New Fantasy Football Keeper League Format

Keeper League Strategy

We have a 12-team keeper lead with standard scoring, non-PPR.  We also have 2 bonus pts for 300-399 yards passing and 400+, and 2 pts for 100-199 rushing or receiving, and 2 for 200+ for each.

We recently converted to a keeper format, and our rules are a bit different.

• We get to keep three players.
• If it is the first year keeping them, you keep them in exchange for a pick in the round they were originally drafted (regardless of who drafted them).
• If they were kept the previous season (regardless of who kept them), you give up a pick from two rounds earlier.

This style makes it tougher to evaluate keepers (or easier!).  My instinct is to evaluate on the round I get to keep them versus their Estimated Draft Position.  If I can keep a guy in a much later round than they are being drafted, it sounds like good value.

Here are my options, with the round I can keep them, the EDP, and the difference between the rounds:

Player	Keeper Rnd	EDP*	Diff
Julio Jones	1	1	0
Andrew Luck	3	4	-1
Duke Johnson	8	5	3
Jordan Matthews	10	5	5
Julius Thomas	12	9	3
Blake Bortles	15	7	8
Kelvin Benjamin	15	3	12

* using FootballGuys Draft Dominator with my league settings

I also have the 4th pick in the draft, so somebody decent will be available to grab.  As such, I am ruling JJ out.  I really wanted to keep Luck, but keeping him in a round earlier than the EDP doesn’t seem wise.

Blake Bortles and Kelvin Benjamin in the 15th seem like steals, and such, no brainers.  Who else to keep then?  Jordan Matthews with the next best value at 5 rounds late?  JT for the hookup with BB?

Any thoughts on this strategy would be much appreciated!

Redskins Starting QBs since 1985

I was tired during all the referees-figuring-out-what-to-do-or-looking-at-a-replay breaks during tonight's MNF game between Atlanta and Denver.  They showed a stat that no team had turned the ball over 4 times in the 1st quarter since the 2002 Redskins (vs Saints) when Patrick Ramsey was the QB.  I laughed and repeated the stat to my wife.  She retorted, "wow, I had forgotten all about him."  When I thought about it, I had too.

That got me thinking about my Redskins.  Wow - HOW MANY quarterbacks have started for them since the night Lawrence Taylor broke Joe Theismann's leg on MNF??  We've had so many, I've forgotten most.  So I decided to investigate.  Off to Wikipedia I went...and here is what I found.

Twenty-six.  Yes, 26.  Listed below, in order of appearance.

1. J.Schroeder (85-87)
2. E.Ruppert (87)
3. D.Williams (87-89)
4. M.Rypien (89-93)
5. S.Humphries (90)
6. R.Gannon (93)
7. C.Conklin (93)
8. H.Shuler (94-95)
9. J.Friesz (94)
10. G.Frerotte (94-98)
11. J.Hostetler (97)
12. T.Green (98)
13. B.Johnson (99-00)
14. J.George (00-01)
15. T.Banks (01)
16. S.Matthews (02)
17. P.Ramsey (02-05)
18. D.Wuerffel (02)
19. T.Hasselbeck (03)
20. M.Brunell (04-06)
21. J.Campbell (06-09)
22. T.Collins (07)
23. D.McNabb (10)
24. R.Grossman (10-11)
25. J.Beck (11)
26. R.Griffin III (12)

Yikes!  For some reason, some always stood out in my memory (before looking at this list):

• Schroeder (grumpy)
• Williams (you know he only started 14 regular season games!)
• Rypien (who can forget him?)
• Humphries (like him a lot - was happy we traded him so he could start - took San Diego to their only Super Bowl appearance)
• Frerotte (great, humble guy who probably shouldn't have been a starter, but played above his level)
• T.Green (was bummed we let him go to the Rams)
• B.Johnson (bum deal, J.George controversy)
• J.George (wasted space)
• Brunell (frustrating - was never sure why Gibbs wanted him, but somehow he did well enough to take the Skins to the playoffs.)
• Campbell (loved the person, big-time raw deal)
• McNabb (NEVER liked the deal)
• Grossman (hopefully will soon be forgotten)
• Beck (see Grossman)

In typical Redskins fashion, Rich Gannon and Brad Johnson went on to win Super Bowls with other teams.  All the other QB's, even Shuler and Ramsey, kind of slipped off the radar.

Yes, it's been a tough quarter-century for us Redskins fans.  Hopefully we'll have one for at least half of the next quarter-century.

My Take on Haynesworth's Return

While listening to the Mike Wise & Holden Kushner show today on WJFK, they were discussing the off-season workout program of Redskins DT Albert Haynesworth. Their discussion was generated by this article by Rich Campbell of the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star. According to the article, Haynesworth has been working out with a personal trainer since April and hopes to be in great shape when he reports to training camp at the end of July.

Haynesworth's trainer, Tripp Smith, was quoted as saying, "I told him, 'If you show up and are playing like an animal, they're going to forget about the fact that you didn't go to a two-day minicamp or whatever happened aside from football,'" Smith said. "We need to make sure we do what we need to do to basically blow people's heads off with what we've accomplished this summer. I think we're well on our way to it."

The discussion on the radio today dealt with how Redskins fans would react when Hayneworth returns - and how they SHOULD react. I don't get a chance to call into these shows, so here's my take:

It's pretty simple, as far as I'm concerned. If he shows up in shape and is cooperative - read: he plays where the coaches want him to play - then the fans should forgive him. At that point, there's not much to forgive. If that happens, what we've been talking about since the OTA's is just drama. Forget about it. What he does on the field is what matters the most.

One thing mentioned on the radio was that if the Redskins are winning, all should be forgotten. I don't agree with that completely. If Haynesworth is working hard every down, doing his best for the team, even if the Redskins aren't winning, he should be forgiven.

In fact, when training camp rolls around and the fans can start coming to practice, we should all encourage him to work hard. As true Redskins fans, we should cheer him on and push him to work hard. Don't come out and boo him. You don't know what he's done in the off-season. Let his play speak for him.

THEN - if he fails - pummel him. Let him hear about it. Just be fair and give him a couple weeks. I hate it when our fans jump on guys at the first sign of weakness.

Let's give Albert the benefit of the doubt and let him show us what he's done in the offseason.

Week 7 - Redskins vs Browns - 10/19/2008

Good start to the game. 3 and out by the Browns - good defense.

Redskins first drive:
Cooley for a first down. Cooley again. Portis, baby. Def. Holding always helps. Rock Cartwright already giving Portis a rest. Ugh - ugly screen to Rock.

Okay, had to run to the store to get some kidney beans for the chili. Missed most of the rest of the first half. Sonny and Sam said the defense was playing well, so I'll take their word for it.

Skins had a decent drive before halftime, until Campbell tripped and Suisham missed a chip shot.

Ugly first half in general.

Second half:
Portis. Portis. Portis. Big pass to Randle El. Portis TD.

Great defense!!