Fantasy News
Can you win while almost ignoring the running back position? Can you win without drafting a quarterback? That’s what we’ll find out in the Fanex league this year.
Tony Holm is historically one of the stronger competitors. He won one of the two Fanex competitions last year. And he also tends to like to pick up a couple of quarterbacks in the later rounds – see who falls down to the 9th, 10th or 11th round.
But the quarterback position has been wildly picked over this year. We’re now in the 12th round, Holm doesn’t have a quarterback, and 18 have been selected. He’s going to be down to picking from guys like Mark Sanchez, Chad Henne, Josh Freeman and David Garrard.
I’m been the most conservative with running backs. In this league, you are required to start three wide receivers. There’s also a flex position, so I tend to treat WR-TE-RB as one big position. Plus it’s a PPR format.
So when you look at it that way, I tend to shy away from running backs. They get hurt a lot more often than receivers, and those wideouts who catch 75-plus balls are really golden. I’ve fared well in these Fanex competitions. I’ve won the FAD portion in two of the three years I’ve entered (I was 2nd behind Holm last year), and I’ve made the playoffs in the standard Fanex league seven years in a row (top 4 of 12 teams).
Most of those successful teams I’ve had have been built around pass catchers. So this year, I opened with three wide receivers. Then I chose Tony Romo in the 4th round, then squeezed in a fourth wide receiver before finally grabbing running backs in the 6th and 7th rounds (C.J. Spiller and Clinton Portis). But rather than switching over to running backs, I’ve drafted where the value was, choosing Jabar Gaffney and Mohammed Massaquoi in two of the recent rounds. Just last hour, with pick 12.03, did I finally add my No. 3 running back, choosing Larry Johnson as insurance behind Portis.
Will I regret not selecting a third running back sooner? Maybe. But I figure I can always trade a productive pass catcher for a runner later. I also have two good quarterbacks (Donovan McNabb is my backup), and I figure there will be some good free agent running backs coming out of the woodwork later anyway. Jamaal Charles was a waiver pickup last year.
The stakes are high if either draft strategy backfires. The Fanex revised its rules prior to last season. Now, instead of two separate 12-team leagues, there’s a premier league and more of a second division. Each year, the bottom four are relegated out of the premier (American) league, and the top four are promoted out of the National. So if you have a lousy year, you have to win your way back into the league that crowns the grand champion.
2010 FANEX DRAFT
Pick Pos Name
1.01 RB Chris Johnson (Holm)
1.02 RB Adrian Peterson (McClory)
1.03 RB Maurice Jones-Drew (Kellogg)
1.04 RB Ray Rice (Tinker)
1.05 RB Frank Gore (Butler)
1.06 RB Michael Turner (Dolfi)
1.06 WR Andre Johnson (Davis)
1.08 RB Steven Jackson (Rito)
1.09 WR Larry Fitzgerald (Cahill)
1.10 WR Brandon Marshall (Allan)
1.11 WR Reggie Wayne (Pitzer)
1.12 WR Randy Moss (Christiansen)
2.01 RB Rashard Mendenhall (Christiansen)
2.02 WR Roddy White (Pitzer)
2.03 WR Miles Austin (Allan)
2.04 QB Peyton Manning (Tinker)
2.04 RB DeAngelo Williams (Cahill)
2.05 WR Calvin Johnson (Rito)
2.06 RB Jamaal Charles (Davis)
2.07 RB Ryan Mathews (Dolfi)
2.08 RB Cedric Benson (Butler)
2.09 WR Marques Colston (Tinker)
2.10 WR Greg Jennings (Kellogg)
2.11 QB Aaron Rodgers (McClory)
2.12 WR DeSean Jackson (Holm)
3.01 WR Steve Smith (Holm)
