We had a great, great time last night during the opening night of the 12th annual FSTA Trade Conference in San Francisco and now I'm paying for it this morning!! All self inflicted folks, so don't feel sorry for me.Okay, I meant to put my picks on Twitter last night, but it was hard enough to follow the draft, talk somewhat intelligently on Sirius/XM Radio and follow the other draft picks. I gave up the fourth option and just tried to draft a good team. I wish I would have made some different choices last night, but live and learn, I guess. The finished results aren't too bad in this scoring format.
Here's the lowdown:
12 team, serpentine league
PPR, but 1/2 point per reception for RBs
6 points per rushing and receiving TD
1 bonus point per 10 yards rushing and receiving
QBs only 3 points per TD pass and only 1 point per 30 yards passing; -1 for each interception
Starting lineup: 1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 TE, 1 Flex
There were bonus points for FGs over 30, 40 and 50 (3, 4, 5) and defensive scoring like the NFFC has. But it's obvious that the QBs were almost meaningless in this scoring format and not everyone saw that. I don't think every owner realized how important it was to get WRs in this scoring format and that a fourth WR likely would be in your Flex. It was an interesting draft, though, and we'll see how it plays out.
This draft was carried live on Sirius' Fantasy Channel last night and likely is being re-run during the week. The Hall of Fame ceremony that included three people getting into the FSTA's Hall of Fame -- Rotowire's Peter Schoenke, NBC Sports' Rick Wolf and Bill Winkenbach -- were inducted last night. I helped with the introductions of the Hall of Fame and the entire festivity was aired on Sirius and will be re-broadcast again. Check it out, you'll like it.
Okay, now onto my team. I had the sixth pick:
QB - Matt Ryan
QB - Ryan Fitzpatrick
RB - Ray Rice
RB - Peyton Hillis
RB - Joseph Addai
RB - Thomas Jones
RB - Jason Snelling
WR - Greg Jennings
WR - Marques Colston
WR - Stevie Johnson
WR - Austin Collie
WR - Mike Sims-Walker
TE - Tony Gonzalez
TE - Chris Cooley
K - Mason Crosby
D - San Diego
I started out:
6. Ray Rice
19. Greg Jennings
30. Peyton Hillis
43. Marques Colston
54. Stevie Johnson
I had a choice between Rice and LeSean McCoy at 6. I picked Rice. I could have taken Andre Johnson, but with this group I felt that plenty of good WRs would be available later and I think I was right.
I had a choice between Jennings and Reggie Wayne at 19 and I took Jennings. Even with Michael Finley coming back, I think Jennings will be golden this year. I was happy he fell to me at 19, but I could see where others might have taken Wayne.
I had a choice between Peyton Hillis and Dwayne Bowe at 30 and I wasn't sure Hillis was worth this pick. But again, I felt I needed an RB here because the pickings got mighty slim after this.
Here's where I wish I had done things differently. I had my heart set on taking Michael Finley or Jason Witten here, but there wasn't any run on TEs yet and I felt one of these would come back to me. I took Colston even with the knee issues and thought I'd be okay. John Hansen took Finley four picks after me and Jason Witten and Dallas Clark went shortly after that. I would have liked my team better with one of the top TEs here.
I took Stevie Johnson after that and added Austin Collie, who fell much further than I've seen in other NFFC drafts. Yes, he's a gamble, but as my fourth WR and likely Flex play during the season he could be solid. He needs to stay healthy.
I eventually took Matt Ryan as my QB and probably should have taken Ben Roethlisberger instead. I just didn't pull the trigger on Big Ben and he fell another round after this. My backup RBs became Addai, Thomas Jones and Snelling and I added Chris Cooley at TE, Mike Sims-Walker late as a good WR5 and Mason Cosby for the long field goals.
Not great and it could have been better, but doable. Thoughts?
