WesDawg
'Burghapologist
I'm an admitted tinkerer. Can't leave well enough alone. I'm the guy who usually starts sending trade offers hours after a draft and doesn't stop until the trade deadline. (there are probably 20 SO members who can verify this, lol). I realize how annoying this can be to my leaguemates, but amongst all the names I've been called over my almost 20 years of playing fantasy sports, "inactive" is definitely not one of them.
My favorite league of any sport that I've ever been involved in is Outlaw County. Not only because everyone is a member of Outlaw nation and I've developed friendships with many of them, but it's a very deep challenging league. Dynasty format, 31-man rosters, 7xIDP, PPR, return yardage, 16 teams(!).. perfect for an overly active owner. I inherited my team prior to the 2009 season and immediately got busy, because the roster was a hot mess of aging/declining players with only a couple cornerstone young guys to build from. (Ray Rice, Calvin Johnson). I finished 1 game above .500 that year, but my over-activity led to the waiver pickup of Arian Foster prior to week 15, and my foundation for 2010 was set, although obviously I had no idea Foster was what he was at that point. Led by Foster, Rice, Megatron, and Mike Wallace, who I dealt D.McFadden for straight up-good deal for both teams, I finished 10-3 and slugged it out with Ryan (Bayton) for the league title before falling in a very narrow defeat. My roster was now very young and balanced, with the majority of the players at age 27 or below. It remains a work in progress, as any Dynasty team should be, but I wanted to share with everyone how much turnover I'll have between the 2010 championship game and week 1 of 2011. I feel that I've marginally improved a 10-3 squad with a series of trades and waiver pickups, while getting even younger to facilitate short term future success.
So here's a snapshot of the Pittsburghese roster shakeup. (I still have 4 trades on the block as of this writing..lol)
2010 2nd place overall team:
QB's: Eli Manning, Jay Cutler, Chad Henne
RB's: Arian Foster, Ray Rice, BenJarvis Green-Ellis, Ronnie Brown, Chris Ivory
WR's: Calvin Johnson, Mike Wallace, Dwayne Bowe, Percy Harvin, Anthony Armstrong, Danario Alexander
TE's: Chris Cooley, Brent Celek
K: Garrett Hartley
DL's: Chris Clemons, Ray Edwards, Will Smith
LB's: Chad Greenway, Clay Mathews, Stewart Bradley, Pat Angerer, Lofa Tatupu
DB's: Roman Harper, Kerry Rhodes, Eric Weddle, Bernard Pollard
IR: Derrick Morgan (DE)
Taxi Squad: Mohamed Massaquoi (WR), Montario Hardesty (RB)
My primary offseason goal was to snag a young QB to replace Eli, although he was quite valuable since this league doesn't deduct points for INT's. I had the #1.2 overall rookie draft pick via an earlier 2010 trade along with my 2nd-5th rounders, but by the time the pre-draft trade dust settled, I was left with only the #1.14 overall. I did, however, trade several 2012 picks to get back into this year's draft late since some players fell that I liked. At any rate, as of Labor Day, here's what I have to go to battle with leading into week 1. (New players in bold)
2011 Pittsburghese Roster
QB's: Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford
RB's: Arian Foster, Ray Rice, LaGarrette Blount, James Starks, LaRod Stephens-Howling, Ronnie Brown
WR's: Calvin Johnson, Mike Wallace, Percy Harvin, Mario Manningham, Harry Douglas, Anthony Armstrong, Mohamed Massaquoi, Darrius Heyward-Bey
TE's: Chris Cooley, Rob Gronkowski, Travis Beckum
K: Matt Bryant
DL's: Chris Clemons, Ray Edwards
LB's: James Laurinaitis, Chad Greenway, Clay Mathews, Stewart Bradley
DB's: Tyvon Branch, Roman Harper, Eric Weddle, Bernard Pollard, Rahim Moore (R)
Taxi Squad: Pat Angerer, Colin Kaepernick (R), Casey Mathews (R)
NOTES:
-My main goal was achieved bigtime by swapping Manning/Cutler/Henne for Ryan, Stafford, and Kaepernick (my 1.14 draft pick).
