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FanEx Analysis Draft
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Draft Rounds
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Transactions

Kadlec 4.01 (current) + 6.01 + 8.01 for
Dodds 4.09 + 5.04 + 7.04

Kadlec :
Am looking at a few players that I hope will still be there at 4.09 If they are all gone then I have made a mistake. If one of them is still there, I get the player I want and I move up in future rounds.

Dodds: Selects WR JSmith JAX.
My logic was this. I wanted WR Jimmy Smith in a big way. Some may think I overpaid, but in Jimmy Smith I get a workhorse of a player.

In a couple of rounds, picks start to vary so much that moving down 8-9 spots may not be so bad. In this round, I believe the WR I would get at 4.09 would have been much worse than Jimmy Smith.

Cahill 4.03 (current) + 6.03 for
Cannon 4.11 + 5.02

Cannon: Selects WR Eric Moulds BUF.
Perhaps I traded up out of habit. There is some instant personal fulfillment in obtaining a quality player before your scheduled draft time. And, if the truth be known, I normally seek opportunities like this and feel it's need for me to win.

Why here? Why now? I was aware that the better second tier WRs would be off the draft board eight slots from now. The Browns, Glenns, and Moulds would not be possible at my 4.11. Sooo.. to get what was wanted.. I had to drop a full round in the fifth. A suitable WR1 is a fair exchange for the later move down.

Cahill 5.10 (current) + 10.03
Cannon 6.03 + 7.02

Cahill :
Analysis? We don't need no steenkin' analysis. TC offered to allow me to move up THIRTY SEVEN places later in exchange for six now.

None of the players on my current tier tickles my fancy, but TC must surely want a particular one to deal here. Let him have him. I'll get a comparable the players in six spots.

Cannon : Selects WR Plaxico Burress PIT.
It's now time to place the pail under the cow. In this case it's a simple get-him-now trade that allows me to claim an important receiver for trading down in several less important rounds. Some owners treasure draft positions. I prefer targeted players that will benefit my roster. This trade gives me a NOW player - and one of those better second-tier WRs mentioned earlier.

Cannon 9.02 + 10.03
Kadlec 7.12 (current) + 14.01

Cannon : Selects RB Clinton Portis DEN.
When you see a desired player you can claim for a reasonable price, get him.

My need for a reasonable rusher to support TDavis caused me to request this trade. There are so few RB3s that getting one seems worth the cost. I move up a full round and lose four later. Oh my. I get the rookie I targeted and will have to settle for a lesser kicker choice. A Jet or Bill instead of a Packer, perhaps.

Let's review here. In three recent trades, I gave up a 4.11, 5.02, 6.03, 7.02, 9.08, and 10.03 (these slots were so far used for WRs Glenn, KevJohnson, rookie RBs Foster and Duckett). In return, I gained starter-type WRs Moulds + Burress + Coles + rookie Portis + upcoming 10th and 14th round picks. Oh yes, I also have my original 8th round slot - for now.

Kadlec :

O'Leary 9.01 (current) + 14.02 + 16.12
Kellogg 9.09 + 12.04 + 16.04

O'Leary :
The original offer did not include the 16th round swap and that helped push this deal over the top. The other deal I had on the table involved moving down 10 once and up 10 twice. That also was enticing, but moving 32 spots for one pick was better in my opinion.

I have my eye on about three different players. I almost went ahead and picked one of them, but my hesitation got the best of me. At this point in the draft it's hit and miss in the skill positions and still too early for a kicker. I decided to better my picks during the run on kickers and defenses.

Now I get to sit and see if one of the 3 players I am looking at drops down the board. If one does, it helps make my decision and I get the draft moves on top of that.

Kellogg : Selects RB Stacey Mack JAX.
I had to add in the 16th round swap to sweeten the pot enough for Mr. O'Leary to go for this trade. In moving up eight spots, I give up a loss of 32 spots (early 12th to late 14th) and an additional eight spots in the last round.

So what possible player could be worth this price?

