Each year since 2006, everyone who purchased the Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy for fantasy football was eligible to enter a contest to win $5,000. It was a way for Mike Krueger (FFToday) and I to say thanks for the support that year, and great to add some fun and excitement to see who comes away with the cash at the end of the year.
I’d like to do something similar for fantasy baseball as a thank you for supporting the cause in 2010. I have two problems that prevent me from doing it along exactly the same lines though. One, with a much smaller customer base the big money contest is not really an option. “Win $50!” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it?
Two, I can’t think of a contest idea that groups us all together in one big competition for baseball season. Hold that, I actually do have an idea to convert one of my football contests to baseball, but the program is not ready, I don’t have a stats feed, and, and, and… no time to put it together right now. That idea is on the shelve for now.
Here is what I want to do though—let’s run some fantasy baseball leagues at DraftBuddy.com.
Now, while I’m sure the competition and trash talking will be nice enough on its own, we aren’t going to just play for pride. I want to start sending some of you—the best of our best—on the road to the National Fantasy Baseball Championship.
First, since we don’t know the best of our best right now, we are going to have a random draw for an entry in a 2010 $125 NFBC Satellite League, with first prize being an entry in the 2011 NFBC Classic, otherwise known as the mother of all fantasy baseball championships. Entry into the 2010 NFBC Classic is $1,300 where the winner amongst 405 teams walks away with a $100,000 grand prize.
Second, we’re going to play one or more sub-satellite leagues amongst Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy customers. We’ll start forming the leagues this week and get drafting soon. The winner (if we have one league) or draw amongst the winners (if we have more than one league) wins an entry in a 2011 $125 NFBC Satellite League.
For obvious reasons, I’d like to replicate the NFBC Satellites as close as possible. They are 15 team, 5X5 mixed roto leagues. We might not get to 15 teams, but the nice thing about not playing head-to-head is we have some flexibility there. There will be no trading, the same as the NFBC.
I’m likely to run the leagues on Yahoo! given the cost and I do believe it is a pretty reliable and slick system. Plus live scoring is free this year as an added bonus. It probably won’t allow us to do all the things we need, like FAAB waivers, but if it lets me make add/drops as commissioner when I want then I could run the FAAB offline. ESPN’s league manager is also a possibility I’m looking at if the drafting options are more flexible (slow draft with pre-selects).
Okay, that is the offer. What I need YOU to do is tell me if you are in or out. We don’t want to wait too long to get this going. If you’re on the fence about buying the Compiler & Draft Buddy Baseball, then maybe this is a little more incentive to get in. Drop a comment here, or on the message board, or shoot me an email.
I hope to see all of you in the leagues! Rick and I will also be playing, so come school us on your fantasy baseball knowledge, if you’re up for the challenge!
Morning folks. It is Tuesday morning, and the start of the week for me instead of the normal Monday start for two reasons. One, I was sick as a dog yesterday, but I’m feeling better this morning thankfully as it seems like it was one of those 24-hour deals. Two, we had a holiday yesterday in Ontario, called Family Day.
Family Day is a made up holiday to celebrate family and to promote time together and family values. After already spending three full days together—the kids had Friday off from school as well—a fourth day of togetherness was more than enough. Hello Tuesday! Let’s get to some baseball chatter.
Or in this case, let’s kick things off specifically with some Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy Baseball chatter. I’ve already received some great feedback on the 2010 Compiler & Draft Buddy, which I’m going to share with you. In the case of that feedback requiring some action by myself, I’ll tell you what I’ve done to remedy it or what I plan to do.
 Trash talking sound effects play box found on the summary tab in Draft Buddy. - Exspell sent me a bunch of feedback, not the least of which was, “hey, there are no sound files for Draft Buddy.”
Whoops. Normally I package up the Compiler & Draft Buddy together into a zipped archive, including the sound files for Buddy. This year I decided just to upload unzipped versions so people can just copy the files anywhere on their computer and not have to deal with the confusion of running an install or unzipping the files, but I just plain forgot about the sound files.
