The anticipation was killing me as usual. You wait around all day Saturday just waiting until that draft room opens up and you get to finally find out your draft spot. I got 5; same as last year. I rather enjoy picking in the middle though as you don’t have to wait too long in between picks. You don’t completely miss runs but you do tend to hit the back end of them. It’s a very doable spot though. Now that I had my spot I was ready to see how this thing played out. 30 minutes prior to the draft, the room opens so here I am sitting around waiting. 30 seconds before the draft starts… my Internet dies. Holy hand grenades. You have got to be kidding me. You wait practically 6 months for this and 30 seconds before the draft starts my Internet dies? My Internet has died a couple times over the last 5 years but it now picked the worst possible time in the history of Internet outages. Seriously… can you think of a worse time?

20 minutes later and I’m finally back in the room. I already had 2 picks under my belt. I was furious. The Aaron Rodgers pick I loved. I was ready to take him at #3. I got him at #5. Luckily Jamaal Charles and Michael Vick went #3 and #4. I had Charles at #3 until about this week. Then I decided the depth at QB just wasn’t there and changed to Rodgers. I had Vick ahead of Rodgers back and forth all month but finally decided to play it a bit safer with Rodgers. Both players will probably miss time… they always do… but Rodgers is a little safer to miss less time while still putting up a consistent 25 points a week regardless of who he’s playing. Vick will do that even on bad days but again, he’ll probably miss an extra game or 2.

So I have Rodgers at #5 and apparently a crazy QB run then ensued. By pick #12, Tony Romo was off the board and so were all the stud QBs. It’s the first time in our league that the draft went similar to my plans. I don’t think this was a draft where you necessarily wanted the top pick. So anyway, I’m still not back in the room yet and Michael Turner gets auto drafted for me at #16. At first I was pretty furious but I have since calmed down. My first two picks both share the same bye week but when I looked at what was left on the board afterwards, the only guy I would have taken ahead of Turner was McFadden. That would have been a coin flip and they both have the same bye week anyway. It was just an unfortunate way the draft went. I guess I was mostly just livid that I missed all the excitement of the first few rounds and had 0.0% idea what was going on. And hey, if McFadden blows his knee out in week 1 and Turner goes on to a have a good season, then someone was looking out for me. If McFadden goes on to blow Turner out of the water, then I hate you Cox cable.

The draft didn’t get any easier after that. All the stud QBs were gone at this point so for my 3rd pick at #25, I picked up my #2RB, Steven Jackson. He could have been a 2nd round pick, heck, last year it would have been tough to get Turner/Jackson in 1/2 let alone after I already had Rodgers, so maybe they’ll grow on me. I just hope that the St. Louis offense starts playing a little better than it has been the last few years. I’m gonna need more than Jackson’s 6 TDs from a year ago. More on that later.

With a QB and a 2 RBs on the roster, it was about time to try and get a WR. I selected Vincent Jackson. On my stat chart, he was the 7th WR. On my personal chart he was 9. I took him as the 9th WR off the board. It was between him and Miles Austin whom I hate to say I actually wanted more but I just couldn’t root for Miles Austin. Please don’t let me down Vincent. I have a feeling I’m going to hate Antonio Gates more than anyone this year.

My final big piece came in the 5th round. It’s a 2 QB league and I needed a 2nd QB. Pickings were getting slim though. I had a hard line set after 15 QBs (Eli Manning) and 14 had been taken. Actually 15 had already been taken but I wasn’t interested in Matt Cassel who luckily went a few picks before me. In all, 5 QBs were taken since my last pick so I had to reach a little farther than I wanted but I selected Sam Bradford. Not optimal, ESPECIALLY with Steven Jackson but there is quite a bit of upside. McDaniels worked wonders with Kyle Orton last year so hopefully now that he’s in St. Louis, he’ll be able to help Bradford come along. I missed Joe Flacco, whom I vowed to never draft again, by 2 picks but I would have taken him if given the choice. I have a lot vested in this St. Louis offense. Too much for my liking.

In round 9 I took David Garrard; another pick I’m really not happy with. I had to reach for a QB yet again but he was pretty much the last QB left that didn’t have the same bye week as my 2 starting QBs. I couldn’t risk it. I just have to hope he still has his job for Aaron Rodgers’ week 8 bye. Round 10 I picked my final empty spot and I’m pretty happy with it. I really thought this was the year I was going to get a stud TE but it wasn’t working out. I really wanted to get Owen Daniels this year but missed him as well. The TE run was pretty much over by round 9 but this is where something actually worked out for me. I had 1 TE left that I liked that wouldn’t give me more bye week problems but he was the top rated TE left, close to the top of the overall list and I had 1 team, Rob, that needed a TE. I crossed my fingers and luckily Rob’s lack of depth at the WR position allowed me to snag Jimmy Graham. I’m just hoping this guy builds on last year’s numbers. The Saints let Shockey go for a reason.

At this point I was pretty much done so I went on autopilot. Took the Saints Def next followed by Pierre Thomas in the 12th. 3 Saints in a row. You love the Saints. Your FACE loves the Saints. YOUR face loves the Saints. YOUR FACE! C’mon now. Is Thomas starting? Maybe, I’m not sure, but he’s my 12th round, #4RB. I’ll allow it. With injuries and a rookie RB breaking down over the course of the season, Thomas may be someone to watch.
I finished up with another Thomas… Mike Thomas. Who is Mike Thomas, Sucka? A #1 WR going into his 3rd year and is my 4th WR. I think my team has options. I then got Good As Gould who I seem to draft every year and Ryan Longwell who, as I’ve previously said, could be the new David Akers for when Donovan McNabb stalls on drives.

There she is. The 2011 Galapagos Tortoises. Didn’t turn out too bad. I don’t think it’s anything to write home about but after looking at everyone’s teams, no one has much to write home about. Everyone seemed to struggle this year. And my players’ strength of schedules do not look to make things easier; the week in and week out match ups plus the bye week fills look tough. The only team that looks pretty good is Tim’s team because he has 2 stud QBs in Drew Brees and Philip Rivers. That’s something that can lead you to the promised land. He somehow managed to get 2 good RBs in Blount and Bradshaw as well as some really good depth. I’m pretty worried. Good thing I play Fat Jesus in week 1. It don’t matter what’s on paper though. It’s why we play the games.