tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10046454502820090392024-03-19T00:47:46.497-04:00Stat's CradlePay no attention to the man behind the numbers.challahback252http://www.blogger.com/profile/17036153033622251785noreply@blogger.comBlogger179125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-31702431483783837842018-08-25T00:28:00.001-04:002018-08-25T00:28:43.640-04:00Frameshmania '18 Draft Review!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hi everyone! I briefly thought about only sending this out in the league e-mail, but it ended up getting long enough that it would have been three parts, and I do kind of like having an archive on my blog. So here we are, diluting my personal sports writing portfolio with this frivolity.</div>
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We'll start with the first six rounds. That's where the meat of your roster comes from, where the inevitable busts make you want to die. Typically teams find maybe 4 or 5 RB/WR and a QB or TE, but you might be interested to know that the eleven previous teams who waited on both QB and TE average more points and have a higher seasonal scoring floor, and they have earned seven "trophies" (scoring title, best record, champion). Those eleven teams include myself five times, and eight of those teams came in the last three years.</div>
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Then we'll tackle the rest of the draft. After the sixth round you get people taking more wonky picks but also more memorable ones. 71% of the best fantasy performances of the last 9 seasons (100 points above the replacement level at the position) came from guys drafted in the first six rounds. Remember, that's only 6 rounds compared to 10 later rounds and any pickups, so you're just not that likely to get a super-stud late. But only 54% of the very good performances in the last 9 years (50-99 points above replacement) came from the early rounds. So that's what we're watching for with the later picks.</div>
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Let's get to this year's squads.</div>
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<b>Salt Lake City Big Tymers (Alex)</b></div>
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Top 6 Rounds:</div>
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Not my typical squad this year, except for the lack of QB and TE. A couple of the Eagles' division rivals (Elliott and Beckham), some risky RBs (Ajayi, Lynch). Should be a very good WR group if Luck is healthy, though (Beckham, Adams, Hilton). Will be very dependent on how the Cowboys' offensive line injuries affect Zeke and whether Ajayi and Lynch can stay healthy and productive.</div>
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Rank: 6</div>
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Bottom 10 Rounds: </div>
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Those who were in the Frameshman house for the draft know the extent of my exasperation at people taking my QB and TE preferences. Rivers/Mariota and Rudolph are pretty satisfactory starters in most leagues, but in an eight team league that's probably not championship caliber. I just missed the record for latest starting QB taken, as Jesse took Winston 2 picks later last year. Beyond that it's dart throws in Josh Gordon and Kerryon Johnson and a late-season boost / backup plan in Julian Edelman.</div>
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Rank: 3</div>
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<b>Hometown Mamas (Laurie)</b></div>
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Top 6 Rounds:</div>
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Laurie went back to the Cook well after he tantalized her last year, and she doubled her pleasure with Diggs in the fifth. Can't go wrong with Gurley at the top of the roster, but I think it might have been just a tad early for Ertz. Generally just a solid WR group with Allen, Diggs, and Fitz, assuming the QB situation in Arizona stays stable.</div>
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Rank: 1</div>
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Bottom 10 Rounds:</div>
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Russell Wilson at 79 seems like a huge steal. Add to that some interesting deep receiver choices in Goodwin and Doctson and this is an intriguing crop. I expect Miller and Sanders to be solid-if-unspectacular flex/bench guys which is exactly what you want out of those spots in the draft. The Duke Johnson and Tarik Cohen picks seem a little redundant and low on upside, but the rest looks good.</div>
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Rank: 2</div>
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<b>Peyton Manningless (Phil)</b></div>
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Top 6 Rounds:</div>
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Solid picks through the first three rounds for Phil (David Johnson, Michael Thomas, AJ Green), but Henry, Drake, and Davis to follow that up give me a bit of the willies. I suppose with a solid top three to work with you can play around a bit, but this feels like a 4-6 group with a wide range of outcomes.</div>
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Rank: 3</div>
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Bottom 10 Rounds:</div>
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You know I'm not giving you a good grade if you take a defense in the 9th round. That said, only three teams have taken a defense that early, and two of them went on to go 9-4 or better. Of course, one of those was Domino's super-wonky 2012 draft, in which he took five Lions, three QBs (two in the first 6 rounds), two TEs, two defenses, and two kickers. Where was I? Oh, I like the Aaron Jones, Carlos Hyde, Isaiah Crowell, and Trey Burton dart throws, so this is probably a fine bench.</div>
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Rank: 4</div>
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<b>I'm Just Here So I Won't Win (Jon-Michael)</b></div>
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Top 6 Rounds:</div>
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Generally I like what JM did here. He's got a lot of possible risk with Evans missing a QB for a month, Wentz probably starting on the shelf, and McCoy possibly being suspended. But Julio, Gordon, and Hill all have legit shots at being top 5 guys at their positions and have shown it before, and if the aforementioned concerns don't manifest as much as they could, this could be a very solid group.</div>
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Rank: 2</div>
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Bottom 10 Rounds:</div>
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Probably a little heavy on the Eagles at the end there (Foles + Wallace + K) but there's some nice choices here. JuJu might have been a little bit of a reach in the 7th and Thompson probably won't repeat his performance from early last season, but I like the Lewis and Carson options off the bench and Engram is a solid mid-round TE to go with.</div>
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Rank: 5</div>
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<b>J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets (Matt)</b></div>
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Top 6 Rounds:</div>
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I don't know, man. When your top three receivers (Hopkins, Cooper, Robinson) have all put up disappointing seasons within the last two years, there's a lot of downside to avoid. Add to that a rookie running back (Barkley) and another two with uncertain durability with a higher workload (McCaffrey, McKinnon), and it's a real boom-or-bust team for Matt. The only guys I'm really concerned with are McKinnon and Robinson, but I wouldn't be surprised if this goes very poorly.</div>
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Rank: 7</div>
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Bottom 10 Rounds:</div>
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Matt almost always takes a QB early, and if you just looked at the name of the guy you would have thought he did it again this year. Brees had never been drafted later than 57 and only twice later than 26 and Matt got him at 76. I really like the value on Funchess and Walker, and while I'm not personally so excited about Njoku and Mack, there are others who are, so that could be fine. To me this all hinges on how great the Saints are, and especially how balanced their run/pass ratio is close to the end zone. If Brees can get back up to 30-35 TDs Matt's a real factor.</div>
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Rank: 1</div>
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<b>DelCo's Side-Arm Stud (Kyle)</b></div>
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Top 6 Rounds:</div>
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Kyle was back at his usual grind of loading up at RB early with Kamara, Fournette, and Mixon, three young guys who have a pretty good shot of finishing in the top 12 at the position (albeit with some role / offense concerns). Cooks and Baldwin feel like possibly risky starting WRs this year, but they were both top-12 guys last year. Rodgers is Rodgers.</div>
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Rank: 4</div>
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Bottom 10 Rounds:</div>
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Kyle was one of the teams exhausting the QB pool to my chagrin. But I will get my just desserts. Remember that wonky Domino draft? He was one of only seven teams ever to take 3 QBs, which Kyle did here. Only two of those seven had a winning record and only two scored above average for the season. Oddly, there were three such teams in 2009? What happened? Anyway, Kyle took some serious risks with injuries to Jeffery and Penny and job security problems for Cobb and Montgomery. Not sure there. Olsen is solid at least.</div>
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Rank: 8</div>
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<b>Hoosier Daddy (Jesse)</b></div>
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Top 6 Rounds:</div>
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Jesse's season hinges on Patrick Mahomes being a serviceable quarterback in Kansas City, albeit to a lesser extent because he has the safety valves Hunt and Kelce) and not the downfield guys. Having solid guys in Brown and Howard helps balance that. I don't see a lot of upside in Tate in the fifth, but that safety counters Royce Freeman's risk, as he's a rookie back on a team who hasn't had a good offense in a couple years and just added a new quarterback.</div>
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Rank: 8</div>
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Bottom 10 Rounds:</div>
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Watson/Stafford provides a good balance of stability and upside at QB, in the same way that Landry/Fuller does at WR. Although I think the upside on both Watson and Fuller, who are obviously tied to each other, isn't as high as most think. Burkhead and Jones are likely to be fine fill-in options but maybe not league-winners, which is kind of how Agholor and Anderson are, but I like the latter two better just by virtue of being later picks. The Rams D is good, so that's cool.</div>
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Rank: 6</div>
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<b>Purrfect Picks (Rachel)</b></div>
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Top 6 Rounds:</div>
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Cat puns and the first pick. Interesting way to enter the league. Bell / Gronk / Freeman is a very solid start, and it feels unlikely that Brady or Thielen bust in any major way. Collins could be a one-year-wonder at RB, especially in a sub-par offense, but that's kind of what you get in 6th-rounders. Rachel did well not to go totally off the reservation early, as other Frameshmania first-timers have done.</div>
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Rank: 5</div>
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Bottom 10 Rounds:</div>
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Well we know someone's a homer. Rachel becomes the second person to ever take five players from the same team, tying... you guessed it, Domino. I also have to harp on the Gostkowski pick at 96, because kickers. The first kicker was drafted before the 14th round every year up to 2013, after which it had only happened once since. I was surprised to see Gostkowski's been that first kicker only three times prior. Rachel solidified her WR group early in these rounds and then took some interesting guys in Michel and Williams and some likely useless players in Luck, Reed, and Decker (the first two because of Brady and Gronk and the last because he's probably cooked).</div>
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Rank: 7</div>
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So what do we end up with? Here's how I have things shaking out.</div>
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1) Laurie</div>
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2) Phil</div>
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3) Jon-Michael</div>
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4) Kyle</div>
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5) Matt</div>
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6) Alex</div>
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7) Rachel</div>
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8) Jesse</div>
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For reference, I picked Phil to win last year and he did. Of course, I picked Matt for 7th and he finished 2nd. The year before I correctly predicted Matt tanking but was way wrong on Jon-Michael and Emily. So essentially none of this matters and we're just rolling dice. Good use of two hours of my life to write this, I think.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-55732356524608594692017-08-23T22:02:00.000-04:002017-08-23T22:02:27.731-04:00Frameshmania '17 Draft Review!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hello party people! Thanks again for tolerating the second-ever live Frameshmania draft (the first one was just the four of us, which is why none of you outsiders remember that). I hope everyone had a good time despite the doubled duration. I won't beat around the bush too much, so let's get to the draft review. </div>
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In this edition, I'll spend my time here discussing how each team fared in terms of their overall draft quality. In the podcast, I'll talk more about how the draft went as it unfolded, and where there might have been some good or bad picks.</div>
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So, for reference, here is the draft board.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdgUMguUvSss8wYaWHuBMJWxmMo8C22OInXqqqUlHGXdUAij5NQX2cZsmVZ6KZQVG90-0ADwC5ckvIOrBiMax34CtsaqGI8jrscmGhZRcEqyNb8P6Jlh1e32VlMih6kFTJ8JV4H2GEW9A/s1600/IMG_6185.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdgUMguUvSss8wYaWHuBMJWxmMo8C22OInXqqqUlHGXdUAij5NQX2cZsmVZ6KZQVG90-0ADwC5ckvIOrBiMax34CtsaqGI8jrscmGhZRcEqyNb8P6Jlh1e32VlMih6kFTJ8JV4H2GEW9A/s640/IMG_6185.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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With each team's draft review, I'm going to include a fancy new graph of their draft tendencies by round. The colors conveniently match the colors of the stickers above, so you guys should be primed to understand it.</div>
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<b>Alex</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZxIGHpeaK2EWdM1Dedlk7WdQ_TZeLO1r54w1fLjeefngNOtyBCogJqHuP18160r0xryZEpWe2N7WzPvj0PRaXKiyl5LinYoyg4D2YLxk4v5RunLkAgz0PbUCqlZ4zKqpE8I9ZdHzAGg/s1600/DraftAlex.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="596" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZxIGHpeaK2EWdM1Dedlk7WdQ_TZeLO1r54w1fLjeefngNOtyBCogJqHuP18160r0xryZEpWe2N7WzPvj0PRaXKiyl5LinYoyg4D2YLxk4v5RunLkAgz0PbUCqlZ4zKqpE8I9ZdHzAGg/s320/DraftAlex.png" width="303" /></a></div>
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Historically, I've been one of the running-back-heaviest teams in the early going, but the real trend is that I never pick a QB or TE early. This year I went a little more receiver heavy, and have arguably the best group of three receivers in the league. As a consequence, there are some fair concerns about my RB2 slot with Hyde and Montgomery, and my QB combo of Cam and Big Ben isn't as shiny as it might have been in previous years. There's a little bit of upside in the Henrys, but all in all this seems like a team that is likely to be solid, if unspectacular.</div>
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<b>Laurie</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsd_SMlqe2ZhbsasM0YMgEejL-ybUb9UJgnARVseEK38vJEXxYOPshaKHMwHQ9765wxhab53y-M_aWosJmWCCEqI1s4DP4KUcW8cOSyugLRvOGmJtjs4x9AeW_P9ZYMuk_Y6rM1EpMmyE/s1600/DraftLaurie.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="595" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsd_SMlqe2ZhbsasM0YMgEejL-ybUb9UJgnARVseEK38vJEXxYOPshaKHMwHQ9765wxhab53y-M_aWosJmWCCEqI1s4DP4KUcW8cOSyugLRvOGmJtjs4x9AeW_P9ZYMuk_Y6rM1EpMmyE/s320/DraftLaurie.png" width="303" /></a></div>
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Laurie has gone for the early QB a fair amount, and we know who that guy is -- Drew Brees. She went to the well again this year, and he provides some stability to what could be a risky roster. While there is a lot of upside in her third and fifth round picks, she might find that she has too many Cooks in the kitchen. Also, a peculiar affinity for Vikings players (she drafted four of the five players who were selected from that squad) seems like an odd choice. She is going to need breakout years from Dalvin Cook and Tyreek Hill to find her way to the top, I suspect.</div>
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<b>Phil</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_Ozil-EffpwQApcm2-0TtQkjjDYvCaAZuaxpDJgp-JoUfKPlJlpKXAOOfaQlhdd7J8IfFjSfKsxbYDwB8gxz2Kfulv3Rot3ysbq1PINtrYJnm24Gkqj0wqTvMuxDUM241xg4MdnPE1s/s1600/DraftPhil.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="593" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_Ozil-EffpwQApcm2-0TtQkjjDYvCaAZuaxpDJgp-JoUfKPlJlpKXAOOfaQlhdd7J8IfFjSfKsxbYDwB8gxz2Kfulv3Rot3ysbq1PINtrYJnm24Gkqj0wqTvMuxDUM241xg4MdnPE1s/s320/DraftPhil.png" width="301" /></a></div>
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Phil's calling card for years was Peyton Manning, so it doesn't surprise that he went for Rodgers early on in this one. His distaste for the state of the running back position led him to go for the consensus #1 QB, WR, and TE instead of wading into that kiddie pool. What that leaves him with, though, is a perilously thin running back position, with rookie Christian McCaffrey leading the group until Doug Martin's return. His receiver group probably has the biggest upside top-to-bottom, but there is a lot of injury and quarterback concern in that group as well. Phil will need to be active on the RB waiver wire, but the rest of the roster looks very solid.<br />
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<b>Jon-Michael</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHpgpeNpVU_tpBq6HozPtBgMCnDGw1T-F6zQ5kqjkAhn3UmrApK9MdKsjg2RYnW3wX0_mvCjLrHNhhFPe8dNFps1LXap5xY9BOQQssIgiXUOyTyP9jxJMdDO3eTW6Oo9DmNjTSZm9z5_s/s1600/DraftJM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="591" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHpgpeNpVU_tpBq6HozPtBgMCnDGw1T-F6zQ5kqjkAhn3UmrApK9MdKsjg2RYnW3wX0_mvCjLrHNhhFPe8dNFps1LXap5xY9BOQQssIgiXUOyTyP9jxJMdDO3eTW6Oo9DmNjTSZm9z5_s/s320/DraftJM.png" width="301" /></a></div>
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I don't think this says anything about anything, but Jon-Michael's graph is probably the smoothest of anyone's. He has generally not messed around with early receivers, and this year was no different, as he went RB with three of his first four picks. There's some serious risk there with one-hit-wonder Ajayi and one-hit-from-retirement Lynch, but also some serious touchdown upside. The receiver group is full of guys who fell due to role and quarterback concerns, but all of them are legitimate threats to be top-15 at the position by year's end. Peterson was a bit of a reach, but Kelley may have been the biggest value of the draft if he holds onto the job and performs like he did last year.</div>
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<b>Matt</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUEC7jJorUpezIj_Heobq8RihuxN2_rq5mP1Zu9gQlD4hnCqALhpfWMqBfppSBek9zzHmn78A8NY1bflOquKqpjmFTuH617nCU1SSFQpANBEbGK9vR_mN7eZVpie0B6YHbbUAj9vwCp-0/s1600/DraftMatt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="590" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUEC7jJorUpezIj_Heobq8RihuxN2_rq5mP1Zu9gQlD4hnCqALhpfWMqBfppSBek9zzHmn78A8NY1bflOquKqpjmFTuH617nCU1SSFQpANBEbGK9vR_mN7eZVpie0B6YHbbUAj9vwCp-0/s320/DraftMatt.png" width="301" /></a></div>
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Matt had the top pick for the fifth time in nine years, and he took his fifth different running back at that slot. He has tended to back that up with a QB in one of the next two picks, but this year he went for skill players for a little while instead. He provided perhaps the most surprises of the draft with the relatively early selections of Graham and Mariota and the back-to-back picks of Bilal Powell and Danny Woodhead, but there is some security in there that could make up for having guys like Fournette. This team is a hard one to read because of that, but I have a hard time seeing it as uncompetitive, which was the case for Matt last year in his first season outside the top two picks.</div>
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<b>Kyle</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Yxi7rUAl89momgSB2i7d3oCI8lwwoWNVGIYkzw-MxYxeSUIQ5CRIS74-hqUhjTEC0L9c_cS8XFAuEWXVfuEWpN_21W8HYDeGiqa88MboIHoP0QJgyeCZ2JCnpwlPp5Lv1PciXk2TGCo/s1600/DraftKyle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="593" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Yxi7rUAl89momgSB2i7d3oCI8lwwoWNVGIYkzw-MxYxeSUIQ5CRIS74-hqUhjTEC0L9c_cS8XFAuEWXVfuEWpN_21W8HYDeGiqa88MboIHoP0QJgyeCZ2JCnpwlPp5Lv1PciXk2TGCo/s320/DraftKyle.png" width="300" /></a></div>
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The king of the early-round running back was forced to change his stripes this year thanks to some rough luck with the draft order, but to end up with two receivers who are virtual locks to be in the top 10 if healthy isn't a bad consolation. The running backs Kyle did end up with present a lot of downside, so it could be a long season. Kyle went for two mid-tier QBs and TEs instead of going early or late on either position, and that makes him have quite the combination of safety and upside in both spots. He also grabbed some interesting fliers in the late rounds who could be free agent fodder in two weeks but are worth taking a look at.</div>
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<b>Jesse</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpheMgRcoW7Zgt6o4YDn9wvwaO4_RqO6w0t1SEU638c3kuGXrB8dby7ciMkwYssrWDGSIIpW9Ris-d7V_2cC5z5nkNVO1PsKowVrpGEMY61yheyLPF9wsV0TcFJ3QRcYUFOrbyHJWRcCA/s1600/DraftJesse.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="590" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpheMgRcoW7Zgt6o4YDn9wvwaO4_RqO6w0t1SEU638c3kuGXrB8dby7ciMkwYssrWDGSIIpW9Ris-d7V_2cC5z5nkNVO1PsKowVrpGEMY61yheyLPF9wsV0TcFJ3QRcYUFOrbyHJWRcCA/s320/DraftJesse.png" width="301" /></a></div>
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Jesse tends to get his running backs early and take a break for a bit, and he went back to that strategy this season as well. I can't say that I'm that impressed with Crowell as his RB2 in the early going, but to have Le'Veon and Zeke available in the second half is a pretty exciting prospect. His receiver group doesn't necessarily have the transcendent guy at the top but should have a pretty high floor, and the Winston/Cousins combo at QB is intriguing if not exciting. I'm not super confident in either Blount or Perkins, but all he really needs is for one of them to pan out and it should work out fine until Zeke returns.<br />
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<b>Emily</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf92gxcoI3ScOufkAJQa79kiS1MHQsLyK3zf-aYCbS93uuj2XBEceXCSOl4q2vQAZHeyzqLHrMEovMipimF2TdUN14jqDW1r90XoSRO1nV7oqOF-xOzQkW0SVxE-E_GD7LrQKj-E14z6Y/s1600/DraftEmily.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="596" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf92gxcoI3ScOufkAJQa79kiS1MHQsLyK3zf-aYCbS93uuj2XBEceXCSOl4q2vQAZHeyzqLHrMEovMipimF2TdUN14jqDW1r90XoSRO1nV7oqOF-xOzQkW0SVxE-E_GD7LrQKj-E14z6Y/s320/DraftEmily.png" width="304" /></a></div>
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Emily has been as likely as anyone to take a receiver early, and she pulled the trigger again with Julio Jones at the top. She doesn't have what I view as a particularly high ceiling at any particular position after that, but there are a lot of guys who are unlikely to bust out entirely, and the Wilson / Carr combo at QB is basically guaranteed to produce a top 6 output on the whole. In general I'm not a huge fan of her bench guys because in this league players like Gore and Fitzgerald just aren't, er, spicy enough, but that last round pick of Randall Cobb really got some eyebrows raised. Could be a ridiculous steal.</div>
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<b><u>The Verdict</u></b></div>
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No fancy math this time, just gut feel. Here's how I have things as we stand now, and to be clear, this is more about upside for a great season, because in an 8 team league where most of the teams make the playoffs you can afford to shoot for the stars:</div>
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1) Phil - That Trifecta at QB/WR/TE is really exciting, just needs to avoid another RB apocalypse</div>
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2) Kyle - Not sure about the RBs, but guaranteed production at QB/WR/TE again rules the day</div>
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3) Jon-Michael - Some old guys that need to stay productive, but pretty intriguing receiver group</div>
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4) Jesse - Won't show much early necessarily, but should surge in the second half</div>
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5) Alex - Again, RB concerns with strong WR, but also serious questions at QB/TE</div>
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6) Laurie - Gotta get big years from some young guys, but has some blue bloods to pick up slack</div>
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7) Matt - Just enough upside to keep him out of the cellar</div>
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8) Emily - Where did you think I'd put you? Not likely to finish last, just not likely to finish first.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-88225311322250431332016-09-07T23:09:00.004-04:002016-09-07T23:09:43.995-04:00Frameshmania '16 Draft Review!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My schedule is all over the place this week so I figured there was no time like the present to get this done. A little bit more quick-and-dirty than in previous years, but hey, which of us is the commissioner for the Boston Red Sox front office fantasy league, hm?</div>
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Let's get going.</div>
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Alex</div>
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Taking LeVeon Bell is going to make anyone's draft go a little different than optimal, but having Latavius Murray as the fill-in ain't bad. A lot of WR depth here, including the bizarre double-Arizona tandem, and then a bunch of fliers in the back end of the RB group. Definitely the worst QB situation in the league, and Phil taking Brees right ahead of me was a pretty rough break for my squad as a whole. </div>
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QB: 3</div>
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RB: 7</div>
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WR: 9</div>
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TE: 6</div>
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DEF: 6</div>
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Laurie</div>
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I was thankful for her taking David Johnson at 5, but I think she did a good job filling in behind him with Hyde, Jennings, and Henry. There's a lot of risk in the receiver group but a lot of bounceback potential in Jeffery, Hilton, and Cobb, with a solid guy in Maclin behind. Gronk and Palmer are potential injury risks as well but should be solid while available.</div>
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QB: 7</div>
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RB: 4</div>
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WR: 7</div>
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TE: 10</div>
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DEF: 5</div>
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Phil</div>
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He and I cannibalized from each other a bit, as we each took RBs missing time (Charles, Bell) and took the other's handcuff. The RB depth is questionable here until Charles is in full gear and/or Gordon delivers on his promise. Really like the bench in general, in particular Torrey Smith and Martellus Bennett. I was also very high on Brees and the Seahawks D this year so it's definitely a solid all-around roster with a few key players who I'm concerned won't live up to expectations (Anderson, Benjamin, Charles).</div>
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QB: 8</div>
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RB: 7</div>
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WR: 4</div>
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TE: 7</div>
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DEF: 10</div>
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JM</div>
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Loooove Peterson/McCoy at RB, but behind them is a whole lot of nothing, and they're no spring chickens. Wilson was a reach where he took him, and having Luck behind only works out if he can swing a trade to get maybe an upgrade at RB3 or WR3. Deep if unspectacular receiver group with a nice mix of safety and upside (in particular with Lockett/Parker on the bench), and a top-flight DEF/K combo (for what that's worth).</div>
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QB: 9</div>
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RB: 7</div>
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WR: 7</div>
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TE: 8</div>
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DEF: 9</div>
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Kyle</div>
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The man who always loads up at RB does it again, as he gets two of the top 5 backs and three intriguing injury-concern starters in Mathews, Foster, and Jones. He will rely heavily on the Jordy Nelson comeback as he also took Rodgers. Also did his patented draft-for-the-playoffs by taking both Gordon and Eifert. Very much a swing-for-the-fences roster that I'm really intrigued by.</div>
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QB: 9</div>
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RB: 10</div>
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WR: 8</div>
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TE: 8</div>
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DEF: 7</div>
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Jesse</div>
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If Romo comes back within 6 weeks and/or Dak is an average QB, this is an unbelievable receiving group. A month ago Brown, Robinson, and Dez were at worst 3 of the top 7 receivers. Freeman/Forte/Langford is a scary RB group, and Jesse has a bunch of platoon guys behind them that he hopes pan out. He went Brady/Roethlisberger back-to-back and I like that play a lot, although Ben probably won't be at the peak of his powers without Bell in the lineup at the start of the season.</div>
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QB: 8</div>
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RB: 3</div>
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WR: 10</div>
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TE: 4</div>
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DEF: 8</div>
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Matt</div>
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This doesn't happen often with Matt (after all, he had never had a pick below 2), but I don't really like his team at all. I think Miller/Stewart/Hill/Gore is fine at RB but not riddled with upside, and while Hopkins/Marshall/Allen/Moncrief is a great top 4 at receiver, it doesn't really make up for a below average roster pretty much everywhere else. I would be much happier with this team if Bradford was still in Philly, but with a rookie QB throwing to Ertz and Matthews I'm not impressed. Also, Jimmy Graham. Sigh.</div>
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QB: 4</div>
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RB: 5</div>
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WR: 9</div>
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TE: 2</div>
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DEF: 7</div>
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Emily</div>
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A lot of downside to this roster with not as much upside as you'd like for that risk. Lacy, Murray, and Thomas are all coming off disappointing years and have similarly unsettling circumstances coming into this year. Rawls is interesting but unproven and hurt as of now. Cam is obviously a stud and having Stafford behind is solid, and there's some interesting safety/upside stuff on the bench with Brown, Crabtree, and Blount. Just not much to write home about.</div>
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QB: 10</div>
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RB: 4</div>
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WR: 5</div>
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TE: 7</div>
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DEF: 5</div>
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So what does this all add up to? Well, if you weight QB/RB/WR twice and TE/DEF once and add up the scores, here are the rankings:</div>
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69 - Kyle</div>
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63 - Jon-Michael</div>
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55 - Phil</div>
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54 - Jesse</div>
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51 - Laurie</div>
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50 - Alex</div>
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50 - Emily</div>
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45 - Matt</div>
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And actually that looks pretty good to me. Kyle's rating doesn't build in the amount of risk he's put into his roster, so that could easily crash and burn, but it's almost so much upside that it's likely to work out in some way, shape, or form. But Jon-Michael is right there and if he can swing a trade of Luck to upgrade at another position, it's an interesting squad (don't wanna jinx it though). </div>
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Poor Matt. Get well soon.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-33551180355850240802015-08-27T20:48:00.000-04:002015-08-27T20:48:14.635-04:00Frameshmania '15 Draft Review!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Welcome back to the wonderful world of Frameshmania! We have ourselves a nice long fantasy draft review, chock full of round-by-round recaps and team-by-team analysis. I used an arbitrary 1-10 scoring system for each position and then arbitrarily scaled the value of each position, so you're going to really feel confident about the score I give each team. In case you're wondering, I've been pretty passable at predicting how this league will pan out over the last couple years (last year's top three regular season finishers were picked 3rd, 2nd, and 7th, and 2013's were picked 3rd, 2nd, and 1st), so maybe this isn't such a useless exercise after all. <br />
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Anyway, onto the draft!<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 1</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(1) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Le'Veon Bell RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(2) Hoosier Daddy - Eddie Lacy RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(3) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Jamaal Charles RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(4) Sabotage The League - C.J. Anderson RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(5) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Adrian Peterson RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(6) Frank Bored - Marshawn Lynch RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(7) Hometown Mamas - Antonio Brown WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(8) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - DeMarco Murray RB </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 2</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(9) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - LeSean McCoy RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(10) Hometown Mamas - Jeremy Hill RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(11) Frank Bored - Matt Forte RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(12) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Calvin Johnson WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(13) Sabotage The League - Demaryius Thomas WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(14) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Julio Jones WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(15) Hoosier Daddy - Dez Bryant WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(16) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Odell Beckham Jr. WR </span><br />
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Matt was hemming and hawwing right up to the start of the draft, but eventually settled on Bell, citing the fact that everyone makes the playoffs, so having a player miss a guaranteed two weeks at the start of the season isn't so bad (those who wanted Bell to drop can thank Kyle for the inception of that idea). He followed that up by taking OBJ, which is a fine pick considering that the elite receivers were flying off the board at that time (although I personally have him a little lower than some guys who have shown a larger body of work and don't have to depend on Eli Manning). In fact, only Jon-Michael and Emily went RB/RB instead of some combination of RB and WR. Phil provided the shocking pick of the first two rounds, taking CJ Anderson above at least two players that were definitely expected to be drafted higher. He invoked his patented "butthead clause" in overlooking Peterson and Lynch, and didn't want to start his team off without a running back. Time will tell if he looks smart or not, but it's the first time I feel like that policy has caused him to really shake up the draft. I would also be remiss not to mention the incumbent/replacement combo that Emily put together of McCoy and Murray at the turn. <br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 3</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(17) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Aaron Rodgers QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(18) Hoosier Daddy - Andrew Luck QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(19) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - A.J. Green WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(20) Sabotage The League - Randall Cobb WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(21) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Alshon Jeffery WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(22) Frank Bored - Rob Gronkowski TE </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(23) Hometown Mamas - Alfred Morris RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(24) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - T.Y. Hilton WR </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 4</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(25) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Peyton Manning QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(26) Hometown Mamas - Mike Evans WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(27) Frank Bored - Russell Wilson QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(28) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Lamar Miller RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(29) Sabotage The League - Jonathan Stewart RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(30) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Mark Ingram RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(31) Hoosier Daddy - Carlos Hyde RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(32) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Brandin Cooks WR </span><br />
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We had a little not-terribly-surprising run on QBs at the start of the third round, which is a fine way to go for the teams that went RB/WR in the first two. We also saw all of the top-tier receivers disappear in this group, with Jon-Michael ending up the only player without a receiver at all from that crop, instead opting for the top QB/TE strategy. Emily might have jumped the gun slightly by taking Peyton at the top of the fourth round, but when you've got bunched up picks that is almost guaranteed to happen. Laurie might have overdrafted Alfred Morris a little as well (considering she had another pick three picks later), but I don't think she would have ended up with a very different result in the end anyway. Other than that, there's not much exciting here -- Phil did grab Cobb to really cement his Week 7 loss though.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 5</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(33) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Frank Gore RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(34) Hoosier Daddy - Jordan Matthews WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(35) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Emmanuel Sanders WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(36) Sabotage The League - Melvin Gordon RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(37) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Justin Forsett RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(38) Frank Bored - DeAndre Hopkins WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(39) Hometown Mamas - Jimmy Graham TE </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(40) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Julian Edelman WR </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 6</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(41) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Todd Gurley RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(42) Hometown Mamas - Drew Brees QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(43) Frank Bored - Latavius Murray RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(44) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Keenan Allen WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(45) Sabotage The League - Andre Ellington RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(46) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Joseph Randle RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(47) Hoosier Daddy - Amari Cooper WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(48) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Vincent Jackson WR </span><br />
