Sneaking a Peek....
Rambling before week 1...
So the time is finally here....BIGFFBL week 1 games. Its a great time of year, the leaves are starting to change, the Rails are fresh off their annual jacking of the 'Jacks and Team Goo is still in the playoff hunt.The question is, what will this season bring? This column will take a look back at the draft as a possible predictor of who has the lead out of the gate. I'm going at this with a twist though, Jugs and Juice probably did some sort of actual analysis that has basis. I'm going to take a single pick from each team, could be a keeper or could be the 14th rounder, and pretty much judge their whole team on that. Now for those of you worried that I'm going to get Jugs worked up and he's gonna fill your email boxes - don't. I probably will get Jugs worked up but since Smitty has made a nice message board for us, Jugs can post all the stuff he wants and Ben won't have a full email box related coronary.
So we'll start off with your's truly. In the 8th round, Air JC selected Mike Vanderjagt....yes, the first kicker taken. Should I have waited till I had taken my 4th RB and WR first?
Abbey (to Jed): "You're a bright guy, and that's a stupid question."
And the answer to that question is NO! When a guy has his top 3 RB's and WR's, a starting QB and TE, why not take the top kicker on the board? Even moreso than a D since grabbing the top kicker who happens to play in a dome is always a good move when the other bases are already covered. Where will it get me? That remains to be seen, but I'll bet that Vande will have a couple 4 or 5 FG games that will win me an extra 1 or 2.
Next up, The Flying Hellfish. This season, dedicated to DJ I'm guessing, began with the 'Fish taking the 1st Defense off the board only a couple picks after the Vanderjagt pick.
Bartlet: "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE THINKING?"
I think that was pretty much what was running through Jugs's mind after the 8th round, but Suomala already had 2 QB's, 3 RB's, a pair of WR's and a great pick in TE Antonio Gates. Why not grab the top D on the board? These two picks (Vandy and NE) will face Jugs a total of 4 times this year, and wouldn't it just be sweet to bring a couple extra losses to the Fantasy Superior using a draft strategy that he doesn't believe in.
Now, on to Mike's Inside Straights.... I need to make an exception to the single pick analysis, since Mike made four that should be mentioned.
Will: "We're having trouble with the Democrats."
CJ: "Wow, along with the Republicans. That's kind of
everyone."\
Change 'Democrats' to rookies and 'Republicans' to veterans and that could describe Mike's team. His selecting four rookies (three more than any other BIG squad) will prove to be a mistake in the long run. Kevin Jones, Larry Fitzgerald, Tatum Bell and Eli Manning may have good years....but the question is what year that will be. As for the veterans, Bennett, Shockey, Stollworth and Dayne are more the types of guys that keep the medical field employed instead of the types of guys that win championships.
And now to finish off the Bison Division....your Fantasy Superior. Jugsie puts in the time but hasn't got the reward just quite yet. In this draft he made one beautiful pick (which I admit I copied and used in the late rounds in one of my other drafts).
CJ: "What's your point?"
Barrow: "That I know more about this you do."
I have a feeling that almost all of us had no idea about Boldin's possible return midseason. Jugs did and took advantage of it by grabbing the stud WR in the 12th round as his WR4. Great, great, great pick. Almost makes me forget that he already had 3 QB's and 2 TE's before that point....but I digress. Jugsie will be sure to fight for the Bison Division title and with Boldin back mid-season, he'll get a big boost.
Let's move on to the Bulldogs....calm down Wong, not the Absolute/Kahlua variety, nor the Grey Goose/Schmirnoff, but the annual best division in the BIGFFBL. Jonny C's LB's are up first. This team is being put up on a pedestal as one of the top squads coming out of the draft and with the LB's track record in this league, why not?
Will: "I need to see my bed, I'm thinking of carrying a picture of it on my wallet."
Awesome (lucky?) pick in the 10th round of William Green. The LB's are looking strong, but with Suggs already having some injury problems, if Green gets some carries he could be huge in backing up Freddy and Westbrook on this team. This team looks good, but as in every season for the Bulldog Division will have to fight hard to come out on top.
Jason's Little Red Horse is next.... Let's talk a little about the LRH 4th round, all 3 picks there. Andre Johnson then Eddie George then Randy McMichael. One was solid, one was okay and one sucks hind teet....
Leo (to Josh): "You have to go back and tell him no. In no uncertain terms. Draw a picture if you need it. A ballot in a circle with a line through it."
So the good pick was..... Randy McMichael. With the brutal QB and RB situation (for the time being anyway) in Miami, the check off pass will have to be thrown early and often and McMichael will be the beneficiary. The OK pick was Johnson....Jason could have grabbed Chambers, Price or Javon Walker, but Johnson should be solid. The crappy pick is that piece of crap Eddie George. I do thank Jason for taking him so I could not. I think that similar to the above quote, that I need to keep a picture of Eddie with a line through his face with me at each draft to ensure I never touch him again.
