Gentlemen,
The draft date has been set for Sunday September the 4th! We'll be at the same location as last year (50 Portland) and we have the room till midnight. I suggest everyone aim to get there for 6:30 which should give us a bit of time to co-ordinate food and, most importantly, our draft stations. Then we can begin drafting by 7:15 giving us plenty of time to drink up and make ridiculous bets.
Just tell the doorman you're with "The Gentlemen's League"...
See you then!
Commish
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Friday, 26 August 2011
Last Season / Offseason Trades / Draft Board
Twenty ten was another great year for The League. Against all odds, TO Freakshow pulled an almost-worst to first upset special and proved that with shrewd drafting, waiver wire watching, and one monster year from your starting RB, anyone can take the top prize. The year-ended in gloriously at Real Sports where plenty of drinks were drank, waitresses were flirted with, hired for beer pouring duties (an offer which was later turned down), and one GM even got some digits. Yes, good times were had. And, in true gentlemanly fashion, many wagers were made.
Please review the list below and bring your appropriate moneys to draft night to pay off your dues, or if you've already settled your bets - well - good for you. Some of these bets are hard to read and one or two might not make sense.
1) Brennan bets Josh $10 that "Matty Ice" will be a "top 8" QB in 2011 (no definition of "top" provided)
2) Brennan bets Wynne $10 that "Matty Ice" will be a "top 6" QB in 2011 (no definition of "top" provided)
Yes, many, many beers were drank. But please review the above once again and make sure that you bring enough cash to draft night to pay your bills.
But as exciting as the Forte for Johnson trade was - keeper for keeper - once it was revealed that we would be including QBs in the FLEX position, the trades REALLY started flooding the commissioner's email. The first of which involved all-stars, keepers, keeper spots, and a whopping 9 draft picks. After that, the hits just kept on coming. The top team in this year's draft decided to trade the pick in order to improve his keepers this year and improve draft position. And then Vick gets traded! And Orton! And on Friday evening, the commish learned that The Roar had accepted his request to move down 4 spots in the draft in exchange for a 4th round pick. On to the trades!
From Last Year
1) Wynne trades his 5th round pick to BBC in exchange for TO and BBC's 10th.
2) Freakshow trades Ray Rice, a 5th round pick, and a 10th round pick in exchange for Truth About Tom's 1st and 3rd rounders
3) Brennan and TMac exchange CJ2K and a 10th round pick for Forte and a 2nd round pick
5) Truth About Tom packages newly-acquired Ray Rice with 2nd, 5th, and 10th picks to obtain BBC's 1st, 2nd, and 5th round picks.
6) The Dynasty trades Matt Ryan, Steven Jackson, and a 10th round pick to Skeet Hustlin' for Mike Vick and a 2nd round pick7) The Dynasty sends Javed Best and 7th and 8th round picks to The Roar in exchange for 3rd and 5th round picks
8) The Dynasty trades Kyle Orton and a 9th round pick to The Milk Men for a 3rd round pick
9) Kold Shots trade Deangelo Williams and a 9th round pick to The Roar for a 2nd round pick
10) Kold Shots trade 1st and 4th round picks to The Roar in exchange for 1st and 10th round picks
Please excuse the funky colours, but they do serve a purpose. Each of the trades above has been input and colour-coded into the full list of keepers and draft board which can now be previewed by clicking here.
As usual, the draft goes from worst to first and in snake format - so on the spreadsheet, round 1 goes from D19 to O19 and round 2 goes from O20 to D20 (and so on and so on). All of the trades listed above are reflected on the draft board using the same colour scheme. Again, please review and let me know of changes/updates.
That's it for now, but please stay tuned to your inbox in the near future for a full list of all available players sorted by position and then by last year's point total. I will also be posting the results of the vote on draft night ASAP.
Thanks and have a good weekend,
Commish
Please review the list below and bring your appropriate moneys to draft night to pay off your dues, or if you've already settled your bets - well - good for you. Some of these bets are hard to read and one or two might not make sense.
