Looking at the picks by position first: only three of the top 15 QBs were in the draft section - Carolina, Buffalo and the Jets (with Indy, Arizona and San Francisco falling out). So this year, if you didn't pay, you got what you paid for. Looking back, it's hard to believe no one took a chance on the Future Vacator.
Among RBs, there were several great values, but none better than Fred Jackson, the 13th pick of the first round. Ryan Matthews, Beanie Wells and Jahvid Best were valuable 1st round picks, but not as good as Sproles (7th round) or McGahee (5th round).
For the WRs, Steve Smith (3rd round) may be the best value in the draft at any position. AJ Green (5th round), Jordy Nelson (7th round) and Julio Jones (3rd round) were excellent picks; Maclin, Dez Bryant, Anquan Boldin were solid 1st round picks. Victor Cruz, Eric Decker, Torrey Smith, Laurent Robinson and Early Doucet were good waiver selections.
Unlike prior years, Tight End was almost completely unpredictable this year. Interestingly, this year four of the top 5 TEs in scoring were not in the auction, and the 6th best (Fred Davis) wasn't drafted at all.
Looking at the points by team:
Going from the bottom up, the team with the worst draft by total points scored would be your 7-2 Walla Walla Wombats! The entire team they drafted has scored 805 points. Their actual weekly starters have scored 748. With only 686 points scored against, they've clearly been luckier than most. Best move - trading for Arian Foster, who has averaged 18.4 points per game. Best find was Aaron Hernandez, who has averaged 10 points per game, but only played in 6 games. "Can't spell Elite without Eli" Manning has somehow managed to be the 7th rated fantasy QB in the league, averaging 23.4 per game. What went wrong? The Madden Curse has hit in perhaps its most diabolical fashion ever, knocking Peyton Hillis out of 5 games this season with ailments like the deadly strep throat and the dreaded "sleeping with his contacts in and now he can't see straight". (OK I made that one up, but still...) Losing Colston in week 1 was a killer, and no other WR has more than 56 points in 9 weeks.
Semi-P comes in 13th by this haphazard study, with a total of 826 points scored by the 16 players they drafted. Their plan to toughen up the team with new high-tech cleats is controversial to be sure. Their best player is clearly Calvin Johnson, who is actually averaging more points per game than Jay Cutler. Gronkowski and Jordy Nelson were perhaps the steals of the draft, averaging 11.5 and 10.5 ppg and picked in rounds 7 and 8 respectively. What went wrong? Well, Cutler for one - starting the 20th best QB in the league won't fly, particularly when your backup is Sam Bradford (31st). Their #1 running back is Rashad Mendenhall, the 26th ranked RB by points per game. After him, their other three RBs TOTAL 70 points on the season. Gates was never healthy enough to give them the latitude to trade Gronkowski. And yet, there they sit, 4-5, tied for a playoff spot with Dunder Mifflin and Brokerage.
No I in I/R (6-3) comes in 12th in the rankings, with 849 points scored on the season by the team they drafted. What went wrong? Andre Johnson, Kenny Britt, Ahmad Bradshaw and Felix Jones have all missed significant time (or will). If you're scoring at home, that would be their top three players by cost, plus their top draft pick in Britt. Trading Sproles for Denver QBs, Vernon Davis and Nate Washington didn't seem so bad until Washington got hurt also and Den QB was made irrelevant by trading for Rodgers. Picking up Torrey Smith on waivers has been huge, if for no other reason that the TD to end the Steelers game this week which also helped I/R avoid a most embarrassing loss to the Turd. They had just finished trading their #2 pick for Shonn Greene, only to watch him get concussed in his first start with the team.
The Sprockets (2-7) are next with 860 points scored. Best draft pick was MJD, a keeper from last year. A disappointing 18th-best QB season by Josh Freeman probably should have been paired with a higher pick than Raiders QB (full disclosure, this pick was made for Kevin when he had to leave the draft early). Still, that Carson Palmer looks like the stud I always said he was, throwing for 31 fantasy points. After QBs and MJD, no one they drafted has more than Dez Bryant's 65 points. DeSean Jackson has been attrocious. Dallas Clark and DeAngelo Williams too. Their one saving grace is having picked up DeMarco Murray who has 55 of his 62 points in the last 3 weeks, and also Eric Decker (10 ppg). They remain 2 games out of the last playoff spot with 4 to play. Trading Dez Bryant for Bills QB might have worked great had Fitzpatrick not gone in the toilet right after the trade. Looks like that's where the Sprockets are headed too.
Dale's Doormats (3-6) are 10th ranked at 889 points scored. What went wrong? Lagarrette Blount hasn't been able to stay in the lineup (10.2 ppg, but only 61 on the season). Their best WR was 5th round pick AJ Green. And as great as Jermichael has been, he got almost half his points on the season in one game. Gore has been solid at 13.5 ppg. Roofiesburger and Sanchize have been OK (ranked 10th and 14th respectively among QBs), but no better. At 4 games out with 4 to play, it's going to take a miracle. The lack of waiver success has hurt, with Brent Celek being the most successful pickup, but balanced out by having dropped Marion Barber III (a useful 6.8 ppg - not a bad 3rd or 4th RB).
Coming in 9th are the Red Bandits (6-3) at 932 points. Romo has been OK at 22 ppg. Beanie Wells, Steven Jackson and Greg Jennings have each averaged over 13. Miles Austin and Julio Jones come in at 10+ when they've been healthy, which is part of the problem. Addai and Hardesty have given nothing as backup RBs. Zach Miller was a disaster at TE, but they alertly swooped in to scroung Owen Daniels in the Turd firesale. Gostkowski and Ravens D are part of the success of this team, still in first place in their division.
