The League

Mike Mayock has just weighed in on Poker in the Rear 2012 draft...

"I have to tell you, Poker in the Rear has just laid the foundation of a dynasty. Through a series of successful trades, free agent signings and draft moves, Poker in the Rear systematically built a power house. If I was in the SW division, I would not underestimate this team. The entire league better take note. And something tells me, they aren't done quite yet."

I would have to agree with Mike and give myself an A-. The only move I regret is taking Streeter ahead of Givens in round 2 because If I would have gone Givens first I likely would have landed both.

Amish Draft:

1.12 Jeffery, Alshon CHI WR
2.04 Broyles, Ryan DET WR
2.12 Givens, Chris STL WR
3.01 Wylie, Devon KCC WR
3.06 Rodriguez, Evan CHI TE

I give the myself an A- simply because all the guys I drafted were on "my list". I think overall I got high upside guys, certainly some boom or bust guys though. But all have a chance at significant snaps even their rookie year which was my #1 reason to have a guy on my list this year.

Normally I would like to have gone QB or RB but as we all know it was really shallow for both those positions this year and it was *really* deep at WR. I'm pretty happy overall with this group and excited to get to training camp and see how they do. The best thing is the way I've been able to build my team the past 2 years is I don't need any of them this year or even next really so they have time to develop. If just one becomes an every week starter by next year I'll come out ahead.

* Jeffery will start right away and could be huge but there are some concerns about him so wait and see.
* Broyles I think has a huge upside in this offense. May be on the PUP for the first half of his rookie season but who cares, I got him for 5 years! I was a bit shocked he dropped to me to be honest.
* Givens - I like him more then their top WR selection, more polished. Will get every chance to start right away since the WRs on the Rams STINK. Nice upside.
* Wylie has a lot of upside in a PPR league. We are kinda a "half" PPR league but still. Keeps being compared to Welker. Heck, I'll take 50% of Welker as a potential #3 WR on my team in a couple years. Downside is not a lot of passing in this offense.
* Rodriguez, not super high on him but he's got a shot with Tice at coordinator and he likes to feature TEs. Plus at this point he's just a backup behind Graham. If Graham goes down I'm sunk anyway. I don't like having two Bears in the passing game but took the chance in case Housler doesn't pan out.

1.01 Richardson
1.06 Floyd
3.03 Polk
3.04 Gray

Not really sure what to give this draft since I had no mid round picks. I'm really happy with it though.

Workhorse backs are a dying breed, and now I have the most coveted RB to enter the league in a while on my roster for at least 5 seasons. I don't think Richardson ending up in Cleveland is at all a bad thing. Peyton Hillis put up a beast of a season just 2 years ago, and Richardson is light years ahead of Hillis in terms of raw talent.

With the #6 pick, I felt like I was going to come out with a solid prospect regardless of who was going to be passed at the 1.05. I was happy to have to "settle" for Floyd. He's got a chance to learn the intricacies of the WR positions from Fitzgerald. If he can be Batman to Fitzgerald's Superman, it'll be a great pick for me Lots of various sources I've been reading feel that Floyd has a higher ceiling than Blackmon. Regardless, I would've been happy either way who was staring me down. I considered drafting Wilson at this spot, but felt that adding Floyd to my young WR core was best for the long haul.

Polk could be a steal going as the 39th pick of the draft. Pre-draft rankings had him as a top 5 RB, so to get him this late in the game, I felt it was necessary to stop his slide. The various reports about his health are concerning, but this late in the draft it's all a crap shoot. He's buried on the Eagles depth chart right now, but he could overtake Dion Lewis as the #2RB during training camp. Injuries happen to RBs all the time, and if something somehow happens to Shady McCoy, I'll have Polk in my back pocket. If he doesn't end up making the Eagles final roster, maybe he could turn out to be the next Arian Foster or Priest Holmes on a RB needy team.. Only time will tell.

I've read about Gray being compared as a McCoy "lite" and I certainly don't expect Hillis to be around past this season. Nor do I think that Dexter McCluster will play much of a role in the running game going forward... In steps Cyrus Gray who'll hopefully be able to take over the #2RB spot at some point this season or next. I don't really expect much from Gray at all this season, but he's backing up two RBs coming off of injury plagued seasons. He has the potential to have an impact this season.

A couple of guys that I was hoping would fall to my 3rd round picks were D Wylie and R Wilson, but both went just ahead of where I was picking. Also considered D Caole and Charles with these picks, instead I rolled the dice on the 2 RBs.

It was fun... This was my first rookie draft, so the cherry's been popped! Bring on the season!