-I decided to trade the #2 overall pick, Bowe, and Celek in order to bring in some of the new players. The rationale was that if I couldn't get Ingram (went at 1.1), I'd rather have an already established young guy or 2, which turned out to be Blount and Gronkowski, plus the 1.14.
-My only current 2012 draft picks are 2 2nd rounders, neither of which are my own.
-Several players are more valuable now then they were either last season, or at the time I acquired them this summer, simply due to their team situation. They include Matt Ryan (apparent offensive transition to the pass), Ray Rice (Leach brought in at FB, no more Willis McVulture), James Starks (possibly flipping with R.Grant in the pecking order), LaRod Stephens-Howling (Beanie's handcuff after Ryan Williams injury), Ronnie Brown (one McCoy ankle twist away from fantasy stardom), Percy Harvin (#1 option now that Sidney's gone), Mario Manningham (no Steve Smith), Harry Douglas (awesome in preseason, perfect slot guy for Ryan), Clay Mathews (healthy after apparently playing most of last year injured), Stewart Bradley (starting MLB in AZ), Pat Angerer (starter after Indy jettisoned some LB's) , Rahim Moore (won starting FS job in preseason), and Casey Mathews (current starting MLB in Philly's loaded defense).
-One guy I'm really excited about is Tyvon Branch. He's young, was already highly ranked, and I think with no more Asomugha, he'll see a spike in tackles and passes defensed which both score well in our particular format. If he doesn't end up as the #1 IDP defensive back this year, he'll be very close.
-I was able to maintain or improve depth at every position except DL, which I'm working on. At the risk of seeming cocky, it speaks volumes that I may be without my best player (Arian Foster) at various points of the season and still match up fairly well with almost anyone else in the league.
So there you have it. Way too many words to go along with way too many transactions. I'm anxious to read any opinions, analysis, or feedback.. assuming anyone stayed awake while reading.
Stay active, my friends!! (cue Dos Equis music)
My favorite league of any sport that I've ever been involved in is Outlaw County. Not only because everyone is a member of Outlaw nation and I've developed friendships with many of them, but it's a very deep challenging league. Dynasty format, 31-man rosters, 7xIDP, PPR, return yardage, 16 teams(!).. perfect for an overly active owner. I inherited my team prior to the 2009 season and immediately got busy, because the roster was a hot mess of aging/declining players with only a couple cornerstone young guys to build from. (Ray Rice, Calvin Johnson). I finished 1 game above .500 that year, but my over-activity led to the waiver pickup of Arian Foster prior to week 15, and my foundation for 2010 was set, although obviously I had no idea Foster was what he was at that point. Led by Foster, Rice, Megatron, and Mike Wallace, who I dealt D.McFadden for straight up-good deal for both teams, I finished 10-3 and slugged it out with Ryan (Bayton) for the league title before falling in a very narrow defeat. My roster was now very young and balanced, with the majority of the players at age 27 or below. It remains a work in progress, as any Dynasty team should be, but I wanted to share with everyone how much turnover I'll have between the 2010 championship game and week 1 of 2011. I feel that I've marginally improved a 10-3 squad with a series of trades and waiver pickups, while getting even younger to facilitate short term future success.
