My 1st Sample Fantasy Draft
Article Written by Anthony Pinzone
June 22nd, 2008
I did a fantasy draft earlier today with a 16 team league… and quite a unique roster. Here is the starting roster layout:
QB, QB, WR, WR, WR, WR, RB, RB, RB, TE, TE, K, DEF
As you can see the roster size for the starters alone is huge! Throw in the fact that there are 16 teams in the league, and you got yourself in a situation which is going to need some very smart drafting. This will be a great example for all fantasy players as it shows a bit on how to draft in a bigger league. So without further ado… let’s get it started!
Notes: I’m only going to cover 15 of the 25 rounds of the draft. After awhile players get extremely slim and it’s just not worth covering. Also, I had the 2nd pick in the draft so I picked 2nd and 15th throughout.
- Adrian Peterson
- Ladainian Tomlinson
- Steven Jackson
- Brian Westbrook
- Joseph Addai
- Tom Brady
- Randy Moss
- Frank Gore
- Peyton Manning
- Tony Romo
- Terrell Owens
- Marion Barber
- Clinton Portis
- Marshawn Lynch
- Derek Anderson
- Larry Johnson
- Ryan Grant
- Jason Witten
- Willis McGahee
- Drew Brees
- Reggie Wayne
- Laurence Maroney
- Brandon Jacobs
- Carson Palmer
- Ronnie Brown
- Andre Johnson
- Maurice Jones-Drew
- Ben Roethlisberger
- Braylon Edwards
- Donovan McNabb
- Matt Hasselbeck
- Steve Smith
- Darren McFadden
- David Garrard
- Jay Cutler
- Marc Bulger
- Michael Turner
- Jamal Lewis
- Larry Fitzgerald
- Eli Manning
- Marques Colston
- T.J. Houshmandzadeh
- Willie Parker
- Torry Holt
- Wes Welker
- Chad Johnson
- Felix Jones
- Brandon Marshall
- Plaxico Burress
- Reggie Bush
- Anquan Boldin
- Antonio Gates
- Earnest Graham
- Thomas Jones
- Julius Jones
- Edgerrin James
- Roy Williams
- Jonathan Stewart
- Jake Delhomme
- Philip Rivers
- Fred Taylor
- LenDale White
- Kellen Winslow
- Dwayne Bowe
- Kevin Smith
- Matt Forte
- Selvin Young
- Santonio Holmes
- Calvin Johnson
- Rudi Johnson
- Greg Jennings
- Roddy White
- Chris Cooley
- Aaron Rodgers
- Matt Schaub
- Marvin Harrison
- Jon Kitna
- Jason Campbell
- Bobby Engram
- Tony Gonzalez
- Lee Evans
- Dallas Clark
- Jeff Garcia
- Kevin Curtis
- Hines Ward
- Chicago Defense
- Owen Daniels
- Rashard Mendenhall
- Chris Chambers
- DeAngelo Williams
- Jeremy Shockey
- Anthony Gonzalez
- Joey Galloway
- Vernon Davis
- Jerricho Cotchery
- Kellen Clemens
- Minnesota Defense
- Chester Taylor
- Deuce McAllister
- Ahman Green
- Kenny Watson
- Heath Miller
- Justin Fargas
- Laveranues Coles
- Donald Driver
- Donte’ Stallworth
- Vince Young
- San Diego Defense
- Pittsburgh Defense
- Santana Moss
- Shaun McDonald
- Javon Walker
- Todd Heap
- Patrick Crayton
- Benjamin Watson
- Leon Washington
- Ahmad Bradshaw
- Derrick Mason
- Dallas Defense
- New England Defense
- New York Giants Defense
- Tony Scheffler
- Matt Leinart
- Alge Crumpler
- Jacksonville Defense
- JaMarcus Russell
- Bernard Berrian
- Alex Smith (QB)
- Trent Edwards
- Bryant Johnson
- Reggie Brown
- Donald Lee
- Tarvaris Jackson
- Nate Burleson
- Green Bay Defense
- Chris Brown
- Isaac Bruce
- Jerious Norwood
- Deion Branch
- Nick Folk
- Joshua Cribbs
- Tatum Bell
- Adam Vinatieri
- Josh McCown
- Rex Grossman
- Fred Jackson
- Adrian Peterson
- Devin Hester
- Greg Olsen
- Vincent Jackson
- Randy McMichael
- Ted Ginn Jr.
