TOP TEN QUESTIONS COMING OUT OF 

THE 2012 DETROIT PIGSKIN DYNASTY DRAFT

10.  HOW ARE WE GOING TO BE ABLE
 TO WATCH OUR DETROIT LIONS THIS YEAR?

Let me elaborate, how are we going to watch the lions this year and enjoy their success when we know that Captain Crumbpacker Don Megge has Calvin Johnson on his team, and Captain Crumbpacker Jr in training Matt Zebula has Matthew Stafford.  Every time they score a touchdown that initial excitement will be met with a little disappointment.

 

9.  ANTHONY BONNANI BELIEVES IN THE COMEBACK.

Question marks all around  coming out of Mr. Bonnani's draft room.

Will Chris Johnson come back to form and be an elite fantasy running back or once again be a first round bust?

Will Rob Gronkowski have back to back years of success in a New England offense loaded with offensive weapons?

Will Andre Johnson come back from multiple surgeries and injuries and regain that elite fantasy wide receiver status?

Will Trent Richardson come back from PRE-SEASON knee surgery?

WILL MICHAEL VICK PLAY THE ENTIRE SEASON?

Whats most amazing about this is that Bonnani was the one that was burned last year by drafting Vick in the first round, and now one year later he is giving him another try after landing him in the sixth round.   I dont know about you people, but when a player burns me once, I cut them from my fantasy roster FOR LIFE. 

 

8.  MATT FORTE GOES IN THE 1rst ROUND.

The main question that will be brought up for the ENTIRE year will be how do you take Matt Forte over Darren McFadden?  Matt Crowell showed great confidence in taking Forte 9th overall.  The Chicago Bears showed such great confidence in him staying healthy that they signed Michael Bush to a lucrative deal in the off season. This allowed Darren McFadden ( who some fantasy experts are saying has a shot at being a top 3 back) to fall to the second round.  This pick actually did not end up being to bad as Crowell got bailed out and got Drew Bress in the SECOND ROUND at #12 overall.   And this is because............

 7.  MATTHEW STAFFORD OVER DREW BREES ?!?!?!?!?!?

REALLY?  Listen I am all for drinking the Kool-Aid and a total Lions slappy, but drafting Matthew Stafford over the record setting, fantasy football championship winning quarterback Drew Brees?  Mr Matthew Zebula's playoff streak is on the line with this bold, bold, BOLD move.

 

Did I mention that Zeb's VERY next pick with the wrap around (10th and 11th) was Jimmy Graham!?  ***head scratcher***

 

 6.  RUN ON TIGHT ENDS !!!!!!!!

An absolute PHENOMENON happened at the end of the sixth round.  Mr. Patrick Fahey

reached on Aaron Hernandez to make sure he had that connection with Tom Brady.  After Don Megge picked Eli Manning, The next FOUR PICKS went Antonio Gates, Vernon Davis, Jermichael Finley, and BRANDON PETTIGREW.

So many questions to ask here, I dont know where to even start.  

Will Aaron Hernandez  justify being the THIRD tight end picked overall?

Did Brandon Pettigrew really get picked at the end of the sixth round?

Is this proof that position runs actually do exist during a fantasy draft?

 

5.  VICTOR CRUZ

Victor Cruz was the first pick of the 3rd round. 

Brad Bailey had so much faith in Victor he made him the 5th WR picked overall.

Bailey choose Victor over the likes of Roddy White, Brandon Marshall and Wes Welker.

Do I think that all three of this WR's will outscore Victor? Yes.

Which even makes this pick more confusing is that Bailey picked Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback at #1 overall, and he had his choice of either Greg Jennings or even Jordy Nelson to match up  with him.

4. IS THE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPION LOOKING FOR A REPEAT?

Did Don Davis really do it again?  You take a look at his draft and I cant find one mistake.  It was so solid he managed to get Peyton Manning as his BACK UP in the 8th round.

with the #2 pick overall:

Arian Foster

A.J. Green

Cam Newton 

Marques Colston

Jeremy Maclin

JerMichael Finley

Willis McGahee

Peyton Manning

And I don't know if he did it on purpose, actually applying a little strategy, or he just liked A.J. Green that much, but the fact that Don Davis waited and got Cam Newton in the THIRD ROUND was absolutely brilliant. ( based on the fact that Bailey had already taken Aaron Rodgers)  

3. JULIO JONES OVER CAM NEWTON?

In an absolutely surprising turn of events.  The defending champion had a chance to get Cam Newton back on his team this year in the second round but passed on him.  If you watch his one on one interview Don Megge personally gave all of the credit to Mr.  Cam Newton for his fantasy football championship.  