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This is the point in the draft where the players you're really confident in have disappeared, and where there's a little less chalk coming off the board. Jesse messed up the plans of at least my mom and myself in taking Matthews early in the fifth, and Laurie responded by grabbing her own QB/TE combination in the former teammates Brees and Graham. I really liked Kyle's picks in these rounds as upside plays, because there are plenty of doubts about both Forsett and Allen but both could very easily end up top-15 players at their positions. Jon-Michael finally took his first receiver in Hopkins, and followed it up with a further solidification of his running backs with Murray. Phil loaded up on running backs, getting some nice upside himself in Gordon and Ellington. Matt's picks were probably the least intriguing because of the age of the players, but if Gore can have a Bradshaw-esque impact and Jameis Winston is any good, he could have some nice stability coming out of this round.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 7</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(49) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - T.J. Yeldon RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(50) Hoosier Daddy - C.J. Spiller RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(51) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Greg Olsen TE </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(52) Sabotage The League - Tom Brady QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(53) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Matt Ryan QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(54) Frank Bored - Andre Johnson WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(55) Hometown Mamas - Sammy Watkins WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(56) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Martellus Bennett TE </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 8</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(57) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Tony Romo QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(58) Hometown Mamas - Joique Bell RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(59) Frank Bored - Brandon Marshall WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(60) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Golden Tate WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(61) Sabotage The League - Travis Kelce TE </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(62) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Ben Roethlisberger QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(63) Hoosier Daddy - Mike Wallace WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(64) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Davante Adams WR </span><br />
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The most obviously interesting pick in this group was Phil's selection of Tom Brady ahead of Ryan, Romo, Roethlisberger, and Newton. I just think that he absolutely could have waited on Brady, and barring some kind of F-you season like 2007, I just don't think the upside is there. The selections of Brady and Ryan in the 7th left me as the only team without a quarterback, but once Emily backed Peyton up with Romo, I had to pull the trigger on Roethlisberger before people started freaking out about backup quarterbacks. We also saw three tight ends go off the board, and I think Phil did the best in terms of value, considering most experts' positive outlook on Kelce. As a result of the QB/TE runs, we only saw three running backs go off the board here, and they have some serious injury/workload/Jaguars questions. I think Matt got a steal in Adams, who I might have taken a round and half earlier if it wouldn't have messed up my bye weeks. Jon-Michael filled out his receiving corps with some old guys on new teams that should be just fine if not spectacular.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 9</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(65) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - LeGarrette Blount RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(66) Hoosier Daddy - Ryan Mathews RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(67) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Chris Ivory RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(68) Sabotage The League - Cam Newton QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(69) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Arian Foster RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(70) Frank Bored - Giovani Bernard RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(71) Hometown Mamas - Nelson Agholor WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(72) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Anquan Boldin WR </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 10</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(73) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Rashad Jennings RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(74) Hometown Mamas - Isaiah Crowell RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(75) Frank Bored - Torrey Smith WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(76) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Jason Witten TE </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(77) Sabotage The League - Doug Martin RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(78) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - DeSean Jackson WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(79) Hoosier Daddy - Martavis Bryant WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(80) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Allen Robinson WR </span><br />
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The watershed pick in these rounds is clearly Arian Foster to Kyle, who is all about preparing for the playoff run, and can immediately throw him in the IR slot and pick up some depth. We also finally got a resolution on how far Desean Jackson would fall (34 slots by the ESPN rankings), while some buzzy young receivers also started finding homes. There were still some lead backs available, so I liked Phil's pick of Martin at the late end of that range. I don't know if Jesse took Mathews a little bit too early, but it definitely hurts Emily not to have that tandem in case one of them gets hurt (which is a fairly common scenario). I think she also missed an opportunity to get a little more razzle-dazzle out of her receivers by taking Boldin over some of the more boom-or-bust guys, but who knows who pans out. Phil also found his early-season starter in Cam, who could have easily been a team's starter had the draft (or Kelvin Benjamin) fallen differently.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 11</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(81) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Jarvis Landry WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(82) Hoosier Daddy - Jeremy Maclin WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(83) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Ameer Abdullah RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(84) Sabotage The League - Bishop Sankey RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(85) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Ryan Tannehill QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(86) Frank Bored - Seahawks D/ST D/ST </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(87) Hometown Mamas - Alfred Blue RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(88) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Steven Hauschka K </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 12</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(89) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Browns D/ST D/ST </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(90) Hometown Mamas - Teddy Bridgewater QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(91) Frank Bored - Tevin Coleman RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(92) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Julius Thomas TE </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(93) Sabotage The League - Larry Fitzgerald WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(94) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Charles Johnson WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(95) Hoosier Daddy - Jordan Cameron TE </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(96) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Shane Vereen RB </span><br />
<br />
It's Defense and Kicker Time! Jon-Michael took the plunge with the Seahawks, and then Emily followed that up with a kicker-defense tandem pick (selecting the Browns just because they play the Jets Week 1 -- sorry Matt). Kyle took a backup tight end and a backup QB, and Laurie took a solid early-week option in Blue and what I view as an excellent backup QB in Bridgewater. At this point there's not much to debate because you can mostly take who you want, so that's about it. I will say that Jesse getting Maclin in the 11th round is probably going to work out awesomely.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 13</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(97) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Devonta Freeman RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(98) Hoosier Daddy - Roddy White WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(99) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Texans D/ST D/ST </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(100) Sabotage The League - Rams D/ST D/ST </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(101) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Tre Mason RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(102) Frank Bored - Robert Griffin QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(103) Hometown Mamas - Eagles D/ST D/ST </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(104) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Victor Cruz WR </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 14</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(105) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Duke Johnson RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(106) Hometown Mamas - Michael Floyd WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(107) Frank Bored - Stephen Gostkowski K </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(108) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Sam Bradford QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(109) Sabotage The League - Brian Quick WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(110) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Justin Tucker K </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(111) Hoosier Daddy - Bills D/ST D/ST </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(112) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Jets D/ST D/ST </span><br />
<br />
For the 13th and 14th round, this section had a lot of intrigue. I violated my usual tenets by taking both a defense and a kicker, because I was confident that I would get the players I wanted in the last two rounds. My hopes were dashed when Kyle took Sam Bradford as his third quarterback (after which I yelled "NOOOOOOO!" for about 12 seconds). Laurie might have been a little aggressive in taking the Eagles' D that high, but I do think they'll be better fantasy-wise than in real life because of their special teams. It's just that Jesse getting the Bills at the end of the 14th is a better value. Some really interesting fliers come up in these rounds as well, with Emily taking Victor Cruz and Phil going with Brian Quick (he is the #1 receiver and flashed for a couple weeks last year). Jon-Michael is going to cry for RGIIIna one more year, it appears.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 15</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(113) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Adam Vinatieri K </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(114) Hoosier Daddy - Matt Prater K </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(115) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Matthew Stafford QB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(116) Sabotage The League - Connor Barth K </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(117) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Cody Parkey K </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(118) Frank Bored - Pierre Garcon WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(119) Hometown Mamas - Delanie Walker TE </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(120) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Antonio Gates TE </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Round: 16</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(121) I Don't Give an Andrew Luck - Eric Decker WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(122) Hometown Mamas - Dan Bailey K </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(123) Frank Bored - Danny Woodhead RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(124) DelCo's Side-Arm Stud - Dolphins D/ST D/ST </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(125) Sabotage The League - Jonas Gray RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(126) Salt Lake City Big Tymers - Knile Davis RB </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(127) Hoosier Daddy - Brandon LaFell WR </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a2a37; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(128) J - E - T - S JETS JETS JETS - Zach Ertz TE</span><br />
<br />
Props to Matt for waiting until his last pick to take a tight end. There's some serious potential value there. We also saw some really potentially productive receivers go off the board in Garcon, Decker, and LaFell. Emily got a nice stash in Gates, although I'm not sure if she will be able to place him in the IR slot if he's suspended. I picked up my backup QB and handcuff RB, which is basically what I planned on doing. I love Kyle's defense pick, because a team whose first six games are Redskins-Jaguars-Bills-Jets-Titans-Texans is a lock to be in the top 5 by the end of that stretch.<br />
<br />
And now, for the team reviews!<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYVdSuvV9Z1o1liwJC-jI5s-bW6jmO1CaRr93MaowxQA8QF-CEAWHgoiM6pBnk_d534H-2bdcD3d3LMWlIX_i3VuQV__nkb2ivntQ0y0TJDm4NxChBPjg5R6yhQODkqzgm9NYn9YA8o0k/s1600/Alex.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYVdSuvV9Z1o1liwJC-jI5s-bW6jmO1CaRr93MaowxQA8QF-CEAWHgoiM6pBnk_d534H-2bdcD3d3LMWlIX_i3VuQV__nkb2ivntQ0y0TJDm4NxChBPjg5R6yhQODkqzgm9NYn9YA8o0k/s400/Alex.png" width="227" /></a><b><u>Alex</u></b><br />
<br />
I was the last team to take a quarterback, but considering I would have had Big Ben fifth among QBs I'm totally fine with that. I balance that out with a studly trio of starting receivers and an average-at-worst tight end situation. The running back group leaves something to be desired, but getting a handcuff to Charles and a few guys who are likely to have the lion's share of the workload should be OK to fill the second running back slot (after all, the flex will almost always be a receiver).<br />
<br />
<b>QB: 4</b><br />
<b>RB: 3</b><br />
<b>WR: 9</b><br />
<b>TE: 6</b><br />
<b>D/K: 8</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Total: [(20*4) + (30*3) + (30*9) + (10*6) + (5*8)] / 95 = 5.68</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0IsuXBzqwual5TMBhBXfdnwhsvgB-bxU_ePN3PRgtAGti7_0ZXj9UZIJTDd_XDLCVVR3Tj8O3PBvO6mFeAVBL8TdPRJc1TyrwzGdAHfiQ4EPULnsBqYUBluaPeWIWxfjd9VFUuSk61N4/s1600/Emily.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0IsuXBzqwual5TMBhBXfdnwhsvgB-bxU_ePN3PRgtAGti7_0ZXj9UZIJTDd_XDLCVVR3Tj8O3PBvO6mFeAVBL8TdPRJc1TyrwzGdAHfiQ4EPULnsBqYUBluaPeWIWxfjd9VFUuSk61N4/s400/Emily.png" width="222" /></a></div>
<b><u>Emily</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
I will say that the first thing Phil said after scanning the rosters post-draft was that he liked Emily's team. I'm not sure how much I agree given some of the odd picks she made throughout the draft, but the final roster looks fine.. She's got some very intriguing running backs behind the horses in Murray and McCoy, but there are serious questions about how much those two will perform this year. The receiver group is very deep and unlikely to flame out, but doesn't have the high-end studs that some other teams do. Bennett is another one of those just-fine options at tight end that shouldn't be a problem to just slot in week-to-week, and having Gates as a fallback is intriguing.<br />
<br />
<b>QB: 8</b><br />
<b>RB: 8</b><br />
<b>WR: 3</b><br />
<b>TE: 5</b><br />
<b>D/K: 5</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Total: [(20*8) + (30*8) + (30*3) + (10*5) + (5*5)] / 95 = 5.95</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMWlDX_6ih6cDpBiXYjN7kTVSYnFyIW72o9Eq3u-iikPFPQkK8IF6PQJQhRdhTiK6Kgi_VPJK8uIBv038ksCxDQP-CkrbgXslyYlNzEdqSohPfVCMGYDCCa9rvoQphE2068oNtNWKY-s/s1600/Jesse.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMWlDX_6ih6cDpBiXYjN7kTVSYnFyIW72o9Eq3u-iikPFPQkK8IF6PQJQhRdhTiK6Kgi_VPJK8uIBv038ksCxDQP-CkrbgXslyYlNzEdqSohPfVCMGYDCCa9rvoQphE2068oNtNWKY-s/s400/Jesse.png" width="221" /></a></div>
<b><u>Jesse</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
This roster is really intriguing, featuring four popular first-and-second-year sleepers in Hyde, Cooper, Matthews, and Bryant (and the latter celebrated by getting himself suspended). The problem is that that construction brings with it a fair amount of risk, which may force him into some uncomfortable situations. I like Mathews as a bench option that could easily end up a viable flex play even without an injury to DeMarco, but unless that happens there is a serious lack of depth at RB. Having Luck and therefore forgoing a backup QB should allow Jesse to work around some of those issues should they come up.<br />
<br />
<b>QB: 9</b><br />
<b>RB: 3</b><br />
<b>WR: 7</b><br />
<b>TE: 3</b><br />
<b>D/K: 8</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Total: [(20*9) + (30*3) + (30*7) + (10*3) + (5*8)] / 95 = 5.79</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTm-bcUSILPTdqCNZIlUZfwnFl2_PL-uxU0XuMrYmwnOfVQtaYoAXY5CQdibY2b6LDDlmVW_7G5bv9aRMJS3J805CSDfbxfS5KskP9dZz0ga3jcXvnQCaSTKhwqdP1twQW0sElTRj2kYg/s1600/JM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTm-bcUSILPTdqCNZIlUZfwnFl2_PL-uxU0XuMrYmwnOfVQtaYoAXY5CQdibY2b6LDDlmVW_7G5bv9aRMJS3J805CSDfbxfS5KskP9dZz0ga3jcXvnQCaSTKhwqdP1twQW0sElTRj2kYg/s400/JM.png" width="225" /></a></div>
<b><u>Jon-Michael</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
Jon-Michael definitely has an older roster on average, but he is essentially reaping the benefits of other teams' fear of older players. I think Lynch, Forte, and Marshall all represent really strong values (I am a little hesitant on Johnson), and I think Murray and Hopkins are fine if not spectacular as an infusion of youth. I don't love a lot of the bench choices, but Coleman is a nice sleeper pick and Garcon was very undervalued. And at the end of the day, the only starting position that is a worry at all is WR, but there's plenty of opportunity to maneuver around that.<br />
<br />
<b>QB: 7</b><br />
<b>RB: 8</b><br />
<b>WR: 3</b><br />
<b>TE: 9</b><br />
<b>D/K: 10</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Total: [(20*7) + (30*8) + (30*3) + (10*9) + (5*10)] / 95 = 6.42</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhIqQDiRrR98v7DHTOveCyWPJpVNpvbn_R0mlARtqwsdLXUhT5eXw1DtnxwEYuhokpagxUq49Pgt5vfQz45t9z-dOIHzGW64JL82Lc83P_Y2H37eHg8snonPgOxccjqD8Q6EAKVvUQmjA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-27+at+7.55.24+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhIqQDiRrR98v7DHTOveCyWPJpVNpvbn_R0mlARtqwsdLXUhT5eXw1DtnxwEYuhokpagxUq49Pgt5vfQz45t9z-dOIHzGW64JL82Lc83P_Y2H37eHg8snonPgOxccjqD8Q6EAKVvUQmjA/s400/Screen+Shot+2015-08-27+at+7.55.24+PM.png" width="213" /></a></div>
<b><u>Kyle</u></b><br />
<br />
He tends to make a few picks that zig while others zag, and the selections of Calvin Johnson (above DT, Julio, and Dez), Sam Bradford (as a third quarterback), and Arian Foster (out for a bit), but I think it's going to work out great for him. First of all, there are reports that Foster may not even miss a month, at which point that pick is a crazy value. He's got virtually no chance of a bust at QB, and took Tate as a handcuff to Calvin (a fact that was lost on me during the draft). I think that Forsett is a very viable third running back, but an even better fourth once Foster returns.<br />
<br />
<b>QB: 6</b><br />
<b>RB: 8</b><br />
<b>WR: 6</b><br />
<b>TE: 5</b><br />
<b>D/K: 6</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Total: [(20*6) + (30*8) + (30*6) + (10*5) + (5*6)] / 95 = 6.53</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWdVxTlwUbrWxlGr0ArY-9S5haJDPsgcy1diy9eUe5MCVS_pAeUrw2zBDHyYUe3kEY4gARhB9clUqC9KwxYTsXtXPlF26ysXJlV0Kz97s4TnMDAnXYEiHmnqfbKxcwi0-XycaqRnt2SU/s1600/Laurie.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWdVxTlwUbrWxlGr0ArY-9S5haJDPsgcy1diy9eUe5MCVS_pAeUrw2zBDHyYUe3kEY4gARhB9clUqC9KwxYTsXtXPlF26ysXJlV0Kz97s4TnMDAnXYEiHmnqfbKxcwi0-XycaqRnt2SU/s400/Laurie.png" width="226" /></a></div>
<b><u>Laurie</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
She didn't mean to take Brees and Graham again, I swear. Both players come off down years, but if they can deliver at close to their previous levels, this is a viable team. She has solid depth if not peak talent at running back, while she will rely on some relatively unproven young receivers in Evans, Watkins, and Agholor. I think she'll need those guys to blow up to really contend if Brees and Graham don't return to glory, but maybe a repeat of the Eagles' excellent special teams year could provide a boost.<br />
<br />
<b>QB: 7</b><br />
<b>RB: 3</b><br />
<b>WR: 5</b><br />
<b>TE: 7</b><br />
<b>D/K: 7</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Total: [(20*7) + (30*3) + (30*5) + (10*7) + (5*7)] / 95 = 5.11</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz_LEAVOEIrgn51PCt9cX_5FnsbkZzlGr4qYlnqwArfYRfibUNkbDmQaxmmnN3rPGC8VFtnu_1cJK7BP3mfy2TzqF6JHArbLLGo0MlQ1G6GfSuwd3D9c_8DhXhaT7l8leNxQuDCUCVQVo/s1600/Matt.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz_LEAVOEIrgn51PCt9cX_5FnsbkZzlGr4qYlnqwArfYRfibUNkbDmQaxmmnN3rPGC8VFtnu_1cJK7BP3mfy2TzqF6JHArbLLGo0MlQ1G6GfSuwd3D9c_8DhXhaT7l8leNxQuDCUCVQVo/s400/Matt.png" width="225" /></a></div>
<b><u>Matt</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
After all the worrying about what to do with the first pick, I'm not sure that Matt did a great job ensuring depth for the first couple weeks behind Bell. I think he has an awesomely deep receiving corps that will likely offer him some serious trade options, and that helps the running backs merely by basically ensuring he doesn't need one at the flex. Rodgers is going to be a stud regardless of Nelson's injury, but maybe that and taking a tight end as the last pick of the draft makes this team a little less than stellar. Also, he picked the Jets defense. Props.<br />
<br />
<b>QB: 9</b><br />
<b>RB: 3</b><br />
<b>WR: 7</b><br />
<b>TE: 3</b><br />
<b>D/K: 5</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Total: [(20*9) + (30*3) + (30*7) + (10*3) + (5*5)] / 95 = 5.63</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7IXbe_zkHGnAH2svV9YrDDv6L4Hp7ENEP2Wv2YY2P8kPC65nwAa_2jpr52hc3n1WVn_oPcRH_JdYZJ_9ud_scjYK3iAjsuJ-j0l-oblIiV_LIPCNYCZui2N2WiPeh164MtAGIuHM3Cg/s1600/Phil.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7IXbe_zkHGnAH2svV9YrDDv6L4Hp7ENEP2Wv2YY2P8kPC65nwAa_2jpr52hc3n1WVn_oPcRH_JdYZJ_9ud_scjYK3iAjsuJ-j0l-oblIiV_LIPCNYCZui2N2WiPeh164MtAGIuHM3Cg/s400/Phil.png" width="221" /></a></div>
<b><u>Phil</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
So first off, I'm not a fan of the Brady and Anderson picks. We've been over that. But the receivers are good (if top-heavy), the running backs are really deep (even if he could have done without Sankey and Gray), and the tight end is a possible star. In order for this team to really contend, Cam needs to stay upright and run enough to cover the first 5 weeks, and the top two receivers need to stay healthy, which makes me nervous. Oh, and taking a kicker that got cut probably isn't a strong strategy, but whatever.<br />
<br />
<b>QB: 4</b><br />
<b>RB: 7</b><br />
<b>WR: 6</b><br />
<b>TE: 6</b><br />
<b>D/K: 5</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Total: [(20*4) + (30*7) + (30*6) + (10*6) + (5*5)] / 95 = 5.84</b><br />
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So, what do we end up with?<br />
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1) Kyle (6.53)<br />
2) Jon-Michael (6.42)<br />
3) Emily (5.95)<br />
4) Phil (5.84)<br />
5) Jesse (5.79)<br />
6) Alex (5.68)<br />
7) Matt (5.63)<br />
8) Laurie (5.11)<br />
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Considering how close all of these arbitrary scores are, I'd say there's a fair amount of uncertainty to go around. Why don't we just throw out all of these projections and just have Matt win the regular season and Laurie win the championship, hm?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-38677420471805004452014-09-27T10:48:00.002-04:002014-09-27T10:51:07.705-04:00California Glove: 6 sporting events in 3 cities in 7 days<div>
I'm going to lead off this post with the following: </div>
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1) Full disclosure: this was my mom's idea</div>
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2) Since the readership of this blog is limited, many of you will have heard much of this already.</div>
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Deal with it.</div>
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Every year, a group of guys from work go to a different NFL city to go to a game and do some outdoors / touristy things in the surrounding area for a long weekend. In previous years, that led them to places like Dallas, New Orleans, Chicago, and Denver. This year, the choice was San Francisco, notable because of the weather, the quality NFL team, and the other activities that would present themselves in that area -- in particular, other sporting events. The Bay Area sports two baseball teams, two NFL teams, and a handful of college football teams, all of whom play at around the same time in the year. As it turned out, the weekend of September 12th featured a Giants series, a Stanford football game, and the home opener for the new 49ers stadium. Costly, but awesome.<br />
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As it turns out, I have a friend who lives in LA who I had not seen in a while, and it seemed like a trip to California would be a good opportunity to make a pit stop a short flight away to visit her. However, since the trip to San Fran was from Thursday to Monday, I would have to force her to take multiple days off work mid-week to roll out the red carpet for my awesomeness. That didn't seem very nice, so I thought about what I could do to burn a couple days in the middle of the week so I could get to LA by Friday and put less strain on her schedule.</div>
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At that point, it became obvious that this was a superb opportunity to not only do some touristy things in the area, but also take a big bite out of the list of MLB stadiums I need to visit. I had already gone to 8 (PHI, PIT, BOS, WAS, BAL, ATL, CHC, MIA), and had recently decided that I had a life goal to see all 30 teams at home (I wouldn't bother with re-visiting if they built a new stadium, unless it was super-special-awesome). As there are a total of 4 teams in California (after the Giants) and four days between Monday and Thursday, this was a prime opportunity.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPLANAtFsBBzd_UU3EiYLJH4NwjKjhTBhzWl96-URohIEb7TvRe3ErLBHVX6orJ-Ev8OOqI9BaLp0cDUMOiuuBcyEWbGy67xq-bcDXa2JHgLFedGyqbCOcnoKsAdrRBoEfIj9EeGBox0/s1600/2014-09-08+10.04.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPLANAtFsBBzd_UU3EiYLJH4NwjKjhTBhzWl96-URohIEb7TvRe3ErLBHVX6orJ-Ev8OOqI9BaLp0cDUMOiuuBcyEWbGy67xq-bcDXa2JHgLFedGyqbCOcnoKsAdrRBoEfIj9EeGBox0/s1600/2014-09-08+10.04.48.jpg" height="320" width="301" /></a></div>
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Unfortunately, as it turned out, the schedule wasn't totally kind, but I was able to find games Tuesday in Oakland, Wednesday in San Diego, and Thursday in Anaheim (as it turned out, the following Monday would have been a Dodgers game, but we live and learn). That ended up with a total of 6 professional / big-time-collegiate games live in the span of 7 days. In the spirit of the trip, my parents gave me the book "I Don't Care If We Never Get Back" about two recent graduates who went to games at all 30 baseball stadiums in 30 days. I read the first couple chapters before leaving for the trip, but I promised myself that I'd find a way to finish it before I returned, in some kind of poetic fashion. Anyway, here is the story of my substantially-less-stressful edition of that trip concept.<br />
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<b><u>Friday, September 12th -- San Francisco Giants</u></b></div>
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These work trips have the Vegas-esque motto of "What happens in Anytown, USA stays in Anytown, USA", so I won't go into any exciting details here. Not that there are too many -- remember, I'm there. Anyway, Friday included a long, steep hike through an area around the Muir Woods that included redwoods, winding roads adjacent to cliffs over the Pacific, and discussions about Adrian Peterson's parenting skills. The area is just ridiculously picturesque.</div>
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But the Giants-Dodgers game was in a couple hours, so we navigated rush hour traffic back to the hotel. One questionably-legal cab ride later, we had arrived just outside AT&T Stadium, which is considered to be one of the best in the league at the moment, and you can see why when you get there. Lots of brick, almost inconspicuous between the Embarcadero and the bay, and there was a palpable energy as two rival teams met up to begin a crucial three-game series.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82uT1ZGG2UOrka9hgNoqd8PxM3IqTefwxWOufRau8AuKnhHuKIaMUnb5Nci4EALVHlFEVhz-sLhnMGttglgtB6G0HMdIBjALDQGVT7aLiRNa0kYFMItkkjE7vNYVO-bI8xasEp0WyS3M/s1600/2014-09-12+19.22.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82uT1ZGG2UOrka9hgNoqd8PxM3IqTefwxWOufRau8AuKnhHuKIaMUnb5Nci4EALVHlFEVhz-sLhnMGttglgtB6G0HMdIBjALDQGVT7aLiRNa0kYFMItkkjE7vNYVO-bI8xasEp0WyS3M/s1600/2014-09-12+19.22.01.jpg" height="348" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a><br />
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We had seats scattered around right-center field, with the wall bordering McCovey Cove to our left. My seats were right in the first couple rows behind the fence, which was great for viewing but also great for hecklers. With the rivalry between these teams, there was a lot of yelling from fans at the other team's outfielders and at opposing fans, and there was just generally an animosity in the air. My impression of the Giants fans, and this may be tainted by the fact that it was an important series, was that they knew their stuff but were very callous and verbally aggressive. I saw a lot of yelling, snide remarks, and even a Giants fan faking to reach out a hand towards a Dodgers fan that had slipped on the stairs. Just wasn't a positive environment. Also, the stadium employees were awfully strict about language, loitering, and who sat where, and this seemed like a pretty common trend across the San Francisco area for whatever reason. I don't know, it just rubbed me the wrong way. Also, all beers were upwards of $10! Who does that?<br />
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Anyway, good stadium, good location, good weather, good team, and at least the fans show up to the games.<br />
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<b>Experience Rank: 5th</b><br />
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<b><u>Saturday, September 13th -- Stanford Cardinal</u></b><br />
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Having gone to Penn and not its State counterpart, I have never really experienced big-time college athletics. This was a great opportunity to see a game at what might as well be deemed the Perfect University, with great location, academics, and athletics. We drove out to Palo Alto in the late morning for an early afternoon start, and drove into the lawn parking lot alongside young whippersnappers making sandwiches and lighting up grills. We asked which direction campus was (n00bs) and headed over to an area next to the stadium, where there was a sort of pep / food rally pre-game. There we found the band, cheerleaders, inflatable obstacle courses, food carts, and "Nerd Nation" shirts. With the game being against Army, we had heard that there would be a pre-game ceremony honoring military service organizations, so we headed over to the stadium kinda early.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtTAofKU-3jiD1ndU26am1oRyUOLAatrTSwYE3uRn7ZsX-L6Hq_oSSXqbfB2mlwDEBQShs-inhPfLta5bYF9l05VpGPQ2MNjfQjj89pGvZ-v-AWRR1Mz1WGmqAnmWn5tLj90dPMSi0ze8/s1600/2014-09-13+14.55.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtTAofKU-3jiD1ndU26am1oRyUOLAatrTSwYE3uRn7ZsX-L6Hq_oSSXqbfB2mlwDEBQShs-inhPfLta5bYF9l05VpGPQ2MNjfQjj89pGvZ-v-AWRR1Mz1WGmqAnmWn5tLj90dPMSi0ze8/s1600/2014-09-13+14.55.09.jpg" height="272" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a><br />
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Stanford Stadium is part of a collection of several sports fields all next to each other on one side of campus, including some legit-looking baseball/softball fields. The stadium is at ground level, but it's surrounded by a hill that ascends to the second deck of seats, so it's got a sort of deceptive feel to it from the inside versus outside. The inside is relatively uneventful, although it was remarkably clean for a stadium (perhaps because it was still just the third week of the season and only the second home game). Once in the stadium, a few things jumped out to me, and only one of them was remotely football related:<br />
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<ol>
<li>Girls at Stanford > Girls at Penn</li>
<li>Attendance at Stanford > Attendance at Penn</li>
<li>Band performance style at Stanford = Band performance style at Penn (intentionally sloppy / flailing with witty commentary from the announcer)</li>
<li>Tree as a mascot? Creepy. Male band leader dressed in black as a witch doctor? Creepier.</li>
<li>Barry Sanders' son plays running back for Stanford! </li>
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We had seats in the upper corner of the stadium, so most of us just wandered the stadium to get a peek from different vantage points. The game itself was a 35-0 rout, so there wasn't too much exciting to pay attention to anyway. We then had dinner and gelato in Mountain View with all the tech geeks, which was nice if for no other reason than to claim I probably bumped shoulders with someone who has done or will do something important.<br />
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<b>Experience Rank: 6th</b><br />
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<b><u>Sunday, September 14th -- San Francisco 49ers</u></b><br />
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West Coast NFL Sundays are a challenge. We all took a ferry to Alcatraz at 9 AM, and the final inactive lists were already available for the early games. Just a lot to deal with. At least the Niners game was the Sunday Night game, so that meant 5:30 local time, and plenty of time to find a bar to watch the early games. We ended up catching the fourth quarter of a few games here and there while settling on a bar, and discussing how each of us was faring fantasy-wise (my opponent was out on the trip after all). Originally, only four of the ten of us had tickets for the game, but like 4 hours before the game four other guys found decent tickets on Stubhub for $100 less than we paid for ours, so we had a veritable crew ready to go.<br />
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This was the first regular-season game for this stadium, and I bet a lot of locals were pretty bummed out from the logistical nightmare it presents. It's about 45 minutes outside San Francisco itself, and we're sort of jumping ahead here, but it was all over the news afterwards that the traffic out of the game was so bad that people still hadn't left the complex after we had already left the game and gotten back to a bar near the hotel. We ended up parking in some private lot a fair walk from the stadium and tossing a football around in an uncoordinated fashion, until we walked over into the opening-game festivities. The stadium had giant images of players with the names "Inaugural" and "Season", and they were giving out "commemorative tickets", which is basically a big heavy reproduction of a generic ticket. Odd giveaway but a cool memento for $325.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFf8WsFyS84d1rqZSuRyCgPH9wekeciGHt39sTi2MPl4IF5S0zE_cIOVibvxlikV5pCtDMx-cHoBaCy_UM79sSAf7N8-iYx7_Jh5QVuyM72TO692H8cPgFi5mKnpSvtJWTm9r9P0M53Kw/s1600/2014-09-14+17.31.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFf8WsFyS84d1rqZSuRyCgPH9wekeciGHt39sTi2MPl4IF5S0zE_cIOVibvxlikV5pCtDMx-cHoBaCy_UM79sSAf7N8-iYx7_Jh5QVuyM72TO692H8cPgFi5mKnpSvtJWTm9r9P0M53Kw/s1600/2014-09-14+17.31.22.jpg" height="328" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">(apologies for weird panorama junk on the right side)</td></tr>
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The stadium itself was even cleaner and brighter than the one at Stanford, having been used just two times ever, and featured such interesting features as a Fantasy Football wall and a four-story stack of suites above one of the sidelines. Oh, and an accompanying app with which you can order food from any seat and have it delivered to you (without any sort of 30-minute guarantee, I'm sure). There were fireworks, fancy National Anthem theatrics, a halftime performance by Snoop Dogg, and appearances form guys like Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, and Barry Bonds (OK, he was just in the stands, but got a huge ovation). We had seats about 25 rows behind one of the goalposts, which were pretty good for seeing how plays develop, as long as they're not on the far end of the field. Having fantasy implications with one of my opponents sitting on one side and a Bears fan who was with us on my other side added to the conversation about every play. All in all, it was a really fun night, and with the overall cost of the trip, I'm not so concerned that it cost me a round trip flight to Texas.<br />
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<b>Experience Rank: 2nd</b><br />
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<b><u>Monday, September 15th -- Bye (sorta)</u></b><br />
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With all of my work compatriots leaving in the morning, that left me all alone for the next day and a half until the A's game the following night. Fortunately, there were plenty of tourist destinations left for me to visit, and there was an Eagles game on Monday Night Football to occupy a good three hours. Even more fortunately, I had found an Eagles bar online that was a 15-minute bus or a 40-minute walk from the hotel I'd be staying at the next two nights. But first, I had to get myself over to that hotel.<br />
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I took my overstuffed bag with me on a brief excursion to the famously crooked part of Lombard Street, Ghirardelli Square, and onto one of them famous cable cars, which took me within a block of my hotel. And that was a godsend, because every other block in downtown San Francisco is a 5-story flight of stairs one way or the other, and carrying anything on your back is literally piling on. Once I got to my Chinatown-tastic hotel and dropped my bag off, it was about 3 hours until game time, and so I threw my concern for my calves by the wayside and decided to walk.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXaXPDU0uNGk9zmi2IXFUY7DMF2go-HLJRUXImqr1bBOBsQ-mswcBGq7XqSwijpVwdMInSkKBIaCgv4DAZ-OX5Nxo0RlrSI2DT5zGoFTARXc3LVPWAS2x_4nvetSbCMyAt9swcvQyW7P8/s1600/2014-09-15+16.59.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXaXPDU0uNGk9zmi2IXFUY7DMF2go-HLJRUXImqr1bBOBsQ-mswcBGq7XqSwijpVwdMInSkKBIaCgv4DAZ-OX5Nxo0RlrSI2DT5zGoFTARXc3LVPWAS2x_4nvetSbCMyAt9swcvQyW7P8/s1600/2014-09-15+16.59.21.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><br />
Upon arriving at Jake's Steaks, I knew I was in the right place. "Eagles Country" banner, bartender wearing an Eagles shirt, pre-game show on the TV. I grabbed the last seat at the bar, ordered a happy-hour $3 beer and cheesesteak, and didn't leave that spot for the next four hours. This wasn't a large place, but there were about 20 people gathered inside and outside the establishment living and dying with every play. I was the only person I saw that actually lived in the Philly area (unsurprisingly), but met lots of Philly area transplants or children of Philly transplants, and it was a really cool experience. Every time the Birds scored a touchdown the bartender disappeared into the back and came out with a tray of green Jell-O shots that he threw indiscriminately to people in the bar, as the Eagles' fight song played on the speakers. Awesome experience, made more awesome by the late-game drama and twice-made field goal to seal the win. And then I walked what seemed uphill both ways back to my "quaint" hotel room, and I may or may not have been sweating upon my return.<br />
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<b>Experience Rank: 3rd</b><br />
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<b><u>Tuesday, September 16th -- Oakland Athletics</u></b><br />
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I had about 8 hours to burn before heading over to O.Co Coliseum for my first solo sporting event ever, so I had a nice jaunt around more of San Francisco's tourist attractions. I spent 2+ hours walking to and from the famous (read: as seen in the Full House opening credits) Painted Ladies, as well as the actual house from Full House. Then I had a late lunch at a sufficiently well-reviewed and dumb-American-friendly Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, and somehow figured out how to take a bus over to the Golden Gate Bridge. That thing is majestic as hell, but I was horrified walking over it. It was just windy enough that I had to hold on to dear life to my hat and phone as I took photos, and in a similar fashion to the night before, I ended up back at my hotel in a sweat.<br />
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I then took the BART with all of the commuters out to the Coliseum, where I had to wait a few minutes before entering because I got there about 100 minutes before first pitch. I mean, I'm here for baseball, what else am I to do but watch baseball? Also, I had bought super-cheap seats in the outfield bleachers that are General Admission, so I wanted to ensure a good seat -- and by good seat, I mean a section that was selected based on the frequency of home runs hit in that stadium, as I had researched it. What I did not realize was that I had decided to sit right smack dab in the middle of a bunch of hooligans.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglTfiumZ0iLMH1sTRgTRmpHnvR8nZ_b1QooxEPpjxMaA639lKS-Y83J2Ts1w85CtbEIdfMBqSRqBR4-pL4rV478LP4tcxE8wVexC01OB9sSnxn3mN0eyL-tZMShvba8IVjqBiJGq7lp34/s1600/2014-09-16+18.58.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglTfiumZ0iLMH1sTRgTRmpHnvR8nZ_b1QooxEPpjxMaA639lKS-Y83J2Ts1w85CtbEIdfMBqSRqBR4-pL4rV478LP4tcxE8wVexC01OB9sSnxn3mN0eyL-tZMShvba8IVjqBiJGq7lp34/s1600/2014-09-16+18.58.18.jpg" height="334" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a><br />
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First off, the Oakland Coliseum is not only one of the older stadiums in the league, it's also the only remaining one that serves both NFL and MLB teams. This makes the decor drab and super-generic, but does provide a certain "charm" when you see the 20-yard-line painted in right field. But once I got to Section 148, there was a lot more life infused into the area. I got there an hour and 20 minutes before the game, and about 30 seats had already been occupied or saved by sweatshirts and A's flags. Yes, flags. As it turns out, this section houses some of the more dedicated and intense fans I've ever seen, a bunch of families who have season tickets and pass down traditions of cheers, superstitions, drum beats, and waving flags. <br />
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I was most certainly an outsider, but one of the women who had arrived before me was super-nice and asked who I was, why I was there, and whether I wanted some Popeye's chicken and a biscuit. Let's just say I was able to skip the $15 expenditure on ballpark food for the evening. I sat with a front-row seat to two shows: the A's continuing to decline on the field as they lost 6-3 to the lowly Rangers, and the unique cheers for Adam Dunn and Eric Sogard and jeers for the previously-unknown Rangers right fielder that held his post just yards from the crowd. And every inning you'd hear "Hey fans!" coming from the speakers as an overzealous brightly-dressed woman interviewed some of the few fans that managed to come to the game or awkwardly draped her arms over their shoulders as they sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".<br />
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<b>Experience Rank: 4th</b><br />
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<b><u>Wednesday, September 17th -- San Diego Padres</u></b><br />
