Let's talk about my fantasy

I had my fantasy football draft last week and I won’t go into the gory details. Talking about your own fantasy team is like talking about your child. You care way more about it than anyone else. Yes, I just compared having children to a fantasy football team. And no, I don’t have kids. And yes, this is probably one of the reasons why.

Regardless, I want to go on record with my fantasy likes and dislikes before the season starts.

I’m not going to talk about any player drafted in the first 2 rounds that I like. That’s just lame. However, starting with round 3 players on, here’s the guys I think are due for a big year.

Roddy White
I tried to avoid the obvious about White for the past two years, but I can’t anymore. He’s the number 1 receiver on a top offense. I’m a big fan of drafting guys from good offenses.

Greg Jennings, Ryan Grant
Number 1 receiver and a RB without a timeshare on a top offense. It’s just that easy, right? Plus, they get the play the Lions twice.

Pierre Thomas, Marques Colston
After years of a mancrush on Reggie Bush, I’ve finally given up. I didn’t stray far. As for Colston, as long as he stays healthy, he’s money.

Larry Johnson, Cedric Benson, Jamal Lewis
The way the NFL goes these days, it’s hard to find RBs that aren’t in a timeshare. Carries, and goaline carries, are the name of the game. These guys are going to get them and as long as you don’t draft them as anything more than your 3rd RB, you should be fine.

Jerricho Cotchery
I can’t go against anyone named Jerricho. I don’t think the Jets offense will be that bad, actually.

Donald Brown, LeSean McCoy
I don’t think Joseph Addai and Brian Westbrook stay healthy.

Derrick Mason
Always gets drafted too late.

Donnie Avery
My sleeper WR of the year, which is the kiss of death. The last two somewhat unproven WRs that I counted on like this were Lee Evans (disaster) and Braylon Edwards (Katrina-level disaster).

But it's not all about love when it comes to fantasy. Half of the players I listed above probably won't pan out, thanks to injuries or what not. However, here's a list I'm much more confident about. It's the "Players I Refuse to Draft" list.

Reggie Bush
See Thomas, Pierre.

TO
A past his prime prima donna WR who suffers from the dropsies. No thanks.

Brandon Marshall
A total nutcase with Kyle Orton throwing to him. I haven’t seen a combination that bad since Michael Jackson performed at an elementary school.

Thomas Jones
An over-30 mediocre running back who complained in the offseason in the midst of a coaching change, and you can have him in the first 3 rounds!

Kurt Warner
Can I wager on him missing 4+ games?

Braylon Edwards
I don’t care if Braylon Edwards scores 18 TDs in week 1 and he’s on the waiver wire staring at me. He’ll never be on my fantasy team again. As a matter of fact, if I ever met him, I’d have no problem kicking him in the shin.

Any Tampa Bay Buc
That offense looks destined to be crappy, sorta like my firstborn.

Kyle Orton
Why is he going to be good all of a sudden? I just don’t understand how a crappy QB instantly becomes good and fantasy worthy just cause he got traded to Denver?

Kickers
My head wants to explode every time I see someone draft a kicker before the last round. First off, kickers are fickle. Did you really know John Carney was going to be the 3rd kicker last year and Nate Kaeding would be 14th? Second, in a 12 team league, the difference between the top kicker last year and the 12th kicker was the matter of 1.5 points per week. So, unless you end up losing games by 1 point (and your kicker is outscored that week), it’s a wash. Wouldn’t you rather just draft position players and sleepers for 15 rounds and just grab a kicker in the last round? Isn’t that worth more than the 1.5 points you could end up losing?


Chris