Andy Richardson
If you're like me, you have three drafts coming up this week, plus you haven't been getting enough sleep. You also have already had a draft or two, which means you've had opportunities to make mistakes.
The truth is, it doesn't matter how many years you've been doing this. You're still going to have regrets, from the moment you draft someone, to the next day and on into the season. I'll admit that I've already made some mistakes this year. And here they are.
Fuzzy rankings. After doing extended drafts all summer, you get used to having plenty of time to decide on your picks. You don't spend a lot of time debating the value of similar players, because you think, one of these guys might be gone when my pick comes up, and if they're both there, I'll make my decision then.
And then you're in a draft with 90 seconds to pick and when your late first-round pick comes up you've got three guys you rank similarly -- Frank Gore, Steve Slaton, Chris Johnson -- and you're momentarily flummoxed. Which guy do I actually like better? I finally went with Gore, immediately wished I'd taken Slaton, and later thought Johnson was the way to go. A reminder that it's good to firm up your rankings prior to the draft, and stick with them.
Sentimentality. I like Brett Favre, still. I can't quit him. So when the time came for a No. 2 QB, even though I had Ben Roethlisberger ranked higher, I took Favre. Even though he let me down in the playoffs in this very league in each of the last two seasons. Even though I've spent the summer saying how he's a marginal fantasy quarterback at this point; I believe I used the term "late-round flier" once.
Not to mention the fact I was ridiculed for taking him by several other owners, some of whom I believe are Packers fans. (Aaron Rodgers went at No. 14 overall.) They too might have made the mistake of being too sentimental, but at least Rodgers has been actually playing and playing well -- scratch that, really, really well -- in the preseason. It's one thing to draft players you like when your rankings actually support it. When they don't, you can get burned.
Waiting too long on... There's always one position I wait too long on and regret it later. In last night's draft, it was a third wideout. I started out strong, with Randy Moss in the second (I know, right? Suckers.) and Chad Ochocinco in the fourth. There isn't enough mustard for the hotdogs on my team. Anyway, I decided to wait until the sixth for Anthony Gonzalez, and somebody took him. Then I was going to take Coles, but realized I already had Ochocinco and didn't want to go that route.
Before long every No. 3 wideout I liked was gone -- the talent really drops off after the first 25 or so guys -- and I was left saying, OK, I'm going to use the WR-TE spot for a second tight end this season. Guess my point is, as my colleague Michael Murillo wrote last week, don't wait too long on a player you want, and if he goes, don't wait too long on the NEXT one you want. At some point you've got to settle for a player you kind of like, or you'll be left with one you don't.
Chatting. The chat room feature is fun. You talk trash ("Nice Cassel pick, he'll be fine by week 5. Well, except for the fact he'll still play for Kansas City."), defend picks ("Favre's a Hall of Famer!") and discuss who's drinking what.
But the truth is, you can go overboard on it, and your draft suffers. Some of my time making jokes would have been better served figuring out who'd taken a defense and who hadn't, so I could have grabbed one of my top ones earlier. Or seeing that I could have waited another round before taking my 2nd quarterback. That kind of thing.
Sure, fantasy football is largely about having fun. You want to draft players you like rather than hate, and you want to talk trash with friends.
At the same time, walking away from a draft feeling good about it is a much better feeling than walking away from it beating yourself up over a mistake that could have been avoided. As someone (Bill Parcells?) once said, when the frustration of losing is greater than the satisfaction of winning, it's time to walk away. (And that worked out great for him....) Obviously I'm not going to walk away -- I have three more drafts this week! -- but I'm going to be a little smarter going forward.
Sorry, Brett.
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