As soon as I’m done this blog post I will upload the sound files by themselves in a zip to the Compiler download page. Download to your computer and unzip so a /sounds/ folder (which will include the sound files in it) is in the same folder as you saved Draft Buddy. From there, the sounds should play in Buddy.
Note the sounds still do not work on a Mac. Sorry Mac users.
- frankbama has an auction keeper league. He wants to input the keepers into Draft Buddy in advance, but doesn’t know the auction nomination order until draft night, so how does he handle that?
I believe the best way to handle this is going to be to show you guys how to quickly alter the nomination order in Draft Buddy. It will be a custom (i.e. manual) inputting of the nomination order, or draft order for non-auctions, but instead of using every single drop-down which would take forever, some copy-paste action will get it done in a matter of a couple minutes.
Lobby for the draft order or nomination order as soon as you arrive for your live draft, and you should have plenty of time to input the proper order without having to change the keepers already input in advance before people settle in for the draft.
 Top ranked players available based on average draft position info box from the summary tab in Draft Buddy. - Luis has an NL-only league, but noticed that Alex Rodriguez shows up in the “Top ADP Players Available” box on the summary tab in Draft Buddy.
And it isn’t only A-Rod, but as the draft goes on other American League players will show up there. Basically, the ADP does not distinguish between AL-only and NL-only leagues. I’m going to have to fiddle with formulas in each of the Compiler and Buddy so we get a AL-only or NL-only ADP list for those leagues.
If I get anything accomplished with regards to this for this season, then it will probably be on the simple side of things and just blank out the opposite league players, and won’t adjust the expected draft round of each player. Definitely something to work on for the future though.
- Cubbiesyear asked a simple enough question yesterday—where is the download link?
I am still working out the kinks of this new website design and subscription management software. However, not too many people have gotten lost yet so it seems to work pretty well, for the most part.
If you are logged in, then you can click on your username which is in what I call the member bar, located to the right of the logo and just below the navigation links. That will take you to your member page. This shows you your current subscription status (free or free + Compiler & Draft Buddy), plus links to change your password and profile, and a link to the download page for the Compiler, Draft Buddy and Projection Pal.
Eventually what I would like to do is have the website better recognize you are logged in (or not) and if you are and you’ve already purchased, then show the download link and not continue to show the order links.
- Last one. elephantman1237 asked if the Compiler & Draft Buddy will work on a Mac with Microsoft Office 2004.
Absolutely. Any Mac Office version prior to Mac Office 2008 is fine. It is the newest Office, Mac Office 2008, which we have issues with because Microsoft stripped out the Visual Basic support, so those dandy macros which are kind of crucial—Compile Cheatsheets, Update Projections, Setup Draft Buddy, etc., etc.—do not work.
I am currently in discussions with a developer to help fix this problem for future versions of the CC/DB, and I’ll give you progress updates as there are updates to give.
To everyone who has already purchased the 2010 Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy Baseball, thanks a bunch! Your support helps us keep doing what we’re doing, trying to help you win your fantasy league(s), something we are very passionate about.
I hope so. I wouldn’t say I’m ready, but I’m frantically getting ready under our new website here, DraftBuddy.com.
Its weird, I feel like we’re behind, when in fact we usually release the Baseball Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy in late, late February or early March.
Last year Rick and I agreed for him to get the projections done earlier, and for me to get the software done earlier, because it seemed like a lot of fantasy baseball sites were already going steady last year at this time. Now when I look around, it seems like a lot of fantasy baseball sites are already going steady.
Football season is now officially over though, so toss your helmet and grab your cap and glove. Spring is in the air (ignoring the sub-freezing temperatures outside my door for a minute). Here is where we stand on the baseball front as of today, two days after the Super Bowl:
All in all, that is not a bad start I think. Over the next two months however, we plan to get a whole lot better.
