SOFA IDP Draft

[Rovers]

With so many teams going 3-4, I understand the early 4-3 DE picks, it would not be my strategy, but I get it. I have a strong tendency to go LB early, so I am biased, and possibly not open minded enough to change what has worked for me in the past. In the redraft wars league, which I won last year, I was called an LB ho, and I am. I'd rather have a Beason and a Geathers later on than a Tuck and a Lofa, but that's just me.

 

I think I would have targeted a Greene or Mathews earlier, but there is never any ONE given strategy that works. I will follow this and see how it works out, might be time to re-evaluate my tendencies.

[keggerz]

Here is what the roster looks like thru 10 picks:

 

Rodgers, Aaron GBP QB - 10 1.09

Best, Jahvid DET RB - 7 5.09

Moreno, Knowshon DEN RB (Q) - 9 3.09

Harvin, Percy MIN WR (Q) - 4 6.04

Marshall, Brandon MIA WR - 5 2.04

Gates, Antonio SDC TE - 10 4.04

Tuck, Justin NYG DE - 8 7.09

Williams, Mario HOU DE - 7 8.04

Lewis, Ray BAL LB - 8 10.04

Lofton, Curtis ATL LB - 8 9.09

[Rovers]

Nice snatches there with Lewis and Lofton. I love to take stud LB's.

 

The Harvin gamble doesn't look too good right now. I'm not big on taking early risks. I hope the kid is first, going to be OK, and second, can play football again.

[keggerz]

I'm actually a little upset about this, This is supposed to be an experts draft. Not the guy with the most posts draft. A rod in the 1st with 4 pt tds is hardly the pick that DMD the huddle expert would draft. So who are the other draft participants? Jon Hansen, Adam? For the Guru? David Dodds? If thses guys are drafting along with the other websites "experts" than I believe that the Huddle should be represented by WW or DMD. JMO if DMD backs this than he should rank AROD a heck of alot higher Post a top 200 and put AROD #9 in a ppr, pass td 4pts league. Just saying. This league will be played out and not just a mock draft. Save that for mockdraft central.

 

 

 

According to The Huddle Top 200 PPR rankings as of Aug.17th, Aaron Rogers ranks 7th. Soooooo.....what would have YOU done?

Look at who DMD has projected to go at 8 in a draft in his "planning your 1st 2 picks article"

[darin3]

Nice snatches there with Lewis and Lofton. I love to take stud LB's.

 

The Harvin gamble doesn't look too good right now. I'm not big on taking early risks. I hope the kid is first, going to be OK, and second, can play football again.

Yeah that one might sting a bit. As of the date we took him, he was just out due to his grandmother's passing away and having the migraine issue. He was having the migraines last year and it really only affected his play (at least what we know) towards the end of the season. Everyone expected him to take a big leap forward this year, but now that looks like it'll be really difficult.

 

There's still a good lot of WR talent left and we'll be grabbing some "safer" WRs to plug in as WR3, with hopes they'll be steady enough to be our WR2 if Harvin has to sit.

 

Following the Harvin pick:

 

7.09 - Justin Tuck (DE -NYG): As keg noted in a previous post, both of us are pretty set on the notion that DL is a paper-thin position this year, with the top tier being light-years better than the following tiers. We wanted not only one, but two of these top-tier DEs. It was a plan I executed in another IDP league, and looks like it could work out well. As for Tuck, we love his sack potential with quality on the other edge of the line. We really wanted Allen, but feel Tuck is an excellent pick here.

 

8.04 - Mario Williams (DE - HOU): As mentioned above, we were targeting two stud DEs, and were glad we didn't start a run on them with the Tuck pick. Did we go too early on DE? Maybe, but we were set on having two stud DEs and this was the way to do it. Love Williams this year, as the Texan defense continues to improve. His big-game ability rivals Jared Allen. We considered Trent Cole and Julius Peppers, but felt Super Mario had the crazy potential.