Truthfully, none at this stage in a draft. Unless, like me, you have left yourself ultra thin at one position with very few options left on the board.

I felt it imperative I move ahead of Mr. Hickerson to grab the player, I felt he would grab last round. RB Stacey Mack gives me a player that gained over 1000 total yards and scored 10 TDs last year as a part-time starter. He even averaged over 4 YPC as Fred Taylor's replacement. This is the ultimate boom or bust selection. If Taylor stays healthy for the entire season (sic), Mack will only get limited opportunities and was a waste of roster space.

However, should Taylor once again suffer injury, Stacey Mack just may be my best RB. With Mack on board, my four RBs averaged 1,183 Total Yards and 8 TDs last year - all have question marks entering this season, but if just two of them play up to a year ago, I should be fine in my backfield.

Kellogg 13.09 + 15.09
Cannon 13.02 + 16.11

Kellogg :
When I made the trade with Mr. O'Leary, I felt it imperative I attempt to move up close to the twelfth round, in an attempt to offset my loss of a twelfth round pick.

Mr. Cannon is known widely as a wheeler and dealer of picks so for relatively little cost, I was able to secure a move up of seven slots in the thirteenth.

This also locks up the final two picks of the draft which not only gives me this year's Mr. Irrelevant, but also allows me to implement a strategy I will talk about at the appropriate time

Cannon:
This trade has two benefits. First off all, it promotes future interaction between Greg and I. He ask and I quickly agreed to his offer. He will likely gain more than I do here, but.. hey.. I may get a less lousy defense in the 15th? We'll see.

Del Pilar | Bonini 9.03 (current) + 10.10 + 14.10
Dolfi 9.05 + 10.08 + 14.08

Del Pilar | Bonini :
Miscalculations! In heading into our 8:10 pick, we eyed two players, QB Kerry Collins (QB Tim Couch was given strong consideration) and TE Byron Chamberlain. Collins didn't excite us but we felt there was the possibility of a QB run and with the FAD's way of starting the best players every week, made Collins' attractive. He was a QB who could post points but more importantly could minimize the loss of our starter Rich Gannon and he had upside, solid supporting cast and is in a contract year. He was the best that was left and even though Tim Couch was a close second, when compared to Collins, Couch's supporting cast was not as strong. In the end, Collins, just outside of the top 10 QBs in the FanEx FAD scoring system in 2001 was a value pick.

We strongly felt, Chamberlain would fall to our next pick at 9:03 as we felt only one team would take a TE prior to our next pick. We were flat out wrong and miscalculated Youth Football's TC Cannon who took him immediately following our pick. We felt Cannon would opt for either a QB or RB. Once again, a miscalculation and Chamberlain is added to the list of miscalculations that have cost us so far; RBs William Green and DeShaun Foster as well as WRs Darrell Jackson and Chris Chambers. However, that's the life of a draft and we have to roll with the losses. We did feel Chamberlain was the best TE on the board that offered upside in terms of leaping into a being a top 3-5 TE.

Once he was gone, so was our desire to stay at the 9:03 slot. We requested a trade down and 4 owners showed interest and we received three offers. We countered two and were told the market had been set by Mr. Kellogg with an earlier trade and politely turned them down.

One note here; as trades are given up in the later rounds, it should be understood that anything past round 13 is simply jockeying for position to grab mostly PKs and DTs (our opinion). Most of the skill position players of value and expected potential are gone. Long shots are what's left. There's nothing wrong with that. We once saw someone grab Isaac Bruce in the final few round his breakout year, so never devalue those picks. However, we felt whichever owner moved up the 9th round, was gaining more valuable for than KFFL moving up in the 14th and 16th rounds. As Mr. Cahill stated and we tend to agree, "...low priority picks." Ironically, Mr. Cahill was one of the owners we turned down but he went on to execute a solid trade and ended up moving up and securing the player he wanted.

The trade that finally made us give up the pick was the one offered by FanEx's Mr. Dolfi.