Rick will be consistently updating the projections and depth charts, which will also provide updates for the Cheatsheet Compiler. As usual I’ll tackle the Compiler & Draft Buddy tech support via email and our message board.
We are working towards a complete draft kit this year, complementing the projections plus Compiler & Draft Buddy with player rankings, average draft position data (already included in the CC/DB), mock draft results, sleepers, busts and other articles.
If you feel like you (a) know your fantasy baseball, (b) can write with nearly perfect spelling and grammar, and (c) can entertain us in the process, and want to contribute to the cause, then drop me an email with your idea.
Also, in terms of feedback and new feature suggestions for the Compiler, Draft Buddy or the website, I’d love to hear those as well.
How to contact me? A few ways. I have yet another email address for this website, mike@draftbuddy.com. The message board works too, but you’ll need to register an account (for free) if you don’t already have one.
You can also connect with us for updates via the new Compiler & Draft Buddy Facebook Fan Page, and Twitter @DraftBuddy.
Anyone who registers at the website will be included in our semi-regular newsletter, which you can specify by topic or topics you are interested in – fantasy baseball, fantasy football, fantasy hockey or sports pools from former home of the CC/DB and sister site MyOfficePool.ca.
Okay, enough talk and time for me to get back to work. Enjoy the baseball stuff we have right now, especially the Compiler & Draft Buddy, and expect more and more baseball content to fill up this website as we countdown to your fantasy baseball drafts. Are you ready?
I’ve got important website news to tell you. Effective today, all fantasy sports – fantasy baseball, fantasy football and fantasy hockey – is splitting off from MyOfficePool.ca and getting its own home on the Internet at the more appropriately named, DraftBuddy.com.
The reason for the move is because, well, it is time. Our flagship product is and always will be the Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy fantasy baseball and fantasy football draft tools. The football version is 10 years old if you can believe it. Where has the time gone?
I somewhat regret putting the CC/DB at MyOfficePool.ca a few years ago when I needed a home for them, but MOP was active and I didn’t relish the idea of maintaining two websites.
They truly deserve a site in their own name though. I wouldn’t still be doing this today if it wasn’t for the success of the Compiler and Draft Buddy. I’d be back doing accounting, likely, the thought of which sends a chill up my spine.
More importantly (I couldn’t help myself from taking a dig at accounting), since we’ve ramped up our fantasy sports coverage in the past year thanks in large part to the contributions of Dave, Rick, John, Iain, Craig and others, now is as good a time as any.
What does this mean? Simply, if you’re thinking the Compiler, Draft Buddy or fantasy sports information, head over to DraftBuddy.com. Note CheatsheetCompiler.com also works, but DraftBuddy.com got the nod given it is shorter and catchier.
If you’re thinking office pools like we’ve always had here, come to MyOfficePool.ca. If you want to play fantasy football, try Fantasy Throwdown. Maybe you’ve noticed the new images with links at the bottom of the page?
That is my (and by my, I mean ours to share) fantasy network. Yep, good thing I didn’t want to maintain two separate websites…
Updated Login, or “Why Doesn’t My Password Work Anymore?”
What else does this mean? Well, first off, your old login doesn’t work anymore. Sorry, but my hands were tied on that one. I installed some new member management software on DraftBuddy.com and one major benefit is that it tied together our forums and blog software so everyone could have a single username across each.
The downfall was that it couldn’t import your current passwords since they are encrypted (i.e. I can’t read them). Your existing username will work across both DraftBuddy.com and MyOfficePool.ca, but the password had to change.
To solve this, for now, try the get password box at DraftBuddy.com to retreive your password. Then you can login on that same page and update your password.
Failing that, email me with the password you’d like to reset your account to, and I’ll do that for you.
Send Your Feedback, Lend Us A Hand
What else does this mean? That is the bulk of it. Soon links to fantasy content at MyOfficePool.ca, including stat and player pages, should redirect to the same page at DraftBuddy.com. If you notice any flaws in this whole process with dead links or what have you, then please let me know.
