Position Battles

Ante Up
Battle: RB2 - Jae Lee had one major objective in entering the 2006 CTDB Supplemental Draft - acquire more running backs. After a draft of Driver solidified his starting WR roster, Lee went all out to mine for young running talent with picks of Tatum Bell, Corey Dillon, and LenDale White. We don't see any major starting positions at risk here with the exception of potentially Westbrook giving way to Bell or White during the season. However, Westy seems to have a solid hold for now.

Battle Angels
Battle: WR3 - Despite a 6'0 molely quarterback with a suspect shoulder along with ho hum keeper wide receivers in Bryant and Muhammad (I know Stevie Smith is here but still...), Vu decided to farm for young running talent with the picks of DeAngelo Williams and Laurence Maroney. While the hope is that one or both of these backs will eventually push Willis McGahee for playing time, the real battle will be to see if either Joey Galloway or Reggie Brown can take over for Antonio Bryant. Our bet is on Galloway but really, is it that big of a bet?

Buffy
Battle: WR4 - Buffy GM Roger Cheng has announced 2006 as his push year. Foregoing the option to draft young potential keepers, the average draft age of Cheng's picks was probably around 42 (+/- 5 years). Derrick Mason has been slotted as the third and final starting receiver while Joe Horn and Terry Glenn will battle it out for the first back up position.

Chunky Monkeys
Battle: WR3 - Evan Shiue showed his disdain (and inability) to draft WRs again in this draft choosing to pick up two rbs (despite the presence of Tomlinson and LJ) with his first two picks. Michael Clayton, Laveraneus Coles and Vince Jackson look like just random dart throws at an attempt to find a starter behind malcontent TO and Cotton Candy Andre Johnson. The upside? LT and LJ are probably the two best backs in this universe (Shaun is old and stale we think).

Dirty Birds
Battle: WR4 - Entering the draft with a solid set of skill positions, GM Yang wisely snapped up Tom Brady to round out his starting line up. There is little question who is starting. We see potential in Matt Jones to push for starting time but Jones is a firmly entrenched as a backup for now. Other than that, maybe Kevan will call GM Yang Mr. Mao and find his ass cut by Week 1.

Fat Jubas
Battle: RB2 - With Davis hurt, it was clear that Eric was in a market for young backs that could not only replace Davis but also potentially assume the #1 RB role a few years down the line. To this end, Liao picked up Reuben Droughns and Thomas Jones. Neither is that exciting but both are probably solid this year ... our guess is that one of these two will be a starting Juban by Week 2 at the latest.

Fobsters
Battle: RB2, RB3, and RB4 - One would've thought the biggest question mark on Fobsters team was his WRs. They are. But thats why there aren't any position battles here. Behind CJ, you have Keenan and Mark Clayton (or maybe Ben Watson). The real training camp question will be who will get the rock between Tiki, Cadillac, Reggie and maybe even Deuce. I think GM Wu starts with Tiki and Caddy with Reggie finding his way in by Week 3. Our biggest prognostication - Deuce will be traded or cut after getting into a shouting match with Jimmy by midseason.

Green Team
Battle: QB1 - Another DB clone with a keeper set of skill position players. Is it Sh-Eli Manning or Lets Get Your Roll On Daunte? We don't see Eric Moulds or Cedric Benson being anything more than just backups this year.

Philadelphia Phreaks
Battle: RB2 - With Portis out, GM Shen may be jonesin for the Jones boys. Meet Kevin and Julius. Supplemental draftees TJ Whosyourmama and Nate Burleson will start while Mike Bell and Troy Williamson will start the season on the bench with the proverbial (high upside) marker on their backs.

Tight End Jammers
Battle: RB2 - DeShaun, meet Joseph Addai. He will take your starting spot once you break your groin again. That was Lei's dream after Addai fell into his laps with second overall picks. Warrick Dunn and Christopher Brown may make some noise as well but our gut is that Pan will go with the young talent.

Jekyll & Hyde: Part 2

Now let's take a look not at a paper champion, but a real one. The Fat Jubas went from a wild card to close defeats of the Phreaks (by 4 pts) and Green Team (10 pts) and then a final demolishing blow to heavily favored Chunky Monkeys (winning by 24 pts) for the the '06 championship.