1) Brennan bets Josh $10 that "Matty Ice" will be a "top 8" QB in 2011 (no definition of "top" provided)
2) Brennan bets Wynne $10 that "Matty Ice" will be a "top 6" QB in 2011 (no definition of "top" provided)
3) Commish gives Brennan 2:1 odds on a $10 bet that Baltimore would be in the SuperBowl (Trevor owes $20)
4) Ryan (?) bets Chris $10 that Atlanta will win the SB over New England - void if the matchup doesn't take place (Void!)
5) Freakshow gives Chris 2:1 odds on a $5 bet that Tebow will start Week 1 for the Broncos in 2011 (TBD)
6) Freakshow bets Chris and Mike $10 each that a "true" caesar is served in a glass with a handle (I actually surveyed many alcoholics, and indeed caesar lovers, and not only did they not drink caesars with handles, they had never heard of the idea)
7) Wynne bets Josh $10 that Green Bay will beat Philadelphia in the playoffs (Green Bay beat them - Josh owes $10)
8) Brennan bets Wynne $10 that Johnny Knox - who has been demoted to the slot - will be a "top 10" WR in 2011 (no definition of "top" provided)
4) Ryan (?) bets Chris $10 that Atlanta will win the SB over New England - void if the matchup doesn't take place (Void!)
5) Freakshow gives Chris 2:1 odds on a $5 bet that Tebow will start Week 1 for the Broncos in 2011 (TBD)
6) Freakshow bets Chris and Mike $10 each that a "true" caesar is served in a glass with a handle (I actually surveyed many alcoholics, and indeed caesar lovers, and not only did they not drink caesars with handles, they had never heard of the idea)
7) Wynne bets Josh $10 that Green Bay will beat Philadelphia in the playoffs (Green Bay beat them - Josh owes $10)
8) Brennan bets Wynne $10 that Johnny Knox - who has been demoted to the slot - will be a "top 10" WR in 2011 (no definition of "top" provided)
9) Ryan bets Chris, Mike, Brennan, and Drew $20 each that....I don't know. It just says "Ryan vs". I think the GMs were betting whether TO Freakshow would beat them in the 2011 final standings. Please confirm.
10) TMac bets Brennan $10 that Green Bay beats Philly by 2.5 points. (Green Bay won by 5; Brennan owes $10)
11) Wynne bets Hall $20 that The Giant Killers will place in the bottom half of the 2011 standings.
10) TMac bets Brennan $10 that Green Bay beats Philly by 2.5 points. (Green Bay won by 5; Brennan owes $10)
11) Wynne bets Hall $20 that The Giant Killers will place in the bottom half of the 2011 standings.
12) TMac bets Wynne $10 that Matt Forte will be a "top 10" RB in 2011 (no definition of "top 10" provided)
13) TMac bets Wynne and/or Brennan $10 that Forte had 1,000+ yards rushing and 1,600+ total yards. (Forte had 1,069 yards rushing, 547 receiving, and 1,616 total yards)
14) Wynne bets Brennan and Chris $10 each that Sam Bradford will be a "top 10" QB in 2011 (no definition of "top 10" provided)
13) TMac bets Wynne and/or Brennan $10 that Forte had 1,000+ yards rushing and 1,600+ total yards. (Forte had 1,069 yards rushing, 547 receiving, and 1,616 total yards)
14) Wynne bets Brennan and Chris $10 each that Sam Bradford will be a "top 10" QB in 2011 (no definition of "top 10" provided)
15) Brennan trades TMac Matt Forte and a 2nd round pick for Chris Johnson and a 10th round pick
Yes, many, many beers were drank. But please review the above once again and make sure that you bring enough cash to draft night to pay your bills.
But as exciting as the Forte for Johnson trade was - keeper for keeper - once it was revealed that we would be including QBs in the FLEX position, the trades REALLY started flooding the commissioner's email. The first of which involved all-stars, keepers, keeper spots, and a whopping 9 draft picks. After that, the hits just kept on coming. The top team in this year's draft decided to trade the pick in order to improve his keepers this year and improve draft position. And then Vick gets traded! And Orton! And on Friday evening, the commish learned that The Roar had accepted his request to move down 4 spots in the draft in exchange for a 4th round pick. On to the trades!
