Football faults and a plan

Everybody has them. Take for instance the auditor I met at work today from Chelmsford Massachusetts.

He was really smart and personable but suffered from a common malady which afflicts many from that area of the country.

He was a Patriot Fan.

Of course he saw my Redskins Mug and asked if I was a Redskins Fan. OK, strike the smart part from the previous paragraph.

I said “Born and Raised”

He said he was a “Patriot” fan.

I said I wouldn’t hold it against him and asked how the 12 step plan was coming along . . .

He said that the Pats were the better team . .

I said we get more headlines . . .



Speaking of plans.

My Borderless League (I’m Commish) is implementing Keepers for the first time this
year. We are treating it as the equivalent of picking a Franchise Player and selecting one player from last years roster. Out of 12 players, 7 picked a keeper.

Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, MJD, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Miles Austin are now officially off the board.

I did not pick a keeper. I was really torn as to what to do. My top 3 choices were; DeAngelo Williams, DeSean Jackson, Jay Cutler. OK, so maybe Jay is not much of a choice . . . So I kept flip flopping back and forth between DeSean and DeAngelo.

In most leagues and most drafts, DeAngelo is the higher rated player of the two but in my league we count return yards, so based on last years results, DeSean is actually rated higher.

Now for a brief review of how ESPN works Keepers and drafts.
Draft order is locked until all keepers are selected.
Keepers count as your selection for the round. So if you have a team or league with 3 or 4 keepers, you know how the first 3 or 4 rounds will go for you. If you have less keepers picked than the max, you get to draft from the pool.

So, in my league if you pick a franchise player, that is your first round pick. If you don’t, you get to draft from available players.

So, my draft order position in the 12 team league based on last years final standings is 7th. But because of the other people selecting keepers and me NOT selecting a keeper, I get to pick 4th in the first round from available players.

Going strictly by ESPN rankings that leaves Ray Rice, Steven Jackson, Frank Gore, Andre Johnson, Michael Turner, Randy Moss all higher than DeAngelo and DeSean; Followed by Larry Fitzgerald, Ryan Grant Reggie Wayne and Cedric Benson.
I think I like my choices compared to either of the two D’s from my team last year.

Worst case, I could end up picking them anyway, which I would not necessarily mind.

I still want to get DeSean though and feel that I can easily get him with my 3rd round pick.

So there it is, no keepers for me with the hope of getting somebody slightly better with perhaps a bit more potential.

The draft is set for this Sunday and I can’t wait. We are planning our regular draft party and conference call along with the live online draft; and of course good food and drink to complement the occasion.