Peterson Goes #1 to the Fumblers

The 2011 BIG TIME Football draft was completed Monday night with few surprises.  Adrian Peterson with scooped up quickly by the Fumblers, and the top 10 nearly paralleled ESPN's rankings to the letter.  Your commissioner was beaming with pride as this made the second year in a row that no kickers were taken in the second round.  My initial impression was how solid all ten teams drafted.  I said it last year and it is even more true this time around;  no major mistakes seemed to be made and I anticipate all ten teams winning some games this year.  "Best Draft" awards are all well and good, but instead i'm going to go through all ten teams and give some comments.  This can also serve as an introductory course on who's who for you new owners.  Besides, isn't it obvious who cleaned house in the draft?

1.  Caleb Davis (The Fumblers)
I like the start with All-day Adrian Peterson.  Peterson seems to have been so consistent for so long yet he's still drafting a 26 year-old.  Plus he makes some decent commercials. AP has as little risk as anyone in the top 10 with proven success at a valuable position.  If Darren McFadden can keep his ligaments intact, the Fumblers have the second best RB tandem in the league.  The Fumblers are mildly weak at the 3rd WR position but are otherwise extremely well-rounded.

2. Troy Anderson (The D+ Advantage)
What I believe to be Troy's first live draft went smoothly for the Advantage as he went with CJ2K to anchor his team and continued to load up on RBs with 3 of his first 5 picks.  D+ should truly have an RB advantage through the bye weeks with his amazing depth at the position.  D+ is also very well rounded throughout his starting 9, although his Wide Receivers are average at best.  Again, awesome backs.

3. Ryan Johnson (BigTime Johnson)
How do you compete with a name like BigTime Johnson?  Johnson took care of each major position with his first 3 picks taking Rice, Fitzgerald and Rivers.  Then he made a commitment to wide receivers with Maclin and Welker.  Mark Ingram went in round 6 as his starting RB2.  After 3 great picks to start the his draft, I think Johnson went downhill a little bit reaching for his next 3 picks.  Nonetheless, this team has deep WRs, and an excellent quarterback in Phillip Rivers.

4. Ben Wiele (Philly's ConVicks)
Ben begins to defend his title after kicking butt and taking names in 2010.  Last year he was Stanzi's Americanzis and has another great team name this year.  To my disappointment, however, the ConVicks didn't draft Michael Vick.  Instead Ben passed up Vick in the first round for some looser named Jamaal Charles.  Ben: I hope you have a trade in the works!  The convicks went for balance in the early rounds, and got some good early value in Ahmad Bradshaw.  Brandon Lloyd scares the living daylights out of me, but if he can be near last years level, he got a great deal in round 5.  The ConVicks should be competitive at 8 starting spots, but is very weak at TE.  Another bonus, Jason Campbell is anxiously riding the pine ready to start if Drew Brees, Josh Freeman and David Garrard all simultaneously injure themselves.

5. Rick Stammer (My Team -)
Is this pronounced "My team, minus?" or "My team, dash??"  I'll be on the edge of my seat waiting for the answer as the season progresses.  Rick unfortunately wasn't properly informed about our draft change and got the shaft by having to autodraft.  Rick fortunately got a borderline awesome team if you ask me.  Foster and Gore are probably the best pair of runningbacks in the league and his 3 WRs (V-Jax, Mike Williams and Britt) are above league average.  The interesting part of his team is the quarterbacks, when - (I'm pronouncing it "minus") got Peyton Manning late since he should miss week 1 and followed with Big Ben to back him up.  With Ben as a more-than-competent backup to hold the fort until Peyton comes back, I can see "the minus" being a scary team the second half of the year.  Minus's team weakness, like the ConVicks, is at tight end.

6. Rick Keeney (Mean Keen Point Machine) 
Mean Keen Point Machine, who might change his name back to Raider Nation, drafted wisely at number 6 taking LeSean McCoy.  Point Machine took a little bit of everything over the first 5 rounds, taking top TE Antonio Gates in round 4 then stealing my quarterback Tony Romo (Big year, seriously, I'm calling it now) in round 5.  Point machine's season may ride on how Forte and Manningham play this year.  If they can each be productive, look out for the Mean Keen Point Machine.  Janikowski is also on the teams payroll for another year, to be the backup for Neil Rackers.  Because sometimes paying one kicker just isn't enough.

7. Justin Ott (Donkey Power)
Donkey Power; just what this league was missing until good ol' Justin came around to fill our tenth spot this year.  DP drafted wisely with his first four picks, grabbing proven veterans.  The 5th pick, Jahvid Best is an interesting one and can take a touch from anywhere on the field and turn it into a score.  Wayne could suffer until his quarterback returns to full health.  The oldies-but-goodies Ochocinco and Plaxico Burress will compete for Donkey's WR3 spot.  Led by Aaron Rodgers, Donkey's team can afford a few mistakes, but all his runningbacks after Mendenhall are full of questions.

8. Casey Wright (Wright On)
Wright On who may change his name to Da Bears went WR early with Andre Johnson.  Johnson is always a top 3 receiver if he is on the field.  Dez Bryant was a guy I still haven't decided how I feel about him.  As long as Romo is throwing him the ball, he should have a decent year though.  Wright is deep and talented with RB and WRs but the talent ends there.  Flacco is a poor starting quarterback and Brandon Pettigrew (Petti-who?) is his starting TE.  Maybe Jay Cutler will change his name and get arm replacement surgery.  There's always hope.

9. Luke Harden (Hunk Hoisters)
The Hunk Hoisters got the bowling ball in round 1 and continued rolling to the end.  Or, at least until they got to some guy named Roy Helu.  Hunk made WRs a priority in the early rounds and got some excellent value with Shonn Green and Jimmy Graham.  Jimmy-who you say?  Graham is big, runs like Usain Bolt and in Drew Brees' offense should be as busy as an 8-year old at a Nike factory.  I'm predicting Graham as a top 5 tight end this year.  If MJD and Peyton Hillis can play 16 games, Hunk should be in for a good year.

10. Dave McConnell (FormerlyKnownAsFavre)
Mr. Favre was an autodrafter monday night, but seemed to pick many of his usual favorites anyway.  Vick has to be the most interesting player in fantasy in the past decade, and any owner of Vick is a league-championship threat.  That being said I don't see it happening for Favre this year.  McConnell's WR's are excellent, but the runningbacks could be ugly and if Vick gets hurt, Favre's starting QB will be fresh from the waiver wire.  Don't fret though Dave, I just checked waivers.  Brett Favre is available.


Best Quarterback(s) = Donkey Kick
Best Runningbacks = D+ Advantage
Best Receivers = Wright On
Best Tight End(s) = Point Machine

Most Stars = My Team - (Arian Foster, Frank Gore, Peyton Manning & Ben Roethlisberger)
Most Scrubs = Johnson (Toby Gerhart & Taiwan Jones)

If anyone else has any comments get on the message board (ESPNs site) and let me know who you think won the draft.