You think you have what it takes to pick 1 winner each week? If so, then the SURVIVOR ELIMINATION game is just for you. Each week you need to pick one winner. It’s that simple. No point spreads to worry about. You can’t pick the same team twice so be careful who you select.

SURVIVOR ELIMINATION Pools are fun and to keep it affordable for as many as we can the entry fee is only $10.00. That’s right, for just 10.00 you can participate in a winner take all SURVIVOR ELIMINATION Game. That’s right, winner take all !

Please see my SURVIVOR Game page in the Links section for more details. Tell your friends and let’s have some fun !

You can enroll in our SURVIVOR ELIMINATION Game by clicking here. Use the paypal button on that page to pay the entry fee, then login and Good Luck!

I have been spending some time in the car lately listening to the new fantasy sports talk station on XM 147.  Obviously I enjoy participating, writing and talking about fantasy football but I wouldn’t consider myself a fantasy geek.  A fantasy geek will tell you that Michael Turner is primed for a big season because the Atlanta Falcons will run the ball 62% this year but that number jumps to 73% when in the red zone against NFC South opponents.  I will tell you that Michael Turner will have a big season because I saw him standing about 10 feet from me the other day in shorts and a t shirt and the dude is ripped and in great shape.  A fantasy geek will tell you that Ryan Matthews will be a top 10 running back this year based on San Diego’s offensive line while I’ll tell you that I don’t think he will be because rookie running backs tend to be inconsistent and wear down at the end of the year.  I have nothing to back that statement up, it’s just a hunch.

The guys on the fantasy sports talk station on XM147 are fantasy geeks.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  They frequently talk about the 10 leagues each of them are in.  I participate in 3.  The one I have been in for 12 years for fun  and one snake draft and one auction draft for investment purposes.  They frequently talk about all the different scoring in their leagues where you get a bonus for this and a bonus for that and if your kicker catches a touchdown pass you get an Immunity Idol but if your player runs it into the end zone backwards then you get to vote someone off the island.  It’s hard to follow all these different scoring leagues they talk about.  I participate in standard scoring.  Keep it Simple.

The fantasy geeks seem to be high on drafting players based on their SOS which is short for Strength of Schedule.  Under that premise, they draft players for this year based on the defenses the players will go up against this season.  But the benchmark they use is  that of last season’s statistics.  Just because a team was strong against the run last year doesn’t mean they are going to be this year.  The NFL changes too much from year to year.  I believe you should just draft players based on how you think they will do overall regardless of their schedule.  Would you shy away from Cedric Benson because he faces Baltimore and Pittsburgh a total of 4 times this season?  I wouldn’t but the fantasy geeks would. 

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy listening to the fantasy geeks and their mathematical formulas but I tend to operate more on hunches. 

Here’s a bunch of hunches regarding running backs from the last few days of  fantasy football listening and reading:

• I haven’t moved Maurice Jones-Drew down on the player rankings because of his knee situation but I am concerned about it.  If I was sitting with the # 3 pick, I would probably pass on him but if I was sitting with a late first round pick I would grab him immediately if still available.
• Arian Foster is zooming up draft boards these past couple weeks but I am still not believing it.  I am either going to be totally wrong on this player or totally right. 
• All off season every major corporate web site was talking Justin Forsett as the sleeper of the year and now no one is talking about him which could make him the sleeper of the year.
• Do you know that the NFL’s 5th leading fantasy running back from last season is going in the 7th round of most drafts this year?  His name is Ricky Williams.
• Did you know that Jerome Harrison scored 20+ fantasy points in 3 of his last 4 games last year and is entering this season as the starter and he’s also going in the 7th round of most fantasy drafts?  That could be a steal.

Here’s a bunch of hunches regarding wide receivers:

• If you are in one of those leagues where you bid for free agents, don’t waste money early in the season on wide receivers.  You’ll end up regretting it.
• My player rankings for wide receivers stopped at the top 40 but it could have easily been the top 75.  There are more and more talented wide receivers each year.
• Who is this year’s Miles Austin?  I’d go with Jacoby Jones of Houston.
• Who is this year’s Wes Welker?  I’d go with Wes Welker.
• They say the third year in the league is when wide receivers have their break out season.  I am ready for it Eddie Royal.
• I have seen in many auction drafts where Greg Jennings is going for top 5 wide receiver money.  Could have a huge year.

Here’s a bunch of hunches regarding quarterbacks:

• Matt Schaub has all the weapons to be an elite quarterback this year. 
• What happened to David Garrard?  He’s at the bottom of most quarterback ranking lists.  Should be interesting to see if he has some fight in him this year.
• I would have no problems with Vince Young as my back up quarterback.  I think he’s going to do ok.
• Rodgers or Brees?  They are virtually even to me.
• What quarterback could be this year’s Peyton Manning and only play half the game in week 16 and cost you the Super Bowl as a result?  Could be any of the top 3 of Rodgers, Brees and Manning.
• I think the Eagles are going to be OK with Kevin Kolb but the Redskins won’t with Donovan McNabb.