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Woke up, grabbed some See's Candy, and a train, plane, and bus later, I was at my "hotel" in downtown San Diego. I put quotes there because I'm not sure hotels typically have: faded stickers on the elevator buttons to tell you which floor it is, shared bathrooms with toilets that have been clogged because European guys don't want to find a trash can, a 10x10 room with basically a cot and a window that won't close, and prices under $50 a night in the middle of a West Coast metropolis. But I was in town for less than a day, so the price was right.<br />
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Upon arriving I basically just dropped my bag off and walked in the direction of PETCO Park, taking what looked like a scenic route along the southern coast. I got to the stadium around 5:00, and was surprised to be let through the gate, as normally you aren't allowed into stadiums until 5:30. What I discovered was that there's a limited concourse and bleacher seating area that's open a half hour earlier, and affords fans the chance to sit on a man-made beach and look through the right-center-field wall at the away team's batting practice. Well, lucky for me, the Padres were playing my hometown Phillies that night, so I settled in to watch... well, mostly relief pitchers shagging fly balls and kids chasing after batting practice home runs. There were a couple creepy guys trying to snag autographs from Phillies players they clearly had never heard of, and unfortunately Ken Giles wasn't responsive enough to answer my inquiry about whether he prefers Ken or Kenny.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5p3diJsVVAbGhFXvQIBgQl6THPu_iX8c14AHVIHQyU24y6V6niQPSh82riB-UeGD9N4tBnjreTIEiQOMPrKHv6SwaSF4su90WOGbInzG0MNqngmrZaoKOMQcP2QTWbtnpdavW6sU5i4/s1600/2014-09-17+19.21.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5p3diJsVVAbGhFXvQIBgQl6THPu_iX8c14AHVIHQyU24y6V6niQPSh82riB-UeGD9N4tBnjreTIEiQOMPrKHv6SwaSF4su90WOGbInzG0MNqngmrZaoKOMQcP2QTWbtnpdavW6sU5i4/s1600/2014-09-17+19.21.47.jpg" height="364" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a><br />
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After about 45 minutes of hanging out, I headed around the concourse to my real seat, which by a stroke of fortune was about 9 rows behind home plate. I walked through what was basically a small food market with fresh fruit, full cakes, and an array of other a la carte food and drink options, picking up a super-delicious tri-tip beef sandwich and apple juice (like a man). As Phillies batting practice concluded, a man sat down in front of me, but moved one spot to his left, saying that he figured he'd give me a good view since he didn't anticipate the people next to him showing up. With that cordial introduction, he asked me what brought me there (I was obviously wearing a Phillies shirt), and I found out he was a college scout that had done some special projects for the Padres, including assessing how their pitching staff was struggling because their deliveries were elongated when they threw breaking balls versus fastballs. He also spent some time talking to a man down the row, who it turned out he was the high school pitching coach of Cole Hamels' (that night's starter, who hails from the area). It was the first really intellectually stimulating baseball conversation I had the whole trip.<br />
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Eventually, a pair of middle-aged couples sat next to me and introduced themselves to me as well (man, these Californians sure don't have a fear of strangers). They explained to me that the particular seat I was in is almost always filled with a random person (and often an opposing fan), because the season-ticket-holder who has the seat just had a kid and barely comes to the games, and he sells the ticket on Stubhub for way below market value. I spoke with a few of them in differing amounts about what brought me out there, what I did for a living, how I reminded them of so-and-so's son, the fact that the Padres were done once the Phillies scored two runs, and how fast Domonic Brown looked running the bases (I assured them it wasn't indicative of his overall skill). It was a very pleasant night at the ballpark, and my seat offered me a great vantage point not only of the game but also of the very aesthetically-pleasing park itself. PETCO may be my favorite stadium I've been to, when you consider the pre-game accessibility, the clean, cuisine-rich concourse, and the (previously unmentioned) fact that it's right in the middle of a nice area with plenty of bars and restaurants and also right near the water. Sure, on my way home I had to cross the street to avoid getting any closer to the shirtless luchador with the Shake Weight, but what's a city without it's wackjobs?<br />
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<b>Experience Rank: 1st</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><u>Thursday, September 18th -- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
I had a little time before taking the train up to Anaheim, so I met up with an old camp friend, Max, who grew up and currently lives in San Diego. We had brunch and he showed me around town, including the unfairly-wealthy-and-beach-adjacent Coronado Island, where he went to high school. Then I got to ride the Pacific Surfliner Amtrak train up the coast, which glides between beaches and hills and more picturesque towns. The whole coast is really just the opposite of what your opinion of New Jersey is, except that there are beaches in both places.<br />
<br />
I got to Anaheim with 3 hours until the Angels game, but the train station was across the parking lot from the stadium, and my hotel was about a 20-minute walk away. That seems short in theory, but it was so ridiculously sunny and dry that it felt like I was part of some kind of Biblical tale. When I eventually got to the hotel, I collapsed for 20 minutes, then walked right back to where I came from, but this time without the stupid perfectly-packed bag. On the way back I took the Santa Ana "River" Trail, which was really just an empty road on the banks of a dried-up river. So maybe I'm not in the Bible, I'm in Holes. Alex Xela, at your service.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipItqFX92S49WkF8d8ix26YKSwovTd8VYQIBWYm_VAgb55iPS52_AYUQ-EPBqakue7xQJttGKGso_szPVPHpP9CEpXTGLtvNhVI5FvK6JMDOURPBE70Jw_Q4JpFMJO1SApc0-azeFGhWw/s1600/2014-09-18+19.25.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipItqFX92S49WkF8d8ix26YKSwovTd8VYQIBWYm_VAgb55iPS52_AYUQ-EPBqakue7xQJttGKGso_szPVPHpP9CEpXTGLtvNhVI5FvK6JMDOURPBE70Jw_Q4JpFMJO1SApc0-azeFGhWw/s1600/2014-09-18+19.25.06.jpg" height="300" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
I'm going to be a little more brief this time around, because this game experience was a bit of a bummer. First of all, the Angels had clinched a playoff berth the night before, so they benched everyone that matters (most notably Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, and Jered Weaver). The only thing that made this OK was that Felix Hernandez was pitching, so I knew that there was a guaranteed 10 strikeouts and a nontrivial shot at a no-hitter against a AAA lineup. Second of all, my seats were the farthest from the field of any game I had previously been to, in the middle upper deck just past first base. Third of all, I was surrounded by boring families that offered me nothing close to the conversation fodder that previous games had.<br />
<br />
I watched the Falcons destroy the Bucs on a stadium bar TV before the game while I ate a massive plate of loaded nachos, then walked around the concourse past the fake rock formations and watched the first two innings from the outfield. Angels Stadium is one of the older stadiums in the league as well, but it has been maintained in a much more compelling fashion than the Coliseum (although this is obviously made easier by being able to support just one team / sport). There are two-story Angels hats and an Angels Mickey Mouse statue outside the gates, a Trout Farm section down the line in left field, and all those fake rock formations in center field that make it so that 80% of the seats are between the two foul poles on the foul side. Fortunately, Felix did in fact strike out 11 over 7 innings, but he got the no-decision as the Mariners scored a few runs late and I got to watch broke-off hat Fernando Rodney do his whole arrow-shooting routine after notching the save for the M's. Then I walked back to my hotel as clearly the only person going that direction, indicating to me that my hotel wasn't really meant to be walking distance.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b>Experience Rank: 7th</b><br />
<br />
<br />
Yes, I had a good time around LA for three days after this, but that's sort of outside the jurisdiction of this blog. I should also note that I was able to finish the book while waiting for my red eye flight to take off from LA Sunday night, so I just barely squeezed that bad boy in. It definitely dovetailed well with my trip, both providing some assurance that other people do these kinds of things and assurance that my trip wasn't anywhere close to aversive like driving 16 hours to get to a game the next day would be. I'm really just fine with taking my whole life to get to all these places, because it will afford me the chance to see the cities around the stadiums and perhaps see them in different contexts with different people. <br />
<br />
Anyone wanna join for the Midwest leg? <br />
<br />
No?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-69389754268630588622014-09-04T17:16:00.004-04:002014-09-04T19:52:28.679-04:00Frameshmania 2014 Draft Review!<div>
Hey, look up there! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Josh Gordon getting high.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Too soon?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Anyway, for the <i>n</i>th year in a row, I have to do a review of the draft results for my family fantasy football league, Frameshmania. This year is the first year we've had the whole cast of characters repeat, and that should give us some opportunities to forge rivalries and develop meaningful matchup statistics for me to feed you at the end of the season. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
OK, for the format: you'll see everyone's team, I'll rate each team's positions (NOT ranked, just a number to compare teams -- there could be repeats, and no one is rated below a 4 on anything). Then I'll take an overall rank based on a composite of those ratings.</div>
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Let's go to work. (Apologies in advance for weird formatting, copying from Excel is a bummer).</div>
<div>
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 236px;"><colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3181; mso-width-source: userset; width: 65pt;" width="87"></col><col style="mso-width-alt: 5449; mso-width-source: userset; width: 112pt;" width="149"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; width: 65pt;" width="87">ALEX</td><td style="width: 112pt;" width="149"></td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px;"></td><td></td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">QB</td><td>Colin Kaepernick</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td><td>Eddie Lacy</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td><td>Montee Ball</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB/WR</td><td>Roddy White</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td><td>Demaryius Thomas</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td><td>Randall Cobb</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">TE</td><td>Rob Gronkowski</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">D/ST</td><td>Bengals D/ST</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">K</td><td>Steven Hauschka</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td><td>Victor Cruz</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td><td>Robert Griffin III</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td><td>Trent Richardson</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td><td>Lamar Miller</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td><td>Fred Jackson</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td><td>Carlos Hyde</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td><td>Jordan Reed</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td><td></td></tr>
<tr height="17" id="plyr9597" style="height: 12.75pt;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">QB</td><td class="xl65">4</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td><td class="xl65">4</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">WR</td><td class="xl65">8</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">TE</td><td class="xl65">9</td></tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"><td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">OVERALL</td><td>7TH</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Those who were in the room at the time know that all I could
say after about the 8th round was “I hate my team”. I took Kaep and RGIII in the middle rounds
when guys like Brady and Wilson fell until much later, I don’t have any good
players behind Lacy and Ball, and even my stud-receiver collection doesn’t
stand up that well against other groups when you really look at it. The team relies on a lot of guys who have
injury or consistency concerns, and that just doesn’t inspire much confidence.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 1px; outline: 0px; width: 247px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3072; mso-width-source: userset; width: 63pt;" width="84"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5961; mso-width-source: userset; width: 122pt;" width="163"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; width: 63pt;" width="84">LAURIE</td>
<td style="margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px; width: 122pt;" width="163"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">QB</td>
<td>Matt Ryan</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>Zac Stacy</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>Giovani Bernard</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB/WR</td>
<td>C.J. Spiller</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>Calvin Johnson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>Pierre Garcon</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">TE</td>
<td>Jimmy Graham</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">D/ST</td>
<td>49ers D/ST</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">K</td>
<td>Mason Crosby</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Percy Harvin</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Shane Vereen</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Marques Colston</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Pierre Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Danny Woodhead</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Riley Cooper</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>LeGarrette Blount</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" id="plyr9597" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">QB</td>
<td class="xl65">3</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td class="xl65">5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">WR</td>
<td class="xl65">9</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">TE</td>
<td class="xl65">10</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">OVERALL</td>
<td>6TH</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the 7th pick, as most of the league zigged with RBs,
Laurie was forced to zag with Megatron and Graham as her top picks, which
obviously loaded up those positions, but her need to fill up on running backs
caused her to wait a little too long at QB.
She ended up as one of only two teams with a single quarterback, and
Matt Ryan just doesn’t have the stability or upside to be left on an island
like that in an 8-team league. She has
some depth at RB, but I don’t feel confident enough in the
Stacy/Bernard/Spiller trio to rank the group highly.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 239px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3108; mso-width-source: userset; width: 64pt;" width="85"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5632; mso-width-source: userset; width: 116pt;" width="154"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px; width: 64pt;" width="85">PHIL</td>
<td style="margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px; width: 116pt;" width="154"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">QB</td>
<td>Peyton Manning</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>Matt Forte</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>Andre Ellington</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB/WR</td>
<td>Rashad Jennings</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>Andre Johnson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>Cordarrelle Patterson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">TE</td>
<td>Julius Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">D/ST</td>
<td>Broncos D/ST</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">K</td>
<td>Adam Vinatieri</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>T.Y. Hilton</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Eric Decker</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Knowshon Moreno</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Cecil Shorts</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Devonta Freeman</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Justin Hunter</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Jay Cutler</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">QB</td>
<td class="xl65" style="outline: 0px;">9</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">RB</td>
<td class="xl65">7</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">WR</td>
<td class="xl65">6</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">TE</td>
<td class="xl65">9</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">OVERALL</td>
<td>2ND</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Phil noted during the draft that his mostly-nonexistent plan
was uprooted when Peyton fell to him in the middle of the second round, and his
slight reach for Julius Thomas soon after prevented him from having top-level
RB / WR starters. I like the Ellington /
Jennings picks behind Forte, though, considering draft position, so the roster
as a whole doesn’t look as bare as one might think from a team that took QB and
TE early. Teams that take those
positions early are likely to look worse than they perform, though, so I have
this squad pretty “up there” and poised for a repeat championship.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 236px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3181; mso-width-source: userset; width: 65pt;" width="87"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5449; mso-width-source: userset; width: 112pt;" width="149"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td colspan="2" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; mso-ignore: colspan; outline: 0px; width: 177pt;" width="236">JON-MICHAEL</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">QB</td>
<td>Cam Newton</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>Arian Foster</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>Doug Martin</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB/WR</td>
<td>Alfred Morris</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>Jordy Nelson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>DeSean Jackson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">TE</td>
<td>Kyle Rudolph</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">D/ST</td>
<td>Panthers D/ST</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">K</td>
<td>Justin Tucker</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Jeremy Maclin</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Chris Johnson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Michael Floyd</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Bishop Sankey</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Shonn Greene</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Sammy Watkins</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Khiry Robinson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" id="plyr4512" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">QB</td>
<td class="xl65">4</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">RB</td>
<td class="xl65">8</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">WR</td>
<td class="xl65">5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">TE</td>
<td class="xl65">5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">OVERALL</td>
<td>8TH</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jon-Michael didn’t draft his own team and finished in last
place last year, and he was rewarded with the last pick this year. He loaded up on running backs early to
compensate for his missing the top guys, netting three top-15 guys at the
position. Leaving Cam as his only
quarterback is a risk considering the injury and receiving corps concerns, so
we’ll see how that goes, but there’s a big chance Jon-Michael looks really
smart or really dumb as a result. I
thought he was a steal this year until he had the rib injury, and now I’m not
so sure. I think there’s some upside at
receiver but not much in terms of proven performers , so I could be wrong on my
rank there.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 247px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3072; mso-width-source: userset; width: 63pt;" width="84"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5961; mso-width-source: userset; width: 122pt;" width="163"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; width: 63pt;" width="84">KYLE</td>
<td style="margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px; width: 122pt;" width="163"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">QB</td>
<td>Aaron Rodgers</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>Marshawn Lynch</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>Le'Veon Bell</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB/WR</td>
<td>Emmanuel Sanders</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>Antonio Brown</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>Vincent Jackson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">TE</td>
<td>Dennis Pitta</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">D/ST</td>
<td>Seahawks D/ST</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">K</td>
<td>Dan Bailey</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Nick Foles</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Ryan Mathews</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Ray Rice</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Wes Welker</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Kendall Wright</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Brandin Cooks</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Terrance West</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" id="plyr4512" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">QB</td>
<td class="xl65">10</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">RB</td>
<td class="xl65">8</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">WR</td>
<td class="xl65">6</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">TE</td>
<td class="xl65">5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">OVERALL</td>
<td>T-3RD</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kyle didn’t follow his usual grab-dem-RBs strategy, instead
grabbing A-Rod as the first QB off the board, and also taking two solid
receivers. However, having Mathews and Rice
on the bench is pretty solid in this climate, so there isn’t too dramatic a
drop-off when the byes hit. I initially
wasn’t a huge fan of the receivers, but having the Sanders/Welker combo with
the upside of Cooks is pretty solid, so I moved him up to a tie with Jesse.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 239px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3108; mso-width-source: userset; width: 64pt;" width="85"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5632; mso-width-source: userset; width: 116pt;" width="154"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px; width: 64pt;" width="85">JESSE</td>
<td style="margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px; width: 116pt;" width="154"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">QB</td>
<td>Matthew Stafford</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>Jamaal Charles</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>DeMarco Murray</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB/WR</td>
<td>Reggie Bush</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>Brandon Marshall</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>Larry Fitzgerald</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">TE</td>
<td>Jason Witten</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">D/ST</td>
<td>Cardinals D/ST</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">K</td>
<td>Phil Dawson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Russell Wilson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Toby Gerhart</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Reggie Wayne</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Julian Edelman</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Darren Sproles</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Terrance Williams</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Anquan Boldin</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">QB</td>
<td class="xl65">7</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">RB</td>
<td class="xl65">10</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">WR</td>
<td class="xl65">6</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">TE</td>
<td class="xl65">6</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">OVERALL</td>
<td>T-3RD</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jesse got maybe the steal of the draft in Russell Wilson in
the last few rounds, which is great insurance for the potentially-erratic
Stafford. I’m obviously a fan of the RB
group headed by Charles and Murray but with Bush and Gerhart as solid
depth. This roster is chock full of
aging possession receivers (I count 4, plus one moderately-aged one in
Edelman), so I just don’t see much upside in that group. I think this roster is pretty bust-proof, but
might lack the “oomph” to get over that 7-6 hump that Jesse hasn’t summited.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 236px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3181; mso-width-source: userset; width: 65pt;" width="87"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5449; mso-width-source: userset; width: 112pt;" width="149"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; width: 65pt;" width="87">MATT</td>
<td style="width: 112pt;" width="149"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">QB</td>
<td>Drew Brees</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>Adrian Peterson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>Ben Tate</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB/WR</td>
<td>Frank Gore</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>Julio Jones</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>Alshon Jeffery</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">TE</td>
<td>Greg Olsen</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">D/ST</td>
<td>Rams D/ST</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">K</td>
<td>Stephen Gostkowski</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Keenan Allen</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Torrey Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Steven Jackson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Mike Wallace</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Golden Tate</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Jeremy Hill</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Philip Rivers</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" id="plyr5209" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">QB</td>
<td class="xl65" style="outline: 0px;">9</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">RB</td>
<td class="xl65">6</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">WR</td>
<td class="xl65">10</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">TE</td>
<td class="xl65">5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">OVERALL</td>
<td>1ST</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Matt had his SIXTH CONSECUTIVE top-2 pick in this league,
and made it count. He benefited from
Alshon Jeffery falling a bit, and that gave him a ridiculous set of five
receivers where the worst is the #1 receiver in what should be a vastly
improved offense. The running backs
behind Peterson have some serious question marks, but, oh wait, is that Drew
Brees? Crap. I hate liking this team.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 247px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3072; mso-width-source: userset; width: 63pt;" width="84"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5961; mso-width-source: userset; width: 122pt;" width="163"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; width: 63pt;" width="84">EMILY</td>
<td style="margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px; width: 122pt;" width="163"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">QB</td>
<td>Andrew Luck</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>LeSean McCoy</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB</td>
<td>Maurice Jones-Drew</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">RB/WR</td>
<td>Michael Crabtree</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>Dez Bryant</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">WR</td>
<td>A.J. Green</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">TE</td>
<td>Jordan Cameron</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">D/ST</td>
<td>Chiefs D/ST</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">K</td>
<td>Nick Novak</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Vernon Davis</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Joique Bell</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Stevan Ridley</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Tom Brady</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>DeAngelo Williams</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>DeAndre Hopkins</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">Bench</td>
<td>Tony Romo</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; margin-right: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;"></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; outline: 0px;">QB</td>
<td class="xl65">7</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">RB</td>
<td class="xl65">5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">WR</td>
<td class="xl65">8</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">TE</td>
<td class="xl65">7</td>
</tr>
<tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">
<td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt;">OVERALL</td>
<td>5TH</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Emily went a little out of her way to grab her team’s
namesake in Andrew Luck, but picking up Brady AND Romo late was a great (if
overzealous) performance. Her top 3
receivers are awesome but a lack of depth could be a problem, and speaking of a
lack of depth, that RB group behind McCoy is very suspect. She also grabbed two top-7 tight ends, which
should serve her pretty well considering both players’ inconsistency last year.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-63038136045823784642014-09-03T20:36:00.000-04:002014-09-03T22:37:11.235-04:00Football! Again!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
I’ve done a few different formats for preseason predictions in the
past, and this time around, I’m going to kill some amount of birds with some smaller
amount of stones and put real football and fantasy football predictions into
one place. I’ll start with fantasy
stuff, including how I did with last year’s picks. This is going to be long-winded, so let’s
just get to it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Last year I only listed guys that I liked for the season, so let’s see
how that went.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>QB<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Peyton Manning</b> – Well, that
turned out awesome.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Matthew Stafford</b> – I feel
like I have kind of a “thing” for him, and he did me pretty well until the last
few weeks, at which point he tanked my fantasy team in the championship.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Tony Romo</b> – I definitely
have a “thing” for Romo. He just never
finishes outside the top 10 if he’s healthy, and he proved that last year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Eli Manning</b> – Well, that
turned out awesome, for my Eagles fandom, at least. Poetic with Peyton’s season though. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>VERDICT: THUMBS UP!<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>RB<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>David Wilson</b> – I wasn’t actually
high on him, it was more of a circumstantial thing based on the way my mock
drafts were going, and he ended up having a career-ending injury. I didn’t actually end up owning him so I don’t
feel too bad about this one.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Reggie Bush</b> – I didn’t end
up owning Bush either, and although Joique Bell took a lot of looks away from
him, he had a pretty good per-game output.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Lesean McCoy</b> – I love this
man.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Jamaal Charles</b> – I really
like this man.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Matt Forte</b> – That whole
Bears team had a strong season, with Forte establishing himself as one of the
high-floor options at the top of the draft..<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Chris Ivory</b> – I noted at the
end of my blurb about him that “injury / Jets-ness could ruin it”, and that
pretty much sums it up. Had some
moments, but never really got going, and now Chris Johnson is overshadowing
him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Fred Jackson</b> – This was a
huge win, with Spiller not being hurt but just not being as explosive as last
season, and Jackson continued to defy age.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Lamar Miller</b> – Womp. That Dolphins offense was brutal for most of
the year thanks to an offensive offensive line, and with some added talent
there and a new Eagles-South system, I am pretty high on them this year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Stevan Ridley</b> – He was
brutal, no two ways about it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Maurice Jones-Drew</b> – The offense
as a whole was terrible, but I can’t dodge this one.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Ryan Mathews</b> – He was
somewhat undervalued last year and delivered a top-15 season. He might have the same outcome this year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Daryl Richardson</b> – Now at
the back end of the Jets’ roster. You
tell me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>VERDICT: MEH+<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>WR<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Steve Smith</b> – This was
another one of those players where the draft situation dictated my interest, so
I don’t feel terribly, but he was pretty useless. Except in the fatherhood department,
apparently.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Miles Austin</b> – Yeah, not so
much. Spoiler alert: I’m falling into
the same guy-opposite-Dez trap this season.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Torrey Smith</b> – He barely
scored any touchdowns, but had a whole lot of targets and yards in a Ravens
offense that massively disappointed. You’ll
hear from him again soon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>TY Hilton</b> – He had a
breakout season, although it’s hard to say how that will translate to this
coming season because there was so much ineptitude in the running game and so
many injuries in the passing game.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Greg Jennings</b> – Last year: “He
can’t be THAT useless, right?” Yep, he
sure can.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Mike Wallace</b> – This was
another only-if-the-situation-arises guy, and all of those guys bombed. However, as I said before, I think a bounce-back
is coming.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Reggie Wayne</b> – I was on my
way to being WAY right about him before he tore his ACL. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Danny Amendola</b> – I guess I
underestimated the value of Brady’s trust, and overestimated the value of a guy
who is hurt for half the year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Antonio Brown</b> – If only I
actually ended up drafting him. Just
watch him play and you know he’s a stud.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Larry Fitzgerald</b> – Well, the
Cardinals’ offense had a nice rebound, but Fitz ceded a lot of the action to
Michael Floyd.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Andre Johnson</b> – Considering how
much the team as a whole flamed out, this worked out pretty well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Jordy Nelson</b>– Liked him last
year, love him this year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Dwayne Bowe </b>– I have a
problem. And I said the same thing last
year! And I’ve already drafted him this
year!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Pierre Garcon</b> – Leading the
league in receptions? Sounds solid to
me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Kenny Stills</b> – Didn’t have
consistent week-to-week production, but was certainly useful for a guy drafted
as late as he was.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>VERDICT: MEH+<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>TE<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Jermichael Finley</b> – Man, two
guys with what currently looks like career-ending injuries? Bummer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Kyle Rudolph</b> – The passing
game for the Vikings wasn’t great in general, but Rudolph didn’t have the TD
production he had the year before.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Jordan Cameron</b> – He faded a
bit down the stretch, but this was obviously a win.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Brandon Pettigrew </b>– Don’t
even.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Ed Dickson</b> – Tried to sneak
this one by with Dennis Pitta’s injury, but he ended up ceding looks to an
over-the-hill Dallas Clark.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>VERDICT: THUMBS DOWN<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
OK, now we’ve taken a look back.
I feel like I did pretty well for the most part, with some of those guys
that failed suffering brutal injuries that we weren’t in a position to
anticipate. Now let’s look to the
future. I’ll give my predictions for
each team’s record, and one positive or negative fantasy player opinion for
each team. Let’s see how that goes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>NFC East<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(10-6) Eagles </b>(Low on Zach
Ertz – too many mouths to feed, Celek’s not dead yet)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(8-8) Cowboys </b>(High on
Terrance Williams – see Austin, Miles)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(7-9) Giants </b>(High on Rashad
Jennings – had a nice late ’13 and Giants run a lot)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(7-9) Redskins </b>(Low on
Desean Jackson – not “the guy”, goes back to boom / bust)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>NFC South</u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(11-5) Saints </b>(High on Drew
Brees – I know, but he’s a guaranteed 5000/40, take him 1st)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(8-8) Buccaneers </b>(High on
Doug Martin in the late 2nd; new coach, more receiving threats)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(8-8) Falcons</b> (High on Roddy
White – came on strong late last year, now has fresh start)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(6-10) Panthers</b> (High on Cam
Newton – terrible offseason, but he’s going way late)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>NFC North</u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(11-5) Packers</b> (High on
Randall Cobb – pace for 100 catches last year, now healthy)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(9-7) Bears</b> (High on Jay
Cutler – Trestman clearly “gets” him, another year of comfort)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(7-9) Lions </b>(Low on Matthew
Stafford – just not sure he’s that good, Megatron-dependent)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(7-9) Vikings </b>(High on
Adrian Peterson – would take him 1st; offense around him improved)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>NFC West</u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(13-3) Seahawks </b>(High on
Russell Wilson – Harvin expands offense, rushing raises floor)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(10-6) 49ers </b>(High on Colin
Kaepernick – Crabtree healthy, more weapons, worse defense)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(8-8) Cardinals </b>(Low on
Larry Fitzgerald – getting up there, Floyd emerging)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(5-11) Rams</b> (Low on Zac
Stacy – no passing threats, Benny Cunningham getting looks)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>AFC East<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(12-4) Patriots </b>(Low on
Julian Edelman – other weapons healthy / more experienced) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(8-8) Dolphins </b>(High on Mike
Wallace – more creative offensive scheme, bounce-back year)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(6-10) Jets </b>(High on Eric
Decker – Geno’s not awful, and Decker was useful with Tebow)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(4-12) Bills</b> (Low on Sammy
Watkins – Rookie receiver, questionable QB, bad team)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>AFC South<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(10-6) Colts</b> (High on Reggie
Wayne – looks good after surgery, Luck trusts him)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(7-9) Titans </b>(High on Jake
Locker – was solid when healthy last year, underrated receivers)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(7-9) Texans </b>(High on Texans
D – won’t be as much of a pick-6 frenzy, plus Clowney/Cushing)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(5-11) Jaguars</b> (High on
Marquise Lee – really late option, but talented with little competition)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>AFC North</u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(10-6) Bengals </b>(High on Andy
Dalton – 5th in ‘13, drafted 15th in ‘14; too many weapons to fail)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(9-7) Ravens</b> (High on Torrey
Smith – see above; too much involvement for low TD total)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(6-10) Steelers </b>(Low on Le’Veon
Bell – Blount involved, not explosive enough if job is split)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(4-12) Browns </b>(High on Miles
Austin – so sue me)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>AFC West</u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(11-5) Broncos </b>(Low on
Peyton Manning – Welker out, Ball unproven; not ‘till late 2nd)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(10-6) Chargers </b>(Low on
Keenan Allen – had a lot of lucky TD games, lots of WR injuries in ’13)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(8-8) Chiefs </b>(High on Travis
Kelce – Smith likes short passing, has to throw to someone)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>(4-12) Raiders </b>(Low on
Maurice Jones-Drew – this team’s just awful)<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<b><u>NFC Playoffs</u></b><br />
Eagles def. 49ers<br />
Packers def. Bears<br />
<br />
Saints def. Packers<br />
Seahawks def. Eagles<br />
<br />
Seahawks def. Saints<br />
<br />
<b><u>AFC Playoffs</u></b><br />
Chargers def. Bengals<br />
Colts def. Ravens<br />
<br />
Patriots def. Colts<br />
Chargers def. Broncos<br />
<br />
Patriots def. Chargers<br />
<br />
<b><u>Super Bowl</u></b><br />
Patriots def. Seahawks</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-78382700018571009452014-08-12T21:49:00.003-04:002014-08-18T17:11:50.868-04:00The Emptiest of Batting Averages<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
I was listening to the Jonah Keri Podcast on Grantland recently, and he
had Phillies beat writer Matt Gelb on the show.
