Draft Strategies Changing...

[ethnics]

I play in a 12 team performance league with standard scoring and .5 PPR. As usual, most teams in the first four rounds went RB, RB, WR, WR.

There were three of us that deviated from this formula and all have had success. Two teams selected WR, QB, WR, RB, RB and I opted for RB, WR, WR, RB. The teams that went QB, WR, selected a QBWR tandem (Brady - Moss and Romo TO).

 

Do you see this as a trend given the pass happy league that currently is the NFL and the fact that many teams are using RBBC?

 

For standard scoring performance leagues, where do you see this trend? Or will it stay as it has been?

[keggerz]

for the most part RBs will always rule the roost....the key to any draft strategy is selecting the right players(easier said then done)

[Grits and Shins]

If you've been around here long enough this question always surfaces when people try to defend taking a QB early.

 

There are several problems with not getting AT LEAST ONE RB early.

 

1) Most leagues require between 1 and 2 RBs be started. That is a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 24 that must be started each week. There are 32 NFL teams and the trend is for RBBC. If you have the opportunity to land one of the RBs that carries the whole load (like LT, Ronnie Brown before he got hurt, SJax before he got hurt) then you almost MUST take that player. Finding starting RBs is becoming more and more difficult .. this is the MOST difficult position for a fantasy football owner to fill.

 

2) Most leagues only require 1 starting QB. Teams typically do not play the QBBC game ... as long as injuries aren't a factor. After the first 1 or 2 QBs the next 10 or so QBs are all about the same. The problem is figuring out which QBs will be in the top 1 or 2. Before this season nobody would have put Brady, Romo and Favre as the top three ... just ask all those guys that drafted Manning. So when you take a QB early you are playing catchup the rest of the draft ... and if you missed on one of the top two QBs with your early pick then also forfeited the plus you hoped to get by taking the QB early. This is the EASIEST position for a fantasy football owner to fill with a quality player. As a matter of fact very often starting QBs are available on waivers.

 

3) NFL teams start any where from 2 to 4 WRs meaning that WRs are by far the most plentiful position available. WRs are the easiest position to fill at any given time.

 

RB-WR-WR-RB can be very successful as you can get a quality QB late (this year it was Favre, Romo, Anderson, Kitna, etc).

 

WR-QB-WR-RB-RB is VERY risky. It requires that you HIT on your early QB AND you MUST find at least one sleeper RB late. If you managed to get Brady in the 2nd round and hit on Adrian Peterson late ... then this strategy could have worked.

[theeohiostate]

I tried RB-WR-WR this season and it failed miserably.

 

Rudi and Steve Smith seemed like a good start picking at #12

 

 

I'll never take a WR that high again, I'll wait until the end of the 2nd or the 3rd for a WR.

 

 

As far as taking a QB, I hit on Big Ben in 9 leagues this season around 7-10 round rage. Yep, I would have liked to have Brady, but he cost you a 3rd and Ben did GREAT for where he was taking. Even a pick up like Warner made some noise. I'll be passing on QB's until after round 5 as well.

[godtomsatan]

In WCOFF, over 80% of the finalist teams use Brady, Romo, Roethlisberger, Hasselbeck, and Kitna as starting QBs.

 

Only Brady was drafted regularly by the 5th Round.

[Grits and Shins]

I'm the top seed in my local league. I acquired my starting QB in week 8 - Kurt Warner. Before that I was starting either Jason Campbell (also acquired in free agency before week 1) or Vince Young (a current free agent).

 

[EDIT TO ADD]

My week 4 starter was another free agent acquition - Brian Griese.

Edited December 12, 2007 by Grits and Shins

[Grits and Shins]

In my local here is how the top 6 teams drafted (listed in order of playoff seeding)

 

1. RB-WR-WR-WR-RB-QB-TE

2. RB-RB-WR-WR-DF-WR-QB-TE

3. RB-WR-WR-RB-QB-TE-WR ... (eliminated round 1 of playoffs)

4. RB-RB-WR-WR-QB-TE-RB ... (eliminated round 1 of playoffs)

5. WR-RB-TE-WR-WR-TE-RB-QB

6. RB-RB-WR-WR-QB-TE-DF

 

You will note that the EARLIEST a QB was taken was the 5th round, one team took his QB as late as the 8th round.

