Bengalzone League 4 Draft Complete!

[DesperateDerelict]

Dear Mr. Moderator, administrator, & censor -

Please don't relegate me to the far reaches of the Fantasy Football board! I don't think I'm the only one who's tired of the incessant Rudi - Perry debates and the Pollack watch (Is it just me, or does it seem we're locked in a delivery room, and the Bengals have been in 'labor' for weeks!)

Here is my take on last Sundays draft:

Draft Analysis by Desperate Derelict

I thought, for the most part, that everyone had a pretty good draft. Like all football fanatics, I love to read post-draft grades and rankings, so I thought I’d try to write one. If I inadvertently offend anyone during these ramblings . . . . too bad!

OVERALL – A 12 team league is tough for grabbing high quality players as RB #2, WR #3, and TE. Those that waited on QB, PK, or D/ST were rewarded with great value in the later rounds.

Grade: A

Boiler Bengals – The team to beat. Great starting RB’s in Tomlinson (1st) and Jordan (6th), and a top 3 QB with McNabb. J. Walker, Ji Smith, D. Branch, and T. Heap make a solid, if unspectacular, receiving corps. May have the best ‘D’ in New England. Bench isn’t great, but BB’s starters won’t be sitting very often.

Grade: A -

JungleBoy – Most consistent team put together – Dillon & D. Davis both top 10 backs, Bulger top 5 QB, and Boldin a top 10 WR. Trash positions (TE, PK, & D) capable of winning a few games with Shockey, Tynes, and Blitzburg. Numbers 2 & 3 receivers, Moulds and Evans, are both great WRs, but with their schedule and a very young QB will likely make them very inconsistent.

Grade: B +

CJ4Pres – If Priest Holmes and the rest of this team can stay healthy, this team will be tough to beat. Great starting RB’s in Holmes and T.Barber, and Trent Green should have a monster year at QB. Not thrilled with Chris Chambers, but Burleson, J. Porter, and McCardell are all stellar WR’s. The “Putz” and Indy’s ‘D’ takes this down to a B +.

Bengal4Life – Grabbed undisputed Fantasy King Peyton Manning as QB, paired him with Marvin Harrison, and then stole RB’s Clinton Portis (3rd) and J. Jones (4th). His other WR’s (Coles, RoWilliams) and crappy TE’s lower this to a B +.

Grade: B

Team Pain – Solid Team with best bench. Only Randy Moss is a likely stud that can win a game single-handedly, but your starting backfield of Vick, Rudi, and Westbrook should be very steady. Best ‘trash’ positions in Gates, Vinateri, and Atlanta ‘D’ . Wideouts a little iffy in Kennison and Santana Moss, but QB Plummer (10th), RB Duckett (11th), and WR Keary Colbert (12th) great back-ups.

Grade: B -

Desperate Derelicts – No superstars, but a lot of scoring potential. Will live and die with the big Macs – McGahee and McAllister – at RB, with K.Jones and Arrington the best backup RB’s in the league. Solid WR trio in D-Jack, S.Smith, and Dennis Green’s favorite Fitz. Lucked into Kerry Collins in the 6th.

Grade: C +

Haters – This team has lots of “P”s => Potential and Platooning, Hasselbeck and Carr good 1 – 2 punch at QB, and Alexander, Bell and Cadillac can all be played with favorable matchups at RB. ALL other starting positions are extremely solid players that will produce points week after week.

Bubba’s Brigands – Hit and miss team – Got a ‘triple’ with great RB trio of J.Lewis, S. Jackson, and D. Foster, but struck out with Stokely and Chicago’s “D”. The best team for pairing up (i.e. ‘handcuffing’) players – Brees & Rivers, S. Jackson & Faulk. Will be a tough out.

Grade: C

Carson Is King – The Edge, Ahman, Favre, and Drew Bennett were 4 great picks out of the chute. Quite a falloff in WR with Muhammed and Ike Bruce. With Green, Favre, and Longwell as the PK, da King will do only as well as the Green Bay Packers.

Grade: C -

Tartan Terror - Scotty – I like you, but, IMHO, your draft sucked. Your first 2 picks were highly suspect: I thought Tom Brady was a huge reach in Round 1, and TO is unstable (and getting brittle). The rest of your receivers: Ward, Mike Clayton, and Wiggins are great; but your 2 starting RB’s (“My favorite” Martin & Bennett) are high risk guys, even for the middle rounds.

Grade: D+

Black Treacle – “Treacle” must mean “starts strong than fizzles out”. The first 3 picks of Culpepper, T. Hoyt, and R. Wayne were great, but the remainder was terrible. Unbelievable reach for Bengals ‘D’ in 4th and PK Stover in 6th left you with starting RB’s of Chris Brown and Kevin Barlow – YECCHHH!. Oh course, you’ll probably beat me 65 – 21 this year!

