I waited until my final choice was made in this initial 6-round phase of the Trendsetters draft so I could keep all my thoughts to one post.
I had the 2nd choice in KDS. I wanted one of the top 3 RB's, so I would have taken the 3-spot if still available. Wayne beat me to it, what else is new?
I took the 2-hole.
1 - Arian Foster would have been my 1st choice, but went first overall. I had Rice and McCoy ranked about evenly. I chose Ray Rice because the Ravens offense is built more around him while the Eagles are built around Vick. I'm banking that the Ravens would never let their franchise player walk.
2 - Seriously considered taking either Vick or Charles here as high risk/reward type picks, but decided I wanted to pair my Rice pick with a #1 type WR to give me more flexibility moving forward. Considered several receiver options, but ultimately decided on Mike Wallace as I believe the Steelers will continue to center their offense around the passing arm of Big Ben and Wallace is as dynamic as they come.
3 - Though I love 3RR, I hate it when I have an early pick.
Having chosen both a back & reciever with my first two picks, I was left to grab the best available player who fell to me. Considering I thought Marshawn Lynch would have gone earlier than the end of the 3rd, this was an easy pick for me. Something seemed to click in last year's playoffs and he's been pretty much a beast since. Considering we're likely moving to full PPR for backs, I would have loved if he caught a few more balls, but he did catch 47 a few years back, so the skills are there. Need him to return to Seattle for this pick to return full value.
4 - I really struggled over this pick. Picking very close to the turn, I really thought I needed to go QB here. The consensus top 5 and Vick were gone, but the entire next tier of solid choices was still there. I have that tier about 5 or 6 deep...but for now I have them rated pretty evenly and I hate choosing the top player of a tier. Still, I would have chose a QB here if Vincent Jackson weren't still available. I loved the idea of slotting a stud like him in the #2 receiver spot in a format which forces you to start 3 receivers each week. The Trendsetters being a DC league further solidified the choice in my mind as Jackson's inconsistent production would be minimized in a best ball total points format. Later that day I read that it's unlikely that Jackson returns to SD, which can further increase his value if he lands on the right team as I don't believe Rivers passing style worked to Jackson's strengths this year.
5 - None of the QB's in the tier I was hoping would make it back to me did. It was a pipe dream anyway. I therefore made a decision to double up on QB here if two huge risk/reward players I saw out there made it back to me. If not, I would continue to pass on the position and revisit it during the next phase of the draft in a month. They both did. The first was Peyton Manning .
6 - The second was Tim Tebow .
With the first phase of the Trendsetters draft in the books, I do like the looks of my team, even if I may have created a lot of unneeded risk. I've drafted a solid core of backs and receivers which I believe may give me an edge there. However, I have tremendous risk at the QB position, the most important position in the NFFC. If both these QB's crap out, almost definately my team will crap out as well.
