The Great Fantasy Football Debate
There's always debate over what's more important to fantasy football success: drafting well or playing the waiver game. I've always found myself leaning toward drafting well, but sometimes you can just plain screw up a draft. The following is my roster immediately following last year's draft.
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Ed Reed and the Ravens' defense came up big for Lee's team last year. Who will it be this year? (Sabina Moran/PressBox)
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QB- Matt Hasselback
QB- Kurt Warner
RB- Brian Westbrook
RB- Laurence Maroney
RB- Selvin Young
RB- Felix Jones
RB- Ricky Williams
RB- Tim Hightower
WR- Marques Colston
WR- Brandon Marshall
WR- Santonio Holmes
WR- James Jones
WR- Isaac Bruce
TE- Randy McMichael
D- Ravens
I didn't even draft a place-kicker. Believe it or not, I liked this draft when it happened. Little did I know that four of my six running backs (Maroney, Young, Jones and Williams) would be useless, my top quarterback (Hasselbeck) would be hurt the entire year, and my top receiver (Colston) would miss a lot of time early in the year. Randy McMichael at tight end was a terrible pick. But you know something? Despite this horrendous draft, I was able to win a championship. Though there was what seemed like hundreds of other variations throughout the season, here's the roster of my team in Week 15.
QB- Kurt Warner
RB- Brian Westbrook
RB- LeRon McClain
RB- Kevin Faulk
RB- Tim Hightower
WR- Marques Colston
WR- Brandon Marshall
WR- Santonio Holmes
WR- Davone Bess
WR- Jabar Gaffney
WR- Marvin Harrison
TE- Greg Olsen
TE- Jeremy Shockey
K- Rob Bironas
D- Ravens
Of those 15, only eight were drafted by me. This year, I intend to draft better and not have to get so lucky. Last year, I was lucky to grab Kurt Warner late in the draft. I was lucky that LeRon McClain and Tim Hightower scored touchdowns with limited carries. I was lucky that when Brian Westbrook was healthy, he found the end zone. I was lucky that Ed Reed and the Ravens defense sometimes scored as much as Marques Colston. And most of all, I was lucky that for whatever reason, my opponents had some bad weeks when they were playing me. Result: Championship.
Anyone can win at fantasy football, no matter how impressive or depressing a draft may seem. Let's not forget that no one can tell for sure who will have a big week, big season or, gulp ... big injury. You have to get lucky.
That's not to say a good draft doesn't help. As soon as I learn my draft position, I'll be here to hash out my strategy.
Posted August 17, 2009 at 2:10 p.m.