Gelb talked about all the sad things that Phillies fans are already
tired of discussing, but he did make a statement that I found particularly
poignant. He described Ben Revere’s
season as something to the effect of “the emptiest batting average ever.” By empty, he means that while Revere is
hitting above .300, an impressive feat in this offense-starved MLB landscape,
he does so with almost no walks or extra-base hits. His value at the plate is almost entirely in
the form of singles. This comment got me
thinking: <i>Just how empty is his batting
average?</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<o:p></o:p><br />
<i></i><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
As of this writing, Revere is hitting .314 with a .331 on-base
percentage and a .371 slugging percentage.
For comparison, the average player has a substantially worse batting
average (think .240) but with a similar OBP and a substantially better SLG. To illustrate with normal stats, Revere has 27 total doubles, triples, homers, and walks this year. So far in 2014, there are 42 players with at least 27 doubles, 8 players with at least 27 homers, and 144 players with at least 27 walks.<br />
<br />
But how rare is it to have this single-happy nature with such a high average? To look for players to compare to Revere
historically, I looked for other player seasons since 2000 which had enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title with a batting
average at least as high as Revere's but a walk rate and isolated slugging (slugging minus batting average) below his.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
But there weren't any, so I extended the search back to 1980.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Still nobody. 1960?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Nothing.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
1900?<br />
<br />
Zilch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Now, to be fair, Ben Revere himself hasn't completed a full season, so let's use a more relaxed criterion of 400 plate appearances (Revere has 459). <br />
<br />
OK, you get it.<br />
<br />
In fact, since 1900 (it's not worth going earlier because seasons were much shorter then), the <i>only</i> player with at least 400 plate appearances that had as high of a batting average with as little other hitting value is ... Ben Revere. That's it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
I’m not really sure that there’s much to be done with this information,
but it’s a pretty shocking finding. As a
member of a roster that’s overpaid and underperforming across the board, Revere’s
limited skillset has been overshadowed by his more compensated counterparts. However, I was fascinated to discover that on
a team that has had plenty of notable failings, Revere has had perhaps the most
“unique” and “special” stats of any of them, as long as you’re not taking annual
salary into account. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
If you disregard his sub-par defense (especially compared to what you would expect from a guy with his speed), Revere really isn't a terrible offensive player. If you took away all of his steals and
instead turned that many singles into doubles, he’d have a slugging percentage
around the league average. The problem
is, a single followed by a steal isn't as valuable as a double because it doesn't
advance runners on base, so his value would really be something less than that of a player with league-average slugging. Even if he posts a batting average way above the
mean in any given season, he never walks or gets extra-base hits, so he has to sustain that mark
against all kinds of luck and defensive factors in order to give the Phillies
even passable offensive value. It’s a
game that the Phillies seem interested in playing, and it's defensible because of his obviously high average and stolen base totals, but I'm just not sure if they're going to win that way.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-2109502651154857292014-07-26T18:15:00.000-04:002014-07-26T18:15:34.730-04:00The Phillies and The Worst Players in the League<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Particularly
savvy baseball fans may be aware that the Phillies are terrible this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That same sample of people don’t need
to be told any stats or anything to confirm this, and people who were not
previously aware of this can probably just take my word for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, the Phillies have been pretty
bad for a few years now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OK, some
of you might argue that they were at least average the last two seasons, but
consider that while the team finished a non-terrible 81-81 and 73-89 in the
last two seasons, they did so with the 2nd and 3rd highest payrolls in the
league in those seasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this
year, they’re on pace for about 70 wins with again the 3rd highest payroll in
the league.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s about $2.3
million per win since ’12, and when you consider that the five teams worse than
the Phillies this season have an average salary $85 million less than them,
it’s pretty tough to watch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The poster
boy for this burgeoning era of ineptitude has been Ryan Howard, whose 5-year,
$125 million contract started in 2012. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was reading <a href="http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/ryan-howard-philadelphia-phillies-contract-regress-struggle-trade-rumors-release-072514)" target="_blank">an article by Jeff Sullivan</a> about how bad Howard has been in that time, and the most impactful point was
that Howard has accrued -0.7 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in the last three
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s right, he has been
on par with that AAA guy you just bring up from the minors when your starter
tweaks a hammy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this got me
thinking – how bad is that really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Are there other players that have been this useless in that span of
time?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So I went to
my friendly neighborhood FanGraphs and searched for batters that had at least
1000 plate appearances since the start of 2012 but had at most zero WAR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turns out, there were nine such
players:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 4.4pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 191px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 23.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="23"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 120.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">Player<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">WAR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 23.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="23"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 120.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">Adeiny Hechavarria<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">-2.2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 23.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="23"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 120.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">Michael Young<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">-1.8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 23.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="23"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 120.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">Delmon Young<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">-1.3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 23.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="23"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 120.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">Jason Kubel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">-1.2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 23.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="23"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 120.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ryan Howard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">-0.7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 23.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="23"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 120.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">Michael Morse<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">-0.4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 23.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="23"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 120.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">Justin Smoak<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">-0.3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 23.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="23"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 120.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">Paul Konerko<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">-0.3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 23.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="23"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 120.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">Domonic Brown<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Any other
names look familiar?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, that’s
right – of the nine players who have had at least 1000 PA since 2012 but at
most zero WAR, FOUR of them played for the Phillies during at least one of
those seasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But wait, there’s
more – who were the next worst players?</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 4.4pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 191px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 23.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="23"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 120.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">John Mayberry<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">0.1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 23.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="23"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 120.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="120"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">Raul Ibanez<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">0.2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Yup, two
more Phillies!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, to be fair,
Ibanez didn’t play for the Phillies during this span, but he did in the year
immediately prior when he was, by WAR, the worst player in the league (-1.7
WAR).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So, just to
make sure everyone’s on the same page, the Phillies have paid for almost 9
player-seasons of the guys who have been the 10 worst in the major leagues over
the last three years.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now, the
following numbers are severely skewed by Howard’s albatross of a contract, but
to limit the extent to which I blow chunks all over my computer, I am going to
treat the five players (Young x2, Howard, Brown, Mayberry) as one big
“investment” for the Phillies.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
First, some
totals: These five guys played in a total of 1086 games for the Phillies since
’12, and if you remove the three-quarters of a season that the Youngs weren’t
even on the Phils, that comes to a total of about 8.5 seasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Average that out and we’re talking
fewer than 130 games per season actually playing for the club (and admittedly a
lot of that is Howard’s injury troubles).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They accrued -1.7 WAR in those 1086 games, which, fortunately for the
Phillies, represents less than half of the terribleness that they as a group
accrued in total over that time (the Youngs totaled -2 WAR for other
teams).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, the worst part – they
paid these players a total of 75 million dollars (again, $65 million of that
was just Howard).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It’s
generally thought that the value of a “win” in terms of salary is about $5
million, so these guys would have had to accumulate 17 more WAR in the last two
and a half years to make themselves even a fair value for their collective
cost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, four players did in
fact reach 17+ WAR over this same time span (some guys named Trout, McCutchen,
Cabrera, and Cano), but what if they had split that value evenly?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I gave an estimate of 8.5 seasons above,
so what if each guy had an increase of a nice even 2 WAR per season?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, that shouldn’t be too hard, since
in 2012-14, there have been almost 360 player seasons in which a player had at
least 2 WAR (and that includes the partial seasons from this year!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But these are the Phillies, and they
only hold 6 of those 360, or just 1.7% (you would expect twice that for an
average team).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I don’t
really have much else to say – there isn’t much I can say, actually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trade ‘em.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trade ‘em all.</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-41648269470542347082014-07-19T22:05:00.001-04:002014-08-22T09:18:24.665-04:00Chase Utley as a Non-PhillieNow don't get too dramatic here, this isn't about the possibility of Chase Utley getting traded away from the Phillies in the coming weeks. Not to say that I'm not considering it, but that's something that I'm not quite mentally prepared for, so I will not cross that bridge until we come to it.<br />
<br />
No, this post is more of a hypothetical spawned from a frequently occurring but rarely acted upon thought that I have had during Utley's career in Philly. I'm not alone in thinking to myself, "Man, he sure does hit a lot of home runs into short right / right-center field," and I've heard it referred to as "Utley's Corner" at times. What isn't really discussed as much is how well-suited that stroke is to the ballpark that Utley plays half his games in, Citizens Bank Park. That scoreboard wall that extends from the right field foul pole nearly to center field is awfully easy to get to at times, and Utley certainly knows how to make that happen. That and the fact that he almost exclusively pulls the ball when he gets a good piece of one. <br />
<br />
Here's a cursory Photoshop effort in overlaying images of his home runs since 2006 (they weren't all at Citizens Bank Park, but I threw on the dimensions just to give an idea):<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiXVxJrfiKLliHJ3Dfks61YQLsOyq2y7LYJdQMp4gv23URnllXoP14QJihKMiPE4Mp1vuYhMNRYbPVY8X5P3Hvl4z549H928JoTdkhdAYMNNYu5DxgYNSoTjPpjQrLMV_Ac9hyphenhyphen43xh9Os/s1600/UtleyHomers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiXVxJrfiKLliHJ3Dfks61YQLsOyq2y7LYJdQMp4gv23URnllXoP14QJihKMiPE4Mp1vuYhMNRYbPVY8X5P3Hvl4z549H928JoTdkhdAYMNNYu5DxgYNSoTjPpjQrLMV_Ac9hyphenhyphen43xh9Os/s1600/UtleyHomers.jpg" height="572" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
All images and data come from the ESPN Home Run Tracker, which doesn't have data before '06, so that's not ideal, but the rest is pretty useful.<br />
<br />
Anyway, that's an awful lot of homers to right. In fact, if you use the horizontal angle measurements (pictured in the image but also stored in a table), if 90 degrees is dead center, Utley has hit 117 of his 182 homers since '06 (64%) at angles up to 78 degrees, which is about where that scoreboard wall ends in right-center. By comparison, another lefty that's hit a few homers for the Phils, Ryan Howard, has hit just 75 of his 302 homers since '06 (25%) within that range. <br />
<br />
But I don't really care much about the direction, so much as the distance. If the right field wall at CBP is so shallow, don't you wonder how well Utley would do in a less friendly hitting environment? I suspected that he has received quite the boost from his home park, so I did some digging.<br />
<br />
What would Utley's power output look like on another team? Well, let's not pick any specific stadium. I'll set the bar evenly -- if the ball would have gone out of at least half the parks in the league on an average weather day (yes, I have that stat), then we'll call it a "legit homer" (young people speak). We'll compare Utley's home run production home and away, and within range of that right field wall at CBP or not.<br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 377px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 5558; mso-width-source: userset;" width="152"></col>
<col span="3" width="75"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13" width="152"></td>
<td class="xl25" width="75">Legit</td>
<td class="xl25" width="75">Total</td>
<td class="xl25" width="75">Percent</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">CBP</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="77.0">77</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="104.0">104</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="74.0">74</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">Others</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="65.0">65</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="78.0">78</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="83.0">83</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">CBP, < 78 degrees</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="48.0">48</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="66.0">66</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="73.0">73</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">Other, < 78 degrees</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="44.0">44</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="51.0">51</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="86.0">86</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
<br />
Here's what I'm seeing from this table:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Utley hits more balls out of the park at home than away. Not news.</li>
<li>Regardless of which direction the ball is hit, Utley hits about 10% more "legit" homers at home than on the road. This is accentuated when the ball is hit to right field (13% more "legit" homers).</li>
<li>Stated differently, about 1 of every 4 home runs Utley has hit at Citizens Bank Park wouldn't be a home run in half the other stadiums in the league.</li>
</ol>
So, for completeness, I sought to determine if that "1 of every 4" is unique to Utley. While it's not a perfect comparison because of the strength of the two players, Ryan Howard actually has very similar percentages of "legit" homers at home. Counter to my expectations, the difference between the two is on the road, where Howard's homers are more often "legit" than Utley's. And Howard has more power to all fields, so there isn't any "Howard Corner" to speak of.<br />
<br />
Well, that's kind of a downer from the perspective of "the point" of my post. It seems like Citizens Bank Park is bolstering power across the board to the tune of basically adding to its inhabitants' home run output by 1/3, not just Chase Utley. I will point out that the shallow right field fence does bring about more homers than an average stadium would allow (4% more for Utley, 6% more for Howard), but it's not like Utley's exploiting this nuance more than other players because of his pull-heavy stroke. <br />
<br />
While this didn't exactly work out as hoped (and you can tell I didn't plan ahead, I just did the analysis while I wrote this), it is interesting to think about how Utley's career credentials would look if he had a few fewer home runs (and a few more long outs) each season by virtue of playing in a different park. Now that his career is coming close to ending, there is some discussion about his Hall of Fame credentials, and I wonder if his hitting environment will be brought up as part of the conversation 7 or so years from now.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-35074253892927123382014-07-18T18:00:00.001-04:002014-07-30T20:50:57.771-04:00Playing the Stock Market in the Second HalfI'm no Mad Money guy, but I am sufficiently well versed in fantasy sports to know the concept behind buying low and selling high. The way to success in any series of investments is to acquire undervalued assets at below-market prices and sell off overvalued ones at above-market prices. Or something like that. The problem with all that is how to figure out which items with high value really deserve that, and which ones are a mirage, and vice versa. <br />
<div>
Since it's the MLB All-Star Break, it's high time to take a look at the upcoming "second-half" and see which players might be in a position to fall off their current torrid pace, and which ones might have a little bit of a renaissance after a down few months. Let's take a look at four players who might see their quality-of-play shift for the rest of the season.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><u>George Springer</u></b></div>
<div>
In just about half a season since he got called up for the Astros, Springer has put up some nice counting stats, as another copy of that half-year would give him 38 homers, 88 runs, 100 RBI, and 10 steals for a full season. That actually compares kind of favorably to the 2013 versions of Evan Longoria, Adrian Beltre, and Edwin Encarnacion. Sounds good, right?</div>
<div>
Here's the problem: Springer's striking out about 1/3 of the time, and that rate has risen to about 37% in July, while his walk rate has fallen. Since 2007 (why yes, that IS a random year I picked in a dropdown), players who have a similar strikeout and walk profile usually post about a .225 average. Even more concerning is that over the last three months, his line drive rate has fallen (21% to 15% to 9%) and his ground ball rate has risen (33% to 41% to 68%). Combine all that with a likely-unsustainable 27% rate of conversion of fly balls into homers and it all seems to add up to a plummeting batting average. Considering he's already as low as .238 for the season, we could be looking at something closer to .210 or .220 for the rest of the year, and I would imagine it's pretty hard to support those counting stats with that average.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><u>Brian McCann</u></b></div>
<div>
OK, full disclosure, I drafted and still own McCann in both of my fantasy leagues. His .239 average and career-lows in both on-base and slugging percentage are not appreciated. He is suffering a low .245 batting average on balls in play (BABIP), but increased defensive shifts put a much lower ceiling on that number to begin with. </div>
<div>
McCann's preseason supporters (hi there) argued that his pull-heavy swing would allow him to hit a lot of homers to the short porch in right field in Yankee Stadium, but if anything he's seen a downturn in homer production. However, I was surprised to discover that while his homer rate at home looks pretty close to his career marks (which are therefore somewhat low since he played somewhere else in every other year), he has turned a ridiculously-low 4% of his fly balls on the road into homers. If that misfortune balances out a bit in the second half, he could see just enough of an uptick in power output to get his full-season results to approximate his usual performance.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>Anibal Sanchez</u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Last year’s ERA leader is still putting up a similarly impressive 3.04
ERA and 1.04 WHIP, with a paltry .207 batting average against him. However, I’m not bullish on his success
continuing, as he’s inducing swinging strikes (a strong indicator of pitcher
skill) 1/3 less frequently this season, and that drop perfectly matches with a
decline in strikeout rate that puts him about a strikeout per inning below his
career average.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
More alarming than that are degradations in the stats that
sabermetricians often use to assess a player’s luck (or lack thereof). He has allowed the lowest rate of home runs
per fly ball allowed among qualified starters, and considering he has allowed
more fly balls this year, if that regresses, it could mean serious
trouble. He has also allowed the
seventh-lowest BABIP among starters, which is about 50 points below his career
average, but while he should probably have some of that luck go the other way,
if he maintains his uncharacteristically high weak-contact rate (about 1/3 more
this year than in the past), he won’t give up too much in that regard. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><u>Phil Hughes</u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Really Phil Hughes? Anyone who’s
paid any attention to the Yankees in recent seasons knows that this isn’t
really a guy anyone expects much of, but this year he’s really turned some kind
of corner. Despite a pedestrian 3.92
ERA, he’s actually 7th in the league in Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), a
stat that’s scaled like ERA but focuses mostly on the things that the pitcher has
the most control of, like strikeouts, walks, and home runs. That’s above guys like Cliff Lee, Stephen Strasburg,
and Yu Darvish. So if he’s pitching that
well, why isn’t the ERA better? <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Well, a lot of the difference between his actual results and his
defense-independent stats comes from a BABIP that is 40 points above his career
norm. However, behind that batted-ball
misfortune, there’s a lot to like: a walk rate that is the best in the league,
a career-low home run rate (which was a bit of a bugaboo in the past), and a
career-high ground ball rate. It seems
like he’s gotten some of this done by switching from using a slider about 1/5
of the time to using a cutter, which he seems to be able to command well enough
that he’s throwing the highest rate of pitches in the strike zone of his
career. That’s the kind of change that
is a little more solid and predictive, so I feel pretty good endorsing a player
that I would have felt pretty bad about complimenting in years past.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-11088055209838375882014-03-21T16:06:00.002-04:002014-07-30T20:51:07.834-04:00Not Another Fantasy Baseball Draft Review <span style="font-size: small;">All right, I swear this is the last self-serving post for a while. This is just a better way to broadcast things like this to the people I really want to read it. And maybe we'll share some opinions, laughs, and airborne bacteria along the way.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">So here's the deal: a few friends from college and friends of friends get together for an 8-team fantasy baseball auction. Thanks to the suggestion of one of the more fervent participants **<i>smiles sheepishly</i>** the standard Yahoo! rosters were extended by almost 1/3 to 30 players per team, but with no change in the overall budget allotted to each team. This made for an interesting re-calibration process that some players (and Yahoo! computer programs) took a little bit of time to realize. With an auction format, that extension of rosters also gave us a solid 3 hours of hemming and hawing and cursing your internet connection (or the guy who missed the draft entirely and is on autodraft).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Here are the results of that arduous expedition.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><u><b>Remember '08? Sigh.</b></u> (Me)</span><br />
<br />
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<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13" width="45">(4)</td>
<td width="62">OF</td>
<td width="176">Bryce Harper </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$28 </td>
<td class="xl24" width="45">(127)</td>
<td width="62">C</td>
<td width="176">Wilin Rosario </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$5 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(18)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Hanley Ramírez </td>
<td class="xl25">$28 </td>
<td class="xl24">(129)</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>Brian McCann </td>
<td class="xl25">$6 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(20)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Carlos Gómez </td>
<td class="xl25">$31 </td>
<td class="xl24">(137)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Doug Fister </td>
<td class="xl25">$4 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(21)</td>
<td>1B,3B</td>
<td>Edwin Encarnación </td>
<td class="xl25">$28 </td>
<td class="xl24">(145)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Bobby Parnell </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(25)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Adam Wainwright </td>
<td class="xl25">$26 </td>
<td class="xl24">(146)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Sonny Gray </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(41)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Madison Bumgarner </td>
<td class="xl25">$21 </td>
<td class="xl24">(149)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Matt Adams </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(54)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Adrián González </td>
<td class="xl25">$13 </td>
<td class="xl24">(151)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Nelson Cruz </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(75)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Homer Bailey </td>
<td class="xl25">$10 </td>
<td class="xl24">(153)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Norichika Aoki </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(87)</td>
<td>1B,OF</td>
<td>Mark Trumbo </td>
<td class="xl25">$8 </td>
<td class="xl24">(161)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>J.J. Hardy </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(94)</td>
<td>2B</td>
<td>José Altuve </td>
<td class="xl25">$10 </td>
<td class="xl24">(166)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Steve Cishek </td>
<td class="xl25">$4 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(106)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Jayson Werth </td>
<td class="xl25">$6 </td>
<td class="xl24">(172)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Jim Henderson </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(110)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Domonic Brown </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
<td class="xl24">(176)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Jon Lester </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(116)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Sergio Romo </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
<td class="xl24">(185)</td>
<td>SP,RP</td>
<td>Tyson Ross </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(119)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Everth Cabrera </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
<td class="xl24">(192)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Zack Wheeler </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(122)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Austin Jackson </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
<td class="xl24">(199)</td>
<td>2B,3B</td>
<td>Anthony Rendón </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
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<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">After seeing the first two players (Cabrera, Trout) go for just a hair under their projected $60 price tags, I made the decision that I'd limit my bids to right around $30 so I could fill in a more balanced roster. I went for positions that I felt were shallow relative to the number of roster spots (3B, OF), and fulfilled my strategy of getting two top-tier pitchers at a manageable $49 (other similar teams got Fernandez/Price for 44 and Lee/Sale for 43). Getting McCann and Rosario for a combined $11 and four non-terrible closers for $9 total allowed me to throw my weight around a little at the back end of the draft, getting pitchers and bench position players I wanted when others tried to bid for them (Jon Lester aside -- stupid internet connection). </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Strengths: </b>SS, 3B, OF, SP, RP</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weaknesses: </b>2B, MI</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>Cain't Win</u></b> (Evan)</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
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<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13" width="45">(19)</td>
<td width="62">SP</td>
<td width="176">Cliff Lee </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$23 </td>
<td class="xl24" width="45">(99)</td>
<td width="62">3B</td>
<td width="176">Josh Donaldson </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$7 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(35)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>José Bautista </td>
<td class="xl25">$18 </td>
<td class="xl24">(111)</td>
<td>1B,OF</td>
<td>Michael Cuddyer </td>
<td class="xl25">$4 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(40)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Chris Sale </td>
<td class="xl25">$20 </td>
<td class="xl24">(113)</td>
<td>2B</td>
<td>Aaron Hill </td>
<td class="xl25">$4 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(42)</td>
<td>C,1B</td>
<td>Buster Posey </td>
<td class="xl25">$23 </td>
<td class="xl24">(117)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Hyun-jin Ryu </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(43)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Albert Pujols </td>
<td class="xl25">$15 </td>
<td class="xl24">(130)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Asdrubal Cabrera </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(47)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Shin-Soo Choo </td>
<td class="xl25">$19 </td>
<td class="xl24">(138)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Casey Janssen </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(51)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Eric Hosmer </td>
<td class="xl25">$13 </td>
<td class="xl24">(140)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Addison Reed </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(59)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Koji Uehara </td>
<td class="xl25">$11 </td>
<td class="xl24">(144)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Johnny Cueto </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(60)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Hunter Pence </td>
<td class="xl25">$17 </td>
<td class="xl24">(152)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Francisco Liriano </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(63)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Yoenis Céspedes </td>
<td class="xl25">$12 </td>
<td class="xl24">(154)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Aramis Ramírez </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(67)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>David Ortiz </td>
<td class="xl25">$9 </td>
<td class="xl24">(170)</td>
<td>2B</td>
<td>Howie Kendrick </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(68)</td>
<td>C,1B</td>
<td>Joe Mauer </td>
<td class="xl25">$13 </td>
<td class="xl24">(174)</td>
<td>1B,OF</td>
<td>Brandon Moss </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(69)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Matt Cain </td>
<td class="xl25">$11 </td>
<td class="xl24">(178)</td>
<td>3B,SS</td>
<td>Xander Bogaerts </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(79)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Jason Heyward </td>
<td class="xl25">$10 </td>
<td class="xl24">(180)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>A.J. Burnett </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(91)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Mike Minor </td>
<td class="xl25">$7 </td>
<td class="xl24">(183)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Chase Headley </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Evan was clearly going for a moneyball-esque strategy of stretching his budget by getting a bunch of second-tier guys that were going relatively cheaply. This is evident in his purchasing the cheapest two-stud-starter collection in Lee and Sale and all five outfielders for between $10 and $19 (and all before the 80th nomination, so it's a quality group top-to-bottom). He also took advantage of the two-catcher format, getting Posey and Mauer for $36 before anyone else took a catcher, at the cost of his non-1B infield positions (oh and by the way he took 6 1B-eligible players in his first 17 selections), for which he spent a total of $17 for 6 eligible players (although I think Donaldson and Hill will be fine for their price).</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Strengths: </b>C, 1B, OF, SP</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weaknesses: </b>SS</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>Stanton Girls</u></b> (Jon)</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 672px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 1645; mso-width-source: userset;" width="45"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 2267; mso-width-source: userset;" width="62"></col>
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<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13" width="45">(13)</td>
<td width="62">OF</td>
<td width="176">Adam Jones </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$30 </td>
<td class="xl24" width="45">(126)</td>
<td width="62">RP</td>
<td width="176">Jonathan Papelbon </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$3 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(22)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Giancarlo Stanton </td>
<td class="xl25">$30 </td>
<td class="xl24">(131)</td>
<td>2B,3B,OF</td>
<td>Martín Prado </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(29)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>José Fernández </td>
<td class="xl25">$25 </td>
<td class="xl24">(155)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Nolan Arenado </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(32)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>David Price </td>
<td class="xl25">$19 </td>
<td class="xl24">(163)</td>
<td>2B,3B,SS</td>
<td>Jurickson Profar </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(33)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Yasiel Puig </td>
<td class="xl25">$22 </td>
<td class="xl24">(171)</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>Matt Wieters </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(36)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Justin Verlander </td>
<td class="xl25">$19 </td>
<td class="xl24">(179)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Todd Frazier </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(46)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Jean Segura </td>
<td class="xl25">$19 </td>
<td class="xl24">(186)</td>
<td>1B,OF</td>
<td>Chris Carter </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(56)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Kenley Jansen </td>
<td class="xl25">$14 </td>
<td class="xl24">(193)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Nate Jones </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(76)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Wil Myers </td>
<td class="xl25">$16 </td>
<td class="xl24">(205)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Taijuan Walker </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(85)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Matt Kemp </td>
<td class="xl25">$16 </td>
<td class="xl24">(210)</td>
<td>2B,SS</td>
<td>Brad Miller </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(88)</td>
<td>C,1B</td>
<td>Carlos Santana </td>
<td class="xl25">$11 </td>
<td class="xl24">(214)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Rex Brothers </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(93)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Manny Machado </td>
<td class="xl25">$5 </td>
<td class="xl24">(218)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Tommy Hunter </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(97)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Anthony Rizzo </td>
<td class="xl25">$7 </td>
<td class="xl24">(221)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Josh Reddick </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(98)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Matt Moore </td>
<td class="xl25">$6 </td>
<td class="xl24">(224)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Drew Smyly </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(100)</td>
<td>SP,RP</td>
<td>Michael Wacha </td>
<td class="xl25">$4 </td>
<td class="xl24">(227)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Neftali Feliz </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Jon went in a little heavier on early players than the previous teams, as you can see by the fact that he filled in his last 14 roster spots with $1 players (AND HE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH ANDRELTON SIMMONS AND KYLE SEAGER TOO IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU MEDDLING VOGELS!!!). The outfield is elite, although it cost a total of $114 with Myers and Kemp filling out the back end for $16 apiece. This is another team with a weak infield, though, as a total of $34 was spent on the 6 infield roster spots (including the corner/middle infielder slots). Behind Kenley Jansen, he grabbed 5 projected closer-eligible players for a total of $7, which seems like a pretty good way to use those $1 picks at the end.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Strengths: </b>OF, SP, RP</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weaknesses: </b>1B, 2B, 3B</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>At the Wright Price</u></b> (Andrew)</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<style>
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<col style="mso-width-alt: 2267; mso-width-source: userset;" width="62"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 6436; mso-width-source: userset;" width="176"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1938; mso-width-source: userset;" width="53"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1645; mso-width-source: userset;" width="45"></col>
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<col style="mso-width-alt: 1938; mso-width-source: userset;" width="53"></col>
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<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13" width="45">(1)</td>
<td width="62">3B</td>
<td width="176">Miguel Cabrera </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$50 </td>
<td class="xl24" width="45">(123)</td>
<td width="62">RP</td>
<td width="176">Jason Grilli </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(5)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Andrew McCutchen </td>
<td class="xl25">$36 </td>
<td class="xl24">(125)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Coco Crisp </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(9)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Freddie Freeman </td>
<td class="xl25">$25 </td>
<td class="xl24">(132)</td>
<td>C,OF</td>
<td>Evan Gattis </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(17)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Prince Fielder </td>
<td class="xl25">$28 </td>
<td class="xl24">(136)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Alfonso Soriano </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(38)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Ian Desmond </td>
<td class="xl25">$20 </td>
<td class="xl24">(148)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Hiroki Kuroda </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(39)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Justin Upton </td>
<td class="xl25">$19 </td>
<td class="xl24">(156)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Jim Johnson </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(62)</td>
<td>2B</td>
<td>Ian Kinsler </td>
<td class="xl25">$13 </td>
<td class="xl24">(162)</td>
<td>1B,2B</td>
<td>Daniel Murphy </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(78)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Elvis Andrus </td>
<td class="xl25">$10 </td>
<td class="xl24">(164)</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>Jason Castro </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(83)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Josh Hamilton </td>
<td class="xl25">$8 </td>
<td class="xl24">(182)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Huston Street </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(86)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Pedro Álvarez </td>
<td class="xl25">$10 </td>
<td class="xl24">(187)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Dan Haren </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(102)</td>
<td>2B</td>
<td>Brandon Phillips </td>
<td class="xl25">$5 </td>
<td class="xl24">(190)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Matt Garza </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(104)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Julio Teherán </td>
<td class="xl25">$5 </td>
<td class="xl24">(194)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Patrick Corbin </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(108)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Rafael Soriano </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
<td class="xl24">(200)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>C.J. Wilson </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(118)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Starlin Castro </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
<td class="xl24">(201)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>José Veras </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(120)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Danny Salazar </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
<td class="xl24">(206)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Ervin Santana </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Pitching was clearly not the emphasis for this squad, as the whole group of 8 cost a total of $17, or $2 less than Verlander and Price each went to the previous team. That savings shows in the excellent infield of Cabrera, Freeman, Fielder, Desmond, Kinsler, and Andrus, all of whom cost more than Jon's second-most-expensive infielder. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Catcher wasn't a priority here either, as Gattis and Castro went for $1 a pop, and he was able to get a pretty good collection of closers when you realize it cost him $9 for 5 guys. It'll be interesting to see if that dominant infield can make up for what looks like some deficits elsewhere.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Strengths: </b>1B, 3B, SS</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weaknesses: </b>SP, C</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>Bond's Giant Head</u></b> (Joey)</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<style>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 672px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 1645; mso-width-source: userset;" width="45"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 2267; mso-width-source: userset;" width="62"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 6436; mso-width-source: userset;" width="176"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1938; mso-width-source: userset;" width="53"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1645; mso-width-source: userset;" width="45"></col>
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<col style="mso-width-alt: 1938; mso-width-source: userset;" width="53"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13" width="45">(3)</td>
<td width="62">1B</td>
<td width="176">Chris Davis </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$36 </td>
<td class="xl24" width="45">(188)</td>
<td width="62">SP</td>
<td width="176">Lance Lynn </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(6)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Adrián Béltre </td>
<td class="xl25">$29 </td>
<td class="xl24">(195)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Eric Young </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(10)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Clayton Kershaw </td>
<td class="xl25">$35 </td>
<td class="xl24">(202)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Marlon Byrd </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(16)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Yu Darvish </td>
<td class="xl25">$33 </td>
<td class="xl24">(207)</td>
<td>2B,3B,OF</td>
<td>Kelly Johnson </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(26)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Félix Hernández </td>
<td class="xl25">$31 </td>
<td class="xl24">(211)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Will Venable </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(27)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Álex Ríos </td>
<td class="xl25">$17 </td>
<td class="xl24">(215)</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>A.J. Pierzynski </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(44)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>José Reyes </td>
<td class="xl25">$20 </td>
<td class="xl24">(219)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Nate McLouth </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(45)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Craig Kimbrel </td>
<td class="xl25">$17 </td>
<td class="xl24">(222)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Torii Hunter </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(52)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Aroldis Chapman </td>
<td class="xl25">$15 </td>
<td class="xl24">(225)</td>
<td>2B</td>
<td>Brian Dozier </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(101)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Billy Butler </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
<td class="xl24">(228)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Ubaldo Jiménez </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(103)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Joe Nathan </td>
<td class="xl25">$4 </td>
<td class="xl24">(230)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Ryan Howard </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(115)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Jeff Samardzija </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
<td class="xl24">(232)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>B.J. Upton </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(165)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Mike Napoli </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
<td class="xl24">(234)</td>
<td>1B,3B</td>
<td>Chris Johnson </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(173)</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>Wilson Ramos </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
<td class="xl24">(236)</td>
<td>3B,SS</td>
<td>José Iglesias </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(181)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>CC Sabathia </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
<td class="xl24">(238)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Alejandro De Aza </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">If Joey doesn't win the pitching categories in 15 of 22 regular-season weeks, this season is a failure. He spent $99 on Kershaw/Darvish/Felix and $36 on Kimbrel/Chapman/Nathan (although obviously Chapman's injury makes that a losing investment from the getgo), which pretty much forced him into lower-quality options elsewhere. He decided to do what he could to get some kind of quality, so he ended up spending $85 on three infielders, but that left a Kelly Johnson / Brian Dozier second-base position and a Wilson Ramos / AJ Pierzynski catcher position. Oh, and how about a five-player outfield that's a $17 Alex Rios and four $1 picks?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Strengths: </b>1B, 3B, SP</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weaknesses: </b>C, 2B, OF</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>tbd</u></b> (Matt V)</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<style>
