Draft Day in Minnesota

After driving away from C-Hub's place in Cottonwood, reflecting back on my draft choices for this year's team, I'm pretty satisfied.

We had a nice little 3-hour session, with Sean playing commissioner this season. Sean's two brothers are out in South Dakota, so they got hooked up through the Internet and gave our picks to us. Overall, 10 teams in this league -- and Yahoo! Fantasy Sports is taking care of the rest.

Here's the team that I put together to lead the Flamin' Green Arrows to championship victory:

QB -- Daunte Culpepper
QB -- Ben Roethlisberger
QB -- Byron Leftwich
RB -- Deuce McAllister
RB -- Tatum Bell
RB -- T.J. Duckett
RB -- Michael Pittman
WR -- Marvin Harrison
WR -- Mushin Muhammad
WR -- Brandon Stokley
WR -- Isaac Bruce
WR -- Marcus Robinson
TE -- Antonio Gates
TE -- Eric Johnson
K -- David Akers
K -- Nate Kaeding
DEF -- Washington
DEF -- Jacksonville

BREAKDOWN ANALYSIS: Quarterbacks

• Solid. Culpepper's is going to be my main-stay this season, the guy who is expected to put up some serious points for the Flamin' Green Arrows this year. After the draft, I was flattered that Sean wanted to trade for Culpepper, but looking at his roster of "no-namers," I politely declined. As far as the others go, Roethlisberger isn't having a spectacular pre-season, but hopefully his nerves get a little settled down in time for Week 1. Leftwich is still consistent after 3 or so years at the helm in Jacksonville, but according to reports from Yahoo! Sports, his receivers are dropping balls. Again, hopefully it'll all turn around once Week 1 rolls on through.

BREAKDOWN ANALYSIS: Running backs

• This is the biggest ? on the team this year. My number one guy will obviously be Deuce McAllister -- hopefully he'll stay healthy this year. I do not know much about Tatum Bell -- I drafted him out of spite to upset Bronco Boy just a little bit -- but after the Broncos/Colts game when Bell got 2 carries for one yard and the Broncos other RB Mike Anderson tore it up, well ... we'll wait and see. If Anderson gets the starting job, look for Bell to be on waivers.
• I had T.J. Duckett last year, hoping he'd be the running back in terms for short-yard running situations to plow the ball up the middle for the score. Instead, Warrick Dunn was the man (besides Vick) who was carrying the ball more often while scoring on long runs. Dunn would have been my first choice, but I cautiously settled for Duckett. Time will tell on this one.
• Michael Pittman was quite the surprise last year before he got hurt, helping out a woeful Tampa Bay offense. Like I said, Pittman was pretty solid before he fell to injury, so I'm hoping he'll be my dark-horse for my running backs this year.

BREAKDOWN ANALYSIS: Wide receivers

• In terms of quality and ability, this is just a step up from the running backs. Marvin Harrison will again lead the way in Peyton Manning's passing offense, but there's that feeling in my head that his big-play ability is diminishing. Reggie Wayne will probably be the guy that Manning will look to now, but I'm not giving up on Harrison just yet.
• Brandon Stokley was a stud for me last year, being #3 in the receiving core behind Harrison and Wayne. Stokley managed to score 10 times, providing me those crucial points when I needed them the most. This is more of a loyalty pick. Stokley is coming off a dislocated shoulder and he seems optimistic that he'll be ready in time for Week 1.
• Mushin Muhammad was one risky pick. Although he had one hell of a career year last year with the Panthers, this year he's playing with the sickly Bears offense (with reports now that Chad Hutchinson is going to start). We'll see!
• Issac Bruce, along with Torry Holt, has been a mainstay with the Rams passing attack for years. Although Bruce is getting up there in terms of age, he's still pretty solid. I considered this pick a steal in the later rounds of the draft.
• Marcus Robinson stepped up where it was needed the most (along with Nate Burleson) when Randy Moss was sidelined with injury. Robinson falls into the mix of great wide receivers that the Vikings have this year -- who knows where he falls into the depth chart. Robinson will be a part of the supporting cast of my fair wide-out corps for 2005.

BREAKDOWN ANALYSIS: Tight ends

• If this was 2004, I would have locked this league up. Antonio Gates and Eric Johnson each had sick numbers. But -- it sounds like Gates might not play Week 1 due to his contract dispute (he did sign, though), so Johnson looks like to get the go ahead for me to start off the season. It'll be a little nerve-wracking, considering that Johnson plays for the 49ers!

BREAKDOWN ANALYSIS: Kickers

• David Akers led all kickers in terms of fantasy points last year. He should be a solid kicker this year, even though he just might be booting extra points.
• Nate Kaeding -- I've been watching this guy since his college days in Iowa -- this guy is money when you need that clutch field goal. But he's relatively new in the league, he's got a year underneath his belt, so watch for him to be a little bit more comfortable in clutch situations.

BREAKDOWN ANALYSIS: Defense

• Just a big toss up! As a team owner in a fantasy league, I really cannot tell a good defense to a crappy defense until Week 5 or 6 -- so I just picked some teams. Washington looks like a pretty good team on D, as all experts have rated them pretty high. Jacksonville was my last overall pick in the draft -- a pick just to fill in a defensive roster spot.

OVERALL GRADE: B

• While I'll suffer on positions like RB or WR, I'll make up for it in the QB and TE games. I've said before, a person really doesn't know who is going to be the main guy or the dark-horse in the league this year, so time will tell!