I'm doing my 1st keeper league this year & I am aware that even though i want to win this year, building for the future is important also..I was thiking w/ my 1st 6 picks I would try to win now & then start building for the future after that, in terms of sleepers & rooks..Any one have some advice??...
How does your keeper league work? That's really important here. For example - if it's an auction-style draft, you definitely don't even want to think about this year - because if you do you will spend all of your cap room on the few big studs and have a whole bunch of no-names filling your other roster spots. Also, another thing to take into consideration is the rookies. Does your league have a seperate rookie draft from the initial draft? If so, this will give you a completely different draft strategy entirely.
If I were you, I'd join a redraft-style Yahoo! league for winning this year, and stack your keeper team for years down the road. Playing to win immediately is just so damn costly in keeper leagues - but then again, that's the point of the keeper league.
You should incorporate both winning now and future into all rounds of your draft. Depending on where you draft (first, middle, end) of first round, you should target a young back with lots of upside. Overall in your draft, avoid aging players who are on the end of of their leash. People will be enamored with players like Brett Favre (my favorite player ever) and Marshall Faulk (who should have at least a couple big games). Both will be out of the league within the next year or two. While other owners snag up Marshall in the end of the first or early second rounds, you can target younger players who are on the upswing. Guys like Edgerrin James, Deuce McAllister, etc. are young, will help you this year and will be a staple for your team for years to come.
It also depends on how many keepers your league keeps. If it's only a two or three-player keeper league, you don't need to focus so intently on Kevin Jones, Fitzgerald, etc. because you'll probably have one or two main running backs you'll be keeping along with perhaps a Culpepper, Manning, Moss, etc. Then you can focus the rest of your team on players who will have big years THIS year and not so much down the road.
How many keepers do you have? How many teams in your league? When do you draft?
Warpigs is right on the money - with only 2 keepers, that definitely drives your focus away from rookies and guys with lower name-recognition now but higher upside to them. Since you are only keeping 2 players into next year, make sure they are STUDS.
Now that I understand what you're working with a little better - this seems like the kind of keeper league that is not as focused on the longterm, and you should plan accordingly. Since there isn't a rookie draft, don't try to draft the rooks early - a lot of them will probably fly under the radar anyway.
Edge at 10. No question there. Possibly Moss, but I expect a huge season from Edge.
Second round, it depends. If MOss is somehow miraculously still there, take him. Otherwise, the best available RB. (or possibly Harrison depending on the RB available.)
At the 10th spot I would take Edge and then 5 picks later I would hope there was a quality back there (Fred Taylor, Faulk, Henry etc.) to take as my 2nd back.
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by booda » Thu Jul 08, 2004 9:32 am 
