I know we had this last season, so thought I'd break it out again, for general discussion.

I took the 3-spot, knowing I'd get one of the "big three" RBs. I figured 3 would get Alexander, and that panned out.

What I didn't expect to pan out was landing Manning near the end of the 2nd round. I thought for sure he'd go near the middle or perhaps even the top of the 2nd. With no Edge around, Manning may be throwing a little more. He might not... but it's worth the minute risk.

Took a small gamble on Taylor with my 3rd rounder. The remaining RBs that are slated to go around here are either boring/little upside (Droughns) or injury-prone and in mild RBBCs (Dunn). So I took a gamble on a guy that has "hugh upside". Gave a thought to grabbing Moss, who ended up going right after my pick... but I'm employing a somewhat "different" draft strategy this time around that prohibited me taking Moss there.

Has been an interesting draft thus far, especially so early after the NFL's draft.

Comments, as always, are welcome!

Edit: Oh, and thanks to Sarge for setting up the site, etc.

I was also surprised Peyton lasted that long. For all our talk on The Huddle of draft stradegies, do you go RB-RB.....RB-WR....etc.......this was possibly the FIRST time I've ever seen the entire first round consist of RBs.

Interesting.

And I KNOW Sarge was just beside himself to see Julius Jones available in the second for him. :drooling:

I was very happy with Westbrook and Dominac Davis. When I decided on the 12 spot, I had these two in mind, and was just hoping that nobody would take them. Both guys missed time to injury last season, but if you project out their points from last year and they are top 5-7 RB's. On top of that, both will be in better positions, as Westbrook should have a healthy McNabb throwing to him, and with a legitimate WR in Moulds opposite Johnson, this should free up DD for even more.

Yeah -- I like your two guys a lot and I was pretty much in the same position. I liked the 11 spot since I figured to get 2 of Rudi, Davis, Westbrook, & KJ. I thought for sure Caddy would be gone by then, but I was happy to grab him. One of the ever-dwindling "bell-cow" RBs in the league. Also, the new coaching staff in Detroit is already saying that they'll be keeping Kevin Jones on the field as much as possible this year. I expect Martz's offense to put up points and I expect KJ to be the beneficiary.

I'd say (thanks to Sarge reaching for L. Jordan ), I've got the best RB tandem in the league, with Perch being 2nd only because of the injury histories of his two guys.

So....we have a timer in place.....right? Is it suspended overnight?

Where the hell is Beau?

Sorry I was late ... my internet was down at work the past two days for the most part and I was out last night in a Casino celebrating our 9th anniversary ...

I am usually pretty good about being pre-selected ... Ill make sure not to slow us down again ...

I was just afraid we'd lost you.

Happy Anniversary.

I know. No one hates a slowpoke like me ... I am one of the first to complain about slow picks ...

I was feeling guilty the whole drive home this AM, suspecting I was on the clock ...

LOL....oh quit. 32 rounds.....we are ALL going to have one round like that I bet.

I'll remember that!

your hat doesn't fit anymore swiss...... you need to change that 7-3/4 in for a size 9.

to call ANY tandem with Kevin Jones in it the best in the league makes me . He's gotta prove a whole helluva lot before he deserves to be associated with that label.

Even if we erase KJ (who will prove you wrong), Cadillac + the WR I could get with my 3rd-rounder here, is better than Rudi and Steve Smith.

Plus, whose RB tandem is better? I wasn't saying my two are "phenomenal", since KJ obviously has questions, but he has no more questions than anybody else's #2...or some people's #1, for that matter. So, Frazia, you tell me who's got the best RB tandem?

Riiiiight.

With the 3.12 and the 4.1 I was really hoping for Vilma and Gates. Unfortunately Vilma was taken with the 3.10 and Gates with the 3.11. I'm still very happy with Moss and Bullock. Bullock is projected by many as the #1 LB due to fears of the negative effects the 3-4 will have on Vilma. While I think Vilma is still has the best upside, Bullock is the safest of the two, and the two are undeniably in a class by them selves. After Vilma and Bullock, the LB's really start to fall of. Moss I really like. Again after Moss, the drop of is tremendous. The only one left ont he board that was close was Darrell Jackson who was taken right after him. I actually like Moss a lot more than some of those taken much higher than him, such as Chad Johnson, T.O., Holt, Harrison and Wayne. You may think this is a crazy or bold statement, but look at it. With CJ, I really have my doubts that Palmer is going to be ready at the begining of the year. Once he is ready he will probably be Rusty. With T.O., who knows when Bill will throw up his hands in disgust. With Holt, rumblings are that STL is going to a more traditional running style offense, which may limit his opertunities. With Harrison and Wayne, I have some concerns about the Edgeless factor. I'm not sure how not having Edge will effect the team, and how defenses play them. If they do not have a believable play action, then I can't help but think both of their numbers will be down.