From Last Year
1) Wynne trades his 5th round pick to BBC in exchange for TO and BBC's 10th.
2) Freakshow trades Ray Rice, a 5th round pick, and a 10th round pick in exchange for Truth About Tom's 1st and 3rd rounders
3) Brennan and TMac exchange CJ2K and a 10th round pick for Forte and a 2nd round pick
From This Year
4) Wynne trades Sam Bradford and 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th round picks to The Giant Killers in exchange for Philip Rivers, a keeper spot, as well as 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th round picks5) Truth About Tom packages newly-acquired Ray Rice with 2nd, 5th, and 10th picks to obtain BBC's 1st, 2nd, and 5th round picks.
6) The Dynasty trades Matt Ryan, Steven Jackson, and a 10th round pick to Skeet Hustlin' for Mike Vick and a 2nd round pick7) The Dynasty sends Javed Best and 7th and 8th round picks to The Roar in exchange for 3rd and 5th round picks
8) The Dynasty trades Kyle Orton and a 9th round pick to The Milk Men for a 3rd round pick
9) Kold Shots trade Deangelo Williams and a 9th round pick to The Roar for a 2nd round pick
10) Kold Shots trade 1st and 4th round picks to The Roar in exchange for 1st and 10th round picks
Please excuse the funky colours, but they do serve a purpose. Each of the trades above has been input and colour-coded into the full list of keepers and draft board which can now be previewed by clicking here.
As usual, the draft goes from worst to first and in snake format - so on the spreadsheet, round 1 goes from D19 to O19 and round 2 goes from O20 to D20 (and so on and so on). All of the trades listed above are reflected on the draft board using the same colour scheme. Again, please review and let me know of changes/updates.
That's it for now, but please stay tuned to your inbox in the near future for a full list of all available players sorted by position and then by last year's point total. I will also be posting the results of the vote on draft night ASAP.
Thanks and have a good weekend,
Commish
Friday, 19 August 2011
Prize Payouts
This year we will have 12 GMs participating at $50 each totalling $600 in prize money.
Your commish suggests one of the below options for prize payouts, please let me know which you prefer.
Option A (status quo):
1st - $250
2nd - $150
3rd - $50
Mid-season 1st - $100
Mid-season 2nd - $50
Option B:
1st - $200
2nd - $100
3rd - $50
Mid-season 1st - $100
Mid-season 2nd - $50
Monthly Prizes - $25 (weeks 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-17)
Option C:
1st - $250
2nd - $100
3rd - $50
Monthly Prizes - $25 (weeks 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-17)
Most points by drafted players - $50
Most points by non-drafted players - $50
Personally, I think Option C is the best - I'm not a huge fan of mid-season prizes, but monthly prizes gives every GM something to fight for all the way through week 17. Also, Yahoo! makes tracking the drafted/non-drafted points easy so I think it adds another layer of bragging rights to everything.
Let me know your thoughts!
Relegation League?
My fellow GMs,
It came to light during the offseason activities that turning our league into a 2-division relegation league was something the majority of GMs seemed interested in. However, this type of change would be significant and have far reaching implications (far more than a simple QB in the flex debate).
Below is one suggested methodology for how to evolve the League in such a manner. Please review the below proposition and we will have a vote on it sometime before the draft. If you have an issue with the below or can conceive of potential weaknesses, please send them to me and i will organize the considerations so that when we have a vote we are all well-informed.
Ideally I would like to have this resolved before the day of the draft.
Please review!
It came to light during the offseason activities that turning our league into a 2-division relegation league was something the majority of GMs seemed interested in. However, this type of change would be significant and have far reaching implications (far more than a simple QB in the flex debate).
Below is one suggested methodology for how to evolve the League in such a manner. Please review the below proposition and we will have a vote on it sometime before the draft. If you have an issue with the below or can conceive of potential weaknesses, please send them to me and i will organize the considerations so that when we have a vote we are all well-informed.
Ideally I would like to have this resolved before the day of the draft.
Please review!