The Fatties (4-5) are 8th at 944 points. They're 3 games back with 4 to play and still have to leapfrog I/R, so it looks like another disappointing season for the corpulent ones. What went wrong? Brady's 3rd ranked season is, as I have said before, an illusion, having averaged 21.4 ppg since week 3 (2 points per game less than Denver QBs over the same stretch). McFadden's injury was a killer, but with Mike Bush on the roster, that should have been mitigated. Brandon Marshall has been stellar - considering who is throwing him the ball. Cedric Benson and Mark Ingram have been pretty good when healthy and out of jail. After Marshall, their WRs have been awful, with Mike Thomas' 35 points the brightest of them. Muchostinko... what more needs to be said?
Dunder Mifflin (4-5 in 3rd place in their division) comes in 7th, which really goes as an asterisk for I/R, as this team was picked by new co-owner Billy Bernens. Stafford has avoided injury and is the 5th ranked QB. Willis McGahee has made up for Chris Johnson's underwhelming performance. Wes Welker, Steve Smith (Carolina) and Jeremy Maclin have all been overwhelming, while Jered Cook at TE has just been whelming (5.0 ppg).
The biggest surprise of the list is Tim & Kumar (1-8) coming in 6th with 958 points scored despite losing Jamaal Charles in the second game of the season. Denver QBs come it as the 11th-ranked QB on the season. Forte was an alert trade and a great keeper (always good to fleece the commish when you can). Vincent Jackson has been a monster in two games this year with 61 of his 134 points coming in week 2 and 9 combined. Picking up free agents Victor Cruz and Early Doucet (10 ppg and 7.5 ppg) helps. Holmes has been disappointing and having two good TEs (Keller and Vernon Davis) only helps if you can turn one of them into Darren Sproles. What went wrong, aside from the Charles injury? Only one other RB selected in the draft hurts. Manningham has been disappointing at $12 in the auction. Mostly they've just been a little unlucky every week, losing two games by a total of 7 points and never losing by more than 24 regardless of whether their opponent scored 113 or 71. This week, finally getting off the schnide, they finish with 106 points only to see their opponent come up with 55. Thanks Sprockets!
Did I say Tim & Kumar were surprising at #6? How about the Turd in at #5? 27% of their 983 points on the season have been scored by the since-traded Aaron Rodgers. Jacobs, Greene and Green-Ellis have been whelming, all between 50-74 points on the year. Roddy White and Plax have been disappointing at 23rd and 26th among WRs on the year. Tony Gonzalez (5th round pick) has been the 5th best TE on the season. So the team as drafted was basically Rodgers and Gonzalez. In three weeks out of the first 9, the Turd managed more than 70 points and only won one of those three.
#4 ranked team is Pep & Cheez (7-2) at 1010 points on the season. This despite having the 15th ranked QB and spending $13 on Peyton Manning. McCoy (160 points) has been nearly invinceable. Mike Wallace has given the full 60 Minutes every Sunday. And Jimmy Graham (2nd round pick) has been far and away the best TE in the league (11.6 ppg). Larry Fitzgerald (9.9 ppg) has been rueing the day he re-signed with Arizona. P&C looks like a sure bet to hold onto the points title with a 70-point margin and 4 games to play. They've scored under 92 points twice this year and lost both games. Five times they've been 100 or better.
#3 is Team Brokerage (4-5, tied for 3rd in the Canes Division) with 1057 points scored on the year. Vick, Adrian Peterson and Ryan Matthews have been great. Trading Buffalo QBs at their absolute peak value was inspired. Reggie Bush has two 100+ yard games in the last 5 years - both against the Giants. The WRs have been vinceable, with Brandon Lloyd's 53 points on the season leading the way. If Matthews comes back and can stay healthy and Dez Bryant can also stay healthy, Brokerage should be the team to beat for that last playoff spot.
#2 is Team Gump (6-3) in at just one point higher than Team Brokerage but with two more wins nonetheless and neverthemore. The Gumpsters get full credit for alertly swooping up the best undrafted player in the league - Cam the Future Vacator, the second-ranked QB in the league to date with 28.5 ppg. Brees ($40) has been pretty good too (4th best QB). Michael Turner ($40) has been solid enough (8th best RB). Dwayne Bowe ($18) has been the 10th-best WR.
And the #1 team in the league is of course Natural Disaster (8-1) at 1,129, despite spending $29 on Phil Rivers (#12 ranked QB). Having the #2 and 5 ranked RBs (Fred Jackson and Ray Rice) helps a bit. Mike Tolbert (17th), Hightower (21st ranked average ppg before getting hurt) and Ben Tate (23rd) have provided depth. Nicks has been the only good WR (#14 ranked at 10.3 ppg). Celek turned out to be decent enough at 4.5 ppg, but they cut him long before finding that out. However, adding Jake Ballard (6.8 ppg) and Fred Davis (8.1 ppg) has been huge. Other than Rivers and the RBs, Nicks is the only player from the draft/auction still on the team. And of course their fantasy defense (651 points scored against) is the #1 reason why they're 8-1. That is is over 10 ppg lower than the third-luckiest team. Still, they've scored 99 or more in six games (losing one of those) and only once been under 79. And the reverse-whammy they put on this past week's game was impressive - the old "we haven't had high points in five years" trick. Oldest trick in the book.
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