Monday, August 10, 2009

Fantasy Football Index Expert Auction Draft

Now that the Fantasy Football magazines have hit the bookstore shelves, I can discuss some of my expert teams. Today I am analyzing my Fantasy Football Index Mock Auction team. You can find the entire draft along with my rankings in Fantasy Football Index 2009 Draft Guide on the following pages;

Fantasy Expert Player Rankings page 44-61 (Including a Question and Answer Interview on Tight Ends on page 61
Expert Mock Auction pages 68-73

11 Experts (Including Chris Harris-ESPN, Dave Gerczak-BFD FF, David Dodds-FFGuys and Scott Pianowksi-Yahoo!) and 1 Fantasy Index reader particapated on May 17 in this auction. Each team starts with a $200 auction budget and must pick 22 players for a starting roster of 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 K and 1 DEF.

Last year I finished a close second to Ian Allen after leading for much of the final stretch. A hurt MB3 wrecked any chance of holding on to first place.

It is a DraftMasters (or DraftExperts) format. This means it is a best ball format where there are no free agent pickups during the season. So it is a “draft and forget” league where the computer will automatically start the player with the best performance for the week for you. My team is below with the bid cost.

Fantasy Football Guidebook
QB Donovan McNabb 16
Carson Palmer 11

RB Chris Johnson 48
Brandon Jacobs 36
Larry Johnson 15
Ahmad Bradshaw 5
LaMont Jordan 1
Michael Pittman 1

WR Anquan Boldin 19
Antonio Bryant 11
Lance Moore 8
Kevin Curtis 5
Derrick Mason 4
Devery Henderson 3
Patrick Crayton 2
Austin Collie 1

TE Owen Daniels 6
Brandon Pettigrew 2

K Nick Folk 1
Shayne Graham 1

DEF Chicago Bears 2
Baltimore Ravens 2

Overall I think it is fairly strong at every position except WR. I am hoping that Boldin and Bryant can be good enough WR1 and WR2 and the others can come up with a WR3 every week I have two NO WRs in Lance Moore and D Henderson so I am hoping for a good year again for Drew Brees. Kevin Curtis could surprise if the rookie J Maclin is slow to produce for Phil.

In the magazine, they ask me to discuss my outlook for Larry Johnson.
“I am cautiously optimsitic about LJ as he and KC seem to have kissed and made up. He had a good rushing avg in 2008 (4.5 yards per carry) and with Matt Cassel at QB should not see as many eight-man fronts. He is Kansas City’s starter and I see a healthy LJ with 1,250 yards and 8 TDs.”

Best picks: Either QB and Owen Daniels for $6 I think he could be a Top 5 TE this year.

Regrets: Pulling the trigger on Chris Johnson for $48. I wish I had waited and gotten two lesser RBs for $40 and saved some of those dollars for later in the draft. $1 later in the draft is worth a ton more than $1 early on when bidding is crazy!

Read more in Fantasy Index Magazine in stores now!

Sam Hendricks, author
Fantasy Football Tips ($9.95) http://www.amazon.com/0982428669
Fantasy Football Guidebook: Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95 on sale for $17.95) http://www.amazon.com/1602640203

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