When I arrived at Fantasy Football Calculator I had about five minutes to pick my spot (took the number 6 pick) and pre-rank some players.  Didn’t have much to work off of but I did have an idea in mind.  The last mock I did I made a pick out of my own fantasy character and took Peyton Manning in the second round.  I have never really been a Manning guy but thought I should take him later on in the second.  Although my team came out pretty good I had an uneasy feeling when I didn’t get some of the people I would have loved to have that fell before my third rounder.  SO ANYWAY, this time I wanted to see how long I could go without a QB and wanted to do the old fashioned two RB in the first two rounds.

I was extremely pleased with how my two first picks panned out at the #6, Steven Jackson and Brian Westbrook.  I had a feeling of satisfaction at RB I did not have in the past Mock but things got weird in the next two rounds.   Ten WRs had went off the board by the time I was ready to pick in the 3rd.  Anquan Boldin is a stud, we know, but you still have an uneasy feeling with the whole thing in Arizona for the guy to be your #1 WR.  Then in the second the best WR available was Braylon Edwards.  Braylon and I did not get along last season.  Had Kurt Warner not been picked just before me I may have taken my QB then.  But this is for science anyway, we will wait!

I was able to add Antonio Gates in the 5th to round out my core starters outside of QB.  I would really like to see Gates pick it back up.  I had a really hard time between Gates and Gonzo.  I think Gonzo can be a big target for Matt Ryan.

So let’s get to that QB thing, shall we?  I almost took Donovan McNabb instead of Gates…but I was testing things, right?  Well, he went off the board three picks before my next pick.  Next target…Tony Romo.  Nope…he went the pick after McNabb.  I decided to hold off a round.  Matt Ryan and Jay Cutler go off before my next pick.  I was feeling good when it looked like Carson Palmer was going to fall to me in the 8th round but he went off two picks before me.  I pulled the trigger in the 8th round on Eli Manning.  Not really the guy I want leading my fantasy team.  Two rounds later I added David Garrard, who I was big on last year…until the season played out.

Moral of the story…if I had it to do over again (and I will next week) I would not wait past the 7th round, at least not where I was picking in the middle.  There were five QB’s taken in the 8th round so you could beat a run going in the 7th.   I’m really noticing that you cannot wait on WR these days either.  It was nice getting those two RB but I would have felt better getting a sure thing catcher.

Some other observations…

• The first round played out like:  Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, Maurice Jones-Drew, L. Tomlinson, Michael Turner, Steven Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, Steve Slaton, Chris Johnson, Randy Moss, DeAngelo Williams.
• How often do you see two texans in the first round?
• Some Michael Turner fans are going to love seeing him still around at #5.
• Tom Brady (#14) and Drew Brees (#15) were the top passers taken.  None in the first round this time around.
• Greg Jennings went at #17, before the middle of the second round.
• Watching Joseph Addai, Willie Parker, and Larry Johnson fall to the 5th round makes you realize how much things can change within a couple years.  How far off are we before we see L.T. going in the 6th while he is playing for the Lions or something?
• Mentioned above, there were five QB’s taken in the 8th round.  Making the 7th round the latest you wait might make you the start of a run.
• I like to take note of when the first Defense was taken.  The Steelers went with the first pick in the 9th.

As we discussed in previous posts, FootballGuys.com has a FREE Rate My Team application that is pretty much awesome.  For the record they pretty much agreed that I was set with RB but lacked at QB and WR.

So kids, tune in next week as we do it again trying some other ideas on a whim.  You can always go do a Mock yourself at Fantasy Football Calculator and let us know how yours came out!

If you have been listening to Sirius you have more than likely heard of the new FREE application.  Personally, I have not carried a cell phone in two years (not since I was a therapist and HAD to carry a phone all the time, no desire since then), I do however have an iPod Touch and have it going right now.  Tell me of a better way to spend the weekend at the In-Law’s house.  I can sit appearing footballess, only to have it going in the headphones while tapping my finger to “the beat” and nodding at the wife.

It did not take the App long to shoot up the Free Applications chart, sitting at #4 as I type.  How does it work? If you are a subscriber you just enter your login info when you are near a wireless connection and you are HOOKED UP!  I hear there are some music stations available too but I have not got past NFL Radio.