1.11 Tannehill
2.15 Russell Wilson
3.11 Lavon Brazill

We'll see how the QBs pan out. If I've found at least 1 QB2 I can pair with Newton for the next 4 years, I think I've done well. I'm really impressed by Wilson and didn't expect him to be around with that second pick at all... so I might've gone with Hill or Jeffery there had I known I could get him. I really like Tannehill though too... but am a little worried about the lack of weaponry around him. He's got all the tools though himself. Should be solid.

Surprised Brazill and Hilton lasted as long as they did. I think Luck will struggle out the gate, but the #s should be there. Hopefully I have his WR2 and 3 between Collie/Avery/Brazill (assuming Wayne will be the 1 still)

Wascawy Wabbits wrote:1.01 Richardson
1.06 Floyd
3.03 Polk
3.04 Gray

Not really sure what to give this draft since I had no mid round picks. I'm really happy with it though.

good picks in the 3rd. And the guys you got in the first should be weekly contributers... not bad.

1.04 Doug Martin
2.08 Greg Childs
3.08 Ty Hilton

I was planning on a QB at 1.04, but not at all saddened to see Doug Martin fall instead.

Greg Childs and Ty Hilton as cheap WR's with potential late. Both have legitimate shots to start at WR2 for their teams this season.

I didn't have much to work with, but with the picks that I did have I am happy with who fell. If Martin is 3/4 of Ray Rice and the rest of this draft fails for me, I'll still feel it is a success.

2.01 Weeden, Brandon CLE QB (R)
2.02 Allen, Dwayne IND TE (R)
2.09 Jones, Marvin CIN WR (R)
3.09 Charles, Orson CIN TE (R)
3.10 Herron, Dan CIN RB (R)

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I was much happier how the end of the draft went vs. the first 3 picks. I was hoping to move up and get Pead and Randle at 15 and 17, but couldn't pull that off. I did get players that I think have great upside and can fill some backup roles early on which was important for me and hopefully one or 2 of these guys can become a star.

Weeden is interesting in this format. I don't really like him in a 12 team pure dynasty league, but if he ends up as an NFL stater, no matter how great he is, he's worth the contract in our format. He'll be 33 when his contract expires and his career will likely be over at that point and if he isn't done it means he was really good.

If he was a 29 year old veteran free agent that the Browns grabbed and planned to start it would cost a lot more for him.

I was debating between Allen and Childs at 2.02, I felt like I could get both players a little later but didn't have anyone that I could trade down with and still get both guys for sure so I decided to go with Allen and roll the dice with Childs, I had a bunch of WR's I had in the same tier and only one TE left in that tier so it made that decision easier. As it turned out Devil Dogs picked him at 2.08 but Marvin Jones is as good of a prospect anyway. I think Allen can be a redzone target right away and he may get more playing time than Fleener since he can block.

I like the last 2 picks, both players are talented but with off the field issue's that caused them to fall. I don't really care how the act in the community so if I'm going to take a gamble late it might as well be with guys that are talented.

1.05 Blackmon, Justin JAC WR
1.10 Hillman, Ronnie DEN RB
1.15 Pead, Isaiah STL RB
1.17Randle, Reuben NYG WR

Hard to screw up a draft when you have 5 first round picks. The only question mark was trading one of the picks for a first rounder next year. I would have taken RB Lamar Miller MIA with that pick (and coincidentally that was the player selected with the pick I traded). The only way this draft turns out bad for me is if Hillman & Pead suck and Miller is a STUD.

2.17 - Nick Foles, QB

Grade = Incomplete? How can you grade yourself when you traded away everything to try to win this year?

It was either Foles or Osweiler for me here. I chose Foles for no apparent reason other than I chose Osweiler in another league.

1.08 Coby Fleener, IND, TE

Hard to say good or bad for me - as i didn't get a pick till late in the 2nd round... but considering where my picks were - happy with this as upside:

WR, N Toon, NOS: Potential to fit in early on an offense that throws alot. Maybe get lucky and he has value this year
TE, L Green, SDC: From all the writeups - should be the heir-apparrant to Antonio Gates. Size has him like Jimmy Graham
QB, B Osweiler, DEN: Heir to Manning I hope - and that Manning has a short stint in Denver!

So, we will see how it plays out... but based on where i picked and what i had to choose from - feel i have some upside here - B-

1.13 Stephen Hill NYJ WR
2.03 Mohamed Sanu CIN WR

I couldn't be happier. Found a trade partner to move up and grab Hill and then Sanu (the player I was hoping would be there) at 2.03 fell to me. Take all that and add in the fact that for the first time in 3 years I ended the draft still owning a future 1st and I will give myself an A