Week 4 preseason games are Thursday night and then the roster cuts are over the weekend.  I’ll be updating the player rankings daily for the next week.  On Tuesday of next week, the player rankings will be replaced with the Week 1 player rankings to help with your Start/Sit decisions.  I can’t wait !

This year I am going to try to shoot for 7 out of 12, a nice 58%.  It figures to be an exciting year as I believe the power has shifted from the AFC to the NFC. 

So here are my predictions and I’ll apologize in advance to Washington Redskin fans whom I am sure will send me nasty emails for this but it’s not going to be pretty for them this year.

AFC EAST

1. New England       11-5
2. NY Jets                  11-5
3. Miami                     8-8
4. Buffalo                   3-13

AFC NORTH

1. Baltimore           13-3
2. Pittsburgh          12-4
3. Cincinnati           9-7
4. Cleveland           2-14

AFC SOUTH

1. Indianapolis        13-3
2. Houston               10-6
3. Tennessee           10-6
4. Jacksonville        4-12

AFC WEST

1. San Diego          11-5
2. Denver               8-8
3. Oakland             5-11
4. Kansas City      4-12

Pittsburgh and the NY Jets make it in as the Wild Cards and lose to New England and San Diego in the opening round.  Indianapolis then beats New England and Baltimore edges San Diego.  Baltimore beats Indianapolis and goes on to the Super Bowl.

NFC EAST

1. Philadelphia        11-5
2. Dallas                      9-7
3. NY Giants             8-8
4. Washington         2-14

NFC NORTH

1. Green Bay         15-1
2. Minnesota         9-7
3. Chicago              8-8
4. Detroit               2-14

NFC SOUTH

1. New Orleans       13-3
2. Atlanta                  8-8
3. Tampa Bay          5-11
4. Carolina               4-12

NFC WEST

1. Arizona                  9-7
2. Seattle                    8-8
3. San Francisco     8-8
4. St. Louis                3-13

Minnesota and Dallas make it in as the Wild Cards.  Dallas loses to Philadelphia but Minnesota edges Arizona.  Green Bay beats Minnesota and New Orleans is over Philadelphia.  Green Bay beats New Orleans and goes on to beat Baltimore in the Super Bowl.

Saturday morning in a suburban Annapolis, Maryland basement gathered 12 fantasy football team owners aged 35-45 for their 11th season together. This annual get together occurs the Saturday prior to Labor Day each year without fail. $100 budget to buy 21 players. 252 total players will be brought up to bid and roughly the same number of jokes regarding “tight ends” will be made.

An auction draft can be intimidating to some. There are so many good players that you want on your team but if you blow your money on a couple of the higher priced ones early on then you are going to be sitting on your thumbs for a long time and then be left to fill out your roster with players no one wants.

My strategy was simple going into the draft: I want a top 5 QB, a top 10 RB, a top 10 WR, a top 5 TE. My RB2 and WR2 positions will be run by committee so try to accumulate players that should get touches. Take some risks late.

Here’s how I did:

Quarterbacks: Tom Brady, Kyle Orton.

Analysis: I accomplished my goal of getting a top 5 QB although I was hoping for Peyton Manning. Orton is a servicable back up who hopefully only has to play 1 game for me this year.

Values: The top QB was Aaron Rodgers at $25 followed by Drew Brees at $22, Peyton Manning at $20, Tom Brady at $15. Matt Schaub and Tony Romo each went for $11.

Grade: A . I accomplished my goal and didn’t have to spend more than 15% of my budget.

Running Backs: Ryan Grant, Steve Slaton, LaDainian Tomlinson, Ahmad Bradshaw, Justin Forsett, Laurence Maroney, Rashard Jennings, Brandon Jackson, Chris Ogbonnaya, Danny Ware.

Analysis: Ryan Grant as my RB1 is not something I was tremendously happy about. I was in on the bidding for Michael Turner but stopped when the price went over $40. I was faced with the decision to go after Grant or Shonn Greene as my RB1 and settled with Grant whom I purchased for $29. Since I knew that my RB1 was not as strong as I would have liked, I knew I would have to spend some money on my RB2 candidates. I got Ahmad Bradshaw for $10, Justin Forsett for $4, LaDainian Tomlinson for $4, Steve Slaton for $3 and Laurence Maroney for $1. I am hoping that one in this group emerges as a dependable fantasy starter.

Values: Chris Johnson went for $51, Adrian Peterson for $49, Maurice Jones-Drew and Michael Turner for $41, Ray Rice for $40, Frank Gore for $39, Steven Jackson for $35.

Grade: C for my RB1 position as my goal was to get a top 10 RB and I got one that is on the fringe of being considered a top 10 by most web sites. I’ll give myself a B- for my RB2 candidates as none are classified as a starter but a few have some good upside.