We dropped down two slots and moved up two slots in both the 10th and 14th rounds. This trade did not truly excite us as we saw minimal gains but still felt, it was very fair and our player would be there as well as the fact, we do move up in the 10th and 14th rounds. We also felt, at this point after two failed trade attempts, we felt we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

However, this trade, was part one of two part scenario for us, as we felt we could still move down even more because our next targeted player would be there (hopefully). We began to brainstorm and felt there was still value in our trade position of 9:05 because we only moved down two slots. We re-approached an owner, Mr. Holms about a trade formerly declined.

Dolfi : Selects TE Chad Lewis PHI.
I trade up only 2 spots, but at very little cost (just moving down 2 spots in the next and 2 spots in the 14th), and I assure myself of getting the player I had my eye on for my 9.05 pick. I didn't think the player I wanted would be selected at 9.03, but with Mr. Dodds still not having a starting TE, I wanted to be sure I got my starting TE first. So Chad Lewis become the 7th TE taken. (To find out why I selected Chad Lewis, read the analysis.)

Dodds 9.04 (current) + 14.09
Cahill 9.10 + 12.03

Dodds : Frankly I could not settle on exactly who to take. I was targeting Freddie Jones and Chad Lewis and was certain one would be there.

Dolfi's move up to snag Chad Lewis left me without a viable TE pick here. With a slew of players that would be nice here, I am hopeful that at least one of them will be available at 9.10.

The move up at 12.03 should help to insure I am active when the PK and defense runs begin.

Had I drafted here, I was also leaning towards taking QB Tim Couch, but would rather keep my roster more flexible (than take my last QB) while continuing to add value.

Cahill : Selects QB Tim Couch CLE.
Typically I don't trade up in a draft, preferring to garner additional picks by trading down. As I explained in my pick analysis, I wanted Couch and had to leapfrog over two other owners who might have drafted QB2's between my original position and the draft position.

The cost was very reasonable. Due to earlier trades, I now have a 10-man roster with six picks to go. Those picks will likely be 2 TE, 2 DT and 2 K. Perhaps 1 TE and a super-sleeper in the 15th round, but I digress.

In drafting those particular positions, I feel that an equivalent TE will be available at the end of the 14th round as the one that goes at the beginning of the 12th. Defensive teams and kickers are unpredictable enough (to a degree) that more luck is involved in selecting those positions than any other.

I'm maximizing my potential at a critical position in exchange for dropping down later, BUT dropping (in my eyes) for what will be fairly low-priority picks.

Del Pilar | Bonini 9.05 (current) + 12.10 + 14.08
Holm 9.11 + 12.02 +14.02

Del Pilar | Bonini :
We accepted the original Dolfi trade (what we viewed as part one of our two part scenario) because it benefited us two ways. (1) We felt our pick would be there at 9:05 and we moved up in two key rounds in which skill position players are still available. (2) However, we felt we could still parlay another trade to move up in the later rounds and increase our chances with some of the "low priority picks."

Mr. Holms, originally offered KFFL the trade we'd eventually take; Holms trades 9.11 + 12.02 + 14.02 and at the time he wanted, 9.03 + 12.10 + 14.10. We felt we could do better and thanked him and moved on. However, the truth is that Mr. Holms offer ended up being the best one on the table until Mr. Dolfi's offer for our 9:03 came along.

After having moved up with Mr. Dolfi, we re-approached Mr. Holms and made him the slightly different offer of, 9.05 + 12.10 + 14.08. The difference being the 9:03 became 9:05 but the 14:10 became the 14:08. Mr. Holms agreed only if the player he wanted was still available. We assume he was as Mr. Holms agreed to the trade when the 9:05 pick came up.

Regarding the trades, KFFL believes all parties are happy. Mr. Dolfi and Mr. Holms moved up and we gained extra picks. We moved up in the 10th, 12th and 14th rounds and feel we have created an opportunity to be able to do better now than before the trade.

