Weeks 3, 4 & 5

I must admit, after week two I started to doubt my abilities as an owner of any legitimate Fantasy football worth...sad isn't it?

Anyway, I'm back, and with a bang...

Here's the wrap-up so far:

1. Free Yahoo League: Tabula Rasa loses a squeeker in week three to Wake Forest (48-51) in spite of 25 points from Daunte. Week four saw TR bounce back against Dirty Birds with a resounding 46-21 win - no outstanding performances, aside from a bye week pickup of Leftwich, who had a nice game against the Colts horrible defense. Week five saw a regular barnburner between TR and the sunbury stars. TR won in a shootout 101-84 on the back of Culpepper, Fitzgerald, LT, Chris Brown and Tennessee D (all of whom scored in double digits)...[overall record 3-2]

2. Free Yahoo League: Again, Tabula Rasa loses a squeeker to the MaJa_PlaYaZ (67-69), and again, inspite of Daunte's 25 points. Week four saw TR bounce back against the lockdownSon (50-22) - no standout players, but good production across the board. Week five saw TR victorious over the bristol bulldogs (77-45) on the back of Daunte and Eric Johnson...whodat...[overall record 3-2]

3. Free Yahoo League: Tabula Rasa is victorious in week three over the Dawgies (89-78) with good production from Favre and TO. Week four saw TR defeat Double Down 63-44 on the back of TO and Priest. Week five saw TR get a beatdown (114-48)...tough to win when TO and Priest are on bye week at the same time, but winning this game would have been tough with them playing also...[overall record 4-1]

4. Free Yahoo League: Tabula Rasa wins against Steaming Dookies (87-68) on the back of Favre, Javon Walker and John Carney (the only players to score more than 4 points - luckily all of them scored at least 20). Week four witnessed TR winning a truly ugly game against the Death Valley Reapers (36-35)...the only player on TR to score in double digits was Rudi Johnson...luckily the Reapers had even worse luck. In week five TR lost to CincyCuse (103-68)...really, nothing good to say about this game...[overall record 2-3]

5. ESPN League Manager: Tabula Rasa needed a new name after stinkin' the joint up the first two week...thus was born Zoidberg's Squid Patrol...needless to say, ZSP didn't perform much better...week three saw ZSP lose in a shootout to SUPERBOWL BOUND (102-105)...I had Manning, he had Favre...I would have won in I'd started Javon Walker...44 points sitting on my bench really hurts. Week 4 didn't see things getting any better for ZSP as it lost to Raging Rat 67-79...the only positive thing that came out of this was the fact that I couldn't have made any roster moves that would have changed the outcome (the first time I can say that for this squad). Week five saw a rejuvinated ZSP squad defeat the Rohan Riders 98-79 to record the first win of the season...[overall record 1-4, but improving fast]

In addition to these results, I also swung the first trade of the season, sending Quentin Griffin and Lee Suggs to MD Shottas for Kevan Barlow and Chris Chambers (in the ESPN league)...overall, a net loss for me as I think Suggs will be better than Barlow, but at least I got rid of Griffin (that bum). I'm trying to work out a trade that would send Dunn and Rod Smith to Lidless Lucas for Harrison and the Ravens D...if I can get Harrison without giving up Pennington, I can then package the two of them together to get Randy Moss...that might seem like a lot to give up for Moss, but in essence, I'd only lose Dunn from my starting lineup for him. If I can work out all of these details, I would end up with a starting line of Peyton Manning, Duece, Westbrook, Moss, Darrell Jackson, Joe Horn, Ravens D/ST, and John Carney. On my bench, I would still have implact players in Javon Walker and Vick along with Barlow (if he ever gets anything done). That's a pretty good starting squad, if I can swing it...

[cumulative record: 13-12] which just ain't gonna get it done...

Week 2 Results

Well, week 2 wasn't kind to Tabula Rasa, but I had a great holiday trip to Southern England and Wales, so it all comes out as a wash in my book...now, on to the results.

