I went into the draft with the #3 pick in a 12 team PPR league. I had been targeting Trent Richardson for weeks, presuming that after Adrian Peterson went #1, Doug Martin would go #2. However, Jamaal Charles was the #2 pick, so DMart fell to me and I snagged him. I assigned 14 RBs to my first two tiers, with 4 RBs as my target for my 2nd pick, the 22nd overall. In order of preference, I had Steven Jackson, Matt Forte, Chris Johnson, and Stevan Ridley as possible options. However, in order to get any of these guys, I needed 7 of the first 21 picks to go for WRs, QBs, or RBs not on my list. My league's owners tend to love QBs in the first round, and I figured Calvin Johnson and Jimmy Graham would go before my pick, so I needed some help to get any of my four targets. As I predicted, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Aaron Rodgers all went in the first 18 picks, as did Calvin Johnson. Unexpectedly, Dez Bryant went with pick 14, and David Wilson, Reggie Bush, and Darren Sproles (all RBs not in my top 14) all went early, leaving pick 21 with the option to take Jimmy Graham. Suddenly, I am faced with the dilemma of taking Jimmy Graham or one of my two RB targets. My decision is immediately made, as Graham is selected with pick 21.
With Steven Jackson still there, being the top RB from my next tier, I grab him with pick 22. Knowing I have picks 27 and 46, I have my sights set on Rob Gronkowski with pick 46. My hope is he will be overlooked by the other owners, as my past experience with them has revealed they will avoid drafting an injured player. Knowing this, I need to target an elite WR for pick 27. However, RB Stevan Ridely is still on the board, and still one of my top RB choices. I could take him, but suffer at the WR position. I'll have to wait and see who goes in picks 23-26. AJ Green, Demaryius Thomas, and Brandon Marshall all go in those picks, leaving me with a choice between Julio Jones and Ridley. As much as I like Ridley, Julio is the last WR left in my tier so I pull the trigger and draft him. RB-RB-WR is how I typically begin a draft, so this is looking nice. I now have a painful 18 picks to suffer through until I can decide on Gronkowski, however Lamar Miller and Giovani Bernard are still on the board after my pick 27. They are just too good to pass up at 46, and I decide I will have to pick one and roll the dice on Gronk still being there at pick 51. But, both RBs get picked and my decision comes down to Darren McFadden or Gronk, so I take Gronk at 46, just as I had hoped. I plan on taking Tyler Eifert late in the draft to start 1-2 games will Gronk is still recovering, and end up getting him in round 15.
Most of the RBs are going quickly now, and I pick Reggie Wayne in round 5 and Cecil Shorts in round 6. Lots of WRs I had rated lower than Shorts went, so I was happy to take him. Now, I am left with a QB decision, and my list of 12 QBs I would draft is down to one by the time my pick comes around in round 7, and I happily select Russell Wilson as my starting QB.
So here's my first 7 picks (RB-RB-WR-TE-WR-WR-QB):
Doug Martin
Steven Jackson
Julio Jones
Rob Gronkowski
Reggie Wayne
Cecil Shorts
Russell Wilson
I would have liked to have 3 RBs in the first 7 over 3 WRs, but the potential of Gronkowski at TE makes this acceptable, especially in a PPR.
For my reserves, I acquire Bryce Brown, Vick Ballard, T.Y. Hilton, Ryan Tannehill and Tyler Eifert. I had hoped to get Carson Palmer or Matt Schaub as my bye week QB, but they were both gone so I selected Tannehill over Josh Freeman. I was also able to get my top rated kicker, Blair Walsh, whose long FGs won me our league championship last season. We play Individual Defense Players for defense, so I won't go into that other than to say I got Lance Briggs, Jerod Meyo, and Aldon Smith.
Overall, I am extremely pleased with my draft. I got two great RBs, a stud WR, and an elite TE, and a capable Russell Wilson as my QB.
I missed out on Ben Tate when he was selected one pick before me in round 8. Other than Jimmy Graham going one pick before me in round 2, he was the only guy that I was hoping to get that was just out of reach.
I don't know if this link will work, but here is my draft (my team is the Crackheads): http://ppthree.football.cbssports.com/draft/results
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