Bitch Slappin' Coordinators

Oh wait, that's my other fantasy football team name.....

Had the WAC fantasy football draft on Thursday night, and a day later, I'm still not sure how I feel about my team. This year, I don't have to carry Dan Schultz on my shoulders, but we'll see how it goes.

This was an 'auction' draft, where you decide how much of your 'salary cap' you want to spend on a particular player. We had a cap of $360 dollars, and you had to select 2 QB's, 2 RB's, 2 WR's, TE, K, and a team defense with the $360 dollars. You had to leave at least $3 on the table to select bench players. I kinda like the setup, and it's a nice change of pace from a regular draft. Each person would throw out a name, and the bidding would start on that player going around the table.

The highest 'paid' player was McNabb, at $96. In order, the top ten were....
2t - Favre $93
2t - Shawn Alexander $93
4t - Tomlinson $91
4t - Culpepper $91
6t - Manning $88
6t - Moss $88
8t - Harrison $86
8t - McGahee $86

Other notables:
Holmes $85
Owens $68
Gates $56
E. James $80
Freddy (Groin) Taylor $1

I'm not kidding about Freddy. I picked him up in the bench round for a dollar. No one other than Nort got it when I said, "Okay, start your groin jokes now, but Fred Taylor for $1." Nort laughed, and nobody else blinked.

My roster consists of the following. Please hold your applause/boos for the end. Prices paid in parenthesis.
QB - Chad Pennington (22), Kurt Warner (11)
RB - Kevin Jones (52), Jamal Lewis (57)
WR - Marvin Harrison (86), Randy Moss (88)
TE - Todd Heap (31)
K - Jeff Wilkins (1)
Def - Jacksonville (3)
Bench - Fred Taylor (1)
Bench - JP Loseman (1)
Bench - Travis Henry (1)

I'm really happy with the runningbacks and receivers. Moss and Harrison, two top-ten players in a normal draft. I paid out of the nose for them, so that means that one or both will suck it up this year.

I was most pleased with Jamal Lewis. This dude is STRAIGHT out of prison. You think he won't run with a little giddy-up in his step this year? Plus, he has to play against Cincy's defense, and Cleveland's defense TWICE each this year. Look out. And for only 57bucks? He's another top-ten player in a regular style draft. Kevin Jones, well..... hey, I got Kevin Jones! Not sure what else to say, other than he'll be the Detroit workhorse. Harrington BETTER get his act together with those wideouts so they don't stack 8 in the box.

I didn't over pay at TE ( most TE's were going for 25-40, with the exception of Gonzalez (71)), and I'm happy with Heap.

Rams' usually can score some points, and Wilkins' home is in a dome. Rams' defense is suspect at best, so they might get in some shootouts. At least I can dream.

Jacksonville usually has a tough defense, but I'm hoping for a few more defensive scores. They get the takeaways and the sacks, and don't give up the points, but don't put too many on the board. I'll give em at least 3 weeks to turn that around.

Now the Quarterbacks. I've actually had Pennington in one league or another for the last 3 years. He has a good TD/INT ratio, but is not a barn burner when it comes to fantasy points. I think he's playing with a chip on his shoulder ( no pun intended to his injury from the offseason ), and I'm going to ride this train one more year. As for Warner.... oh boy. The pickings were getting a little slim at this point when I needed one more QB. Harrington was still on the board, as was Leftwich, McNair, Carr, Bledsoe, E.Manning, and Aaron Brooks. All kinda scary choices to go to bed with, and Warner is no exception. But Dennis Green went out of his way to get Warner, so he isn't looking over his shoulder at McCown, and he has Fitzgerald and Boldin to throw to. I hope the deal he signed with the Devil that got him his 2 MVP's has a clause for another good year in it. But he's in the best situation since Bulger came of age, and he better take advantage.

So all in all, I'm not unhappy with my team, but also didn't come walking away thinking I had by far the best team in the draft. It'll make for an interesting season.