Taken objectively, the Jubas have a much weaker keeper core compared to the big losers of last year, the Fobsters. The Jubas do have Shaun Alexander -- last year's MVP and championship engine -- but that's about it for premier players. WR Anquan Boldin is a solid player but he's not even #1 on his own team. He's a low end #1 fantasy WR, but he might be better off as a #2. Assuming Boldin is a top ten WR, the drop off is huge from Boldin to the other keeper WR, venerable Rod Smith. Mr Smith is still churning out the stats, but he's not keeper worthy in any format. With new teammate Javon Walker on-board, is Rod looking at his final year in the league?

QB Marc Bulger is an excellent fantasy QB but he's hardly a franchise quarterback. In most lists, he's barely a top ten signal caller. Solid, but wholly unspectacular. And what about versatile Domanick Davis? He's uber-talented and has accomplished some good numbers, but he's dinged up (beyond repair?). Davis is hardly a lock to become a solid contributor again and with his health issues, his best days may be over already.

So how can a champion take his (comparatively) weak core to the top again? With a savvy draft, that's how. So, how did GM Liao do?

Despite having traded away his third pick (in the Shaun - TO deal), GM Liao put together a solid draft that focused on established talent with upside. It's hard to pick between a declining veteran who can help you now versus a young star who probably won't explode for a year or two -- or worse, not explode at all. Obviously, the Jubas had a plan in mind as they selected a crop of young veterans who all have some experience (and success) in the league and have room for improvement to boot.

With Reuben Droughns and Thomas Jones, the brittle Davis could be relegated to the bench. Droughns may not be a sexy pick but he's solid and a workhorse, he's also poised for a good season. Droughns may never be a world killer, but that's Shaun's job; Droughns just needs to be dependable. And if he's not, last year's sensation (at times), Thomas Jones, is ready to step up. The Bears want Cedric Benson to be the man but until he can displace the current starter, Jones is the man. . Jones is a rushing/receiving threat and he really turned some heads with his numbers last year. The Jubas have hedged their bets with two solid veterans who can back up Davis in case (when) he breaks down; or when the Madden curse claims Alexander.

Next to Boldin and Smith, the Jubas can place Lee Evans, Donte Stallworth, or Jeremy Shockey on the field. While all three new Juba receivers have been disappointments in one way or another during their careers, there's hope ahead for each and every one of them. Lee Evans should be the new #1 in Buffalo. After a very disappointing year last year, maybe he can rebound on a moribund Bills team that will have to throw a lot as their team looks pathetic. Donte Stallworth has cursed many an owner over the years but now that he's been traded to the Eagles, Donovan McNabb could utlitize his talents and make him a decent option. I'm not personally sold on this bill of goods but anything can happen right? And finally, Jeremy Shockey has proven to be a ladies' man but his career has been derailed by injuries and inconsistency. He's still a top TE but his receiving numbers are always going to be limited by the prescence of the slick fingered Plaxico Burress and the sure handed Tiki Barber. The Giants are on the way up and QB Manning needs someone to throw to, so why not Shockey?

And let's not forget Shayne Graham, possibly the only kicker (read: white player) in the league with a misplaced "Y" in his name that nobody would mistake for a black player.

Take note of how champions are made. GM Liao pulled the trigger on a Shaun Alexander deal that got him a championship last year, this year he put together a solid draft to fill in his roster. When you're already the champion, you don't need to blow things up. Play it safe, grab who falls to you, and gear up for another butt-kicking season.

That concludes our look at the opposite ends of the draft. Thank you for subscribing.

I'm unemployed now, can you tell?

Jekyll and Hyde

As the 2006 draft winds down, let's look at two of our excellent teams. One, the Fobsters, are new to the league and are starting over "from scratch." Inexperienced GM Jim Wu had the first pick and he made some, um, interesting picks. Our current champion, Eric Liao, shows that even with the last pick in the draft, he's able to flesh out his roster and position himself for another contending run. Let's take a look.

The Fobsters
Proving that taking over a franchise can be an extreme makeover, the Fobsters have supplemented their not too bad keeper core with some highly questionable selections. Originally, the Fobsters version of the Fab Five didn't look so bad. Steady Matt Hasselbeck, explosive Carnell Williams, still churning Tiki Barber, loqacious Chad Johnson and still useful RB, Deuce McAllister.

