• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Challenge Contests -by Justin Eleff

Last week we did CDM's Football Challenge, the premier (at least in terms of the ratio between costs and potential cash return) Roto-scoring game. This week we switch to a glut of other challenge offerings from the same company: CDM's Fantasy Football, Budget Football and Free Fantasy Football. Each game requires you to fit 22 Active players under a $60-million salary cap (expressed here, same as last week, as $60,000); all of the games use the same player salaries. The 22 Active players break down as follows: 3 QBs, 6 RBs, 6 WRs, 2 TEs, 3 Ks and 2 DEFs.

Scoring is a matter of raw accumulation, with all individual players (as opposed to the DEFs) earning points as follows:

• 3 per passing TD;
  
• 6 per any other TD, including returns;
  
• 2 per 2-point conversion scored (not passed for but scored);
  
• 1 per kicking point scored

and

• 1 per 20 passing yards;
  
• 1 per 10 rushing or receiving yards

Defenses/special teams units earn:

• 15 per shutout;
  
• 10 for allowing 1-10 points;
  
• 5 for allowing 11-20 points

and

• 5 per safety;
  
• 6 per TD scored as a unit

And everyone -- each individual plus each DEF, collectively -- gets 3 bonus points for each team win.

That last bit is key, especially in picking players at relatively low-scoring positions like TE and K. Your cheapo tight ends should be cheapo tight ends in New England or New Orleans, where most weeks you'll expect them to start with a 3-point edge on their opponents and the field.

The main differences between these games are in the costs to play and the prizes you play for, of course, but CDM is generally up-front about this. You'll spend more to win more. The payouts are never fair, exactly, but they're not quite unfair either.

In terms of game play, though, there is one big difference between the games. In Fantasy Football and Budget Football, your 22 Active players have 11 Taxied players backing them up. In Free Fantasy Football your starting squad is naked. I'll deal with what I will now call the two Taxi Squad games below; the key to playing Free Fantasy Football, since in theory you can turn your whole roster over from week to week, is to play matchups. But then you also can't burn through your roster switches too quickly (they're limited to one per week, plus 120 more to use as you wish over the whole season), so you want to play the matchups for several weeks at a time. What I mean is, look for guys you want to use not only in Week 1 but in Weeks 1 and 2 and 3. Start building your team with those guys, figuring that each of them will save you roster switches early on, and go from there.

Roster construction in the Taxi Squad games works much like in the Football Challenge (see last week's column), except that here you don't have to worry about players' yards-per-play averages. Cedric Benson may run for 1,200 yards this year at 3.8 yards per carry. That's good and bad in the Football Challenge, all good here.

That covers most of it. Again, you'll see below that I will always pick players from teams I expect to be good instead of comparable players from teams I expect to stink. If it means something to you, I see the good teams as follows (listed, within each category, alphabetically):

AFC
Division winners: Indianapolis, New England, Pittsburgh, San Diego
Wild Cards: Baltimore, Denver
Odd team out: Jacksonville

NFC
Division winners: Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Seattle
Wild Cards: Dallas, X
Could be X: Carolina, St. Louis, Washington
Could win the North if Chicago doesn't (but both Wild Cards would have better records): Detroit

I know: I'm not out on many limbs this season. It makes a certain amount of sense -- in the Newtonian sense, anyway -- that an era of much-celebrated parity would eventually turn back to an era of mini-dynasties.

With that much said, here: Again this week, all positions, all at once.

Quarterback
I will own Drew Brees ($5840), Tom Brady ($5620), Jon Kitna ($3740), Jay Cutler ($3460) and almost certainly Donovan McNabb ($5150). Which makes five of a likely six, with Vince Young ($3720) the likeliest sixth. There's little downside to V.Y. with no passing average to screw up, and the upside here is the same as anywhere: If he runs for 700 yards and 7 TDs he's a real bargain. I feel a little guilty about leaving Tony Romo off at a very reasonable $4620, but Romo will never be as good a player as McNabb was to start 2006. I'm banking on (most of) a return to form.