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<col style="mso-width-alt: 2267; mso-width-source: userset;" width="62"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 6436; mso-width-source: userset;" width="176"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1938; mso-width-source: userset;" width="53"></col>
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<col style="mso-width-alt: 1938; mso-width-source: userset;" width="53"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13" width="45">(7)</td>
<td width="62">1B</td>
<td width="176">Paul Goldschmidt </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$39 </td>
<td class="xl24" width="45">(133)</td>
<td width="62">OF</td>
<td width="176">Desmond Jennings </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(23)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Troy Tulowitzki </td>
<td class="xl25">$29 </td>
<td class="xl24">(134)</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>Salvador Pérez </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(28)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Stephen Strasburg </td>
<td class="xl25">$25 </td>
<td class="xl24">(139)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Andrelton Simmons </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(31)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Evan Longoria </td>
<td class="xl25">$24 </td>
<td class="xl24">(141)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Brett Gardner </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(34)</td>
<td>2B</td>
<td>Jason Kipnis </td>
<td class="xl25">$25 </td>
<td class="xl24">(142)</td>
<td>2B</td>
<td>Chase Utley </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(49)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Jay Bruce </td>
<td class="xl25">$21 </td>
<td class="xl24">(147)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Kyle Seager </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(57)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Anibal Sánchez </td>
<td class="xl25">$15 </td>
<td class="xl24">(150)</td>
<td>C,1B</td>
<td>Jonathan Lucroy </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(71)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Matt Holliday </td>
<td class="xl25">$15 </td>
<td class="xl24">(157)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Jered Weaver </td>
<td class="xl25">$4 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(84)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Alex Cobb </td>
<td class="xl25">$7 </td>
<td class="xl24">(158)</td>
<td>SP,RP</td>
<td>Andrew Cashner </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(90)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Alex Gordon </td>
<td class="xl25">$8 </td>
<td class="xl24">(160)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Grant Balfour </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(92)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Trevor Rosenthal </td>
<td class="xl25">$7 </td>
<td class="xl24">(168)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Ernesto Frieri </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(109)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Shelby Miller </td>
<td class="xl25">$4 </td>
<td class="xl24">(169)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Clay Buchholz </td>
<td class="xl25">$3 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(114)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Shane Victorino </td>
<td class="xl25">$4 </td>
<td class="xl24">(177)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Justin Masterson </td>
<td class="xl25">$4 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(121)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Brandon Belt </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
<td class="xl24">(189)</td>
<td>2B,SS</td>
<td>Jed Lowrie </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(124)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Masahiro Tanaka </td>
<td class="xl25">$4 </td>
<td class="xl24">(196)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Michael Brantley </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Based on the last few teams, it seems like a lot of people tried to fill out either their outfield (Evan, Jon) or infield (Andrew, Joey, Matt) early on, with only Andrew and myself looking to have some degree of balance between the two. Matt nabbed his four first-string infielders in his first five selections for a total of $117, but took 133 selections to get his five outfielders for a total of $50. This is another low-cost catcher group in Perez and Lucroy, although they are both popular value options that could turn a nice profit. He was able to sprinkle in some starting pitching throughout, getting basically one starter per tier, while he basically took Trevor Rosenthal early-ish and waited for relief pitching.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Strengths: </b>1B, 2B, 3B, SS</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weaknesses: </b>OF, RP</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>Tiny Flying Drizzy</u></b> (Nathan by
way of Yahoo auto-draft)</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 672px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 1645; mso-width-source: userset;" width="45"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 2267; mso-width-source: userset;" width="62"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 6436; mso-width-source: userset;" width="176"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1938; mso-width-source: userset;" width="53"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1645; mso-width-source: userset;" width="45"></col>
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</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13" width="45">(11)</td>
<td width="62">OF</td>
<td width="176">Jacoby Ellsbury </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$21 </td>
<td class="xl24" width="45">(77)</td>
<td width="62">SP</td>
<td width="176">Gerrit Cole </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$10 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(12)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Ryan Braun </td>
<td class="xl25">$31 </td>
<td class="xl24">(80)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Mat Latos </td>
<td class="xl25">$8 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(37)</td>
<td>2B</td>
<td>Dustin Pedroia </td>
<td class="xl25">$20 </td>
<td class="xl24">(81)</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>Yadier Molina </td>
<td class="xl25">$10 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(50)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Starling Marte </td>
<td class="xl25">$13 </td>
<td class="xl24">(82)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Curtis Granderson </td>
<td class="xl25">$8 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(53)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Ryan Zimmerman </td>
<td class="xl25">$13 </td>
<td class="xl24">(96)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Carlos Beltrán </td>
<td class="xl25">$7 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(55)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Zack Greinke </td>
<td class="xl25">$15 </td>
<td class="xl24">(135)</td>
<td>SP,RP</td>
<td>Tony Cingrani </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(58)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Hisashi Iwakuma </td>
<td class="xl25">$12 </td>
<td class="xl24">(143)</td>
<td>2B,3B</td>
<td>Jedd Gyorko </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(61)</td>
<td>1B,OF</td>
<td>Allen Craig </td>
<td class="xl25">$15 </td>
<td class="xl24">(159)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Leonys Martín </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(64)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Gio González </td>
<td class="xl25">$11 </td>
<td class="xl24">(167)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Jimmy Rollins </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(65)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Billy Hamilton </td>
<td class="xl25">$12 </td>
<td class="xl24">(175)</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>Yan Gomes </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(66)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Kris Medlen </td>
<td class="xl25">$6 </td>
<td class="xl24">(197)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Víctor Martínez </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(70)</td>
<td>2B,3B</td>
<td>Matt Carpenter </td>
<td class="xl25">$12 </td>
<td class="xl24">(203)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Ben Revere </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(72)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>James Shields </td>
<td class="xl25">$8 </td>
<td class="xl24">(208)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Mark Teixeira </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(73)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Greg Holland </td>
<td class="xl25">$11 </td>
<td class="xl24">(212)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Alexei Ramírez </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(74)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Pablo Sandoval </td>
<td class="xl25">$7 </td>
<td class="xl24">(216)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Jhonny Peralta </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Nathan had a work engagement that ran long (sure...), so what started with "cutting it close" ended up with "F****** autopick" from everyone else. As you might expect, a team drafted entirely by a computer doesn't really have too much of a discernable strategy. It took a little longer for him to get going (just three selections in the first 40), but he really filled out his roster quickly after all of the studs were gone (17 selections in the next 60). Nathan normally goes for top starting pitching early, but the computer just decided to take one closer (Holland) and all the second-and-third-tier pitchers (including an injured Kris Medlen, thanks to some leaguemates), taking seven starting pitchers in the span of 26 nominations. There's a lot of speed in the outfield with Ellsbury, Marte, and Hamilton, so he should be able to dominate at least one offensive category, but he's basically punting saves so that's sort of a wash. Oh, and Jimmy Rollins as his starting shortstop is a bit of a downer, coming from a Phillies fan.<br /><b>Strengths: </b>2B, 3B, OF</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weaknesses: </b>SS, RP</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>Blernsball</u></b> (Matt S)</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 672px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 1645; mso-width-source: userset;" width="45"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 2267; mso-width-source: userset;" width="62"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 6436; mso-width-source: userset;" width="176"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1938; mso-width-source: userset;" width="53"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1645; mso-width-source: userset;" width="45"></col>
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<col style="mso-width-alt: 1938; mso-width-source: userset;" width="53"></col>
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<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13" width="45">(2)</td>
<td width="62">OF</td>
<td width="176">Mike Trout </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$50 </td>
<td class="xl24" width="45">(198)</td>
<td width="62">SP</td>
<td width="176">Chris Archer </td>
<td class="xl25" width="53">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(8)</td>
<td>2B</td>
<td>Robinson Canó </td>
<td class="xl25">$34 </td>
<td class="xl24">(204)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Carl Crawford </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(14)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Joey Votto </td>
<td class="xl25">$29 </td>
<td class="xl24">(209)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Jonathan Villar </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(15)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Carlos González </td>
<td class="xl25">$34 </td>
<td class="xl24">(213)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Dexter Fowler </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(24)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>David Wright </td>
<td class="xl25">$26 </td>
<td class="xl24">(217)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>John Axford </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(30)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Max Scherzer </td>
<td class="xl25">$25 </td>
<td class="xl24">(220)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Adam Eaton </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(48)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Cole Hamels </td>
<td class="xl25">$14 </td>
<td class="xl24">(223)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>R.A. Dickey </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(89)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Jordan Zimmermann </td>
<td class="xl25">$7 </td>
<td class="xl24">(226)</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>Miguel Montero </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(95)</td>
<td>2B,SS,OF</td>
<td>Ben Zobrist </td>
<td class="xl25">$10 </td>
<td class="xl24">(229)</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>Jarrod Saltalamacchia </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(105)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Glen Perkins </td>
<td class="xl25">$5 </td>
<td class="xl24">(231)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Kole Calhoun </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(107)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>David Robertson </td>
<td class="xl25">$6 </td>
<td class="xl24">(233)</td>
<td>1B,OF</td>
<td>Nick Swisher </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(112)</td>
<td>2B,3B</td>
<td>Brett Lawrie </td>
<td class="xl25">$2 </td>
<td class="xl24">(235)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Christian Yelich </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(128)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>José Abreu </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
<td class="xl24">(237)</td>
<td>SP,RP</td>
<td>Alex Wood </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(184)</td>
<td>RP</td>
<td>Fernando Rodney </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
<td class="xl24">(239)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Brandon Beachy </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13">(191)</td>
<td>OF</td>
<td>Michael Bourn </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
<td class="xl24">(240)</td>
<td>SP</td>
<td>Ian Kennedy </td>
<td class="xl25">$1 </td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">This Matt looked for quality across the board in the first 100 nominations, tying for the fewest selections out of that group with nine. He grabbed two stud outfielders, a full starting infield, three starting pitchers, and two relief pitchers in his first 11 selections, which was a deviation from what most other teams did. After that, though, he was pretty much out of money, also tying for the most $1 players with 18. This is probably the weakest catcher group of the bunch, but other than that there really isn't much in the way of holes, although I'm personally not that impressed by the starting pitching selections, and the Hamels and Beachy injuries don't help.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Strengths: </b>1B, 2B, 3B, OF</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Weaknesses: </b>C, SP</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">So I would normally try to do some kind of projection to determine how I think everyone will do, but with baseball's category system it's just so tedious. So I'm just gonna wing it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>8) Tiny Flying Drizzy</b> -- Not a lot of top players + generally inactive owner = :(</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>7) At the Wright Price</b> -- Depth in the infield won't overcome weak C / SP, not much depth in OF</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>6) Bond's Giant Head </b>-- Marlon Byrd is your second outfielder?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>5) Blernsball</b> -- Underwhelming starting pitching, not much depth</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>4) Stanton Girls</b> -- Good pitching, but good outfield doesn't make up for weak infield</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>3) tbd</b> -- Like the pitching / infield, waiting on outfield didn't hurt too much</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>2) Remember '08? Sigh.</b> -- Not great position player depth, but like balance and pitching</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>1) Cain't Win</b> -- Great OF / C, deep pitching, weak but workable infield</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">Don't worry, I didn't pick myself to win... but that means I have a better chance to win now.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-44679261017559345832014-03-09T21:58:00.003-04:002014-03-10T20:49:22.050-04:00Dameshek Fantasy Baseball Draft ReviewOK, I know this only applies to a select few interested individuals, but I think I do owe those involved at least a quick-and-dirty draft review. That just comes with the territory when I'm the commissioner. Baseball drafts are too long to do a round-by-round analysis, so this'll just be a team-by-team review looking at each roster's strengths and weaknesses.<br />
<br />
This 8-team league will have weekly head-to-head matchups with the standard 5x5 categories (R, HR, RBI, AVG, SB for hitters; W, SV, K, ERA, WHIP for pitchers). The rosters were trimmed down a bit relative to the average league to keep it simple, so it's pretty much just the bare bones required to fill an MLB roster. I'll go through these in the same order that the draft went, to maintain some consistency.<br />
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">Kosher Pigs</u> (Brandon / Marsden)<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 293px;">
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<col style="mso-width-alt: 8521; mso-width-source: userset;" width="233"></col>
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<tr height="13">
<td height="13" width="60">C</td>
<td width="233">Carlos Santana, Cle C, 1B, DH</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">1B</td>
<td>Joey Votto, Cin 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">2B</td>
<td>Jedd Gyorko, SD 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">3B</td>
<td>Pedro Alvarez, Pit 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">SS</td>
<td>Starlin Castro, ChC SS<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Mike Trout, LAA OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Bryce Harper, Wsh OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Giancarlo Stanton, Mia OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">UTIL</td>
<td>Freddie Freeman, Atl 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Madison Bumgarner, SF SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Jose Fernandez, Mia SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Gerrit Cole, Pit SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Julio Teheran, Atl SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Michael Wacha, StL SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Koji Uehara, Bos RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Jim Johnson, Oak RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Jose Abreu, CWS 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Brett Lawrie, Tor 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Billy Hamilton, Cin OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Jurickson Profar, Tex 2B, DH</td>
</tr>
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</tbody></table>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Going with Trout #1 was a no-brainer, but filling out the outfield with Harper and Stanton makes for a great young group with a lot of balance. Looks like they're trading off batting average and speed for power on the infield with Santana, Gyorko, and Alvarez, but that shouldn't hurt too much. The youth movement continues with the starting pitching, as none of the SP's they drafted are over 24, so there's a little bit of risk but a lot of possible room for improvement. Adding some interesting sleeper position players on the bench makes for an upside-rich roster, which might not hit its stride until midseason, especially if Hamilton can get on base enough to steal the 70 bases people think he can.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Strengths: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">HR, ERA, WHIP</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weaknesses: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">AVG</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Favorite Picks: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bumgarner, Hamilton</span></div>
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<br />
<u style="font-weight: bold;">Team Morggie</u> (Andrew / Margie)<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 293px;">
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<col style="mso-width-alt: 8521; mso-width-source: userset;" width="233"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13" width="60">C</td>
<td width="233">Yadier Molina, StL C</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">1B</td>
<td>Prince Fielder, Tex 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">2B</td>
<td>Matt Carpenter, StL 2B, 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">3B</td>
<td>Miguel Cabrera, Det 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">SS</td>
<td>Jose Reyes, Tor SS</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Carlos Gomez, Mil OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Jason Heyward, Atl OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Desmond Jennings, TB OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">UTIL</td>
<td>Carlos Beltran, NYY OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Max Scherzer, Det SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Aroldis Chapman, Cin RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Anibal Sanchez, Det SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Mike Minor, Atl SP<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Kris Medlen, Atl SP<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>David Robertson, NYY RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Rafael Soriano, Wsh RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Aaron Hill, Ari 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Chase Headley, SD 3B<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Daniel Murphy, NYM 2B<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Everth Cabrera, SD SS</td>
</tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starting off with Cabrera put them ahead in all offensive categories except steals, and it was clear that this was a focal point for the rest of the draft. The picks of Reyes, Gomez, Jennings, and E. Cabrera almost overcompensate for what M. Cabrera lacks. The offense looks pretty balanced, although there are some age/injury concerns with Reyes, Molina, and Beltran. The starting pitching will really depend on the performance of the Braves and Tigers, which are two perfectly fine teams to count on, but it could make Wins a bit streaky.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Strengths: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">R, SB, SV</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weaknesses: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">HR, RBI</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Favorite Picks: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gomez, Carpenter/Hill</span></div>
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<br />
<br />
<u style="font-weight: bold;">MY KNEE HURTS</u> (Melanie / Jaimie)<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 293px;">
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<tr height="13">
<td height="13" width="60">C</td>
<td width="233">Buster Posey, SF C, 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">1B</td>
<td>Adrian Gonzalez, LAD 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">2B</td>
<td>Brandon Phillips, Cin 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">3B</td>
<td>Ryan Zimmerman, Wsh 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">SS</td>
<td>Ian Desmond, Wsh SS</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Andrew McCutchen, Pit OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Matt Kemp, LAD OF<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Michael Cuddyer, Col OF<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">UTIL</td>
<td>Martin Prado, Ari 3B, 2B, OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Cliff Lee, Phi SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Craig Kimbrel, Atl RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Homer Bailey, Cin SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Matt Cain, SF SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Jered Weaver, LAA SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Andrew Cashner, SD SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Bobby Parnell, NYM RP<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Josh Hamilton, LAA OF, DH<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Mike Napoli, Bos 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Pablo Sandoval, SF 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Wilson Ramos, Wsh C</td>
</tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This roster is bit on the older side, with Lee, Weaver, Cain, Gonzalez, Phillips, Zimmerman, Cuddyer, and Prado all likely past their primes. That said, there's some interesting upside with potential bouncebacks from Kemp and Hamilton in the outfield and the aforementioned Cain and Weaver in the rotation. Starting with Lee and Kimbrel should keep them competitive in the pitching categories, and there's a lot of balance on offense both in terms of stat category and position representation (especially when you consider the bench).</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Strengths: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">AVG</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weaknesses: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">R</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Favorite Picks: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cain, Gonzalez, Prado</span></div>
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<br />
<br />
<u style="font-weight: bold;">Baby Yu Can Drive My CarGo</u> (Me)<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 293px;">
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<col style="mso-width-alt: 8521; mso-width-source: userset;" width="233"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13" width="60">C</td>
<td width="233">Brian McCann, NYY C</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">1B</td>
<td>Eric Hosmer, KC 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">2B</td>
<td>Dustin Pedroia, Bos 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">3B</td>
<td>Josh Donaldson, Oak 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">SS</td>
<td>Hanley Ramirez, LAD SS</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Carlos Gonzalez, Col OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Jay Bruce, Cin OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Yoenis Cespedes, Oak OF, DH</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">UTIL</td>
<td>Hunter Pence, SF OF<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Yu Darvish, Tex SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>David Price, TB SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Gio Gonzalez, Wsh SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Doug Fister, Wsh SP<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Trevor Rosenthal, StL RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Glen Perkins, Min RP<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Jason Grilli, Pit RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Matt Holliday, StL OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Matt Adams, StL 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Grant Balfour, TB RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Danny Salazar, Cle SP</td>
</tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">While I had a little bit of a draft snafu when I chose to take Pedroia instead of leaving him there and having him be available in the next round, I'm very pleased with the quality and balance at the top of my roster. Pedroia, CarGo, and Hanley all give across-the-board production, and Darvish and Price are excellent headliners for my starting pitching. I was the only team to roster four relievers, so I'm a bit down on Wins and Strikeouts from the outset, but I plan on making a lot of midseason moves to make up for it. I also traded some speed for power at the back end of my roster, so I might have to make some moves if I find that I'm losing runs and steals a lot.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Strengths: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">ERA, WHIP</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weaknesses: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">W, K</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Favorite Picks: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">McCann, Ramirez</span></div>
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<br />
<br />
<u style="font-weight: bold;">Newtown Square Powell's Power</u> (Laurie)<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 293px;">
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<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 2194; mso-width-source: userset;" width="60"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 8521; mso-width-source: userset;" width="233"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13" width="60">C</td>
<td width="233">Jonathan Lucroy, Mil C</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">1B</td>
<td>Chris Davis, Bal 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">2B</td>
<td>Jason Kipnis, Cle 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">3B</td>
<td>Adrian Beltre, Tex 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">SS</td>
<td>Troy Tulowitzki, Col SS</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Shin-Soo Choo, Tex OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Mark Trumbo, Ari 1B, OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Shane Victorino, Bos OF<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">UTIL</td>
<td>Jean Segura, Mil SS</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Adam Wainwright, StL SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Kenley Jansen, LAD RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Justin Verlander, Det SP<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Greg Holland, KC RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Jeff Samardzija, ChC SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Cole Hamels, Phi SP<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Casey Janssen, Tor RP<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Alex Gordon, KC OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Billy Butler, KC DH</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Domonic Brown, Phi OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Will Venable, SD OF</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This team's performance will almost exclusively be in the hands of a handful of players -- Davis, Kipnis, and Segura look to follow up career years, Verlander needs to bounce back after a down year, and Hamels needs to get and stay healthy. How Laurie handles the time until Hamels returns will prove important, as she will have a little more roster flexibility but not as much talent on the active roster. The offense is very balanced by virtue of collecting specialists in different areas (Davis/Beltre/Trumbo for power, Kipnis/Segura/Victorino for speed), and having Jansen and Holland should really help keep her strikeouts competitive even if the starting pitchers don't dominate.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Strengths: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">ERA, WHIP</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weaknesses: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">None</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Favorite Picks: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kipnis, Tulowitzki</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<u style="font-weight: bold;">You Say Tanaka I Say Tanaka</u> (Mitchell / Max)<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 293px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 2194; mso-width-source: userset;" width="60"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 8521; mso-width-source: userset;" width="233"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13" width="60">C</td>
<td width="233">Matt Wieters, Bal C</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">1B</td>
<td>Albert Pujols, LAA 1B, DH</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">2B</td>
<td>Chase Utley, Phi 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">3B</td>
<td>Kyle Seager, Sea 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">SS</td>
<td>Andrelton Simmons, Atl SS</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Adam Jones, Bal OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Yasiel Puig, LAD OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Jose Bautista, Tor OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">UTIL</td>
<td>Manny Machado, Bal 3B<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Clayton Kershaw, LAD SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Stephen Strasburg, Wsh SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Masahiro Tanaka, NYY SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Jordan Zimmermann, Wsh SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Alex Cobb, TB SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Joe Nathan, Det RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Jonathan Papelbon, Phi RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Xander Bogaerts, Bos 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>C.J. Wilson, LAA SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Tony Cingrani, Cin SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Anthony Rendon, Wsh 2B</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This team was drafted with local heroes and personal favorites in mind, so there's a little extra Phillies / Orioles / Dodgers representation, but nothing really out of whack happened as a result of that favoritism. The starting pitching is dominant, to be sure, but there's a bit of risk offensively with Utley’s age and last year’s injuries to Pujols, Machado, and Bautista. That said, this roster should have some good power numbers even if the batting average doesn't end up great, and the pitching will carry the team all the way home.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Strengths: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">W, K, ERA, WHIP</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weaknesses: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">SB</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Favorite Picks: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Strasburg, Cobb</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<u style="font-weight: bold;">Team Batsalot</u> (Brian / Jake)<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 293px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 2194; mso-width-source: userset;" width="60"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 8521; mso-width-source: userset;" width="233"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13" width="60">C</td>
<td width="233">Joe Mauer, Min C, DH</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">1B</td>
<td>Paul Goldschmidt, Ari 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">2B</td>
<td>Ian Kinsler, Det 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">3B</td>
<td>Evan Longoria, TB 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">SS</td>
<td>Ben Zobrist, TB 2B, SS, OF<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Ryan Braun, Mil OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Justin Upton, Atl OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Wil Myers, TB OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">UTIL</td>
<td>Edwin Encarnacion, Tor 1B, DH</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Chris Sale, CWS SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>James Shields, KC SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Shelby Miller, StL SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Hyun-Jin Ryu, LAD SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Matt Moore, TB SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>R.A. Dickey, Tor SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>CC Sabathia, NYY SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>J.J. Hardy, Bal SS</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Anthony Rizzo, ChC 1B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Alfonso Soriano, NYY OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Hiroki Kuroda, NYY SP</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This roster is chock full of power, with six possible 30-HR players in the starting lineup, including the best UTIL slot in the league in Encarnacion. There also appears to be an East-Coast bias by the New Yorkers, as half the team comes from the AL East. The most interesting part of this team, though, is obviously the fact that they chose to forfeit the Saves category by drafting 8 starting pitchers (including 6 in consecutive rounds in the second half of the draft) and no relievers. They'll obviously dominate Wins and Strikeouts, but will lose ERA and WHIP almost as often, as it shouldn't surprise anyone that the back end of the rotation isn't so great.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Strength</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">s: HR, RBI, W, K</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weaknesses: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">SV, ERA, WHIP</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Favorite Picks: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Encarnacion, Mauer, Hardy</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<u style="font-weight: bold;">Team Brumbaugh</u> (Ben / Amy)<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 293px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 2194; mso-width-source: userset;" width="60"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 8521; mso-width-source: userset;" width="233"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13" width="60">C</td>
<td width="233">Wilin Rosario, Col C<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">1B</td>
<td>Allen Craig, StL 1B, OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">2B</td>
<td>Robinson Cano, Sea 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">3B</td>
<td>David Wright, NYM 3B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">SS</td>
<td>Elvis Andrus, Tex SS</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Jacoby Ellsbury, NYY OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Alex Rios, Tex OF<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">OF</td>
<td>Starling Marte, Pit OF</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">UTIL</td>
<td>David Ortiz, Bos DH</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Felix Hernandez, Sea SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Zack Greinke, LAD SP<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Mat Latos, Cin SP<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Hisashi Iwakuma, Sea SP<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Sergio Romo, SF RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Jon Lester, Bos SP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">P</td>
<td>Addison Reed, Ari RP</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Aramis Ramirez, Mil 3B<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Jose Altuve, Hou 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Jayson Werth, Wsh OF<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td height="13">Bench</td>
<td>Brandon Moss, Oak 1B, OF</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This was the final resting place of one Jayson Werth, who for no particular (unbiased) reason dropped 11 rounds from his projected position. This doesn't really matter that much in the scheme of things, but it does add some outfield depth. The offense is balanced with power (Rosario, Cano, Ortiz) and speed (Andrus, Ellsbury, Marte), which should keep the performance floor pretty high. They will also have to deal with an injured starter at the outset of the season in Iwakuma, but there's a bit better surrounding collection of starters on this team to hold serve than with Laurie's squad.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Strengths: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">AVG, SB</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weaknesses: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">HR</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Favorite Picks: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Craig, Rosario, Werth</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
After a bit of hemming and hawing, here's how I see the season rankings shaking out:<br />
<b>1) You Say Tanaka I Say Tanaka</b> -- Clever name, dominant pitching<br />
<b>2) Newtown Square Powell's Power </b> -- Lots of different specialists creating balance<br />
<b>3) Kosher Pigs</b> -- Youth serves, creates plenty of upside<br />
<b>4) The Vigdergons</b> -- Balanced offense, and quality over quantity for SP<br />
<b>5) Team Batsalot</b> -- More like team Startsalot -- time will tell on punting saves<br />
<b>6) Team Brumbaugh</b> -- Top-heavy pitching and some specialists on offense<br />
<b>7) MY KNEE HURTS</b> -- Close one; erring on the side of Lee/Kimbrel<br />
<b>8) Team Morggie </b> -- Not really a bad team at all, just worried about the starting pitchingAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-79116951518353563702013-10-12T16:53:00.001-04:002013-10-12T16:53:28.864-04:002013 Phillies Post-MortemWell, for the second year in a row, we Phillies fans have the opportunity to watch the playoffs knowing that our team had no shot of being involved. Another year of moderate optimism (and, in the case of my step-dad, delusional optimism -- he predicted 100 wins!) resulted in another year of injury woes and disappointment. I spent a fair amount of time before the season creating a projection for the team, and if you don't mind, my review of the season will re-assess those predictions. <a href="http://viggysmalls.blogspot.com/2013/03/phillies-2013-preview.html" target="_blank">You can see the whole thing here.</a><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b>1. Outfield? More like doubtfield!</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
At the start of the season, the outfield looked like it was going to be mostly Domonic Brown, Ben Revere, and Delmon Young. Well, Revere got hurt early and Young got traded, so there was a lot more John Mayberry and Darin Ruf than I expected. Young really had a rough go in the field, but he had a predictable season offensively, hitting .261/.302/.397 with 8 homers and 31 RBI in half a season compared to my expected .260/.290/.400 with 9 homers and 37 RBI for the same play time. In relief of him, Ruf put up a more exciting half-season, with a slugger-riffic .247/.348/.458 line, 14 homers, and 30 RBI. He certainly earned another look next season, although he will have to keep up his solid walk rate to balance out the possible drop-off in batting average (he had a .324 BABIP, which is pretty unsustainable for a slow guy).<br />
<br />
The centerfield position had some trouble after Revere got hurt. He exceeded my expectations with the bat, going .305/.338/.352, and was on pace for 40 steals. He has good athleticism in the field which allows him to sometimes overcome his terrible instincts (like a chicken with his head cut off going after fly balls sometimes). Unfortunately, with his injury, it gave John Mayberry another opportunity to underwhelm in 384 PA. As the Phillies, you have to be able to put someone else in the field that can play average defense and hit better than .227 with 11 homers and 5 steals in 2/3 of a season.<br />
<br />