On another note…for those that listen to NFL Radio, does Ross Tucker sound like Tommy Chong to anyone else other than me?

First stop is over at FantasyFootballCalculator.com (Weird…almost a year to the day I wrote on that last year).  It’s early in the season but it is already hopping!  I jumped in somewhat unprepared…well…a lot unprepared since I was just sitting on the couch when I decided to jump up and do one.  Within 2 minutes of landing on the site I had a draft starting.  Talk about instant gratification!  After my third round pick of Peyton Manning I realize things are already not going to go as planned.  I’m not usually a “Manning Taker” by any means.  Midway through the 3rd round it seemed the thing to do though.  Anyway, this is okay because I know that what I’m doing with this draft is using it to see how Part Two of our tasty fantasy football treat rates it.

Footballguys.com recently released their new “Rate My Team” application on the FREE page.  It’s pretty simple and straight forward.  Enter the players in and then adjust some scoring (which I put the scoring from FFC in since that is what I think the other owners would have been taking into consideration) and WALA!  No, it does not give you a “7 on a scale of 1-10″ type rating.  These guys go all out.  Here are some of the things they are going to give you…

• An overview of your team.
• Percentage of chance they give you for making the playoffs in your league.
• Summary on each position, how they feel about your starters and depth.
• A schedule analysis for each player, who should start which weeks.
• Possible free agents that may be better than the bottom feeders you have.
• Projections and player summaries.
• Player news for your players over the last seven days.

I have to say that the Football Guys were not nearly as hard on me as I was myself.  They gave me a 90% chance to make the playoffs (4 out of 12 teams make it) with great in season management (85% with good, 74% with average) and called my team the league favorite as long as I stay on top of my team.

I really like the Free Agent suggestions.  They even go as far as to grey out the players that won’t work with your current starters bye weeks.  It also shows where your depth players sit in comparison to players that may be available.

There you have it!  Fantasy Football Calculator FREE Mock Drafts + FootballGuys.com FREE “Rate My Team” application=FREE Fantasy Football Fun for the summer to hold you over as you wait for your drafts to begin!

Speaking of Free and Fantasy Football…stay tuned as Football Jabber throws all kinds of free resources to help you dominate your league in 2009!  Subscribe to the RSS feed or email to be sure you do not miss anything.

Thomas Boswell at The Washington Post has a look at how the Redskins are putting on a “How not to treat a QB” clinic for Jason Campbell.  After failing to get Jay Cutler and the temptation of Mark Sanchez in the draft, the Skins staff now can do some damage control.

“The Redskins’ brass can explain to him that, even though they tried to move heaven and earth to trade for airhead, pouting, party boy passer Jay Cutler three weeks ago, and despite the fact that they were still trying to trade up to grab USC quarterback Mark Sanchez on draft day yesterday, the team’s top executives still love him madly.”

The New York Jets WR’s will tell you they don’t need Plaxico Burress.  Just like Jason Campbell would tell the redskins they don’t need another QB.

There have been quite a few headlines that Donovan McNabb wants a Super Bowl now that he got his bonus.  Well…if that is all it takes I’m sure the Eagles would have forked over more cash rather than lose all those NFC title games.

Just what the rest of the NFL needed.  The Steelers young players are making huge strides.

The Dallas Cowboys Defense is taking on a new look in 2009.

Eric Mangini says that the QB’s for the Browns are heading into training camp even.  Does that mean Derek Anderson had the lead before injuring his leg and missing two practices?

The Vikings…nope, this is Favreless news so can’t talk the Vikings.  Nothing to see here…

Remember getting dumped in school and writing the pathetic “Take me back” notes?  No?  Um…me either…a friend told me about it.  Anyway, the Lions are doing the same sort of thing with season ticket holders.

Jim Mora is sending the playbooks home with the Seahawks players so they can study before training camp.  Bet that gets some mumbles in the locker room.

Vince Young was embarrassed by that whole Police hunt thing last year…

“All that type of stuff — it was embarrassing. I can’t stand when somebody jeopardizes my image and does things that are unnecessary. Especially if I’ve told you, out of my mouth like a man, that I’m fine. Can I please go home? For all the stuff that happened that night It was a sight to see,” Vince Young said.