On to Smitty's Fat British Pigeons. First off, I'm not quite sure where the name came from but I like it. I think it'll bring some good karma to the team formerly known as Team Smitty, Team Smith and the lesser known Sara Rules. This team made great use of their extra pick from 'The Trade'.
Donna: "Schadenfreude?"
CJ: "You know, enjoying the suffering of others. The
whole rationale behind the House of Representatives."
So the extra pick being enjoyed by Smitty turned out to be none other than Stephen Davis as his 3rd RB. Wow. Quite a stable Smith put together, but his QB depth sure suffered because of it. Having to rely on Brad Johnson, Drew Bledsoe and Rex Grossman would not get me to do cartwheels of joy.
On to our defending champion....Team 'LT' Juice. How does it work that the good Dr. wins both the BIGFFBL and F**kers championships with the strength of LT and then gets him back in both leagues the next year? I know ours is a keeper league, but LT is as big of a handicap as a guy can get considering A) he's really really good and B) he plays on a very very bad team and C) Drew Brees can't throw any further than 10 yards.
Russell: "I'm playing with a handicap... the spare tire on the automobile of government."
Forgetting LT for a second, Juice's pick of Brettski baffles me. He took Aaron Brooks a few rounds earlier and was in need of another WR or RB much worse than the backup QB. But then again, Brooks may end up being Fav-re's backup since the Bouman shadow has loomed over the past couple months in the rumor mill. Either way, I think that Juice may have handcuffed himself a little by not grabbing a 3rd WR before his 2nd QB....BUT, with LT's potential to put up 35+ regularly, Juice will not finish in the bottom half of this league.
Finally, on to the Husky Division. We'll start it out with Rico, who has completed his final draft as a single man....we think. I could focus on the fact that he took 4 Arizona players or that most of you probably can't name 4 Arizona players that are healthy, but that isn't too much fun. Instead let's focus on the old men.
Donna (to Josh): "Your birthday is not for you, it's for the rest of us."
And wow have Terry Glenn, Emmitt Smith and Vinnie Testaverde gone through a lot of birthday candles in their day. Richie took them all, but I suppose it is fitting since a lot of old folks move to Phoenix in their retirement days. The GOO squad should be ok though with Peyton and Ahman leading the show, but the lack of depth will hurt Richie in his battle for the division.
Nookie's pick to focus on is Jeremy Shockey Jr.....aka, Kellen Winslow. He has the talent, attitude and mouth to rival Shockey as one of the most hated players in the league....and with his selfish holdout to open his career, he better produce.
Bartlet: "Well, I'm not going to negotiate with anyone who holds a gun to my head. We had a deal. I don't care if my approval ratings drop into single digits. I am the President of the United States, and I will leave the government shut down until we come to an equitable agreement."
Equitable meaning that Kellen gets his guaranteed coin and a bag of hate mail each week from regular working Americans. Capitalism, what a deal. But back to Nookie, Portis and Garner (not quite Portis and Jamal) will leave Ben longing for the past....but Mike Vick returning to form could clear the memory of last year and give Nookie a boost toward the Husky Division title.
Team Tang or Team Jonny or Scuttlebutt is our second to last team. Jonny's move to talk about is the Matt Hasselbeck pick in the 3rd round. Why? Well, his keeper was Daunte and his next three picks were RB, RB, WR. So, taking a 2nd QB before a 2nd WR or 3rd RB is a move that will make Jugs call for mommy in his sleep (and thankfully she is not too far away).
Toby: "The fate of the world just hung on a Bingo Bob brainstorm... we need a better plan."
Well, maybe not the world, but Jonny's 2004 chances. The reason the Hasselbeck pick was brutal is cause he and Daunte HAVE THE SAME BYE WEEK. This makes it much worse than my McSuck/Bledsoe double up of last year because what is the point of having these two guys? Trade bait? Seems like someone is playing for 2005 already, but then again, it is just my myopic opinion.
And finally, last and least (according to some other projections out there), is the new HHH grad student Wonger. For those of you that don't know, Wong is back in graduate school studying public policy related topics at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School. How that is relevant, I do not know, but it did fill a little space. Wong's pick of Terrell Owens is the easy one to pick on.
Leo: "I've got ten bucks says you're banging your
head against a wall."
Josh: "Twenty."
Yea, I would be too if my first round pick of T.O. came before Peyton Manning, Marshall Faulk and Kevin Barlow were still on the board. I just don't see the value in that and unless Wong got a steal with Thomas Jones in the next round, the LD's could be in for a long season.
That's all I've got....enjoy the games tomorrow boys and have a great opening weekend.
Need I say more?
BIGFFBL senior writer Jeremy Carlson sounds off whenever he feels like it on www.bigffbl.com