Drafting from the basement Strategy...

[cre8tiff]

I used the drafting from the basement strategy, and you know, it worked out pretty well, considering. I am in a preformance league, no ppr. We start a QB, 2RB, 2WR, TE, D, K

 

1.12 : Rudy

2.01: Steve Smith

3:12:Caddy

4.01: Roy Williams (!)

5:12: Norwood

6:01: Winslow (someone broke gates in round 2, and gonzo soon after)

7.12:Kitna

8:01: Jordan

9.12:Scaife

10.01: Galloway

11:12: Campbell

12:01: Jags D

13:12: Kevin Curtis

14:01 GostKowski (fri nights performance notwithstanding.)

 

Worthy of note THREE QBs ran off the board in the first round (!)

 

TE Broke 2nd round

 

DEF Broke 3rd round (!)

 

So I found it hard to "Be the first on runs", but I think it worked out.

 

Anyone else think they had good success using that strategy?

[freeder23]

You got a gift getting Roy Williams in the 4th. Not sure about your Caddy pick in the 3rd, who was left then?

 

I will be trying out this stragtegy tonight and in another draft Tuesday.

[bushwacked]

You got a gift getting Roy Williams in the 4th. Not sure about your Caddy pick in the 3rd, who was left then?

 

I will be trying out this stragtegy tonight and in another draft Tuesday.

 

I think Caddy could be good value at the end of the 3rd. He may flop again, but so will a fair amount of RBs going late first and through the 2nd.

[rattsass]

I used my strategy in a draft this weekend, and it did not turn out quite like I expected. The league is a PPR where you start 2RB/3WR + flex.

 

2nd round I went stud WR. The running back I wanted was not there at 3:09 so I decided to wait and took Evans instead. But when it came back around the turn, the 3 RBs I would have accepted all got taken by 4:03. I had to make a decision on the fly, so I went into the dangerous waters of RB/WR/WR/WR. Picked up Boldin, whom I considered the last of the stud WRs.

 

So I am sitting here with Westy and 3 stud WRs thinking....damn, there ain't gonna be much left when it comes back around for 5.

 

When it got back to me I had Chester Taylor or Ladell Betts. Hey, Chester will probably be ok. I could have had a respectable starting 5. But screw that. I decided to just go for the kill right now. At the very least Betts should be good enough to get me by, and there is at least a chance depending on what happens with Portis, that this guy could be top 5. I'm going for it. Took Betts at 5:09. The Portis owner that finally had the guts to draft him in the 4th round, had to let him slide in the 5th so he could scoop up Reggie Brown for his WR2. It was almost my moral obligation to snag him. And I still managed to grab Julius Jones in the 6th.

 

I had thought about this possible scenario before-hand, but really didn't think the draft would play out in a way that would force me to go this way. It is kind of Basement Drafting strategy on steroids. I have a death grip on the league at WR with Harrison/Evans/Boldin, and my running backs should be good enough to hold serve with most teams, and have the potential to be lethal. I have given myself an opportunity to close the "Tomlinson gap."

 

That being said, the LT team in this league did NOT go RB/WR/WR as I feared, but instead reached for Fitzgerald and then Brandon Jacobs. Of course, that may have been because there was also a drafter at the end that went WR/WR , and they drained pretty quickly, just as I had hoped. Still the LT owner could have had Andre Johnson or Housh with that 3rd pick if he had wanted. So the league did succeed in making him reach, but he just chose to reach for Jacobs. Not a ton of risk for the LT owner, but I have been taking Jacobs late 3rd and early 4th round.

[Pope Flick]

I think you got lucky with Roy @ 4.01 as well. I'm drafting in the 12th spot in my local on Sept 4th, and can't see him there for me.

 

I can see Caddy falling, and am curious as to where DeAngelo Williams went, and if you took Caddy over him in the 3rd.

 

Past that, Rudi at 12 is nice, but I'd go Holt or one of the Colts WRs before taking Smith, especially when you compare weeks 11-16 scheds. Also, I'm HUGH Delhomme fan, byt see him as more of a risk than either Peyton or Bulger.

 

I'm thinking of going RB/WR then RB/QB on my next turn. I like a lot of 3rd receivers this year: Bennett, Crayton, B Johnson just for starters amd think I can find one that will overproduce and make up for a weaker WR2 that is the cost of a QB like McNabb or Bulger.

