My Fantasy Football Draft

Last Saturday, a yearly tradition continued in the Clark house. Our fantasy football league draft was a success, though R.H. unfortunately couldn't make it, so we drafted on his behalf. The screen on the left was for Dad's team, the middle was for R.H., and the lower laptop was mine. Quite the craziness in the draft war room! This year was more intense since there was a change in position (the 3rd WR slot was changed to a RB/WR flex slot) and everyone used their full 2 minutes per pick.

My starters as of today:
QB Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
RB Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
RB Clinton Portis, Washington Redskins
RB/WR Kevin Walter, Houston Texans
WR Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons
WR Vincent Jackson, San Diego Chargers
TE Kevin Boss, New York Giants
K Ryan Longwell, Minnesota Vikings
DEF New England Patriots
LB DeMarcus Ware, Dallas Cowboys
DL Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings
DB Erik Coleman, Atlanta Falcons


Photo of Adrian Peterson courtesy of nola.com.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with my squad this year. I had Adrian Peterson his rookie year and did a blog post on him, in a segment dubbed "Player Spotlight", a column that will be returning this fall, which can be viewed here. My bench/depth is a concern, but that's something that can be adjusted as the season goes on. Considering I picked 1st overall in a twelve team league, I made out pretty well. The key disadvantage to picking 1st is that I don't get to pick again until the 24th pick.

A thing I like to do with my fantasy roster is get players from cities I have family or friends in, in addition to my favorite team. While I only take them if it makes sense for my team, It does make for interesting conversation with people during the season when you mention you have a local player on your team. A few years ago, I had a Seahawk on my team, which led to an interesting chat with an old friend who is originally from Seattle. So to start off this year, I have 3 Vikings (C.B.), 2 Patriots (favorite team), 2 Redskins (L.M. and L.M.), 1 Cowboy (R.H. and W.H.), 1 Raven (L.M. and L.M.), and 1 Cardinal (lots of family in AZ). Unfortunately, no Packers, Bears, or Seahawks this year (heck, I usually have more Cardinals too.)

Fantasy football makes football season so much better. There's the friendly rivalry amongst friends, the thrill of victory and the bragging rights attached, and the pain of losing in the championship game. Draft day is one of the best days, like baseball's spring training, where everyone starts at 0-0. There's also lots of banter on draft day between players that makes the experience all the more better.



Everyone in the family was getting into fantasy football in our house. Even Eli, though, judging by the torn pages, he wasn't impressed by the wide receiver crop this year.