Expert league drafting for experts in the expert off-season

Posted by Jacob
July 16, 2008

For a week now, I’ve been participating in an ongoing draft put together by JunkyardJake.com. Other than a few small mocks, this draft is my first of the 2008 fantasy football season, and it’s also the earliest I have ever tried to put a team together for fantasy football.

Drafting this early is sort of like trying to sketch a picture of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s new twins before you’ve even seen them — and no, it’s not just hard because they still always look like stick figures. You know that it’s got to be some world-ending, judgment day kind of beauty when these fantasy studs come together in training camp, but without seeing it live and in-person, there’s still that level of unpredictability. Your rookie stud could burnout in training camp, your veteran’s injury could continue to flair up until he hits the PUP list and/or your sure-thing WR3 could get passed on the depth chart. Hey, the twins could end up being the most horrifying sight since Flava Flav returned to television. At this point, we just have to play off what we know and a lot of coach speak.

And for the record, until the Brangelina twins are seen in public not shooting fiery red lasers from their eyeballs and demanding us to bow before them, I’m ducking every time I hear thunder.

The consolation for drafting this early is, of course, that I reinforce my ability to throw around my credentials as an “expert” and abuse power once again…as validated by a third party…which is not my mother.

Then there’s the other (real) benefit of drafting this early: my readers as well as the readers of all these other esteemed fantasy football outlets get to see what several fantasy football minds think before their own drafts when it comes down to guts, glory and the possession of this trophy. My mantel cries out for it — and not just because it could potentially double as a bottle opener.

I plan on discussing the draft and breaking down my own team once it has completed, but in the meantime, you can check out the running commentary on the expert draft from Smitty over at Fantasy Football Xtreme. I already received credit (see: hatred of all involved) by snagging the potential “steal of the entire draft,” near the end of the third.

Who was the biggest steal of this round? Try at 3.10. That is insane value! In fact, this was probably the steal of the entire draft - We see Chad having a top 5WR season in 2008.

I’ll take Ocho Cinco that late any day. I don’t mind his mouth. It might just end up being another way for him to catch the ball and/or celebrate his TD. You really notice when guys fall to you like this in a draft if you do one simple thing: tier your cheatsheet.

If you want to follow the expert draft as it happens, you can view the entire draft here. Keep in mind that there is a 10 hour clock between picks, so it moves in spurts each day.

I’ll also be spitting out commentary on the draft from time to time on my twitter stream (also displayed in sidebar).

If you would like to make a suggestion for my next pick or would just like to discuss the draft with me, drop me a comment on this post, email me or shoot me a twitter reply.

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Comments
Comment by andrewj3 on July 17, 2008 @ 4:15 pm

Hey guys, check out this new spin on fantasy football, http://www.YOUbeQB.com

Comment by Lee@Football Jabber on July 20, 2008 @ 1:52 pm

Man you scared me! I’m doing an expert league with JunkYard Jake and I thought that is what your talking about and I was missing the draft…lol. Starts tomorrow.

Pingback by 22 Fantasy Football Quick Reads : Football Jabber on July 20, 2008 @ 2:22 pm

[...] at Fantasy Football Fools scared me.  He was talking about a mock draft he is participating in and I thought it was the Expert League I’m taking part in this year.  [...]

Comment by Jacob on July 20, 2008 @ 5:20 pm
Fools Talkback:

@Lee@Football Jabber:

Ha. No worries. I think JunkYard Jake has more than one going on this month. Sorry to scare you.

Comment by Jacob on July 20, 2008 @ 6:56 pm
Fools Talkback:

@andrewj3:

I’ve checked out YOUbeQB.com and enjoyed some of your top 10 lists. Some funny gems there. I’ll have to check it out some more once you have the chat and playcaller up and running.

Comment by Junkyard Jake on July 20, 2008 @ 8:59 pm

Hey Jacob,

You’ve got a great team so far. I like your Jonathan Stewart pick. And picking up Ahman Green and Chris Brown late looks like a good move.

How are you feeling about Brandon Marshall this year ? I am afraid to draft him, I see you took a chance in the 4th round. That is a steal if he plays anything like he did late last year.

Comment by Jacob on July 21, 2008 @ 12:21 am
Fools Talkback:

@Junkyard Jake:

Yeah. The Jonathan Stewart pick actually was my reason for picking up “Old Bones” Ahman Green and “Always Broken” Chris Brown in the late rounds. I think Stewart is the eventual starter there, but I didn’t want to chance him getting stuck behind DeAngelo Williams even if that is a long shot. Since I missed a chance to lock up the starting backfield by taking DeAngelo, I went with snagging up both starters on another offense. Maybe Alex Gibbs can work some magic there for this season.

I am really high on Brandon Marshall this season. He’s a dangerous pick, but I have my hopes up that he won’t see a suspension for his off-season antics. With Cutler at full health, Javon Walker out of the picture and a complimentary cast of veterans, I think this could be an explosive season for him. I don’t put much faith in the third-year wide receiver theory, but it’s also Marshall’s third year.

Marshall just had too much upside for me to pass him up when he fell into the fourth round. After Chad Johnson fell to me in the third, I looked to gather a spectacular receiving corps that could hold up throughout the season. I think I got it with Chad Johnson and Brandon Marshall leading the group.

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