65 replies to this topic

[AshesAndLaughter]

I figure this is a good time to address this. We are all in the championship because of a bit of luck or because of a draft steal or because of some great waiver wire pickup. So, let's here it so we can all look back at this season and think of areas that we should have made decisions in which we didn't.

I drafted DMC, Ryan Mathews and Percy Harvin as my top three picks in PPR. Harvin carried my team early. RGIII was a great steal in the 7th round and Danny Amendola in the 14th round helped.

I had some great trades. Landing Graham after his ankle injury. Getting T-Rich after his rib injury. Basically, I take advantage of people who are nervous about injuries. It did suck owning T-Rich, Ryan Mathews, DMC, and Harvin there for a bit.

Pickup of the year was, by far, Danario Alexander. Bryce Brown helped me two weeks too. So, I got pretty lucky this year. The week I placed a waiver claim on Bryce, I had Ronnie HIlman as a higher priority. Someone else got Hilman, I got Bryce Brown for two week winning games and two duds. Here I am.

That is the condensed version of my year. How about yours?

[Cmilne23]

The main reason I made it is because I did not pick up Zuerlein on any teams this year.


Joking aside, drafted well I got RG3 cheap in both my keeper leagues and loaded up on depth.  Ended up using that depth throughout the year to make key trades.  I traded RG3 for AP in my keeper league that I was doing well in.  RG3 is a 5 dollar keeper next year, and AP cannot be kept so I basically went all in for this season.  I went big picture this season and built my team to win in the end and gave up a few weeks early in the season and it has paid off for me (traded for guys on bye week to a team that was desperate to win that week).

Edited by Cmilne23, 21 December 2012 - 11:35 AM.

[Samurai Mike]

Started with Cam Newton and Julio Jones for really cheap in a 10 team, 2 keeper auction league.

Drafted AP (for relatively cheap because of injury concerns); Doug Martin (somewhat cheap because he is a rookie); Trent Richardson; AJ Green; Andrew Luck

Traded Julio Jones for Megatron straight up around mid year to a guy that wanted Julio Jones for his cheap keeper value because he was looking towards next year already.  Traded Andrew Luck straight up for RG3 to someone in a similar situation who was convinced that RG3 wouldn't last the year (trade happened right after the RG3 concussion).

[WestCoastMets]

Ray Rice, RG3 and a little help from Torrey Smith got me through the first half of the season.

Trading for Felix Jones the week before Murray went down and Ahmad Bradshaw with RG3 and Rice got me through the middle part of the season.

Having the balls to trade Calvin Johnson for CJ Spiller, Miles Austin, Steve Johnson, and Aaron Hernandez in a dynasty league got me to the playoffs.

Russell Wilson, Steven Jackson, and Steve Johnson get a shout out for getting me to the finals.

Edited by WestCoastMets, 21 December 2012 - 11:37 AM.

[GChicago]

I feel like I just outlasted everyone in my league.  My team wasn't great, I had no great pick-ups during the season, and no great draft steals.  I also didn't have any busts or seriously injured players and my guys got hot when they needed to.    Other than Defense and Kicker my starting line-up last week was picks 1-7 in my draft. Pretty boring really.

[tucker26]

Cmilne23, on 21 December 2012 - 11:34 AM, said:

The main reason I made it is because I did not pick up Zuerlein on any teams this year.


Joking aside, drafted well I got RG3 cheap in both my keeper leagues and loaded up on depth.  Ended up using that depth throughout the year to make key trades.  I traded RG3 for AP in my keeper league that I was doing well in.  RG3 is a 5 dollar keeper next year, and AP cannot be kept so I basically went all in for this season.  I went big picture this season and built my team to win in the end and gave up a few weeks early in the season and it has paid off for me (traded for guys on bye week to a team that was desperate to win that week).

Beat me to the legatron joke. Though mine would have been a tad different.

Really cause I played vs ELI and Rice last week. And Cobb, Marshall, Brees and Jets D for last week. The whole season was Martin plus those guys above.  

It wasn't because I traded Gore for MJD the week before MJD got hurt. That hurt me too and have walked with a limp ever since.

