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| The 3 champs Dan, Campbell, and Me |
2012 Marks the 4th season of my favorite Fantasy Football league: The Dirty D. I started the league back in 2009 filled with mostly Dedham-area friends, family, and others. I am going to be talking about this league a lot throughout he season, so here is a short introduction to the 12 members. For those who care it is a 12 team ppr league. Scroll down for our 2012 Draft and team by team analysis.
Adam Beckvold
Team Ice Cream
Best finish: 2nd
Worst finish: 11th
The Scoop: Adam has had a very streaky career in the Dirty D. A victory in the toilet bowl in 2009 saved him from last place, he bounced alllll the way the back in 2010 to lose to your truly in the Championship game. How did he follow it up last year? Another cellar-dwelling finish. We'll see how he responds in 2012.
James Brown
Tahiti Loungers
Best Finish: 1st
Worst Finish: 4th
The Scoop: One of only 2 teams to qualify for the playoffs all 3 years. Won Championship in 2010 over Adam. Legitimate threat for the crown on a yearly basis. Also the most active owner in the league re: trading and free agent pick ups.
Paul Taylor
A1 Providers
Best Finish: 4th
Worst Finish: 10th
The Scoop: Every year Paul seems to have a rough draft, but has qualified for the playoffs 2/3 years. Just has that "it" factor that propels Paul every year. Paul is looking to make that next step and advance in the playoffs.
Dan Cosgrove
the rental guys
Best Finish: 1st
Worst Finish: 5th
The Scoop: Won the inaugural season with a victory over his brother in the Championship game. Has made the playoffs every year despite pedestrian numbers, 1 of only 2 people to have done this. Easily the luckiest player in the league.
Bill Poch
The Crossing Guards
Best Finish: 7th
Worst Finish: 9th
The Scoop: Mr 7th place. Bill has unfortunately finished 1 spot out of the playoffs every season. Not much else to say here.
Matt Campbell
Angry Pirates
Best Finish: 1st
Worst Finish: 9th
The Scoop: Campbell is the defending champ, after a victory over Kait's juggernaut team last year. Looking to solidify his place as a yearly contender with a strong follow up campaign.
Kait Burlone
Victorious Secret
Best Finish: 2nd
Worst Finish: 9th
The Scoop: Remember the 2007 Patriots who had the best team ever and then lost in the Super Bowl? That was Kait's team last year. After losing just twice all season, this is "prove it" year for Kait and we will find out if 2011 was a fluke or breakout performance.
Don Burlone
Comeback Story
Best Finish: 6th
Worst Finish: 11th
The Scoop: Donny enters 2012 on the heels of his first playoff berth. Luck seems to run out every year for Don, but a couple good breaks in 2012 and Donny could be right there at the end.
Mr. B
Boston Patriots
Best Finish: 6th
Worst Finish: 12th
The Scoop: Mr B. has had 3 very different seasons in this league. He does have a playoff appearance under his belt, and a regular season crown, but 2012 he is looking to establish consistency as a contending team after a last place finish in 2011.
Sean Cosgrove
A Pinch Better
Best Finish: 2nd
Worst Finish: 7th
The Scoop: Another owner who has made the playoffs 2/3 years. Lost in the championship in 2009. Sean is a good owner and the only thing preventing him from being great is his questionable trade practice/ethics. Very solid all-around other wise.
Jenna Brown
Eat More Chicken
New Member in 2012
The Scoop- Jenna is 1 of 2 new members to the league. She is the 2nd female and 3rd sibling to join the league.
Abe
The Godfather
New member in 2012
The Scoop- Longtime Dedham legend is rightfully added to the league. It's important to note the only members actually FROM Dedham are Abe, Adam, Bill, Campbell, Sean, and Dan.
Steal of the Draft #1- Dez Bryant, 57th overall to the Crossing Guards
Steal of the Draft #2- Demariyous Thomas, 63rd overall to Comeback Story
Steal of the Draft #3- Tony Romo, 96th overall to Tahiti Loungers
Steal of the Draft # 4- Brandon Pettigrew, 104th overall to the rental guys
Steal of the Draft #5- Trent Richardson, 47th overall to Team Ice Cream
Reach of the Draft #1- Cedric Benson, 38th overall to A1 Providers
Reach of the Draft #2- Shonn Greene 68th overall to Eat More Chicken
Reach of the Draft #3- Justin Blackmon 78th overall to A Pinch Better
Reach of the Draft #4- Beanie Wells 82nd overall to Comeback Story
Reach of the Draft #5- Mark Ingram 64th overall to the Crossing Guards
Arian Foster
Brandon Marshall
Ryan Mathews
Eric Decker
Aaron Hernandez
Ben Tate
Torrey Smith
Tony Romo
Jaquizz Rodgers
Lance Moore
Dexter McCluster
Ronnie Brown
Alex Green
Robert Turbin
For my own team's draft analysis I'm just going to go pick by pick and tell you what I was thinking. I had the 1st overall pick and then back to back picks at each turn (last pick in even rounds, first pick in odd rounds)
1st overall: I had a long, month-long personal debate between Ray Rice and Arian Foster. The knock on Foster is he has Ben Tate acting as a threat to steal touches behind him. While I recognize this, I view Ben Tate as more of an insurance policy that Foster owners can invest in, where that option is not available for Rice. Ray-Ray might have a slightly higher ceiling but I knew if I drafted Foster there was a good chance I could grab Tate later and lock up my RB1 for the entire year. Tate will be a great RB1 option if Foster gets hurt.