Not only did he pass on Newton, he also passed on Roddy White.  White was Don Megge's second round pick last year. 

I guess Don Megge doesnt believe in loyality when it comes to winning.

 Its an interesting strategy to say the least as Don still managed to Eli Manning AND Philip Rivers with back to back to picks in the 6th and 7th rounds and arguablly has the best WR core in the league with the group of Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, and Jordy Nelson.

Will he be able to repeat this year??

2.  SHONN GREENE OVER TONY ROMO AND PEYTON MANNING

Steve Pietrangelo was heading towards having one of the all time best drafts EVER.

He was looking to duplicate the success of Don Davis from last year.

He had the #4th overall pick

LeSean McCoy

Adrian Peterson

Brandon Marshall

Steve Smith

Miles Austin

Antonio Gates

Eric Decker

And then the fatal mistake happened in the 8th round.  Steve had already gotten a little greedy and picked up his 4th WR in Eric Decker.  Thinking about rolling the dice again before picking up a starting quarterback he picked up a back up running back in Shonn Greene.

The very next two picks where Tony Romo and Peyton Manning.

Steve Pietrangelo had to settle with Ben Roethlisberger and Jay Cutler.  Still a serviceable pair of quarterbacks, but Steve is left to think of what could of been.  

At around the the same time Patrick Fahey had made a comment in the chat room during the draft  "Hey guys if your in the market for a back up quarterback, Debussey has yet to pick one up."

Fahey wasnt paying attention to Steve's team at the time, he was just watching in astonishment wondering what the hell was going with Debussey.

That leads us to.....

1.  WTF WAS DEBUSSEY DOING !?!????????????

This is the same guy that gave us the Tavaris Jackson gem last year. 

So you know we are really in for a treat.

This guy drafted MJD 8th overall.  The same MJD that just ended his holdout and wont even start week 1.  The other running backs he drafted were Michael Turner and Frank Gore.  You could argue that this guy wont even have a starting backfield after the first month.  Well you could just say it, I doubt no one is going to argue with you.

And remember that RUN ON TIGHT ENDS IN THE 6TH ROUND ?!? This guy put the cherry on top and capped it off with Jason Witten in the 7th round.

The same Jason Witten that has a ruptured spleen and has no clue when he will be able to return to play.

Seriously its like everyone panicked and figured a TE was critical to there fantasy success and this guy took it one step further.

So if your following along here, Debussey took a backup RB in the 6th rd, an Injured TE in the 7th rd, and THEN took his 4th WR in the 8th round.

So his starting quarterback this year is going to be RGIII.

Will RGUIII have the same success as Cam Newton last year and save Debussey's season?

Does it even matter with how PUTRID this team is?

Detroit Pigskin Dynasty 2012 Fantasy Lottery Draft

Ladies and Gentleman,

The anticipation has been great, so now prepare yourself.

For this years 2012 Fantasy Lottery Draft

Top 10 BEST Coaching Moves

Ok, I know I said top ten list, but all I could come up with were eight of the best coaching moves this year.

Why do you ask? Well two reasons:

1.  "Top Ten" sounds more catchier then "Top Eight" and After searching between the Comcast league and the Detroit Pigskin Dynasty league that is all I could come up with.

or

2.  I did my absolute best, but I found it difficult to give credit, as "good " coaching moves were hard to find.

#8  BEANIE WELLS TRADED FOR MATTHEW STAFFORD

On October 30th ( During Week 8)  Coach D's Disciple  had a backfield that consisted of Frank Gore, Shonn Greene, Chris Johnson, and Beanie Wells.  He also noticed that Drew Brees had a bye week coming up in WEEK 11 and he had plenty of ammunition to make a solid trade for a decent back up for one week.  That "decent" back up came in the form of Matthew Stafford.  Team Zuggy had Cam Newton as his starting QB and needed some help at his Running Back position.  This was that rare trade that helped out both teams for a couple of weeks.  The scoring output for the one week that Coach D's Disciple needed him to start? 39.60 points.  Critical points that were needed as the Disciples team finished 7-7 but managed to make the playoffs due to the tiebreaker having the higher point total.