So far, so good. I'm pretty happy with what I got. I still wish that Vilma and Gates had fallen to me, but am very happy with what I did get.

I'd take shaun & taylor over your 2 ponies any day of the week.

That's only because, for some reason, as soon as a player joins my team in ANY league -- assuming he's not on one of your teams -- he's automatically classified as terrible.

I bet you'd take Rudi and a certain 32-year-old Patriots RB who just got his job stolen by a rookie before my two "ponies" as well.

Sarge, you must have some real long arms to take Roy Williams there.

Not that much of a stretch IMHO ...

Guess I'll post this here, as hopefully this thread gets the bulk of the forum's traffic... I will be out of town starting Friday mid-morning (one of the last things I do before I leave will be check here) for a buddy's bachelor party in Palm Springs. I am bringing my laptop, and will be able to check in several times over the course of the weekend ... but just wanted to let y'all know.

Why? Just to make us jealous?

Have fun, bud.

Oh goody! Darin drafting drunk!!

Have fun D.

(Un)fortunately, I'm not the bachelor. Always the bachelor party coordinator, never the bachelor.


Can't say that's never happened.

With my next two picks, I knew I was going LB/LB. As we all know, LBs are the "RBs of the defense", and I believe it's critical to have two stellar ones. I think last season's winner ended up with THREE big time LBs. I'm well on my way with Peterson and Trotter, arguably two top-10 LBs. I really wanted Urlacher, but he went a couple before me. No biggie, add in some points for the game he was tossed and he's a top-7 LB from last season.

Looking forward to my next picks. I will have some middle-class WRs, but I think that's what I want this season.

Nope, Big balls, and a real long snake.


Lets just say if Roy can stay healthy, which is a concern trust me, I love the pick. Kitna and McCown are such an upgrade passing that he is likely to double his pts from a yr ago, just because the ball will be thrown near him when teh QB is looking his way this yr, as opposed to bouncing at his feet, or out of bounds his direction. Tried to hit one out of the park with AJ and Roy, with less risk than some might think.

I wanted Westbrook or DD to be honest, and when they didnt fall, I jumped at the chance to get Julius. It could be alot worse, I could have been left Kevin Jones.


Overall, Im not thrilled with my draft, yet.

First 5:

LJ or LT was coming to me, and I just got the scraps. LJ has the potential to be the #1 guy and he really can be like 1 1/2 players on your roster on a good week.

Same #1 WR as last year and he had a down year a bit. I'll take him again, fantastic option there.

I'm high on Parker, but there wasn't much reliability after him, and I was lucky I can tag team him with LJ for a pretty decent combo.

Ray Lewis dropped, somewhat expected, so if he can be a beast again, this is good value here.

Reggie Bush or Javon Walker here...Put Bush ahead knowing that he would go soon, and if he can light it up, he's worth this risk.

Not a bad start IMO, but I have a way of messing that up....this is a long draft.

So you are saying you place a larger value on Texas' Roy Williams than on Oklahomo's Roy Williams?

Dbs are a dime a dozen. Take that however you wish.

i would describe my start as steady, guys so far that arent sure to hit it out of the park, but shouldnt be much of a risk either. i love the potential of brown in yr two on a good team with smokey joe out of the picture ( that stable of backup rb isnt gonna scare anyone ). i expect that if the bills can get any kind of production out of the qb spot this yr, that willis could rebound nicely and will score more this yr regardless. really like warrick dunn for my flex spot........doh. while i am slightly concerned about how the loss of edge will affect the indy offense, i still see balls flying all over the dome this yr, ala two seasons ago, in which case wayne could be a steal here. at linebacker i went for the home run chance that edwards will have one more stellar yr and put up 95 percent of the points he did last yr, like a few other linebackers better but went for the big payoff. finished up to now with a steady number two guy at wr, i know branch isnt a real big red zone threat, but feel like he may enjoy a bump in production this yr with dillon aging and maroney still raw.

as i say, everyone looks solid at this point, so lets check after say round 9.

c'mon swiss.... that isn't what I meant & you know it. all I was doing was responding to your overwhelming vanity about your two RB's.

and as far as your DW2 squad goes...... you tore it apart... not me.

Drafting Barnett with the 5.12 was a no brainer for me. It gives me two very safe top 10 LB's. After Barnett, I saw a definite drop in production and surety left. Drafting Shockey with the 6.01 I thought was good.

We've got lurkers today.

I don't care if we have lurkers....as long as we have pickers.

You're up.

