Nothing beats a live draft and for the 11th straight season the FFL crew (sorry for the lack of league-name creativity but there wasn't much need for differentiation back in '96) got together for some pizza and some picks.

Following tradition, each team entered the draft with 3 keepers from the previous season. My 5-time Super Bowl winning franchise Gang Green struggled mightily in '06 and had to swing a few off-season deals just to have some talent worth protecting. The trio of Brian Westbrook, Rudi Johnson and Terrell Owens were slated as my playmakers heading into the 8-team draft. Due to many draft day player trades and position swaps, I'll have to exclude the players pick numbers, but here's what I got:

QB: Jon Kitna, Vince Young, Matt Leinhart
RB: Brian Westbrook, Rudi Johnson, Clinton Portis, Ladell Betts, Michael Turner
WR: Marvin Harrison, TJ Houshmandzadeh, Vincent Jackson, Donte Stallworth, James Jones, Dwayne Bowe
TE: Vernon Davis, Owen Daniels
K: Jason Hanson
DEF: Baltimore Ravens

Nemesis Yuck made a draft day offer that I couldn't pass up on. The result has Vincent Jackson slated as my 3rd receiver rather than Andre Johnson, but the deal led me to jump on a TE and DEF earlier than I would have otherwise. We'll see whether the move was worthwhile. Also, I was pleased to dump T.O. in exchange for Marvin Harrison... will the numbers prove the deal to be as favorable as I'm hoping?

Overall, this squad lacks the punch some of my opponents pack (Dawg Pound's backfield combo of LT and LJ for example). The goal is to finish in the top half of the standings and become a playoff team. Then, anything can happen (DC Express' victorious
backfield combo of Ladell Betts and Sammy Morris in last year's Super Bowl for example).

Labels: fantasy football