Driving Off

Sometimes my non-recruiting writing doesn't exactly get great reviews. You'd think since I have seven readers, two of which I'm related to, I'd better know what they like to read and do more of that. But I don't, so I don't.

For the second year in a row my station is running a fantasy football league. Rather than the 6 team affair of last year, this one features 12 teams and a head-to-head, rather than a points only system. Since I'm always desperate for something about which to write, I figured I'd do a post about the league, and my team, on Saturdays. As a way to maybe get another look at what's going down with time left to do something about mistakes I make. So, without further adieu, my fanatsy football league.

QB- Trent Green (S)
QB- Aaron Brooks
QB- Matt Leinert
WR- Steve Smith (S)
WR- Darrel Jackson (S)
WR- Reche Caldwell (S)
RB- Rudi Johnson (S)
RB- Julius Jones
RB- Fred Taylor (S)
RB- Laddell Betts
RB Marion Barber III
TE- Tony Gonzales (S)
TE- Marcedes Lewis
K- Jay Feely (S)
DEF- Philadelphia (S)

(S)= Starter

The league awards 1 point for every 10 yards passed, rushed, or received. And 6 points per TD. FGs and DEF are the standard rules. Because yards are the same value regardless of their source it makes QBs for more worthwhile than the other offensive positions. However on any given week one QB is as likely as another to have a great day. No one played Charlie Batch on Thursday thus leaving 37 points sitting on the waiver wire.

The only position which I'm very unhappy with right now is WR. For some reason I didn't put Dieon Branch on my "don't draft" list before the auto-draft and I was left with a player currently in a bitter hold-out being drafted a lot higher than I'd have liked.
I don't mind snagging a player on the hopes of them breaking out later. Hence why I used the extra kicker and defense drafted for me to get Matt Leinert and Marion Barber. Leinert will be the starter when Kurt Warner gets injured, and Julius Jones won't last the season before Barber pushes him aside. However the selection of Branch left me with one WR who will not be playing in Week 1, which became a problem when Steve Smith came up lame.

Smith was the most productive WR in the game last season, and when healthy he's a force to be reckoned with. However he's not healthy right now nursing two bad hamstrings. He's questionable and will be a game time decision. I will stay by the keyboard just waiting to make a switch the moment the NFL pregame shows say he won't be suiting up. However until then there is no way to justify keeping Steve Smith on the bench. A quick tour of the waiver wire shows a couple of servicable WRs, including Kevin Curtis (who was drafted by my team but cut in a fit of rage because of bad memories from last year), and Brandon Lloyd, and Chris Henry who might be the number 2 receiver in Cincy this week with Houshmanzadeh injured.

The team I'm scheduled to play, owned by a recruiter from outside the station, was the winner of the Larry Johnson sweepstakes. The only position where I have any serious advantage is at TE where I have Tony Gonzalez to his Randy McMichael. It's even more of a potential advantage since McMichael played on Thursday earning a whopping 1 point for his 10 receiving yards. Gonzalez is no longer the premier TE in football (real or fantasy), but he's still a very solid player and will hopefully catch 20 yards or more.

Anyway, it's getting late as I write this and I want to work on something else. Have a good weekend folks.