[ChicagoBears34]

I had little time to preopare for the draft this year.....but I did use the "basement" strategy......I don't think I did bery well......let me know if you think I did a lousy job....

 

I had the 10th pick.....

 

I was hoping to get Rudi or Travis Henry with the 10th, but both were gone.

 

So this is how it went.....

 

Chad Johnson

Steve Smith

M. Barber

Duece McAllistar

J. Norwood....(a reach at 4)

D. Branch

Hasselbeck

T. Glenn

Eli Manning

Winslow Jr. (TE and WR are the same)

Devon Hester

Gostkowski

Panthers Defense

Chris Henry (RB - Ten)

[Vicster]

Had a buddy of mine had the 12th pick in a 1st year keeper league. He couldn't actually make the draft and kind of gave me a list of players he liked and asked me to fill in for him. I'm always happy to oblige drafting, it's a live mock for my money leagues. He happened to have the 12th pick as well in the PPR 12 team league. I think he was very fortunate due to some serious mistakes made by other teams and his team is decently strong from that position. Start 1QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DEF.

 

1.12 Bryan Westbrook

2.01 Ronnie Brown

3.12 Donovan McNabb

4.01 Roy Williams

5.12 Andre Johnson

6.01 Adrian Peterson

7.12 Jon Kitna

8.01 Marshawn Lynch

9.12 Drew Bennett

10.01 Heath Miller

11.12 Green Bay Defense

12.01 Devery Henderson

13.12 James Jones

14.01 David Martin

15.12 Jason Hanson

16.01 St. Louis Defense

 

The Westbrook/Brown/Peterson/Lynch combo gives him some good upside as the season progresses. Receivers are a little on the weak side and I'm sure he'll be waiver wire hounding it for one more addition to take him over the edge. I've always felt like you can find a reciever on the wire much easier than you can find a back. Other areas not spectacular but we decided to take chances on grabbing for big upside to hit a home run or two.

 

Overall, I think the 12 hole can be a suprise if you have some guys make some mistakes early on for you. I'm guessing it depends on the league on how well you can expect to do from here.

[Slugs]

Not sure I like Winslow at the spot you picked him. I think that Bo Scaife may be your starter for most of the season.

[cre8tiff]

Not sure I like Winslow at the spot you picked him. I think that Bo Scaife may be your starter for most of the season.

 

I was looking for pure value at that point. I'm not sold on him either, and am SUPER happy to have gotten Scaife. One of the two should pay off.

 

Williams was indeed a gift. None of these fellas apparently liked Detroit's odds.

 

As for the Caddy pick, DeAngelo was on the board, but I have him in another league and didn't want to bet the famr on that situation. Besides, with Alstott gone, it's put up or shut up time for Williams. I think the odds are good he puts up.

 

The point is that article gave good advice IMHO, even though I was sweating the QB, Kitna falling that low enabled me to be competitive.

 

As for killing the top three picks? Mixed results. They all ended up with tier three second RBs, tier two-three WRs, (except the Sjax team , who wisely picked a WR in that second round and got Chad Johnson).

 

So we will see.

[bushwacked]

I used the drafting from the basement strategy, and you know, it worked out pretty well, considering. I am in a preformance league, no ppr. We start a QB, 2RB, 2WR, TE, D, K

 

1.12 : Rudy

2.01: Steve Smith

3:12:Caddy

4.01: Roy Williams (!)

5:12: Norwood

6:01: Winslow (someone broke gates in round 2, and gonzo soon after)

7.12:Kitna

8:01: Jordan

9.12:Scaife

10.01: Galloway

11:12: Campbell

12:01: Jags D

13:12: Kevin Curtis

14:01 GostKowski (fri nights performance notwithstanding.)

 

I have the #11 position in the local league I commish this Wednesday night. PPR performance start 1QB, 2 RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1 Flex, K, D/ST.

 

I will not be drafting Rudi Johnson, as I see that as sealing the deal on mediocrity for a PPR league. I have ~ 8-9 RBs I like n the first round. If they are gone at 1.11, I'm probably going Steve Smith in the first. I have one RB I'm targeting in particular at 2.2, that I think will be there. Regardless, I don't think I'll go WR-WR.

[kingfish247]

I can see Caddy falling, and am curious as to where DeAngelo Williams went, and if you took Caddy over him in the 3rd.

Caddy may have stunk it up last year but at least he's the week 1 starter and not playing behind someone while also returning kicks.

