Below is my last expert league fantasy football draft for the 2013 fantasy football season. This is a real league, an expert league, and it’s loaded with some of the industry’s top fantasy sites/writers, including Rotoworld.com, FantasySharks.com, Yahoo!, KFFL, Rotowire, FFToobox, and of course the commish BrunoBoys (and thanks to Fleaflicker for hosting the league). The scoring is non-PPR format, with 4pts per passing TD and 6pts for all other TDs; line-up requirements consist of 1QB, 2RBs, 3WRs, 1TE, 1K and 1DST.
Enjoy!
DraftCalc Roster
QB: Peyton Manning
RB1: Trent Richardson
RB2: Lamar Miller
WR1: AJ Green
WR2: Hakeem Nicks
WR3: Josh Gordon (susp)
TE: Jared Cook
K: Stephen Gostkowski
DST: Panthers
Bench: Montee Ball, Bernard Pierce, Christine Michael, Cordarrelle Patterson, Bryce Brown, Julius Thomas, EJ Manuel
Smitty’s Take: I have to say, I walked away from this draft without a single regret. The only pick I cringed at was when Chris Givens was taken in the 7th-round right after I snagged Josh Gordon. Part of me, initially, wished I had grabbed Givens instead, as I wouldn’t have to deal with the suspension, nor the headaches that come with Gordon, but all in all, the two are both monster breakouts this year, and both are on my 2013 Top 10 Bold Predictions List (known as our Upside Board). I couldn’t be more pleased with Trent Richardson and AJ Green, who are my top-ranked players at the running back and wide receiver positions. T-Rich No. 1? Yeah, read more on that here!
Lamar Miller, in my eyes, is obviously a steal as my RB2, something I’ve beat into the ground all off-season; he is arguably the next Arian Foster! Doubt Miller? Read that!
Montee Ball, despite all the doubt surrounding him right now, is one of my favorite fantasy football players to own this upcoming season. He just is. I can’t wait for the runner to prove doubters wrong, I don’t care if it takes a week, or five weeks… in the end, I firmly believe that top 5-10RB numbers (per start) is possible for Ball, and I can’t wait to have some insane trade bait if/once he reaches those heights. Usually, in most leagues, I’m starting Ball as my flex, so it actually bothers me having him on my bench (yes, even with all the doubt surrounding his week 1 workload).
And, of course I went with my widely-promoted “RB Stash” Strategy”, which is basically assembling both Bernard Pierce, Christine Michael and a few other monster-capable back-up rushers, like Bryce Brown, etc… I landed all three of those high-potential runners in waiting, and while it would bother most to have back-ups on their roster, it truly is the kind of move that costs you very little, but can win you a league. How so? Take a look at our Upside Board and see why Bernard Pierce is such a monster sleeper this upcoming season!
2013 Fantasy Football Draft | Expert League
Draft Date: 9/3/13
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Smitty,
I wish I had your team.
This is my team what do you think?
QB Griffin
RB Miller
RB Murray
WR Dez
WR Julio
WR Hilton
TE Cook
DST Car
K Hauschka
Bench: Manuel, Barner,Pierce,Givens,Dunbar,Stills,Andre Brown,DST ARI
I like it! Great implementation of the WR/WR, as you have Miller and a very capable RB2 in Murray. Typically you want 3 or so of those RBs, so you may want to consider trading Givens for a Gio, or if Givens goes nuts in Week 1 and Ball doesn’t (or Gio doesn’t), consider sending out some offers. In your situation, you may want to wait and let Hilton or Givens gain some good value before you trade em off for a RB. Your team is solid, the line up is sneaky-killer, but a third back similar to the two you have is needed to endure injury, byes, etc. Then again, push comes to shove, you plug Pierce into the RB2, and he will produce. So, don’t do anything crazy, and don’t trade any of your big pieces (RG3, Miller, Dez, Julio)… just start working that waiver wire (weeks 1-4 will be huge for your team!!!! Stay on it!!!!).
Hey Smitty,
Just wondering what your take is on LBell now. I know how high you were on him early on but now he’s in the 30s on your redraft rankings.
