Rich’s Annual Fantasy Football Draft Analysis

2003 Edition

 

Howdy and welcome to another year of fantasy football!  As always, I (Rich) perform a draft analysis on everyone’s rosters and then I applaud and harass various coaches shortly thereafter.  At any rate, I’m sure everyone just wants to jump right into this.  But first, a quick word about how the analysis works:

 

The first step in the Fusinski Draft Analysis is to write down the starters at each position, and then rate the backups at those positions.  Essentially, a Backups rating of Y means that there are legitimate backups here, and a rating of N means there is not.  The Plus and Minus indicates the level of legitimacy (or lack thereof).  For the most part, the ranking that follows is based on the quality of the starters, however in the case of Quarterbacks, the Backup players are more heavily weighted into the position ranking because of the frequency of QB injury.

 

After all teams have been ranked at individual positions, the average is taken of each position.  There are, however, weights to certain positions.  For instance, the running back position is weighted 50% more heavily than the WR position, and the QB position 25%.  This is to reflect the importance of these positions in the fantasy football world.  Some people may disagree with me that this is a good way of doing things, but it makes sense to me so SHUT THE HELL UP.  Anyway, on to the rankings.

Running Back Rankings

 

 

Starting RBs

Backups

Rank

Attitude

Portis, Taylor

Y

2

Autobots

Williams, Green

Y+

1

Capitol

Alexander, Davis

Y

6

Chico

Holmes, Dillon

Y+

3

Hostile

Stewart, Staley

N -

12

JV

Tomlinson, George

N

4

Kooter

Garner, Hearst

N -

11

MHTM

Barlow, Zereoue

N -

10

SSFFPA

Faulk, Dunn

Y

8

Shock

Henry, Lewis

Y

5

T&A

James, Barber

Y -

7

Dark

McAllister, Mack

N

9

 

The Autobots clearly are the class of the draft at the RB position.  For even if Williams or Ahman Green get lost to injury, the blossoming William Green would be a more than effective replacement.  This is not even to take into account the enormous potential that Ahman Green has in that Green Bay offense.  Following shortly thereafter is Attitude Adjustment and Chico’s Bail Bonds.  Bringing up the rear is Kooter and Hostile Takeover, who really do not even have a pair of starting backs.

Quarterback Rankings

 

 

Starting QB

Backups

Rank

Attitude

Manning

Y

3

Autobots

McNair

N+

10

Capitol

Hasselbeck

N -

12

Chico

Garcia

Y

7

Hostile

Culpepper

Y -

2

JV

McNabb

N

1

Kooter

Warner

Y+

4

MHTM

Brooks

Y

6

SSFFPA

Gannon

Y

5

Shock

Brady

Y+

8

T&A

Green

N

11

Dark

Bledsoe

Y

9

 

The JV Experience leads this category, even though he does not have a backup QB who is worth a damn.  McNabb is just too good and in a class of his own.  Hostile Takeover has a solid number two ranking here with Daunte Culpepper, and a few average backups who could get the job done from time to time if called upon.  Perhaps the most intriguing squad is Attitude Adjustments, weighing in at number three.  Will Plummer succeed in the Denver Offensive Machine?  If so, AA could have quite the QB Squad.  Bringing up the rear is the Autobots and Capitol Punishment.  For picking number one, you would think the Autobots would have a top-tier QB, and to make matters worse, they have no legitimate backup.  Capitol Punishment is relying on the unproven Matt Hasselbeck as his main man under center, and if he should falter, CP has to turn to Vinny Testaverde, who is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Wide Receiver Rankings

 

 

Starting WRs

Backups

Rank

Attitude

Booker, Gardner

Y -

12

Autobots

Holt, Smith

Y

6

Capitol

Burress, Johnson

Y

7

Chico

Moulds, Stallworth

Y -

4

Hostile

Owens, Bruce

N

3

JV

Robinson, Mason

Y -

10

Kooter

Boston, Porter

N -

11

MHTM

Brown, Toomer

N

9

SSFFPA

Harrison, Driver

N+

2

Shock

Ward, Rice

N+

5

T&A

Price, Coles

Y -

8

Dark

Horn, Moss

Y

1

 

