My Fantasty Draft Evaluated

I had my 2011 NFL.com Fantasy Draft late last week, and am happy with the results.

Of course, I never land all of the players that I want.

Picking late in a snake draft (8), limited my first pick options, but I was glad to see RB Mendenhall available. 

With the second round pick, I went with probably my highest risk/reward pick in selecting RB Frank Gore.  He is valuable while he is healthy, but never seems to escape the injury bug.  Passing on about all of the top receivers to grab Gore may haunt me.

I knew WR Nicks would likely not be there when I picked in the late 3rd, and to my regret, he was chosen a few picks ahead of me.  With two star RBs, I decided to go with QB Rivers. 

I have no problem in waiting to grab a QB later (Big Ben) if I like who is on the board, but this year many of the guys I liked for round 3 were gone. 

I was glad to take Rivers and not have to worry about the position though.  Last year I got burned by a QB run and was left with QB Kolb--that definitely did not work out. 

After going with WR Austin, I was able to stockpile backs--grabbing my planned flex back RB F. Jones, my primary depth guy RB F. Jackson, and RB Wells.  I also nabbed WR M. Williams (Bucs) during that span of picks. 

The good backup QBs were on the board when I picked RB Wells, but I felt like waiting was a reasonable strategy with QB Rivers good health. 

Plus, in a ten-team league, productive QBs can be found later in the waiver pile.

I was tempted to grab QB Stafford though.

For TEs, I landed the Saints sleeper Jimmy Graham and the Bucs's always limping Winslow, Jr.

I did not like my depth at wideout after settling for WR Manningham and Knox, and had some concerns about my #1 WR Austin, so I planned to look for a trade.   

My last two picks were K (Rams' Brown) and 49ers DEF--I play matchups with Team D.

In sum, I was happy with my mock draft results.  I am strong at RB as long as Gore stays on the field, and Jones meets expectations for what is supposed to be a good Cowboy team.  I have a top 5 QB and solid WRs.  The TEs may be good or a weakness, but should be at least solid.

I was able to work a trade at WR, and I'll cover that deal next post.

It will be a pleasure or torture to reread this post again in a few weeks.