[stchri]

Thanks to a wonderful auto-draft, my draft day projection was 12th place (out of 12 teams). Check out this lovely start:
1. (10) Larry Fitzgerald WR 2. (15) Cam Newton QB 3. (34) Fred Jackson RB 4. (39) Steve Smith WR 5. (58) Fred Davis TE 6. (63) Vincent Jackson WR 7. (82) Jahvid Best RB 8. (87) Pittsburgh DEF 9. (106) Mike Nugent K 10. (111) Ben Roethlisberger QB 11. (130) Jacquizz Rodgers RB 12. (135) Santana Moss WR 13. (154) Toby Gerhart RB 14. (159) Coby Fleener TE

As you can imagine, the early season was pretty brutal. Lost the first 3 weeks and struggled to score 70 points. My biggest early season pickup was probably Alfred Morris. When Fred Jackson went down in week 1, my RB situation was REALLY bad and getting Phat Alfred in there stabilized the black hole.

As the season progressed, little tweaks improved the situation gradually and I started to pick up some wins. I always play for the playoffs so I started to pick up injured talent with the hope that I could make it there and thanks to some key late season pick ups and Cam Newton FINALLY waking up, I snuck into the 5th seed on a tie breaker.

Once the playoffs started, I've been rotating defenses (don't let me down Cardinals), reaping the benefits of some midseason injury pickups (D. Murray) and riding some hot hands (thanks for showing up Cam!) to the championship week. I like my chances but however it turns out, I think this has been one of my better management seasons.

Here is my up to date roster for comparison:

QB
Cam Newton

• (Car - QB)

WR
Steve Smith

• (Car - WR)

WR
Vincent Jackson

• (TB - WR)

RB
Alfred Morris

• (Was - RB)

RB
Knowshon Moreno

• (Den - RB)

TE
Owen Daniels

• (Hou - TE)

W/R
DeMarco Murray

• (Dal - RB)

K
Matt Bryant

• (Atl - K)

DEF
Arizona

• (Ari - DEF)

BN
Rob Gronkowski

• (NE - TE)

BN
David Wilson

• (NYG - RB)

BN
Russell Wilson

• (Sea - QB)

BN
Anquan Boldin

• (Bal - WR)

BN
Cincinnati

• (Cin - DEF)

Edited by stchri, 21 December 2012 - 12:11 PM.

[Samurai Mike]

Also, A. Hernandez was a very unlikely hero for me last week. Rotted on my bench almost all year but has really come through for me when it counts. Dudes a beast when healthy.

[sott3]

Picked up Alfred Morris over the waiver wire after week 1. He made up for my bust draft pick of Ryan Matthews. Picking up the Seattle defense a month ago has helped too. But Morris has been the stable rock my team needed.

[Proteus]

1. Taking the best available player in each draft round, regardless of position. This is how I ended up RGIII in two leagues, AJ Green, and Dez, even when my roster holes screamed of different needs.

2. Diligence on the WW.

[cubbie5150]

GChicago, on 21 December 2012 - 11:40 AM, said:

I feel like I just outlasted everyone in my league.  My team wasn't great, I had no great pick-ups during the season, and no great draft steals.  I also didn't have any busts or seriously injured players and my guys got hot when they needed to. Other than Defense and Kicker my starting line-up last week was picks 1-7 in my draft. Pretty boring really.

Similar to my story.  Other than Moreno & Josh Gordon (lucked out starting him while he was scoring TDs every week when Nicks was OUT & Steve Smith disappeared from Panthers offense), I didn't make any great waiver pick-ups.  Started the year w/ a QBBC of Flacco/Luck/Locker (have started each of them at least once); got "lucky" that Andrew became at least a trustworthy weekly starter.  Rode my regular lineup of Ray Rice/Doug Martin/McGahee-Moreno (FLEX)/AJ Green all year long.  Oh, and I hate kickers as much as anyone else, but Gostkowski has been consistently very good this year as well.  I never lost b/c of a dud from my kicker at least.

Edited by cubbie5150, 21 December 2012 - 12:40 PM.

[NYR Fan 116894]

Trading for Brandon Marshall and Matt Ryan.

Trading for Randall Cobb.

Trading away Ryan Mathews.

[predator_05]

The difference between my losing teams and winning teams was one factor: the young RBs and Brandon Marshall. My losing teams didn't have either, my winning teams did.

My 2 championship teams even managed to survive slow starts from guys like Chris Johnson, Darren McFadden, Cam Newton, etc. and an injury to Harvin because they were carried by Martin, Richardson, Spiller, Morris, all these guys i drafted as RB2s eventually became my RB1s. Marshall is also the number 1 WR in fantasy and consistently scored the big points whenever i needed them.

Best draft pick: CJ Spiller for $7. Unbelievable steal. Mike Williams for $1. Randall Cobb for $1. LOL

Best waiver pick: Danario Alexander.

