Melton Marksmen Return: Formerly Capitol 501 Draft

Maurice Jones Drew (#32) of Jacksonville Jaguars

runs in a game against the Oakland Raiders on

December 23, 2007 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Sam Greenwood. Getty Images Sport.

For two years in a row, I've won first place in my fantasy football leagues. The first year I made some huge mistakes but had some amazing luck. When we all selected our players in the draft, I allowed the computer to pick my team. Instead of picking running backs (a critical part of a fantasy football team because they score most of the points), the computer gave me a bunch of quarterbacks even though I only needed two. I had Drew Brees (Saints) and Tom Brady (Patriots) along with others. A friend saw I didn't have any good running backs, so he offered to trade me three good running backs for Tom Brady. I figured it was a good enough deal, but I didn't really know what I was doing. If I was doing it now, I would have asked for more, such as one awesome RB instead of three mediocre ones. Since I didn't want to cheer for the Patriots, I gave him Tom Brady. Two days after I made the trade, Tom Brady went down in the first quarter of the first game with a season-ending injury. That season I made out like a bandit and sailed easily into the playoffs. In the first round I faced the guy I made the trade with, and I won by only one point. Last year was a bit more difficult because I had no idea what was going on while I lived in Scotland. However, I made a critical move when I drafted Chris Johnson (Titans) in the first round even though he was ranked lower than other available players. It was a gutsy move, but I won the championship from across the pond. I should get a trophy for that... maybe I'll mention it to the guys this year.

My buddies who created the Capitol 501 draft named the league after their street address, and they've moved from their house in Clinton, MS to Jackson, MS. Ergo, the new league's name is 'Formerly Capitol 501.' I kept my old team's name, the 'Melton Marksmen.'

Whereas last year I spent days researching the top players and watching preseason games in order to prepare for the draft, I've been too busy in Scotland to think about the upcoming draft. Last year I printed a cheat sheet ranking all the players; I scribbled all over this sheet with notes about who was under-ranked and over-ranked according to the pundits. This year I scrambled an hour before the draft to find out who was actually available this year. I found a cheat sheet and studied it quickly, so I didn't expect to do very well. I was lucky because I had the third pick in the first round, so I was guaranteed to get a star running back. I wasn't sure what I was going to do in the other rounds, but I figured I'd just wait and see whom the other guys picked and just react to whatever they did. I got Maurice Jones Drew (ranked as #3 RB) in the first round, and normally I would have gone for a star wide receiver in the second round. However, Peyton Manning (ranked as #3 QB) was still available in the second round, so I drafted him because I knew a quarterback of his caliber wouldn't be available for me in the third round. For the rest of the draft I just picked whichever player was best while making sure my team was balanced. I didn't have much of a strategy.

Here's my team for this year:

Quarterbacks: Peyton Manning (Colts). Eli Manning (Giants).

Running Backs: Maurice Jones Drew (Jags). Jonathan Stewart (Panthers). Michael Bush (Raiders). Darren McFadden (Raiders). Leon Washington (Seahawks).

Wide Receivers: Brandon Marshall (Dolphins). Anquan Boldin (Ravens). Donald Driver (Packers). Hakeem Nicks (Giants). Jerricho Cotchery (Jets). Kevin Walter (Texans).

Tight Ends: Brent Celek (Eagles).

Defense: 49ers

Kicker: Robbie Gould (Bears)

I'm happy with some of my picks. I did well with my starting and backup QBs, and my top two RBs and WRs should be good enough. I'm not very happy with my extra RBs and WRs (I can only play 2 RBs, 2 WRs and a 'flex' which can be either an RB or WR). I may drop some players for 'sleepers.' These players usually go un-drafted in fantasy football leagues because they're new and too risky to draft when proven players are available. After the first 2 or 3 games, I'll have a better idea as to who are the sleepers, and there will be a mad dash to add them before others in the league pick them up.

It should be an exciting season, especially since all the other players in my league love fantasy football and are very competitive.