Wide Receivers: Anquan Boldin, Mike Wallace, Eddie Royal, Devery Henderson, Brandon Tate.

Analysis: This is the position I am reluctant to spend much money on as there is more Wide Receiver depth in the NFL than any other position. I bought Anquan Boldin for $9 and Mike Wallace for $2. I am hoping for Eddie Royal to have a bounce back year and Devery Henderson is on New Orleans. I’ll probably be looking to the waiver wire or trading one of my back up RB’s at some point this year for wide receivers.

Values: Andre Johnson went for $27, Randy Moss $25, Reggie Wayne and Marques Colston $21, Calvin Johnson and Greg Jennings $20, Miles Austin and Roddy White $19 and Desean Jackson $16.

Grade: C. My goal was to get a top 10 WR and I did not do that. As you can see from the values above, I stayed out of the bidding and settled for Boldin at $9.

Tight Ends: Dallas Clark, Brandon Pettigrew.

Analysis: Many people in auction drafts will not spend money on a top tight end but my theory is that because there are so few of them than it makes the top one’s all the more valuable. I purchased the top one for $11.

Values: Antonio Gates went for $14, Dallas Clark $11, Vernon Davis $10, Jason Witten for $8 and Tony Gonzalez $7.

Grade: A. My goal was to get a top 5 TE and I did that. Hopefully he stays healthy.

So it looks like my opening day lineup is:

QB: Tom Brady
RB: Ryan Grant, Ahmad Bradshaw
WR: Anquan Boldin, Mike Wallace
TE: Dallas Clark

I am not completely happy with this team but then again, I never am. All I know is that I am ready for some meaningful football !

You think you have what it takes to pick 1 winner each week? If so, then the SURVIVOR ELIMINATION game is just for you. Each week you need to pick one winner. It’s that simple. No point spreads to worry about. You can’t pick the same team twice so be careful who you select.

SURVIVOR ELIMINATION Pools are fun and to keep it affordable for as many as we can the entry fee is only $10.00. That’s right, for just 10.00 you can participate in a winner take all SURVIVOR ELIMINATION Game. That’s right, winner take all !

Please see my SURVIVOR Game page in the Links section for more details. Tell your friends and let’s have some fun !

You can enroll in our SURVIVOR ELIMINATION Game by clicking here. Use the paypal button on that page to pay the entry fee, then login and Good Luck!

Here we go.

This is the weekend.  The weekend before Labor Day is the most popular time to hold fantasy football drafts.  I have been bunkered down working on my own draft and trying to figure out if the 18th or 20th round is the right time to select the likes of a Samkon Gado.  No better time than now to rerun last month’s Draft Days Do’s and Dont’s column.  Enjoy. 

It’s that time of year when all the fantasy football websites roll out their “Do’s and Don’ts” columns for draft strategy.  You know the ones where they tell you to not  draft a kicker before the last round, bring a cheat sheet, and don’t draft two quarterbacks with the same bye week.

Gee, thanks.

Here at Fantasy-Football-First, we put the “ First”  in our name because that’s where we want you to finish this year.  No excuses.  This is going to be your year if you stick with us.  No one goes undefeated in fantasy football so we know there will be ups and downs.  We know there will be that one week we will lose on a meaningless touchdown at the end of the Monday night game.  We know there will be that one week we start someone in the 4pm game who doesn’t play.  We know we will go up against a team that starts their 4th string wide receiver who goes for 3 td’s.  Those are all heartbreaks that we will have to deal with.  On the other hand, we know we are going to win our league and that’s more than going to make up for all those bumps in the road.

We do this for fun and the fun starts on Draft Day.

I love live drafts.  Sometimes I do participate in an online draft but there’s always something missing.  It’s kind of like poker.  Yes, you can be good at online poker but you never know how good you really are until you play face to face.  The following is a list of Do’s and Don’ts for live drafts based on my 15 years of experience. 

DO – know your league rules.

Sounds simple but you need to know what your league rules are especially regarding roster size, waiver wire pickups and injured players.  You would be surprised how many people I see asking these questions after the draft.

DO- try to get your league to do the draft order a day or two before the draft.

If you have a top 3 pick or a bottom 3 pick or one in the middle is something that would be nice to know before the draft.  Pulling out numbers 5 minutes before the draft does nobody any favors.

DO – get there early.

I’m not exactly sure why getting there early is important.  All I know is the drafts I got there late or was rushing ended up going badly. 

DON’T – Drink.

I know.  It’s a party.  Everyone is going to be drinking.  Every draft I consumed beers at I ended up with Benjamin Watson as my tight end.  Every year I didn’t, it was Antonio Gates or Tony Gonzalez.  You get the point.

DO – encourage others to drink responsibly.

DO – encourage your league to increase the roster limits.