[McBoog]

I have used it now a few times in Mocks and Yahoo live drafts and it seems to be working very well. You tend to start a mini-run on WRs that leaves a decent #2 RB in the 4th.

 

I have not been able to get gates in the third round however.

 

This strategy will be even more effective in a PPR league, and I have been getting Bush as my #1 RB three out of four times, which is also helpful in a PPR league!

 

Most of the LT/Jackson/Gore teams have been ending up with a Teir 2/3 WR as their #1 and seem to play catch-up on most of the runs.

 

We'll see how it plays out when I draft in my pay league with known GMs this weekend. But I am very comfortable with the process now. I can almost draft without a sheet through the first 10 to 12rounds now from this spot.

 

Truely one of the best articles/strategies I've ever come across!

Edited August 27, 2007 by McBoog

[The Holy Roller]

I have used it now a few times in Mocks and Yahoo live drafts and it seems to be working very well. You tend to start a mini-run on WRs that leaves a decent #2 RB in the 4th.

 

I have not been able to get gates in the third round however.

 

This strategy will be even more effective in a PPR league, and I have been getting Bush as my #1 RB three out of four times, which is also helpful in a PPR league!

 

Most of the LT/Jackson/Gore teams have been ending up with a Teir 2/3 WR as their #1 and seem to play catch-up on most of the runs.

 

We'll see how it plays out when I draft in my pay league with known GMs this weekend. But I am very comfortable with the process now. I can almost draft without a sheet through the first 10 to 12rounds now from this spot.

 

Truely one of the best articles/strategies I've ever come across!

 

I concur.

[jetsfan]

I used it from the number 8 position in a 10 team league. We draft 1-10,10-1,10-1,1-10,repeat. Performance based scoring. I made some reaches, but D scores heavily in our format. Start QB,RB,RB,WR,WR,WR,D,K (can start a TE as a WR if you want to)

I started the run on WR's at 2.03 and it really panned out with Benson dropping to the 4th round.

 

1.08 Shaun Alexander

2.03 Chad Johnson

3.03 Roy Williams

4.08 Cedric Benson

5.08 Chicago D

6.03 Laveranues Coles

7.03 Jerious Norwood

8.08 Braylon Edwards

9.08 Julius Jones

10.03 Philip Rivers

11.03 Neil Rackers

12.08 LenDale White

13.08 Brett Favre

14.03 Maurice Morris

15.03 Brandon Marshall

16.08 Tony Hunt

17.08 Reggie Williams

18.03 David Boston

[Avernus]

I used my strategy in a draft this weekend, and it did not turn out quite like I expected. The league is a PPR where you start 2RB/3WR + flex.

 

2nd round I went stud WR. The running back I wanted was not there at 3:09 so I decided to wait and took Evans instead. But when it came back around the turn, the 3 RBs I would have accepted all got taken by 4:03. I had to make a decision on the fly, so I went into the dangerous waters of RB/WR/WR/WR. Picked up Boldin, whom I considered the last of the stud WRs.

 

So I am sitting here with Westy and 3 stud WRs thinking....damn, there ain't gonna be much left when it comes back around for 5.

 

When it got back to me I had Chester Taylor or Ladell Betts. Hey, Chester will probably be ok. I could have had a respectable starting 5. But screw that. I decided to just go for the kill right now. At the very least Betts should be good enough to get me by, and there is at least a chance depending on what happens with Portis, that this guy could be top 5. I'm going for it. Took Betts at 5:09. The Portis owner that finally had the guts to draft him in the 4th round, had to let him slide in the 5th so he could scoop up Reggie Brown for his WR2. It was almost my moral obligation to snag him. And I still managed to grab Julius Jones in the 6th.

 

I had thought about this possible scenario before-hand, but really didn't think the draft would play out in a way that would force me to go this way. It is kind of Basement Drafting strategy on steroids. I have a death grip on the league at WR with Harrison/Evans/Boldin, and my running backs should be good enough to hold serve with most teams, and have the potential to be lethal. I have given myself an opportunity to close the "Tomlinson gap."

 

That being said, the LT team in this league did NOT go RB/WR/WR as I feared, but instead reached for Fitzgerald and then Brandon Jacobs. Of course, that may have been because there was also a drafter at the end that went WR/WR , and they drained pretty quickly, just as I had hoped. Still the LT owner could have had Andre Johnson or Housh with that 3rd pick if he had wanted. So the league did succeed in making him reach, but he just chose to reach for Jacobs. Not a ton of risk for the LT owner, but I have been taking Jacobs late 3rd and early 4th round.