- Chad Pennington
- Shayne Graham
- Drew Bennett
- Jerry Porter
- Reggie Williams
- Zach Miller
- Matt Ryan
- LJ Smith
- Laurent Robinson
- Dustin Keller
- Leonard Pope
- Damon Huard
- Sidney Rice
- Roscoe Parrish
- Marcedes Lewis
- Desmond Clark
- Darren Sproles
- Ronald Curry
- Shaun Alexander
- Kurt Warner
- Eric Johnson
- Kyle Boller
- Indianapolis Defense
- Mason Crosby
- Kevin Faulk
- Justin Gage
- Baltimore Defense
- Ladell Betts
- Jerramy Stevens
- Darrell Jackson
- David Patten
- Stephen Gostkowski
- Alex Smith (TE)
- Sage Rosenfels
- Seattle Defense
- D.J. Hackett
- Kevin Boss
- Amani Toomer
- Steve Smith
- Limas Sweed
- James Hardy
- Ryan Torain
- Mark Clayton
- Nate Kaeding
- Dan Campbell
- J.P. Losman
- Brian Griese
- Josh Scobee
- Ben Utecht
- Rob Bironas
- Ricky Williams
- Chris Redman
- Houston Defense
- Marty Booker
- Brodie Croyle
- Kevin Walter
- Arizona Defense
- Tampa Bay Defense
- Robbie Gould
- Andre Davis
- Chris Johnson
- Ryan Longwell
- Ike Hilliard
- Steve Breaston
- Warrick Dunn
- Kevin Jones
- DeShaun Foster
- Philadelphia Defense
- Travis Henry
- Jabar Gaffney
- Tennessee Defense
- Phil Dawson
- Carnell Williams
- Robert Meachem
- Devin Thomas
- Derrick Ward
- Dominic Rhodes
- Jamaal Charles
- Cedric Benson
- Roydell Williams
- Rock Cartwright
- Dennis Northcutt
- Bo Scaife
- Neil Rackers
- T.J. Duckett
- Chris Baker
- Muhsin Muhammed
- Kolby Smith
Round 1
My Pick
I’m extremely happy as the 1st team is a bit out of the loop here and chooses Adrian Peterson over LT. Seeing Tomlinson fall into my lap at #2 made me giddy inside… a great way to start off the roster!
Questionable Choices
Terrell Owens over Marion Barber, Clinton Portis and Marshawn Lynch is a huge reach… especially in a league where WR’s are a bit weak scoring wise. Also Derek Anderson over Carson Palmer, Drew Brees, and Ben Roethlisberger is just stupid.
Round 2
My Pick
Well in a league where you start 2 QB’s you’re gonna wanna snag some early… not to mention the fact that by this pick 8 other quarterbacks have already been taken. I can’t miss my chance to snag a nice pair of QB’s with these next two picks, so I start it off with an always solid Matt Hasselbeck. He has put up solid numbers since taking over the starting spot in Seattle and I have faith in him to lead this team.
Questionable Choices
There are a lot of dumb people in this draft apparently… and the one who chose Derek Anderson in round 1 never ceases to amaze again by picking Jason Witten in the start of the 2nd round. Witten is a great TE no doubt, but for starters he’s not better than Antonio Gates, and to add insult to injury, another TE wasn’t taken until round 4. Also… Ryan Grant, Laurence Maroney and Brandon Jacobs were all drafted BEFORE Maurice Jones-Drew…Drrrr
Round 3
My Pick
I finished off the QB pair with Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard. Garrard was hurt for the beginning of the year last year, but when he came back he recorded 18 td’s and only 3 interceptions… extremely impressive numbers. In the offseason the staff added some receiving power by signing Jerry Porter and Troy Williamson to take over the #1 and #2 receiver spots respectively. With Matt Jones, Dennis Northcutt and Reggie Williams also lined up at receiver, and Maurice Jones Drew and Fred Taylor pounding the ball on the ground, Garrard has a very impressive supporting cast with which to be successful with.
