M. Shaub $20, R. Wayne $41, D. Clark $19, P. Garcon $9, S. Holmes $7, A. Gonzalez $3, 3 possible starters from the Houston backfield -- cheap

Search Amazon.com for fantasy football

Daily $200 Fantasy Football Auction team -- Bye week Experiment #3 -- Week 6

Week 6 might be the weakest, team wise, but there are some solid players here.  I would not suggest using week 6 if you are going to try this stategy, unless you want to build a solid bench.

QB:        C. Palmer    $12
RB:        C. Benson    $39
RB:        B. Wells       $26
WR/RB: D. Williams   $28
WR:       L. Fitzgerald $46
WR:       C. Ochocinco $19
TE:         L. Pope         $3
DEF:      Bengals          $1
K:          Rackers         $1

Week 6 bye teams:  Bengals, Cardinals, Bills, Panthers

This leaves you $25 to fill your bench.  Also available week 6:  J. Stewart $21, K. Warner $15, Fred Jackson $6, Marshawn Lynch $18, T. Owens $5

Daily $200 Fantasy Football Auction team -- Bye week Experiment #2 -- Week 5

Ok, so week 5 doesn't have the same star power at RB as week 4, but solid at WR, and good balance. (All starters have week 5 byes):

QB:     T. Brady     $31
RB:     Mendenhall  $36
RB:     R. Brown     $18
RB/WR: R. Moss   $49
WR:    B. Marshall  $38
WR:    W. Welker  $12
TE:      H. Miller      $3
DEF:   Pittsburg      $1
K:       Gostkowski  $2

Week 5 Bye teams:  Patriots, Steelers, Dolphins, Seahawks,

This leaves you $10 to fill your bench and gives you arguably the strongest WR core in your league.  Also available with Week 5 byes:  Ricky Williams $17, Roethlisberber $3, All 4 New England RB's, M. Hasselback $5, Julius Jones $5

Daily $200 Fantasy Football Auction team -- Bye week Experiment #1 -- Week 4

Some people like to stack their Fantasy Football teams based on bye weeks.  If you are one of those people that like to try to get as many players on the same bye as possible, a plan that gives you a good shot of going 6-1, or 5-2 during weeks 4-10, you will like the next 6 posts!  I will post ultimate $200 Auction teams based on all 9 starters with the same bye week.  (Only the starters will have this bye week, and the bench will be drafted as the best depth available).  This may sound a little crazy, but it works:

Bye Week #1 (Week 4):

QB:     T. Romo      $18
RB:     A. Peterson  $68
RB:     J. Charles     $23
RB/WR:  M. Barber $13
WR:    M. Austin     $30
WR:    S. Rice         $15
TE:      J. Witten      $11
DEF:   Minn            $1
K:       Longwell      $1

Week 4 bye teams:  Cowboys, Vikings, Cheifs, Bucs
This leaves you $20 to fill your bench.  Also available with Week 4 Byes:  Favre $12, F. Jones $15, D. Bowe $16

Daily $200 Fantasy Football Auction team for Thursday

Here's your daily $200 auction league football team.  Here are the rules: 15 man team, with 9 starting positions: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR/RB, TE, DEF, K. You will have a $200 budget, and values listed are preseason values listed on ESPN. Here we go, Team 1:


Here's a team with a top 3 QB, and a top 2 RB.  Remember, if you go real high on one of the top picks, your other spots are going to be somewhat thin.  Make sure you save a little money for bench depth:
 
QB P. Manning $33
RB A.Peterson  $68
RB M. Forte     $19
RB B. Jacobs    $17
WR W. Welker $12
WR A. Boldin   $22
TE J. Witten      $11
DEF Ravens      $2
K    Longwell     $1

BN Dez Bryant   $7
BN L. Tomlinson $4
BN K. Smith       $1
BN M. Stafford   $1
BN J. Morgan     $1
BN A. Collie       $1

Daily $200 Fantasy Football Auction team

Fantasy Football draft season is upon us!  For those of you who are in auction leagues, or who may be considering an auction league for the first time, here's some help.  Since, in an auction league, every player is available to you, you really have to come of with a solid strategy prior to draft day.  You can't just wait to see what good player is available on your turn, you need to budget by player/position/depth, etc.  To that end, I will be posting a daily team, budgeted differently every day.  Here are the rules:  15 man team, with 9 starting positions:  QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR/RB, TE, DEF, K.  You will have a $200 budget, and values listed are preseason values listed on ESPN.  Here we go, Team 1:

Today's team goes for balanced value at the 5 starting skill positions, with a top 5 TE, and Top 2 DEF.  Kicker will always be $1, so rule is take best $1 Kicker you can (Never pay more than $1 for a Kicker)

QB     Joe Flacco     $12
RB     Ryan Grant     $42
RB     Mendenhall     $36
RB     Shonn Greene $35
WR    Boldin             $22
WR    D. Jackson      $28
TE     V. Davis          $16
DEF   Jets                 $5
K       Prater              $1

BN     Maroney         $3
BN     Slaton             $6
BN     Bradshaw       $2
BN     K. Walter       $1
BN      Stafford          $1
BN     Berrian            $1

Of course, these values will change greatly from league to league, but this gives an idea of the type of team you can put together.

More Fantasy Football help... Drafts are coming!

It's almost draft time for everyone in Fantasy Football.  Regardless of the type of league you have there are plenty of solid resources out there to help you.  Here are some that I like to use:

1)  Fantasy Football Toolbox:  2010 Auction values and rankings

2) CBS Sportsline:  More auction values and rankings

3)  NFL.com:  Even more auction values and rankings

4)  ESPN:  Player rankings and 2010 projections

Fantasy Football draft resources -- It's never too early

For those of you out of the race in fantasy baseball, and setting your sights on fantasy football already, here are some key resources for your draft prep:

Bleacher Report - Up to the minute updated blogs from all over ESPN

FFToolbox - Keeper/Dynasty rankings

FanHouse - Rankings

Insider Football - Full service