Domonic Brown, on the other hand, was a rare bright spot, at least when you consider fan expectations after previous seasons. As I noted at the beginning of the season: "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">If Brown puts up something between his career rates (.236/.315/.388) and his spring training pace (.376/.430/.671) with double-digit steals, he could reasonably end up contributing a .270/.340/.430 line with 15 homers, 75 runs/RBI, and 15 steals.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 18px;">" </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">He ended up with .272/.324/.494, showing less discipline than he had in the past, but he did smack 27 homers, and would have had 30 if he played a full season.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I predicted 4.2 WAR from the outfield, and, get this, they ended up with NEGATIVE 1.6! Doubtfield for sure.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>2. The <strike>Four Aces</strike> <strike>Big Three </strike>Two Towers?</b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well, that didn't go as expected. Roy Halladay started the season with an 8+ ERA then got hurt, Cole Hamels couldn't buy a win, and the back end of the rotation was, uh, a rotation of "meh" young arms. Halladay in particular was brutal, as he ended up with his worst strikeout rate since '07, walk rate since ever, and strand rate and ERA since 2000. He might get re-signed to a one year good-faith deal, but I think we've learned not to expect much.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lee and Hamels were both solid for much of the year, with Lee having another exceptional year (222 strikeouts in as many innings, just 32 walks, and a 2.87 ERA), while Hamels struggled early and bounced back late, ending up with his 3rd-worst ERA at 3.60, which says something about his career. Cole had an ERA improvement of over a run between the first and second halves of the season, winning just four games in his first 24 starts and then four in his last 9. Both guys should be just fine next year as well, and should at least keep the team moderately competitive.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The rest of the rotation was nothing to write home about. Kyle Kendrick, who had a 3.61 ERA in 40 starts in the two previous seasons, saw his ERA this season shoot up over a run thanks to a brutal second half in which his strand rate dropped by 20%, his opposing BABIP rose by 70 points, and so his ERA jumped by over 3 runs. Halladay's injury and John Lannan's absences allowed for Jonathan Pettibone, Tyler Cloyd, and Ethan Martin to get substantial play time. Unfortunately, only Pettibone posted an ERA below 5, so there's not much going for the Phils here, although at least Pettibone was the only one of those to throw 100 innings. They really need one of these guys (or the guys in AA) to step up and help out.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>3. Age is just a number, right? Right? ... The infield</b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">No, looks like age is actually a thing. Huh.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">A healthy Howard hit just 11 homers and 43 RBI in half a season, and with a ridiculous .349 BABIP (his highest since his MVP season), it's hard to feel warm-and-fuzzy about his .266 average. We already talked about John Mayberry, who spent a lot of time as the replacement here.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Jimmy Rollins had his fewest HR, R, RBI, and SB since 2003 despite playing 160 games, and almost as importantly, had his worst advanced defensive metric performance since 2002. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I predicted a not-as-awful-as-last year .280/.330/.400 slash line from Michael Young, and he ended up with .276/.336/.395 -- sometimes, I impress even myself. Neither of his replacements, Kevin Frandsen and Cody Asche, inspired any confidence (averaging about a .235 average and .300 OBP with 10 homers in almost 500 at-bats). </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Chase Utley had 2 more WAR than any other position player on the team, posting his best batting average, slugging percentage, home runs, and RBI since 2009 (although he also played his most games since that season). </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Using a guess of 5 WAR for Carlos Ruiz (the catchers actually got 2.5 WAR), and 2 for the bullpen (they actually got -0.1), I guessed that the Phils would win 84 games. Obviously, there were a lot of disappointments and injuries above, but a 73-89 season in which they finished behind the Mets is not anyone in Philly's idea of a good time. Now that we've seen a decline for two straight years, I feel safe in saying that this team is not going to compete for a division title until after the completion of Ryan Howard's contract in 2016, at which point salary-cap-cloggers Rollins and Papelbon will also be gone, but so will Hamels' prime and the presence of Lee and Utley. Oh, and let's not think too hard about the teams ahead of them in the division who have two young stud pitchers each (Strasburg/Zimmermann, Teheran/Minor, Harvey/Wheeler) and will probably not be going away any time soon.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-51584854055787435712013-10-03T21:49:00.000-04:002013-10-04T06:05:12.425-04:00And he's rounding first...OK, that's probably the wrong sport.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">Wow, what a busy couple months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t believe I used to write twoposts a week during football season!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Twas a different time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, now that I have a little respite, I guess the quarter-pole of theNFL season is a good time to take stock of where we are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And after my recent trip to Denver tointrospect and seek serenity in the mountains (read: watch the Eagles bend overand take it from the Broncos), I think I’m in the mental state to take a stepback and review the landscape of the league.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually I do somae kind of division-by-division thing, but Ithink I’ll go for a little power ranking thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My blog, my show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good stuff, let’s do this.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">32. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-4) </b>– Nothing really to say here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either quarterback is terrible, MJD wasalready struggling behind a now-shallower offensive line, and they keep losingme bets when I take them as massive underdogs!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m losing more and more confidence in my investments inJustin Blackmon and MJD fantasy-wise.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">31. Pittsburgh Steelers (0-4)</b> – They’ve had a terrible offensiveline for a few years now, but this is awful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The defense has fallen to average, which they can’t recoverfrom given the offensive inconsistency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Le’Veon Bell should help give a little life at RB, but I don’t thinkhe’s some kind of miracle cure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Istill believe that they’ll finish closer to 20th than 30th, because theiroffense will be good enough.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">30. New York Giants (0-4) </b>– Similar to the Steelers, the offensiveline is offensive, and they have less than no running game (which Eli has dealtwith before, but not thrived in).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They just dropped another running back, which gives David Wilson moreopportunities to fumble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good forthem that they get a chance to get healthy against the god-awful Eagles D.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4)</b> – I definitely invested far too muchin this passing game in fantasy, owning both Mike Williams and VincentJackson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The quarterback situationis not very good, but the talent surrounding that position and the soliddefense should allow them to bounce back over some teams with better records.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">28. Oakland Raiders (1-3)</b>—Terrelle Pryor at least makes themrelevant because of the threat of offense, but there’s a lot of inconsistencythat comes with that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, as aDarren McFadden owner, I have to hope they both stay on the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The defense is its usual sieve, and theimproved division could make this a 3-13 team easily.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">27. Arizona Cardinals (2-2)</b>—A team I thought would be more<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>potent offensively because they focusedon the O-line in the offseason, they’ve already had injuries and horr-terri-badbackfield production that make the passing game lose its effectiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The defense is decent, but I don’t seethe situation getting better regardless of the Andre Ellington hype.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">26. Washington Redskins (1-3) </b>– RGIII is coming back into formslowly, and the running game and Pierre Garcon are solid, but the defense ispretty bad (the Eagles offense has lost a lot of its credibility since theyplayed Week 1), and there isn’t much explosiveness in the offense to competewith top-level offenses.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">25. Buffalo Bills (2-2)</b> – EJ Manuel hasn’t been as effectivethrowing or running as I thought he’d be (as a multiple fantasy team owner),and neither has CJ Spiller, who I expected to disappoint but not thismuch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The defense has improvedsubstantially (although the reference point was terrible), so they’ve been ableto stay in games.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">24. Minnesota Vikings (1-3) </b>– Sure, AP is a beast, but the QBsituation is still terrible and the defense is mediocre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, they do have one elite aspectof their team, which can win them any game if the QB doesn’t lose it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I should probably have them lower,however.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">23. St. Louis Rams (1-3) </b>-- Sam Bradford hasn't taken advantage of the added weaponry like we thought, but the lack of a running game and some less-than-creative use of speedster Tavon Austin has put a lower ceiling on his season. The defense is still pretty good, at least up front, but the offense hasn't improved enough to make any noise.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">22. Philadelphia Eagles (1-3)</b> -- The offense has not been as-advertised, really only clicking in a lopsided affair against the Redskins. The defense looks just as bad as last year (playing Peyton in Denver doesn't help), so there needs to be more consistent production out of the passing game than we've seen. I still think that Nick Foles might be the best shot this offense has at solid production all year long.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">21. New York Jets (2-2)</b> -- I can't imagine the Jets doing any better had Mark Sanchez stayed healthy, so it's nice to see them get a look at Geno Smith. The defense seems to be close to its form from a couple seasons ago, and if they could just keep their skill position players healthy, maybe they could challenge an above-.500 record.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">20. Cleveland Browns (2-2)</b> -- Sure, trade your best player and sit your first-round quarterback, and win two straight games! The defense is legit, and if Brian Hoyer can keep up this pace without a running game (or at least one with an off-the-couch Willis McGahee), they could actually compete in a surprisingly-down AFC North.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">19. Carolina Panthers (1-2)</b> -- Cam is still a bit up-and-down, but DeAngelo Williams has done a decent job by himself this year, and it looks like Greg Olsen might be consistent enough to keep the offense more balanced than in the past. They've shown some pretty good competitiveness against the Seahawks and the apparently-terrible Giants, and that's partially due to their improved defense. I bet they outperform expectations over the rest of the year.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">18. Baltimore Ravens (2-2)</b> -- So I thought that when they fired Cam Cameron they were done with the wild swings in run-pass ratio and general offensive output? Joe Flacco remains massively overpaid and Ray Rice criminally underutilized, and if they had some better output from that side of the ball people might notice that the defense is actually better than last year.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">17. Tennessee Titans (3-1) </b>-- It's a shame that Jake Locker got hurt, because this was a surprisingly good team on both sides of the ball, even with Chris Johnson having another underwhelming campaign. The defense has done remarkably well considering how much of a doormat they were last year, and with two games remaining against the Jags, they could be one of the most-improved teams of '13.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">16. San Diego Chargers (2-2) </b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;">-- </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Philip Rivers has had a major renaissance this season, making Antonio Gates look surprisingly not-dead-yet. I'm not sure anyone has a good explanation for why he has tanked the past couple years, but it looks like he's at least temporarily back to the future. We'll see how it goes when he goes up against the cream of the AFC West. <b style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">15. Cincinnati Bengals (2-2)</b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;"> -- </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Andy Dalton is really holding this offense back with his erratic play, considering the bevy of young skill players (and BenJarvus Green-Ellis) he has at his disposal. The defense is legit up front, and with the rest of the division being mediocre they should really be better. Dalton has to show some more improvement to keep from being a future pariah a la Matt Schaub. <b style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">14. Dallas Cowboys (2-2)</b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;"> -- </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The offensive inconsistency is still there, but an average defense with an above-average quarterback can't be that much of a dud. The rest of the division is so awful that they could get in with a 2 game lead at 8-8, but they might be able to squeak in an above .500 record simply by virtue of beating on the other NFC-Leasters. <b style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">13. Atlanta Falcons (1-3) </b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;">-- </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I actually had no idea they were 1-3. These guys might be overrated here, but they've had some major offensive injury problems and have been half-decent on defense. If they get both Jackson and White back after the Week 6 bye, look out. <b style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">12. Miami Dolphins (3-1)</b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;"> -- </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One of the two biggest positive surprises this year, Miami has a top-10 defense to go with an average offense with room to improve. They've played a decent schedule too, so if the Patriots falter after squeaking by a bit in the early going I could see them at least making Brady sweat. <b style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">11. Indianapolis Colts (3-1) </b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;">-- </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Andrew Luck was the forgotten man after the breakouts of the read-option quarterbacks, but with decent weapons, a new running back toy to take the pressure off, and an apparently substantially improved defense, it's hard to see them winning fewer than 10 games this year. <b style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">10. Houston Texans (3-1)</b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;"> -- </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">People are apparently burning Matt Schaub jerseys, and while I expected it to be the defense that regressed to bring the Texans down, the fact that there are more chinks in the offense's armor makes me hesitant. <b style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">9. Green Bay Packers (1-2)</b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;"> -- </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This is mostly about the fact that they have Aaron Rodgers and should have won their last game against the Bengals, which would have made their record look good enough to justify me ranking them here. <b style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">8. Chicago Bears (3-1) </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">-- The offense has been a bit more productive under the new head coach, but there's still glimmers of Jay Cutler failing per usual. The defense isn't as dominant as it has been, but they still somehow manage to stay ahead of the game in the turnover department. Alshon Jeffery and Martellus Bennett may have contributed to the offensive improvement, and it's not like Urlacher was at the top of his game last year.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">7. Detroit Lions (3-1) </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">-- The offense has been particularly explosive because of the pass-run balance that Reggie Bush has provided, but his injury history and the inherent volatility of a Matthew-Stafford-run offense allows for a lot of late-game comebacks and blowups. The defensive front appears to be at least somewhat living up to its promise even with the lame drama surrounding Ndamukong Suh.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">6. San Francisco 49ers (2-2) </b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;">-- I don't feel great about this one, but their two losses are against two teams that are playoff-bound, and they blew up the Packers in their first game. Kaepernick hasn't shown consistency with a lacking receiving corps and the defense isn't as good as it has been, but if they focus on the running game like they did last year, they're a shoo-in for a Wild Card spot behind the best team in the NFC.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;"><br />
</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">5. Kansas City Chiefs (4-0)</b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;"> </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">-- As an Eagles fan, you have to feel pretty sad watching Andy Reid turn a 2-win team into what appears to be a surefire playoff team, but at the same time, you can't be that surprised. A very similar roster with Matt Cassel at the controls had a surprise playoff season a couple years ago, and whatever you think of him, Alex Smith is better. That being said, the schedule has been pretty friendly so far (three NFC East teams, conveniently enough for Reid), so don't expect them to be going 12-4 or anything.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">4. New England Patriots (4-0) </b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;">-- </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I don't feel that comfortable having them this high considering how close they've come to losing a few of these games, but it looks like Brady is getting more comfortable with his targets just in time for his big guns to start coming back. The loss of Vince Wilfork should prove to be a heavy burden (independent of his size) for a defense that finally looked to be turning itself around after a few years of mediocrity.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">3. Seattle Seahawks (4-0) </b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;">-- </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The offense has been inconsistent at times, especially on the road, but they're a mortal lock for 7-1 at home, and if they split the road games, that's an 11-5 season in the bag. Russell Wilson hasn't regressed like RGIII and Kaepernick have, and the defense is as advertised. It also doesn't hurt to already have a road win at San Fran in the bag.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">2. New Orleans Saints (4-0)</b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;"> -- </b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Drew Brees is doing his thing with Jimmy Graham having another monster year, but the defense is really the story here. They were quite possibly the worst defense in NFL history last season, and while even a below average defense might have guaranteed 10 wins with that offense, they appear to have an above-average unit that could portend a top-seed in the NFC.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">1. Denver Broncos (4-0) </b><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal;">--</b><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> I've seen it with my own two eyes, and it's kind of silly. Yes, they've played some bad defenses and average-at-best offenses, but the ease with which they've covered pretty hefty spreads is impressive. It seems like the obvious favorites this early in the season never actually win, so I can't say that I'd take them to win it all against the field, but I'd be pretty surprised to see them get anything but the top seed in the AFC heading into the playoffs. However, we all know that that's not what people are concerned about.</span></span></div></div><!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-25517636286567227782013-09-04T22:12:00.002-04:002013-09-04T22:12:42.866-04:00Happy New Year!Well, well, well, would you look at this! It appears that the Jewish New Year and the Football New Year (if you will) are coinciding this year, making for quite the holiday for most of the country. OK, maybe 99% of those people are into it for the football). Rosh Hashanah brings in a time for repentance, prayer, and charity. There will be plenty of prayer this weekend and for many more upcoming thanks to football, but I'm not really sure that we're in a position for repentance, as there haven't been any games played. But maybe I can give you guys a bit of charity in providing the set-'em-in-stone NFL season picks that we all know and love. And I'm a man of forgiveness in this holiday season, so I'll even give you how well I did last year, and you can forgive me :D<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">AFC EAST<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Actual<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Difference<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2013 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Patriots<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">13-3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">12-4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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-1</div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">11-5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Dolphins</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
3-13</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
4</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">7-9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Jets<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
6-10</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">6-10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
0</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
5-12</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Bills<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">7-9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">6-10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-1</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
5-12</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br />
I was pretty accurate with this division last season with the exception of my underestimating Ryan Tannehill, Reggie Bush, and the Dolphins' D. The Patriots lost a couple offensive weapons (and that doesn't include the guns Aaron Hernandez used to have), but their defense has improved over the past couple years and there's always Brady. The Dolphins should be passable offensively and defensively, but I don't have enough confidence in Tannehill or Lamar Miller to put them higher. The Jets won't be as bad as you would think, especially if Chris Ivory does what I think he can do and New York's most eligible Butt-Fumbler gets back under center (yes, I do actually think he's their best option). The Bills have some serious quarterback and defense problems, and I'm not sure they will get out of CJ Spiller what everyone thinks they will after his breakout last year.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 191;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">AFC NORTH<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Actual<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Difference<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2013 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Ravens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">12-4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">10-6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-2</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
9-7</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Bengals<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">8-8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
10-6</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
2</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
10-6</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Steelers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">10-6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">8-8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-2</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
9-7</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Browns<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">3-13</span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76">5-11</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
2</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br />
I was 2 games off on all the teams in this division last year, which meant it was much more tightly bunched than I expected. I have adjusted expectations this time around, predicting the top 3 teams to end up within 1 game of each other. I think the Ravens weren't really that good last year and should be worse offensively, while the Steelers are already experiencing backfield issues and no longer have James Harrison. There seems to be a lot of optimism around the Browns this preseason, and I'm buying it to some extent. Their second-year QB/RB/WR combo could come into their own, and their defense was underrated last season, but they are still likely to be the worst team in this division so I can't expect much from them.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 191;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">AFC SOUTH<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Actual<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Difference<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Texans<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">10-6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">12-4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
2</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">11-5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Colts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
5-11</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
11-5</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
6</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
9-7</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Titans</span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89">9-7</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
6-10</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-3</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
6-10</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Jaguars<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
5-11</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
2-14</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-3</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
6-10</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br />
The Colts were (retrospectively) unsurprisingly the biggest positive surprise based on my expectations, while my optimism about the Titans' and Jaguars' progress was not rewarded. I also expected the Texans to regress slightly, and while there were chinks in their defensive armor, the offense was as good as it's been in recent years. I still expect Houston to be tops in the division, partially because I expect the league to catch up to the Colts a bit after their emotional run last season. The Titans tried very hard to improve their offensive line, and that should help Jake Locker get comfortable and Chris Johnson get more room, but their defense needs to improve for them to go anywhere. There's similar optimism about the Jags' offense as with the Browns, but I have less confidence in Blaine Gabbert and the Jags' defense for whatever reason. </div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 191;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">AFC WEST<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Actual<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Difference<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Broncos<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
10-6</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
13-3</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
12-4</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Chargers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
9-7</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">7-9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-2</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Raiders<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 39.0pt;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">7-9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">4-12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-3</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
3-13</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Chiefs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
8-8</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2-14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-6</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
8-8</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">The Broncos did even better than I expected last year thanks to an excellent defense and a better-than-expected Peyton Manning, while the rest of the division languished in mediocrity at best. The Chiefs were especially disappointing despite Jamaal Charles' excellent season, and I expect them to get back on the horse this season with their new average quarterback and, odd as it is to say, Andy Reid at the helm. The Raiders have no quarterback, no offensive line, and no defense, and should be the doormat of the AFC in the coming year. The Chargers will be good enough to beat decent teams, but bad enough to lose to bad teams, and will just sort of be there until something happens with Philip Rivers one way or the other. I expect the Broncos' defense to regress with Bailey and Miller out for a bit and Dumervil over in Baltimore, but their offense should be even more explosive with the additions of Wes Welker and Julius Thomas.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 191;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">NFC EAST<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Actual<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Difference<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2013 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Redskins<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
6-10</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
10-6</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
4</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
8-8</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Giants<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
8-8</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
9-7</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
1</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
8-8</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Cowboys<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
8-8</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
1</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
9-7</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Eagles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
10-6</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
4-12</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-6</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">6-10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br />
The Redskins joined the Colts as surprising teams thanks to their top-2 rookie QBs, while the Eagles massively disappointed after an equivalently disappointing 2012, and that caused the aforementioned Reid to be ousted. I think Chip Kelly's offense will help things, but it's not as revolutionary as people think it will be (the Patriots are basically already using it, but they have Tom Brady), and that defense is going to be brutal. The 'Skins are going to have to cut back on RGIII's run options, which will reduce the effectiveness of the offense even without considering that he might be limited by his injury. The Giants are already banged up and out of sync offensively, but they always manage to be competitive. I don't feel at all confident in this given their history and the division's, but I think the Cowboys' offense is going to really shine if they can get anything useful from the running game that was way below average last season.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 191;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">NFC NORTH<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Actual<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Difference<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2013 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Packers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">13-3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
11-5</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-2</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">11-5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 41.0pt;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Vikings<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
3-13</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
10-6</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
6-10</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Bears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
9-7</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
10-6</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
1</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">9-7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 47.0pt;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Lions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
9-7</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
4-12</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-5</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br />
It's hard for a team not to overachieve when they have a guy rush for 2000 yards, but with P. Harv's abbreviated breakout and Christian Ponder's not-messing-it-up-too-much, the Vikings really had a surprising year. At the same time, the Lions' offense had a lot of red zone issues and the defensive line wasn't as disruptive as Ndamukong Suh would lead you to believe, so they fell of the cliff. The Packers regressed a bit last season thanks to their defense and lack of running game, and while they should be able to run the ball with Lacy added, they've lost some passing weapons, a left tackle, and Charles Woodson. The Bears are going to be good enough offensively and defensively to be competitive, but I don't see them making the playoffs if their defense isn't as opportunistic as last season.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 191;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">NFC SOUTH<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Actual<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Difference<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2013 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Falcons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">12-4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
13-3</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
1</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">11-5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Saints<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">10-6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-3</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">10-6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Buccaneers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
0</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">7-9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Panthers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
0</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">6-10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br />
I was really good at picking this division last year, although I didn't expect the Saints' loss of Sean Payton for the year to have as much of an impact as it did. That said, he's back and is probably mad, so they could have an '07 Patriots kind of vindictive approach offensively that gets them right back on the horse. The Falcons probably hit their peak last year, so I expect them to decline a bit, especially if the Saints are back in business. The Bucs had a great start and then fell off towards the end of last year, and while I think Freeman isn't likely to improve any, the defensive backfield and offensive line are going to be better, so this 7-9 mark may be an underestimate. The Panthers just don't seem to have enough weapons offensively to optimize Cam Newton, and their defense still leaves something to be desired, so I can't see them getting out of the cellar in this division.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 191;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">NFC WEST<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2012 Actual<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Difference<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">2013 Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">49ers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
10-6</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76">11-4-1</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
1.5</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
10-6</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Seahawks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
11-5</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
4</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
10-6</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Rams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">6-10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-8-1</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
1.5</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
8-8</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 105.15pt;" valign="top" width="105"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Cardinals<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 75.5pt;" valign="top" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
5-11</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.45pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
-2</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.85pt;" valign="top" width="89"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
7-9</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br />
It's hard to believe that three years ago the winner of this division was 7-9, and this year I'm picking the loser to be 7-9. The Seahawks were the third team to really overachieve with a rookie QB, while the 49ers continued their dominance despite switching quarterbacks midseason. I expect both quarterbacks to be figured out a bit (probably Wilson more than Kaepernick because I trust Kaep's arm more), but those defenses are solid. Also, the Rams' new offensive weapons and the Cardinals' actually professional quarterback should make the bottom half of the division more competitive and keep the top half less dominant. </div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
So how would the playoffs look if my word were law?</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 191;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 221.4pt;" valign="top" width="221"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">AFC<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 221.4pt;" valign="top" width="221"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">NFC<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 221.4pt;" valign="top" width="221"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Patriots<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 221.4pt;" valign="top" width="221"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Packers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"><td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 221.4pt;" valign="top" width="221"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Bengals<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">49ers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Colts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Seahawks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Ravens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Saints<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
That's actually a significantly-below-average amount of turnover for playoff teams (only the Cowboys and Saints would represent new teams from last year), but I feel like the new super-special-awesome young quarterbacks have provided a stability in the upper-middle-class that wasn't there in previous years. I think the Bengals and Colts are the most vulnerable of the remaining teams that made it last year due to competition in the division and some potential regression at the QB position, but I really don't feel at all confident in taking any of the middle-tier teams in the AFC to make a jump. Especially not the Jets, in case you were wondering.</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-17448031194258269422013-08-30T19:07:00.002-04:002013-08-30T19:07:29.035-04:00Frameshmania Year 6 Draft Review
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OK, I’m going to apologize in advance to the ardent fans of
this blog for the lack of dedication I am about to display.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last season I did a 12-page draft
review for the league for which I am commissioner, Frameshmania.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year, I have a much busier schedule
with work, so this is only going to be like 6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it will probably look a lot like the Mad Decent
Jawnskies review I did last week, but with better teams, considering the format
here: 8 teams, 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 Flex, meaning that 32 fewer players start in
this league than in Jawnskies.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So in my other draft review I looked back at my previous
review to see how I did, and it was ugly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How about this league?</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Team<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Predicted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Actual<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hometown Mamas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sabotage the League<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Trophy Me Maybe<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="DE" style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: DE; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">J-E-T-S Jets
Jets Jets<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 131.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="131">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hoosier Daddy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 56.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="56">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 131.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="131">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Salt Lake City Big Tymers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 56.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="56">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 131.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="131">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Detroit Football<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 56.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="56">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 131.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="131">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">DelCo's Side-Arm Stud<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 56.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="56">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 131.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="131">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Correlation<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 56.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="56">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-0.2619<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="48">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
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</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wow, I am just awful at this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s just get it over with.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u></u></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b><u><br /></u></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Hoosier Daddy</u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><br /></u></b></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 4.65pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 173px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Adrian Peterson, Min RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Aaron Rodgers, GB QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Steven Jackson, Atl RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Andre Johnson, Hou WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Vincent Jackson, TB WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">James Jones, GB WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tony Gonzalez, Atl TE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rashard Mendenhall, Ari RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">DeSean Jackson, Phi WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Cin RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tavon Austin, StL WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lance Moore, NO WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Seahawks D/ST D/ST<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Brandon Myers, NYG TE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Alshon Jeffery, Chi WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 15; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">16<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 156.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="156">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matt Prater, Den K<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">QB – 2nd: </b>Hard to
put the guy who takes Aaron Rodgers any lower than 2<sup>nd</sup>, although I
thought about it because as you’ll see, in a league this shallow, you can get
some pretty impressive backup QB’s to insure your stud.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RB – 6th: </b>It’s
even harder to put a team that gets AP 6th at running back, but this is mostly
a matter of depth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Steven
Jackson, who I like as a #2, Mendenhall and BJGE are pretty uninspiring bench
players given their plodding style.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WR – 4th:</b> This is
a weak 4th as far as I’m concerned, because while it’s clear that the lack of
depth at RB is made up for in depth at WR, it’s a group with a lower “center of
gravity” than other teams that have studs at the top.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TE – 4th: </b>Gonzalez
helped him to a regular-season surge early last season, so I get going back to
the well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Backing him up with
Myers is a good enough insurance policy, but not enough to move above other teams
at the position.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="DE" style="mso-ansi-language: DE;">J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="DE" style="mso-ansi-language: DE;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 4.65pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 164px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Arian Foster, Hou RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A.J. Green, Cin WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Drew Brees, NO QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jimmy Graham, NO TE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Reggie Bush, Det RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Reggie Wayne, Ind WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Marques Colston, NO WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mike Wallace, Mia WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Daryl Richardson, StL RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">T.Y. Hilton, Ind WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ben Tate, Hou RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bryce Brown, Phi RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Emmanuel Sanders, Pit WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bengals D/ST D/ST<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matt Bryant, Atl K<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 15; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">16<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 147.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="147">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eli Manning, NYG QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">QB – 1st: </b>Brees
was the #1 QB last season and gets his coach back, while Rodgers loses some
weapons. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easy to peg him first,
and Eli as a backup is a decent enough lottery ticket given his past and
offensive weapons.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RB – 7th: </b>Matt
loves him some Foster, so absent a better idea, he went with his standby, even
though his output is likely to decline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After that, though, he’s got two backups (albeit, one is Foster’s
handcuff) and two guys who have question marks about their roles in Bush and
Richardson.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WR – 3rd:</b> Getting
AJ Green at the top and then taking 4 WRs out of 5 picks in the middle rounds
gives some nice depth, and the back end guys (Hilton and Sanders) have nice
upside in former-Bruce-Arians offenses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not that that’s really a good thing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TE – 1st:</b> As I
said for the Mad Decent Jawnskies draft: Jimmy Graham.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Nuff said.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Salt Lake City Big
Tymers (this guy)</u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><br /></u></b></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 4.65pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 190px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jamaal Charles, KC RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Alfred Morris, Wsh RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dez Bryant, Dal WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Chris Johnson, Ten RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Roddy White, Atl WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Danny Amendola, NE WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matt Ryan, Atl QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ryan Mathews, SD RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Pierre Garcon, Wsh WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matthew Stafford, Det QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Miles Austin, Dal WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Anquan Boldin, SF WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Greg Olsen, Car TE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bernard Pierce, Bal RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Patriots D/ST D/ST<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 15; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">16<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 173.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="173">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Phil Dawson, SF K<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">QB – 6th: </b>I can’t
say I’m terribly happy with taking Ryan when I could have waited a couple
rounds and ended up with a perfectly-acceptable Stafford and Romo, but I think
it’s a nice pairing with some upside and a pretty high floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wouldn’t be surprised that Stafford
outplays Ryan either.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RB – 2nd</b>: I got
kind of screwed by having to pick between a billion guys at the third pick and
taking a risk-reward guy in Charles, and then missed out on McCoy coming back
around to me by one pick and ending up with Morris, who is fine, but
unexciting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Johnson and Mathews
should be fine and are upside plays more than anything, and Pierce is just a
guy to fill a spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This ranking
is mostly about having three top-15 guys in my opinion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WR – 1st: </b>I feel
WAY better about this crop, nabbing some excellent depth in Amendola, Garcon,
and Austin behind top-12 guys Bryant and White.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, if I’m not going to end up with my boy Romo I might as
well get his receivers.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TE – 8th:</b> I’m all
about waiting on tight end, and it’s pretty sweet to be in an 8-team league and
get a consensus top-6 tight end (who finished there last year) in the 13th
round.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, it’s an 8 team
league, so plenty of other good options went before him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Sabotage the
League</u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><br /></u></b></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 4.65pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 169px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ray Rice, Bal RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LeSean McCoy, Phi RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matt Forte, Chi RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Larry Fitzgerald, Ari WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">DeMarco Murray, Dal RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dwayne Bowe, KC WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Colin Kaepernick, SF QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Antonio Brown, Pit WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">DeAngelo Williams, Car RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Antonio Gates, SD TE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">49ers D/ST D/ST<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Percy Harvin*, Sea WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Owen Daniels, Hou TE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Josh Gordon, Cle WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Randy Bullock, Hou K<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 15; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">16<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 152.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="152">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Michael Vick, Phi QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">QB – 7th: </b>Two back-end-of-the-draft
running quarterbacks definitely have upside, but it’s an 8-team league, so if
you are the last to draft a quarterback, you can’t be ranked that high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That being said, I like the upside of
both of these guys quite a bit, and having both of them gives a better chance
one of them ends up doing well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RB – 1st: </b>By far
the best single position in the draft in my opinion, Phil got lucky in having
McCoy and Forte fall to him at 13 and 20, respectively, and having all five
running backs be essentially unquestioned starters is a huge advantage.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WR – 6th: </b>Phil
stole Dwayne Bowe right out from under my nose as his second (would have been
my third) receiver, and while I like his top 3 fine, drafting Percy Harvin at
all is a major downgrade for his depth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TE – 5th: </b>Gates
and Daniels are just so boring at this point in their careers, I can’t rank
them too highly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phil claims he
hears all sorts of raving about Gates this year, but haven’t we heard that
before?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like last year?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>I Don’t Give an
Andrew Luck<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><br /></u></b></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 4.65pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 211px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Marshawn Lynch, Sea RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">David Wilson, NYG RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Julio Jones, Atl WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Demaryius Thomas, Den WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Andrew Luck, Ind QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Darren Sproles, NO RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Montee Ball, Den RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Vernon Davis, SF TE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Torrey Smith, Bal WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Greg Jennings, Min WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Vick Ballard, Ind RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mark Ingram, NO RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Andy Dalton, Cin QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Denarius Moore, Oak WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blair Walsh, Min K<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 15; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">16<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 194.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="194">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Steelers D/ST D/ST<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">QB – 8th: </b>I could
have given a higher rank just for making sure to draft the team’s namesake, but
I don’t think that Luck is a viable starter in a league this shallow, and I’m
not even sure Dalton is worth rostering in this format.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RB – 8th: </b>This