2nd/3rd: At this spot I was hoping a "big 5" QB dropped to me, but none did. I also would have chosen Gronk or Graham if they fell, but they didnt. I knew I wanted to take at least 1 WR so I picked Brandon Marshall. I expect a huge season from Marshall and back that up by choosing him over guys like Greg Jennings, Andre Johnson, and AJ Green. With my other pick I couldn't resist Ryan Mathews. I know he is hurt and labled as an injnury guy, but the upside is just too high to pass up here. Mathews was a consensus top 10 pick befire he broke his clavicle in pre-seaon and I'm hoping that the extra time gives the rest of his body the time it needs to get to 100%.
4th/5th: I was planing on going WR/WR here so when it was my pick I first went with Eric Decker. He's going to be a PPR stud with Peyton, and should put up big numbers consistently. The hardest decision of my draft was at this point when I had to choose between Dez Bryant and Aaron Hernandez. I ended up taking Hernandez just because I really want a piece of the NE offense and AH will get his, regardless of the amount of mouths for Brady to feed. That long term contract really confrimed my feelings that Hernandez is going to be a integral part of the offense. I love Dez, and couldn't believe he fell alllll the way to Bill, but I couldn't pass up a stud PPR TE.
6th/7th: I took Tate to handcuff Foster. As soon as Adam choose Finley right before my pick, I released a huge sigh of relief. I then grabbed Torrey Smith, who is comparable to studs AJ Green and Julio Jones. Smith is clearly behind those guys right now, but poised for a breakout in his sophomore campaign. I wanted to make sure to grab a 3rd WR here because it was getting awfully thin after Smith.
8th/9th: Somehow, someway, Tony Romo fell to me here. Unbelievable value. I got lucky that Kait and Donny waited 1 more round for a QB and Jenna ALMOST screwed me over with her awful Rivers pick. With the other pick I took jazquizz Rodgers. Everyone knows I hate Michael Turner and I think this is the year we see a new, more productive RB in Atalanta in the form of the quick and versatile Jaquizz Rodgers.
I also drafted Lance Moore, Dexter McCluster, Ronnie Brown, Alex Green and Robert Turbin. Brown is a handcuff, Moore is a safer WR with a little upside, and the others are RB lotto picks.
Team Ice Cream
Ray Rice
Demarco Murray
AJ Green
Trent Richardson
Mike Vick
Jermichael Finley
Titus Young
David Wilson
RG3
SF D
Jon Baldwin
Ronnie HIllman
Jerome Simpson
Adam took a different approach to his team this year and I think he will be happy with the results. Rice-Murray-Richardson is the 3 headed RB monster that will drive this team to victories. The Mike Vick/RG3 combo is a dynamic one... Turns out from post-draft chatter that RG3 was on a lot of people's radar. The only weakness this team has in at WR, a deep position that should be easy to make up for, especially with that anchor WR1 stud AJ Green. He should finish top 3 in the league in targets and when you have elite talent, that's all you need.
Best Picks: Trent Richardson, Ray Rice
Worst Picks: None
Overall Grade: B+
Overall Rank: 4th
Victorious Secret
Lesean McCoy
Darren Sproles
Andre Johnson
Antonio Gates
Marques Colston
DeSean Jackson
Donald Brown
CJ Spiller
Jay Cutler
Legarette Blount
Greg Little
PHI D
Jared Cook
Carson Palmer
Kait probably has the best 1-2 punch at RB with Mccoy and Sproles. Her team will be leaning on 3 vetern WR in Andre the giant, Colston, and V jax. I would have passed on Colston for higher-upside guys when Kait drafted him, although Colston is about as safe as you get at the WR position. Cutler is an interesting player this year- if he blows up Kait is going to have a huge season again.
