Case Study: Science Experiment

by SonDog

When you participate in multiple fantasy football leagues, bad drafts happen. It's like the rising of the sun and the changing of the tides. These things are inevitable. You can be as prepared as you like, but there will come a time when you look at your stock after the 15th round and, in the immortal words of Ron Burgandy, say, "I immediately regret this decision."

I had three drafts this year and I officially say, after five weeks, that I crapped the bed in my Vail league draft. Here are my original picks and twisted logic:

1st Round (Sixth pick): Peyton Manning (Set at QB for the year)
2nd Round: Chad Johnson (Passed on Westbrook, Holt, Harrison)
3rd Round: Randy Moss (Worst pick of my life. Seriously, I can't believe I uttered the words Randy and Moss with this pick)
4th Round: Kevin Jones (Desperate for a running back. Thought about Frank Gore, but thought I could get him in the 5th)
5th Round: Mike Bell (Shit. Couldn't get Gore. Panicked. Can't believe I uttered the words Mike and Bell with this pick... ahead of Chester Taylor and Deshaun Foster.)
6th Round: Tatum Bell (Knew I had to handcuff Mike Bell. Knew Tatum would get the carries. Stupid, stupid pick of Mike Bell
7th Round: Thomas Jones (Solid 7th rounder)
8th Round: Fred Taylor (Got a little crazy taking my fifth straight running back.)
9th Round: Michael Clayton (I have no fucking idea what I was thinking here. Picked him 1 spot ahead of Chicago's defense.)
10th Round: Cedrick Benson (Wanted T. Jones' handcuff)
11th Round: Randy McMichael
12th Round: Wali Lundy (Who?)
13th Round: Jarious Norwood (Really like his potential. Sadly, I took him 1 year too early)
14th Round: Antonio Bryant (Steal)
15th Round: Issac Bruce (Dropped him the next day. Now I have Rece Caldwell on my roster. Should have kept Bruce)
16th Round: Vernard Morency (It's a steal! I picked up Wali Lundy's handcuff?)

Consciously or unconsciously (I have a hard time distinguishing between the two at times), I decided to try a little science experiment with this team. Between a flurry of waiver moves and a rapid-fire, howitzer style trading arm, I have entirely rebuilt my roster. Currently, there are four draft-day players on my team (Manning, Johnson, T. Bell and Bryant), and I would be open to trading them if I had not reached the trade limit. (Side note: Having a trade limit in a fantasy league is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I can understand a waiver limit. But a trade limit? Truthfully, I had not noticed before this year if any of my leagues had a trade limit, but that's beside the point. Would you want to handcuff Billy Beane or Ned Coletti to four trades per year? That would be silly, right? Could you imagine if Isiah Thomas was handcuffed to four trades? Think of all the lost comedy! Trades are exciting, right? Then why handcuff fantasy football owners with a trade limit? It's mind boggling. I have learned my lesson to read the fine print in the league settings before a season starts.)

Here's a quick breakdown of my four trades:

Week 3: Kevin Jones and Randy Moss FOR LaMont Jordan and Tony Gonzales
Week 3: Thomas Jones FOR Roy Williams
Week 5: Maurice Morris FOR Rece Caldwell (hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. Caught crap in a bottle.)
Week 6: Bernard Barrian and Fred Taylor FOR Carnell Williams, Donald Driver and Joseph Addai

I now have the following roster:

QB: Peyton Manning
QB: Jake Plummer
RB: Carnell Williams
RB: LaMont Jordan
RB: Tatum Bell
RB: Joseph Addai
RB: Michael Turner
WR: Chad Johnson
WR: Roy Williams
WR: Donald Driver
WR: Antonio Bryant
TE: Tony Gonzalez
K: Jeff Wilkins
DEF: Buffalo
D: Ray Lewis

By now, many have probably stopped reading, because this is long as hell. However, for the two of you still reading, thanks. Seriously, I will come back to this team at season's end as my goal is to in some way gauge the importance of the draft. That is to say, coming into this year, I believed the draft to be the most critical day of the season. If you have a bad draft, can you make enough moves to compensate? Sorry for the cliché, but only time will tell. We will live to play another day. You never know what can happen on any given Sunday. (Am I missing any other fitting cliche's?)