So here's a snapshot of the Pittsburghese roster shakeup. (I still have 4 trades on the block as of this writing..lol)
2010 2nd place overall team:
QB's: Eli Manning, Jay Cutler, Chad Henne
RB's: Arian Foster, Ray Rice, BenJarvis Green-Ellis, Ronnie Brown, Chris Ivory
WR's: Calvin Johnson, Mike Wallace, Dwayne Bowe, Percy Harvin, Anthony Armstrong, Danario Alexander
TE's: Chris Cooley, Brent Celek
K: Garrett Hartley
DL's: Chris Clemons, Ray Edwards, Will Smith
LB's: Chad Greenway, Clay Mathews, Stewart Bradley, Pat Angerer, Lofa Tatupu
DB's: Roman Harper, Kerry Rhodes, Eric Weddle, Bernard Pollard
IR: Derrick Morgan (DE)
Taxi Squad: Mohamed Massaquoi (WR), Montario Hardesty (RB)
My primary offseason goal was to snag a young QB to replace Eli, although he was quite valuable since this league doesn't deduct points for INT's. I had the #1.2 overall rookie draft pick via an earlier 2010 trade along with my 2nd-5th rounders, but by the time the pre-draft trade dust settled, I was left with only the #1.14 overall. I did, however, trade several 2012 picks to get back into this year's draft late since some players fell that I liked. At any rate, as of Labor Day, here's what I have to go to battle with leading into week 1. (New players in bold)
2011 Pittsburghese Roster
QB's: Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford
RB's: Arian Foster, Ray Rice, LaGarrette Blount, James Starks, LaRod Stephens-Howling, Ronnie Brown
WR's: Calvin Johnson, Mike Wallace, Percy Harvin, Mario Manningham, Harry Douglas, Anthony Armstrong, Mohamed Massaquoi, Darrius Heyward-Bey
TE's: Chris Cooley, Rob Gronkowski, Travis Beckum
K: Matt Bryant
DL's: Chris Clemons, Ray Edwards
LB's: James Laurinaitis, Chad Greenway, Clay Mathews, Stewart Bradley
DB's: Tyvon Branch, Roman Harper, Eric Weddle, Bernard Pollard, Rahim Moore (R)
Taxi Squad: Pat Angerer, Colin Kaepernick (R), Casey Mathews (R)
NOTES:
-My main goal was achieved bigtime by swapping Manning/Cutler/Henne for Ryan, Stafford, and Kaepernick (my 1.14 draft pick).
-I decided to trade the #2 overall pick, Bowe, and Celek in order to bring in some of the new players. The rationale was that if I couldn't get Ingram (went at 1.1), I'd rather have an already established young guy or 2, which turned out to be Blount and Gronkowski, plus the 1.14.
-My only current 2012 draft picks are 2 2nd rounders, neither of which are my own.
-Several players are more valuable now then they were either last season, or at the time I acquired them this summer, simply due to their team situation. They include Matt Ryan (apparent offensive transition to the pass), Ray Rice (Leach brought in at FB, no more Willis McVulture), James Starks (possibly flipping with R.Grant in the pecking order), LaRod Stephens-Howling (Beanie's handcuff after Ryan Williams injury), Ronnie Brown (one McCoy ankle twist away from fantasy stardom), Percy Harvin (#1 option now that Sidney's gone), Mario Manningham (no Steve Smith), Harry Douglas (awesome in preseason, perfect slot guy for Ryan), Clay Mathews (healthy after apparently playing most of last year injured), Stewart Bradley (starting MLB in AZ), Pat Angerer (starter after Indy jettisoned some LB's) , Rahim Moore (won starting FS job in preseason), and Casey Mathews (current starting MLB in Philly's loaded defense).
-One guy I'm really excited about is Tyvon Branch. He's young, was already highly ranked, and I think with no more Asomugha, he'll see a spike in tackles and passes defensed which both score well in our particular format. If he doesn't end up as the #1 IDP defensive back this year, he'll be very close.
-I was able to maintain or improve depth at every position except DL, which I'm working on. At the risk of seeming cocky, it speaks volumes that I may be without my best player (Arian Foster) at various points of the season and still match up fairly well with almost anyone else in the league.
So there you have it. Way too many words to go along with way too many transactions. I'm anxious to read any opinions, analysis, or feedback.. assuming anyone stayed awake while reading.
Stay active, my friends!! (cue Dos Equis music)