RELEGATION LEAGUE
Format: Eight GMs make up the Premier League. This league has the top prizes – 1st, 2nd overall, etc. Midseason Award, whatever. The remaining six GMs (assuming two expansion teams) make up the Relegation League. This league has a prize for first overall, and maybe they are also eligible for Midseason Awards… to be determined. Maybe they have the same prizes but reduced amounts. All teams accumulate points in the same format as always.
End of Season: Top two teams from Relegation join Premiership the following season. Bottom two in Premiership drop to Relegation the following season.
Seeding: First, we play this season same as usual. Then next year, we use this season’s final standings as seeding for which league you are in.
All details including the format can be discussed and tweaked if need be.
Reasoning:
Imagine this: Fourteen GMs start the season. Everyone has high hopes as we gather for the draft at the beginning of the season. Everyone participates, and makes stupid side bets. Interest is high across the board.
By US Thanksgiving, only seven GMs are still interested in the season. Oh, there may be one or two others who foolishly think they can still climb the standings, but let’s be real.
By mid-December, teams near the bottom are trading away their best talent to the leaders, and planning for next year (if they are still going to the website regularly) – and that is the best case scenario for league-wide engagement as the season winds down. A couple of teams trying to get into the top three money spots.
Now imagine THIS: The season is winding down, and there are eight GMs vying for the title… maybe four or five have a realistic shot. But those who don’t have a realistic shot are fighting for something else – to AVOID relegation! All of a sudden, you CARE if you finish 6th. You WANT to finish 6th, because 7th or 8th is a kiss of death. All of a sudden, the middle of the standings MATTER, all the way to the final week of the season.
The other six GMs, though in the relegation league are fighting as well. The top two teams will move up to the Premier League next year. Maybe four of the six have a shot. They will all be giving it their all to improve their positioning for next year. They will all be interested all the way to Week 17. And hey, at least if you finish last in Relegation, you get the first overall pick next year.
This could be a way to keep interest high among ALL GMs throughout the whole season. I think most guys are pretty good at keeping the interest level high, but now it will be for more than just bragging rights. Again, all details are up for discussion but I think we NEED to explore this idea!
Important Dates
Gents,
The NFL Regular Season is quickly approaching with the first game scheduled to be played on Thursday September the 8th. Obviously, we need to have our draft before then.
I'm not sure what everyone's plans are for the Labour Day weekend, but I would like to suggest that we meet up on the Sunday night (that's September 4th) - that way we are as close to the season as possible and we will have the most up-to-date information on players as we can. Everyone should also be off on the Monday which means we all have a recovery day. If the Sunday doesn't work, I would suggest pretty much any day from Thursday September 1 through Sunday September 4. Please post comments below.
In regards to keepers, please submit your 4 keepers to me in private by no later than next Friday, August 26th. That is one week today and should give everyone enough time to develop their draft plan heading into Labour day weekend.
Thanks.
The NFL Regular Season is quickly approaching with the first game scheduled to be played on Thursday September the 8th. Obviously, we need to have our draft before then.
I'm not sure what everyone's plans are for the Labour Day weekend, but I would like to suggest that we meet up on the Sunday night (that's September 4th) - that way we are as close to the season as possible and we will have the most up-to-date information on players as we can. Everyone should also be off on the Monday which means we all have a recovery day. If the Sunday doesn't work, I would suggest pretty much any day from Thursday September 1 through Sunday September 4. Please post comments below.
In regards to keepers, please submit your 4 keepers to me in private by no later than next Friday, August 26th. That is one week today and should give everyone enough time to develop their draft plan heading into Labour day weekend.
Thanks.
Extraordinary Upset!
Just when it looked like the League was going to vote in favour of keeping just 1 roster spot eligible for QB points, in a stunning upset, the League has voted 7-5 in favour of adding QB-eligible players to the Flex position.
The vote was tied 4-4 with 4 GMs still to have their say. As expected, 2 of the GMs voted to have just one roster spot earning QB-eligible points, putting the votes at 6-4. But as the arguments continued and went back and forth, one of the GMs surprisingly switched his vote from AGAINST to FOR. Shortly thereafter, one of the final absentee GMs cast his vote also in favour of adding a QB to the flex. The vote was now 6-5 in favour of adding QB to the flex. With a chance to either secure change or end in a deadlock, the final GM cast his vote in favour of adding QB-eligible players to the flex but only under one condition; that the GMs revisit the situation in the offseason.
