In this edition: Ian re-visits the Mock Auction, explaining why he didn't pay more for Tom Brady. Should a reader keep Ray Rice or Aaron Rodgers (or neither)? And whatever happens to Sex Sells in the magazine?
Question 1
Great mag, I have bought every single copy. This year you mention it is worth serious consideration to pick up an early QB. However, in the mock auction you purchased two running backs instead of Brady for about the same price. please explain this. Also, there is an error in your TE YDS per start list. Fred Davis should be in the middle but is mysteriously absent.
RON KNOTT (RENTON, WA)
I’ll be honest. The Mock Auction was held about two months ago. I don’t recall the order that the players came off, and I don’t seem to have my original price sheet. I don’t remember what value I felt Brady was worth. He was my top quarterback at the time. (This was before the whole Hernandez incident, and I think before it looked likely that Gronkowski would miss all of September.) I vaguely recall wanting to get two of the top dozen or so quarterbacks. This is a no-moves league, so what you buy is what you’re stuck with. Having been in that league for a number of years, I also know that everybody else tends to value quarterbacks less than I do. Multiple times in those auctions, I’ve purchased quarterbacks at prices I have liked, then been surprised to see other quarterbacks go for even better prices later on. Once you commit big money to a quarterback – a Rodgers, Brees, Brady – you lose the ability to “police” the auction, making sure others aren’t getting steal-type buys. Now, I’m not saying those franchise-type quarterbacks aren’t still great, top-10 type players. I’ve won that league twice, and both times it was with a franchise quarterback leading the way. I had Aaron Rodgers a year ago, the top-paid quarterback. And I won back in 2008; that was the year I purchased both Brady and Brees, two of the four most expensive quarterbacks that season. So I am not trying to make the case that Brady isn’t better than the two running backs you mention – Montee Ball and DeMarco Murray. But I think I’ll be OK with that trifecta of quarterbacks I bought – Luck ($16), Dalton ($10) and Freeman ($5). That team has taken on some water since it was formed. Justin Blackmon ($6) has been suspended for the first four games. The Colts signed Ahmad Bradshaw, reducing the value of Vick Ballard ($17). And I don’t know that my most expensive wide receiver (Michael Crabtree $19) will even get on the field. But it’s a team with enough depth that I think it will still be good – it might still win it. As for Fred Davis, he averaged 46 yards per game last year. He’s one of only a handful of tight ends with the potential to go over 800 yards. But he started only seven games before the Achilles injury. In those charts in the back, there’s usually a “per-game” designation to limit the number of guys who are listed. At tight ends, we’re showing only guys with at least eight starts.
Question 2
Our league is converting to keeper format. This year, we are allowed to keep one player (or choose to draft at whatever position we get assigned if we toss them back into the pool). Next year, we get to keep two. I had Ray Rice and Aaron Rodgers on my team last year, so need to toss one or both of them back. I'm assuming I should probably hang onto one of the two -- am struggling to decide which one though.
Charles Mobraten (WOODSIDE, CA)
Rice probably gets the slight nod. These guys have similar value, and running backs tend to be more coveted than quarterbacks. (On the flip side, with this being a keeper league, Rodgers closes some of that gap – he’s got more good years left.) But I’m not sure that I would keep either of them. With both of these players, you’re looking at guys who would be selected in the last first or early second round. I would be looking at what the other teams are doing. I would guess that at least one team has multiple players that you would select before Rice and Rodgers. If that’s the case, then the correct play could be to protect nobody – hoping to upgrade to an even better player.
Question 3
I WANT MY T & A! I don't want my MTV. Where are the advertisements that objectify women in my magazine? Look, I have a mother, I have a daughter, I have a sister, I have a wife. I understand there are a growing number of women playing fantasy football today. Can't we have some balance? Can't you have an advertisement with some stud in a thong and a cowboy hat, or some guy playing with a kid while the mom's sucking a chardonnay? I'm pushing 50 and fantasy football is my chance to be 12 again, one time a year! Disappointed!
Jose Montana (ROSEMEAD, CA)
What about page 59? You’ve got the Speedy Trophies Gal, along with one of the trophies she designed. ‘Chicks Dig Guys With Big Trophies.’ She’s done a nice job with her company. But I’ll agree that the ECQ (Eye Candy Quotient) is down this year. We don’t design the ads, by the way. The companies that buy the ads, they decide how they want to use that space. Some will try to logically explain why their product is the best. Others will try to employ some kind of visual cue that will capture the reader’s attention.