Best: Sproles, Gates, Spiller
Worst: Blount, Colston
Overall Grade: B+
Overall Rank: 3rd
Angry Pirates
Aaron Rodgers
Larry Fitzgerald
Adrian Peterson
Antonio Brown
Reggie Bush
Peyton Hillis
Robert Meachem
Darrius Heyward-Bey
Fred Davis
Toby Gerhart
Felix Jones
Kendall Hunter
Austin Collie
Campbell's squad is rock solid. You can clearly tell when guys have done their homework. We all know AP is an athletic freak so if he is anywhere near 100% this team will beast. I'm not completely sold on this RB committee as a whole... although I do like the Kendall Hunter pick late. Rodgers/Fitz/Brown trio should produce close to 60 points every week and THAT is a nice thing to know as an owner.
Best: Brown
Worst: Felix Jones
Overall Grade: B
Overall Rank: 5th
Eat More Chicken
Calvin Johnson
Roddy White
Steven Jackson
Matt Ryan
Willis McGahee
Shonn Greene
Tony Gonzalez
Philip Rivers
Rashad Mendenhall
Randy Moss
Hou D
Alshon Jeffery
Andy Dalton
David Nelson
This is a shaky team in my opinion. On one hand you have the studliest WR duo in the league (Meagtron-White) but I would never feel comfortable with Randle L Moss and Alshon Jeffery as my 3rd and 4th WR. 1 injury to the top 2 guys and it's going to be a struggle. The RB combo S Jax, McGahee, Green, Mendenhall is mediocre at best. Greene is the most boring and maybe my least favorite pick of the entire draft. If I was the owner of this team, instead of trying to screw other owners out of a QB (drafting Rivers in the 7th with Ryan already on roster) I probably would have focused on my own roster because I don't see this squad making the playoffs as is. I do love the Ryan-White connection though. Also Andy Dalton is a complete waste of a roster space for this team.
Best: Calvin Johnson, Roddy White
Worst: Greene, Rivers, Mendenhall
Overall Grade: D+
Overall Rank: 10th
A Pinch Better
Chris Johnson
Victor Cruz
Marshawn Lynch
Steve Smith
Eli Manning
Miles Austin
Justin Blackmon
Isaac Redmond
Jacob Tamme
Jahvid best
Sidney Rice
Chi D
Matt Schaub
Pierre Thomas
This team has 2 good things working for it... 1 is The Eli-Manning-Cruz connection. Only problem for Sean is that pair will have an awfully hard time repeating their numbers from last year and Sean WILL need it. I like the 1-2 RB combo of Lynch and CJ...I've come around on Chris Johnson and believe he is a somewhat safe rb1, but there's a lot of people on this roster I don't trust. Steve Smith probably went too early, Miles Austin can't get out of his car without pulling a muscle, Justin Blackmon was a terrible pick. Jahvid Best was another awful pick... I don't see any benefit in burning a roster spot for a player who is out at least 6 weeks and can only play flag football. I also hate Sidney Rice. Sorry Sean but unless major changes are made I think the playoffs are but a dream for you.
Best: Lynch
Worst: Smith, Blackmon, Best
Overall Grade: D+
Overall Rank: 11th
The Godfather
Tom Brady
Jamaal Charles
Greg jennings
Ahmad Bradshaw
Stevie Johnson
Vernon Davis
Denarious Moore
Malcolm Floyd
Shane Vereen
Sebass Janikowski
BAL D
Danny Woodhead
Brandon Lafell
Josh Freeman
Leonard Hankerson
I loved the start to Abe's draft. Brady-Charles-Jennings are all guys I really love. I personally would have went another direction than Bradshaw, he is too unreliable for me. There were a couple WR on the board I like more tha Stevie Johnson, although he is a great player and I can't knock the pick. Vernon Davis in the 6th should produce wonderful value and the only thing I HATED about this draft was the kicker/Def early picks. This is going to be a competitive team all year especially if one of Moore/Floyd/Lafell blows up.
Best: Jennings, Davis, Lafell
Worst: Janikowski, Woodhead
Overall Grade: C
Overall Rank: 8th
the rental guys
Matt Forte
Cam Newton
Doug Martin
Jordy Nelson
Jeremy Maclin
Reggie Wayne
Michael Bush
Ryan Williams
Brandon Pettigrew
Anquan Boldin
Santonio Holmes
Michael Floyd
NYG D
Mario Manningham
Yikes. I think hell has frozen over because I love Dan's team. Similar to my strategy, Dan locked up his RB1 spot all year with the Forte/Bush combo. I'm also a big believer in Dougie fresh as a better than average rb2. Jordy/Maclin/Wayne is a nice trio of WR and if Cam Newton can match his 2011 numbers, Dan will be in the playoffs again for sure. Pettigrew was also a steal, the only thing I didn't like about this draft was the boring and useless picks of Boldin/Holmes. Both AZ boys are lotto picks.