However, as Commissioner, I cannot allow a rogue GM to hold our illustrious League hostage like a common terrorist. Before responding to the Crimson Jihad's demands, I thought about my team last year. I was RB-heavy and drank the kool-aid on the Mike Martz - Cutler marriage being glorious. In the end, it wasn't, and there were SEVERAL weeks where my 3rd RB earned more points than the QB I had started. Several weeks Cuts threw for less than 200 yards with 0 TDs and at least 1 INT - that's like 6 points. Meanwhile my RBs were getting rushing yards, catching yards, TDs, and far fewer turnovers.
So, after reviewing all of the arguments, charts, and appendices, and considering how the change would have affected MY season last season, I decided that the GM's suggestion did have merit because I for one, will likely still be focussing on RBs and having a dominant rushing attack including from the Flex position. GM Wynner represented his side with passion and facts and should be commended for stepping up and having his side heard. As well as he debated, however, I feel the one assumption his arguments failed to consider was that there would be GMs, like me, who may not always put a QB in the FLEX spot. If a GM has the foresight to draft a player, start a player on the right weeks, and decide on keeping or not keeping the player, he should be rewarded. And given how sought after QBs were last season, I expect the battle to be ruthless. But still, as a GM who believes in defense and the running game, I think there is slightly more depth at RB than QB especially when one considers that we have reduced our RB roster spots from 3 to 2. If you'd like to draft 4 QBs then that is your prerogative, but good luck to you when one of your RBs or star wideout is lost for a few weeks and you have to decide whether or not those QBs deserve bench spots. There are multiple ways to play the game and we need to respect them all.
So, in conclusion, for this year, we will be adding QB-eligible players to the Flex position.
Be it resolved however that should 7 of the current 12 GMs, at the end of this 2011/12 fantasy football season, vote that we return to using flex spots that do NOT include QBs, it will be so and the issue will be closed for no less than 3 seasons.
This is clearly the most daunting issue that our young league has ever faced - never before has there been such a close divide existed amongst the GMs - however our resolve is absolute and no issue is bigger than the League. Now, with eyes wide open we can commence with offseason activities and position our teams as best we can.
Thank you to all GMs for your passion but now it is time to move forward. Please stay tuned to the Blog as I hope to be posting several more entries today and over the weekend about keeper dates, expansion plans, prize payouts, scoring options, and of course the ever important draft day.
Monday, 15 August 2011
The Extraordinary Annals - Online Edition
Welcome to the online version of The Extraordinary Annals!
From now on, this will be your go-to site for news and updates on the fantastically ridiculously awesome league of extraordinary gentlemen. And this offseason has been one for the ages so there is a LOT to cover.
The League is entering its 4th year yet still, as gentlemen, we aim to make this the most exciting league possible and thus vote democratically on potential rule changes. After the votes were received from MOST of the GMs (still waiting on two lazy mo'fo's), many of the proposed changes already have a majority, are decided, and are listed below. The others are still being hotly debated by many GMs and in order to finalize this expeditiously, for each rule change I have listed one argument for and one argument against each rule change. I urge each GM to read the proposals below and place your vote on these issues one final time before moving on to other league issues.
It's fantastic that the league has GMs who care so much, however, like the US government, I fear that outsiders will view our internal bickering with a negative bias and potentially expose our great league to a downgrade by ratings agency Yahoody's and so we must end this quickly.
Speaking of Yahoo - I apologize for the delay in getting this done, but they have a team of monkeys running that place I tell ya. Yahoo actually deleted one of our GM's profiles and as a result access to our glorious league was restricted. After much emailing back and forth, extensive cursing, and a few kickbacks, Yahoo was able to recreate our league for us complete with league history at the following URL(http://football.fantasysports.
Alright back to the rule changes. Even though 4 or 12 GMs have yet to provide their votes (Hallywood, Wynner, Wallez, and Launchpad), it looks like some of these have already passed.