Yep....sorry...I stayed up until 1am ET last night....waiting. But...I figured Fraz was giving the twins a bath.....LOL.
I finally went to bed.
Whodathunk the picking would be a 1:30am affair.....LOL.

I forgot we have some insomniacs like me in this league.

My bad guys...I'll pay more attention---work has been a monster this week.

you got AIM, or yahoo IM, and we can ping you.

The problem has been all my work on the road this week.

I'll shoot you my cell phone number.

have high school baseball playoffs right now.... almost every day.... including tonight again.

I've pre-selected 2 rounds.... hopefully they stick otherwise I'm home tonight around 9-10 pst.

Umm, hey Slick... you may want to double-check that last pick of yours and get a hold of Sarge.

Bunz you are up

Now you are.

I'm bound and determined NOT to get caught with the overnight 6 hour lull ever again during this draft.

There are MORE 3am folks in this draft than I anticipated.
Do we all have insomnia?

Called Spain, he will be picking shortly he said.

Well I have some catching up to do.

First I'd like to revisit the 6.01. I took Shockey here, simply because he is the safest TE after Gates, who I was prepared to draft with the 3.12. I had the TEs set up into 5 tiers. The first Tier is consisted of Gates by himself. The second Tier has Shockey, Heap, and Gonzo. I will not go into the other tiers at this time. The reason I picked Shockey of Heap in Gonzo, is primarily because I think he is the safest of the three. If McNair does end up in BAL, I think that they will use a more vertical passing attack, which could effect Heap's numbers. Also Heap has more of an injury history than Shockey. Gonzo, has a new coach, who traditionaly hasn't used TE's to their full potential. Gonzo is also getting older and appears to have lost a step.

With the 7.12 I took McNabb. If he has recovered, I see him as a top 3 QB. I think a lot of people forgot about him due to his injury, or discounted him because TO left Philly. McNabb was a top 3 QB prior for two years prior to TO arriving to Philly, and if healthy, I don't see any reason why he can't be one again.

With the 8.1 I took one of the best safeties out there in Adrian Wilson. Again this is a safe pick. Wilson has been a top 5 S for the last two years in our scoring system. The thing I like about him most is his consitentcy. Last year he scored in double digits in all but one game. He also tends to stay healthy. He has only missed two games in the last 5 years, and has improved upon the previous season in every year but one.

With the 9.12 took Dwight Freeney. This is probably my worst pick so far. It is definitely a reach, but I'm betting that this year he will return to being the dominate presence he once was.

With the 10.01 I took Rhonde Barber. Again I went for consistency. He has finished in the top 2 of his position for the last three years. He also has scored in double digits in every week but 4 for his last two years.

With the 11.12 I finally took my second WR, Terry Glenn. If you haven't noticed, I haven't been real concerned about taking WR's. My reasoning behind this, is once you get away from the elite WR's the rest are very inconsistent from year to year. I really didn't even consider taking a WR between taking Santana Moss in the 3rd and here. While I'm sure that Glenn's numbers will drop, I don't see them dropping more hand 10-15%. Remeber last year Dallas had two top 20 WR's, I don't see where it will be any different this year, with the exception that Glenn will be the lower ranked this time.

With the 12.1 I took a chance on Frank Gore. I needed a bye week fill in at WR, and from what I here Gore is slated to be the starter in SF. Add to that the new receiving threats that SF has, and Gore could be a decent #3 RB.

With the 13.12 I grabbed another LB. Most people here last year were thinking he'd be top 10 if not top 5. I think last years injury has made some forgett about him.

With the 14.1 I finally filled out my WR corps with the aging Moulds. I can see him improving on last year, because he has a better QB then he had last year.

With the 15.12 I took Ed Reed. The guy is easily a top 5 safety when healthy. He completes my starting secondary, and at least I think it is a pretty impressive one.

With the 16.1 I take my bye week filler LB in Jeff Ulbrich. This guy was a monster before he was injured last year, and I would be completely comfortable with him as a starter if one of my other LB's were to go down.

With the 17.12 I took Cornelius Griffin. I'd considered taking a DT in the twelth, and actually was going t to take a DT in every round since then, but people kept nabbing the guy I thought was a value. Griffin is a decent value here, with some pretty good upside. In 2004 he was top 3. Last year he missed 4 games due to injury, and really never recovered from the injury as his numbers were significantly lower after it. I can see him being a top 3 guy at best, but more than likely he will land between 5-10.

With the 18.1 I decided to piss off Sarge and take Mark Clayton. He really came into his own the last. If he can play this season like he did the last 4 weeks of last season, he could easily be a top 20 WR. If McNair ends up going to BAL, Clayton could be Huge.

Now I have some serious catching up to do.