ranking is mostly about taking David Wilson ahead of at least 4 guys I think
are definitely ahead of him (McCoy, Morris, Jackson, Forte), which allowed some
other teams to build up much better RB groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest of the roster has good enough depth, but this is really
about not having confidence outside of Lynch.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WR – 5th: </b>Definitely
one of the top starting duos in the league here, but waiting another 4 rounds
to take another receiver limits the depth here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do actually like Smith and Jennings, but with the quarterback
situation in Oakland, I think there are much better fliers at the back end than
Moore.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TE – 6th: </b>As a
Davis owner at the end of last year, I have a special dark place in hell
reserved for him, but he’s fine as one of the earlier tight ends off the
board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, he’s not better <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">enough</i> to rank him alone above teams
with pairs of similar guys.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Hometown Mamas<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><br /></u></b></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 4.65pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 175px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Doug Martin, TB RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Calvin Johnson, Det WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peyton Manning, Den QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Frank Gore, SF RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wes Welker, Den WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eddie Lacy, GB RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rob Gronkowski*, NE TE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jordy Nelson, GB WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Giovani Bernard, Cin RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cecil Shorts, Jac WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Shane Vereen, NE RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tony Romo, Dal QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jordan Cameron, Cle TE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Chris Givens, StL WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Texans D/ST D/ST<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 15; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">16<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 158.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="158">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sebastian Janikowski, Oak K<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">QB – 4th</b>: I have
Manning as my third QB, so you’d think that team would be third, but having Romo
as a backup compared to, let’s say hypothetically, Cam Newton, makes this a
pretty top-level #4 ranking.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RB – 5th: </b>Martin
is certainly a nice pick at 6, but even with the security of Gore and the
upside of Lacy and Bernard, I feel kind of sketchy about the depth here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is similarly a pretty high #5 (I
actually had 3rd as I was writing this, but didn’t feel great about it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WR – 2nd: </b>Megatron
at the top is obviously a big deal, but I really like Nelson, Shorts, and
Givens as backups to the consistent performers she has starting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s definitely some questions about
the health/role of a couple guys, but this is a strong top-to-bottom unit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TE – 2nd: </b>There
was a discussion during the draft about whether Gronk should be paired with his
backup Zach Sudfeld, but I think having Cameron is just as good of a pick
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless, reports
indicate that we could see Gronk back around Week 4, at which point he’s definitely
a top-2 option.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>DelCo’s Side-Arm
Stud<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><br /></u></b></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 4.65pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 159px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Trent Richardson, Cle RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="DE" style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: DE; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">C.J. Spiller,
Buf RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Brandon Marshall, Chi WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tom Brady, NE QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Darren McFadden, Oak RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cam Newton, Car QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lamar Miller, Mia RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jason Witten, Dal TE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hakeem Nicks, NYG WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eric Decker, Den WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Andre Brown, NYG RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Le'Veon Bell, Pit RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kenny Britt, Ten WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Zach Sudfeld, NE TE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Stephen Gostkowski, NE K<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 15; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">16<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 142.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="142">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Broncos D/ST D/ST<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">QB – 3rd: </b>A
pairing that you’re only going to see in leagues this shallow, this is kind of
a ridiculous situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously there’s
major trade opportunities here if the season develops the right way, but even
then, a possible down year from either gives almost no risk.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RB – 4th: </b>Arguably
the second-best starting pairing in the league, Richardson and Spiller make
this ranking, because I’m now totally off the Darren McFadden bandwagon and
have no confidence in Lamar Miller (oh, and Le’Veon Bell is kinda
injured).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is some upside in
the backups, but the starters are the kicker here (and I would expect nothing
less of Mr. RB-RB himself).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WR – 8th: </b>A
classic Kyle move, he took Marshall and then waited 5 rounds to fill out the
rest of his receivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s
confident that he’ll have the chance to pick up a top option that appears on
the waiver wire, so hopefully for his sake he doesn’t get stuck depending on walking
band-aids Nicks and Britt and fighting-for-targets Decker.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TE – 3rd: </b>Speaking
of Sudfeld, he’s much better served as a Gronk handcuff because his role will
likely be reduced by the time you would want to start him over Witten, but
still it’s hard to argue the upside is worth it, and Witten’s as safe as they
come.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Trophy Me Maybe</u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><br /></u></b></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 4.65pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 166px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 149.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="149">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 149.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="149">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Stevan Ridley, NE RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 149.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="149">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="DE" style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: DE; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Robert Griffin III,
Wsh QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 149.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="149">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Victor Cruz, NYG WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 149.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="149">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Chris Ivory, NYJ RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 149.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="149">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Randall Cobb, GB WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 149.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="149">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Russell Wilson, Sea QB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 17.0pt;" valign="bottom" width="17">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ahmad Bradshaw, Ind RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Steve Smith, Car WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sidney Rice, Sea WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Steve Johnson, Buf WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kyle Rudolph, Min TE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mike Williams, TB WR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Knowshon Moreno, Den RB<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Justin Tucker, Bal K<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">16<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bears D/ST D/ST<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">QB – 5th: </b>RGIII
was definitely a reach as the 4th quarterback off the board (considering the
team above got two higher-ranked QB’s later on), but pairing him with Wilson is
a really intriguing combo, a higher-end version of KaeperVick.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RB – 3rd: </b>MJD and
Ridley were also slight reaches with Spiller, McCoy, and Morris (and if you
like him enough, Jackson) still on the board, but I do like both guys this
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also think that Ivory and
Bradshaw are interesting later-round starting backs, and Moreno is as good a
flier as anyone at that point given his previous success in Denver.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WR – 7th: </b>Again,
I don’t mind Cruz, but I wouldn’t be taking him over all of Thomas, Fitzgerald,
Johnson, Jackson, and White.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cobb
is just fine as a #2 and I love Smith as a later receiver, but Rice and Johnson
just don’t have the offense/QB situation to make much of an impact.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TE – 7th: </b>Rudolph
has been somewhat overdrafted this year, but getting him in the 12th is just
fine, and I think he will be more consistent this year than last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s still an 8-team league, though, so
I can’t be too impressed.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>The Verdict<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">8. I Don’t Give an
Andrew Luck</b> – Reaches at RB/QB don’t make me confident.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">7. Trophy Me Maybe</b>
– Some early reaches at QB/RB but made up later at those positions while not
getting much better at others.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">6. DelCo’s Side-Arm
Stud</b> – As always shallow at WR, but not as good at RB as usual in a year
that rewards loading up more than most.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5. Hoosier Daddy</b>
– Rodgers and Peterson keep the floor high, but not much depth behind.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. Sabotage the League</b>
– Stole a bunch of guys right out from under me (McCoy, Bowe, Fitz) but there
isn’t much at QB/WR after loading up on RBs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. J-E-T-S Jets Jets
Jets</b> – He told me to just sign him up for first place now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, what happens when you let the most
important position be your worst?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2. Hometown Mamas</b>
– I always seem to like my mother’s teams after the draft, and this is a
balanced roster with some nice guys at the top of each position.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1. Salt Lake City Big
Tymers</b> – I’m not sure how I even gave myself this ranking, but I guess it’s
about my loading up at RB/WR working out in my eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we’ve seen how my predictions go, so maybe I should have
fudged the numbers a bit.<a href="" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-88955957283915925462013-08-26T21:53:00.001-04:002013-08-26T21:54:10.825-04:00Fantasy-Football-Eligible NFL Players Who Should Do Better/Worse Than Expected: RemasteredLast season, I waited until I was drafting my last fantasy football team of the season to release a blog post about which players I liked/disliked heading into the season. Don't want to give away my hand, you know? Well, since my last draft is with people from work and no one from that league reads this, I'll go a little ahead of schedule and tell everyone who I've been a fan of in this mock draft season. Until last week I hadn't done more than a couple mock drafts, which stands in stark contrast to the 30+ hours I spent preparing for fantasy season last year. And after all that, THIS is the list of picks I came up with:<br />
<br />
<b><u>Thumbs Up</u></b><br />
<b>Pierre Garcon </b>(injured, but otherwise solid)<br />
Donald Brown (yeah, he finished below the lesser-known Andre and Bryce)<br />
Ryan Williams (uh, 13 total points)<br />
Steven Jackson (finished 16th, which was decent, but not enough to claim it)<br />
Michael Vick (still got injured, but didn't have the per-game output)<br />
Darren McFadden (yeah, even his per-game average would have put him outside the top 20. Blech)<br />
Ryan Fitzpatrick (finished 20th at his position, not so much)<br />
<b>Percy Harvin</b> (this beautiful man managed to hurt himself just as I traded for him -- sigh)<br />
<b>Eric Decker</b> (now, we'll see why this was only a half-successful prediction, but still, 7th at WR)<br />
Peyton Hillis (uh, 30 total points)<br />
<b>Mikel Leshoure</b> (missed two games and still ended up top-20? That's a win.)<br />
<b>Greg Olsen</b> (didn't own him on any teams, but finished a very solid 6th)<br />
<br />
<b><u>Thumbs Down</u></b><br />
Rob Gronkowski (wow. Missed 5 games and still ended up second at the position.)<br />
Marshawn Lynch (maybe even worse, he finished 4th at the position)<br />
Andre Johnson (a former flame, a monster second half got him all the way up to 7th)<br />
Trent Richardson (man, this is a rough list -- finished 11th at RB while missing a game)<br />
Wes Welker (yeesh, are we done yet? 12th at WR.)<br />
Demaryius Thomas (yeah, guess not. 5th.)<br />
<b>Jermichael Finley</b> (FINALLY! Thank you, JMF, for finishing 17th at tight end.)<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
Since apparently it's not a good idea to tell people which players I don't want to draft, let's stay a little positive. I've done 16 mock drafts in preparation for my Frameshmania 8-team draft (2 at each draft position), and recorded all of the players that I took at least four times. Let's take a look at the tape:<br />
<br />
<b><u>QB</u></b><br />
<b>Peyton Manning</b> (5 times) -- I value the top 12 or so RB's and 5 WR's over Brees and Rodgers in most circumstances, but if Manning falls and I've been able to grab at least one top player at each of those positions, I'm good with that.<br />
<br />
<b><u>RB</u></b><br />
<b>David Wilson</b> (7 times) -- I don't even think of myself as a Wilson lover, but that range in the draft lacks interesting WR options, so the top-15 upside of Wilson is intriguing.<br />
<b>Reggie Bush</b> (5 times) -- Speedy pass-catching running back in an offense that throws all the time? Injury risk on the turf 8+ games a year, but a pretty high floor if he stays healthy.<br />
<b>Lesean McCoy</b> (5 times) -- I absolutely love him as a player, the fact that I didn't take him more often is about my concern that Chip Kelly rotates his backs to keep them fresh in his frenetic offense.<br />
<b>Jamaal Charles</b> (4 times) -- His frame makes him an injury concern and he's too touchdown-poor to feel great drafting him in the top 3, but the Andy Reid offense is a very intriguing for his skills.<br />
<b>Matt Forte</b> (4 times) -- Was a guy I really liked last year, but got hurt and didn't live up to it. Still a very big part of the offense and has a high floor compared to a lot of the guys going after him, so I'll take him as an RB2 and let you guys fight over the riskier plays.<br />
<b>Chris Ivory</b> (4 times) -- OK, this is one of those risky plays, but I've always liked his tough running style and big-play ability, and now he gets the shot to get the lion's share of the work on an offense that isn't going to pass much. Obviously, injury / Jets-ness could ruin it.<br />
<b>Fred Jackson</b> (4 times) -- Once you get around the 100th pick, the running backs are really sad-looking. So why not take a guy with top-10 upside behind a slight and injury-prone-in-college Spiller?<br />
<b>Lamar Miller</b> (4 times) -- Like Wilson, I don't actually like Miller this year, but it must just be that the pickin's are so slim at WR at that point in the draft that I just take a lottery ticket in Miller and go for receivers later.<br />
<b>Stevan Ridley</b> (4 times) -- With the way the Patriots run the ball (and the way they've continued to do so in the preseason), I think Ridley is an excellent option as a second back instead of going for a back-end-of-the-top-10 receiver.<br />
<br />
<b><u>WR</u></b><br />
<b>Steve Smith</b> (8 times) -- Like a few of the receivers on this list, Smith is a common pick at a point in the draft where the running backs have dried up but there are still some intriguing receivers on the board. I go with Smith because of his security in the offensive scheme.<br />
<b>Miles Austin</b> (7 times) -- Massively underrated in my estimation, there will be a lot of attention going towards Dez Bryant, and as long as he stays healthy, Austin should benefit.<br />
<b>Torrey Smith </b>(6 times) -- This might be a little bit of a post-hype sleeper thing, but maybe everyone else in the Ravens passing game getting hurt will help Smith be more consistent.<br />
<b>TY Hilton</b> (5 times) -- I have to say, I'm not as high on Hilton as I was two weeks ago after hearing about the dramatic change of offensive scheme between Bruce Arians and Pep Hamilton (mostly in the way of running the ball 15% more), but he's still got explosive upside with an improving QB.<br />
<b>Greg Jennings</b> (5 times) -- He can't be THAT useless, right?<br />
<b>Mike Wallace</b> (5 times) -- I'll only take him if he lasts outside the top 20 receivers (and ideally not as a starter), but at that point I'm willing to take a chance on his athleticism and a sophomore surge from Ryan Tannehill.<br />
<b>Reggie Wayne </b>(5 times) -- The offensive scheme should affect Hilton more than Wayne, however, because the Hamilton offense will use more 2-tight-end sets and potentially keep Hilton off the field while Wayne is still out there to grab 90+ balls.<br />
<b>Danny Amendola </b>(4 times) -- Whatever I thought of Wes Welker last year, Amendola is younger and faster, so his upside is pretty high for a guy going where he is.<br />
<b>Antonio Brown</b> (4 times) -- A guy I liked last year, Brown now has less competition and another year in the Todd Haley system.<br />
<b>Larry Fitzgerald</b> (4 times) -- Sure, he completely disappeared last season, but even below-average Carson Palmer is lightyears better than the slop he dealt with last year. Has to be at the back end of the top 10 receivers though.<br />
<b>Andre Johnson</b> (4 times) -- I guess I'm back on the wagon, just in time for him to get hurt again. He proved that he doesn't need a lot of TDs or a pass-heavy offense to be relevant, and maybe DeAndre Hopkins cuts back on the double-teams.<br />
<b>Jordy Nelson</b> (4 times) -- A guy who would have been drafted near the top 10 going outside the top 20 because of an injury that isn't likely to hold him out of the regular season? Sign me up.<br />
<br />
<b><u>TE</u></b><br />
<b>Jermichael Finley</b> (7 times) -- Yes, yes, I know. Betting on the one guy who made me look good last year by betting against him? Well, there's a lot of preseason hype for him, there's less competition in the offense, and he's at least got the offense and athleticism to break away from the herd of tight ends from 7-15.<br />
<b>Kyle Rudolph</b> (4 times) -- I know, he had terrible games almost half the time last year, but he has to be more consistent this year without Percy Harvin getting 15 looks a game, right? And frankly, I'm not taking him unless it's pretty late in the draft.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>NOT-LISTED-ABOVE-BUT-STILL-WANT-SOME-OF-THAT-ACTION</u></b><br />
<b>QB </b>-- Matthew Stafford, Tony Romo, Eli Manning<br />
<b>RB</b> -- Maurice Jones-Drew, Ryan Mathews, Daryl Richardson<br />
<b>WR</b> -- Dwayne Bowe (I have a problem), Pierre Garcon, Kenny Stills (obviously much later)<br />
<b>TE</b> --Jordan Cameron, Brandon Pettigrew, Ed Dickson<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-25252504717348618042013-08-24T11:49:00.000-04:002013-08-24T11:49:24.074-04:00Mad Decent Draft Review 2k13It's that time of year again, folks. Time to start pretending like I know more than everyone else about fantasy football! You may recall that I had a bit of a <a href="http://viggysmalls.blogspot.com/2012/12/reality.html" target="_blank">breakdown</a> at the end of the previous fantasy season, but as you might expect given the state of the Phillies, I'm bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and ready to go find some acorns! You know, if acorns were, uh, sleeper picks. Yeah, that works.<br />
<br />
Moving on.<br />
<br />
Last season I did a pretty thorough <a href="http://viggysmalls.blogspot.com/2012/08/mad-decent-draft-review.html" target="_blank">review</a> of the Mad Decent Jawnskies fantasy draft, giving position ratings for each team and weighting them against the impact that each position tends to have on scoring. I'll be doing a bit of a lighter version of that this year (work sucks), but I'd also like to take a look at what I did last year to see if I really do have any ability to predict anything.<br />
<br />
<b><u>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 266px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 4644; mso-width-source: userset;" width="127"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 3072; mso-width-source: userset;" width="84"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 2011; mso-width-source: userset;" width="55"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="16">
<td class="xl24" height="16" width="127"><b>Team</b></td>
<td class="xl27" width="84"><b>Predicted</b></td>
<td class="xl27" width="55"><b>Actual</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl25" height="13">Juice Springsteen</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="1.0">1</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="4.0">4</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl25" height="13">TheChampIsHere</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="2.0">2</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="10.0">10</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl25" height="13">Half in the Hand</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="3.0">3</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="9.0">9</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl25" height="13">Goddamnit Donald!</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="4.0">4</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="7.0">7</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl25" height="13">Dallas Cowboys</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="5.0">5</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="6.0">6</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl25" height="13">The Girl</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="6.0">6</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="2.0">2</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl25" height="13">West Coast Offense</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="7.0">7</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="5.0">5</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl25" height="13">lustcheese</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="8.0">8</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="8.0">8</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl25" height="13">Team Functionality</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="9.0">9</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="1.0">1</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl25" height="13">Mr. TitleTown</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="10.0">10</td>
<td class="xl26" x:num="3.0">3</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td class="xl24" height="13"><b>Correlation</b></td>
<td align="right" class="xl25" x:num="-0.527272727272727">-0.527</td>
<td class="xl25"> </td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 196px;"><colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3437; mso-width-source: userset;" width="94"></col><col style="mso-width-alt: 2304; mso-width-source: userset;" width="63"></col><col style="mso-width-alt: 1426; mso-width-source: userset;" width="39"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
</u></b><br />
Uh... we should probably just move on.<br />
<br />
Remember, this is a 2 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB/WR/TE league, so there's a pretty big premium placed on receivers and quarterbacks, and they disappeared pretty quickly. You'll also know that I didn't put defenses or kickers in these rankings. Serves all you defense-in-the-9th-round-drafters right.<br />
<br />
<b><u>lustcheese</u></b><br />
<b><u>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 210px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 768; mso-width-source: userset;" width="21"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1462; mso-width-source: userset;" width="40"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5449; mso-width-source: userset;" width="149"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" width="21" x:num="1.0">1</td>
<td class="xl24" width="40"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24" width="149">Adrian Peterson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="2.0">2</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Tom Brady</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="3.0">3</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Dez Bryant</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="4.0">4</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Andre Johnson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="5.0">5</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Tony Romo</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="6.0">6</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">James Jones</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="7.0">7</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Jason Witten</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="8.0">8</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Ahmad Bradshaw</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="9.0">9</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Kyle Rudolph</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="10.0">10</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Golden Tate</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="11.0">11</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Brian Hartline</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="12.0">12</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Michael Turner</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="13.0">13</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">BenJarvus Green-Ellis</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="14.0">14</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Philip Rivers</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="15.0">15</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>K</td>
<td class="xl24">Blair Walsh</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="16.0">16</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DEF</td>
<td class="xl24">St. Louis</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="17.0">17</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Michael Bush</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
</u></b><br />
<b>QB -- 3rd: </b>In a 2 QB league, Getting Brady at the end of the second round and Romo at the start of the 5th (as the 12th QB off the board) is a steal, as they're very likely to both be top-10 options, but neither of them is likely to be in the top 3 this year given Brady's lost weapons and Romo's Romo-ness.<br />
<b>RB -- 7th: </b>Starting with AP is all well and good, but having injury-prone Bradshaw as your second RB and not-on-a-team Michael Turner as your third? smh.<br />
<b>WR -- 3rd: </b>He's gotta depend on James Jones keeping up his otherworldly touchdown pace from last year and Andre Johnson staying healthy, but it's a pretty good group, with some interesting backups in Tate and Hartline.<br />
<b>TE -- 3rd: </b>He took a second tight end before five teams took their first, so this is as much a depth ranking as anything, but Witten and Rudolph should both be good enough to start most weeks, and with the TE being flex-able, it's a good bye-week option.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Half in the Hand</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; text-decoration: underline; width: 202px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 768; mso-width-source: userset;" width="21"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1426; mso-width-source: userset;" width="39"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5193; mso-width-source: userset;" width="142"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" width="21" x:num="1.0">1</td>
<td class="xl24" width="39"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24" width="142">Aaron Rodgers</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="2.0">2</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Matt Forte</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="3.0">3</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">A.J. Green</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="4.0">4</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Robert Griffin III</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="5.0">5</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Reggie Bush</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="6.0">6</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Antonio Brown</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="7.0">7</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Jordy Nelson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="8.0">8</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Darren Sproles</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="9.0">9</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Eddie Lacy</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="10.0">10</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Anquan Boldin</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="11.0">11</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Rashard Mendenhall</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="12.0">12</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Carson Palmer</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="13.0">13</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Fred Davis</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="14.0">14</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Kenbrell Thompkins</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="15.0">15</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Fred Jackson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="16.0">16</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DEF</td>
<td class="xl24">Green Bay</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="17.0">17</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>K</td>
<td class="xl24">Matt Prater</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
<br />QB -- 2nd:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></b>Well when you take Aaron Rodgers at 2 and follow it up with a high-upside pick like RGIII, you can't be too bad off. Palmer should be pretty solid in relief, but this not being #1 is mostly about the risk in the RGIII pick.<br />
<br />
<b>RB -- 3rd: </b>Sure, Forte-Bush isn't the best starting pairing out there, but having Sproles, Lacy, and Mendenhall in the wings shows a lot of depth at a position that usually requires it. And Fred Jackson is an injury away from being top-15 himself.<br />
<br />
<b>WR -- 4th: </b>We really could have seen the Packers fan picking Jordy Nelson coming, but as a third receiver he's a pretty good proposition despite the injury concerns. Boldin should be a perfectly acceptable bye-week fill-in, and Thompkins is a good sleeper-du-jour pick.<br />
<br />
<b>TE -- 9th: </b>Fred Davis is a forgotten man at the position because of his injury last year, and that makes him an intriguing value pick in the 13th round, but it's a lottery ticket as much as any other tight end that late.<br /><br />
<br />
<u><br /></u>
<b><u>The Girl</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 210px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 768; mso-width-source: userset;" width="21"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1426; mso-width-source: userset;" width="39"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5485; mso-width-source: userset;" width="150"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" width="21" x:num="1.0">1</td>
<td class="xl24" width="39"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24" width="150">Drew Brees</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="2.0">2</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Stevan Ridley</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="3.0">3</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Brandon Marshall</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="4.0">4</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Lamar Miller</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="5.0">5</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Eli Manning</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="6.0">6</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Reggie Wayne</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="7.0">7</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Steve Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="8.0">8</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Giovani Bernard</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="9.0">9</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Greg Olsen</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="10.0">10</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Greg Jennings</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="11.0">11</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DEF</td>
<td class="xl24">Houston</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="12.0">12</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Andre Brown</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="13.0">13</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Emmanuel Sanders</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="14.0">14</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Jake Locker</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="15.0">15</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Rob Housler</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="16.0">16</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Shonn Greene</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="17.0">17</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>K</td>
<td class="xl24">Justin Tucker</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
</u></b><br />
<b>QB -- 1st: </b>Brees was somewhat quietly the best fantasy QB last year, and if the Eli See-Saw goes back up this year (and he should be able to watch a lot more film now because he's got football on his phone), this is a great combo. I'm not a Locker fan, but a starter with running ability is a decent fantasy backup.<br />
<br />
<b>RB -- 9th: </b>After Ridley, there are a lot of questionably-involved backs on this roster. Miller is assumed to be a starter, but he's got almost no experience, and Bernard, Brown, and Greene could easily be on the short end of committees.<br />
<br />
<b>WR -- 2nd:</b> I'm as much a Marshall fan as anyone, and pairing oldies-but-goodies Wayne and Smith with him likely means consistent production over the course of the season. With their age, though, comes bust potential, and Jennings and Sanders should be consistently involved in their respective offenses, so they'll be decent fill-ins.<br />
<br />
<b>TE -- 7th: </b>I like Olsen as a starting TE, but as the 7th off the board I'm not sure the value is there. Housler has been getting some buzz, but a new QB and little experience makes this more of a lottery play.<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>Red-Not So PC-Skins</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 225px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 768; mso-width-source: userset;" width="21"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1499; mso-width-source: userset;" width="41"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5961; mso-width-source: userset;" width="163"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" width="21" x:num="1.0">1</td>
<td class="xl24" width="41"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24" width="163">Doug Martin</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="2.0">2</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Trent Richardson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="3.0">3</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Maurice Jones-Drew</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="4.0">4</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Roddy White</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="5.0">5</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Vincent Jackson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="6.0">6</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Hakeem Nicks</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="7.0">7</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Rob Gronkowski</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="8.0">8</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Joe Flacco</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="9.0">9</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DEF</td>
<td class="xl24">Seattle</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="10.0">10</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Alex Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="11.0">11</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>K</td>
<td class="xl24">Phil Dawson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="12.0">12</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">DeAngelo Williams</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="13.0">13</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Ronnie Hillman</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="14.0">14</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Jared Cook</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="15.0">15</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Rueben Randle</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="16.0">16</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Brandon Weeden</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="17.0">17</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DEF</td>
<td class="xl24">Arizona</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
</u></b><br />
<b>QB -- 9th: </b>Somehow I'm not making this set of quarterbacks the worst, despite the fact that he took his first quarterback after every other team had taken two. However, I think Flacco and Smith have more upside than Bradford and Schaub (who start for the 10th-ranked team), and Weeden has shown some actual life this preseason.<br />
<br />
<b>RB -- 1st:</b> Easily the best running back crop in the league, Martin, Richardson, and Jones-Drew* were drafted before 8 teams had taken their second RB. And D-Will and R-Hill are great upside plays given the uncertainty about the role of their backfield mates.<br />
<i>*MJD was dropped soon after the draft for Zach Sudfeld, so this ranking is already outdated, but this is a draft review after all</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>WR -- 8th: </b>If this were two years ago, this team would be in a position to be number 1 at the position, but White's declining role, V-Jax's questionable quarterback play and big-play dependence, and Nicks' injuries make this a pretty risky roster to have. Add that to the fact that there's only one backup, and that backup's upside is mostly as a handcuff to Nicks' injury-prone-ness, means that there may be some issues as the season progresses.<br />
<br />
<b>TE -- 2nd: </b>Gronk should return relatively early in the season*, and when he does, he'll probably go back to being dominant. In the meantime, an upside play in Cook is as good a shot as any to hit it big.<br />
<i>*The pickup of Sudfeld after the draft makes this group even more intriguing, as Sudfeld has shown some serious upside in the Pats' offense absent Gronkowski.</i><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>TheChampIsHere</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 219px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 768; mso-width-source: userset;" width="21"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1462; mso-width-source: userset;" width="40"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5778; mso-width-source: userset;" width="158"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" width="21" x:num="1.0">1</td>
<td class="xl24" width="40"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24" width="158">LeSean McCoy</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="2.0">2</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Russell Wilson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="3.0">3</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Demaryius Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="4.0">4</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Michael Vick</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="5.0">5</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">DeMarco Murray</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="6.0">6</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Vernon Davis</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="7.0">7</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">DeSean Jackson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="8.0">8</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Cecil Shorts</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="9.0">9</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Tavon Austin</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="10.0">10</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Ben Tate</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="11.0">11</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Josh Gordon</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="12.0">12</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Michael Floyd</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="13.0">13</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Mark Ingram</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="14.0">14</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Antonio Gates</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="15.0">15</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Alshon Jeffery</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="16.0">16</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DEF</td>
<td class="xl24">Denver</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="17.0">17</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>K</td>
<td class="xl24">Josh Brown</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
</u></b><br />
<b>QB -- 6th: </b>This is certainly the most run-heavy QB roster, and therefore there's a fair amount of risk here. Wilson will need to keep up his running success and improve as a passer to justify his position, but this is really more about Vick staying healthy and turnover-free, as he doesn't have a third QB like many teams that probably need it less.<br />
<br />
<b>RB -- 10th: </b>I had a hard time organizing the lower-end teams at this position, so it hurts me to put a team with Shady in last. But with only four backs and two of them being limited in upside in their current roles, this ranking is more about depth than the starters.<br />
<br />
<b>WR -- 9th: </b>Demaryius seemed like a reach in the mid-3rd round given the glut of mouths to feed in Denver, but really this is about waiting to fill the other slots and ending up with a bunch of question marks in D-Jax, Shorts, Austin, and Gordon. I think it's a good group of upside plays, and at least one of them should hit, but at the start of the season it's a pretty concerning roster.<br />
<br />
<b>TE -- 4th: </b>Vernon Davis almost singlehandedly killed one of my fantasy teams late last year, but he rallied in the playoffs, so it's hard to know what to expect here. Gates is way past his prime, but having 2 TE is better than one, I guess, so this team may be a bit over-ranked.<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>West Coast Offense</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 210px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 768; mso-width-source: userset;" width="21"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1462; mso-width-source: userset;" width="40"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5449; mso-width-source: userset;" width="149"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" width="21" x:num="1.0">1</td>
<td class="xl24" width="40"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24" width="149">C.J. Spiller</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="2.0">2</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Colin Kaepernick</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="3.0">3</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Julio Jones</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="4.0">4</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Chris Johnson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="5.0">5</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Andy Dalton</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="6.0">6</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Wes Welker</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="7.0">7</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Mike Wallace</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="8.0">8</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Ryan Mathews</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="9.0">9</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">T.Y. Hilton</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="10.0">10</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Daryl Richardson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="11.0">11</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Chris Givens</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="12.0">12</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Ryan Tannehill</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="13.0">13</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Ryan Broyles</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="14.0">14</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Martellus Bennett</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="15.0">15</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DEF</td>
<td class="xl24">Cincinnati</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="16.0">16</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Brandon Myers</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="17.0">17</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>K</td>
<td class="xl24">Kai Forbath</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
</u></b><br />
<b>QB -- 8th: </b>Kaepernick is a fine starter, but Dalton and Tannehill are not likely to set the world on fire as possible second starters. He was one of the last teams to fill his second QB slot, so this is understandable, but it's just not an inspiring group.<br />
<br />
<b>RB -- 4th: </b>With four starters on the roster in Spiller, Johnson, Mathews, and Richardson, this is a roster with similar top-end quality to Half in the Hand, but there are much more significant performance/injury concerns about this group than about some of the other teams ranked higher. And as a Ryan Mathews owner last year, I should know.<br />
<br />
<b>WR -- 7th: </b>There's some nice later picks in Hilton, Givens, and Broyles, but I'm not a huge fan of Welker and Wallace as starters given their uncertain roles in new offenses. Now that I look at it this might be an under-ranking, but there's enough question-marks to make me feel OK about it.<br />
<br />
<b>TE -- 8th:</b> As the last team to take a tight end, this ranking is a testament to the picks made. Picking up a second upside play at the position moved him above teams who took a TE late without one.<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>King in the North!</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 202px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 768; mso-width-source: userset;" width="21"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1426; mso-width-source: userset;" width="39"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5193; mso-width-source: userset;" width="142"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" width="21" x:num="1.0">1</td>
<td class="xl24" width="39"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24" width="142">Peyton Manning</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="2.0">2</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Alfred Morris</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="3.0">3</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Jimmy Graham</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="4.0">4</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Andrew Luck</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="5.0">5</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Torrey Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="6.0">6</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">David Wilson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="7.0">7</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Stevie Johnson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="8.0">8</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Miles Austin</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="9.0">9</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Montee Ball</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="10.0">10</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Sidney Rice</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="11.0">11</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Shane Vereen</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="12.0">12</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Lance Moore</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="13.0">13</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Denarius Moore</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="14.0">14</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">DeAndre Hopkins</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="15.0">15</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Jacquizz Rodgers</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="16.0">16</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DEF</td>
<td class="xl24">New England</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="17.0">17</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>K</td>
<td class="xl24">Steven Hauschka</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
</u></b><br />
