3 Draft Champions Leagues = 3 Different No. 1 Picks

[Greg Ambrosius]

We have started three different $150 NFFC Draft Champions Leagues during the month of May and we've had a different No. 1 pick in each league. Heck, the first rounds in each league don't look anything alike!!! That should tell you what type of season it's going to be in the NFFC.

The No. 1 picks so far include:
Adrian Foster
Aaron Rodgers
Calvin Johnson

A RB, a QB, a WR. Completely different starts for each league. Crazy.

Some similarities:
Adrian Foster has gone 1, 2, 2. Ray Rice and Rodgers are Top 5 picks in each draft.

4 QBs have gone in the first round in all three drafts.

Adrian Peterson has gone in the second round in all three drafts, with his stock rising to 18th overall in this last draft.

A lot will change between now and September, but it sure is fun to see the early draft results. Keep 'em coming folks and good luck in all of these drafts.

[Diesel]

Here is my early opinion...

If you were to ask 10 people who the best WR, RB, TE, QB is in 2012, I think you'd get 3 different answeres for RB...2 different answers for TE...QB would most likely be Rodgers, but 1 or 2 people may say either Brees or Brady...BUT I think 10 out of 10 will say Calvin is the top WR in 2012. This is what I'd look for in a #1 overall pick. If I had the #1 overall, without hesitation, I'd pick Calvin this year. Madden cover and all.

[Tom Kessenich]

I love Megatron and Rodgers but If I'm picking 2nd and someone other Arian Foster goes first I'll be the happiest guy in the draft.

[Tom Kessenich]

Another interesting storyline for this season is where Gronkowski and Graham go after their monster 2011 seasons. So far it appears people are true believers that what they did last season was no fluke as both are locked in as Top 20 options and often are off the board early in the second round. They are basically being viewed as the equivalent of WR1s.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Here is my early opinion...

If you were to ask 10 people who the best WR, RB, TE, QB is in 2012, I think you'd get 3 different answeres for RB...2 different answers for TE...QB would most likely be Rodgers, but 1 or 2 people may say either Brees or Brady...BUT I think 10 out of 10 will say Calvin is the top WR in 2012. This is what I'd look for in a #1 overall pick. If I had the #1 overall, without hesitation, I'd pick Calvin this year. Madden cover and all.

I just posted this on the AP thread, but NFL.com's Michael Fabiano said that the No. 1 player owners are worried about heading into 2012 is Calvin Johnson because of the Madden Curse!!! Do you agree? Not me, he's MEGATRON.

http://www.nfl.com/fantasy/story/09000d ... 012-season

[Diesel]

I have my superstitions, but not here. Calvin is the best player in fantasy. If you draft Foster, you've GOT to get Tate too. You will definitely feel it if someone else takes Tate. Once you take Calvin, you move on. To me, this is a no-brainer.

Re: Tightends...Graham and Gronk are going in the 1st round in every draft now. The best TE's are late 2nd round, or 3rd round picks. People will be happy they got the best 2 TE's with these picks, but sorry they missed out on a top flight #1 wr or stud qb or star rb. One year of drafts with 1st round TE picks will remind everyone why they are 2-3 round picks and not 1st. I'm not saying this would happen, but a guy like Tamme could end up with 82 receptions for you and you wouldn't need to grab him until round 6-7. Imagine who you would have drafted in place of Graham or Gronk, in hindsight.

Re: A.Peterson. I just started a draft with Calvin Johnson, Tom Brady and Adrian Peterson...I HAD to draft T.Gerhart as insurance for my 3rd round pick. For everyone taking A.Peterson, especially in these early drafts, you'll have to find the right time to take Gerhart as te key to a successful strategy.

[Tom Kessenich]

Marc, I've never been a big believer in the handcuff approach. It's nice if you can do it, assuming the backup is worthy (Tate is in my opinion) but I don't think it's essential that you do it if you were to draft Foster. In the My Fantasy League draft I was in last week I got Foster with the first pick and missed out on Tate but still put together a solid RB corps in my opinion. I would've liked to have secured Tate but I don't think my team suffered as a result. I'd lean toward wanting to secure Gerhart more as a handcuff because Peterson is coming off a major injury and it's uncertain how effective he'll be early in the season. Unless Foster gets hurt in camp again I would view Tate as a luxury for Foster owners but I wouldn't pass on quality talent at other positions just to secure him as a handcuff.

[Diesel]

Tom, it's hard to argue against Foster. If he's healthy, he's MONEY. Good luck with him this year. In the big picture, I wound up with A.Peterson and Reggie Bush as my #1 and #2 backs, with Gerhart as a later pick of insurance...Along with Calvin and Brady. I feels as if you take Foster over Calvin, you're forced to take a lesser WR, and probably 2 lesser WR's to make up for the difference that you've lost when you passed up Calvin.

DOWN WITH THE MADDEN CURSE!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tom Kessenich]

Tom, it's hard to argue against Foster. If he's healthy, he's MONEY. Good luck with him this year. In the big picture, I wound up with A.Peterson and Reggie Bush as my #1 and #2 backs, with Gerhart as a later pick of insurance...Along with Calvin and Brady. I feels as if you take Foster over Calvin, you're forced to take a lesser WR, and probably 2 lesser WR's to make up for the difference that you've lost when you passed up Calvin.

The flip side to that is if you take Calvin you may end up taking a lesser RB to make up for the difference of passing on Foster with the first pick. Obviously in your situation it's all dependent upon Peterson being healthy. If he is, you got an elite RB at a bargain price. But that's not something you can typically bank on. Not to mention that if the reports on Peterson remain positive his ADP will likely rise as we get closer to the start of the season so he may not be available at the turn. In fact, he hasn't been available at the turn in any of our drafts so far. These are 14-team leagues so his ADP may be different in 12-team formats at the present time.

In the My Fantasy League draft I was able to land White and Jennings at WR at the turn to team with Foster so that worked out great for me. It also shows the value of having 3RR since I never would've gotten off to a strong start like that with 3RR in place. As much as I love Megatron (and Rodgers since he also has gone No. 1 in our drafts) for me it comes down to my belief that stud RBs still carry immense value, especially since there are so few of them. So for me if I have the No. 1 pick, Foster's an easy call. I think my chances of teaming Foster with a Top 10 WR are greater than my chances of teaming Megatron with a Top 10 RB - especially in a 14-team format.

[agrace1102]

If anyone can break the Madden curse its megatron. HE's a monster of a man and being on the cover will probably only make him better which is scary to think about. The only reason I wouldnt take him over one of the 3 RBs (Foster, Rice, McCoy) is simply because it seems to be WRs are more likely to emerge as point producers later in drafts and off the waivers (if that league has them).