 

9.09 - Curtis Lofton (LB - ATL): Similar to the position we were in the fourth round, we saw a good lot of RB and WR talent but none that appeared to be difference-making players. Plus, we felt a good number of these guys would continue to fall as people started hitting up the IDP side. So we went with a top-tier LB, knowing that they are the most consistent scorers on the IDP side. Lofton will continue to progress and rack up tackles for the aggressive Falcon defense. Really like this pick and were glad the other sites felt there were other LBs that were better.

 

10.04 - Ray Lewis (LB - BAL): Say what you want about Ray Ray, but the guy is still the leader of a very effective Raven defense, has big-game potential and will rack up plenty of tackles. Paired with Lofton, we have a solid 1-2 LB punch that coupled with our solid 1-2 DE punch, gives us an incredibly solid IDP core. We'll mine for the LB3 later in the draft with two studs secured.

 

----

 

With the news about Harvin hitting the wire, we have to find some WR talent, as mentioned above. Still plenty of good WR talent and we're loving what's left at RB.

[wolfer]

With so many teams going 3-4, I understand the early 4-3 DE picks, it would not be my strategy, but I get it. I have a strong tendency to go LB early, so I am biased, and possibly not open minded enough to change what has worked for me in the past. In the redraft wars league, which I won last year, I was called an LB ho, and I am. I'd rather have a Beason and a Geathers later on than a Tuck and a Lofa, but that's just me.

 

I think I would have targeted a Greene or Mathews earlier, but there is never any ONE given strategy that works. I will follow this and see how it works out, might be time to re-evaluate my tendencies.

 

I can tell you in my idp experience there is a STEEP cliff after Trent Cole in regards to consistent DE scoring. Williams/Tuck don't miss often. Guys I hope your WR3 pans out and you should be fine.

[darin3]

I can tell you in my idp experience there is a STEEP cliff after Trent Cole in regards to consistent DE scoring. Williams/Tuck don't miss often. Guys I hope your WR3 pans out and you should be fine.

Definitely.

 

With the news on Harvin today, we're fervently trying to get a plan together for WR3 who'll have to potentially fill in as our WR2. Fortunately, we've done a good bit of research on the topic and feel prepared to load up.

[Rovers]

I can tell you in my idp experience there is a STEEP cliff after Trent Cole in regards to consistent DE scoring. Williams/Tuck don't miss often. Guys I hope your WR3 pans out and you should be fine.

 

I understand that drop off, but in my IDP leagues, I still like to load up on LB's before DL or DB. I find that with the injury propensity for good LB's, it's better to have depth there and purposely let the DL's fall. I'll take a gamble on a J Abraham late, and see if it works out. I will watch this league and see if I want to re-evaluate, but my strategy has also won leagues. Even stud DE's can have very bad weeks, while stud LB's will always show up. I'll draft a lot of DL's late and play matchups instead.

 

From my IDP's, I want very consistant scoring, and take more risks with the offensive players. No one appraoch is right or wrong. Whatever works, works.

 

Sure wish you guys had gone Nicks... I posted my concerns with Harvin before his incident. Overall, my rankings look very different than what you guys are working from, but that is what FF is all about. We all value players and evaluate risk differently.

[keggerz]

I understand that drop off, but in my IDP leagues, I still like to load up on LB's before DL or DB. I find that with the injury propensity for good LB's, it's better to have depth there and purposely let the DL's fall. I'll take a gamble on a J Abraham late, and see if it works out. I will watch this league and see if I want to re-evaluate, but my strategy has also won leagues. Even stud DE's can have very bad weeks, while stud LB's will always show up. I'll draft a lot of DL's late and play matchups instead.

 

From my IDP's, I want very consistant scoring, and take more risks with the offensive players. No one appraoch is right or wrong. Whatever works, works.

 

Sure wish you guys had gone Nicks... I posted my concerns with Harvin before his incident. Overall, my rankings look very different than what you guys are working from, but that is what FF is all about. We all value players and evaluate risk differently.