Best: Martin, Nelson, Maclin, Pettigrew
Worst: Boldin, Holmes
Overall Grade: A-
Overall Rank: 2nd
The Crossing Guards
Darren McFadden
Matt Stafford
Hakeem Nicks
Percy Harvin
Dez Bryant
Mark Ingram
Deangelo Williams
Stevan Ridley
Mikel Leshoure
Michael Crabtree
Santana Moss
Tawain Jones
GB D
Kyle Rudolph
After 5 rounds I think Bill had my favorite team. Then, things went south. Lets go over the good part of this draft first: I love Mcfadden this year. I know he is injury prone but I am more from the camp that it's just bad luck. He's so good when he is actually playing that it's worth it. Also, I love Stafford this year. Nicks-Percy-and especially Dez were great picks. Bill capitalized on the WR market and got 3 studs. Dez fell wayyyy to far and was one of the biggest steals of the entire draft. Then the 6th round came and Bill took 4 running backs in a row. I like the strategy but I dont particularly like any of the guys he chose. In fact while I'm looking over Bill's picks I just realized that this roster alone could probably keep a hospital open. DMC, Stafford, Nicks, Dez, Ingram, and Leshoure are all injury prone guys. If they stay healthy, Bill will make the playoffs. If a couple of these guys miss a significant amount of time, Bills in trouble.
Best: Dez, Nicks, Percy
Worst: Ingram, Williams
Overall Grade: C
Overall Rank: 6th
Comeback Story
Gronkowski
MJD
Fred Jackson
Brandon Lloyd
Dwayne Bowe
Demaryous Thomas
Beanie Wells
Roy Helu
Ben Rothelisberger
Andrew Luck
Amendola
Devone Bess
lamicahel james
Greg Olson
Comeback Story might not be an appropriate name for this team this year. I think the opposite might happen: a hot start to the season followed by a lot of adversity (aka losing) later on. I love Gronk as a Pats fan, but he doesn't warrant a 1st round pick to me and certainly I would be taking Graham over Gronk in this format. I like the Fred Jackson pick but I think he is one of those guys who you HAVE to get their handcuff/RBBC partner. Donny passed on Spiller later in the draft for less desirable guys and I think he may regret it. Lloyd-Bowe-Thomas seems like a boom or bust trio of WR (not necessarily a bad thing) and Donny also probably should have snagged his QB 1 round earlier. As long as Donny stays active on the trade market I think this team will compete, but the jury is still out on how these guys actually perform.
Best: Thomas, MJD
Worst: Wells, Helu
Overall Grade: C
Overall Rank: 7th
A1 Providers
Drew Brees
Wes Welker
Michael Turner
Cedric Benson
Vincent jackson
Pierre Garcon
Jason Witten
Jonathan Stewart
Rashad Jennings
Laurent Robinson
PITT D
Nate Burleson
Dustin Keller
The upset of the century was Paul passing on Wes Wekler in the 1st round in favor for Drew Brees. Turned out to be a shrewd move because Paul snagged Wekler in the 2nd round. I loved Paul's team at that point. And then he drafted Turner. And Benson. And V jax. 3 guys I would have never recommended drafting
Best: Brees, Welker, Garcon
Worst: Turner, Benson, V Jax
Overall Grade: D
Overall Rank: 12th
Boston Patriots
Julio Jones
Jimmy Graham
Mike Wallace
Frank Gore
Bejarvus Green-Ellis
Peyton Manning
Nate Washington
Kevin Smith
Evan Royster
Mike Williams
Joe Flacco
Brent Celek
Mr. B started this draft off with 2 of my favorite players in all of fantasy this year. I love Jones and I love Graham. Both were exceptional picks. So was Wallace in the late 3rd. Unfortunately, drafting these beasts leaves a need at RB that I feel was not addressed properly by Mr B. Frank Gore is someone I would never, ever trust as my RB1 in 2012. BJGE is solid, somewhat unexciting but at least he is a known commodity. I dont like Kevin Smith at all ( he literally can't stay healthy enough to ever finsih a game) I also don't like Royster. I think this team, will be solid if Mr B can acquire better RBs somehow, but for now this is a middling team with a major disadvantage at RB. Also, if Peyton Manning ISNT Peyton Manning, Mr. B is going to need to scramble for a QB.
Best: Graham, Jones, Peyton
Worst: Gore, Smith
Overall Grade: C-
Overall Rank: 9th
Teams By Draft Rank:
1. Tahiti Loungers
2. the rental guys
3. Victorious Secret
4. Team Ice Cream
5. Angry Pirates
6. The Crossing Guards
7. Comeback Story
8. The Godfather
9. Boston Patriots
10. Eat More Chicken
11. A Pinch Better
12. A1 Providers
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