After taking LBs in the 4th/5th, I was planning on going WR/WR with my 6th/7th. When my turn came up, there were about 15 WRs that I had lumped together. I was pretty sure I would still be able to get two of them with my next two picks, so decided to go with a third solid LB and game-changing DE. Odell Thurman was arguably the best rookie defender last season, and will anchor the improved Bengal defense that may see some more field time with Palmer perhaps shelved. In Jason Taylor, I get the #1 DE, who is the model of consistency.

With my next two picks, I had to go WR/WR. Laveraneous Coles may not be the flashiest WR out there, but he and QB Chad Pennington (when healthy) established a fine rapport. I'm crossing my fingers that Pennington can get it done (or Ramsey is solid as a backup). As Perch noted, WRs can be wildly inconsistent. Even the "studs" have their off games. Coles, and Porter, who I took in the 9th, are two guys that could have some big games mixed into consistent play. With Aaron Brooks at the helm for Oakland, I expect the Raider offense to finally come alive, as it was supposed to last season.

With my 10th/11th rounders, I was set on establishing a solid secondary. I went with Erik Coleman. Typically Free Safeties score less than their Strong-side counterparts, but in this case, Coleman puts up studly numbers despite his positioning. With my 11th rounder, I went with one of the better cornerbacks in the league: Nate Clements. Despite the change to the Cover-2 scheme, which CAN positively affect the left cornerback spot (Clements is the RCB), I felt Clements' strong finish to last season was a sign of things to come. I'm happy with this duo, and will look to bolster my starting secondary with another big-time safety.

Looking at the 12th round, I noticed a ton of talent still left on the defensive side of the ball, so I looked to fill my starting lineup on the other side of the ball. TE is a deeper position (finally) this season, but I couldn't ignore Redskin TE Chris Cooley here. The Redskin passing game will open up even more with the additions they made in the off-season, but Cooley will still get plenty of looks. I had him right around the 5th or 6th ranked TE, so getting him here was a mild steal. Then, on the swing pick in the 13th, I wrapped up my defensive backfield with the hard-hitting Colt safety, Bob Sanders. Sanders was a top-20 safety, and could have easily been in the top 10 if he hadn't missed 2 late games due to injury.

Now that we were getting deeper into the draft, I needed to make a few risk/reward picks. In the 14th, RB Marion Barber carries little risk in my mind, as the Cowboys utilized him whether or not Julius Jones was healthy/effective or not. The addition of WR Terrell Owens will certainly inject even more life into the Cowboy offense, and I expect Barber to get a healthy share of carries. And of course Julius Jones is an injury waiting to happen and Sarge lagged on handcuffing him (and supposedly wasn't going to). And with my 15th rounder, I opted to round out my WR corps with another risk/reward guy. Titan Drew Bennett had a rash of injuries last season, but established an incredible rapport with then-backup QB Billy Volek. The Titans added WR David Givens, which will give the now-starter Volek another viable option, but I figure Bennett (if/when healthy) will be the big-play WR we saw a few years ago. The Titans may be playing from behind quite a bit this season, which bodes well for the deep threat WR.

With the 16th/17th rounds, I looked to bolster my defense a bit. Demorrio Williams was a top-10 LB last season. Sure, Edgerton Hartwell is back and healthy, but will the Falcons keep Williams off the field? With my prior risk/reward picks carrying minimal risk, I felt I could take a bigger risk here, seeing that there were still plenty of decent LBs on the board and Williams would just be a backup for me anyways. With my 17th rounder, I made yet another risk/reward pick in rookie DE Mario Williams. This guy is an animal and will serve as a fine bye-week or (God forbid) injury replacement for Jason Taylor. He's a game-changer, for sure.

And finally, a couple more risk/reward picks (hey, being safe is boring!) with my last two picks in the 18th/19th. In the 18th, I opted for RB Maurice Drew, who could be used as a change-of-pace back in Jacksonville. I love his overall skills, and although he's smallish, I think he's a game-breaker. Should Fred Taylor get cut (unlikely) or get hurt (possible?), it would be between Greg Jones and Drew. Went with the upside. And finally, in the 19th, I went with another Jag. Ernest Wilford is on many radars this off-season to supplant the aged Jimmy Smith as the #1 receiving option in Jacksonville. The veritical passing game will be in full effect with a healthy Byron Leftwich. Expect both Wilford and the golden-locked Matt Jones to really start to emerge this season.

So far, I'm happy with my team. The #1 QB, conceivably the #1 RB, three outstanding LBs and some guys with serious upside on both sides of the ball. The draft has gone well for all of the participants, rounding us out with very balanced teams. Should be an interesting tail end of the draft as we fill out our backups.