We are continuing to try to expand our fantasy sports coverage for baseball, football and hockey. If you want to help contribute, then shoot me an email. If you have ideas to improve our fantasy sports content, Compiler, Draft Buddy or otherwise, then I want to hear about that too. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head but as with all of us, only so much time on my hands. Your help and/or voice will help prioritize and make some of these ideas reality.
Thanks for listening. The next big thing on the agenda of course is the baseball version of the Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy. Coming soon, to DraftBuddy.com!
The principal at my kids school uses that intro, “Howdy Sports Fans”, on every newsletter sent home from the school. I kind of like it. It is a unique salutation. We did recently move to a rather sporty city, so it does apply to the majority of the population feeding into the school. However, I think he overuses it. Every newsletter? Not necessary.
Now, as it turns out, I have a bunch of random things to say to update you about the website, and they cover a variety of sports, so I thought it would be a good intro here. I do promise to never use it again though. Once is enough.
Okay, lets get to it. Random items of interest. Unfortunately you need to read them all to decide what you find interesting, but I’ll tack on some headings and try to be brief.
New Hockey Content
One of our resident hockey experts, John, wrote an article with his three best bets to win their NHL game this weekend. The idea behind this is to support the new Hockey Survivor Pool (mentioned next). We posted it the article over at BleacherReport, so check it out and post a comment for John, which will bump our exposure at BR.
New Hockey Pool
Hockey Survivor Pool? What’s that? In case you missed the note last week, we have a new pool for regular season hockey, and it starts this week. It is basically the Football Survivor Pool, converted for the NHL. You just need to make a pick once a week (which is all my football mentality speed can handle). It will be a fun pool. Check it out. Deadline is Saturday at 7:00pm Eastern.
Fantasy Football
We’ve been pushing out a bunch of fantasy football content weekly since the start of the season, including stats, articles and projections by Dave and game recaps by Michael. Unfortunately, Dave wasn’t able to do his weekly Buy Low, Sell High this week due to time constraints. Just wanted to let you know in case you were looking for it.
Podcast
Tough week this week, as we don’t have a podcast either due to technical difficulties. Here are my office pool picks for the week I sent over to Tony, although not many difficult choices in what looks like a bit of a ho-hum week on the schedule: Ravens, Bills, Panthers, Steelers, Cowboys, Giants, Eagles, Vikings, 49ers, Cardinals, Patriots, Jaguars, Colts, Jets. I don’t think I have an upset in the bunch, although the Jaguars-Seahawks line is even.
Help Wanted
Following up that last point, we could use some more people on in-season football content… and hockey… and baseball (for next season). If you’re a good writer, both entertaining and insightful, able to meet strict deadlines and know your sport of choice inside and out, then lets talk. We are a grassroots operation here with plenty of opportunity for growth.
A friend of mine told me before he pictured me running a fantasy site akin to the way things happened in the movie Office Space. We aren’t there yet, but we continue to work towards that goal.
Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy
What is in store for everyone’s favourite fantasy football and fantasy baseball draft tool? It is really, really, early to say anything, but I will say I am very sick of the limitations of Excel and having become incompatible to so many Mac customers since the release of Mac Office 2008. I’m continuing to explore stand-alone cross-platform solutions for us.
I’m sure there will be those of you who would still want the Compiler and Buddy in Excel, to which I envision releasing separate Excel and non-Excel versions. However any Excel version would likely only be an update from prior years and not include any new features, with the idea being that eventually everyone would transition to the non-Excel version. Yes, even you old dogs. Those are my thoughts on that important subject. Now back to the lab.
Fantasy Throwdown
What is Fantasy Throwdown? Great concept I think you’re really going to like, but I can’t say anything else right now.