This also doesn't even take into account that a lot of teams will be trying to roster 3 or 4 QB's... We had spots to start 4 RB's last year (agreed that this is too many RB's but that is a different argument), but most teams rostered many more for obvious reasons... I will cut this discussion short, but that gets us into the mid-30's for QB's and lets just say if you want to play in a league where Shaun Hill and Colin Kaepernick are on your active roster good luck with that, and make sure it is not in a league I am in...
2. Rookie/Rising Stars should be represented. I think we can all agree on the top few QBs in no particular order. Brady, Brees, P Manning, Rivers, Vick, and Rodgers. Then there is the 2nd tier. Shaub, Romo, Rothlesberger, E Manning, Ryan, Cassel, Sanchez, Cutler. There’s 14. That’s it! What about the Josh Freeman’s and Sam Bradford’s of the world?!?! While Ryan Fitzpatrick is quietly lighting it up in Buffalo, our league barely takes a minute to notice. Everyone’s top QB is going to get points, but the fun is in deciding ‘do I take a chance at Matt Stafford or Tim Tebow or do I make David Garrard my guy?’ Is Arizona’s Kolb going to be a top QB? This is a question someone should be asking themselves DURING THE DRAFT not in week 4 when Vick is injured Kolb has already established himself and there is no other competition for us to go out and get him. There’s also an influx of new talent…Cam Newton, Chris Ponder, Kaepernick, could all be starting this year. They should be picked!!! QB is the most important position yet we pay it the least amount of attention!
3. This league is for HARDCORE football fans. 25 different QBs scored at least 2500 yds. 23 different QBs scored at least 15 TDs. Just by my recollection at least 5 starting QBs (Vick, Romo, Kolb, Rothlesberger, Stafford, McNAbb) were injured or shut down for significant time during the season. Poolies will need to get replacement QBs. There should be competition for poolies who need to pick up another QB. You should NOT be able to just grab a top 20 player replacement.
4. This vote is biassed to those with a top 5 QB. There is no doubt that QB is BY FAR the most lopsided position in terms of points. If you were able to collect an elite QB, you OBVIOUSLY want only 1 QB as this secures a 50 point advantage over all other teams with even a 2nd tier QB. By making everyone at least CONSIDER drafting another QB and possibly a 3rd, it creates more balance at the QB position. Since there is little to no turnover at the elite QB position, this becomes even more important - especially when you consider that the top 5 teams in the league each had a top 5 QB on their roster.
2) RBs are waaaaaay too important, we need to reduce the number of RB starters from 3 to 2.
3) There is so much depth at WR, we need to expand it to 3 starting wideouts
4) Starting 2 TEs is way too much, but we at least need to include them in the Flex spot
5) Our bench is far too big allowing way too much hoarding going on. We need to reduce it to 3 immediately.
6) Injuries are way too random to have just 1 IR spot. Let's make it 2.
7) Players should get points for return TDs and special team points. As an addendum, we need to change the way defense/st gets points.
8) We need to lock the Free Agency period every weekend until Tuesday so we all have a fair chance at getting guys when a player steps up on any given sunday
9) We need to expand to 14 teams
10) If we expand, we need to make divisions and go Head to Head or convert to a relegation league.
That's really it for the potential roster changes. I'd appreciate it if EVERY GM can email me their confidential vote on the controversial QB in the flex dispute. This is the LAST TIME there will be a vote on this issue for at least 3 seasons (this season and 2 more).
From now on, this will be your go-to site for news and updates on the fantastically ridiculously awesome league of extraordinary gentlemen. And this offseason has been one for the ages so there is a LOT to cover.
The League is entering its 4th year yet still, as gentlemen, we aim to make this the most exciting league possible and thus vote democratically on potential rule changes. After the votes were received from MOST of the GMs (still waiting on two lazy mo'fo's), many of the proposed changes already have a majority, are decided, and are listed below. The others are still being hotly debated by many GMs and in order to finalize this expeditiously, for each rule change I have listed one argument for and one argument against each rule change. I urge each GM to read the proposals below and place your vote on these issues one final time before moving on to other league issues.