Some leagues draft 12 players, some 14, some even 20.  Lobby for more players.  Since I know I am going to be more prepared than the other owners, I want to be able to draft more players at the end of the draft when you can still find good players.  The less players on the rosters, the more in the waiver wire pool where they will end up on the worse teams first.

DON’T – tank the first week to get the best waiver claims.

I actually know someone who does this every year.  Makes no sense. Play to win.

DO – find out who your owners root for and praise that teams players you don’t want.

If you know you have a bunch of Redskin fans in your league, talk up how good you think Larry Johnson will be this year and watch him fly off the board in the 2nd  round. 

DO – find out who you can email trade offers to  at work.

Nothing worse than making trade offers to the guy who never checks his email.

DON’T - draft with your heart.

If you are a Dallas fan and your team has Tony Romo, Miles Austin and Felix Jones then you didn’t do your homework.

DO – make sure your running back cheat sheet goes 50 deep.

You don’t want to be that guy flipping through the magazine with a few rounds to go. 

And finally, don’t forget to bring a cheat sheet, draft your kicker in the last round and don’t take two quarterbacks with the same bye week.

My name is John Charles and for three fantasy football seasons I was an idiot when it came to Auction Drafts.

It was 6 years ago and my fantasy football league made the switch from a normal draft to a full blown auction. The next three seasons I suffered through my worst 3 years of fantasy football and I have no one to blame but myself. It got so bad in Auction Drafts for me that I almost quit and vowed to never participate in them again. I didn’t need the stress but I stuck it out, made a few changes and ever since I do pretty well  in several cash leagues. I learned from my mistakes and as a reader of this column you can too without ever having to make them in the first place like I did.

Before we get into my previous mistakes and tips to do well in Auction Drafts, let’s talk about what an Auction Draft is.

Auction Drafts, also known as Salary Cap leagues, operate under the premise that any player could be selected by any team based on the highest bid. For example, in standard drafts Chris Johnson will most likely be selected by the owner who has the first pick of the draft. In auction drafts, Chris Johnson gets brought up to bid and will be selected by the highest bidder. Most auction drafts will have a team budget of $100 or $200 to fill out your roster. The minimum price for any player is $1 so on a 15 player roster with a $200 dollar salary cap the maximum bid any owner has to start the auction is $186 dollars for one player because that owner would need to fill out the remaining 14 players with a total of $14. Now that we understand what an Auction Draft is, let’s examine the 3 mistakes that I not only committed myself in years past but I see others commit every year.

Mistake #1

The Blow Out the Budget to get the Best 2 RB’s Mistake

This owner will land two of the best running backs very early into the auction and then have to sit there while nearly a hundred other players get selected before he can fill out the rest of the roster with below average performers. Sure we would all love to have Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson on our teams but this theory never works. The owner that does this will have some good weeks and maybe even contend for a playoff spot but other weeks they will get blown out and most likely finish in the middle of your league.

Mistake #2

The Let Others Spend their Money on RB’s, I’ll Save my Money for QB’s and WR’s Mistake

This owner will sit there nervously in the beginning of the auction shaking his head as the RB’s get bought at high prices. He will get shut out of the top RB’s and be left with some cash left at the end of the auction (money left on the table at the end of the auction means something went wrong). He’ll end up with a top QB and WR but will struggle all season with his RB’s. This owner will need a lot of luck to compete for the league championship.

Mistake #3

I’ll Trust my Salary Cap Cheat Sheet to Set my Price Points from good ol ESPN.COM

This is the most common and biggest mistake fantasy football owners make regarding Auction Drafts. All the major corporate web sites and magazines feature auction drafts salary cheat sheets. Right now on ESPN.COM they have the price points for Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson at $60. I can tell you that in my league both of those players will go for over $80. ESPN.COM has Andre Johnson at $43 and Aaron Rodgers for $41. I know from experience that neither of those players will go for more than $25 in my league. If I show up with the corporate cheat sheet to determine my price points, I am going to end up getting flustered with the outrageous running back prices early on and fall into the Mistake #2 trap.

Those were the 3 mistakes I made in my first three years of Auction Drafts. So what is one to do?

Here are some basic strategy tips:

• Create your own Player Ranking Cheat Sheets

Forget about showing up with the magazine cheat sheet or the corporate web site cheat sheets.  Those are for the lazy owners and the one’s you are going to beat this year.  Do your homework.  Read as many sites as you can.  Bookmark 5-10 sites (hopefully you can put me in that list) for your daily or weekly reading.  Get out your notebook or excel spreadsheet and come up with your own rankings.  That’s how I do it. I just happen to publish mine on this site.  When you show up to the draft, you have your player rankings that you developed by utilizing the web sites as consultants.  Do not put any price targets on your cheat sheet. 