Based on pre-season rankings, that's two top 10 RBs, a top 5 QB, and a top 3 WR. Not bad right? A few more pieces here and there and the Fobsters are ready for a last to first Cinderella season right? Not so fast.

Heading into the draft, GM Wu needed to shore up a weak WR corps. How'd he do? Ignoring his WR needs until the third round, he took in successive order: Keenan McCardell, Greg Jennings, Mark Clayton, and Ben Watson. Anyone intrigue you? Keenan could turn out to be a solid #2 but he's on the wrong side of 35 (give or take a few years). While the Packers do need another WR opposite Donald Driver, will Greg Jennings be the answer? Better yet, would anyone else have selected Jennings at all in this draft? In Round 4 no less? Doubtful. The draft it not just about who you get, but when you get them. Value counts.

Clayton and Watson are long shots. Clayton has some talent but if Derrick Mason is only a so-so fantasy starter (even with McNair on his side again), will Clayton be much better? And to take TE Ben Watson while fellow TEs like Tony Gonzalez and Todd Heap (even Vernon Davis) are on the board is just a huge mistake. Our league doesn't have a TE requirement, and Watson only has so much upside in the socialist Patriots offense.

The Fobster's other pick before this glut of mediocre WRs? QB Drew Bledsoe. Whoops. Did we mention that they already had a steady hand in teh backfield with Matt Hasselbeck? Why take a backup QB when other needs are so glaring? Maybe GM Wu was used to a two-QB league, who knows.

Despite all these missteps however, the Fobsters are still poised to kick ass because of one ace in their sleeve: Reggie Bush. With the first pick locked up, the Fobsters quickly selected Bush and thereby cemented their future as an elite team. With young and in their prime talents like Hasselbeck, Cadillac, Chad Johnson and Reggie Bush, the Fobsters may not need much more. It would have pleased their newly rededicated fans to see some savvy moves from their front office but that was not the case. Instead, they're gonna struggle with those two receiver positions all year in their run to the top. Still, chants of "F-O-B, F-O-B" rang out throughout Madison Square Garden as GM Wu left the stage after an uneven draft. "F-O-B" indeed.

Since this ended up being so long, we'll continue with the Fat Jubas in Part 2...

Phreakin Curse Lives

One meaningless preseason game is all it took to confirm - for those still wondering - that the curse of the Philadelphia Phreaks is alive and well. As Clinton Portis, the Phreaks' projected #1 RB, made a tackle following an interception he suffered a partial dislocation of his left shoulder. Phreak officials were tight-lipped about Portis' prognosis and status for opening day, but reports of owner Ping Shen trying frantically to track down JJ Arrington's phone number cannot be a positive sign.

Portis, picked by many prognosticators as a top 5 back this season, figures to be replaced in the starting lineup by Julius Jones if he is indeed unable to go in week one. While Jones has shown flashes of brilliance in the past nagging injuries have prevented him from becoming the back that the Phreaks believe he can be. With regular (and healthy) playing time, however, it is possible that Jones could quickly mature into a top-flight back.

The good news for the Phreaks? Well, Donovan McNabb appears to be fully recovered from his sports hernia injury that hindered him last season and is set to 'rewrite some record books' according to newly hired Phreaks offensive consultant Randall Cunningham.

The Bush Sweepstakes

The 2006 Draft promises to be, well, promising. Here is our draft order:

2006 DRAFT ORDER
1. Jimmy (2-10-1)
2. Lei (3-10)
3. Vu (5-8)
4. Ping (5-8)
5. Roger (7-6)
6. Jon (7-6)
7. Greg (9-4)
8. Jae (10-3)
9. Evan (8-4-1)
10. Eric (8-5)

With a quick recap of the keepers, here is our intrepid reporter Peter King Jr Jr.

Fobsters (Jimmy) -
With three RBs (C Williams, T Barber, D McAllister) and potentially Reggie Bush on the way, the Fobsters will have to give some aerial support to the excellent QB-WR combo of M Hasselbeck and C Johnson. It's hard to believe that a team with additional names like T Gonzalez, J Shockey, L Coles and D Culpepper finished so poorly last season, but they did and now the Fobsters will have to rebuild with a not-too-bad keeper core.

