FADUCO DRAFT REVIEW PART 2

Kevin

American Idol – Chris Daughtry Overconfidence award. I had high hopes for Kevin this year due to his keeper roster mix. He would have been my favorite to win the Caucasian division with a solid draft. This he did, but he also helped allow Bill to slip up to the #1 draft spot. As I’ve repeated before, Kevin did not gain much from trading his spot in the first 2 rounds, but he let his division rival profit. As with Daughtry, Kevin may ultimately become very successful, but in this contest, he did not come out on top.

The Good:
Kevin’s picks were all very sensible, combining proven performance with a couple of popular internet “sleeper” picks like Santonio Holmes and Jay Cutler. He drafted for depth and balance. A few of his bench players would be worthy starters for other teams. Despite being preoccupied with his baby shower, Kevin came through on draft day with his selections.

The Bad:
Denver defense may not turn out to be the preseason darling it was. The starters did not look sharp in the preseason given the roster reputation on paper. They do have some favorable matchups, and Kevin could always drop his backup TE to play rotating defenses.

The Ugly:
Unlike last year, Kevin learned his lesson and drafted a nice backup QB. Asides from his draft trades, the only quibble would be that Kevin didn’t draft any handcuffs. However, Addai and to a certain extent Westbrook still have an unsettled backup situation that can make handcuffing premature at this time.

Draft Grade: B+
Overall Grade: B+

Draft grade took a slight hit due to trading away his spot to Bill. This is a solid team overall, it should be consistent but may not put up high scores of the week regularly. However, if Westbrook remains healthy and Addai becomes the stud I think he will be, the Asians won’t be able to use Kevin as a whipping boy anymore. The tradeoff between depth and efficiency may mean a few heartbreaking losses, but Kevin’s team does have a playoff look to it.

Larry

American Idol – William Hung category. Ironic to compare this team to an Asian, I know. There were so many curious decisions by Larry this draft that this may be the year the streak ends. The streak where the previous year’s loser makes the playoffs in the new year. Trading down to get a washed up RB? Taking 2 Kickers in a row? Deliberately taking on the Madden Curse for the 2^nd year in a row? All the makings of fantasy disaster.

The Good:
Ok, my theory after looking at Larry’s roster is that he will not have to spend a single dollar on add/drops for bye weeks. There’s a sub for every position. This may be genius, since if you come in last and spend $0.00, you are actually ahead of coming in 5^th and spending $60.00 trying to catch the last playoff spot. And Larry has 2 stud kickers.

The Bad:
But this also means you probably won’t win any weekly high scores.

The Ugly:
Most of the ugliness has already been compared to William Hung. As Larry shown last year, he can describe his situation much more eloquently than me. The thing is that I don’t even know if tanking this season will benefit Larry, since he is just as likely to throw away his first overall pick in a trade. Who would you rather have? Maurice Jones Drew + Matt Leinart or Jamal Lewis + Vince Young? Or maybe even Maurice Jones Drew + Vince Young (Andrew, let me know who was your top QB choice of the two). Were there some future draft picks in 2008 that I’m not aware of?

Draft Grade: D
Overall Grade: C-

Larry could have asked for the #4 spot a few days before the draft order was set, but the delay forced him to trade it away. Unlike Kevin, trading down actually hurt Larry since he lost out on a chance for a young, primary ballcarrier. Too many If conditions for the team to succeed, it looks like another year of looking up to other teams in the division standings.

PJ

American Idol – Taylor Hicks (Narrow fan base). Except for his QBs and Adrian Peterson, I think all of PJ’s picks have a connection to Florida, especially the Miami area. After a few years of unsuccessful attempts at diversification, PJ has now returned to his homeys. Such unabashed homerism (hmmmm....donuts) can lead to joyful Sundays followed by bitter Mondays.

The Good:
Got a future all-star in Adrian Peterson. Has a slightly more reliable QB than Grossman this time in Hasselbeck. Alex Smith could be a keeper, if he busts out this year. Nice handcuff pick for Ronnie Brown with the Jesse Chatman selection.

The Bad:
Picking two QBs in a row, both of whom are probably more suited as #2 QBs this season. PJ has historically waited till the later rounds to draft a QB. PJ also historically has been very inefficient at starting QBs (See Rex Grossman circa 2006). Smith does have upside, but starting him could also mean PJ getting negative points again on occasion.

The Ugly:
Nothing on this year’s team could top the infamous Grossman start of last season.

Draft Grade: B-
Overall Grade: C+

I’m not sure PJ has a really tragic team this season, it’s just not scaring anyone. I think part of the reason is that there are no real home run hitters except maybe for TO and maybe AD in the latter half of the season. This team would fare better in a yardage league it seems.

Tuna

American Idol – Katherine Mcphee (Pretty to look at, but underachieving). Lots of famous names in his roster, but I’m not sure this roster will gel. Efficiency may be poor due to a bevy of undistinguishable running backs and the lack of a primary wideout except for Lee Evans.

The Good:
Went long on Patriots passing game, with selection of Stallworth and Moss to complement keeper Tom Brady. Tuna will make everyone else in the league hate the Pats. Trade with Donny weakened a division rival in the RB department tremendously, doesn’t matter if Lamont Jordan turns out to be a bust for Tuna.

The Bad:
However, Brady may be too distraught over Michigan’s loss this past weekend to function effectively in the near future. Like me, his passion for football may have died a little. Unlike me, his other distractions like a hot supermodel girlfriend and having a child out of wedlock may keep his focus out of football a bit longer.

The Ugly:
Going long on the Buffalo Bills is not the same thing as going long on the Patriots. Also, needs a backup QB and had to spend $3 to pick up a kicker of all positions to spend money on.

Draft Grade: C
Overall Grade: B-

Tuna hopes his focus on quantity of RBs means one of them will bust out to help McGahee. It’s always a bit pointless to grade Tuna since he turns over his roster a lot through trades and free agent moves, but I will predict another year of either just missing the playoffs or a first round exit again.

Victor

American Idol - Kelly Clarkson (Proven record). The winningest team of the keeper era, but the latest hits may not be gold. Victor may have peaked last year. his draft this year does not seem to match the depth of last year. No handcuffs were drafted, and an injury to a starter would cripple his chances of repeating.

The Good:
Was able to grab the #2 rated player on his draft board, but Jerrious Norwood by no means a sure thing. Avoided temptation to stock up on WR “sleepers”. Good mix of proven players (McAllister, Coles, Pitt D) with up-and-coming players (Norwood, Brown, Vernon Davis)

The Bad:
May have reached on the Raiders defense and has to hope Brett Favre doesn’t have one of his 4 INT days when he subs for Peyton.

The Ugly:
If Larry Johnson or Frank Gore go down, Victor will fade back to the middle of the pack and won’t be able to hold off a team with momentum. Speaking of ugly, I was able to dodge a bullet in my draft party when the wireless connection went kaput. Fortunately, Hai was able to use my desktop to draft for Donny and me, while Bill and Tuna were also able to connect their laptops to the wired ports. Otherwise, the draft party could have turned to a lynching party.

Draft Grade: B-
Overall Grade: A-

Still the favorite going in the season, but with less room for error this time. Also, off-the-field distractions and less output this year from Victor’s secret websites may make this team fail to spot trends and become less active in the free agent market. So it’s unlikely this team will hit the jackpot with a Maurice Jones Drew or a Marques Colston this year.