• Stick to the Plan

If you are a loyal reader of this site, you know the game plan.  If you are new then here it is in a nutshell.  We are going to build our team by selecting a top 10 RB, a top 5 QB, a top 10 WR and a top 5 TE.  After that we are just going to accumulate RB and WR depth.  This is actually easier to accomplish in an auction than it is in a standard draft.  We are going to build a team based on depth and getting the best value at each of the positions.  We don’t need the top performers at each position, we just need consistent depth at each position.

• Pass on the Top Players Projected at QB, RB and WR

I’m sorry auction owners but no Aaron Rodgers, Chris Johnson or Andre Johnson for you this year.  There will not be any value in those picks from an auction standpoint.  I am sure all 3 of those players will have a good year but the actual chances of them being the top performer at their position and therefore worthy of this highest auction salary is slim.  Let the other owners get into the bidding war for those players and set the market for those positions while we sit back content with a similar player at a much lower salary.

• Never Bring Up a Player that you Actually Want

Remember this isn’t a draft, it’s an auction so don’t tip your hand on someone that you want on your roster.  Bring up a player to bid that you know will go for a high salary that you don’t want.  You want the other owners to start spending their money earlier than you do.  There is going to be that one guy at the draft that will raise every one’s bid just as there is that one guy at the poker table that will raise and re-raise the pot.  This is a version of poker.  Even though I want no part of Frank Gore, I am going to bid him up like I do and then fold at the end.  Occasionally this can back fire on you and you might get stuck with the player but more often than not it works.  If you are in a 3 way bidding war for a player, back out and let the other two take that price up.

• Make a List of Players that you Don’t Want and Bring those Players Up for Bid

There’s a whole list of players that I don’t want this year.  Some for injury concerns, some because I know they are over rated.  Some of these players are Brett Favre, Wes Welker, Shonn Greene, Steven Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald and Sidney Rice.  These are the players that I am going to bring up for bid for a $1.  I am not going to get them and that’s less money I have to compete with down the road.

• Never Pay More than $2 for a Kicker, Defense, Back Up TE, Back Up QB

Save these positions for the end of the auction when every one’s max bid is around a $1.  Don’t waste salary cap space for these positions on your team.

OK, so now that we have a game plan, let’s look at the cheat sheet from ESPN.COM ($200 cap) position by position and see what a good plan of attack should be.

Quarterback

STICK TO THE PLAN:  Our plan is to get a top 5 QB as our QB1 and spend no more than a dollar for our back up.

ESPN.COM:  The top 5 QB’s on their cheat sheet are Drew Brees at $43, Aaron Rodgers at $38, Peyton Manning at $27, Tom Brady at $26 and Matt Schaub at $17.

 TARGET STRATEGY:  We are going to watch and see how the bidding goes for Brees and Rodgers and might even participate in the bidding for those 2.  However, we will probably back out and be content with a Manning, Brady or even a Schaub at a lower price knowing that we will get virtually the same production.  For our back up, we would be looking at a Carson Palmer or a Matthew Stafford.

BEST CASE:  We get Peyton Manning for $27 and Carson Palmer for $1. 

CAP HIT: $28

Running Backs

STICK TO THE PLAN:  Our plan is to get a top 10 RB knowing we are going to have to spend money for it.  Our second RB will not be someone in the top 10 but will be chosen each week based on match ups from a group of 3-4 other running backs on our roster. 

ESPN.COM:  Their top 10 RB’s are Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson at $60, Maurice Jones-Drew at $56, Ray Rice at $53, Steven Jackson at $52, Frank Gore at $48, Michael Turner at $43, DeAngelo Williams at $40, Ryan Grant at $37 and Cedric Benson at $35.

TARGET STRATEGY:  Although we would be open to any of these players being on our team for the right price, we will let the rest of the league determine the market value for running backs with the salary for Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson.  We will target a Michael Turner or a Ryan Grant for roughly 2/3′s the salary of Chris Johnson.  I would much rather take a Michael Turner at $43 than a Chris Johnson at $60.  That extra $17 will come in handy later on, trust me.  For the rest of  our running backs, we will stay out of the bidding for the rest of the top 10 and select 3 other one’s at modest salaries from the money we saved by not grabbing an elite RB.  Some nice targets from the ESPN.COM cheat sheet are Matt Forte at $16, Justin Forsett at $13, a Tim Hightower at $4 and an Ahmad Bradshaw at $2 (which would be the steal of the century).

BEST CASE:  Michael Turner at $43, Matt Forte at $16, Tim Hightower at $4 and Ahmad Bradshaw at $2. 

CAP HIT:  $65

Wide Receivers

STICK TO THE PLAN:  Our plan is to get a top 10 WR knowing we are going to have to spend some money for it and then build up depth for our WR2 position.

ESPN.COM:  The top 10 WR’s are Andre Johnson at $45, Randy Moss at $41, Larry Fitzgerald at $39, Reggie Wayne at $36, Brandon Marshall at $35, Roddy White at $28, Calvin Johnson at $27, Miles Austin at $26, Desean Jackson at $24 and Steve Smith(Carolina) at $22.