It's fantastic that the league has GMs who care so much, however, like the US government, I fear that outsiders will view our internal bickering with a negative bias and potentially expose our great league to a downgrade by ratings agency Yahoody's and so we must end this quickly.
Speaking of Yahoo - I apologize for the delay in getting this done, but they have a team of monkeys running that place I tell ya. Yahoo actually deleted one of our GM's profiles and as a result access to our glorious league was restricted. After much emailing back and forth, extensive cursing, and a few kickbacks, Yahoo was able to recreate our league for us complete with league history at the following URL(http://football.fantasysports.
Alright back to the rule changes. Even though 4 or 12 GMs have yet to provide their votes (Hallywood, Wynner, Wallez, and Launchpad), it looks like some of these have already passed.
1) We should be starting 2 QBs, or at LEAST have a QB in the Flex spot.
This one was voted 4 to 4 out of the 8 GMs who had their voices heard. I am asking for a re-vote on this one last time based on the arguments below.
AGAINST
I am strongly AGAINST drafting more QBs.First, this argument is against adding a QB to the flex spot for the following reason - if we are able to start a QB in the flex spot, regardless of the increased flexibility, every owner should then be trying to start a QB in their flex spot. The QB position scores more points than any other position due the nature of the position. Even marginal NFL starters will score more points than a lot of RB's/WR's etc. That is fact and anyone who doesn't believe me can check. Therefore, all owners (or at least the smart ones) will look to get 2 Top QB's and start the second in their flex... This represents a distinct advantage over all of the other teams. Any owner not pursuing that strategy doesn't know what they are doing...
...but the most important one is that the position talent pool is not deep enough to support every team starting 2 QB's every week. We have 12 teams and will look to have 14 again going into next year. That means that every week of the year, there will likely be 2X14= 28 QB's being started.There are 32 teams in the NFL (31 if we don't count the crappy 49er's)... But starting in Week 5 this year, 6 teams will be on a bye week. That means there are only 26 NFL teams playing in Week 5, and somehow our league will be looking to fill 28 starting QB spots (assuming you start a QB in the FLEX). That is ridiculous. I would be against this even if we had 12 or 10 teams in our league, but to not even have enough starting QB's in the league to fill out of our rosters?? That is just stupid.
This also doesn't even take into account that a lot of teams will be trying to roster 3 or 4 QB's... We had spots to start 4 RB's last year (agreed that this is too many RB's but that is a different argument), but most teams rostered many more for obvious reasons... I will cut this discussion short, but that gets us into the mid-30's for QB's and lets just say if you want to play in a league where Shaun Hill and Colin Kaepernick are on your active roster good luck with that, and make sure it is not in a league I am in...
Changing to 2 QB's dramatically changes this league, which isn't fair to all of the owners (unless a majority vote for it obviously). I wouldn't have traded Vick last year if I could have started him along with Rodgers this year. Drew wouldn't have got rid of one of Shaub/Brees and Peyton wouldn't have been traded to Ryan...
2 QB leagues can be fun but they are for 8 and 10 team leagues looking for an additional challenge, increased QB pool. A 14 team league starting 2 QB's can't and won't work.
FOR
1. QBs are underrepresented in this league. In a league of 12-14 teams when there are 32 starting QBs it should be a no brainer that we could utilize 2 QBs per team. Some of those QBs will be injured, and at least one of the bottom 16 QBs will have a huge offensive week. It’s a matter of getting the right guy, or playing the right match-ups If everyone drafts a starting QB and a backup, that does not mean everyone will draft a 3rd just to have a QB in the flex spot for one week and if it DOES go that deep, that owner should probably be starting a different position int he flex.2. Rookie/Rising Stars should be represented. I think we can all agree on the top few QBs in no particular order. Brady, Brees, P Manning, Rivers, Vick, and Rodgers. Then there is the 2nd tier. Shaub, Romo, Rothlesberger, E Manning, Ryan, Cassel, Sanchez, Cutler. There’s 14. That’s it! What about the Josh Freeman’s and Sam Bradford’s of the world?!?! While Ryan Fitzpatrick is quietly lighting it up in Buffalo, our league barely takes a minute to notice. Everyone’s top QB is going to get points, but the fun is in deciding ‘do I take a chance at Matt Stafford or Tim Tebow or do I make David Garrard my guy?’ Is Arizona’s Kolb going to be a top QB? This is a question someone should be asking themselves DURING THE DRAFT not in week 4 when Vick is injured Kolb has already established himself and there is no other competition for us to go out and get him. There’s also an influx of new talent…Cam Newton, Chris Ponder, Kaepernick, could all be starting this year. They should be picked!!! QB is the most important position yet we pay it the least amount of attention!
