Spitoons
The Spitoons came back to the
podium for the draft, making their first public appearance since the
embarrassing week 17 collapse in December 
.
The Spitoons had a below average draft, ranking 7th in strength of
starters. Spi’s GM did not seem worried, declaring “I don’t care about those
projections. Last year we were 5th and yet ended up the team with
the highest strength of starters.” In the first round, Spi went with the
logical pick Matt Forte to go along with Westbrook, their long-time franchise
player. Forte’s value is even higher post-draft now that Kevin Jones is out for
the year due to an ankle injury. In the second and third rounds, Spi went
with WRs. Spi’s starters will be Reggie Wayne and Wes Welker. Both picks were a
little suspect because guys like Calvin Johnson and Steve Smith were available
in the 2nd, and Greg Jennings was available in the 3rd.
At QB, Spi is living in the past, drafting Tony Romo. Fortunately, they
acquired Ben Roethlisberger before the cut players were announced. Roeth might
end up Spi’s starter at QB. Another flaw of Spi’s roster is TE. Kevin Boss and
Shiancoe are the weakest TE duo in the PQBFL.
Dugongs
The Dugongs’ GM missed the PQBFL
draft because he did not remember at what time his flight was and missed it by
getting too late at the airport 
. He had to hurry
up and sent a draft list to the commissioner. The result for the Dugongs’
roster is not bad at all, although part of it is due to a strong saved team.
Vegas made the Dugongs the 3rd most likely to win the PQBFL title this year.
Franchise player Adrian Peterson is the best in the league. Dug was also able
to save key RBs like Kevin Smith, Darren McFadden, and even Chester Taylor as
insurance for Peterson. With this group of 4 RBs, Dug was able to focus on
other positions during the entire first half of the draft and did not select a
RB until the 13th round. In the first round, Dug picked L
Fitzgerald. This was a very important pick. Fitz was a monster in
the NFL playoffs last year, but will Randy Moss return to his 2007 stats? It
was a tough choice of WR in the first round. Then Dug picked Aaron Rodgers in
the second round. The team was intent on getting a top QB and made Rodgers the
first QB called. This turned out to be wise because Rivers was drafted not long
after. Dug completed the core of their starting team with Gates and Bowe. Dug
even had the luxury of drafting a defense early and went with the top ranked
Steelers in the 6th round. If the Dugongs have a weakness it might
be on individual defense. None of Dug’s DLs, LBs, and DBs are top 5 at their position, and
backups are not stellar either.
UncleJack
UncleJack is ranked
last in strength of starters, behind JB by 5.6 pts which is the largest
difference between two teams in those projections
. Chris Johnson was a strong RB pick in the first
round, but UJ bungled the RB position in the second round, going with Ryan
Grant. Will this guy even keep his starting job? A much safer pick with even
more upside would have been Ronnie Brown who was leading the league before his
injury in 2007. In the third round, UJ went RB again, drafting Addai, another
RB in danger of losing his starting job. Then UJ drafted three straight WR:
TJ Housh, S Holmes, and Roy Williams. There is no particular problem with these
guys, but when you don’t draft a WR until the 4th round, you are
expected to be weaker than other teams. UJ is not particularly impressive on
defense either. At the rookie position, UJ’s first two picks were yawners, but
James Davis who was taken 202nd overall might be a gem. He’s been
outstanding in camp and Jamal Lewis was almost cut from the Browns.
OldNo7
After years and years of
mediocrity, OldNo7 tried to build the team for the future by going with youth,
particularly at key positions like QB and WR. Matt Ryan, Eli Manning, Brady
Quinn, and even Vick could possibly go up in value next year
. At WR, Old does not have a single veteran,
including saved players: Avery, Hester, Calvin Johnson, Roddy White, and
Breaston. Old also drafted college RB Andre Anderson from Tulane, in hope that
he will be drafted and end up in a RB-friendly team next year. Old could have
continued with that strategy at the rookie position, but only drafted one RB,
Glen Coffee from the 49ers and this was pretty late in the draft. Other rookies
for Old are one WR, one TE, and one LB, which are unlikely to be worth much next year. Old’s
strategy left the team in not so bad shape for 2009 despite thinking more about
2010 than 2009. Old ranks 5th in strength of starters and is
only
marginally below average with backups (6th). Vegas put OldNo7
has 4th most likely to win the league title. Old needs a big year from
franchise player Steven Jackson. This guy has loads of potential and if he was
not playing for the Rams, he might be top of the league.