The race for the starting QB position for the 49ers is still a tight one and will be heading into training camp.

Remember Mike Tice?  He is happy to be out of the spotlight THE HEADLINE says at Jacksonville.com…in the TOP STORY.

At the time of writing this The Rocky Mountain News does not have a peep that Kyle Orton has been named the Broncos starting QB.  The Denver Post is on it though.

Free Fantasy Football Mag

Every season I purchase at least one fantasy football magazine.  Used to be a lot more, but in the age of the internet you can get much of the info more current online.  Problem is they are all old news by the time they hit the stand.  FootballGuys.com are giving their annual mag away FREE in PDF format this year RIGHT NOW!  Perfect for the jonesing Fantasy Football fan.  You get the FBG take right after it’s finished instead of after the publishing process.  Something to hold you over and give you a head start on your 2009 Campaign!

Get your FREE 2009 Fantasy Football Magazine HERE along with some other free features from FootballGuys.com.  You can also get free emails with the latest NFL News and the fantasy spin on that news, as well as Free Podcasts.

To get the full Football Guys effect you should consider subscribing.  You don’t know how painful that is for me to say as a fantasy football owner myself who has to compete with people reading this.  It’s the truth though.  With all the applications that these guys provide to subscribers, you would be a fool to go anywhere else if you are going to subscribe to a fantasy football site.

For a breakdown on the Free Fantasy Football Mag, GO HERE.

For more free fantasy football info leading up to the season subscribe free to Football Jabber in an RSS reader or by email in the links in the upper right of the sidebar.

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!

Previously we posted the results for our league that uses Individual Defensive Players (IDP).  Since then we have completed a draft that started a little later (giving time for rookie news from some practices) and uses a more standard lineup.

A few things you should know about the league before reading on…

1.  These are not rankings.  This is not a mock draft.  The league is a Dynasty league with 10 teams that starts 1 QB, 2 BR, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB/WR Flex, 1 K, 1 DTST.

2.  Since it is the fourth year of the league, some owners were drafting for need.  This shows some unpredictability that you may expect in your own draft.  This can still give you an idea of where about most players are valued.

3. Again, these are not rankings…our fantasy football dynasty rankings will be posted soon.

4. The Draft started on May 18th, before many teams began working out the rookies.  Some picks were made before certain players started climbing the depth charts already.  Also, the draft was a straight draft that ran 5 rounds.  There was no serpentine going back into the even number rounds.

5. Teams are allowed to have rookies hang out on a Developmental taxi Squad up to three seasons without making a hit on roster space.  This can influence some owners to take a guy they know they don’t need right away.

Pick=Pick in round, Ovr=Overall pick, Selection= Player

Let’s have a position by position look at how things panned out…

QB

Pick    Ovr    Selection
1.08    8    Sanchez, Mark NYJ QB (R)
2.02    12    Stafford, Matthew DET QB (R)
2.03    13    Freeman, Josh TBB QB (R)
3.05    25    White, Pat MIA QB (R)
5.03    44    Teel, Mike SEA QB (R)
5.08    49    Davis, Nate SFO QB (R)

No big surprises with how the top three panned out.  Sanchez is likely to put up a little more early on but in the long run it is just as much a crapshoot as the NFL draft as which QB will be a better fantasy starter.  Don’t count Stafford out just because he is on the Lions.  As I mentioned in the other article, there was a time when nobody wanted a Patriot on their fantasy roster too.

How about Mike Teel?  Granted things are getting pretty thin by the 5th round but that is an interesting choice.