 

 

just curious...where did Jordan go in this draft?...

[Pope Flick]

Here's my 1.12 draft:

 

1.12_Reggie Bush (this is not a PPR)

2.1-Harrison

3.12-Brees

4.1-Gates (not TE mandatory)

5.12-DWilliams

6.1-FTaylor

7.12-LWhite

8.1-BBerrian

9.12-Pittsburgh

10.1-Rhodes

11.12- Garcia

12.1-KFaulk

13.12-PCrayton

14.1-BJones

15.12-Hanson

16.1-Bills

17.1-Folk

 

I screwed up my D bye weeks, but other than that Im pretty happy with it.

 

We did 12 teams, 17 rounds in just under 2 hours.

Edited September 6, 2007 by Pope Flick

[Bill Swerski]

I liked having the last pick in the draft better 7 or 8 years ago, when you could count on a reliable, productive, featured like Curtis Martin being available at 1.12 and another featured guy like Robert Smith at 2.01. You could easily get two 300-carry guys in good offenses at that position. With RBBC so prevalent these days, you're most likely going to end up with an RBBC back (Jones-Drew), a question mark (Benson), or a featured guy in a bad rushing offense (Edge) with that second pick.

[rai]

Did you take Rudi or SS over Henry?

[IrishPride]

I took the best player available in each round and this is how it turned out, RB's flew off the board...........by 36 they(RB) didn't have the value, so I went with the Value stradegy............The only lame pick was Peterson but you have to have one player to drop to make moves I guess..........

 

1. (12) Travis Henry

2. (13) Steve Smith

3. (36) Antonio Gates

4. (37) Larry Fitzgerald

5. (60) Chester Taylor

6. (61) Ladell Betts

7. (84) Jerricho Cotchery

8. (85) Devery Henderson

9. (108) Jake Delhomme

10. (109) Eli Manning

11. (132) Dallas

12. (133) Bo Scaife

13. (156) Adrian Peterson

14. (157) Jacoby Jones

15. (180) Josh Scobee

[BeachBum]

Here's one more draft from the 12 spot:

 

QBs are a little more valuable with 6 pts per TD, so I locked in my Top 3 guy at 2.12 (Manning went 1.04!). Gates was gone at 3.8, so I delayed TE and still got OK value with Watson and Pollard. Chicago was taken 5.5 so I grabbed #2 (Ravens) at 6.01. Surprised Westbrook was there at 1.12, happy with McAlister and Bell. 9 WRs were taken in 3rd round before my 3.12 Evans pick!

 

Old Bums Rule

 

1. (12) Brian Westbrook RB

2. (13) Drew Brees QB

3. (36) Lee Evans WR

4. (37) Deuce McAllister RB

5. (60) Joey Galloway WR

6. (61) Baltimore DEF

7. (84) Greg Jennings WR

8. (85) Tatum Bell RB

9. (108) Benjamin Watson TE

10. (109) Jerry Porter WR

11. (132) Alex Smith QB

12. (133) LenDale White RB

13. (156) Marcus Pollard TE

14. (157) Stephen Gostkowski K

15. (180) Jacoby Jones WR

[McBoog]

Irish! I like it! You really followed the formula (not that I am an expert at Kevin's strategy ). Your #2 RB is going to be iffy all year (like me ), but as goofy as the Portis thingy has been/will be, Betts could be big for you. I have grabbed him as well in my pay league using this strategy.

 

In a TE mandatory/PPR league, I was able to grab Gates at 3.8 (never fell to me in any of the Mocks I did, so I was thrown off a bit here), and OchoCinco at 2.5 was a no-brainer. This was after grabbing Bush at 1.8 (The Huddle Customised cheet sheet for our scoring system put Bush at the #4 RB!).