Grade: D -

Warlords - Oh, well, someone has to be last! Hey Warlord - We’re all Bengal’s fans here, you don’t have to prove it. Chad Johnson 4th overall was a stretch, but CP in the second was a huge reach – and then to ignore RB and your other 2 WRs ‘till the 6th round is idiotic. Now your starting backfield is Duce Staley and Warrick Dunn, at best two part-time runners. I fearlessly predict you will win fewer games than the Cleveland turds.

Good Luck, y’all. Looking forward to a fun year!

[The_Next_Big_Thing]

Grade: C +

Bubba’s Brigands – Hit and miss team – Got a ‘triple’ with great RB trio of J.Lewis, S. Jackson, and D. Foster, but struck out with Stokely and Chicago’s “D”. The best team for pairing up (i.e. ‘handcuffing’) players – Brees & Rivers, S. Jackson & Faulk. Will be a tough out.

I'll admit it 100%, I am a running team. My backs will not fail to win for me.

Stokely was a mistake. I didn't realize he was injured, but he'll be fine by the end of the season.

As for Chicago's defense, if you throw out the Baltimore defense (a reach in round 4) and the New England Defense. It will be within a point or two of all the other defenses each week, and was a value pick in round 13.

I'm already trying to drop Gaffney from the final round because I see a sleeper WR that wasn't taken!

I'd give myself a B!

[BengalByTheBay]

Thanks for the rather generous C+. I had to auto pick the draft because it started too early for me out here on the West coast (7:45??). Not that I wasn't awake, but what with chasing a 2 y/o around the house, the draft started right between Eggo #1 and #2. After checking in after bedtime, I was quite disturbed to see Hasselback on my team. Very worried about a falloff this season. Alexander would've been my pick anyway, but now see he's hurt? I suppose we'll see how bad/how long on that one. Later rounds were okay -- happy to get Shane. I give myself a "D." Fun idea though -- thanks DD.

Oh yeah -- Pollack is a greedy &^*(&%^&$*&!

[AGrizzlyBaer]

yes an A! muwhahaha

[bengal4life]

Bengal4Life – Grabbed undisputed Fantasy King Peyton Manning as QB, paired him with Marvin Harrison, and then stole RB’s Clinton Portis (3rd) and J. Jones (4th). His other WR’s (Coles, RoWilliams) and crappy TE’s lower this to a B +.

I had to auto pick my self because of a late night but I would have to say Yahoo did a damn good job for me. With Stokley being hurt Marvin will get more passes his way with the #1 QB. I think Coles will have a good year with him going back to his old team and having Pennington throwing to him. As long as Pennington can stay healthy that is. I do agree with the TE statement but that TE from San Fran could do very well considering younger QB's like to throw to those big targets like FB and TE's. I'm kind of disappointed with my D's(Tenn, Carolina) but Carolina if they have a fast start can really help me out. Also I've got Mike Nugent the best Kicker from College. I'de have to give Yahoo an A to an A- on my draft.

[Scottishbengal]

Draft Analysis by Desperate Derelict

Grade: C -

Tartan Terror - Scotty – I like you, but, IMHO, your draft sucked. Your first 2 picks were highly suspect: I thought Tom Brady was a huge reach in Round 1, and TO is unstable (and getting brittle). The rest of your receivers: Ward, Mike Clayton, and Wiggins are great; but your 2 starting RB’s (“My favorite” Martin & Bennett) are high risk guys, even for the middle rounds.

Thaks for the analysis DD.

I also had to "autopick" but thought my team was OK.

QB's : Brady & Pennington will prove solid enough for my needs.

WR's : TO, Hines Ward & Michael Clayton will stretch backfields in League 4 like Garcia stretched back passages in Cleveland. Peerless Price could prove either a superb steal of a back-up (1252 yards in 2002) or a lame duck (575 yards in 2004). the Terrors offence will prove to be surprisingly powerful and complex. Will they run, will they throw? You just don't know!

RB's : Curtis Martin will be my horse. Michael Bennett and Michael Pittman will be a great compliment and add the fine balance to my offence. Will they throw, will they run? You just don't know!

TE's : Heath Miller and Jermaine Wiggins could prove to be all or nothing.

K's : Vanderjagt & Cundiff still have it all to prove this season but i fully expect them to be decent kickers. Otherwise they're outta here!

DEF : NJY & Kansas. Ho-hum.

My draft was mainly from teams that will (should) be up there challenging this year for divisional titles, therefore I believe my picks will get plenty of opportunity to "stick it to the man" and at the same time crack me some Fantasy points.

That's the theory anyway.