#7 MICHAEL VICK & ANQUAN BOLDIN TRADED FOR HAKEEM NICKS AND JAY CUTLER

The main trade here was Michael Vick for Hakeem Nicks.  The other two were just throw in pieces to complete the deal.  This deserves some special recognition as The Flint Tropics made a decision early on during the year after WEEK 5  to go with Eli Manning who was on his bench as his starting QB and trade away Michael Vick to get a premier WR.  At the time there was some complaints that that this was an unfair trade and that the Flint Tropics were giving up, Well the league was right in one way, this trade was definitely one sided as Michael Vick went on with an injury filled year and The Flint Tropics ended up with a top ten wide reliever in return.

#6  MARQUES COLSTON OFF THE WAIVER WIRE

After WEEK 1, Marques Colston went down with a broken collarbone and was subsequently dropped by the Donation.  Knowing Colston was going to be out for at least four weeks Boats-N-Hoes took a chance on him coming back and picked him up right away and dropped WR Mike Thomas in the process. 

Flash forward to a pivotal week seven match up.  PACK ATTACK was up 101.14 to 81.30 over BOATS-N-HOES.  Pack Attack had no other players going while Boats-N-Hoes had one person left and you guessed it:  Marques Coltson had a 98 yard receiving, 2 TD game, 21.80 point performance to complete the comeback with a final score of 103.10 over 101.14.

or has The Junk Yard Dog would put it:

Junk Yard Dog v3.141

October 23, 11:02 pm

Dont Colston it a comeback, he's been here for years.

Pack Attack was 4-2 at the time and never recovered from this loss, Boats-N-Hoes was 3-3 and this win catapulted him to the #1 seed and a 10-4 record.

 #5  ERIC DECKER OFF THE WAIVER WIRE

This situation occurred during a week 2 match up between Saint Patrick's Day and The Junk Yard Dog.   Saint Patrick Day already had Andre Johnson and Greg Jennings starting at WR but ran into a problem when Dez Bryant was deemed inactive for the week.  He had WR Michael Crabtree on the bench as his only option.  At that same time though Brandon Lloyd of the Denver Broncos was also deemed inactive for the week.  With some quick thinking Saint Patricks Day dropped Crabtree for Eric Decker as he would be the new #1 WR for the Broncos that week.  This was a rare move that proved to be genius as Eric Decker had a breakout performance with 21.30 points

Final Score in a HIGH SCORING affair:  Saint Patricks Day 130.62  JYD  124.80

Lionized

September 20, 4:21 am

St Patty picks up Decker who lifts him to victory

#4  SAN FRANCISCO'S DEFENSE OFF THE WAIVER WIRE

If you been reading along you are starting to realize that the Pack Attack had quite the brutal year.

He was featured in one of my previous blogs  The top ten WORST coaching moves.

Week one though provided a lone highlight to his season.

The Pack Attack went the normal conventional route of not drafting a kicker? and also drafted the Indy Defense.  Before the season even began with his week one match up with Team Punishment, he dropped TE Lance Kendricks for K Davis Akers with a 15 point performance and most notably he dropped the Indy Defense for the San Francisco Defense which provided a 24 point performance.

Final Score was  Pack Attack 133.88    Team Punishment  110.48

Lionized

September 13, 3:01 am

Nice FA pickups Pack. Akers and SF. 39 points you didn't draft. 

                                                                                   

                                                                          

#3  MAURICE JONES DREW TRADED FOR A.J. GREEN

I brought up the question would you draft MJD over Calvin Johnson?

Master teacher took that one step further as he used MJD as a bargaining chip to acquire A.J. Green from TV Jimmy.  ( Yes the same TV Jimmy that already traded Jordy Nelson for Cedric Benson )

Master Teacher had LeSean McCoy as his number 1 back and had Frank Gore on his bench.  Knowing he had some weaknesses in his WR core with Dwayne Bowe's inconsistency and Miles Austin out with injury, Master Teacher pulled the trigger and traded MJD for AJ Green.  A brilliant move to stengethen his team which lead him to a 9-5 record and the #2 overall seed into the playoffs.

