A:

The letter you're referring to, I believe, asked about the best draft spot. I used my player projections and assumed that all owners would take what I felt was the best player available when it was their turn to pick. Given those conditions, the No. 1 draft pick projected to be the best, and by a significant margin over No. 2 and No. 3. Then there was another step down to the rest of the draft positions. That's the way it worked out last summer, and I believe it will work out that way for pretty much anybody's stat projections every year. It makes sense. Those with high draft positions get to pick first in the odd-numbered rounds, and those rounds are more valuable then even-numbered rounds -- there's always an odd-numbered round before every even-numbered round.

If you prefer to take stat projections out of it, you could considered Jimmy Johnson's fabled draft value chart, which is still used by NFL teams in calculating fair market value in trades. Using Johnson's draft values in a fantasy league, the value of the 10 franchises in your league after six rounds would be as follows ...

Team 1 5940

Team 2 5555

Team 3 5170

Team 4 4810

Team 5 4750

Team 6 4690

Team 7 4630

Team 8 4580

Team 9 4570

Team 10 4560

As with my stat projections, you see drops from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4, and then less difference between the others.

Does this mean that the team that selects first will win every year? No. The edge can often be erased by picking wisely. Almost any team, for example, could have had both Tom Brady and Randy Moss this year. But I believe in starting with a level playing field, so definitely an auction is the best way to go.

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A:

Get back to me in a few weeks and I'll be able to give you some numbers, but my hunch is that I did pretty well this year. The guys at www.fanexfootball.com host a 12-team experts league each June/July -- one based on overall points rather than the luck of head-to-head matchups. I won that one. And I believe my picks will grade out well against the 25 guys who participated in our experts poll in the magazine. But again, give me a few weeks to analyze and grade those numbers (we've got a complex system we run those through, giving every expert varying points for every pick , based on where the guys finished and how highly they were rated). My hunch is that my picks turned out pretty well. At quarterback, I rated Tony Romo higher than any of the 25 guys in our poll. I also was one of only six who had Tom Brady as worth a top-20 pick overall. At kicker, I was higher on Stephen Gostkowski (3rd) than anyone in the poll, figuring that while he's just an average kicker, he would get a big boost from playing for the league's best team. I had some hits and misses at wide receiver. I was high on Lee Evans, and I was very low (16th) on Randy Moss; those picks are going to hurt me. But I was extremely high on T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Marques Colston. I'll have to crunch the numbers to see how that works out. At tight end, I had Chris Cooley two spots higher than any of the 25 experts in our poll, and he caught 66 passes and 8 TDs. That pick is going to help me. I might get beat up at running back. There were lots of injuries at that position, and I was definitely too high on some guys -- Travis Henry, Reggie Bush and Cedric Benson. But we'll see. I was one of the few with Joseph Addai in my top 5, and I had Jamal Lewis among my top 20 running backs. So maybe things will work out OK. Get back to me in a few weeks, after I've graded the experts poll. In a draft, of course, there's plenty of luck and chance involved. Whether or not you're high or low on guys like Evans, Houshmandzadeh, Lewis and Henry, where you select plays a huge role in determining whether you actually wind up selecting them.

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A:

You don't say what the scoring system is. And you don't specify if there's head-to-head play involved. I'll assume that the winner is determined by total points accrued over the four weekends of games. To represent the FANTASY INDEX team, I'll trot out a conservative lineup. Tom Brady at quarterback. LaDainian Tomlinson and Ryan Grant at running back; I think both of those guys are safe choices to play two games. Randy Moss and Greg Jennings at wide receiver. I think Jennings will be outproduced by Wes Welker and Terrell Owens, but I don't have room to fit those guys onto my team. My flex guy will be Marion Barber. With the stakes being raised a notch, it would surprise me if his playing time goes up in the postseason (at the expense of Julius Jones). Dallas is the NFC team most likely to play three games, so I'll go with the Cowboys as my special teams / defense. I've already used two Dallas players, so I can't use Jason Witten at tight end; I'll therefore go with Antonio Gates, who's almost as valuable anyway. I've used two guys from all of the teams that I like, so I'm left with Adam Vinatieri at kicker. Let me know how I do.

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A:

I would prefer to have Grant and Smith. I like Westbrook -- especially in a points-per-reception format -- but he's had a lot of injury problems, and both Smith and Grant are very good players. Smith is one of the top 3 or so receivers in the league. He just got held back this year by a poor quarterbacking situation. He'll be fine next year; he'll probably catch 90-plus passes and 12-plus TDs. Two years ago, he led all receivers in catches, yards and touchdowns, and he probably would have done so again in 2006, if not for a hamstring injury that sidelined him for two games. As for Grant, I think he's for real. He looks like another Dorsey Levens to me -- a guy who could put up 1,200 rushing yards, catch 45 passes and score about a dozen touchdowns. In his final nine meaningful games of the regular season, he averaged 97 yards rushing and 13 receiving, with 7 TDs in those nine games. It's possible that Brandon Jackson will elevate his game and contend for carries in that backfield, but I expect Grant will be about the No. 10 running back on my board next August.

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A:

That's solid production. I'll have to add your name into our filing cabinet. "DO NOT ENTER FANTASY LEAGUES AGAINST THESE GUYS." Congrats on the excellent seasons, and good luck in 2008.

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