Yahoo took him at 84 and I got him at 83 overall last night. What so expect from him as it appears he may be back late Sept ish.
Thanks!
The new news (potential week 2 return) will have him higher in tonight’s update.. Not sure yet, but check in the a.m.!
Who would drop if you had to drop one?
Bryce brown or Manuel? I have RGIII and T rich, miller, ball, Michael.
Manuel if you have another passer. Brown should either be held hostage to the McCoy owner, or wait and hope he starts some games!
Smitty you never answered my question above about my team.
thanks for posting godfather…nice read
Thanks, buddy.
Answered above! Sorry about that!
Hey Smitty , finally did the draft that i have been asking you 100 questions a day here is my team, round by round as well
QB Stafford 6th round , all tds worth 6 so I took him
RB T Richardson ( 1st overall, peterson and spiller keepers, they laughed at that one)
RB Miller ( 3rd round , again people like he isnt the starter)
Flex Ball (5th round , same comments) , should I flex Ball or Givens week1???
WR Dez (4th keeper)
WR Marshall (2nd , Julio got picked the pick before I went , green, d thomas gone as well, took Marshall over Graham)
TE Fred Davis or J Thomas ??? Who to start
DEF Texans
K Greg the Leg
Bench : Givens ,really want to start him,
Hopkins, Harvin 14th round ,could always keep him in 14th next year, Ivory ( Bell got taken 1 pick before me, Green Ellis, Moreno
Stafford, TRich, Miller, Dez, Marshall, Ball or Givens, Thomas… that’s quite a squad. That sucks about Julio.. hopefully Marshall’s hip is fine this year. Seems like he will be fine despite the recent news suggesting he himself was worried about it. If healthy, Marshall is a top 5-6WR, so nice job.
These guy laughing only makes one wonder how long they would have overlooked some of these guys, but you can’t know, it only takes one owner to like the guy as much as you. Not sure how anyone can laugh at that squad.
I start Givens Week 1, possibly, but Ball is a great flex. Well worth that risk, which is like no risk where you got him. Bernard Pierce? Christine Michael? In this format, those guys being drafted late, that would build you a future dynasty… weren’t able to snag my two must haves?
Strong draft overall, man. Very solid.
Smitty,
I think you killed it. For an expert draft I think you did really well. Manning, TRich, Miller and Green in one team is sweet.
Thanks, buddy. Yeah, I felt I crushed it. Sometimes you walk away thinking you could have landed a pick or two differently.
Smitty, what’s your take on this team I just drafted for my work league?
Cam Newton (QB)
Andy Dalton (QB)
Trent Richardson (RB)
Lamar Miller (RB)
Shane Vereen (RB)
Bernard Pierce (RB)
Christine Michael (RB)
A.J. Green (WR)
T.Y. Hilton (WR)
Kenny Britt (WR)
Alshon Jeffery (WR)
Jared Cook (TE)
Jordan Cameron (TE)
Seattle Seahawks (DEF)
Greg Zuerlein (K)
Very DraftCalc-like! Great work! Love all the home run pieces, like the “stash” backs, and your WRs are great given your QB and RBs. Awesome work. Textbook.
Hey Smitty. I ended up drafting a very similar team last night. But the only question I have is you picked up Peyton, when Cam was still on the board. Isnt he ranked as your #2 qb?
Thanks. Yeah, I struggled with that pick, and because I own Cam in almost half of my leagues this year, I wanted to mix it up. I think Manning is close, and capable of being the No. 1 this year, though. When push comes to shove, and scoring matters of course, I go Cam, but it’s close. I’m glad I own Manning in at least 1 league. I didn’t have him in one before this.
Smitty quick ? Who do u like better as a WR3 non ppr week one alshon jeffrey or kenny britt? Nice draft man looks about as good as u could of got
This week I want to go Jeffery, as I have him having a big game, but just as soon as Britt proves healthy and that offense proves it can get Britt the ball, I think Britt will be hard to bench. Jeffery is the safe play, but if you want to roll the dice, Britt is the play.