RB

Pick    Ovr    Selection
1.01    1    Moreno, Knowshon DEN RB (R)
1.03    3    Wells, Chris ARI RB (R)
1.05    5    Brown, Donald IND RB (R)
1.06    6    McCoy, LeSean PHI RB (R)
1.09    9    Coffee, Glen SFO RB (R)
1.1    10    Greene, Shonn NYJ RB (R)
2.08    18    Davis, James CLE RB (R)
3.02    22    Jennings, Rashad JAC RB (R)
3.06    26    Brown, Andre NYG RB (R)
3.09    29    Ringer, Javon TEN RB (R)
4.02    33    Peerman, Cedric BAL RB (R)
4.06    37    Johnson, Gartrell SDC RB (R)
4.1    41    Stephens-Howling, LaRod ARI RB (R)
5.02    43    Summers, Frank PIT RB (R)
5.05    46    Williams, Javarris KCC RB (R)
5.06    47    Scott, Bernard CIN RB (R)
5.09    50    Goodson, Mike CAR RB (R)

The top four played out pretty much as would be expected as far as who is picked.  Some feel that Chris Wells will be the better fantasy option, especially in 2009.  The Broncos love Moreno but you have to wonder how many carries he will give up with all the RB they keep signing.

Glenn Coffee going before Shonn Greene was a little shocking unless it was the Frank Gore owner…which it wasn’t.

WR

Pick    Ovr    Selection
1.02    2    Crabtree, Michael SFO WR (R)
1.04    4    Nicks, Hakeem NYG WR (R)
1.07    7    Maclin, Jeremy PHI WR (R)
2.01    11    Harvin, Percy MIN WR (R)
2.04    14    Wallace, Mike PIT WR (R)
2.05    15    Robiskie, Brian CLE WR (R)
2.06    16    Heyward-Bey, Darrius OAK WR (R)
2.09    19    Massaquoi, Mohamed CLE WR (R)
2.1    20    Tate, Brandon NEP WR (R)
3.03    23    Iglesias, Juaquin CHI WR (R)
3.04    24    Britt, Kenny TEN WR (R)
3.08    28    McKinley, Kenny DEN WR (R)
3.1    30    Collie, Austin IND WR (R)
3.11    31    Barden, Ramses NYG WR (R)
4.03    34    Hartline, Brian MIA WR (R)
4.04    35    Williams, Derrick DET WR (R)
4.05    36    Dillard, Jarett JAC WR (R)
4.07    38    Butler, Deon SEA WR (R)
4.08    39    Stroughter, Sammie TBB WR (R)
5.01    42    Thomas, Mike JAC WR (R)
5.07    48    Byrd, Demetrius SDC WR (R)
5.1    51    Turner, Patrick MIA WR (R)

After seeing Heyward-Bey shockingly go to the #3 overall pick in the other Dynasty draft I was waiting to see where he would fall in this draft.  That goes to show the unpredictability of a fantasy football draft.

The shocker here was the Mike Wallace pick in the second round.

TE

Pick    Ovr    Selection
2.07    17    Pettigrew, Brandon DET TE (R)
3.07    27    Nelson, Shawn BUF TE (R)
4.01    32    Ingram, Cornelius PHI TE (R)
4.09    40    Coffman, Chase CIN TE (R)
5.04    45    Cook, Jared TEN TE (R)

Not much going on at TE this year but this class may grow into some decent options at the position.

Some things you should know first…

1.  These are not rankings.  This is not a mock draft.  The league is a Dynasty League that uses IDP players as well as offensive players that is going into it’s fourth season.  The league was the example used in our popular Fantasy Dynasty 101| How to start your own Dynasty League series.

2.  Since it is the fourth year of the league, some owners were drafting for need.  This shows some unpredictability that you may expect in your own draft.  This can still give you an idea of where about most players are valued.

3. Again, these are not rankings…our fantasy football dynasty rankings will be posted soon.

4. The Draft started on May 11th, before many teams began working out the rookies.  Some picks were made before certain players started climbing the depth charts already.  Also, the draft was a straight draft that ran 8 rounds.  There was no serpentine going back into the even number rounds.

5. Teams are allowed to have rookies hang out on a Developmental taxi Squad up to three seasons without making a hit on roster space.  This can influence some owners to take a guy they know they don’t need right away.