In a somewhat continuation of the projections versus rankings post from yesterday, now we’re back to the example that brought out the projections versus rankings discussion in the first place. The Maurice Jones-Drew, a.k.a. Pocket Hercules, or Adrian “All-Day” Peterson or someone else at #1 overall debate. I already let it slip earlier that I have Peterson in my #1 spot, and yes, even in a point per reception scoring league I’d have a tough time passing on Peterson if I had the entire NFL universe available to me. The reason essentially comes down to potential. When I think pure talent at the RB position, Peterson right now is in a class of his own.
Jones-Drew is a great player, but one who has never rushed the ball more than 200 times a year. Peterson almost did that in the latter half of 2008 (188 carries). Matt Forte looked impressive a year ago as a rookie, but really came across as a bit of stat compiler to me, as opposed to overwhelming me with natural talent. LaDainian Tomlinson is an incredible talent, but are his best years behind him? While a rebound is not out of the question by any stretch, the carries and years seem to be catching up to him.
There is risk with any player. No player is a lock to perform. Just ask anyone who “played it safe” drafting Tom Brady last year. I see risk with each of Jones-Drew, Forte, Tomlinson and right on down the list through the typical 1st round, but I’m not naive enough to think Peterson has no risk. Peterson hasn’t been a TD machine in his first 2 seasons, scoring 12 in 2007 and 10 in 2008. He’s young but the carries are adding up quickly. Beyond injury concerns, Peterson’s quarterback is perhaps the worst of the bunch here, and even if Brett Favre comes to town, will that be a positive or negative impact on the team with the inevitable media circus following him to Minnesota? Hard to say. So, they all have risk, but Peterson has in my mind, the least downside risk and the most upside risk of them all.
Peterson is the consensus #1 pick in fantasy football, and my pick for the top player this season. It is only a mock, but maybe, just maybe, I’ll get him at the #2 spot. This is point-per-reception scoring, and in the prior mock draft Jones-Drew went #1. And… and… Peterson went at 1.01. Well, Jones-Drew is a great consolation at the 1.02. The Cheatsheet Compiler does have him #1 afterall (wink), plus he’s got a better nickname.
The graphic is a preview of the 1st round of the mock draft, and ongoing pick commentary will be available soon.
 Mock Draft Round 1
The last mock draft I participated in and co-ordinated by FF Toolbox finished up in early June, and after a little downtime they kicked off another last week. I know I get repetitive about the, “never get an early draft pick” schtick, but I was randomly assigned the 9th pick in the earlier mock draft. In this one… 9th. Fortunately, it is a mock draft so I was able to swap entire draft picks with someone for a little variety, and moved all the way up to the 2nd overall spot, a sweet spot to be sure.
I was all set to jump right into my full mock draft pick-by-pick commentary. (My picks, not all the picks. Let’s not get too crazy.) This rare fortune of drafting right at the top of the draft though gives me an opportunity to discuss two things. The first is the difference between player projections and player rankings. The second is, the annual big debate, just who is the #1 pick/RB in fantasy football this year? Plus as an added bonus get some insight about how I utilize the Cheatsheet Compiler and Draft Buddy.
Projections vs. Rankings
Drafting 2nd, I’m all set to take whoever is left between my top 2 RB, Adrian Peterson and Maurice Jones-Drew.
The Cheatsheet Compiler kicks out Jones-Drew as the top choice based on this scoring, with Peterson actually falling to 4th behind Matt Forte and LaDainian Tomlinson, due mostly to the reception points. FF Today’s Mike Krueger has Peterson projected for 19 receptions, while Forte is projected for 67 receptions, and LT, 50. That is a 31 to 48 point swing, and the beauty of the Cheatsheet Compiler is it customizes your cheatsheets based on the projections and scoring so you can see just how much players move based on differences in the rules from league to league.