TARGET STRATEGY:  We know that predicting WR output is the hardest thing about fantasy football so we need to be a bit conservative here.  We are going to stay out of the bidding for the top 3 and let the market set.  Since we have Peyton Manning in the fold, we are going to be in on the bidding for Reggie Wayne.  Usually I am not a big fan of having a QB-WR starting connection but this is the exception to the rule with these two.  We are going to go after Reggie Wayne but if the bidding gets too high then we will settle for a Roddy White or DeSean Jackson at a much lower price than the top 3.   We need 3 other receivers and will target the likes of Mike Wallace at $9, Steve Breaston at $8, Eddie Royal at $1 and Jacoby Jones at $1.

BEST CASE:  We’ll pay the $36 for Reggie Wayne, $9 for Mike Wallace, $8 for Steve Breaston, $1 for Eddie Royal and Jacoby Jones.

CAP HIT:  $55

Tight End

STICK TO THE PLAN:  Our plan is to get a top 5 TE no matter what.

ESPN.COM :  The top 5 TE’s are Dallas Clark at $17, Antonio Gates at $16, Vernon Davis at $15, Brent Celek and Tony Gonzalez at $11.

TARGET STRATEGY:  I would love Dallas Clark but having another Colt in my starting line up is too risky so we’ll be in on the bidding with any of the other four.

BEST CASE:  We take Antonio Gates at $16 and a Dustin Keller as a back up at $1.

CAP HIT:  $17

Bottom Line

Our Roster looks like this:

QB:  Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer

RB:  Michael Turner, Matt Forte, Tim Hightower, Ahmad Bradshaw

WR:  Reggie Wayne, Mike Wallace, Steve Breaston, Eddie Royal

TE: Antonio Gates, Dustin Keller

I used $165 of the $200 so I have some flexibility to get a better quality of bench help if I see I might have money left on the table at the end.  My weakest position is Wide Receiver which is what you want as it’s the easiest to get help from the Waiver Wire.

Auction Drafts are becoming more and more popular.  I get many requests to put Auction Values on my web site but you don’t need that.  Your league will determine market value.  You just need to come with your player rankings and a game plan.  Let the other owner’s blow the budget for the top players, you will win in the end with a balanced team.  Stick to the Plan.  It works.

Let me start this column by stating I am a big fan of the NFL, or as Troy Aikman would say, “the National Football League”. I pay who knows how much because it’s spread out over 6 months for the NFL Sunday ticket. I pay for something called “NFL to Go” even though I haven’t figured out yet how to get it to go. I buy the NFL sponsored jerseys. I drink the NFL sponsored beer. I type this column in my home office staring at my NFL pictures covered walls that I have accumulated over the years . I even decorate my Christmas tree with NFL sponsored ornaments and deal with the sighs of my wife for doing so. I’m just a fan and an occasional fantasy football blogger.

This week I got a chance to get out of my home bunker and get up close and personal for a few days with the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons. Both teams have high hopes for this year coming off disappointing seasons. Both teams have players that are going to go in the first round of fantasy football drafts and many in the first three rounds. Both teams feature high powered offenses so it’s possible to find a late round sleeper on one of these teams.

I am a New England Patriots fan living in Northern Georgia. When the preseason schedule came out and I saw the Patriots were coming to Georgia, I was excited. When more details about the trip came out and I discovered the Patriots would also be practicing with the Falcons and some of those were open to the public, I became giddy. My assignment would be to cover the practice on Tuesday and the game on Thursday from a fantasy football prospective. Who am I kidding? I just want to see the Patriots in person.

Tuesday’s Practice:

The Patriots and Falcons were scheduled for two joint practices (the infamous “2 a days”) and both were open to the public. I elected to go to the afternoon session so I could bring my 7 year old intern, also known as my son. With my camera, notebook and cell phone in my hands and Bakugans in his, we headed out the door to make the 15 minute drive to the Falcons training facility.

The Atlanta Falcons practice in a small town called Flowery Branch, Georgia. It’s a nice complex located about an hour or so north of Atlanta. They have an indoor practice facility, college like dorms and 3 practice fields side by side. It was impressive and reminded me of where the Patriots practiced when I was a kid which was at Bryant College in Rhode Island. The Falcons usually do not get big crowds to their open practices but with the Patriots in town, it was tough to predict the turnout. It turned out there were just about the same number of players on the fields (about 160) as people watching.

The parking lot of the complex is for Atlanta Falcons employees and family only. The media has a special lot across the street with shuttle service and the rest of us have to park about a half mile down the road at a county park. Unfortunately the Falcons would not recognize “John Charles from www.fantasy-football-first.com” as a member of the media so I was ushered down to the county park. After making the nice walk to the training facility, I noticed the media check in station and decided to give it another shot to get a media pass. I walked up to the table and said “Hi, I am John Charles from www.fantasy-football-first.com and they told me I should check in here”. The lady checked the list and wouldn’t you know it, I wasn’t on the list and had to go into the general admission area roped off from the fields. Maybe it was my #51 Jerrod Mayo jersey I was wearing or my son’s, I mean interns’, #54 Teddy Bruschi jersey that made the lady suspicious. Interestingly though, almost every media outlet on the list did have a dot.com as the organization which just goes to show you that conventional media is dying and people go to the internet for news.