 

Without fail all got AT LEAST ONE RB in the first 2 picks.

 

 

And their drafts:

 

1.01 	1	  Tomlinson, Ladainian			  SDC	RB 	 2.12 	24 	Williams, Roy				 	DET	WR 	 3.01 	25 	Wayne, Reggie				 	IND	WR 	 4.12 	48 	Clayton, Mark				 	BAL	WR 	X5.01 	49 	Jacobs, Brandon			   	NYG	RB 	 6.12 	72 	Young, Vince					  TEN	QB 	X7.01 	73 	Witten, Jason				 	DAL	TE 	 8.12 	96 	Williams, DeAngelo				CAR	RB 	X9.01 	97 	Norwood, Jerious				  ATL	RB 	X10.12	120	Cowboys, Dallas			   	DAL	Def	X11.01	121	Steelers, Pittsburgh			  PIT	Def	 12.12	144	Smith, Alex (SFO-QB)			  SFO	QB 	X13.01	145	Taylor, Chester			   	MIN	RB 	 14.12	168	Carter, Drew					  CAR	WR 	X15.01	169	White, Roddy					  ATL	WR 	 16.12	192	Gostkowski, Stephen		   	NEP	PK 	 1.12 	12 	Brown, Ronnie				 	MIA	RB 	X2.01 	13 	Jones-Drew, Maurice		   	JAC	RB 	 3.12 	36 	Johnson, Andre					HOU	WR 	 4.01 	37 	Driver, Donald					GBP	WR 	 5.12 	60 	Ravens, Baltimore			 	BAL	Def	 6.01 	61 	Edwards, Braylon				  CLE	WR 	 7.12 	84 	Rivers, Philip					SDC	QB 	X8.01 	85 	Miller, Heath				 	PIT	TE 	 9.12 	108	Jordan, Lamont					OAK	RB 	X10.01	109	Jenkins, Michael				  ATL	WR 	X11.12	132	Jaguars, Jacksonville		 	JAC	Def	X12.01	133	Roethlisberger, Ben		   	PIT	QB 	 13.12	156	Gould, Robbie				 	CHI	PK 	 14.01	157	Washington, Leon				  NYJ	RB 	X15.12	180	Pittman, Michael				  TBB	RB 	X16.01	181	Stevens, Jerramy				  TBB	TE 	X1.05 	5	  Alexander, Shaun				  SEA	RB 	 2.08 	20 	Owens, Terrell					DAL	WR 	 3.05 	29 	Moss, Randy				   	NEP	WR 	 4.08 	44 	Peterson, Adrian (MIN-RB)	 	MIN	RB 	 5.05 	53 	Bulger, Marc					  STL	QB 	 6.08 	68 	Crumpler, Alge					ATL	TE 	 7.05 	77 	Jones, Matt				   	JAC	WR 	X8.08 	92 	Henderson, Devery			 	NOS	WR 	X9.05 	101	Mason, Derrick					BAL	WR 	 10.08	116	Marshall, Brandon			 	DEN	WR 	 11.05	125	Bell, Tatum				   	DET	RB 	X12.08	140	Toomer, Amani				 	NYG	WR 	 13.05	149	Panthers, Carolina				CAR	Def	X14.08	164	Culpepper, Daunte			 	OAK	QB 	X15.05	173	Brown, Josh				   	SEA	PK 	X16.08	188	Pollard, Marcus			   	SEA	TE 	X1.1	  10 	Bush, Reggie					  NOS	RB 	 2.03 	15 	Henry, Travis				 	DEN	RB 	 3.1	  34 	Boldin, Anquan					ARI	WR 	 4.03 	39 	Houshmandzadeh, T.J.			  CIN	WR 	 5.1	  58 	Romo, Tony						DAL	QB 	 6.03 	63 	Cooley, Chris				 	WAS	TE 	 7.1	  82 	Jones, Julius				 	DAL	RB 	X8.03 	87 	Stallworth, Donte'				NEP	WR 	 9.1	  106	Morency, Vernand				  GBP	RB 	X10.03	111	Curtis, Kevin				 	PHI	WR 	 11.1 	130	Williams, Reggie				  JAC	WR 	 12.03	135	Turner, Michael			   	SDC	RB 	 13.1 	154	Wade, Bobby				   	MIN	WR 	 14.03	159	Morris, Maurice			   	SEA	RB 	X15.1 	178	Colts, Indianapolis		   	IND	Def	X16.03	183	Rackers, Neil				 	ARI	PK 	X1.11 	11 	Smith, Steve (CAR-WR)		 	CAR	WR 	 2.02 	14 	McGahee, Willis			   	BAL	RB 	 3.11 	35 	Gates, Antonio					SDC	TE 	 4.02 	38 	Colston, Marques				  NOS	WR 	 5.11 	59 	Moss, Santana				 	WAS	WR 	 6.02 	62 	Gonzalez, Tony					KCC	TE 	 7.11 	83 	Green, Ahman					  HOU	RB 	X8.02 	86 	Leinart, Matt				 	ARI	QB 	X9.11 	107	Patriots, New England		 	NEP	Def	 10.02	110	Jones, Kevin					  DET	RB 	 11.11	131	Vinatieri, Adam			   	IND	PK 	 12.02	134	Cutler, Jay				   	DEN	QB 	 13.11	155	Crayton, Patrick				  DAL	WR 	 14.02	158	Olsen, Greg				   	CHI	TE 	X15.11	179	Ginn Jr., Ted				 	MIA	WR 	 16.02	182	Packers, Green Bay				GBP	Def	 1.02 	2	  Jackson, Steven			   	STL	RB 	 2.11 	23 	James, Edgerrin			   	ARI	RB 	 3.02 	26 	Branch, Deion				 	SEA	WR 	 4.11 	47 	Ward, Hines				   	PIT	WR 	 5.02 	50 	Brees, Drew				   	NOS	QB 	 6.11 	71 	Watson, Ben				   	NEP	TE 	 7.02 	74 	Chargers, San Diego		   	SDC	Def	 8.11 	95 	Jennings, Greg					GBP	WR 	 9.02 	98 	Taylor, Fred					  JAC	RB 	 10.11	119	Horn, Joe					 	ATL	WR 	X11.02	122	Manning, Eli					  NYG	QB 	 12.11	143	Williamson, Troy				  MIN	WR 	X13.02	146	Kaeding, Nate				 	SDC	PK 	 14.11	167	Clark, Desmond					CHI	TE 	X15.02	170	Leonard, Brian					STL	RB 	X16.11	191	Vikings, Minnesota				MIN	Def