#2  MAYBE THE BEST DRAFT EVER

HERE WAS THE BLOG ON THE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPION

1rst round   (#2 overall)    Arian Foster           #4  RB fantasy points

2nd round   (#19 overall)  Tom Brady             #3  QB fantasy points

3rd round   (#22 overall)   Michael Turner     #6   RB  fantasy points

4th round    (#39 overall)   Brandon Marshal  #13 WR fantasy points

5th round    (#42 overall)   Wes Welker          #3  WR fantasy points

8th round    (#79 overall)   Eli Manning          #6 QB fantasy points

9th round    (#82 overall)   Jimmy Graham      #2  TE fantasy points

10th round  (#99 overall)   Steve Smith           #6 WR fantasy points

That draft pretty much speaks for itself.

#1  PHILADELPHIA EAGLES DEFENSE OFF THE WAIVER WIRE

The #1 BEST coaching move of the year SHATTERED Saint Patrick's Days playoff dreams in the Comcast league.

As it was detailed in the final playoff scenarios.  Team Punishment had nothing to gain going into to the final week of the season, and Saint Patrick Day's had everything to lose.

The situation was simple as all Saint Patrick's Day had to do was win againts the worst team (record wise) in the league, and his team was in the playoffs.

Team Punishment knowing he could spoil Saint Patrick's Day made a last second move prior to game day dropping the Tennesse Defense and picking up the Philadelphia Defense.

Brilliant move or sheer luck?  Regardless The Eagles Defense scored 21 points that week.

Final Score  Team Punishment  111.02   Saint Patrick's Day  108



Would you draft MJD over MEGATRON?

Recently on twitter Michael Fabiano was asking to see if anyone had any fantasy questions and he would pick the 10 best ones to answer.  Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football columnist who serves as the fantasy editor for NFL.com and NFL Network. 


     Michael Fabiano ‏ @Michael_Fabiano

Have a fantasy question? Send it to me on Twitter or Facebook, and the 10 best will be answered in Wednesday's... fb.me/1b1josbwU

   Patrick Fahey ‏ @DetFantasyFball

@Michael_Fabiano How High would you take Calvin Johnson this year? With his production last year, would you take him before a running back?

I sent him the above question on Twitter and Facebook.  I wanted to see what running backs he still valued over Calvin Johnson. I was fortunate enough for him to use my question and the answer I got was actually quite surprising.



   Michael Fabiano ‏ @Michael_Fabiano
 

Here is this week's Fantasy mailbag on NFL.com. Thanks for the questions all!: bit.ly/zGSmsw

FABIANO'S FANTASY MAILBAG

"How high would you draft Calvin Johnson this year? Would you draft him before a running back? -- Detroit Fantasy Football (via Facebook)

M.F.: Here are the running backs I would take ahead of Johnson -- Arian Foster, LeSean McCoy, Ray Rice and Maurice Jones-Drew. That's about it, at least right now. Ryan Mathews and Matt Forte could join that list at some point this offseason, but those runners come with some risk. Overall, Megatron will be the first wideout taken in most 2012 fantasy drafts (he was the No. 8 overall pick in my most recent mock draft). Coming off a career season that included 96 catches, 1,681 yards and 16 touchdowns, Johnson's fantasy stock has never been higher. As long as Matthew Stafford can remain free of injuries once again, there's no reason to believe Megatron won't continue to post huge totals"


The top three running backs he listed I have no argument against, but what sparked a debate with me was he would actually rate Maurice Jones Drew over Calvin Johnson.  Not only that, he backed it up with his most recent mock draft which went like this:

Round 1

1. Arian Foster
2. LeSean McCoy
3. Ray Rice
4. Aaron Rodgers
5. Drew Brees
6. Tom Brady
7. Maurice Jones Drew
8. Calvin Johnson
9. Matthew Stafford
10. Cam Newton

 
Last year in a Yahoo Standard fractional scoring league (non PPR), Calvin Johnson and Maurice Jones Drew finished right next to each other, ranked 15 and 16 in scoring overall.

15.  Calvin Johnson           263.20
16. Maurice Jones Drew   262.00

In a Yahoo standard league you have to play three wide receivers and there is no flex position.  In fact, I had never heard of a flex position until ESPN leagues introduced it and started ranking flex plays.  I am also not familiar with NFL standard leagues, so maybe that is why MJD is valued higher.

I do know, however, that NFL.com did award Calvin Johnson  the 2012 fantasy player of the year, and I have already stated that you could make the case for Megatron being the #1 pick last year.

