In News You Could Not Possibly Care About...

Here's my opening day team for the keeper fantasy football auction league. Rules of the game are that you get six points for touchdowns for passing, running or receiving, 1point for every 10 yards running or receiving, 1 point for every 25 points in passing, and subtract two for any turnover. Defenses get two points for any turnover, an extra five points if they win the game, a point per sack and a variable amount of points based on how many points they give up. You have $300 to fill 15 spots, with keeper prices escalating on the bid price, and you can only keep a player if he was on a roster for all of 2008. Players with an X mark were keepers.

Player Team Price 2010 Price
QB Kurt Warner ARI 8 11 X
RB1 Ryan Grant GB 51 56 X
RB2 Steve Slaten NYJ 10 13 X
WR1 Anquan Boldin ARI 38 43 X
WR2 Jerricho Cotchery NYJ 28 33 X
WR3 Anthony Gonzalez IND 24 28 X
FX L Tomlinson SD 75 80
TE Dallas Clark IND 19 23
DEF Indianapolis IND 1 4
PK Adam Vinatieri IND 1 4
B1 Cedric Benson CIN 13 16
B2 Donnie Avery STL 20 24
B3 Peyton Hillis DEN 3 6
B4 Steve Breaston ARI 4 7
B5 Matt Hasselbeck SEA 1 4

I wound up eating $4 of the bid price, but as I didn't really get taken off anyone I wanted, that didn't bug me too much. I was surprised to wind up with Tomlinson, given my draft position and historic reluctance to invest so much in one player, but as there were really only two top-tier backs (LDT and Steven Jackson, who wound up going for $84) available, I'm fairly pleased to have him. I'm also reasonably excited by the potential for Hillis to steal the limelight in Denver, given the injury histories of the others in that committee, and love being able to spend $9 on two NFC West quarterbacks in throw-first offenses. (Now, if they just stay healthy.) Breaston is also a good guy to have if Boldin gets hurt again, and while Cedric Benson is a steaming pile, he also seems to be Cincy's only steaming pile, and doesn't match the bye week of any of my top-tier backs.

The two big moments that didn't happen for me in this draft were naming Jay Cutler, then letting him go to a team that had already spent heavy on Aaron Rodgers. Making matters worse for him was that Rodgers and Cutler share the same bye week, and as Cutler wound up costing $22 more than Hasselbeck, I'm happy to have stepped aside. A similar move happened with Antonio Gates, who went for $43; Dallas Clark at $19, which basically meant that I had the ability to go after Benson and Avery, was also a positive.

I'm sure that it will all turn to hell and injuries, of course, but I've got a reasonable feeling about the team, and don't feel like I've got to race out and make a deal before the season starts. Which, realistically, is all you can hope for after it's all over.