3. This league is for HARDCORE football fans. 25 different QBs scored at least 2500 yds. 23 different QBs scored at least 15 TDs. Just by my recollection at least 5 starting QBs (Vick, Romo, Kolb, Rothlesberger, Stafford, McNAbb) were injured or shut down for significant time during the season. Poolies will need to get replacement QBs. There should be competition for poolies who need to pick up another QB. You should NOT be able to just grab a top 20 player replacement.
4. This vote is biassed to those with a top 5 QB. There is no doubt that QB is BY FAR the most lopsided position in terms of points. If you were able to collect an elite QB, you OBVIOUSLY want only 1 QB as this secures a 50 point advantage over all other teams with even a 2nd tier QB. By making everyone at least CONSIDER drafting another QB and possibly a 3rd, it creates more balance at the QB position. Since there is little to no turnover at the elite QB position, this becomes even more important - especially when you consider that the top 5 teams in the league each had a top 5 QB on their roster.
This one was unanimous. Two RBs it is.
This was pretty much unanimous as well. The main argument against was that dropping an RB spot and adding a WR spot would ultimately end up with mostly RBs (and potentially QBs) dominating the FLEX spot. The idea of flex is to hopefully result in positional indifference. Result - no change: 2 starting WRs only.
Unanimously agreed to add TE to the Flex position.
I was one of the few who wanted the bench reduced, but my mind has been changed. Keepin' it the same!
Again, almost unanimous - TWO IR spots this year!
The discussion here was that most GMs do NOT want to end up picking defensive players and that is a slippery slope. With teams now kicking off from the 35, return scores will be even less important. Result is no change.
The two main arguments for this were that GMs who are forced to miss football action are already being penalized enough without worrying about breakout players. Further, GMs who happen to go make a sandwich at the same time a player breaks out shouldn't have to worry about whether or not there's an option to get him. Result is that players are locked until Tuesday.
This was actually a surprise how many people wanted to keep it at 12 for the time being. The commish is going to flex a bit of executive muscle on this one and dictate that for the 2011-12 season we will use just 12 teams (given the tumultuous offseason) but that I have every intention of getting to 14 teams next year. There are two benefits to this: 1) i want the 12 outstanding GMs that we have now to be the deciders of the League's fate on roster changes and point changes, not newbies and 2) I really like the idea of a relegation league, however, switching to that type of format is easier when you have two new teams to put in the bottom of the sub-league. So, the result of this one is that we will keep a strong 12 this year, with every intention of getting to 14 for next year. This will also allow us to solidify the expansion process and develop applications and what not for any potential GMs wanting to fill the final 2 spots.
The Head-to-head portion of this vote was a blow out with passion. No chance! The relegation part of this vote was ALSO a blowout, but with a caveat that we have 14 teams. So, it looks like we will switch to a relegation league next year with 14 teams which the Commish is excited about - though we will have to put some thought into it.
So, gents, your homework this week is to sign up for our league on yahoo.com using the above link and to submit your vote on the QB issue.
If you truly want to be extraordinary, let's have a 100% voter turnout, and email me at my GMAIL address with your vote on this issue. Once we have this sorted we can proceed with the rest of the offseason.
Thanks guys! Again, sorry for the delay and stay tuned for upcoming posts on:
a) The 2010 season revisited
b) Potential changes to prize payouts and
c) Important dates (Keeper submission and live draft details)
EMAIL ME YOUR VOTES ASAP!! And it also might be a good idea to sign-up to follow this blog. That way I don't have to email you every single time something gets posted here (which i will do for the first few posts - after that, you're on your own).
THANKS AGAIN AND LET'S HAVE A GREAT SEASON!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)