The Dark Side shines as #1 in the Receivers category sporting home run threats Moss and Horn.  SSFFPA is not far behind with the always incredible Marvin Harrison and the favorite target of Brett Favre, Donald Driver.  Hostile Takeover also looks good at this position with Owens and Bruce.  The Autobots, while on the surface appear to have some good receivers, really sit in the middle of the pack here as neither Holt nor Rod Smith catch TD passes.  On the other side, this is where Attitude Adjustment and JV sacrificed and where Kooter just continues to be questionable.  While I am a huge fan of Marty Booker, he is not a #1 WR.  Sorry, ‘tude—that’s not going to cut it.  Especially with a homo throwing to him.  As for JV’s boys, I am simply not sold on Koren Robinson as a #1, either—mainly because I’m not sold on Hasselbeck.  Also, Mason is just too injury-prone, and the rest of the guys on this squad are #2 or #3 receiving options on their respective teams.  Once Mason gets injured around week four, this receiving corps simply becomes harsh.  As for Kooter’s squad, Boston has been injured about 100 times during the off season and thus Porter might end up being the #1 WR on this team leaving nobody worth his weight in peanuts as the #2.  I don’t like the looks of that at all.

Tight End Rankings

 

 

Starting TE

Backups

Rank

Attitude

Gonzalez

 

1

Autobots

Miller or Mili

 

6

Capitol

Cleeland or Conwell

 

6

Chico

Pollard

 

6

Hostile

McMichael

 

5

JV

Shockey

 

3

Kooter

Wycheck or Lewis

 

6

MHTM

Crumpler or Ricks

 

6

SSFFPA

Sharpe

 

4

Shock

Heap

 

2

T&A

Jolley Or Stevens

 

6

Dark

Franks

 

6

 

We all know what the deal is here.  Gonzalez, Heap, and Shockey are the Big 3, then there is the always reliable Sharpe, the potentially dangerous McMichael, and then a bunch of other tools.  Yee ha.

Defense Rankings

 

 

Defenses

Backups

Rank

Attitude

Eagles, Seahawks

 

3

Autobots

Steelers, Niners

 

6

Capitol

Panthers, Lions

 

5

Chico

Pats, Skins

 

8

Hostile

Saints, Chargers

 

9

JV

Ravens, Rams

 

2

Kooter

Fish, Jets

 

4

MHTM

Bills, Giants

 

11

SSFFPA

Bucs, Boys

 

1

Shock

Titans, Colts

 

7

T&A

Raiders, Jags

 

10

Dark

Bears, Pack

 

12

Final Draft Analysis

 

 

Avg

Rank

Pos

+/-

Result

Attitude

4.0

2

4

2

Good

Autobots

5.6

6

1

(5)

Very Poor

Capitol

7.3

8

10

2

Good

Chico

5.4

4

5

1

Above Avg

Hostile

6.5

7

12

5

Very Good

JV

3.9

1

2

1

Good

Kooter

7.4

9

8

(1)

Below Avg

MHTM

8.4

11

11

0

Average

SSFFPA

4.4

3

3

0

Average

Shock

5.5

5

7

2

Good

T&A

8.4

11

9

(2)

Poor

Dark

7.6

10

6

(4)

Very Poor

 

Avg represents the average weighted score for all positions.  Rank is the order in which the Average ascends, and Pos is the order in which teams drafted.  Thus, +/- is a representation of how well you drafted for your position.  For instance, Attitude Adjustment drafted fourth but appears to have the second best roster after the draft.  He gets a draft rating of Good.  The only exception to this rule is JV, who has a +/- value of 1 but still received a rating of Good.  This is because he changed his position from #2 to league favorite.

Regular Season Predictions

 

JV Experience, Attitude Adjustment, and SSFFPA win their divisions and make the playoffs.  Shock & Awe and Chico’s Bail Bonds beat up on each other too badly and miss the wild card because of it.  The wild card goes to Autobots because of weak division opponents.  Capitol Punishment gets destroyed in the ALL MADDEN division, going maybe 1-5 in division games and dropping back down to PRO.  M.H.T.M. gets blown apart the first half of the season going 1-7 and never recovers.

Regular Season Record Projections

 

ALL MADDEN

            Attitude Adjustment      9-5

            Chico’s Bail Bonds       8-6

            Shock and Awe            8-6

            Capitol Punishment       5-9

 

PRO

            JV Experience              11-3

            The Dark Side              6-8

            MHTM                        5-9

Hostile Takeover          4-10

 

ROOKIE

            SSFFPA                      9-5

            Autobots                      9-5

            T&A                            6-8

            Kooter                         4-10