Here is one of those teams (12 team, non PPR):

QB: Tom Brady
RB: Chris Johnson, Trent Richardson, Alfred Morris, CJ Spiller
WR: Brandon Marshall, Percy Harvin, Mike Williams, Randall Cobb
TE: Streamed all season. Celek, Rudolph, Cook, etc. Currently Dennis Pitta
D: Streamed all season, until i got Denver off the waiver wire...
K: Hanson, to Greg the Leg, now Dan Bailey

Edited by predator_05, 21 December 2012 - 01:29 PM.

[TommyJoe]

not panicking or over reacting with cam's slow start ....

trading mikel leshoure and brandon lloyd for victor cruz

no one taking me up on my trade offers that included doug martin or dez bryant or andre johnson

picking up both heath miller and aaron hernandez off waivers to man my TE position

snagging the "right" broncos back .... moreno

[Smoot4Prez]

Drafted AP in the third round.

Traded for Cam with an angry owner when his stock was low.  (Was after the Giants game.  Traded Cutler for him straight up)

Other than those two, it's been a carousel at every other position due to injuries.  Just been keeping up with the WW and playing match-ups / hot hands all year.

[predator_05]

Smoot4Prez, on 21 December 2012 - 01:56 PM, said:

Traded for Cam with an angry owner when his stock was low.  (Was after the Giants game.  Traded Cutler for him straight up)

Oh god...

[the1gq2nvy]

I got Brady and Lynch and gave up Romo, Vjax, sproles and ridley. Picked up cobb off FA.

[cbe_88]

My 7th and 8th round picks, CJ Spiller and Tony Gonzalez get a lot of credit. Romo has been at the helm for me all season, and he's been very solid especially the second half of the season. McCoy and Murray were my top two picks, a little dissapointing but Murray has been coming on and I think I'll play McCoy this week.

Julio is actually my only WR stud...other than that it was Antonio Brown until he got hurt, then, surprisingly, Lance Moore actually impressed me by carrying my WR2 position the entire 2nd half of the season. And my kicker/defense is Matt Bryant and Denver...very solid, guaranteed at least 20 pts from my kicker defense combo every week.

So actually not an incredibly stacked team, but very solid at every position.

[scienergy]

Cobb has been an excellent WR2 disguised as a WR1.  Same for Shorts.  Foster not getting hurt and Matty Ice in the 3rd round means I'm in the championship game.

[Red Sox Nation]

Foster staying healthy. Dominating the ww with Luck, Morris, and Cobb. Nailing the wr's I waited on to draft, Decker and Wayne. In the end I only made the playoffs because...I lost my end of the year trades...here's how:

I liked McGahee's schedule and Morris had an upcoming bye. I had the most points (consistently) but due to bad luck was 4-5 and in "must win" mode.  I traded Morris and Luck for McGahee. Week 12 I played the guy I traded with, and McGahee was out for the season. The guy played Luck over Romo. That week Romo threw for 400+ yards and 3 tds on thanksgiving. If not for trading him luck, I would have lost. Losing that trade actually won me that game.

With an eye towards next year and a 5-6 record (still with the most points), I traded for McCoy to pair him with Foster as my two keepers. I dealt Matt Ryan and Reggie Wayne for McCoy, Mike Wallace, and Josh Freeman. I then dealt Ridley and Wallace for Gore because I hated Ridely's playoff schedule. As a result of the deal I waivered Brown which I wouldn't have done otherwise. He took me towards the playoffs.

As for the playoffs, after dealing Cruz Wayne during my crazy trading time, I was left with Decker and Cobb at wr. However, they have both been wr1's for the playoffs.

My most common lineup combination for the regular season was Matt Ryan, Arian Foster, Alfred Morris, Stevan Ridley/Randall Cobb, Reggie Wayne, Eric Decker, Jimmy Graham. I also had Cruz much of the season before dealing him for Graham because my crappy tight end situation lost me 3 games. I took that stud lineup and my playoff lineup has been a watered down combo of Josh Freeman (Joe Flacco this week), Arian Foster, Frank Gore, Bryce Brown (D-Will for the finals this week), Randall Cobb, Eric Decker, Jimmy Graham.

Somehow all my different and crazy moves have paid off. I am in the finals with a 50/50 shot to win it all. And, I now have Foster and McCoy for next season. I'll take it. Also, I tied round 1 but because my team was the higher seed, I got to move on.

Edited by Red Sox Nation, 21 December 2012 - 03:47 PM.