Since I’ve popped off on other blogs, I suppose it’s only right to give others a chance to rip on my fantasy football drafting for this year. The draft was Saturday, exactly 24 hours before the Monty. 12-teamer, $100 per team making a $1200 prize pool. I won it last year and pocketed something like $700. I drew the 6th pick in the serpentine draft online at Yahoo.

1st – Deuce McAllister [6th overall] – I dreaded this pick, knowing the first five would be Priest, LT, Ahman Green, Portis, and Shaun Alexander (I had already been IMing with the 5th drafter). I just worry whether New Orleans will score enough touchdowns to justify taking him sixth. I briefly toyed with the idea of going with Randy Moss and/or Jamal Lewis, but caved to the “Best RB that isn’t going to prison” syndrome.

2nd – Kevan Barlow [19th] – Not many RBs to choose from. I’m a 49er fan, and I know that they have NOBODY to back him up, and he fit the “Get two #1 RBs asap” theory. He should be good for 1100 yds rushing and 500 yds receiving and about 8 tds. Of course, the Niners will probably go 5-11, but this is fantasy football, dammit.

3rd – [30th] Gee, who should I pick here? Lots of statistically comparable QBs and WRs here. Don’t really want or need a 3rd RB yet. Let’s see, where is the most marginal value over someone I can get in the 4th and 5th round? Gonzo had already been picked 26th, so for the most value here, I braced myself for the ridicule and chose…. Todd Heap. And a funny thing happened… nobody criticized taking a TE in the 3rd round.

4th – [43rd] A shitload of dime-a-dozen receivers here, so I went for a QB I thought would throw for 25-30 TDs… Chad Pennington. Favre was still there, but he’s almost as old as I am and drinks way more beer, so I don’t expect him to start more than 12 games this year.

5th – [54th] I had queued up Laverneus Coles and Koren Robinson, but they went one and three picks earlier, so I rolled the dice with Peerless Price. Here’s hoping that they make Michael Vick a pocket passer. My other possible choice was Isaac Bruce, but I thought he’d make it under the radar since Yahoo had him listed waaaayyyy too low in their default rankings.

6th – [67th] Isaac Bruce. See? I was right. I knew he’d be there. And he’ll have a good year since Torry Holt will draw all the attention. Of course, if I’m wrong, never mind.

7th – [78th] I wanted to fill out my WR corps with Amani Toomer or Jerry Porter, but they were snapped up between 77 and 87, so I took my requisite flyer pick, Tatum Bell. Someone in Denver will get 1000 yds this year, why not Bell? I probably should’ve waited another round or two and taken Tyrone Wheatley here, but the thought of missing out on the Olandis Gary of 2004 was intolerable.

8th – [91st] What a dilemma! There’s still a starting RB on the board, but he hasn’t shown much… He’s on a weak offense with a mediocre QB, but the coach likes to run run run. Oh, what the hell, with the 101st pick, I choose… Travis Minor.

9th – [102nd] While I’m waiting for this pick, I quickly pull up the 2003 stats from NFL.com trying to find an 800-1000 yd WR to fill in my receiving corps and find… Reggie Wayne. I like this pick. Marvin is getting older and Peyton is going to have to develop other receivers.

10th – [115th] Hmmm, a 4th WR or a backup QB? Here I make my worst move of the draft and pick Jake Delhomme. Not because Delhomme will have a shitty year or because I should’ve waited for a backup QB, but because Delhomme and Pennington have the same freakin’ bye week. Now I’ll have to pick another QB or hope for a waiver wire plum to drop my way.

11th – [126th] OK, my roster is pretty well set. 2 QBs, 4 RBs, 3 WR, 1 TE. Everyone else has all their backups also, no decent RBs to speak of, plenty of mediocre WRs on the board. Time for a kicker on a good team. Ryan Longwell.

12th – [139th] Nothing but stopgaps and bye fillers from now on. Defense can wait until the last round. Hey, is Muhsin Muhammad still there?! OK, I’ll take him.

13th – [150st] Wow, backup TE, we’ve officially reached the stage of “don’t care”. Billy Miller please.

14th – [163rd] Shit, now I have to fill in that QB bye week #3 when Pennington and Delhomme will both be golfing. Who’s playing a lousy defense that week? Kyle Boller? Sure, why not?

15th – [174th] Time to pick a defense. Who’s playing a lousy offense in week one? Ummm, looks like Houston is playing San Diego, sure to conjure images of Dan Pastorini and Dan Fouts, George Blanda and John Hadl. Sure. I’ll take Houston.

For a 12-team league, I think I’m positioned pretty well if my WRs come through with decent years. All five of my WR can go for 800-1200 yds this year and it may come down to my lineup choices. I have consistent production from both RB slots (two of the top ten if you believe SI), tight end, and quarterback. I have a couple hope-and-pray picks (Bell and Minor) that could pan out to be good RB sleepers. All in all, I expect to be in playoff contention if (big IF) injuries are kept to a minimum.