 

Edited December 12, 2007 by Grits and Shins

[Grits and Shins]

The top 6 teams as they stand now

 

Campbell, Jason WAS QB			 	FA   
Warner, Kurt ARI QB (P *)			  FA   
Morris, Maurice SEA RB			 	14.03
Smith, Kolby KCC RB (R)				FA   
Taylor, Chester MIN RB			 	13.01
Tomlinson, Ladainian SDC RB			1.01 
Young, Selvin DEN RB (R) (P *)	 	FA   
Fitzgerald, Larry ARI WR (Q *)	 	2.1  
McCardell, Keenan WAS WR		   	FA   
Wayne, Reggie IND WR			   	3.01 
White, Roddy ATL WR					15.01
Witten, Jason DAL TE			   	7.01 
Gostkowski, Stephen NEP PK		 	16.12
Buccaneers, Tampa Bay TBB Def		  FA   
Giants, New York NYG Def		   	16.06
Steelers, Pittsburgh PIT Def	   	11.01
Jacobs, Brandon NYG RB (P *)	   	5.01 
Williams, Ricky MIA RB (I)		 	FA   
Williams, Roy DET WR (O *)		 	2.12 


Garcia, Jeff TBB QB (Q *)			  FA   
Roethlisberger, Ben PIT QB		 	12.01
Chatman, Jesse MIA RB (Q *)			FA   
Jones-Drew, Maurice JAC RB		 	2.01 
Lynch, Marshawn BUF RB (R) (Q *)   	3.06 
Williams, DeAngelo CAR RB			  8.12 
Burleson, Nate SEA WR				  FA   
Driver, Donald GBP WR				  4.01 
Edwards, Braylon CLE WR				6.01 
Johnson, Andre HOU WR				  3.12 
Patten, David NOS WR			   	FA   
Welker, Wes NEP WR				 	FA   
Miller, Heath PIT TE			   	8.01 
Folk, Nick DAL PK (R)				  FA   
Colts, Indianapolis IND Def			15.1 
Ravens, Baltimore BAL Def			  5.12 
Brown, Ronnie MIA RB (I)		   	1.12 
Hackett, D.J. SEA WR (O *)		 	9.03 


