Last night, the Asians participated in a draft in Tuna's brother's league. Well, Hai handed the reins to Yen, and thereby made the draft an "interesting" one. Hai wasn't present, but I was. Using a much slower version of the sportsline draft engine, the nfl.com draft room was a disaster. I kept on having to hit F5 to refresh my screen and almost autodrafted my first pick since I didn't realize it was my turn. Anyways, there was much name-calling at Yen from the Fantasy wolves starting the 2nd round onwards. Picking at the 10th spot (thereby the 3rd pick of the 2nd round), she drafted.... Eli Manning ?!?!??!!. Oh well, my first ever draft in 1999 was an unmitigated disaster (Jake Plummer in 2nd round????), so I wasn't as harsh on her as Donny and Tuna were.
Now to the second group of FADUCO draftees. Since we've been doing this for almost 10 years now, the picks here are much wiser. However, I'm sure for most of us, this drafting wisdom has been paid for with the blood of past busts and mistakes.
Kevin
The Good: Maybe Andrew saved Kevin from himself. Big Ben is a safer pick that Derek Anderson. Since Kevin wouldn't have a 3rd round pick till much later, he went ahead and drafted a TE. All the stud TEs would have been gone by the 3rd round. I may have been a bit rash criticizing that pick at the time, so I retract my criticism of Witten in the 2nd round. Also, compared to Yen, got Eli Manning in effectively the 7th round of a regular 12-team draft.
The Bad: There isn't much depth behind the 2 stud RBs. No handcuffing either. We'll see if picking 3 RL-backups will be worth it.
The Ugly: Week 2 Monday night, Eagles @ Cowboys. What would happen if reformed(?) thug Pacman Jones returns an INT for a TD and Jason Witten catches one also? Will Kevin curse or cheer?
Draft Grade: B
Overall Grade: A-
Larry
The Good: By handing over the steering wheel to Bill, Larry avoided another shipwreck of a draft. Larry's team accordingly drafted to needs. With the #1 pick, Larry this year selected the consensus #1 FADUCO pick instead of trading it away or going with a wildcard. Instead of trying to shore up a weakness in his RBs, I like Larry's strategy of elevating the other positions to a strength like TE, K and DST. When you're 4-24 the past 2 seasons, it may be time for some out-of-the-box thinking.
The Bad: QBs will make or break Larry's season. Vince Young is a high-risk pick who may have been a reach. Cutler, Hasselbeck, Rivers, Delhomme, even Eli were all available. At least Larry recovered somewhat with Rivers. Running back depth is shallow, but Larry can go 3 WRs.
The Ugly: Bill has given Larry a solid team, but will Larry find the time to manage it properly or will we see a "shadow" manager emerge? Larry may be risking physical harm this year just to play, I'm praying for his safety.
Draft Grade: B+
Overall Grade: C+
PJ
The Good: Blessed with 3 of the strongest keepers in the league, PJ shored up the 4th one by investing in the Miami ground game. The Tuna will keep Ricky Williams in line, at least the first half of the season, while Ronnie Brown recovers. PJ also got a relative bargain with projected 1st round pick Jonathan Stewart in the 2nd round. Also, PJ avoided my scorn this year with his QB picks, as there will be no efficiency questions or issues with starting Tony Romo compared to Jason Campbell. No, this isn't a backhanded compliment on Jason Campbell's worth. None at all.
The Bad: WRs are very blah after TO. PJ's team looks like it will go as the Cowboys go. No safety net with this team. The Raiders would have been a good pick 2 years ago, last year they were unspectacular. May have reached for the always-overrated Shockey in the 3rd round.
The Ugly: Picking a kicker in the 4th round is very perplexing. Especially one whose coach didn't trust for a 40+ yarder in the biggest game of last year. What koolaid flavor were you drinking when you made that pick, PJ? Whiskey or rum?
Draft Grade: B-
Overall Grade: B+
Tuna
The Good: Got potential keepers in the first 2 rounds who can become primary instead of RRBC backs. Tuna has always been adept at identifying veteran WRs who still contribute, and the Nate Burleson pick looks pretty savvy. Both TEs have good upsides, and chances are either one will represent Tuna well this season.
The Bad: WR depth after Burleson not very spectacular. Also, drafting the 2 rookie RBs means they may hit the wall around week 12, so production for the playoffs may be iffy. Still, no significant weaknesses on this playoff-caliber team.
The Ugly: There may be some lopsided trades in the future as Tuna's RBs have some trading currency. It's always tough to grade Tuna since he's always good for at least one blockbuster trade during the season. Tuna may still be a bit vulnerable to cold weather game freezes by the Pats further down the road.
Draft Grade: B
Overall Grade: B+
Victor
The Good: Made the correct call with drafting Chris Perry as the projected Cinncy RB starter. Also, given his past less-than-stellar of drafting RBs in the early rounds, Victor went with solid WRs this time in the early rounds and managed to get the sleeper RBs in the later rounds.
The Bad: WR depth is shallow unless Anthony Gonzalez takes over Marvin Harrison's position. Team isn't as flexible since it's not currently built to handle 3 WR starters. Not that it's a big problem $3 can't solve, but K Rob Bironas may actually be out for week 1.