Pick=Pick in round, Ovr=Overall pick, Selection= Player

Let’s have a position by position look at how things panned out…

QB

Pick   Ovr                    Selection
2.02   14   Sanchez, Mark NYJ QB (R)
2.06   18   Stafford, Matthew DET QB (R)
2.11    23  Freeman, Josh TBB QB (R)
5.06   54  White, Pat MIA QB (R)
6.03   63  McGee, Stephen DAL QB (R)
7.01   73  Brandstater, Tom DEN QB (R)
8.08   92  Davis, Nate SFO QB (R)

Our first look at how this sort of paralleled the NFL Draft.  A huge drop off after the first three.  Of course it is too soon to tell but many feel that Mark Sanchez will be the better fantasy QB.  A lot of that could be influenced by the fact that Matthew Stafford will reside in Detroit.  Don’t count Stafford out though.  The Stafford to Calvin Johnson hook up could make headlines for years to come.  Not the Lions?  You never know.  There was a time when you wouldn’t want a Patriot on your roster.

RB

Pick   Ovr             Selection
1.02     2 Moreno, Knowshon DEN RB (R)
1.04     4 Wells, Chris ARI RB (R)
1.08     8 Brown, Donald IND RB (R)
1.11      11 McCoy, LeSean PHI RB (R)
2.03    15 Greene, Shonn NYJ RB (R)
2.12     24 Davis, James CLE RB (R)
3.08    32 Brown, Andre NYG RB (R)
4.01    37 Jennings, Rashad JAC RB (R)
4.1       46 Brown, Aaron DET RB (R)
5.07   55 Johnson, Gartrell SDC RB (R)
5.12    60 Coffee, Glen SFO RB (R)
6.07   67 Peerman, Cedric BAL RB (R)
6.08   68 Ogbonnaya, Chris STL RB (R)
7.06   78 Ringer, Javon TEN RB (R)
7.1      82 Scott, Bernard CIN RB (R)
8.02   86 Goodson, Mike CAR RB (R)

Four RB go in the first round.  Interesting to see Wells drop to the 4th pick.  Right now, injury worries aside, he appears to be the RB in this draft that may make the most impact quickly.  Moreno falling to the second spot was a big surprise as well as most had him as the top fantasy football rookie.  He is a puzzle so far though.  It will be interesting to see what happens with the workload in Denver since they can’t seem to stop signing RB.

WR

Pick    Ovr    Selection
1.01    1    Crabtree, Michael SFO WR (R)
1.03    3    Heyward-Bey, Darrius OAK WR (R)
1.05    5    Maclin, Jeremy PHI WR (R)
1.06    6    Nicks, Hakeem NYG WR (R)
1.07    7    Robiskie, Brian CLE WR (R)
1.12    12    Britt, Kenny TEN WR (R)
2.04    16    Harvin, Percy MIN WR (R)
2.07    19    Collie, Austin IND WR (R)
2.10       22    Iglesias, Juaquin CHI WR (R)
3.01    25    Williams, Derrick DET WR (R)
3.06    30    Tate, Brandon NEP WR (R)
4.02    38    Thomas, Mike JAC WR (R)
4.03    39    Dillard, Jarett JAC WR (R)
4.05    41    Barden, Ramses NYG WR (R)
4.06    42    Hartline, Brian MIA WR (R)
4.12    48    Massaquoi, Mohamed CLE WR (R)
5.04    52    Wallace, Mike PIT WR (R)
5.10      58    Murphy, Louis OAK WR (R)
6.04   64    Edison, Dominique TEN WR (R)
6.10      70    Butler, Deon SEA WR (R)
6.11    71    Knox, Johnny CHI WR (R)
6.12    72    Turner, Patrick MIA WR (R)
7.08    80    Byrd, Demetrius SDC WR (R)
8.01    85    Stroughter, Sammie TBB WR (R)

The first shocker of the draft.  Given that WRs tend to take 2-3 years to produce both in the real NFL and fantasy football, seeing Michael Crabtree going first overall took people off guard.  The reasoning?  The owner felt his WR troops were so poor he had to act fast.  Apparently Al Davis plays in our league and was picking at #3.  The Heyward-Bey pick at the #3 overall pick was THE shocker of the draft.  Another shocker was the amount of WR taken in the first round.  A 12 team league seeing half the first round picks being WR.

