Posted by Rob in Fantasy Advice on Aug 20th 2011 and last modified on Sep 3rd 2011. (Print This)
Landry Jones
Fantasy Football Brother’s again took part in the 20-team Fantasy College Football Invitational (FCFI). Again we wanted to test ourselves against the best that the industry has to offer. The FCFI is the best forum to do just that and includes sites such as Sports Illustrated, Athlon, Rotoworld, Rotowire, and defending champion CBS Sports as well as numerous other sites that eat and breathe college football.
The Brother’s had the 9th pick overall, exactly the spot we wanted to be in a 20-team draft, where our strategy was to stop and start runs. Being in the middle we felt we could control the draft board and have player’s we coveted fall to us.
So we made ourselves a frozen pizza (Bacon Blitz DiGiornio) to be exact, poured ourselves a cool one and set out on a 3 1/2 hour journey to assemble a squad that would rival last year’s second place team. We were left disappointed last season and remembered a lesson from Top Gun, “The Plaque for the alternates is down in the ladies’ room.”
The scoring format used in the FCFI is a standard non-PPR league. Weekly starting lineups require the following: 2 QB’s/2 RB’s/2 WR’s/1 TE/FLEX/K/DST.
Here is how we drafted:
1st Round-Landry Jones-QB-Oklahoma-Already debate begins in the war room. Go with Jones or RB Marcus Lattimore out of South Carolina. Concerns about the Gamecocks QB situation steers us towards Jones, who we consider elite in the fantasy realm. What does elite look like statwise? Consider Jones numbers last season: 4,718 yards passing, 38 TD’s. He also has all his receiving weapons returning in Ryan Broyles and Kenny Stills.
2nd Round-Cyrus Gray-RB-Texas A & M-Again debate in the room as we try and decide between Boston College RB Montel Harris or Gray. Concerns are voiced over B.C.’s offensive line losing three starters which forces us to select Gray who exploded in the second half of last season rushing for 100 yards in his last seven games. The offensive line returns everyone except at right guard and we think Gray makes a name for himself this season. Bill leaves the war room in disgust as Harris wasn’t selected, going into our 3rd round pick I think I hear his car starting?
3rd Round-Eric Page-WR-Toledo-The Brother’s minus Bill are happy with our first two picks, we pour another cold one then hope the guy we want falls in our lap. He does and we select one of the best kept secrets in college football, wideout Eric Page out of Toledo. Simply put, a playmaker who had 99 receptions, 1,105 yards and 8 TD’s last season.
4th Round-Mike Ball-RB-Nevada-Bill has returned to the draft and the Brother’s were hoping RB Sam McGuffie of Rice fell to us here, but SI.com scoops him up five picks earlier. Paul nervously picks the Bacon off his Bacon Blitz pizza and I sneak pick RB Mike Ball out of Nevada. It’s a hunch that I think Ball emerges this season as RB Vai Taua is now gone meaning Ball will get a big workload.
5th Round-Edwin Baker-RB-Michigan St.-The Brother’s watch as eight RB’s fly off the board, so we dig in and scour the landscape for value. We dig up a 1,201 yard, 13 TD back by the name of Edwin “The Rock” Baker. He is a power back built to carry the load and we feel we selected great value here.
6th Round-Kenny Stills-WR-Oklahoma-Remembering our 1st Round pick of Landry Jones, we select Jones’ second favorite weapon in super sophomore Kenny Stills who is primed for a breakout season and looking to take the torch from fellow WR Ryan Broyles. Hood Brother Sean likes this pick and takes another sip of Red Bull mixed with a protein shake.
7th Round-T.J. Moe-WR-Missouri-We were hoping that WR Jermaine Kearse of the University of Washington fell here and once again we were forced to change after Collegesportsmadness.com takes him six picks earlier. Bill has an evil grin on his face dating back to the Harris pick. We settle on T.J. Moe out of Missouri who had 92 receptions, 1,045 yards and 6 TD’s. Yes, we have concerns about their QB situation with no Blaine Gabbert, but the risk/reward is well worth it here in the 7th round.