JakesBlues
JB has pressure as a second-year
team to quickly compete after a tough expansion year. This year should be
difficult again with the team ranking 8th in strength of starters.
JB only drafted 4 RBs and therefore needs Ray Rice to perform otherwise this
team will not go anywhere. RB backups are Felix Jones and McGahee which are
both backups on their NFL team. By the way, taking Rice as early as the mid 2nd
round was a gamble. At WR, Greg Jennings should be a pillar for JB, but
behind him are several question marks like Santana Moss and Anthony Gonzalez.
Drafting A Gonzalez in the 4th round was possibly even more of a
gamble than Rice in the 2nd round, with WRs like B Marshall and B
Edwards who were still available, and those two both young with potential but come with risk
particularly for the 2009 season. JB drafted a college player early and got one
of the best available with Heisman winner Sam Bradford. Unfortunately Bradford
got injured before the start of the PQBFL season so this is already a bad start
for JB 
. JB’s top rookie is Crabtree. If he
plays he should be dominant, but he still has not signed and he might not be in
top shape when he shows up.
WaxOnWaxOff
WaxOnWaxOff had a competitive
team until the very end in 2008 and 2009 should be no different. Wax finally
got a top franchise player with MJD after years of mediocrity at the position.
Wax had a very strong draft to end up with the second best team based on
strength of starters 
. Wax should have no
problem at RB with Lynch, Parker, and Pierre Thomas behind MJD. Wax took Randy
Moss in the first round and if Moss puts up stats like in 2007 then he will be
playing at franchise-player level. After Moss, Wax might have waited a little
too long to draft another WR and got Antonio Bryant who could just be a one-year
wonder. Wax is banking on Terrell Owens as WR2 but the Bills offense is in shambles
and the offensive coordinator has already been fired and not a single snap has
been played yet. At QB, Rivers should continue being a top QB particularly with
the return to health of Gates and the development of the Chargers' young WRs. On defense,
Wax is above average due to a strong saved group of Mario Williams, Ray Lewis,
and Urlacher. The same can be said of the rookie position where Chris Wells is
a contender for top rookie this year.
BeaudoinBrothers
The BeaudoinBrothers should have
a competitive team in 2009 again and will try to be the first three-peat since
the BBs did it in 1998-1999-2000 
. The BBs are
no longer dominant at the franchise player spot since LT will not wear the BB
uniform for the first time since 2003. Turner takes over and he should be
adequate in that role but he is no LT. The BBs are secretly hoping that F Gore could outperform
Turner since Martz left San Francisco and with a renewed focus on the rushing
attack for the 49ers. The BBs had a strong saved team which allowed them to
keep McNabb, C Palmer, Witten, and Moreno the rookie. The BBs could then draft
WRs with their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th
round picks: Steve Smith, Boldin, OchoCinco, and DeSean Jackson. None of them
might be top 4 in the league, but no other PQBFL team has as much depth at the position. On
defense the BBs should be above average with saved players like T Cole, J Mayo,
and Vilma. The BBs also added Adrian Wilson and hope he can return to his
previous form as top DB in the league.
Decepticons
The Decepticons unusually had a
subpar draft this year and are only 6th in strength of starters
. Last year Dec disappointed, after being
league favorites following the draft and finishing 5th in the
standings despite the lowest injury point total in the league. At least Dec was
able to carry forward a number of decent players on their saved team especially
at WR with Royal, Cotchery, and V-Jax in addition to franchise player Andre
Johnson. While several PQBFL teams were focusing on WRs in the early rounds,
Dec went the other way. Slaton and Ronnie Brown were the first two RBs taken by
Dec. Then Dec went with rookie Donald Brown who was the first rookie taken in
hope that Addai will be phased out. Dec also drafted the top defensive player
available Patrick Willis. Dec surprisingly drafted K Winslow early given that
Dec already had Cooley on their saved roster and that Cooley was the reason Dec
did not save Winslow from their 2008 roster. Dec could have filled other holes
instead of drafting another TE, for example by drafting a QB. This position is
by far the top weakness for Dec. Cutler was saved but it is unknown how
productive he will be in the Bears’ conservative offense and without B Marshall
and E Royal. The backups are the sorry group of Favre, Bulger, and Vince
Young. Chances are that all three of them won’t even be in the NFL next year.
The season 2009 has started on the wrong foot for Dec. College RB LeGarrette Blount
decided to change careers from football to boxing when he punched an opponent on
the jaw after a game and was swiftly suspended for the rest of the season by his
coach. So much for his potential as a 2010 rookie RB.
FlyingElvis
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