Garrard, David JAC QB				  FA   
Alexander, Shaun SEA RB (P *)		  1.05 
Droughns, Reuben NYG RB				FA   
Faulk, Kevin NEP RB					FA   
Jackson, Fred BUF RB			   	FA   
Peterson, Adrian MIN RB (R) (P *)	  4.08 
Marshall, Brandon DEN WR		   	10.08
Mason, Derrick BAL WR				  9.05 
Moss, Randy NEP WR				 	3.05 
Owens, Terrell DAL WR				  2.08 
Toomer, Amani NYG WR			   	12.08
Crumpler, Alge ATL TE				  6.08 
Miller, Zach OAK TE (R)				FA   
Brown, Josh SEA PK (*)			 	15.05
Cowboys, Dallas DAL Def				10.12
Bulger, Marc STL QB (Q *)			  5.05 
Ward, Derrick NYG RB (I)		   	FA   


Lemon, Cleo MIA QB				 	FA   
Romo, Tony DAL QB					  5.1  
Bush, Reggie NOS RB (Q)				1.1  
Foster, De'shaun CAR RB (P *)		  11.04
Henry, Travis DEN RB			   	2.03 
Morency, Vernand GBP RB				9.1  
Turner, Michael SDC RB			 	12.03
Boldin, Anquan ARI WR (Q *)			3.1  
Curtis, Kevin PHI WR (P *)		 	10.03
Hilliard, Ike TBB WR (Q *)		 	FA   
Houshmandzadeh, T.J. CIN WR (P *)	  4.03 
Stallworth, Donte' NEP WR			  8.03 
Stokley, Brandon DEN WR (Q *)		  FA   
Cooley, Chris WAS TE			   	6.03 
Elam, Jason DEN PK				 	14.09
Vikings, Minnesota MIN Def		 	16.11

Cutler, Jay DEN QB				 	12.02
Manning, Peyton IND QB			 	2.05 
Jones, Kevin DET RB					10.02
McGahee, Willis BAL RB			 	2.02 
Colston, Marques NOS WR				4.02 
Crayton, Patrick DAL WR (P *)		  13.11
Gage, Justin TEN WR					FA   
Ginn Jr., Ted MIA WR (R)		   	15.11
Johnson, Bryant ARI WR			 	FA   
Moss, Santana WAS WR			   	5.11 
Gates, Antonio SDC TE				  3.11 
Gonzalez, Tony KCC TE				  6.02 
Olsen, Greg CHI TE (R)			 	14.02
Vinatieri, Adam IND PK			 	11.11
Packers, Green Bay GBP Def		 	16.02
Patriots, New England NEP Def		  9.11 
Leinart, Matt ARI QB (I)		   	8.02 
Green, Ahman HOU RB (I *)			  7.11 
Hall, Andre DEN RB (P *)		   	FA   


Brees, Drew NOS QB				 	5.02 
Manning, Eli NYG QB					11.02
Jackson, Steven STL RB			 	1.02 
James, Edgerrin ARI RB			 	2.11 
Taylor, Fred JAC RB					9.02 
Branch, Deion SEA WR			   	3.02 
Jennings, Greg GBP WR				  8.11 
Muhammad, Muhsin CHI WR				10.04
Randle El, Antwaan WAS WR (P *)		FA   
Ward, Hines PIT WR (*)			 	4.11 
Clark, Desmond CHI TE				  14.11
Watson, Ben NEP TE				 	6.11 
Mare, Olindo NOS PK					15.06
Chargers, San Diego SDC Def			7.02 
Saints, New Orleans NOS Def			FA   
Wynn, DeShawn GBP RB (R) (I)	   	FA

[Piranha-z]

This was my draft this year:

 

 