Questionable Picks
The same team that picked Anderson round 1 and Witten round 2 does it again… they take rookie RB Felix Jones of the Dallas Cowboys in the 3rd round… Backs taken after him included Reggie Bush, Earnest Graham, Edgerrin James, Jonathan Stewart, Fred Taylor and LenDale White. The kid was a Cowboys fan and was clearly breaking the “don’t be a homer” rule…
Round 4
My Pick
There are few elite TE’s in the league and when you’re starting 2 and most of the elite WR’s are gone… it’s well worth it to snag a great TE for your team. I grabbed Kellen Winslow who had a breakout year last year in the Browns stellar offense and whom I expect to have another great year in 2008. At this point I had 2 QB’s and 1 RB on the roster… so the choice was between a mediocre WR, an average RB or an elite TE and I chose to go with the elite option.
Questionable Picks
There wasn’t anything extremely questionable here… if I had to choose I would say Thomas Jones ahead of Edgerrin James, Julius Jones, Jonathan Stewart and Fred Taylor. Jones only had 1 total touchdown last year and as we all know, touchdowns are KEY!
Round 5
My Pick
It’s kind of ironic that I end up picking Bears rookie RB Matt Forte here after just writing the article about not sleeping on him. I was actually eyeing Kevin Smith but he was taken just a spot ahead of me, so I went with Matt Forte as my 2nd RB. Lovie Smith has a lot of faith in Forte and says that he’ll be handling the majority of the work load. Plus when you look at the RB’s drafted after him… you’ll see he was a great pick.
Questionable Picks
Alright we have two questionable picks in this round… first off, Rudi Johnson going in the 5th round… Now it’s a very deep league and I’m sure Rudi just went because he was there, but the fact of the matter is he can’t stay healthy, Watson gets the goal line carries and the Bengals never run the ball. 3 reasons right there why he should have been passed on. The 2nd one… Bobby Engram towards the end of the round. I like Engram, but he’s a bit of a reach here when receivers like Lee Evans, Hines Ward, Chris Chambers and Anthony Gonzalez are still on the board.
Round 6
My Pick
I had yet to draft a WR and to be honest I was looking for another RB to complete my starting RB lineup… however I felt I could snag the RB I wanted with my next pick, but wasn’t sure I could still get Cotchery. Although he is the #2 WR behind Coles, Cotchery showed the ability to be a great receiver in this league and I wanna have him on my team when he does so. To be honest I wanted to grab Lee Evans or Chris Chambers but both were taken earlier in the round.
Questionable Picks
Not much for questionable picks here… perhaps the Chicago pick… the 6th round is way to early to be grabbing a defense… however three other defenses were selected in the 7th so he managed to get the team he wanted. Other than that the other picks in the round were all pretty decent and nothing way out of reach.
Round 7
My Pick
Finding Chester Taylor sitting there at the top of the 7th round was almost as big of a gift as Tomlinson being there at #2 overall. People tend to forget that Taylor had over 1100 all purpose yards and 7 touchdowns despite sharing time with Adrian Peterson. Given Petersons fragile collarbone I’d expect the coaches to have the two runningbacks split carries again this year which means I practically got a starting RB here in the 7th round. Great value here and a nice way to top off my 3 starting rb’s.
Questionable Picks
The questionable picks are getting harder and harder to choose but here I think I’d have to go with the Javon Walker selection. This man can never stay healthy, and he was just a victim of a robbery in which he had to undergo surgery. Add to the fact that he’s on the Raiders and you got a pretty bad seed for a WR here… especially since Patrick Crayton, Derrick Mason and Bernard Berrian were all taken in the next round.
Round 8
My Pick
Bernard Berrian doesn’t seem to be getting much faith from fantasy players throughout the league, and I guess that’s with good cause. He now plays for the Vikings which are a pretty bad passing team, but if you look back to last year, he was on an even worse passing team with the Bears and he managed 951 yards and 5 touches. I have a lot more faith in Tarvaris Jackson than the QB tandem going on in Chicago so I expect Berrian to make some noise out in Minnesota.