No Media Pass for you, Mr. Charles.

The air horns sounded and the players took their stations. You could easily tell that the players were mixed into groups depending on what string they were playing with. I immediately noticed that Wes Welker was practicing with the second string which has made me cautious of drafting him this year. He’s been going high in mock drafts but I think I am going to pass on him this year. Tom Brady and Randy Moss are chatting on the sidelines (both in contract years) and I doubt it’s about who is going to get kicked off Big Brother this week. The crowd was buzzing  about a long touchdown pass the two connected on during the morning session. I sent my intern over to the 790 the Fan radio booth to get some free swag and he returned with a 3XL (the only size they had) shirt for me and some stickers for him. I’m so old I remember when the standard give away t shirt size was XL and now it’s a whopping 3XL.

The first drill was onside kicks which was funny to me because I don’t recall the Patriots ever attempting one. The next 15 minutes fly by and the air horn sounds again signaling a change in stations. The next drill on the main field is Punting. I look down at my roster sheet and notice the Patriots are carrying one punter on their roster and he’s a rookie! I get nervous. Where is the veteran punter to mentor the kid in preseason? Why is there no competition for this position? What if the kid gets hurt? I am suddenly sweating the Patriots punting situation but my intern puts me at ease when he says “wow, he kicked that ball high” and I remember the phrase “In Belichick We Trust”.

The Intern is all smiles with the Patriots Special Teams

Reminding myself that I am a serious fantasy football blogger, I made the following notes from the afternoon practice:

• Michael Turner looks like he’s dropped a few pounds and is in great shape.  I know some fantasy sites are down on him this year, especially in PPR leagues, but I have him in my top 5 in all formats and noticed he spent a lot of time working on the screen pass plays.
• Tony Gonzalez appears to be 100% from what I saw.  He is still a top 5 Tight End in my rankings.
• Tom Brady spent a lot of time working on the deep pass to rookie Brandon Tate.  The Patriots usually limit Brady’s throws in practice (pitch count) so it was interesting to see that Tate was getting a lot of attention.  I like Tate as a late round sleeper especially in keeper leagues.
• Atlanta’s secondary looks weak.  Even in drills they were getting beat.

After another 90 minutes of practice, the last event was 7 on 7 drills with the first team of the Patriots going up against the first team of the Falcons alternating on offense and defense.  The crowd suddenly came to life as Tom Brady took the field.  I put down the notebook and became just a fan sitting on a hill watching the greatest quarterback in Patriots history.  We all know the story.  Backup quarterback at Michigan, drafted in the 7th round, 4th string in his first training camp and now one of the all time greatest.  15 minutes went by as if it was 15 seconds and then practice ended.  He got his work in and it was a pleasure to see.

Patriots all time greatest Quarterback

From a fantasy prospective, I have never had Brady on any of my fantasy teams and never will.  I like to diversify my emotional football portfolio.  But you should.  He’s a top 5 Quarterback this year and might end up at #1 when all is said and done in December.  Everyone loves Aaron Rodgers,Drew Brees and Peyton Manning but Brady is right there with them.

Practice was over and the players started to mingle.  Under the hot Georgia sun another day of training camp was over.  About 50 kids including my intern lined up along the fence with pens and paper in hand hoping for an autograph.  There were 160 players on the field and less than that watching by the end of the practice.  One player could have walked by and stuck his hand out and high fived every kid there in 30 seconds and gave those kids a moment they will never forget.  If every player signed just one autograph each of those kids would have gotten three.  Kids waited patiently and yelled out the name of their favorite players that were still mingling on the field.  Then security swooped in a said “The Atlanta Falcons have a no autograph policy” and that was that. 

The kids were upset and some parents were vocal in their displeasure and rightfully so.  I don’t blame the players.  I could tell many were looking at the kids and wanting to come over to sign.  Considering that 60 or so of the 160 players will be cut in 2 weeks and never play a down in an actual game, it may be the last chance to be asked for one.  I blame the Atlanta Falcons for this terrible policy and it’s owner Arthur Blank.  We came to your practice and purchased your goods at your merchandise booths set up in the parking lot.  You don’t allow your players the choice to sign an autograph on a poster they bought in your store for 15 bucks that cost you a penny to print.  Shame on you.  A fine day ended on a sour note and now I know why you get such a low turnout for your open practices.  You already got me to buy your goods and services but the intern is upset and might not be opening his wallet to you in the future.