I’m sure you’re asking the question though, why are Peterson and Jones-Drew my top 2 picks, when the Compiler created cheatsheets showing, in order, Jones-Drew, Forte, Tomlinson and Peterson? That is the difference between projections versus rankings. The Compiler has Jones-Drew projected 1st and Forte projected 2nd. I have Peterson ranked 1st and Jones-Drew ranked 2nd.
Projections can only account for so much on their own. The projections are created under a single, most probable (as the prognosticator sees it) set of circumstances playing out for the upcoming regular season. Many players are less predictable than others, whether they be rookies, sophmores, players on new teams, playing under new coaches or with a different QB, coming back from serious injury, etc., etc.
The variable is risk. There is upside risk and downside risk. Either way, the greater the risk, the less certain we are about the projections, the greater potential for error, plus or minus, and the more we may want to rank a player differently than his pure projection tells us to.
I truly believe Mike Krueger is an expert fantasy football prognosticator. I’m not trying to stroke his ego, but I can honestly say his numbers have worked wonders for me year after year, keeping me grounded from grabbing overhyped duds, and highlighting potential sleepers. I don’t do my own projections, or add other projections to the Compiler, and I don’t edit Mike K.’s projections, instead using them straight out of the box.
However, that doesn’t mean I don’t adjust the rankings more to my liking, which is something people should understand to truly get the most value from using the Compiler and Draft Buddy tools. They are what I call, “thinking person’s” tools, not, “hold your hand” tools. One way you should interpret that is, if you feel strongly about ranking a certain player above another, even if the Compiler is telling you differently, then do what you think is right. It may work, or it may not, but you’ll get a lot more satisfaction playing the game this way.
Heck, Mike Krueger differentiates projections versus rankings himself, meaning he adjusts his very own projections that he has spent countless hours on to a more refined rankings cheatsheet. For years we’ve posted separate projections and rankings on FF Today. Clearly, the rankings are developed from the projections, but there are additional subjective risk and upside adjustments bridging the two datasets.
Keep in mind the projections are opinions. Good, experienced and well thought out opinions, but still, opinions that are going to have a margin of error. Often fantasy footballers can get bent out of shape with rankings lamenting, “how can Player ABC possibly be ranked ahead of Player XYZ?” Hey, check the numbers. If there is just a 16 fantasy point difference between them, that is less than a point a game. Big difference? No, not really. And something that could possibly happen? Absolutely. This is fantasy football we’re talking about, where seemingly almost anything is possible.
So keep the terminology in check when you’re chatting fantasy football with someone. You may have a player projected at a certain level, but at what point are you comfortable ranking that player? I let Mike K. and Tony on the IDP side, plus the Compiler, do the heavy lifting crunching the numbers to produce cheatsheets based on the projections, and then setup Draft Buddy to re-rank some key players I’m more or less interested in than the projections show. It’s a good system, and one I highly recommend.
In my next post I’ll discuss #1 pick in fantasy football this year.
It is true. The Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy for 2009 fantasy football season is done, ready to roll, available for download, and just sitting there waiting for you to take it for a spin. The pages are not updated here at the MyOfficePool.ca site (yet), but it is live at FF Today.com.
This is now the 9th year I’ve worked with Mike Krueger to distribute the Compiler through FF Today, although I think the Compiler, or earlier version before it had its name, is 10 or 11 years old from when I just created it for my own use. Its hard to remember back that far, so we’ll celebrate the official 10th anniversary next year.
So for those of you happening along here for the first time, what the heck am I talking about? Big picture, the Compiler creates customized cheatsheets for your fantasy league, based on your league scoring, number of teams and starting lineup. Draft Buddy tracks your draft for you to help keep you organized and make the best draft day decisions.
These files are packed with features. In short it works for pick style and auction draft leagues, includes defensive players, depth charts, average draft position data, a cool player comparison tool, supports keeper and dynasty leagues and allows you to manage multiple leagues. It includes projections from the aforementioned Mike Krueger from FF Today. Excellent projections I might add. We update the projections for you right through to the start of the season, which you can update in the Compiler at the click of a button. Oh, and we’ll even give you a free entry in a $5,000 survivor pool.