Normally I am right there with you in being the LB whore and trying to start the run on them....but this year I really saw the DL as being very thin....I wasn't sure I was going to be able to sell darin on the strategy but he agreed....I think that LB is deep and there are some guys that we both like to approach the top 10 this year that we should be able to get later....I am working on an article about top 20 turnover and when I finally finish it up (hopefully by Tues) you will be shocked at how many top 20 players repeat a top 20 performance vs finishing in the top 50 or outside of it.....as a teaser I will say that LBs do have the best odds of repeating their top 20 performance followed by DL and then DBs way way behind....but when you couple in the very few dominant DL I think it is easy to see why this strategy very well could work...and fwiw, I agree with you on Nicks....Darin can easily tell you how much I was trying to sell him on him and still give him guff(in good fun) about not taking him.

[darin3]

but this year I really saw the DL as being very thin....I wasn't sure I was going to be able to sell darin on the strategy but he agreed....

Kinda funny, it was something I already employed as a strategy (MSHB; got Williams/Cole in 6th/7th in a 16-team league). Not much selling required there.

[keggerz]

Kinda funny, it was something I already employed as a strategy (MSHB; got Williams/Cole in 6th/7th in a 16-team league). Not much selling required there.

didn't know you did it in MSHB but I will say the bigger the league the bigger the advantage by getting 2 of the top 5-6 DLs

[darin3]

11.09 - Devin Thomas (WR - WAS): With the news out of Viking camp that Percy Harvin was not only still dealing with severe migraines, but that he had passed out while just standing around watching practice, we decided that despite some incredible RB value still on the board, that we had to shore up the WR position. Thomas represents a bit of a risk, given that he has only 445 yards and no scores in two seasons. But with Donovan McNabb under center for the Skins, you have to bump up the Skins wideouts. While Santana Moss is probably the closest thing to a "DeSean Jackson equivalent" of this offense, it could be construed that Thomas may be the "Jeremy Maclin equivalent". Any way you slice it, though, Thomas has promise and upside in the revamped Skin offense.

 

12.04 - Derrick Mason (WR - BAL): Perfect fit here. With Harvin iffy and Thomas representing a bit of a risk, we were pleased to take the ever-steady Mason here. Sure, Anquan Boldin is now there with his big play ability. Donte Stallworth is also there. Demetrius Williams has shown promise. But all bodes well for Mason, who had yet another 1,000-yard season in 2009. His 7 TDs were his best since 2004-5. While we anticipate a regression to his standard 5-6 TDs, we're convinced he'll still manage 70+ catches and could once again approach/surpass 1,000 yards.

 

So now we're looking at Marshall as our WR1 with two of Harvin, Thomas and Mason as our WR2/3. We'll add some more upside at WR with another "steady" type WR just as a fill-in. Still feel pretty good about our team as a whole. A couple teams in this league look a bit weak, but we'll see how it all plays out.

[darin3]

Updating the past few picks...

 

13.09 - Darren Sproles (RB - SDC): Everyone loves Ryan Mathews, but the fact remains that he's a rookie who'll be missing the team's starting left tackle. Sproles will continue to be a PPR threat (45 catches last year) and is a fine backup RB in this league format.

 

14.04 - D'Qwell Jackson (LB - CLE): Jackson, before injuring his pectoral muscle, was projected to be a top 5 or 10 LB. His timetable for recovery is about a month, meaning he'll just miss a couple games. If he's back to 100% upon his return, this could be construed as a bit of a steal. We'll be able to start 3 consistently studly LBs every week but Week 8.

 

15.09 - Mohamed Massquoi (WR - CLE): Someone has to catch balls from Jake Delhomme (or whoever plays QB for the Browns), right? Just building up a corps of WRs that might be able to fill in should Percy Harvin miss time.

 

16.04 - Brian Dawkins (DB - DEN): See, it pays to hold off on picking up your DBs. We could have actually waited longer, but with the roster shaping up, we figured we'd take a stab at a top tier DB who has produced year after year. As keg's new article indicates, DB is not only a deep position, but the top performers oftentimes drop off significantly the following year. Dawkins' accolades have been consistent and he should produce again.

