Teaser's Revenge Draft Recap 2008

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Hey everybody - Great draft the other night. And as Tracy requested, here's my draft recap for Teaser's Revenge 2008. Instead of doing a team by team analysis (which will come in my next post, I'm sure), I opted for picking the Best and Worst draft pick for each and every one of the 17 grueling rounds. So without further ado,

Teaser's Revenge Draft Recap 2008

Round: Best Pick; Worst Pick

1^st: Brian Westbrook, Mauger (5); Peyton Manning, Dagan (8)

Look who fell into Dave's lap once again. Good ole Brian Westbrook, the consensus #2 draft pick in a point per catch league. He'll run and catch about 20+ points per week, so watch out. The worst pick - Dagan's Peyton Manning. In a 14 team league where 2 RBs start, you need to get a stud RB - unless you drafted Brady or Moss. Manning showed weakness last year and with injury concerns and the unknown ability of Harrison, who knows if you got a first round talent. Maybe at 13 or 14, but at 8? Come on, Dagan...

2^nd: Tony Romo, Dufresne (27); Laurence Maroney, Klenk (20)

I think ESPN is being paid by Tony Romo. They have touted him to the stars and back this year and even put him ahead of Peyton Manning. With that being said, however, getting him with the second to last pick in the second round is a steal in a 14 team league. On the other hand, Maroney at 20 is a good 20 picks too early. Unless the Patriots decide to run the ball like they did in the playoffs - which no one thinks they will - Maroney is a bust at #20, with MJD, McGahee, and Lewis still available.

3^rd: tie, Andre Johnson, Dufresne (30), tie, Wes Welker, Jen L-U (34); Ronnie Brown, Klenk (37)

Point per catch league, buddies. Both of these WRs should have gone very early second round and they fell to the 3rd. Now, Johnson is an injury risk and Welker plays in Moss' shadow, but they are both going to be top 10 WR for the year. With the second worst pick in a row, Klenk comes out with Ronnie Brown - injury waiting to happen. Ricky Williams is the starter, plus ACL tear victims lose on average 30% productivity after returning from their injury. Given how horrid Brown was last year, this does not bode well for Klenk.

4^th: Anquan Boldin, Tracy (56); tie, Jay Cutler, Moose (50), tie, David Garrard, Jen L-U (51)

Anquan Boldin is a 2nd to 3rd round talent, gotten in the 4th. Kudos to our man overseas. With Fitz as an injury risk, James being pushed by Hightower for the starting role, and Warner starting - it's just a matter of time that the Arizona offense revolves around Boldin. As for the Worst, we have our first real run of the draft - QBs. And those who were behind the curve, namely Jen and myself, got the short end of the stick. Cutler and Garrard, even if they play up to their potential, are pretty bad picks in the fourth round.

5^th: Roddy White, Autodraft (69); Greg Jennings, OT (60)

Two similar WRs last year are going in opposite directions this year. Roddy White broke out last season even with Joey Harrington and Chris Redmon as QB. Greg Jennings broke out with Mr. Favre. Now, White improves his situation with a stud RB and a top draft pick calling the plays while Jennings get a crap shoot that is Rodgers. We'll see how this one pans out in the end, but I'd take a bet that White has a better season than Jennings does. The fact that Autodraft got White 9 picks later only helps the disparity.

6^th: Dallas Clark, Autodraft (72); Justin Fargas, Sam L-U (82)

Dallas Clark was the 5th TE taken, and maybe the best talent this year. Whitten is going to be great, and we'll have to wait and see with Gate's injury - but they were taken a whole two rounds earlier. Way to wait this one out Autodraft. Sam's pick of Fargas is just puzzling. He's "starting" but is going to be a worse version of last year's Julius Jones. McFadden will steal the show and Fargas will only see a reduction in playing time as the season progresses.

7^th: Joey Galloway, AC (95); Chargers D/ST, Jen L-U (90)

The seventh round in a 14 team league is where the talent starts drying up. Starters are gone, usually, and backups are being picked through. And AC still finds Joey Galloway, a top WR, a starter, and a top 60 talent.

Now, given that the backups are being picked, it's still waaaaaay too early for defenses. I'll admit that the Chargers are the best defense in the league - even with Merriman's injury. But the 7th is too early for them.

8^th: Chris Johnson, Dufresne (111); 49ers D/ST, Graham (103)

I'll say two things about Chris Johnson and then get to Graham. Titans have a power running game and think Thunder and Lightening. Okay - the real issue - is not that it's too early to pick defenses, but that Graham picked the 49ers! Whaaaaa?!?! I'm completely stumped on this one - he wasn't even autodrafting. Do you even like the 49ers, Graham?