 

4 - Lee Evens (Steal)

5 - J. Norwood (Steal Steal)

6 - Rivers (Homer Happiness and started the second QB run)

7 - Betts (Value)

8 - Jags (early, but taken during a D - run and I like these guys this year. The big four had already gone, which was an advantage to me for filling other holes)

9 - Santonio Holmes (Great Value and shocked he was still here)

10- Jerry Porter (PPR League with 3WR and WR/TE/RB Flex, may have dropped to later, but a starter on his team)

11 - David Akers (Worst pick of my draft. GM Chose my pick just before me, and I wasn't prepared, almost ran out on the timer )

12 - Carolina (Grabbed another great D maybe too early but want to try and steal points by playing best match-ups)

13- Patrick Crayton (Could be great value here)

14- Roddy White (Stocking the WR for possible trade bait if he goes off. No RBs left worth banking on @ this point)

15 - Joey Harrington (Works well for Rivers' Bye Week. Falcons play the Saints week 7. May drop him and go with Garcia who is facing the Lions week 7, Joey may suprise though so I took a gamble on him!)

16 - Jesse Chatman (Like you, I need RB help, and Chatman could be gold or could be a drop for a roster spot for TE/K pick-ups to cover bye weeks. RB woes is the gamble with this strategy)

 

I actually think I came away pretty well. I started more than a few runs and got the better value for them at the beginning rather than the end of the run. I was patient and got Rivers at six, which started the 2nd QB run after the first five went scatered throughout the first four rounds (Manning, Palmer, Brees, McNabb, Kitna, in that order). This run helped Betts fall to me at 7 which I thought was kind of lucky! My running back situation is dicey, but I have the best WR group in the league and a TE that should earn me positive points over my opponent on an almost weekly basis.

 

Gates was the quandry though. I had not had a chance at him in any mock I did or even a few free league live drafts I participated in to hone my Basement Strategy. I had been getting Andre Johnson a lot at the third pick and thought that was just what I would be doing here. CJ and AJ with Bush in a PPR league is not a bad start! But now I had Gates and I pulled the trigger (Kevin gave me permission to do so ). When Lee Evns was sitting there at 5, I knew I needed a RB but thought that Evens here would make my WR/TE threesome stronger than most. When I was able to get J Norwood in the fith, that made my draft and the top 1/3 pretty solid. Santonio Holmes late in the 9th was icing on the cake and inspired more than a few "You Fu((ers" from my league mates .

 

I think that Beach and Pope, though both had solid drafts, jumped on Brees too soon to say that they followed the Basement strategy outlined by Kevin. Believe me, I was tempted as well, but "those four other guys" all seemed like postulates to the "Manning Defense". Taking them too early, robs you of a spot to get better than the other guys in the multiple position roster requirements. Following the Basemet Strategy, if you "caved" and took one of the four other than Manning, you would have been better off just taking Manning. This to me was the hardest part, being patient and letting some of those guys go to fill your roster in different ways than your opponents.

 

Being so WR dependent is going to be interesting this year. After more than a decade of RB dogma and finding the gems (I was one of those who called the Gore thingy) , pointwise, it is truely a feast or famine type of existence. My feeling is that my team should be called "Mr. Toads Wild Ride" as I see some huge scoring weeks and some very low scoring weeks. Losing when I should win and the reverse.

 

It sould be an interesting season and I am definately going to have to "work" my roster and the FA wire more than ever before, But Hey, that's what makes it fun... right?

[McBoog]

just curious...where did Jordan go in this draft?...

 

BTW Jordan went at 7.1, I was hoping he would fall to me at 7.8 The guy that took him was the only GM that would have taken him there! The bastage did me twice like this with falling RBs.

[rattsass]

I really like some of the teams I see listed here, and a couple of them look very familiar to some teams I drafted. See, that wasn't so bad now was it?

 

The great thing about this strategy is that IF you hit with your RB2 or your RB3, you are probably going to maul the rest of the league, but even if you don't find a gem at RB2, you are probably still going to find yourself in the playoffs. And we all know anything can happen when you get there.

 

Great work guys! Best of luck to all of you that had faith in my theory. Hopefully we will all be rewarded.

[Whiskey Pimp]

I am in 2 drafts, a local and a BOTH. In my local I was at the beginning at #4 and in my BOTH I was at the end at #11. I like my #11 team a whole lot better than my #4 team. We'll see how it all works out in the end I guess though.

[Caveman_Nick]

I used it from the number 8 position in a 10 team league. We draft 1-10,10-1,10-1,1-10,repeat.

 

That's really interesting...

 

There was a discussion here earlier in the year about flipping the draft order for the third round only, and it got a little heated. This seems to make more sense.

 

How do you find thing balance out with this as opposed to the traditional 1-10,10-1, repeat?