Vag-tastic Voyage

View All

Round Pick Player Position

1. (1) LaDainian Tomlinson RB

2. (16) Drew Brees QB

3. (17) Ronnie Brown RB

4. (32) Tony Romo QB

5. (33) Marques Colston WR

6. (48) Marshawn Lynch RB

7. (49) Plaxico Burress WR

8. (64) Jake Delhomme QB

9. (65) Baltimore DEF

10. (80) Santonio Holmes WR

11. (81) Jason Witten TE

12. (96) Jamal Lewis RB

13. (97) Jeff Wilkins K

14. (112) Michael Turner RB

15. (113) Jason Campbell QB

16. (128) Isaac Bruce WR

17. (129) Ernest Wilford WR

18. (144) Green Bay DEF

 

Looking back, I'm not sure why I took Brees right away for my 2nd pick, but all is good. Finished 11-3, scored the leagues highest points in 5 years, but unless I win it all, it's all for naught. (I only have 11 of the original players left)

[The Irish Doggy]

So long as NE doesn't get a new, capable RB, I'll take Brady or Moss in round 1. I'm not sure there are any other non-RBs to consider however.

[Piranha-z]

Another thing I should mention is that I took a QB/WR combo in Brees and Colston and Ended up trading for TO, so had the Romo/TO combo, and those combos were a big part of me winning this year. I have never tried that strategy in the past, but it worked well this year.

Edited December 12, 2007 by Piranha-z

[yo mama]

Two of my three teams (both 12 team redrafts) are doing very well this year:

- In The Empire (picking from 1.1) I went: RB, WR/QB, RB/RB, WR/WR. It worked because my #1 RB (LT2) panned out and I struck gold with a #2 RB at the 4/5 turn (Jamal Lewis). However, I did have to draft 2 RBs there to hedge against a bust #2 RB pick, which I did encounter (A. Green). Since my WR/QB pick at the 2/3 turn worked out well (Wayne/P. Manning) the overall early draft strategy was a success. However, note how I didn't pick my #2 WR until 6.12. That was risky, but I grabbed Galloway/Berrian there, which was good enough. (Passed on Edwards, which was a mistake in hindsight, but I made up for it by drafting Welker very late). Bottom line: I didn't go RB/RB in the first two rounds and it paid off, but it worked because I made each of the first four picks count regardless of position, not because I focused on drafting a particular position. And even that success was largely attributable to the injury bug leaving six of my seven first picks alone.

 

- in my local (picking from 1.3) I went RB, WR, WR, WR, RB. Again, a solid #1 RB (Addai) anchors the team. Surrounding him with a productive #2 (Lewis again) is a key to success, but that's not to say you have to draft that #2 RB in the 2nd or 3rd round. I opted to pass on going QB early here because the WR value kept falling to me (Holt, then Owens, then Andre Johnson). With that kind of starting 5 it almost doesn't matter who my QB is. In this particular league I let the value fall to me. Outside of going RB in the 1st round I wasn't looking to drafting any particular position in any particular round. But in a PPR league where WRs comprise about 14 of the top 24 (non-QB) producers I didn't hesitate at all to pass on a RB who gave me bad vibes for a WR I felt good about.

 

The reality is that you can't win your league in your first 4 picks: you can only lose it by making bad ones. So don't focus so much on what you're going to do in those early rounds. The difference between a good team and a great team comes in drafting well in the middle rounds and having a little luck in late rounds, which is often a function of your own research, mock drafts, and intuition, rather than going down the last 1/3 of a commercial cheat sheet. Most people spend 80% of their time preparing for the first 4 picks, and 20% of their time on everything else. My suggestion would be to do the reverse.

Edited December 13, 2007 by yo mama

[Grits and Shins]

So long as NE doesn't get a new, capable RB, I'll take Brady or Moss in round 1. I'm not sure there are any other non-RBs to consider however.

 

And those that went into this year thinking that way about Peyton Manning are likely regretting it.

[Grits and Shins]

The reality is that you can't win your league in your first 4 picks: you can only lose it by making bad ones. So don't focus so much on what you're going to do those early rounds. The difference between a good team and a great team comes in drafting well in the middle rounds and having a little luck in late rounds, which is often a function of your own research, mock drafts, and intuition, rather than going the last 1/3 of a commercial cheat sheet. Most people spend 80% of their time preparing for the first 4 picks, and 20% of their time on everything else. My suggestion would be to do the reverse.