<b>QB -- 4th: </b>Manning should be money-in-the-bank this season, but I don't think Luck returns his top-10 draft value because of the less pass-heavy offense he will run this year. Not drafting a third QB could cause a problem in bye weeks as well.<br />
<br />
<b>RB -- 8th: </b>Morris should be just fine this year, but having Wilson, Ball, Vereen, and Rodgers behind him means that you're worrying about workload all year long. I like the upside of those guys, but you would need another steady starter to make me feel better.<br />
<br />
<b>WR -- 10th: </b>Three teams took a second WR before Torrey Smith was taken as this team's first, and a Smith/Johnson/Austin starting group is a pretty low-upside collection. At least there's a lot of depth and presumably productive bye-week and injury fill-ins, but I'm not sure any receiver on this roster except Smith has top-10 upside.<br />
<br />
<b>TE -- 1st</b>: Jimmy Graham. 'Nuff said.<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>Bust a Kaep</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 210px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 768; mso-width-source: userset;" width="21"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1426; mso-width-source: userset;" width="39"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5485; mso-width-source: userset;" width="150"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" width="21" x:num="1.0">1</td>
<td class="xl24" width="39"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24" width="150">Arian Foster</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="2.0">2</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Marshawn Lynch</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="3.0">3</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Larry Fitzgerald</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="4.0">4</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Randall Cobb</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="5.0">5</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Dwayne Bowe</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="6.0">6</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Marques Colston</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="7.0">7</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Sam Bradford</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="8.0">8</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Matt Schaub</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="9.0">9</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Jermichael Finley</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="10.0">10</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DEF</td>
<td class="xl24">San Francisco</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="11.0">11</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Percy Harvin</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="12.0">12</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Josh Freeman</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="13.0">13</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Owen Daniels</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="14.0">14</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Danny Woodhead</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="15.0">15</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Michael Crabtree</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="16.0">16</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>K</td>
<td class="xl24">Sebastian Janikowski</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="17.0">17</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">LaMichael James</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
</u></b><br />
<b>QB -- 10th: </b>Mentioned in passing above, a Bradford-Schaub combo is thoroughly uninspiring, and frankly, I think I'd draft his backup Freeman over either of those two, so perhaps it's not so bad. Obviously, the strategy was to load up at skill positions, and it looks like it worked.<br />
<br />
<b>RB -- 2nd: </b>Foster and Lynch are probably the best 1-2 in the league, but waiting until the 14th round to take another back is risky. And LaMichael James appears to just be a 49ers-fanboy pick.<br />
<i>*Ronnie Hillman was picked up after the draft, so this makes the roster look a bit deeper.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>WR -- 1st: </b>Obviously the skill-position-heavy draft strategy was in play here, as this team had four receivers before five teams even had two. There is literally no depth after that, though, as seriously-injured-and-not-likely-to-play-for-two-months-or-more Percy Harvin and Michael Crabtree are nonsensical picks*.<br />
<i>*Harvin and Crabtree have since been dropped for depth at other positions.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>TE -- 6th: </b>Finley is gaining some steam as a bounceback candidate, and I sort of buy it considering the loss of some WR talent in Green Bay. Daniels is a solid second tight end, but his upside is limited.<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>Juice Springsteen (this guy)</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 225px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 768; mso-width-source: userset;" width="21"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1499; mso-width-source: userset;" width="41"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5961; mso-width-source: userset;" width="163"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" width="21" x:num="1.0">1</td>
<td class="xl24" width="41"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24" width="163">Calvin Johnson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="2.0">2</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Ray Rice</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="3.0">3</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Matt Ryan</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="4.0">4</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Matthew Stafford</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="5.0">5</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Frank Gore</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="6.0">6</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Pierre Garcon</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="7.0">7</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Darren McFadden</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="8.0">8</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Mike Williams</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="9.0">9</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Chris Ivory</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="10.0">10</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Vincent Brown</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="11.0">11</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Bernard Pierce</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="12.0">12</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Kenny Britt</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="13.0">13</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">EJ Manuel</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="14.0">14</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Jordan Cameron</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="15.0">15</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DEF</td>
<td class="xl24">Pittsburgh</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="16.0">16</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>K</td>
<td class="xl24">Stephen Gostkowski</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="17.0">17</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Kenny Stills</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
</u></b><br />
<b>QB -- 5th: </b>With nearly back-to-back picks at the end of the third and start of the fourth round, I felt I had to pull the trigger and get two solid QBs while I still could. I think they'll be solid top-10 options, and as a flier, I like going with the running QB with some decent skill position players around him in Manuel. However, without a top-flight starter, I can't rank myself too high.<br />
<br />
<b>RB -- 6th: </b>My draft position sort of squeezed me out of more exciting options, so I'm really not happy with this group*. I immediately regretted the McFadden pick, but think I recovered nicely with an upside starter in Ivory and handcuff in Pierce.<br />
<i>*However, I was the fortunate recipient of the MJD gift basket, so this would be a top-3 group if I drafted that way.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>WR -- 6th: </b>With a bunch of RB's and the top 3 QB's off the board by the time I picked and Charles, Rice, and Lynch still available to drop to me in the second round, I went with Megatron, who is really the only solid pick of this group. I love Garcon, but he's an injury risk, and there's a lot of question marks around Williams, Brown, and Britt. <br />
<br />
<b>TE -- 10th: </b>I was the second-to-last team to take a TE, and was definitely not taking two, so I'm willing to rank myself last here. However, there's a lot of hype surrounding Cameron this season, so maybe I can get lucky and get a top-8 season out of him.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>The Lady Macarthurs</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 219px;">
<!--StartFragment-->
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 768; mso-width-source: userset;" width="21"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1462; mso-width-source: userset;" width="40"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5778; mso-width-source: userset;" width="158"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" width="21" x:num="1.0">1</td>
<td class="xl24" width="40"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24" width="158">Jamaal Charles</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="2.0">2</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Cam Newton</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="3.0">3</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Victor Cruz</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="4.0">4</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Steven Jackson</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="5.0">5</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Danny Amendola</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="6.0">6</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TE</td>
<td class="xl24">Tony Gonzalez</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="7.0">7</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Eric Decker</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="8.0">8</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Ben Roethlisberger</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="9.0">9</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>K</td>
<td class="xl24">Matt Bryant</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="10.0">10</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Le'Veon Bell</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="11.0">11</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DEF</td>
<td class="xl24">Chicago</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="12.0">12</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QB</td>
<td class="xl24">Jay Cutler</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="13.0">13</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Bryce Brown</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="14.0">14</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RB</td>
<td class="xl24">Vick Ballard</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="15.0">15</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Malcom Floyd</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="16.0">16</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Justin Blackmon</td>
</tr>
<tr height="13">
<td align="right" class="xl24" height="13" x:num="17.0">17</td>
<td class="xl24"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WR</td>
<td class="xl24">Darrius Heyward-Bey</td>
</tr>
<!--EndFragment-->
</tbody></table>
</u></b><br />
<b>QB -- 7th: </b>Cam bounced back very well in the second half last year to convince people he wasn't a fluke, but being the 8th team to take a second quarterback limits the ranking here. Roethlisberger should be pretty good as long as he's healthy, but the O-line concerns still remain. Cutler's a more-than-serviceable backup, but there's no upside there.<br />
<br />
<b>RB -- 5th: </b>Very good starters in Charles and Jackson, but a potential-committee-member in Bell* and two backups in Brown and Ballard make this a shallow group.<br />
<i>*At the time of the draft, Bell was not yet injured and out for a month or two. This obviously bumps the group down to more like a 7th-8th ranking.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>WR -- 5th: </b>No top-tier options, but some nice top-20 starters in Cruz, Amendola, and Decker followed by some decent backup fliers makes this an intriguing group, if slightly limited in upside.<br />
<br />
<b>TE -- 5th: </b> Gonzalez is a no-frills consistent option, but at some point his age has to catch up with him, right? If that happens, without a backup this could get ugly.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>The Verdict</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
Using a rough estimate of the average scoring of each position multiplied by the number of roster spots available for that position multiplied by the rank, here's how I see the season shaking out (which, of course, will mean that my worst-rated teams will win):<br />
<br />
<b>10. TheChampIsHere</b> -- Ranked highly last year but disappointed, and did poorly in fantasy baseball this year, so maybe he's just not good at this.<br />
<b>9. West Coast Offense</b> -- Interesting running backs but ending up on the back end of the quarterback and receiver runs hurts.<br />
<b>8. King in the North! </b>-- Sure, getting a top QB and TE is good, but going Manning and Graham in the first three rounds really hamstrung the RB/WR positions.<br />
<b>7. Juice Springsteen</b> -- I just don't like the way my team ended up coming out of the draft. Consistent performers, perhaps, but no real championship upside. Until I picked up MJD.<br />
<b>6. Red-Not So PC-Skins </b>-- Dominant running backs kept the ranking up, but really bad QB play and low-upside receiver options make this a bottom-five roster.<br />
<b>5. The Lady Macarthurs</b> -- Excellent League-inspired team name, and decent roster. No particularly impressive positions, but a solid all-around roster that should at least be competitive.<br />
<b>4. Bust a Kaep</b> -- Didn't get its namesake, and therefore suffered at the highest-scoring position. Excellent backs and receivers will carry this team, and maybe one of the QB's has a career year.<br />
<b>3. lustcheese</b> -- Some nice value picks at QB and good receiver (and, yes, even tight end) depth should keep this team afloat, but I'm not sure I see the championship upside.<br />
<b>2. The Girl</b> -- I taught her well. Excellent play at the two positions which will comprise the highest percentage of the team total most weeks will make my rankings calculation swoon.<br />
<b>1. Half in the Hand</b> -- All-around above-average contributors everywhere but tight end make this the team to beat heading into the season. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-74662368998995904422013-07-03T21:35:00.003-04:002013-07-03T21:36:18.610-04:00The Ultimate No-HitterI know I haven't written much since baseball season got going, but something happened last night that gave me some inspiration. As you might know, last night Reds pitcher Homer Bailey threw his second no-hitter in as many years. I just barely caught the last out of the game on a live look-in on my phone because none of the eighteen ESPN channels was showing it. In my haste to try to catch a bit of history, I drew the attention of my roommate, who has absolutely no interest in or knowledge of baseball. He asked what was the big deal, and I said there was a no-hitter going on. To which he responded something to the effect of, "Does that mean nobody hit a pitch?"<br />
<br />
First of all, **sigh**. I was raised in too baseball-centric a family to accept that kind of question. Of course, I probably should have been less surprised since he famously asked when halftime was during a Phillies playoff game in '08 (man, do those days seem far off, huh).<br />
<br />
But his question got me thinking -- what would it take for there to be an ACTUAL no-hitter? No hits, no groundouts, no foul balls, no contact at all. I knew it was essentially impossible, but I kind of wanted to see how impossible it really would be. And, being the egotist I am, I'm going to share the experience with you.<br />
<br />
My approach was to basically assume that everything about the game would be average, except that the batters would magically never hit a pitch they swung at. This means that every plate appearance would either result in a strikeout or walk (let's leave the hit-by-pitch aside for this exercise, and it's rare enough that I feel OK doing it), additionally meaning that every plate appearance would last between 3 and 6 pitches. To keep it classy, I'll just assume that that means that the average plate appearance takes up 4.5 pitches.<br />
<br />
Given those assumptions, how many batters would the pitcher need to face if he had to complete a game with only walks and strikeouts? Let's take the average rate of balls to strikes, and use a simple binomial probability distribution to estimate the probability of getting a walk (and, by extension, a strikeout) in this situation. This season, there have been about 230,000 strikes and 130,000 balls thrown, but that's not the real ratio we would see in this situation. We have to disregard foul balls, because players won't make contact in this game, and fouls increase the pitch count per at-bat beyond the maximum 6 if you don't make contact. Other contact plays would just end up being swinging strikes that wouldn't mess up our expected rates. I used the average rates of total swings, swings-and-misses, and balls in play to infer the number of foul balls to be about 66000, meaning that we would expect there to be about a 55/45 rate of strikes to balls. Using a binomial distribution, I estimated the probability of getting 4 balls or more in an at-bat at 9.2%.<br />
<br />
With that, we would expect about two walks over the 27 batters faced in a normal game, thus extending the game to 29 batters faced (yes, with 27 strikeouts -- your fantasy team would straight dominate). With an average of 4.5 pitches per at-bat, that's an expected 131 pitches, which is actually not the most unreasonable amount (consider that everyone's boy Francisco Liriano threw a no-hitter with 8 walks and 149 pitches).<br />
<br />
Of those 131 pitches, we would expect 55%, or 72 pitches, to be strikes. The league average swing rate is 46%, and since that 46% must all be within that 55%, that means that the remaining strikes that weren't swung at would represent 9% of the total, or 12 pitches. That leaves 60 pitches swung at and missed. If the league average rate of contact on swings is 80%, that means that the odds of swinging and missing is 20%. So, we could estimate the odds of swinging and missing at 60 pitches in a row at 0.2^60, or a daunting 1-in-1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. In other words, don't expect the ultimate no-hitter any time soon.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-9744888361858106122013-06-06T21:40:00.003-04:002013-06-06T21:40:42.750-04:00Dom Brown and OutO.M.G., the Phillies are finally back to .500! Cole Hamels is back on track! Cliff Lee is cruising! And don't get me started on Dom Brown!<br />
<br />
Wait, wait, wait, hold on a second. Let's roll this back a bit. One of those players is not like the others. One of those players is significantly younger and less proven. One of those players has performed at a pace that is thoroughly unsustainable. One of those players is Domonic Brown.<br />
<br />
Now, before I sound like a downer, I do want to say that what Brown has done in the past few weeks has been absurd. In his past 16 games (yes, beyond the 12 that everyone's been raving about), he has a special .381/.400/1.000 BA/OBP/SLG line with 11 HR, 15 R, 24 RBI, and 3 SB. This streak has vaulted him to top ranks in MLB in home runs (2nd), RBI (9th), and slugging percentage (7th). But I was listening to the radio the other day and people were calling in and saying that he would be batting .300 with 30 HR and 70 RBI by the All-Star Break. That's ridiculous, and we all know it.<br />
<br />
Here's why.<br />
<br />
Well, first of all, he was hitting just .243/.282/.414 for the first 44 games of the year, and has 40% of his hits, 60% of his home runs, and 50% of his runs and RBI in just 27% of his games. He had never had better than a .245 BA, .333 OBP, or .396 SLG in any of his previous seasons in the league (admittedly, less than a full season's worth). So would you rather believe 16 games, or 140? <br />
<br />
OK, let's get a little more sabermetric. One strong indicator of luck is home-run-per-fly-ball-percentage (HR/FB%), or the percentage of fly balls that end up being home runs. Given how small changes in contact angle off the bat can dramatically affect batted ball trajectory, there's a lot of potential randomness in how many of a player's fly balls become outs versus doubles versus homers. While players generally have somewhat consistent HR/FB% over their careers (Ryan Howard has averaged about 28% while Jimmy Rollins has averaged 8%), there is also some variability that can occur around those averages (Howard has ranged between 21% and 39%, while Rollins has ranged between 4% and 11%). Brown's previous three seasons' HR/FB% were 13.3, 9.4, and 9.8, but this year it's 31.6. For reference, no one in the league has had a rate that high for an entire season since Howard himself in 2008. Are you really willing to claim that Dom Brown went from almost-traded-for-Alfonso-Soriano to Ryan-Howard-in-his-prime in a third of a season?<br />
<br />
Not that I feel like this is the biggest point, but it's also worth pointing out that while Brown never really got it going offensively in his previous years, he did at least have a decent eye at the plate, walking an above-average 10% of the time. This year, he's walking half as much, and is striking out more, which does not portend continued success. Just as indicative of his lack of patience is that he has increased his swing rate by 8% over his career average, which could hurt him once pitchers eventually figure out that fastballs just aren't going to cut it. (Maybe a cutter will, eh?)<br />
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I would love to see Brown do well after all he's been through in the early stages of his career, but I'm not going to get carried away with the hyperbole. I think he ends up with a line that looks something like .265/.330/.500 with 30 HR, 85 R, and 105 RBI, which would be almost an exact midpoint between Howard's 2010-11 seasons. Yes, that's huge for our lineup in this day and age, but remember that those stats represent the "decline years" of Howard's career, and are in the form below average right fielder. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-70102907322790816972013-05-02T20:17:00.000-04:002013-05-02T20:18:45.538-04:00How the Philly sports world ended in 2012I don't know if you noticed, but Philadelphia hasn't had a great sports year. This is accentuated by the recent NFL draft in which the Eagles picked in the top 5, and the current Phillies who are losing 12-2 to the Indians right now. I spent enough time looking over the Phillies before the season started, and I'll have plenty of time to look at the Eagles later. For right now, I think it's a good idea to point out just how bad 2012 was for Philly teams in the four major sports. <br />
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After all, this was the first season since 1994, and only the fourth since Philly has housed a team in each league, that none of the Phillies, Eagles, 76ers, or Flyers made the playoffs. This coming after a run of five seasons in which at least three of those teams made the postseason. A problem with getting caught up in playoff appearances, of course, is that there are different playoff criteria in each league (the NHL allows more than half its teams into the playoffs, while MLB has twice changed their rules to move all the way up to 1/3). Additionally, there have been substantial changes in the structure of leagues since the Flyers entered the fray in 1967, with division realignment and wild card teams and all that. So let's table the playoff thing for now, because it's not quite convincing enough.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>.419</div>
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That's the average win percentage of the Phillies, Eagles, 76ers, and Flyers in their 2012-13 seasons. I'm sure it doesn't surprise you to find out that that's a pretty bad number. Since '67, that's the 5th worst average these teams have accumulated. Of course, you might say, "But Alex, each Eagles win or loss changes their win percentage by 6, while each Phillies win or loss changes their win percentage by 0.6. Of course a 4-12 Eagles season results in a bad average!"</div>
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That's a clown comment, bro. Don't worry, I thought of that. Instead of just taking the average of the raw win percentages, I took the average of each team's standardized win percentage in each season (i.e. the Z-score, or distance from each team's overall average scaled by its own standard deviation). This means that the Eagles' inherently more volatile win percentage from season to season is built into the calculation each season. And yet, all that did was make 2012 a more definitive 6th worst season since 1967.<br />
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But wait, it gets worse. Sure, this season was in the 90th percentile of bad seasons in Philadelphia history, but it's the context that makes 2012 really take the cake. Philly teams had an average win percentage over .530 in 9 of the previous 11 seasons, with 8 of those seasons in the top 20 since 1967 in terms of standardized win percentage (45 seasons total). Sure, this wasn't close to the 11-year run from '75 to '85 (in which no season had a win percentage under .530, and all 11 seasons were in the top 20 standardized win %), which included multiple championship runs, but it's definitely the biggest sustained run of success in Philly before or since. Incidentally, these two periods were separated by 14 consecutive seasons of below-median standardized win percentages, and only 4 seasons above .500 overall.<br />
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As a result of the prior seasons being so successful, the drop-off in both standardized and garden-variety win percentage from 2011-12 to 2012-13 is the greatest between any two consecutive seasons since 1967. So it's not just about the teams being bad, it's about them being as disappointing as any collection Philly has ever had. Only time will tell if this is a blip or a trend, but the way that these teams are currently constructed makes it seem like this could be a pretty prolonged lull, unfortunately.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-10752600203837337532013-04-16T21:24:00.001-04:002013-04-17T09:55:22.335-04:00So is Roy Halladay Actually Done Now?After Roy Halladay suffered his season-altering injury last season, I wrote a brief post basically saying that we should have expected him to either decline or get injured at some point, and Phillies fans should just be happy we got what we did for the first two years of his tenure there. However, at that time there wasn't anything terribly substantial that appeared to be wrong with him. Well, after a bumpy end of 2012 and two abysmal starts to begin 2013, it looked like Doc was possibly both injured and declining. His pitch counts were up, his control was all over the place, and there was that whole 14+ ERA thing. But I decided to give him the opportunity to redeem himself in his third start against the Greg-Dobbs-led Marlins, if for no other reason than to give him another few innings to allow his statistics to stabilize a bit. Now that he got everyone to calm down with his 8-inning, 1-run victory, let's take a look at what everyone's worried about.<br />
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<b><u>What's he throwing?</u></b></div>
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First, I should say that statistics involving pitch types are pretty suspect because they are categorized based on the spin and movement of the ball, and each pitcher has different ways of throwing any particular pitch. So blur your eyes a bit, and we'll be just fine. In his Phillies career, Halladay has exhibited a repertoire of mostly fastball-cutter-splitter-curveball-changeup. In his more successful seasons in Philly, he featured fastballs and cutters around 70% of the time, with a sprinkling of curveballs and changeups. In the past two seasons he's diversified, but more importantly lost velocity, throwing fastballs (minus 3 mph) and cutters (minus 3 mph) around 50% of the time, in addition to an increasing amount of splitters (minus 1 mph) and curveballs (same mph). So it does appear that he is recognizing that he doesn't have the velocity he used to, and adjusting by throwing fewer of the pitches that he needs more "oomph" to throw.</div>
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<b><u>How is he dealing with his new "stuff"?</u></b></div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
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So how has his decline in velocity and increased focus on off-speed pitches affected the way that he has pitched? He's done what you might think he would do -- nibble around the plate. Without a competent fastball or cutter with which to pound the strike zone early in the count, Halladay's first-pitch-strike percentage has dropped by 10 percent from previous seasons. Here's why this is important:<br />
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 217px;"><!--StartFragment--><colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 2377; mso-width-source: userset;" width="65"></col><col style="mso-width-alt: 1133; mso-width-source: userset;" width="31"></col><col style="mso-width-alt: 1170; mso-width-source: userset;" width="32"></col><col style="mso-width-alt: 2121; mso-width-source: userset;" width="58"></col><col style="mso-width-alt: 1133; mso-width-source: userset;" width="31"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="13"><td class="xl24" height="13" width="65"><b>First Pitch</b></td><td width="31"><b>K%</b></td><td width="32"><b>BB%</b></td><td width="58"><b>Opp. Avg.</b></td><td width="31"><b>SLG</b></td></tr>
<tr height="13"><td height="13">Ball</td><td>9.7</td><td>16.1</td><td>.308</td><td>.520</td></tr>
<tr height="13"><td height="13">Strike</td><td>32.4</td><td>5.9</td><td>.226</td><td>.419</td></tr>
<!--EndFragment--></tbody></table>
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You don't need me to tell you that starting off with a strike is important, but these early-season numbers from Halladay further illustrate the kind of impact it can have on a game.</div>
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Additionally, his increased emphasis on off-speed pitches has apparently caused his pitches that are out of the strike zone to be less enticing, although without a decline in effectiveness. Batters' swing percentage on pitches out of the zone has dropped by 10 percent this season as well, without any difference in swing percentage on pitches in the zone. Bizarrely, this is accompanied by a similar decline in batters' contact rate on pitches out of the zone, without any difference in contact rate within the zone. That means that batters are swinging less frequently at bad pitches, but when they do, they miss more often, keeping the status quo in terms of overall contact and swinging strike rate, but producing odd stat lines (e.g. his peculiar opening outing against the Braves, in which he allowed 5 runs in 3.1 innings with 9 strikeouts).</div>
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<b><u>How has this impacted his in-game outcomes?</u></b></div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
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Well, negatively. He has shown a dramatic increase in line-drive rate and decrease in ground-ball rate, both of which are correlated with more hits-per-ball-in-play (or BABIP for those more sabermetrically inclined). His strikeouts are down by about 10% from their 2010-11 numbers, while he is walking more than twice as many batters as he was earlier in the decade. The extra baserunners (about 1 more every two innings from '10-'11) may be putting tangible pressure on him, as his strand rate has gone from around 80% for years to around 70% last year and around 60% this year.</div>
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All of this brings about pretty much what you'd expect: a lot of runs allowed. Last season, Halladay allowed his highest earned run total since 2007, and that was with 70 fewer innings pitched than the lowest amount he had pitched in any of those seasons. This season, he's on pace to reach that run total in 60 fewer innings than he pitched <i>last season</i>. So, not a great trend. </div>
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<b><u>Where does he go from here?</u></b></div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
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Maybe his most recent game is a sign that Halladay is starting to learn how to pitch in his new reality. I ascribe absolutely zero probability that he pitches as well as he did between 2008 and 2011 (in which he never had an ERA higher than 2.79), and even most of the seasons prior. But maybe a slightly-above-average season throwing around 200 innings could be possible if he stops nibbling so much, so he can keep his pitch count down and get deeper into games. He should in no way be considered an "ace" anymore, but a passable third starter may something that can be in his wheelhouse. If he posted a solid (and possibly unattainable) 3.50 ERA the rest of the year, he would finish with a slightly-above-average 3.80 ERA for the season. A challenge, to be sure, but I wouldn't put it past a guy with his work ethic.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-12660592388346148652013-04-03T21:11:00.001-04:002013-04-17T09:55:22.337-04:002013 All-of-MLB PreviewNow that I've come up with a reasonable number of wins to predict for my hometown Phillies (although I might like to adjust that given the first two games of the season), I can stop being such a homer and say something about the other 29 teams in Major League Baseball. Yes, even the Astros.<br />
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Some might consider this post to be too late, but I swear I wrote the predictions on Sunday and filled in the analysis afterward. But let's be real here, you don't care that much, and by the end of the month I'll probably regret half of these predictions anyway.<br />
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Let's go to work. I'll go division-by-division, giving my guess at each team's record, including the difference in wins from last year that that record would represent.<br />
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<b><u>NL East</u></b></div>
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Nationals: 98-64 (even)</div>
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Braves: 96-66 (+2)</div>
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Phillies: 84-78 (+3)</div>
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Mets: 70-92 (-4)</div>
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Marlins: 65-97 (-4)</div>
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The Nationals and Braves were two of the top teams in the NL last season and managed to improve in the offseason. Washington added pitching depth in Dan Haren and Rafael Soriano and a year of experience (and a month's worth of games) for Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg. Atlanta added the Upton Girls (shoutout to Jon Patrice). Meanwhile, the Phillies added and subtracted some middling players, the Mets lost a Cy Young winner, and the Marlins traded their entire roster and more than a few fans away. Health will boost the Phils, but I don't see them sniffing Atlanta or Washington.</div>
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<b><u>NL Central</u></b></div>
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Reds: 95-67 (even)</div>
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Cardinals: 85-77 (-3)</div>
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Brewers: 81-81 (-2)</div>
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Pirates: 79-83 (even)</div>
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Cubs: 62-100 (+1)</div>
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The Reds were sneaky good last season despite missing Joey Votto for much of the season, and they added some more offense in Shin-Soo Choo and Ryan Ludwick. The Cardinals have Adam Wainwright a year removed from a significant injury, so he's expected to bounce back, but the loss of Kyle Lohse and Lance Berkman should be enough to cause them to fade a bit. The Brewers gain Lohse, but the loss of a half-season of Zack Greinke should bring about a bit of a downswing. The Pirates are oh-so close to that elusive winning season, but the lack of 18 games against the AAA-stros (see what I did there?) will probably be a downer. And so will the Cubs.</div>
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<b><u>NL West</u></b></div>
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Giants: 93-69 (-1)</div>
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Dodgers: 89-73 (+3)</div>
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Diamondbacks: 79-83 (-2)</div>
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Padres: 75-87 (-1)</div>
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Rockies: 68-94 (+4)</div>
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The Giants had another fortuitous closing stretch of the season and nabbed another World Series, and I don't see them being unseated, especially if Tim Lincecum can figure himself out. The Dodgers get a full season of Mo' Money, Mo' Problems (Greinke, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Hanley Ramirez, and Adrian Gonzalez added in the past year on top of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier), so they should stay close. The D'Backs traded away Justin Upton, but I think they stay at least marginally competitive thanks to the emerging Paul Goldschmidt and an underrated pitching staff. I'll be honest, I know very little about the Padres (and I'm just fine with that) but I bet their pitching and ballpark should keep them more competitive than the by-far-league-worst pitching staff that the Rockies put on the field in 2012.</div>
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<b><u>AL East</u></b><br />
Rays: 94-68 (+1)<br />
Blue Jays: 90-72 (+17)<br />
Orioles: 84-78 (-9)<br />
Red Sox: 78-84 (+9)<br />
Yankees: 76-86 (-19)<br />
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The AL East and West are definitely the hardest divisions to pin down. Sure, the Yankees won it last year, but they're getting worked by the previously-terrible Red Sox to start the year, and have more 2013 payroll on the DL right now than a bunch of teams (after all, A-Rod is making more than the entire AAA-stros team). The Blue Jays added the entire Marlins team and aren't likely to be ravaged by injury like they were last year, so they should be right up there. The Orioles got absurdly lucky in terms of performance in close games in 2012, and with the Sox and Jays being more competitive, I see them dropping back a bit. But when you look at it, the Rays are the one team that you know is going to be right there at the end of the season (unless they trade David Price, in which case all bets are off), so I think they're sort of the safest pick to come out of the East.<br />
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<b><u>AL Central</u></b><br />
Tigers: 90-72 (+2)<br />
White Sox: 83-79 (-2)<br />
Indians: 74-86 (+6)<br />
Royals: 72-90 (even)<br />
Twins: 64-98 (-2)<br />
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The AL Central, on the other hand, might be the easiest division to pick. The White Sox were close last year, but the Tigers' ridiculous lineup and strong top end of the rotation should keep them on top. The Indians added a lot of speed in Drew Stubbs and Michael Bourn and a manager who likes to run in Terry Francona, so maybe they'll get back to respectability. The Royals added James Shields and Wade Davis from the Rays in a win-now move, but they compromised their future by trading away top outfield prospect Wil Myers. Not that relevant here, but I just don't see the added pitching as getting them over any humps unless Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas improve. The Twins, well, don't have Francisco Liriano anymore. That's a good thing.<br />
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<b><u>AL West</u></b><br />
Rangers: 93-69 (even)<br />
Angels: 92-68 (+3)<br />
Athletics: 90-72 (-4)<br />
Mariners: 80-82 (+5)<br />
Astros: 54-108 (-1)<br />
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And now it gets tricky again. The A's made a ridiculous run to catch the Rangers at the end of last year, and Texas lost Josh Hamilton to last year's underperformers, the Angels. I see the A's losing a bit of their mojo, but they are a young roster with some really interesting pieces in Yoenis Cespedes and their starting pitching (Parker, Milone, Griffin, Straily), so I don't see too much of a drop-off. The Angels have a ridiculous Trout-Hamilton-Pujols combination, but the rotation is headed by an apparently-declining Jered Weaver and 2012 underperformer CJ Wilson, and follows with a possibly-broken Tommy Hanson and Big Joe Blanton. The Mariners added some bats (Michael Morse, Kendrys Morales) and moved their outfield fences in, so maybe they have a little bit more life in them. But really, what's keeping the rest of this division afloat record-wise is that the Astros are entering the fray. After all, the AL West had 6 more wins per team than the non-Houston NL Central teams, so I can't see the 'Stros doing much other than boosting the records of their new division rivals.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09201496443944798621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1004645450282009039.post-54677453862583987142013-03-30T20:07:00.000-04:002013-03-30T20:07:33.795-04:00Phillies 2013 PreviewNow that my brackets are dead, it's time to shift my focus for the next five months (September is really a football month) to the diamond. And while I will of course give a prediction for all of Major League Baseball, it seems most appropriate to take a deeper look-see at my hometown team, the Philadelphia Phillies. In case you forgot, here's a list of the things you need to know since the start of last season:<br />
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<ul>
<li>The 2012 Phillies went 81-81, finishing third in the NL East (13 games out of second place, however)</li>
<li>Additions: CF Ben Revere, 3B Michael Young, OF Delmon Young, RP Mike Adams, SP John Lannan</li>
<li>Subtractions: 3B Placido Polanco, CF Shane Victorino, RF Hunter Pence, LF Juan Pierre, SP Joe Blanton, SP Vance Worley</li>
</ul>
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Let's take a stroll through some of the storylines to watch this year:<br />
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(By the way, this time I'll be using Baseball-Reference WAR instead of Fangraphs, as team WAR had an almost perfect correlation with actual wins last year by their formula)</div>
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<b>1. Outfield? More like doubtfield!</b><br />
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With the Phils' entire outfield being turned over since the start of last year, it's hard to have much confidence in them without really knowing how the depth chart will shake out. But let's make the assumption that we have Domonic Brown in left, Ben Revere in center, and something uninspiring in right. Last season, Phillies' outfielders combined to go .267/.325/.409 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with 54 home runs, 66 steals, and 383 total runs and RBI that aren't part of home runs. Add in the defense, and we have a whopping 4.2 WAR.<br />
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If Brown puts up something between his career rates (.236/.315/.388) and his spring training pace (.376/.430/.671) with double-digit steals, he could reasonably end up contributing a .270/.340/.430 line with 15 homers, 75 runs/RBI, and 15 steals. Revere, still only a pup, could see a slight improvement in walk rate to balance a decline in average, resulting in a line that looks like .280/.325/.330 with 0 homers, 90 runs, 45 RBI, and 45 steals. And let's say that we get aging-Delmon-Young-esque production from the right-fielders (which may also result from an average of Darin Ruf and Freddy Galvis), which looks like .260/.290/.400 with 18 homers, 65 runs, 75 RBI, and 5 steals. Add all those together (along with a small boost for other players getting at-bats) and blur your eyes and you're looking at .270/.325/.390 with 40 homers, 65 steals, and 380 runs+RBI. So, pretty much like last year. And it's not like our defense was any good last year, either, so I'm thinking that Revere will make up for the travesty that will probably occupy the corners. That means that we can reasonably expect a similar output of 4.2 WAR this year.<br />
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<b>2. The <strike>Four Aces</strike> <strike>Big Three</strike> Two Towers?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Two years ago, the Phillies had, on paper, the best and deepest rotation in the league. And they won 102 games. Last year, the Phillies had, on paper, a pretty darn good rotation. And then Roy Halladay fell apart. He had his worst innings-pitched since '05, strikeout rate since '07, walk rate since '04, and ERA since '00. Sure, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels were in the top 15 in the league in innings pitched and ERA and top 10 in strikeouts, but with the depleted offense the team put on the lineup card each night, it wasn't enough to compete. So what can we expect from this unit this year?<br />
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To be honest, I have no idea what to think of Halladay. He was ridiculously dominant for two seasons, and then something clearly set him off. Last spring training he looked hurt, denied it, and ended up hurt. This spring training looks kinda similar (5.73 ERA last year, 6.06 ERA this year). I can't in good conscience predict anything better than last season's 25 starts of an ERA around 4.50, good for about 1 WAR.<br />
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Lee and Hamels have the track record and underlying numbers to make me feel just as well about them this year as I did last year (especially since they're both on my fantasy team), although I imagine Lee's performance is more likely to decline due to his age. Last year, they combined for 426 innings, 423 strikeouts, 80 walks, and a 3.10 ERA. This year, I'm thinking that they'll regress slightly to 415 innings, 400 strikeouts, 80 walks, and a 3.20 ERA. Based on last year's combined WAR of 9.1, I'd say that they combine for a slightly lower 8.8.<br />
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As for the rest of the rotation, Kyle Kendrick and John Lannan should be expected to be at best slightly above league average. Kendrick has been an underappreciated asset for the Phillies the last two years, filling in for injured starters reasonably well (3.61 ERA in 40 starts), and I bet he does something similar, although his inconsistent past tells me I should aim higher in the ERA department. Let's say 3.75 ERA in a full season of work, or about 1.5 WAR. Lannan's best season, which also happens to be his most recent full season in 2011, had him pitching 184 innings at a 3.70 ERA (much lower than his 4.28 FIP, 4.24 xFIP, and 4.01 career ERA), and producing 0.9 WAR. Given how much trouble Lannan has had with the Phillies in the past (5.13 ERA against them in 2011), I'm willing to give him a little bit of leeway and slot him in for 1 WAR.<br />
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<b>3. Age is just a number, right? Right? ... The infield</b><br />
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Of Michael Young, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard, Howard is the youngest at 33. This unit is not trending upward, although at least health should give Howard and Utley a boost from last year. I'm not worried about Rollins, his 2012 stats were right in line with his previous three year average with a little more power and his tenth 30-steal season since 2001. He also easily led the team in games played and at-bats, so if we project a bit of regression in the power and play time, we're looking at about 2.2 WAR.<br />
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Michael Young is the newcomer, and he comes with name recognition but not name-brand performance. He was paid $16 million last year to put up his worst batting average and on-base percentage since 2002, his worst slugging percentage ever, and his worst defense since 2005. That equates to an abysmal -2 WAR. Let's say his defense stays the same (after all, he had almost the same defensive WAR value the year before), but he gets a little bit of regression towards his career averages. If you give him a .280/.330/.400 line similar to his 2008, he'll be worth around 1 WAR.<br />
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Chase Utley's <b>worst</b> stats from 2005 to 2009 were a .282/.376/.508 slash line (mishmoshed from three different seasons), 22 HR, 93 R, and 93 RBI, with at least 132 games played. Since then, he has never played more than 115 games, and his <b>best</b> stats are .275/.387/.445 with 16 HR, 75 R, and 65 RBI (all of which were in '09). Not to mention that his advanced fielding metrics (now back to Fangraphs) have declined each year since '08. I don't have the greatest confidence that he can stay healthy all season, but let's say he does. If he ends up producing at a level that's the average of his three previous seasons (which is a fairly generous estimate in my, um, estimation), that looks something like .265/.365/.435 with 18 HR, 90 R, 85 RBI, and 20 steals. A pretty solid season, to be sure, but not at the .300/30/100 level he was producing at in his heyday. That's probably worth about 5 WAR (right around his '10 numbers but with worse defense).<br />
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Ryan Howard has been tearing the cover off the ball in spring training, and one can only hope that he maintains that into the season. People have mentioned that Michael Young had the worst WAR in baseball last season among everyday players, but if Howard had played an entire season at the rate he was performing last year, he would have held this dubious honor. Counting stats aside, his batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging were 32, 38, and 65 points below his previous career lows, and his defensive metrics were tied for his worst of his career. Ouch. But I'm willing to give him some slack for having to recover from an Achilles tear and therefore a partial season. The $125 million man had been declining, but still had never had fewer than 30 HR, 80 R, and 100 RBI since 2006, so I'm going to give him exactly those numbers. It seems that Baseball Reference isn't so much a fan of Howard's skillset, however, as that would likely only net him 1 WAR, partially because of his defense.<br />
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So what do we have to show for this stroll?<br />
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If you add all of the WAR that I just estimated, it comes to 25.7. If you add in 5 WAR for Roidin' Ruiz and 2 WAR for the bullpen (which had 0 WAR last year, by the way, so that's a strong claim), it comes to 32.7, which represents a nearly 3 WAR improvement from last year. If you plug that value into a regression equation based on last year's WAR-to-win comparison, it actually comes up as 80 wins for the Phils (3 more than would have been predicted from last year's, though). But based on the fact that they actually did win 81 last season and they're expected to get three more wins this year, I'll feel more comfortable officially predicting 84 wins. That, of course, will probably get us nowhere near the division title (Nationals) or even the first wild-card slot (Braves). Maybe we can squeak into the second wild card slot if the Dodgers or Cardinals disappoint.</div>
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