8th Round-Jake Heaps-QB-BYU-I love Heaps this season. We rode him at the end of last season and what’s not to like about a BYU quarterback. Other than the fact the hometown kid spurned the University of Washington and could have stepped right in after Jake Locker….but hey, I’m past it. I like the fact that Heaps finished the season strong with a 4 TD performance against UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl. His offensive line is intact, he has solid receiving options and we love his schedule after September 10.
9th Round-Kirk Cousins-QB-Michigan St.-In all honesty we wanted Troy’s QB Corey Robinson here, but our IT guy Eric couldn’t find him on the list. Needless to say he went 8 picks later. IT guy was forced to drink a shot of Jaeger. We moved on and selected Kirk Cousins of Michigan St. who we like a great deal and is one of the best pocket passers in college football. The Spartans are stacked at wideout and we think Cousins makes it all happen his senior year and gets NFL scouts talking about his abilities.
10th Round-Derek Moye-WR-Penn St.-We reach the midway point and decide to stock our WR cabinet. Moye fits the bill as he had 8 TD’s last season. But what really caught our eye? Moye’s 16.7 yards per catch. If Paterno can get solid QB and line play, then Moye is a great value here in the 10th Round.
11th Round-D.J. Shoemate-RB-UCONN-Shoemaker is essentially the last man standing in the Huskies backfield. He is a transfer from USC, a big back, 5’11, 217 lbs. who will see the bulk of the carries. Shoemate will be running behind an experienced offensive line and should be productive against Big East opponents.
12th Round-Darrell Scott-RB-South Florida-The Bro’s stay with RB and what better than a transfer who was the top RB recruit in 2007, only to flounder in Colorado. Maybe we overthought ourselves here, but we like this pick a lot and we think Scott will shred Big East defenses.
13th Round-Jeff Tuel-QB-Washington St.-Every year I make a pick that goes against my upbringing and this is it. Last year I selected the Oregon Ducks defense in the same round , so this year it’s QB Jeff Tuel. I think Tuel is the best unknown QB in the new Pac-12 and maybe even the country. Why Tuel? He boasts a 60% completion rate, weapons in wideouts Marquess Wilson and Jared Karstetter. Tuel will undoubtedly be playing from behind, which means slinging the rock which equals fantasy goodness.
14th Round-Colin Larmond-WR-Boston College-Looking upside here and Bill is carrying on about Larmond. Complete homer pick? Yes. Worthy in the 14th Round? Yes. People forgetting about Larmond after his knee injury in 2010? Yes. Does Bill remember that in 2009 Larmond averaged 20.6 yards per catch? Absolutely.
15th Round-Matt Hogan-K-Houston-The Brother’s first panic pick comes in the 15th Round as we run out of time searching for RB Andre Williams. No dice, panic ensues and we select Hogan. Time to regroup.
16th Round-Blake Ayles-TE-Miami-We take Ayles, a USC transfer who finds himself in Miami. After being the top ranked TE in 2008′s recruiting class, Ayles will look to jump start his career his senior year for the Hurricanes. A reach here in the 16th, but we’re okay with that.
17th Round-Wyoming Defense-The Pokes return seven starters on defense and a boat load of talent to compete for other positions. They will be the calling card of the Cowboys….okay, it’s tough trying to talk up Wyoming’s defense.
18th Round-Austin Seferian-Jenkins-TE-Washington-I know this is a total “homer” pick, but word out of practices is that ASF is ready to contribute immediately. The Huskies have an inexperienced starter in QB Keith Price, so we think ASF will be leaned on heavily in the passing game. I like this pick, but then again I’m a little bias.
19th Round-Chris Thompson-RB-Florida St.-This is value here….someone has to run the ball for the Seminoles and if they can settle on two backs instead of three, then we have a steal here in the 19th Round.
20th Round-Washington Defense-I like this group a great deal. I feel like they have playmakers all over the field and defensive coordinator Nick Holt gets his guys to play. This should be a fun year for the Huskies as they look to get back on track and build on the momentum from last season’s bowl win over Nebraska.
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