9^th: Derrick Mason, Tracy (113); Javon Walker, Dave (117)

Derrick Mason caught 103 passes last year. That's 51.5 extra points. For the 9th round, that's good. Javon Walker on the other hand was cut, was mugged in Vegas, has the second worst knees in the league (thanks to Deuce McAllister), is hurt, and has already contemplated retiring once this preseason. Good pick, Dave. For the 9th round, that's bad.

10^th: Jon Kitna, Tracy (140); Kevin Boss, Sam L-U (138)

Here's where teams should start going for upside. These guys shouldn't be starting, but their impact later on could be great. Championships are won when these players break loose. Kitna starts. He throws. His receivers are good. Nice pick. Kevin Boss does have upside, but Sam shouldn't have been taking a backup TE so early. There are too many players with potential to change your team - Boss isn't one of them.

11^th: Ray Rice, Tracy (141); Bobby Engram, Klenk (149)

And Ray Rice is one of them. McGahee is being McGahee - hurting, that is. Ray Rice is a very nice backup with the potential to be a star in a running focused offense should Willis go down. Even though he has upside, Bobby Engram is VERY hurt. He's not going to come back for many weeks. I'd take a 16th-17th round flyer on this guy, but there are many more promising - healthy - players left in this draft.

12^th: Josh Morgan, Autodraft (156); Kickers, 7 teams (159-168)

Autodraft had another good round with Josh Morgan - if the chain restaurant that is J.T. O'Sullivan can actually pass the ball. Lot's of upside there. Now here's my real beef - kickers in round 12. Nick Folk had 131 points last year. Josh Scobee had 62. That's an average of 4 points per game. Now take the #1 vs #14 from any other position and look at the difference - it's striking. The difference in kickers is so small and so variable from year to year, that justifying a 12th round pick isn't worth it. I mean, Scobee could be a top 5 kicker this year - he's already projected for 11 points this week. In other words, would you rather have.....

13^th: Muhsin Muhammed, Dave (173); tie, Phil Dawson, Steph (180), tie, Josh Brown, Kovacs (182)

....Muhsin Muhammed - a quality starter - or Phil Dawson / Josh Brown? Seriously - who would pass that up?

14^th: Steve Slaton, Dufresne (195); Aaron Stecker, Autodraft (184)

Slaton is a great pick this far down. He's explosive and will eventually take over the Texan's running game - if his toe heals properly. There's not much competition for him either. On the other hand, Stecker is currently fourth on the depth chart - Bush, McAllister, Thomas, and then Stecker. This is where autodrafting doesn't do you any good.

15^th: Eddie Royal, Dave (201); tie, Chris Henry, Autodraft (209), tie, L.J. Smith, Graham (206)

Eddie Royal is a steal in the 15th round. The first two games with Marshall out should show whether Royal can hang with the big boys and break loose this season. Nice pick, Dave. The two headed monster that is the Titan's running game has no room for a third. Even if it did, that third head would be Vince Young. Chris Henry will not even get goalline carries in this offense. L.J. is an injury waiting to happen. So Graham has an injury prone TE to backup an injury prone TE. Great thinking there...

16^th: Antonio Pittman, Klenk (216); T.J. Duckett, Sam L-U (222)

This round is a tale of the backups. First, Klenk starts out with a good one - if SJax goes down, Pittman will do well to step right in and take over. Plenty of Bulger passes to go around, too. Sam wins this year's Worst Draft Picker trophy with a total of 4 horrible draft picks. On second note, he's tied with Klenk - the guy who started the K run in the 12th round. Duckett won't play, won't get goalline carries, and will probably get cut at some point.

17^th: tie, Joe Flacco, Sam L-U (227), tie, Chad Pennington, OT (228); Ravens D/ST, Tracy (225)

Last round - time for the real flyers here. Two starting QBs are left, and they get picked up. Flacco may have more upside, but Pennington has something to prove to Mr. Favre in the first week - Jets v. Dolphins, you know. Tracy uses his last pick on a backup defense to backup his starting defense that should have been someone's backup - did you catch that? In other words - neither the Eagles or Ravens have any business being in someone's starting lineup.

Wow - that was grueling. Now it's time to award the Best and Worst Drafter of 2008. As for Worst - both Sam and Klenk tied with 4 Worst picks. The tiebreaker is number of Best picks - both of which had one. The second tie breaker is the round of their best pick - Sam's was in round 17, where Klenk's was in 16. Sam L-U - Congrats! You are the Worst Drafter of 2008!

As for the Best Drafter of 2008, we had another tie. Both Dufresne and Tracy had 4 best picks. But, in the tie breaker, Dufresne pulled it out with no bad picks to Tracy's two. I bet you're kicking yourself over Shayne Graham and the Ravens D/ST now, Tracy! Kudos to Andy Dufresne - Teaser's Revenge 2008 Best Drafter!

Trophies for everyone!

Good luck on this week's games - remember to get your lineups set before the individual players lock - which is right before their individual game times.

- League Commish Moose