This concluded what we considered a two tier trade scenario and the question asked, "Were we successful with the trades?" Who knows until we see if the 9:11 pick yields the player we're after and how we handle those draft picks in the rounds in which we moved up?

Holm : Selects QB Trent Dilfer SEA
Where do I begin? I looked at my draft sheet and with horror realized I was at the wrong end of the draft. In the FAD I am a BIG believer in backing up your QB quickly but till now there have been players I've coveted so drafted them instead. With Donovan McNabb my #1, although he's no Kurt Warner, I felt a little more secure letting my backup QB slide one extra round. Then Plummer, Fiedler and Collins went back to back at the end of the 8th round. Those selections made my stomach turn as I realized I was probably looking at Jim Miller or Chris Weinke with my 9.11 (if that!). I really don't like trading up in a draft but this was one of those rare exceptions where I feel my team will be better because of it. I wasn't willing to sacrifice a great deal of my draft so floated an above average trade offer for the 9.01. I, like Duane, wanted Tim Couch but figured if I had to settle for Trent Dilfer I would. Looking at what was left, for a QB #2, I wasn't so enamored.

Greg Kellogg decided he wanted Stacey Mack and made a better offer for the 9.01. Had he not coveted Mack, I'd have had Couch at that spot. I made an offer for the 9.02 but that fell on deaf ears. The KFFL guys and I had a deal worked out for 9.03 but they ended up getting an 11th hour trade offer for that selection and Chad Lewis was selected. I'm a little flustered as I still want Tim Couch but he's still available and David Dodds and I had a message of intent for his pick. I still didn't want to pay the world for this pick so made David the same deal I offered everyone else. I still figured I'd like to select Tim Couch but if I have to make do with what I've got I'll make do. He then received yet another 11th hour bid but this time, it was Tim Couch selected.

So, 9.05 I go back to the KFFL guys with the same trade (relatively) that I'd been offering 9.01 - 9.04, they finally didn't get an 11th hour bid and Trent Dilfer joined my squad. With a few teams between 9.05 and my original 9.11 with only one QB, and no other QB I was interested in, I felt this was a necessary move. This also marks the FIRST time I've ever traded up in a FAD draft. I just don't believe in it, but on this rare occasion, I felt it actually made sense.

Now I need some rest! My nerves are frayed, my keyboard needs replacing and I lost 15 pounds in the past 2 days! All for Trent Dilfer? Aye carumba.

Cannon: 10.11 + 12.11 + 13.09
Hickerson: 10.07 (current) + 12.11 + 13.09

Cannon : Selects WR Germane Crowell DET.
The three teams just prior to my next pick are likely seeking the same WR position as I am. Sooo.. this may be my final chance to claim a player that I truly desire.

I move up four semi-important slots and actually only trade off a late 12th rounder for Jerome's mid-14th. Also, it was important to me that I was able to get the player ~and~ keep my upcoming 12.02 slot. Without risk, there is no reward.

Hickerson:

TC proposed the above trade. I looked at it as a minor move. There wasn't anyone I was hot for at this point of the draft so I felt that moving down four spots in order to move up later in the draft made sense.

Trading down often makes sense if there is no one available that you are anxious to grab. I would not have made the trade if there were someone on the board that I was anxious to select -- the later round value just wasn't worth any risk. But I'm not taking any risk here because there isn't anyone that I'm worried about being taken in front of me.

Dodds 12.09 (current) + 16.09
Cannon 13.06 + 14.11

Dodds:
I had planned on doing this if 2 of my 3 players I was targeting were still on the board. Since all three were left this was an easy trade down.

I expect to get one of the players I want and move up significantly later. This move also helps me since I will not be participating in the kicker run coming soon (since I already have two on my roster).

Cannon: Selects RB Troy Hambrick DAL.
First of all, thanks David. I was wondering how I'd get a semi-reasonable RB from the 13th round. RBs Davis + Bennett need support, even if it is from a lesser player. As always, lesser is better than nothing.