Drafting 12th and What Ive Noticed...

[NYMetsIn2k4]

Well ive been mock drafting a lot this week to get ready for my money leagues draft thats coming up. I have the 12th pick in a 12 team league, that counts 6 pts per passing td, and a 5 pt bonus for 300 yds passing, 150 rushing and 100 receiving.

Originally i was stubborn and tried going RB WR RB, because i wanted to land that top WR to go with a top RB. What i mainly noticed was that I could land THenry every time, sometimes RJohnson RBush or Maroney. Then id grab CJ ussually, and in the 3rd round Id ussually get stuck with the likes of MLynch or an Ahman Green type RB along with a Lee Evans/Javon Walker type receiver... not exactly great. So now i have, lets say, RBush/CJ/Ahman/LEvans... then in the 5th/6th round id ussually go after a QB like Kitna/Rivers and a WR such as VJackson... ultimately i end with RBush/CJ/Ahman/LEvans/Kitna/LEvans by going RB WR RB

What i thought was blatantly obvious out of the 12th hole, was that it had a huge upside that i wasnt taking advantage, and that being that 2 top 12 backs would inevetibly fall to me every time (sometimes Peyton falls, but thats great bc of the scoring, and i know he wont in my real draft bc my friends targeting him earlier in the draft) so like i said, i could score a combination of THenry/RBush/RJohnson/Maroney which is a great 1-2 punch. So after a dozen mocks or so, it was obvious that RB RB WR WR was a much better strategy due to the built in advantage of having the 12th/13th picks. With this strategy, the most common team i found myself with was a combo of those 4 backs, to go with LEvans/Javon/Kitna/VJackson... which is much better IMO than the RB WR RB WR strtegy that i originally used. Along with this i could land a good TE and ussually Balts Def with the 7th/8th pick.

**Sometimes in the 3rd/4th rounds, a top QB would fall (bulger, brady, brees) and in the times that i did grab them, my WR corps became very weak, ussually with Evans as the only true number 1, to go with the MClayton types as the 2/3rd wr... so my best suggestion is to pass on that top QB, even though it is tempting bc of the leagues settings, but Kitna could perform very well due to the league settings, and even when Kitna doesnt fall, which he almost always did, you could nab Rivers in the 5th/6th

I figured this could help people that r drafting out of the 12 hole, and through relentless mock drafting i found a solid strategy that lands you 2 top backs, 2 top 20 wrs and a great sleeper qb/wr to fill out your starters, along with a good te and the best defense in baltimore

[FatFoot]

I agree... as much as I like the idea of having a top QB, Carson goes too early, and Peyton's usually gone around 10 or 11... sometimes he's there at 12, which I think is a perfect scenario. But short of Peyton, I don't like the idea of an early reach for a QB out of a late drafting position. Later positions are where you are going to get the most value by waiting on QB, IMO. The 2 picks back to back, or separated by a pick or two, gives you a lot of control in defining your team.

I pretty much agree with everything you've posted, personally.

[MEK4178]

yeah, going RB RB is a much better idea. Taking Chad at pick 13 is not good value, i mean, in my book, there really isn't a difference between Chad, Marvin, TO, Wayne, Steve Smith which can be had later, some of them...RB/RB is definetly the choice here.

[moose162]

I went Bush/Henry but then took Brees instead of Evans with Boldin at 3/4. My receivers are sort of weak with Boldin, Coles, and Holmes but my QB+RBs make up for it.

[NYMetsIn2k4]

I went Bush/Henry but then took Brees instead of Evans with Boldin at 3/4. My receivers are sort of weak with Boldin, Coles, and Holmes but my QB+RBs make up for it.

yeah, your case is exactly the type of wr corps that u end up with if u take a qb insteada 2 wrs in the 3/4th rds. if holmes has a big yr like he may, your strategy could prove better, its just a matter of confidence in the late rd wrs... i persnally think after the top 20 wrs r gone, its too much of a gamble, but like any gamble, if u guess right, its money! goodluck!

[benb18a]

I recently drafted 14th in a 14 team league, and was happy with the results. I was hoping a Rudi or Bush would fall to me, but I got Henry and McGahee, which disappointed me a little. I got lucky and made up for it, as Fitzgerald and Roy Williams fell at the end of the third with the top 5 QBs being gone at that point. That was probably due to the nfl.com type scoring for QBs, except ints are only -1.

[NYMetsIn2k4]

I recently drafted 14th in a 14 team league, and was happy with the results. I was hoping a Rudi or Bush would fall to me, but I got Henry and McGahee, which disappointed me a little. I got lucky and made up for it, as Fitzgerald and Roy Williams fell at the end of the third with the top 5 QBs being gone at that point. That was probably due to the nfl.com type scoring for QBs, except ints are only -1.

in a 14 team league, getting henry and mcgahee is money, plus u got two top wrs to boot, how bout your qb n 3rd wr or flex?

[benb18a]

in a 14 team league, getting henry and mcgahee is money, plus u got two top wrs to boot, how bout your qb n 3rd wr or flex?

No flex, but I grabbed Mark Clayton to start at WR3, and have Henderson on the bench. As far as I know, Henderson is the starter opposite Colston, so I will probably platoon him with Clayton if he has a good season. I got Romo as my QB, since there was a run and Hasselbeck, Kitna etc. were gone by the end of the 5th. Due to many people grabbing two DSTs, I was forced to draft the Bills to end the draft. I refuse to reach for anything, much less DSTs, and I decided to stock up on depth at RB and WR while others were picking Min, Oak, NYJ etc. for backup defenses through the last third of the draft. I am going to have to play the WW for DST like I did successfully last season, thanks in no small part to Plindsey, but that is going to be difficult to do when there are only 13 at my disposal

[yossarian]

I drafted last in a 12 team league and ended up with
Bush/McGahee at RB
and
Evans/Walker at WR

I then took Vince Young and Betts with my next 2 picks.

I figure a core of Bush, McGahee, Walker, Evans, and Young with Betts at my flex position is a pretty solid team, right?

Regardless, I agree with what you said as far as taking RB/RB in the first round if you're picking last, short of Peyton falling to you.

[Goody]

I just drafted 12th in a 12 team league and recieved the following with my first 6 picks:

1.12 Westbrook
2.01 S.Smith
3.12 Portis
4.01 Javon Walker
5.12 Branch
6.01 Betts


Somehow, Westbrook fell to me at 12 due to everyone worrying about his durability. I took him and didn't think twice. I was going to take a 2nd RB here, but I felt I could get value in the third with a guy like Portis, so I took S.Smith. I ended up with a good duo of RB and WR. If I would have taken a RB with my 2nd pick, I would have been stuck with a guy like Javon Walker as my WR#1 and would have been much more thin at the position. The only place I am hurting is at QB, since they were taken off the board so quickly, I decided to wait until the later rounds and grabbed RBs and WRs early on. I am happy with how my draft went.

Here is my starting lineup:

QB - Cutler/Garrard
RB - Westbrook, Portis
WR - S.Smith, J. Walker
TE - Winslow
K - Wilkins
Def - Baltimore