1. Yahoo Public League - The trio of Daunte, LT and Tenn D couldn't overcome the play of Aaron Brooks, Hines Ward, Andre Johnson and the NE D, as Tabula Rasa fell to BucsBaby 85-37...ouch... [overall record 1-1]

2. Yahoo Public League - Tabula Rasa loses a heartbreaker to 18patsrule 57-56, as Daunte, Donte Stallworth and Jay Feely (how sad that these are the only players to score in double digits for Tabula's team) couldn't overcome the combo of Mick Vick and NE D (even sadder that I lost to a team that only had two players score in double digits)...[overall record 1-1]

3. Yahoo Public League - Tabula Rasa overcomes good games on the part of Manning, Chris Brown and the Dallas D to defeat CSC 61-52. Most amazingly, Tabula only had one player (Dante Stallworth) score in double digits, but lots of other players that scored in the high single digits. [overall record 2-0]

4. Yahoo Public League - Tabula Rasa loses another heartbreaker 60-64 against the Raging Snowmen. It's time to look for a replacement for Favre (who I thought I was lucky to get in the 9th round of the draft in this league). [overall record 0-2]

5. ESPN League Manager - Tabula Rasa goes down to another defeat in the "real" league at the hands of MD Shottas 69-86. Good production from Manning, Westbrook, Joe Horn and the Bucs D couldn't overcome horrible outings by Deuce and Justin McCareins. This is the second week in a row where Tabula would have won if I had only made the proper lineup choices. Damn...[overall record 02]

Total cumulative record 4-5 (Damn...I gotta get on my horse...)

Week One Results

Of course, the Monday night game is still to be played, however, here is how I stand in the five leagues in which I play:

1. Yahoo Public League - Tabula Rasa (my team) has beaten the Stellar Steelerz 86 - 46, mainly on the combined work of Daunte Culpepper, LT, and the Titan's D...which accounted for 66 of my points. I still have Steve Smith playing tonight, but my opponent is done for the week. I'm feeling pretty good about this team.

2. Yahoo Public League - Tabula Rasa (again, my team) has beaten the McCord Allstarts 79 - 39, mainly on the combined work of Culpepper and Portis, who accounted for 48 of my points. As with the previous league, I still have Steve Smith playing tonight, but my opponent is done. Again, I'm really liking Culpepper this year...that's probably why I tried to get him in each of my leagues (not always successfully).

3. Yahoo Public League - Tabula Rasa (starting to see a pattern here?) has beaten the Red Raiders 73 - 55, mainly on the combined work of TO and Priest, who accounted for 46 of my points. I still have Favre playing tonight, but my opponent is done. I was worried about this game as the Red Raiders looked formidable behind Tory Holt and LT, but lack of stand out production across the board was too much to overcome.

4. Yahoo Public League - Tabula Rasa is in deep trouble, trailing The Durham Devastation 57 - 16. I have a bit of hope as I still have Favre, Javon Walker and the Carolina D playing tonight, but my opponent has Steve Smith and Stephen Davis, so it's not looking too good.

Overall in my Yahoo Public Leagues, it looks like I'll end the first week of the fantasy season at a respectable 3-1.

Now, on to the real league:

In my ESPN league, which I manage, I'm getting my ass handed to me by my brother's team Red Rocket The Onions (don't ask me where he came up with that name). As it stands right now, I'm trailing 68 - 100, but I still have John Kasay left to play...not that it will do me any good. I felt pretty good going in to this matchup, as I had McAllister and Westbrook in the backfield, Peyton Manning at QB, and Darrell Jackson, Joe Horn and Charles Rogers as my WRs. Granted, Rogers' injury hurt, but not quite as much as McAllister's lackluster performance (which hurts even more because I left Quentin Griffin on the bench). The Onions' combination of Culpepper (who my brother drafted one spot before me in the second round - and yes, I would have taken him in a heartbeat), Portis (who I should have taken instead of McAllister in the first round), and Chad Johnson were too much to overcome. Ah well, it's a learning experience, and I should improve. I'm putting in a waiver claim on Warrick Dunn to bolster my three deep RB situation. Clearing Rogers out will open up a spot for Dunn. I'm also going to try to swing a deal for another top flight WR by trading either Vick or Pennington...I'll keep you updated.