 

17.09 - Austin Collie (WR - IND): Some outlets have indicated that Collie is the favorite to take that "third WR" role in the Colt offense, which could mean solid production, PPR-wise. If nothing else, it's a calculated risk towards the end of the draft. We need potentially startable PPR WRs and Collie fits the bill.

 

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Things are shaping up nicely and we have a few sleepers we're targeting with the next couple picks. Stay tuned.

 

Edit to Add: Looks like we got one of said sleepers: Geno Hayes. Keg's wayyy high on him this season, and I not only trust his judgment, but have been targeting him as a LB3/4 in my leagues as well. He's a perfect fit for the WLB in the Tampa-2 and may in fact challenge Barrett Ruud for the tackle lead for the Bucs this season.

Edited August 24, 2010 by darin3

[keggerz]

I am way high on Geno Hayes this year for sure...top 10 high...I won't really get into the why part because there is an article on the main page about it: "Ascension To The Top 10: Linebacker"...I am sure if I am off I will feel the brunt of it from IDPers too.

Edited August 26, 2010 by keggerz

[kpholmes]

I am way high on Geno Hayes this year for sure...top 10 high...I won't really get into the why part because there is an article on the main page about it: "Ascension To The Top 10: Linebacker"...I am sure if I am off I will feel the brunt of it from IDPers too.

Especially in dynasty leagues. At 22 years old, are you kidding me?!

[Sturphy]

Especially in dynasty leagues. At 22 years old, are you kidding me?!

I snaked Geno Hayes from Zooty two years ago in FDSB. I was pretty high on him coming out, but didn't get a chance to draft him.

 

I believe he cost me $1.

 

Thanks Zooty!

 

[Sprtfan]

I didn't really plan it this way, but I ended up with Tuck, Mario, and Suggs in round 8, 9, and 10. There was a big run on LBs after I drafted Mario and thought Suggs was worth more than what would have been the 18th LB of the board. I ended up with Fletcher, EJ. Henderson, Geno Hayes, D'Qwell Jackson, and Boley at LB. Here is hoping that I didn't take the notion that DL is a paper-thin position this year and LB is deep idea to far. I think it should work out still. Thanks for the insight

 

Wanted to add I'm in a 12 team league and we start 3 LB, 3 DL, and 3 DB

Edited September 9, 2010 by Sprtfan

[darin3]

Well, we started the season off hot, tallying a 4-0 record. Week 5 we lost by 1.5 points (had Percy Harvin caught the last pass in a MNF game, we woulda won ).

 

Ended up 9-4, most overall points and the #1 seed. Got pretty lucky last week against our "rivals" - Footballguys - with a 1.2 point win. Guess karma came back around from Week 5.

 

Aaron Rodgers has ended up being a great value, despite the seemingly "too high" pick. He's #2 overall in SOFA scoring.

 

Ray Lewis, despite gettin' up there in age, is the #3 LB. Lofton has been solid and Derrick Johnson has been a solid surprise.

 

Offensive surprises include Steve Johnson (big pickup there), Austin Collie (despite the injury woes... he helped us early on) and Moreno has come on strong the past few weeks. Another key pickup has been Danny Woodhead. He's been a sneaky PPR play especially with Jahvid Best fallen off the ledge. Chris Ivory has also been a key RB pickup.

 

Mario Williams has been the disappointment, scoring only 6.2 ppg.

 

We look forward to taking on either FBG or USA Today next week!

 

http://football3.myfantasyleague.com/2010/...=44612&O=79

[JUMbotron]

[The Grey Pilgrim]

Great job so far, guys. Good luck in the playoffs.

[Rovers]

Good job to two of my favorite Huddlers that I also consider to be friends if mine. Go kick some USAss!

[keggerz]

Good job to two of my favorite Huddlers that I also consider to be friends if mine. Go kick some USAss!

This is all Darin's baby...I just tried to help out a bit during the draft...funny thing is that Darin will tell you that I was sky high on taking Nicks over Harvin in whatever round that was....at one point I went back and checked and swapping the two wouldn't have given us any additional wins or losses...anything can happen but that team has been strong all year long so it would be a shame to see it slip up now.