Running Back
Will own LaDainian Tomlinson (a hefty $6470), Steven Jackson ($5160), Joseph Addai ($3650), Laurence Maroney ($3000), Cedric Benson ($2990), Travis Henry ($2700) and Reggie Bush ($2620). That's seven of nine, and I probably add Brian Westbrook ($4460) and Frank Gore ($4130) as bargains among the higher-priced guys. There are lots of cheapo receivers who work well in these games this year; I can afford to be without cheaper maybe / maybe not backs like Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch ($2000 each).

Wide Receiver
Will own Terrell Owens ($3880) or Reggie Wayne ($3820), plus T.J. Houshmandzadeh ($3470) and Steve Smith ($3380) at the top of the list, Deion Branch ($2130) smack in the middle, Kevin Curtis ($1740), Wes Welker ($1690), Ronald Curry ($1590) and Brandon Marshall ($1040) farther down. This is the game for Curtis and Welker types, guys on excellent teams but whose receiving averages make me nervous in the Football Challenge. That list is eight of probably nine (remember, it's T.O. or Wayne), and Marques Colston's salary ($2710) makes things work for Week 1. Should be a high-scoring game (at IND), too.

Tight End
Not sure I love my options here. I'll own Kellen Winslow at $1550, hoping for health and continued super-duty involvement in what passes for the offense in Cleveland. Plus either Vernon Davis ($1480) or Eric Johnson ($1460) at their nearly twin salaries. I have V.D. -- er, I have Davis -- on the SAMPLE TEAM below because Johnson has been almost invisible this preseason, but the difference in their teams' prospects could well change my mind between now and next week.

No backup here because I want to put the Taxi Squad slot to better use. If I decide I have to burn a new player purchase on a TE eventually, I'll try to do it before the Weeks 6 and 7 byes in San Francisco and Cleveland.

Kicker
Will own Olindo Mare ($2480), Stephen Gostkowski ($2350) and Nick Folk ($2000) if he can hang on to his job for one more week in Dallas. David Akers ($2600) is a throwaway pick on the Taxi Squad at the moment; I could go in a number of other directions with the backup here -- and I will have one -- but the key is to own four guys with different bye weeks, and these four have that much going for them.

Defense
Will own DAL ($2000) as an anchor, and specifically ahead of PHI ($1910) because the latter shares a bye week with OAK -- not that the Raiders are special, but they were solid a year ago and it doesn't get any cheaper than $1000. NO makes a nice third at $1200, figuring a steady flow of team win bonuses will make up for some of the unit's leakier efforts.

And that's it. See below for a more visual depiction of what I've written here, but note that there's a reason why there aren't many extra candidates discussed above: I'm confident in this roster.

Next week?

Any requests?

SAMPLE TEAM

QB	Drew Brees	5840		QB	Tom Brady	5620
QB	Jon Kitna	3740		QB	Donovan McNabb	5150
QB	Jay Cutler	3460		QB	Vince Young	3720
RB	Steven Jackson	5160		RB	LaDainian Tomlinson	6470
RB	Frank Gore	4130		RB	Brian Westbrook	4460
RB	Joseph Addai	3650		RB	Cedric Benson	2990
RB	Laurence Maroney	3000		WR	Terrell Owens	3880
RB	Travis Henry	2700		WR	T.J. Houshmandzadeh	3470
RB	Reggie Bush	2620		WR	Ronald Curry	1590
WR	Steve Smith	3380		K	David Akers	2600
WR	Marques Colston	2710		DEF	New Orleans Saints	1200
WR	Deion Branch	2130
WR	Kevin Curtis	1740
WR	Wes Welker	1690
WR	Brandon Marshall	1040
TE	Kellen Winslow	1550
TE	Vernon Davis	1480
K	Olindo Mare	2480
K	Stephen Gostkowski	2350
K	Nick Folk	2000
DEF	Dallas Cowboys	2000
DEF	Oakland Raiders	1000
		59850

• Comments [2]

Readers' Comments

Add a Comment

Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.

To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.