Similar to last season, the Compiler & Buddy are available as a package for $12.95 right now under our Early Bird Special offer. Later in the summer the price increases to $16.95. Since we update everything for you all pre-season anyway, why not purchase now even if you aren’t quite ready to get geared up for football? Not that I understand that perspective mind you.
If you have any questions about the Compiler & Draft Buddy then by all means drop me an email. I’d love to chat since I am now 100% in football mode. If you are ready to buy the Compiler then just head over to FF Today, and once your purchase is processed in real-time, then you can download immediately. Okay, that is my spiel. Enjoy!
Ah yes, the mock draft continues. It is a slow go due to some long stretches of down time, but we are close to finishing off Round 11 of 16. This was called the “May” mock draft with plans by FF Toolbox to do one each month until the start of the season. We might as well roll off this one and right into the next or the August one is going to start in November.
Before I get to my last few picks in the mock though, it is time for a quick update on the Compiler & Draft Buddy, for football of course. The planned release date was and still is, June 8th – next Monday! To that end, I’m locked in my office/basement/cave, cut off from the rest of the world until this thing is ready for public consumption. We’re pretty close!
There aren’t a lot of different new things this year, but a couple pretty big things, should you choose to use them. The first is in the Compiler. Remember the custom fields on each position tab where you can input whatever you want, via Projection Pal or manually? Those are much more robust and flexible this year. For one, you can apply the data input in them, assuming it is numbers, to the projected fantasy points. Say you want to include return yards to your league scoring? No, we still don’t project return yards, but you can input return yards for any player you want in the custom fields, add that field to your scoring, hit Compile and your cheatsheets will reflect return yards. Cool!
The second thing is just a straight custom ranking. Say you want to bypass the projected fantasy points used to rank players on the cheatsheets. Instead, you import rankings from somewhere else, or input your own, choose to sort the cheatsheets by the custom fields, hit Compiler and voila, cheatsheets ranked just the way you want. As if this thing wasn’t customized enough before, now it is truly just limited by your imagination.
As for Draft Buddy, there is some functionality to do direct import of rankings from FF Today instead of copying the cheatsheets over from the Compiler. We’ll have to see how this works out, but it opens the door that someday, we may be able to use Draft Buddy on its own without the Compiler. I mean, of course a lot of you would still want to use the Compiler to get completely customizable cheatsheets, but others prefer to skip the detail of the projections and go right to rankings which they can adjust. For now, you’ll still need the Compiler to pull over the settings specific to your league. To kick this off though, we’re debuting options to import re-draft, dynasty and rookie-only rankings. Dynasty league players should be very keen on this new feature.
Okay, on to the mock draft since last time. Check the draft report or view the image below.
 FF Toolbox May Mock Draft, Rounds 6-11 7.09 QB Matt Schaub – I held out hope Donovan McNabb would fall to me, but with an unexpected twist Fantasy Sharks grabbed him to backup their starter Drew Brees. While Schaub does rank a notch below McNabb and others, I will grab him here because I saw a lot of improvement from him, and the entire Texans team last year which has me very optimistic about Schaub this season.
8.04 RB Julius Jones – While there are a number of backup/3rd down/relief RBs that could pan out well if they get enough rushes and recepts in their limited role, lets play the probabilities and go with a current starter. Didn’t it take brother Thomas 6 seasons before breaking out and becoming a force in the league? Er… or was it 5 seasons for Thomas and I used that same line last year re: Julius…?
Cedric Benson was a consideration at the 8.04 pick, but looking back I don’t think he was really as impressive last season as people perceive. It was more like, “hey, Cedric is actually doing something” so he got some props in the fantasy community. Fred Taylor and Jamal Lewis were also available amongst starting RBs. Donald Brown is likely the biggest risk-reward of the backup RBs, and LenDale was still there for the taking too.