Reacting to the Falcons No Autograph Policy

Thursday’s Game:

Bought a 65 dollar ticket on StubHub for 24 bucks and felt pretty good.  Took the subway downtown for 4 bucks roundtrip and walked right into the stadium.  I noticed the parking lot was filling up despite the 50 dollar parking charge (way to go again, Mr. Blank!).  I took a lap around the Georgia Dome concourse to check out the facility and settled into my seat.  10 minutes before kickoff and the place is virtually empty.  NFL fans are not showing up for the preseason games and who blames them when they have to pay full price to watch a practice game?

Not exactly blowing the roof off

The game went remarkably similar as the practice.  Tom Brady looked good. Wes Welker is not 100%.  Rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez is a nice sleeper at tight end. Randy Moss seems focused for now.  The Patriots running back situation is confusing.  For the Falcons, Matt Ryan looked above average.  Michael Turner and Tony Gonzalez look real good and Roddy White should be a top 10 wide receiver.  The Falcons defense is shaky.

Final Scores:

Patriots: 28

Falcons: 10

Arthur Blank: Big Zero

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With the first weekend of the NFL preseason wrapping up, it’s a good time to update the Preseason Player Rankings, also known as “Cheat Sheets”. You can find the updated rankings at the top of the page. Here are some highlights of the new Player Rankings with some RANDOM THOUGHTS thrown in.

• Ben Roethslisberger cracks the top 30 Quarterbacks coming in at #29.  If I was a betting man, and I am, I would wager his suspension gets cut to 4 games at this point.  This makes him a back up quarterback in large leagues and a #3 Quarterback in leagues that can play two quarterbacks.

RANDOM THOUGHT:  School started this week in Georgia.  My first grader asked if he could walk to the bus stop by himself this year which is only about 200 yards down the street but there’s a dog leg left in which I would lose sight of him from my front porch for the last 20 yards and the actual bus stop itself.  Last year as a kindergartner, I would walk with him and give him a hug and wave as the bus drove by.  Best part of my morning.  This week I just watched him walk to the bus stop for as long as I could and then I followed him hiding behind bushes like some sort of stalker making sure he got on the bus alright.  Mornings aren’t going to be the same anymore.

• The biggest injury of the weekend is Houston Texans running back Ben Tate whom many, including myself, liked as a mid to late round quality pick up.  He’s out for the season and many people will say that Arian Foster would be the logical replacement.  Not so fast.  Look for Steve Slaton, only one season removed from being a top 10 running back, to be the big benefactor.  Slaton cracks my top 50 running backs at #32.

RANDOM THOUGHT:  Four months ago on my 39th birthday I vowed that I would get back to my high school weight and lose 50 pounds by my 40th birthday.  I have lost 30 so far.  The best thing about losing the weight was that I got a whole new wardrobe for free.  It was hiding in my closet the whole time. 

• Watch out for the Hard Knocks draft mistake.  This year the team being featured on Hard Knocks is the New York Jets, a team that very well could win the AFC East this year.  Chances are a few people in your league are watching the show and will draft some back up New York Jet on their roster after watching their story on Hard Knocks.  Don’t do it.  However, there is one New York Jet that is rising on my Tight End rankings and that’s Dustin Keller who has moved up to #22.

RANDOM THOUGHT:  You may think that to be a successful fantasy football owner you need to watch preseason games.  Not true and in fact, I recommend to not watch any preseason games before your draft.  It’s not NFL football.  It’s a shame most teams make the season ticket holders pay full price for these games only to have them played in nearly empty stadiums with players that will be cut in 3 weeks.  Don’t get fooled thinking you are going to find some hidden sleeper amongst these preseason games.  Just follow the injury updates after the games and don’t watch or you’ll end up wasting a roster spot because you were influenced watching a player perform in a glorified practice.

• Fast rising up the Wide Receiver rankings is Pittsburgh’s Mike Wallace.  I may have severely undervalued him in my initial rankings as I did not have him in the top 40.  I think I have him properly ranked now all the way up to #20 making him a viable #2 wide receiver.

RANDOM THOUGHT:  As much as I hate NFL preseason games, I hate going to NFL games just as much.  I much rather watch it from the comforts of my own home where I can watch replays, flip to other games during commercials, pause, rewind, etc.  Why would I give that up for fighting traffic, sitting in a seat wedged in between a bunch of people that have been drinking all morning and barely fit into the seat.  Missing half the game because the fat ass in front of me keeps standing up to pick his wedge and having to stand in line to use an urinal.  No thanks.  I’m fine at home.  Except for this Thursday night when I will be actually going to a game, a preseason game nonetheless.  New England Patriots at Atlanta Falcons here in Atlanta.  I’m a Patriots fan living in Atlanta who has never seen Tom Brady play in person and this might be my only chance to ever see that so I am making this very rare exception to actually attend a NFL sponsored event.  Going solo as it’s a school night.  Follow me on TWITTER ( link to the right of the page) as I tweet to my peeps throughout the game.