 

There is much truth here. However, this year if your first 4 picks all stayed healthy that may have been enough to get you to the playoffs.

[The Irish Doggy]

And those that went into this year thinking that way about Peyton Manning are likely regretting it.

 

Yeah, in the preseason, there appeared to be too many good choices at QB this year. Anyone who jumped on a QB in round 1, chose poorly.

 

Brady, for next year, if they still appear to be a pass-happy team, could be worth it once LT, Peterson, Addai, Westy... maybe a couple others are gone. I'm thinking bottom half or third of a typical 12 team draft. Have to see how things shake out...

[keggerz]

Yeah, in the preseason, there appeared to be too many good choices at QB this year. Anyone who jumped on a QB in round 1, chose poorly.

 

Brady, for next year, if they still appear to be a pass-happy team, could be worth it once LT, Peterson, Addai, Westy... maybe a couple others are gone. I'm thinking bottom half or third of a typical 12 team draft. Have to see how things shake out...

i would say that no QB is worth being drafted in the 1st 3 rounds but that is just me...and if someone thinks a QB is worthy of a 1st round selection then you probably would never be able to change their mind.

[Avernus]

I look to address the positions where there is a big dropoff at production sooner than others...

Edited December 12, 2007 by Avernus

[Egret]

I look to address the positions where there is a big dropoff at production sooner than others...

I can do you one better: I look to draft better players than others. So far, I've had moderate success.

[Big Country]

This was my draft this year:

Vag-tastic Voyage

View All

Round Pick Player Position

1. (1) LaDainian Tomlinson RB

2. (16) Drew Brees QB

3. (17) Ronnie Brown RB

4. (32) Tony Romo QB

5. (33) Marques Colston WR

6. (48) Marshawn Lynch RB

7. (49) Plaxico Burress WR

8. (64) Jake Delhomme QB

9. (65) Baltimore DEF

10. (80) Santonio Holmes WR

11. (81) Jason Witten TE

12. (96) Jamal Lewis RB

13. (97) Jeff Wilkins K

14. (112) Michael Turner RB

15. (113) Jason Campbell QB

16. (128) Isaac Bruce WR

17. (129) Ernest Wilford WR

18. (144) Green Bay DEF

 

Looking back, I'm not sure why I took Brees right away for my 2nd pick, but all is good. Finished 11-3, scored the leagues highest points in 5 years, but unless I win it all, it's all for naught. (I only have 11 of the original players left)

 

Other than the Brees in the 2nd, I'd be more interested in why you then took Romo in the 4th and then Delhomme as your third QB in the 8th. Then, just for good measure, grabbed a 4th QB. Unless this is a start two QB league, there is no reasoning that could explain that.

 

Another thing I should mention is that I took a QB/WR combo in Brees and Colston and Ended up trading for TO, so had the Romo/TO combo, and those combos were a big part of me winning this year. I have never tried that strategy in the past, but it worked well this year.

 

Doing my best Grits here, but care to comment on how adding TO to Romo caused you to have higher scores as oppossed to any other WR that put up numbers comparable to TO?

 

The fact that your QB and WR were from the same team had absolutely nothing to do with your success... the fact that the QB and WR you had both performed well did, their actual NFL team is completely irrelevant.

[xMRogers]

Unfortunately, the simple answer is - you could have gone QB/WR/WR/RB/RB...and is that was Brady, Moss, TJ, ADP and Marion Barber, you set every scoring record known ot man

 

if you went RB/RB/RB/WR/QB and it was Larry Johnson, Cedric Benson, Deuce McCallister, Javon Walker and Donovan McNabb, you probably went 0fer (that's not a made up example - in theory, could have happened in our league as they were all drafted in the middle of the first 5 rounds respectively)

 

You know you need an early RB becasue you simply have a better chance of being "right" with your first round pick, and RB are the most rare commodity - there's a QB on the waiver wire every week which will be within 5 points of one of Brady/manning/Palmer.

 

You don't have at least one good RB (whehter drafted 1st round or 10th), you lose. And your 1st round RB is more likely (thought not even close to guaranteed) to be good vs your 10th rounder.

