Winning the 2007 AFFL Fantasy Football Silver Contest

 

Editor’s note: Dennis Gahry won the National competition this year at http://www.affl.com/ and this is how he did it.

 

I have been playing fantasy baseball and football for about 20 years, winning several league titles, but never a national title. My prep for this contest was similar to my previous years, i.e. reading several fantasy magazines, ranking players (by tiers) and developing a draft plan. My “tiered” going-in draft plan for the 12-team league was: Picks 1-6: RB, RB, WR, RB, WR, WR; Picks 7-8: QB, TE: Picks 9-18: Back-ups: Picks: 19-20: Defense, K.

 

I had the 2nd pick in the traditional style snake draft. My actual 1st 9 picks were:

1-RB-Steven Jackson

2-WR Reggie Wayne

3-RB-Brandon Jacobs

4-RB Adrian Peterson (Min)

5-WR-Randy Moss

6-WR-Brayton Edwards

7-QB-Tony Romo

8-RB-Leon Washington

9-TE-Jason Whitten

 

I picked the Oakland Defense at #15 and K-Jason Elam at #18. I replaced the Oakland defense with Indianapolis in week 2 and replaced Elam in week 7 with K-Jeff Reed. Besides the Colts and Reed, my other major Free Agent pool pick-up was RB-Earnest Graham in week 4. Overall I only used $649 of the $2000 Free Agent allowance.

 

During the 2 ½ hour computer draft I had a friend (Bob Radl, a Sandlot Shrink staff writer) help me keep track of players drafted, players available, etc., which was a big help.

 

Surprising I won without Tomlinson and mediocre performances from my #1 (Jackson) and # 3 (Jacobs) picks, but with great seasons from my top 3 WR’s and TE.

 

The weak point in my team, which doesn’t show on the surface was at back-up QB. During the last several weeks, Romo played despite a thumb injury. My only non-injured back-up QB during that period was Trent Edwards.

 

Some general questions/opinions/comments:

1-Are top WR’s closing the value gap with the top RB’s?

2-Is winning 80% skill/preparation and 20% luck?

3-Should a top Defense be drafted around the 10th round (before your taxi squad)?

4-The Free Agent pool is important, especially to replace injured RB’s.

5-When in doubt, play your studs.

6-Week 16 is very unpredictable, especially for players on teams that have clinched a play-off spot.

7-Pick-up a decent back-up QB before the play-offs start….

8-Have fun, it’s a game.

 

Dennis Gahry

Sarasota, FL