Questionable Picks
Only questionable pick I’m seeing here is San Francisco QB Alex Smith. Now I know the 49ers are paying him all this money because he was a 1st round pick or whatever, but Shaun Hill was looking a lot better last year and I think will eventually beat out Smith for the starting spot… maybe even by the regular season.
Round 9
My Pick
I was still in need of 2 more WR’s even after the Berrian pick, and I was rather happy to find Bryant Johnson on the board. He did very solid behind the likes of Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald in Arizona, and now he’s the #1 in San Francisco. The QB situation isn’t too great, but as I said with Berrian that doesn’t always mean an unproductive season out of the WR’s. I’m hoping for Johnson to show that he deserves to be the number 1 guy and have a great year.
Questionable Picks
Kickers… in the 9th round. Give me a break. Kickers should be taken last… or within the last couple of rounds, not in the 9th round when there are still solid players available… this disgusts me.
Round 10
My Pick
This may have been a bit of a reach, but QB’s were starting to go again and I did not want to be stuck without a backup in this league. So I went with Falcons rookie quarterback Matt Ryan. Rookie QB’s are a danger in fantasy leagues for sure, but compared to everyone else who was left, he can’t be that bad. Could be a huge reach here, but we’ll see what happens.
Questionable Picks
This will be the last questionable picks chosen here because really anything after this is just bench fillers. Why would you take Chad Pennington? He wasn’t even a good fantasy option when he was a starter, now he’s on the bench and he’s an even worse option! The pickings were slim, but this is still a really questionable choice with some bright young potential still on the board.
Round 11
My Pick
Here was my sleeper pick as anyone who reads the site would know. I had Keller on my queue for the longest time to take my second TE spot and I just couldn’t risk waiting any longer. Good thing I didn’t, as soon as I picked him I got a bunch of moans and groans out of a few of the other drafters. Keller has been lining up at the slot position for the Jets in mini-camp so he could be used as an Antonio Gates type player.
Round 12
My Pick
Here I chose another sleeper pick who I’ve yet to write about, New York Giants WR Steve Smith. In his rookie season he was a huge reason for the success that the Giants shared in the playoffs and the Superbowl. Now that he feels comfortable in the position and with the speed of the NFL he should become a very nice target for Eli Manning in 2008. He takes my 4th and final starting WR spot, hopefully he won’t let me down.
Round 13
My Pick
I went with another sleeper here in Denver Broncos rookie RB Ryan Torain. I’ve heard a lot of good things coming from Coach Shanahan about this kid and he seems to be impressing the staff. Not to mention Denver RB’s are gems when one is finally chosen. I’ll gladly take the chance here in the 13th round on some RB depth.
Round 14
My Pick
The defenses pretty much flew off the board already and I had to snag one before they were all gone. Tennessee’s defense wasn’t the best last year, but they put up decent enough points to help me out on a weekly basis. They’re a very fast and physical defense and I hope to see them improve this year.
Round 15
My Pick
I found myself with only four wide receivers, enough to fill the starting spots, and realized shit I need some depth. Lucky for me Robert Meachem was on the board… he didn’t do anything in his rookie year, but he’s been climbing draft boards all offseason. With Drew Brees back to 100% and in the swing of things, Meachem should definitely benefit and could find himself on my starting roster before long.
My Final Team
Quarterbacks
- Matt Hasselbeck
- David Garrard
- Matt Ryan
Wide Receivers
- Jerricho Cotchery
- Bernard Berrian
- Bryant Johnson
- Steve Smith
- Robert Meachem
- Troy Williamson
- Andre Caldwell
- Lavelle Hawkins
Runningbacks
- LaDainian Tomlinson
- Matt Forte
- Chester Taylor
- Ryan Torain
- Maurice Morris
- Pierre Thomas
Tight Ends
- Kellen Winslow
- Dustin Keller
- Anthony Fasano
Kickers
- Jason Elam
- Shaun Suisham
Defense
- Tennessee Titans
- Kansas City Chiefs
- San Francisco 49ers
There it is… not a half bad team for a league with 16 teams and so many starters. Hopefully this draft sample helped you to plan your draft strategy by giving you an idea of which rounds players typically go in. Hope you enjoyed!
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