3.02 WR Anquan Boldin (McClory)
3.03 QB Drew Brees (Kellogg)
3.05 RB LeSean McCoy (Butler)
3.06 WR Steve Smith (Dolfi)
3.07 RB Shonn Greene (Davis)
3.08 RB Ryan Grant (Rito)
3.08 WR Wes Welker (Allan)
3.09 RB Pierre Thomas (Christiansen)
3.11 RB Knowshon Moreno (Pitzer)
3.12 RB Beanie Wells (Cahill)
4.01 WR Michael Crabtree (Christiansen)
4.02 RB Reggie Bush (Pitzer)
4.03 QB Tony Romo (Allan)
4.04 RB Matt Forte (Cahill)
4.05 TE Dallas Clark (Rito)
4.06 QB Matt Schaub (Davis)
4.07 QB Tom Brady (Dolfi)
4.08 QB Philip Rivers (Butler)
4.09 RB Ronnie Brown (Tinker)
4.10 WR Hakeem Nicks (Kellogg)
4.11 RB Joseph Addai (McClory)
4.12 WR Chad Ochocinco (Holm)
5.01 TE Antonio Gates (Holm)
5.02 TE Vernon Davis (McClory)
5.03 RB Jahvid Best (Kellogg)
5.04 WR Dwayne Bowe (Tinker)
5.05 TE Jason Witten (Butler)
5.06 WR Mike Sims-Walker (Dolfi)
5.07 TE Jermichael Finley (Davis)
5.08 WR Sidney Rice (Rito)
5.09 WR Vincent Jackson (Cahill)
5.10 RB C.J. Spiller (Allan)
5.11 RB Jonathan Stewart (Christiansen)
5.12 TE Brent Celek (Pitzer)
6.01 WR Hines Ward (Pitzer)
6.02 WR Percy Harvin (Christiansen)
6.03 RB Clinton Portis (Allan)
6.04 WR Mike Wallace (Cahill)
6.05 QB Jay Cutler (Rito)
6.06 WR Terrell Owens (Davis)
6.07 TE Tony Gonzalez (Dolfi)
6.08 RB Thomas Jones (Butler)
6.09 RB Justin Forsett (Tinker)
6.10 WR Jeremy Maclin (Kellogg)
6.11 WR Johnny Knox (McClory)
6.12 RB Marion Barber (Holm)
7.01 RB Felix Jones (Holm)
7.02 WR Santana Moss (McClory)
7.03 RB Darren McFadden (Kellogg)
7.04 WR Donald Driver (Tinker)
7.05 TE Owen Daniels (Butler)
7.06 WR Robert Meachem (Dolfi)
7.07 RB Michael Bush (Davis)
7.08 RB Fred Jackson (Rito)
7.09 WR Dez Bryant (Cahill)
7.10 WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Allan)
7.11 QB Eli Manning (Pitzer)
7.12 QB Kevin Kolb (Christiansen)
8.01 RB Ahmad Bradshaw (Christiansen)
8.02 RB Jerome Harrison (Pitzer)
8.03 TE Heath Miller (Allan)
8.04 QB Carson Palmer (Cahill)
8.05 WR Santonio Holmes (Rito)
8.06 WR Malcom Floyd (Davis)
8.07 WR Pierre Garcon (Dolfi)
8.08 WR Derrick Mason (Butler)
8.09 TE Chris Cooley (Tinker)
8.10 RB Brandon Jacobs (Kellogg)
8.11 RB Ricky Williams (McClory)
8.12 WR Steve Breaston (Holm)
9.01 RB Cadillac Williams (Holm)
9.02 TE Zach Miller (McClory)
9.03 RB Arian Foster (Kellogg)
9.04 WR Braylon Edwards (Tinker)
9.05 WR Jerricho Cotchery (Butler)
9.06 RB Ben Tate (Dolfi)
9.07 WR Devin Aromashodu (Davis)
9.08 RB Tim Hightower (Rito)
9.09 TE Kellen Winslow (Cahill)
9.10 WR Jabar Gaffney (Allan)
9.11 QB Brett Favre (Pitzer)
9.12 QB Matt Ryan (Cahill)
10.01 QB Ben Roethlisberger (Christiansen)
10.02 WR Austin Collie (Pitzer)
10.03 QB Donovan McNabb (Allan)
10.04 WR Kenny Britt (Cahill)
10.05 WR Devin Hester (Rito)
10.06 QB Joe Flacco (Davis)
10.07 WR Golden Tate (Dolfi)
10.08 RB Willis McGahee (Butler)
10.09 RB LaDainian Tomlinson (Tinker)
10.10 TE John Carlson (Kellogg)
10.11 TE Visanthe Shiancoe (McClory)
10.12 RB Steve Slaton (Holm)
11.01 RB Chester Taylor (Holm)
11.02 WR Nate Burleson (McClory)
11.03 QB Matthew Stafford (Kellogg)
11.04 WR Eddie Royal (Tinker)
11.05 RB Donald Brown (Christiansen)
11.06 RB Darren Sproles (Dolfi)
11.07 RB Laurence Maroney (Davis)
11.08 WR Lee Evans (Rito)
11.09 WR Laurent Robinson (Butler)
11.10 WR Mohamed Massaquoi (Allan)
11.11 RB Montario Hardesty (Pitzer)
11.12 WR Julian Edelman (Christiansen)
12.01 WR Chris Chambers (Butler)
12.02 TE Dustin Keller (Pitzer)
12.03 RB Larry Johnson (Allan)
12.04 WR Mike Williams (Cahill)
12.05 QB Vince Young (Rito)
-Ian Allan
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