Time to start for real

It's been a while since I posted anything to this site, but the NFL season is about to begin, and that means that the FFL season is about to begin as well. I've been through a couple of drafts already through yahoo games, although my primary league won't draft until Saturday. I'll post the rosters of my yahoo leagues with an explanation of where I was drafting as well as my thought process for why I selected particular players at that spot.

My first team drafted just over two weeks ago...I had the 4th spot in a 10 team league...here's how I drafted, with each of the actual pick numbers:

004. C. Portis - I wasn't really sure who I wanted with this pick. It was a toss up between Portis and Alexander. I have a nagging feeling that I chose poorly. Portis is running behind a poor line, and he has been injury prone in his past. Of course, he is playing for Joe Gibbs, and we all know that Joe loves to run the ball...here's hoping that Joe plays to type.

017. D. Culpepper - By now, all of the second tier RBs were gone, and most of the top WRs had already been snagged as well. I felt pretty comfortable taking Daunte here, as he will be throwing lots of tds to Moss this year.

024. T. Henry - This was a reach pick, as I still wasn't clear about who would be the starting RB in Buffalo this year, but I knew if I waited until my next pick, I'd be stuck with Emmitt Smith running with Portis...I'll just have to make sure that I handcuff him with McGahee, and see who gets the playing time.

037. S. Smith - I felt really luck to get Steve Smith in the 4th round...the new contact rules will allow him to run right by most of the CBs in the league...I expect big things from him this year.

044. J. Smith - I really like Jacksonville's offense this year. Jimmy Smith is primed for a big year.

057. B. Westbrook - this pick was made before Buckhalters injury, so I'm thinking now that I don't have to worry so much about Travis Henry/Willis McGahee...Westbrook is gonna prove how sturdy he is this year.

064. D. Stallworth - I have officially bought in to all of the hype about Dante Stallworth this year. I think he'll end up a top 20 WR...not bad for the 7th round.

077. C. Pennington - Just in case something happens to Daunte...otherwise, he'll be great trade bait.

084. W. McGahee - Like I said, I had to handcuff Henry with McGahee. I wasn't sure how much longer he'd be around.

097. M. Robinson - I've since dropped Marcus since he seems to be third on the depth charts in Minn. now. In his place, I picked up Tyrone Calico...should be a good trade off if he comes back from his two knee injury.

104. R. Smith - I've read a couple of things that say Rod Smith might be poised for a big year. Nice to have him tucked away in my bench if that does happen. Low risk pick here, with a possibility of high rewards.

117. D. Foster - I picked up DeShaun because I wanted to screw over the owner who picked up Stephen Davis. I'm not expecting Davis to make it all the way through the year.

124. Buffalo - Not too high on Buffalo's D, but they were the best available that was left.

137. D. Driver - Never hurts to have a Green Bay receiver on your squad.

144. J. Feely - Fell off the map last year because of Vick's injury and the subsequent tanking of the Falcons, but this year, he might be a pretty solid pick. Either way, who cares...kickers are easily replaced on waivers.

Okay...there you have it, the first of my teams. Thoughts are welcome. I'll post the next one tomorrow, but for today, I have to get to another draft.

Oh, I've gotta admit, I hate the New England Patriots...mostly because I lived in Rhode Island for a while, and got sick of people rooting for a team that clearly sucked...at least at that time they did. Anyway...having said that, I gotta admit getting Corey Dillon for a second round pick was pretty frickin good...damn, they're gonna be good again this year...

I realize that I started this blog a while ago, but I'm really going to get into posting regularly after the NFL draft takes place this Saturday...that way, I'll have a better sense of what each team's situation will be, and should be able to analyze the players with all of the information.

I've started this blog to get a better sense of my own thoughts about the NFL and the state of fantasy football. As an American living in England, I am forced to use the internet for most of my sports news...this is my way of giving a little back.