So the debate is on and the question is simple -- when faced with the choice between Maurice Jones Drew and Calvin Johnson,

WHO WOULD YOU TAKE AND WHY?

FINAL PLAYOFF SCENARIOS

These where the standings going into week 14  (the final week of the fantasy regular season) in the Comcast league

Yours truly, St. Patrick's Day, was on the outside looking in.

Top 4 teams make the playoffs.

1. Boats-N-Hoes       9 wins  4 loses   1408.20 points
2. Master Teacher     8 wins  5 loses   1462.90 points
3. Junk Yard Dog      8 wins  5 loses   1448.60 points
4. The Donation         8 wins  5 loses   1323.00 points
5. St. Patrick's Day    8 wins  5 loses   1261.30 points

     6.  Lionized                 7 wins   6 loses
     7.  TV Jimmy              7 wins   6 loses

     8.  Pack Attack           6 wins   7 loses

     9. Crazyer                   3 wins   10 loses

    10. Team Punishment   1 wins   12 loses


As you can see it was a very, VERY close race.  5 teams battling it out for 4 playoff spots.

Final match ups of for week 14:

 #1 Boats-N-Hoes   vs.  #6 Lionized
#2 Master Teacher   vs.  #3 Junk Yard Dog
#4 The Donation       vs.  #9 Crazyer
#5  St. Patrick's Day vs.  #10 Team Punishment

Based on the Schedule  the number one seed Boats-N-Hoes  had actually clinched the first playoff spot (courtesy of Aaron Rodgers and Rob Gronkowski) having 9 wins and with one of the teams behind him GUARANTEED to lose. 

Thats right if you are reading the above playoff scenario correctly:

There are four teams left with 8 wins battling it out for the final three playoffs spots.

The #2 team Master Teacher is playing the #3 team Junkyard Dog. 

The TOP TWO point scorers in the ENTIRE league, one is guaranteed to lose, and one is in danger of not even MAKING the playoffs.

That is because The Donation and St. Patrick's Day are playing the bottom two teams in the entire league and it is simple.

If both teams win and finish with 9 wins, they are both in.

So, I find myself in the perfect position.  The PERFECT match up right?

I am playing the worse team in the league (record wise.)  The team that only has ONE win to date.

Team Punishment was having such a horrible season he didn't get his first (and only) win until WEEK 10 against the Pack Attack.

Now this is where you have to give this fantasy owner a lot, and I mean A LOT of credit. We have all  been in leagues before where people end up quitting.  Fantasy owners get so frustrated by a bad draft or a couple of bad loses and it leads them to stop updating their teams.  This ends up throwing off the competitive balance of the entire league and ruins the integrity of the fantasy games.  It also creates A LOT of headaches when money is still on the line.  Now think how frustrated you would be starting out the season on a NINE GAME LOSING STREAK?

Here is an actual post by this fantasy owner for Team Punishment:

BOBBY (Team Punishment)
Nov 8 10:53 am

No excuses, but I do have a few points to why this is my worst Fantasy team/record ever.

1. I have the league for high points scored against me.

2. I have suffered greatly due to injuries such as....Britt, Vick (reason for losing to Locke), McFadden, Gore (before my dumb trade).

3. Gave up on Gore before he got his shit together and traded him.

4. Mike Williams was a huge bust!

With that said, I am going to Destroy many playoff hopes moving forward. Its all about pride now.

A fantasy owner like this is the perfect person to have in your league,  Even though he has been out of the playoff race since the second month, he is still committed to playing spoiler and is still spending money on picking up free agents, even though he has NO CHANCE on winning any money back.

And as the Commissioner of the league, this is very much appreciated.

And as a fantasy owner whose team needs to win his final game of the season to get in,, I guess all of you have already predicted what happens next.

The Final score of that week 14 match up:

TEAM PUNISHMENT  111.02     SAINT PATRICK'S DAY  108.00

That was the second highest point total Team Punishment had all year, and it came at the perfect time to play spoiler.

Team Punishment single handily made sure that Saint Patrick's Day didn't make it into the playoffs.  He spent the money that week on free agent pick ups and acquired two players that aided in the victory:

Toby Gerhart:  16.90  points
Philadelphia D  21.00  points

So there you have it.  That is how my 3 year playoff streak came to an end in the two leagues that I am commissioner in.

It came in the form of a painful 3.02 point loss to the last place team in the league.