Tiiite End Jammers (Lei) -
The champion team of three seasons ago is left with only M Vick and M Harrison. Harrison is still near the top of this game but there are some questions as to how good M Vick will ever be -- is he a better keeper than T Bell or J Horn for example? With an empty backfield, only the oft-injured D Foster is on-board. Lei will have to find a ground game to go with his potentially explosive air attack (Harrison, J Walker, D Jackson).

Battle Angels (Vu) - C Mart almost made it onto this keeper roster until management decided to cut his old ass. In comes D Brees and his gaggle of WRs; S Smith is the best in the business and his old teammate M Muhammad might still have some swagger left. It's time for A Bryant to shine, this time in a 49ers uniform -- otherwise his career is over. RB W McGahee had a wonderful first half of the season but went into a deep funk for the second half. The Angels might need an infusion of fresh talent for a winning season.

Phreaks (Ping) - Team captain D McNabb returns from a terrible season and he hopes that his young teammates will have career years. RB C Portis had a record-breaking year last season but his backfield mates J Jones and K Jones were huge disappointments. And talented Ro Williams, can he finally dominate with new offensive coordinator/offensive genius Mike Martz as his offensive coordinator? The Phreaks did make the playoffs last year but with a losing record, this year they'll try to get in there by winning more games than they lose.

Buffy (Roger) - Keeping the champion to (big) loser streak alive, Buffy failed to make the playoffs after a championship season in 2004. Still, Buffy has two titles under their belt and with C Palmer and T Holt, they still have some big stars on the roster. However, J Lewis and W Parker are both backs with some big questions heading into the season (admittedly, they do both have huge upside). Maybe WR D Bennett can re-create some magic with new Titans starting QB Billy Volek, or maybe Vince Young will take over and run the ball himself.

Dirty Birds (Jon) - It all sounds good on paper: Young and productive R Johnson and S Jackson in the backfield; L Fitzgerald, R Moss, and P Burress as pass catchers. However, this team was full of under-achievers last season and what looks good on paper rarely translates to wins. That's why they play the game. This group will need a steady QB (and a return to form by Moss) to helm their potentially potent lineup.

Green Team (Greg) -
By turning his team around with savvy waiver wire pickups, the Green Team have managed to stay near the top year after year. This upcoming season is no different with versatile L Jordan and potential superstar R Brown sharing the rock. H Ward was a Super Bowl MVP and A Gates is the best TE in football. S Moss? A great season last year but can he keep it up? Budding fantasy star E Manning was left off the team, does this mean Greg doesn't believe he's the answer?

Ante Up (Jae) - With a very solid and underrated core of players, Ante Up went a very solid 10-5 last year, winning the regular season. Steady QB T Green manages the clock well with RBs E James and B Westbrook providing a versatile running/receiving attack. Young WRs C Chambers and R Wayne are both up-and-coming and ready for breakout years. Ante Up should be able to maintain their "edge" as long as James is still his dominant self in Arizona.

Chunky Monkeys (Evan) - Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. But man, what a fine looking bridesmaid. I don't even have enough superlatives for this team. P Manning, L Johnson, L Tomlinson, T Owens. That's an All-Pro team. That's four top ten players on one team. Wow. Sure MVP S Alexander was traded last year (and helped Fat Jubas to a championship win over the Monkeys) but Evan is poised for another contending year. Super bust WR A Johnson -- talent-wise, a young TO -- is also back to redeem himself.

Fat Jubas (Eric) -
Your new champion, Fat Jubas, will be running hard behind S Alexander -- who cannot suffer a Madden cursed season if the Jubas hope to do what no champion has done before: make the playoffs the season after winning. While M Bulger and A Boldin are top talents, they are somewhat injury prone. And heck, so's secondary RB D Davis, who is already dinged up in pre-season. Ancient Rod Smith is still doing it, but he should be the second banana to Javon Walker this year. Was cutting productive RB W Dunn the right move? Are the Jubas ready to defend their crown? Never count out the champs. Well, except in our league, where you can pretty much dismiss the champs from the get-go. Nothing personal Eric, we've all (the past champions) suffered the same fate.

Here we go, Draft '06 and the excitement that accompanies it!