9.09 WR Domenick Hixon, NYG – Anyone still believe in the 3rd year WR theory? Didn’t think so, but it may work here. As Hixon has been asked to do more in his short career, he’s done pretty well. We have him as WR1 on the Giants as of today. If that sticks through training camp, this could be a bargain. Nice potential breakout candidate.
10.04 RB Chester Taylor, MIN – Talented player, playing behind a stud. Not a flashy or upside pick, barring injury to said stud, but steady reasonable backup and bye week filler.
11.09 QB David Garrard – Not entirely sure who is going to catch the ball with any consistency, but hey, the Jags’ receivers have never been good and he still churns out decent points, especially for a late drafted backup. Run, Garrard. Run!
I left off last time discussing my first mock draft of the year as it neared the middle of the second round. My team started off by selecting WR Larry Fitzgerald at 1.09 and RB Marion Barber at 2.04. One thing I forgot to include in the last post was the link to the draft hosted at MyFantasyLeague.com, so you can follow along.
After plugging away through the weekend we are now in the middle of the sixth round, so there is a fair bit to update. Click the link above or review the following images for the draft results, and then I will comment on the thinking behind each of my picks.
 FF Toolbox May Mock Draft, Rounds 2-6 3.09 RB Ronnie Brown – I was debating Reggie Bush vs. Ronnie Brown for this pick before ThunderingBlurb snatched up Bush, making my decision for me. This is Brown’s second year back from a knee injury that cut short a phenomenal first half of the 2007 season. With Ricky now 32, Brown should see more workload shifted his way. Brown is no slouch catching the ball either, recording over 30 receptions in each of his 4 seasons.
4.04 TE Antonio Gates – This is a little earlier than I would like to take Gates, but I’m not enamored with the available WR at this spot either since T.J. Houshmandzadeh just left the building. In terms of picking Gates over Tony Gonzalez, I prefer Gates based on youth and having a better QB. Even though Gonzo was a better option last year with marginal QBs, I believe Gates’ off year was mostly due to recovering from that toe injury that I would hope is now behind him.
5.09 WR Chad Ochocinco – I was hoping Aaron Rodgers would fall to this pick but he went back at the 5.04. While that still left Kurt Warner and Tony Romo as options at QB, I’m already invested in the Cards and Cowboys, have more confidence in Rodgers going into this season and prefer to pass on QB now to get my second WR, where pickings are getting a little slim. Based on the preliminary projections from Mike Krueger at FF Today, Antonio Bryant is ranked higher than Ochocinco (never going to get used to typing that name), but I feel Bryant should slip a little further and Ocho provides good value here given the talent/situation/potential if he can play nice with his coaches and teammates. Admittedly, a big “if”…
6.04 WR Antonio Bryant – Ah, here he is. Warner just got nabbed and Romo is still available, but given the risk with Ochocinco, it is a good idea to go back to the well at WR right away. Plus to get FF Today’s 12th ranked WR in the 6th round is a good deal. Bryant is a bit of a headcase himself, having worn out his welcome a few times in his career. He produced great in the second half of last season though. Playing the percentages, there is a good chance at least one of Ocho and Bryant will outperform their draft position. The other consideration here was upside RB Jonathan Stewart who ended up going a pick later.
Looking ahead, top priorities are clearly a starting QB, a primary backup RB and then depth plus a defense and kicker in the final rounds. Tony Romo did get picked at 6.07 which is fine. I’m not convinced it will be addition by subtraction for Romo having exchanged Terrell Owens for Roy Williams. I’m looking at Donovan McNabb as the last Tier 2 QB on my rankings, so we’ll see if he makes it back.
Now how does this happen? FantasySharks selected pick 6.12 at 3:00pm Eastern, 5.5 hours ago, and has not made their pick at 7.01 immediately after. Talk about not paying attention to what is going on. I guess this is why we mock draft so early. Not only to see where players fall, but to get our collective heads on straight.
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