No matter how much fantasy football means to you, if you have a lot going on in your life, you may forget about your draft night (even when you're the LM, because you've embarked on a massive IKEA construction project) and inadvertently auto-draft.
Or maybe that's just me.
Ugh.
This is when bad things happen. Like last year, for example, when a frozen computer screen brought with it an auto-draft for Michael Vick who was currently up to his ears in dog bones, I mean, the dog house. Having won that league last year, I think I've finally been able to live down that horrible draft pick, but still, a bad pick can mean a bad season.
Take Marshawn Lynch, RB, BUF for example. You know you drafted poorly when the ESPN analysis says he's "the latest knucklehead." After a hit-and-run, he was then suspended for three games for carrying a loaded weapon. Fantastic. This is fantasy gold right here.
As much as I try to take the moral high ground when drafting and choosing free agents for my team (i.e. am an Eagles fan so hell no to the T.O.), I'll be very happy if Lynch gets his life in order and especially if he gets his running game in order. Until then though, what's a fantasy owner to do when auto-draft hasn't done that well for you?
Well, you can stack your WR's and play three instead of two in leagues that allow the RB/WR slot (Auto-draft tends to treat you well in the RB category until you get to the Lynch round so you may already have some other options). Or, you can take a chance on a rookie WR and hope for the best.
I'm currently crossing every appendage I have and hoping for the best with Rookie Jeremy Maclin, WR, Eagles. If there's a QB who can turn a rookie WR into a star, it's McNabb. He's had four catches in the last two pre-season games and one can hope that he turns some of those catches into scores come regular season play. Mark my words though, the night he breaks out, he'll be warming my bench and I'll be screaming in disgust loud enough for everyone in my neighborhood to hear.
Michael Crabtree is another one to keep an eye on. Although San Francisco might be lacking QB consistency, he's worth a look and all the fantasy blogs seem to be buzzing about him. He could turn out to be a major bust, and he may already be picked up in many leagues. Plus, he recently had foot surgery and is currently in a contract showdown which has cost him important adjustment time. That's why you also need to look a bit deeper.
Percy Harvin, WR, Minnesota is another good prospect, and with Farve throwing to him, well, there's always a chance that he could be the next big thing. However, we've got some wacky weed issues with Harvin. Hopefully he'll opt for the straight and narrow route and avoid the shenanigans that so many of the NFL's players seem to have got caught up in lately.
If you're lucky enough to have an IR slot on your team, throw Lynch in there and take a chance. The worst thing that happens is you end up dropping one or both of them. No one really knows how the WR slot is going to shake out anyway until the season is well under way. The performance of WR's is notoriously tough to predict.
If you're looking for rookie gold in the RB category, you may be a bit out of luck. Everyone seems to already know about LeSean McCoy, RB, Eagles, and is apparently counting on Westbrook to be injured or shown up. Donald Brown, RB, Indy's bright hope behind, or rather alongside Addai, is picked up in over 93% of leagues. But if your league is one that didn't snatch him, do it now. He's had a decent pre-season showing and promises to have a good showing all season long.
Shonn Greene, RB, Jets is a real risk. He's dealing with "cartilage issues," but there's a lot of upside to this guy. He may see some serious playing time considering everything that's going on in the Jets RB pool.
Although there was great hope for Andre Brown, RB, NYG, it appears that he'll be out for the entire season with a ruptured Achilles! What a way to start your NFL career?
We won't even discuss Moreno, RB, Denver or Wells, RB, Arizona. Everyone already owns them.
There seems to be better potential to pick up a sleeper rookie WR right now than to take your chances trying to get one of the rookie RB's. Hopefully, you were able to avoid Lynch-like scenarios altogether and this is a non-issue for you (in which case, you clearly suck).
See, this is why I always lost to you--you think about this stuff and research it.
Posted by: Papa Bradstein | 09/01/2009 at 05:46 AM