The Ugly: Time will tell, but in rounds 1, 3, and 5 Hai kept taking Victor's queued picks. Like last season, there may not be any "star" performers asides from the usual Peyton and Defense of the Week. If the sleeper picks don't pan out, Peyton may be the only pro-bowl player on Victor's roster. If they do work out towards the second half, it may just be too late and the season then becomes a rebuilding one.
Draft Grade: C+
Overall Grade: B
Now to the second group of FADUCO draftees. Since we've been doing this for almost 10 years now, the picks here are much wiser. However, I'm sure for most of us, this drafting wisdom has been paid for with the blood of past busts and mistakes.
Kevin
The Good: Maybe Andrew saved Kevin from himself. Big Ben is a safer pick that Derek Anderson. Since Kevin wouldn't have a 3rd round pick till much later, he went ahead and drafted a TE. All the stud TEs would have been gone by the 3rd round. I may have been a bit rash criticizing that pick at the time, so I retract my criticism of Witten in the 2nd round. Also, compared to Yen, got Eli Manning in effectively the 7th round of a regular 12-team draft.
The Bad: There isn't much depth behind the 2 stud RBs. No handcuffing either. We'll see if picking 3 RL-backups will be worth it.
The Ugly: Week 2 Monday night, Eagles @ Cowboys. What would happen if reformed(?) thug Pacman Jones returns an INT for a TD and Jason Witten catches one also? Will Kevin curse or cheer?
Draft Grade: B
Overall Grade: A-
Larry
The Good: By handing over the steering wheel to Bill, Larry avoided another shipwreck of a draft. Larry's team accordingly drafted to needs. With the #1 pick, Larry this year selected the consensus #1 FADUCO pick instead of trading it away or going with a wildcard. Instead of trying to shore up a weakness in his RBs, I like Larry's strategy of elevating the other positions to a strength like TE, K and DST. When you're 4-24 the past 2 seasons, it may be time for some out-of-the-box thinking.
The Bad: QBs will make or break Larry's season. Vince Young is a high-risk pick who may have been a reach. Cutler, Hasselbeck, Rivers, Delhomme, even Eli were all available. At least Larry recovered somewhat with Rivers. Running back depth is shallow, but Larry can go 3 WRs.
The Ugly: Bill has given Larry a solid team, but will Larry find the time to manage it properly or will we see a "shadow" manager emerge? Larry may be risking physical harm this year just to play, I'm praying for his safety.
Draft Grade: B+
Overall Grade: C+
PJ
The Good: Blessed with 3 of the strongest keepers in the league, PJ shored up the 4th one by investing in the Miami ground game. The Tuna will keep Ricky Williams in line, at least the first half of the season, while Ronnie Brown recovers. PJ also got a relative bargain with projected 1st round pick Jonathan Stewart in the 2nd round. Also, PJ avoided my scorn this year with his QB picks, as there will be no efficiency questions or issues with starting Tony Romo compared to Jason Campbell. No, this isn't a backhanded compliment on Jason Campbell's worth. None at all.
The Bad: WRs are very blah after TO. PJ's team looks like it will go as the Cowboys go. No safety net with this team. The Raiders would have been a good pick 2 years ago, last year they were unspectacular. May have reached for the always-overrated Shockey in the 3rd round.
The Ugly: Picking a kicker in the 4th round is very perplexing. Especially one whose coach didn't trust for a 40+ yarder in the biggest game of last year. What koolaid flavor were you drinking when you made that pick, PJ? Whiskey or rum?
Draft Grade: B-
Overall Grade: B+
Tuna
The Good: Got potential keepers in the first 2 rounds who can become primary instead of RRBC backs. Tuna has always been adept at identifying veteran WRs who still contribute, and the Nate Burleson pick looks pretty savvy. Both TEs have good upsides, and chances are either one will represent Tuna well this season.
The Bad: WR depth after Burleson not very spectacular. Also, drafting the 2 rookie RBs means they may hit the wall around week 12, so production for the playoffs may be iffy. Still, no significant weaknesses on this playoff-caliber team.
The Ugly: There may be some lopsided trades in the future as Tuna's RBs have some trading currency. It's always tough to grade Tuna since he's always good for at least one blockbuster trade during the season. Tuna may still be a bit vulnerable to cold weather game freezes by the Pats further down the road.
Draft Grade: B
Overall Grade: B+
Victor
The Good: Made the correct call with drafting Chris Perry as the projected Cinncy RB starter. Also, given his past less-than-stellar of drafting RBs in the early rounds, Victor went with solid WRs this time in the early rounds and managed to get the sleeper RBs in the later rounds.
The Bad: WR depth is shallow unless Anthony Gonzalez takes over Marvin Harrison's position. Team isn't as flexible since it's not currently built to handle 3 WR starters. Not that it's a big problem $3 can't solve, but K Rob Bironas may actually be out for week 1.
The Ugly: Time will tell, but in rounds 1, 3, and 5 Hai kept taking Victor's queued picks. Like last season, there may not be any "star" performers asides from the usual Peyton and Defense of the Week. If the sleeper picks don't pan out, Peyton may be the only pro-bowl player on Victor's roster. If they do work out towards the second half, it may just be too late and the season then becomes a rebuilding one.
Draft Grade: C+
Overall Grade: B
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