TE’s

Pick    Ovr    Selection
3.07    31    Pettigrew, Brandon DET TE (R)
4.07    43    Cook, Jared TEN TE (R)
4.08    44    Nelson, Shawn BUF TE (R)
5.05    53    Ingram, Cornelius PHI TE (R)
5.11    59    Coffman, Chase CIN TE (R)
6.06    66    Beckum, Travis NYG TE (R)
8.11    95    Casey, James HOU TE (R)

Not a stellar TE class at all.  The 2009 NFL Draft did not have the elite TE that we hope for and the one stud landed on the Lions.

D-Line

Pick    Ovr    Selection
2.01    13    Raji, B.J. GBP DT (R)
3.02    26    Orakpo, Brian WAS DE (R)
3.05    29    Maybin, Aaron BUF DE (R)
3.11    35    Ayers, Robert DEN DE (R)
5.01    49    Jerry, Peria ATL DT (R)
5.02    50    Brown, Everette CAR DE (R)
6.02    62    Barwin, Connor HOU DE (R)
6.05    65    Johnson, Michael CIN DE (R)
7.03    75    English, Larry SDC DE (R)
7.04    76    Hood, Evander PIT DT (R)
7.09    81    Kruger, Paul BAL DE (R)
7.11    83    Jackson, Tyson KCC DE (R)
8.12    96    Moala, Fili IND DT (R)

This is the time that we have to throw out the disclaimer that there is a rookie owner jumping in (or thrown in to the sharks) this season who is taking his first swing at IDP.  Yes, that owner is picking at 2.01.  Raji will certainly be an NFL monster but this was WAY TOO early for a DT to be taken for fantasy football.  It will be interesting to see how some of these guys will score lining up at both DE and OLB.

LB

Pick    Ovr    Selection
1.09    9    Curry, Aaron SEA LB (R)
1.10    10    Laurinaitis, James STL LB (R)
2.05    17    Maualuga, Rey CIN LB (R)
2.08    20    Cushing, Brian HOU LB (R)
2.09    21    Matthews, Clay GBP LB (R)
3.04    28    Sintim, Clint NYG LB (R)
3.12    36    Freeman, Marcus CHI LB (R)
4.09    45    Levy, DeAndre DET LB (R)
5.03    51    Beckwith, Darry SDC LB (R)
6.09    69    Williams, Jason DAL LB (R)
7.07    79    McRath, Gerald TEN LB (R)
7.12    84    Phillips, Jason BAL LB (R)
8.03    87    McKenzie, Tyrone NEP LB (R)
8.05    89    Brinkley, Jasper MIN LB (R)
8.07    91    McKillop, Scott SFO LB (R)
8.10    94    Maiava, Kaluka CLE LB (R)

Every season the question is when is the first defensive player going to come off the board?  This year it happened twice late in the first round.  Curry and Laurinaitis appear to be in great situations for IDP stardom.  Have to look at this list and wonder…there always seems to be someone that breaks out at LB that was drafted later on in IDP drafts.

D-Backs

Pick    Ovr    Selection
3.03    27    Mitchell, Michael OAK S (R)
3.09    33    Moore, William ATL S (R)
3.10    34    Jenkins, Malcolm NOS CB (R)
4.04    40    Smith, Alphonso DEN CB (R)
4.11    47    Delmas, Louis DET CB (R)
5.08    56    Chung, Patrick NEP S (R)
5.09    57    Martin, Sherrod CAR S (R)
6.01    61    Davis, Vontae MIA CB (R)
7.02    74    McBath, Darcel DEN S (R)
7.05    77    Johnson, Rashad ARI S (R)
8.04    88    Lewis, Keenan PIT CB (R)
8.06    90    Hamlin, Michael DAL S (R)
8.09    93    Taylor, Curtis SFO S (R)

Al Davis strikes again with the defensive backs.  Owners stayed away until the third round and later.  Could be some good sleepers found late here.

If you want to get a look at some of the rosters in the league or how it operates, slip over to the TUDL site.

Fantasy Jabber: It has been a long year for Dynasty owners that have Brady.  All this “He is doing great” talk is fantastic.  Owners will just be much more confident when they see him in a uniform instead of on the news in a suit.

Source: Boston Herald

The Commish, Michael Huyghue, estimates that about 85% of the assistant coaching staff have NFL experience as a coach or player.