 

now, if everyone started going QB and WR in the first two rounds, I'd draft RB in the first 5 rounds straight

[The Grey Pilgrim]

This thread seemed to begin with attempting to open the door to drafting other positions than RB's during the normal flood of RB picks in the first two rounds. But most of the comments that followed seemed to key in on drafting a QB early, instead of WR's. I have been a proponent of drafting WR's at the end of the first round and beginning of the 2nd round for quite a few seasons now, with pretty good success.

 

I tend to agree with all the reasons why not to draft a QB early, and those reason have all been explained by others in the thread. But I did want to add support to what I think may be a growing trend to quit taking RB's so often early in the draft, particularly in PPR leagues that seem to be growing in numbers. PPR leagues are one way of working to dilute the common and very boring and mundane 1st and 2nd rounds where 18 out of 20 players are RB's.

 

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ at that draft.

[Piranha-z]

Other than the Brees in the 2nd, I'd be more interested in why you then took Romo in the 4th and then Delhomme as your third QB in the 8th. Then, just for good measure, grabbed a 4th QB. Unless this is a start two QB league, there is no reasoning that could explain that.

Doing my best Grits here, but care to comment on how adding TO to Romo caused you to have higher scores as oppossed to any other WR that put up numbers comparable to TO?

 

The fact that your QB and WR were from the same team had absolutely nothing to do with your success... the fact that the QB and WR you had both performed well did, their actual NFL team is completely irrelevant.

 

We start two QB's and injuries have always plagued me at this position, so I added to have back-up and to fill bye weeks. A big reason in taking Romo where I did was the way the others drafted around me. When the top QB's start falling, I needed to pick another. By this time there was already 31 players picked. I try to keep a strategy when picking, but it depends somewhat on other peoples picks as well and who's left. I'm not saying that adding TO made my scores higher, at least I didn't mean to imply that, but having Romo playing well usually means TO played well, at least when I had him. I'm not saying it's right, but it worked this year.

 

 

Btw, by round four, P. Manning, Brady, Palmer, Brees, Bulger, McNabb and Kitna were gone!

Edited December 13, 2007 by Piranha-z

[NAUgrad]

This year seems to be an anomaly. I can tell you that this is the first year in the last 7 where the WR team has worked. There always seems to be someone that grabs all the WR's they can while everyone else grabs RB's. This year it seems to have worked.

 

I myself thought that Moss was going to be good, but would be injured off and on all season and would probably end up being a head case. Ooops on that one.

 

Same thing with TO this year, which is why I traded him. Another oooops.

 

What does this tell you........well, I'm still going to draft RB's 1st and 2nd, but instead for having 3 RB's by the 6th round, I may start looking harder at quality WR depth.

[SF409ers]

i would say that no QB is worth being drafted in the 1st 3 rounds but that is just me...and if someone thinks a QB is worthy of a 1st round selection then you probably would never be able to change their mind.

 

+1

 

I agree. In my local I finished the year with the #1 seed for the playoffs. I drafted Phillip Rivers and Trent Green, dropped Green and rode Campbell for awhile and finished the year out with Kurt Warner / Garcia. The team that drafted Brady (in the second round) finished second in overall points but failed to make the playoffs. I also agree with what yo mama said about the importance of the middle rounds, so true about people spending so much time on their first 4 picks and so little on the rest.

[MTSuper7]

In most cases, your strategy is initially dictated by how early your first round pick happens to be. Generally, there are a few RBs that command the first few picks (studs) followed by a group of guys who aren't complete studs but are the primary ball carrier on generally decent offensive teams. I was fortunate enough to get the #1 pick this year, and with it I went RB-WR-RB-WR-RB with my first five. If I had something like the #10 or #11 pick, it probably would have worked out differently.

 

I got the #2 seed drafting Rivers in the 8th round and Eli in the 11th. The Romo/TO owner got the #1 seed and the Brady/Moss owner got the #3 seed. Because RBs are given the best opportunity to score, I don't see draft strategies changing much. I think people will probably reach too early for Brady, Moss, Romo, Owens next summer. I say this mainly because chances seem slim that they will duplicate the level of success they've had this year but they'll be drafted based on that level of success. It's the same reason why some LT owners think he's been a semi-bust.