“One of the keys to the overall success of the UFL is the high-caliber head and assistant coaches that we have been able to attract,” UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue said. “The addition of these highly talented individuals, along with the naming of coach Green as chair of the leagues competition committee, are further indicators of our goal of producing a high-quality product on the field that within time will be indistinguishable from other professional football leagues currently playing.”

This tidbit came form the Boston Globe.  One of the things I’m watching as it pans out is which media outlets pimp it.

This Dynasty league does use Individual Defensive Players (IDP), if that does not apply to you there is still value to this as far as seeing where the offensive players are valued. Of course some of the owners are drafting for need according to their own rosters.

The League itself is the same league that the popular post Fantasy Dynasty 101| How to start your own Dynasty League is based on.  It is a very competitive league that is going into it’s fourth season.

This list is not meant to be used as Fantasy Football Dynasty Rankings (those will be posted soon), but as a projection of what your draft may look like.  Here are the first three rounds for your viewing pleasure…

1.01 Crabtree, Michael SFO WR (R)
1.02 Moreno, Knowshon DEN RB (R)
1.03 Heyward-Bey, Darrius OAK WR (R)
1.04 Wells, Chris ARI RB (R)
1.05 Maclin, Jeremy PHI WR (R)
1.06 Nicks, Hakeem NYG WR (R)
1.07 Robiskie, Brian CLE WR (R)
1.08 Brown, Donald IND RB (R)
1.09 Curry, Aaron SEA LB (R)
1.1 Laurinaitis, James STL LB (R)
1.11 McCoy, LeSean PHI RB (R)
1.12 Britt, Kenny TEN WR (R)

I have to say I was a little shocked how the first round played out.  When you think of the 2009 rookie class though, there are no “sure thing” fantasy guys that have a lot of hype around them.  Even Knowshon Moreno is a question because of the belief he may not be an every down back and the fact that the Broncos will not quit signing RBs.

The Owner at #1 drafted for need with Crabtree.  That was not as big of a shock as the #3 pick.  Apparently we have been playing fantasy football with Al Davis the last few years and did not know.  Five WR’s going in the first round was odd as well since they do not tend to contribute right away.  Says something for this class.

IDP’s start to come off the board with Curry and Laurinaitis.

2.01 Raji, B.J. GBP DT (R)
2.02 Sanchez, Mark NYJ QB (R)
2.03 Greene, Shonn NYJ RB (R)
2.04 Harvin, Percy MIN WR (R)
2.05 Maualuga, Rey CIN LB (R)
2.06 Stafford, Matthew DET QB (R)
2.07 Collie, Austin IND WR (R)
2.08 Cushing, Brian HOU LB (R)
2.09 Matthews, Clay GBP LB (R)
2.1 Iglesias, Juaquin CHI WR (R)
2.11 Freeman, Josh TBB QB (R)
2.12 Davis, James CLE RB (R)

The first pick of this round shows that the owner at the first position is an IDP rookie himself.  He will learn.

Here is where the QB’s coming off the board.  There is going to be some value with Matt Stafford in many drafts.  People will shy away from the Lions.  Even the pick above was likely not so much a pick of Stafford as it was the lack of others to pick or a need for QB.

3.01 Williams, Derrick DET WR (R)
3.02 Orakpo, Brian WAS DE (R)
3.03 Mitchell, Michael OAK S (R)
3.04 Sintim, Clint NYG LB (R)
3.05 Maybin, Aaron BUF DE (R)
3.06 Tate, Brandon NEP WR (R)
3.07 Pettigrew, Brandon DET TE (R)
3.08 Brown, Andre NYG RB (R)
3.09 Moore, William ATL S (R)
3.1 Jenkins, Malcolm NOS CB (R)
3.11 Ayers, Robert DEN DE (R)
3.12 Freeman, Marcus CHI LB (R)

As you can see here, interest in offensive players is going away pretty quik.  The lesson to be learned?  Know your prospects and the situations they are in on their current team.  To have a successful fantasy football rookie draft in 2009 you are going to have to be ahead of the others in your league at scouting who is going to contribue for you.