Final Fantasy Football Prologus: Enter the Light Warriors

Welcome one and all to the start of fantasy football season, as now that the preseason is starting to wind down, roster pictures are starting to clear up and it's becoming easier to draft knowing where players are more likely to end up. The cadre of writers, ex-writers and other members at Windy City Gridiron is no different. While Windy City Gridion's official leagues have been organizing and getting underway with drafts of their own, the WCG Writers' League kicked off its second season by having its own live snake draft on Wednesday night.

To meet the teams of this year's players, analysis of the first couple draft rounds and my own team and thoughts, let's hit the jump.

First, let me reintroduce the settings for the Writers' League - We play on Yahoo with decimal scoring, 0.5 PPR and 6-point passing touchdowns. Our roster size is one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one flex running back/wide receiver, one defense/special team, and one kicker - we also have six bench players and one injured reserve spot.

Next up, the teams, in the order in which we drafted:

And next, the draft.

Round 1, Pick 1: Aaron Rodgers - Hanie-mentum

Right away we get a bit of a kink, as with the system we play under, Ronk viewed one of the NFL's top quarterbacks highly enough with the extra two points per passing touchdown that he made Rodgers the number one pick.

Picks two, three and four aren't much of a surprise, as Ray Rice, Arian Foster and LeSean McCoy went two, three and four. Ryan Mathews went fifth overall, and Tom Brady sixth to Hess. I picked up Calvin Johnson, the top receiver., and left Maurice Jones-Drew to Doshi. I'll add more of my thoughts later. Chris Johnson went to Sam (which I was fine with; Johnson has burned me a couple times in a row...). Drew Brees went to Adam, Larry Fitzgerald went to Ashley and Darren McFadden rounded out the first round with Just Dave. McFadden at the end of the first caught me a little off guard, but he certainly has ability.

Cam Newton led off the second round followed by Matt Forte and Brandon Marshall (!), which, well, name the last time the Bears had two offensive players in the first two rounds. Jimmy Graham went next, followed by Adrian Peterson's balky ACL. After I picked Matthew Stafford, Rob Gronkowski went next to Brendan, which I thought was a little high for a tight end. Next up came a rookie running back (Trent Richardson), DeMarco Murray, Roddy White, then Jamaal Charles and Victor Cruz. The remainder of the draft went here.

As far as my own particular draft goes...

Pick 1 - Calvin Johnson - I take the first receiver off the board, as either no one wanted to take the first Lion or everyone else wanted a running back before the running back position gets stale. And the top wide receiver on the board is a pretty nice prize.

Pick 2 - Matthew Stafford - One year wonder, possibly. But 5,000 yards is a thing, no matter who is throwing it, and Stafford will have plenty of opportunities to throw it. Lions players eventually became a sort of running joke.

Pick 3 - Wes Welker - Nine receivers went in round three, with Marshawn Lynch (1st), Fred Jackson (8th) and Eli Manning (11th) the only exceptions. Out of what fell to me, I trusted Welker more than Demaryius Thomas, Steve Smith or Mike Wallace, particularly for a number two. And after just taking Stafford, I wasn't going to take Manning.

Pick 4 - Darren Sproles - Sproles isn't going to get the same receptions he did last year - 86 receptions goes a long way to padding a running back's score. Sproles might be more a tweener 1/2 as opposed to an RB1, but I don't mind this. For pure running backs, I could have taken Bradshaw instead.

Pick 5 - Percy Harvin - Another receiver, but Harvin's a legit 2 that I'm picking up as my 3, so I'm stocked with starters through my flex position.

Pick 6 - Fred Davis - Okay, so a tight end before my second running back isn't my usual (or ideal) play, but Davis is a pretty solid one here that should contribute well - and a tight end is a rookie quarterback's best friend.

Pick 7 - DeAngelo Williams - Williams is the low end of a 2 - maybe even a 3 - but at this stage, it's take what you can get and hope for the best.

Pick 8 - Reggie Wayne - So I come back with a fourth receiver. Wayne had Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky (I think my opinion on him is clear) and still almost put up a grand. With Luck, the number one overall pick, he could surpass that again.

Pick 9 - Andrew Luck - Speaking of! Luck is my backup and developmental prospect. If he comes out firing, he becomes nice trade bait if anyone suffers a quarterback difficulty. If Stafford falters, Luck should be serviceable enough to step in even at his floor. Andy Dalton might be a little safer (but didn't go until round 12), as would Carson Palmer or Joe Flacco, guys that went a round or two later, but Luck's upside makes him a sharper bench guy and more aggressive pick.

Pick 10 - LeGarrette Blount - This is what it's come down to at running back. David Wilson might have been a better pick, and Ronnie Hillman would have been a more developmental pick, but Blount gives "Production Now" that my RB corps sorely lacks.

Pick 11 - Tim Hightower - The Washington RB situation is a mess, but right now, Hightower is the healthiest of the bunch, and that's not saying much. Again, not much available, although I could have taken either Mark Ingram or Pierre Thomas as a Sproles handcuff/carries option. Neither made it back to me.

Pick 12 - Philadelphia D/ST - Yeah yeah yeah, I know, it's Philadelphia. The Bears' D was taken back in the 7th. Philadelphia picked up 50 sacks last year with some serviceable ball skills, so even if the PA points aren't there, sack and turnover points should buoy things.

Pick 13 - Michael Floyd - More a developmental pick than anything, but I can afford to take the chance here because of the receivers I've already taken.

Pick 14 - Daniel Thomas - A guy that should see some more carries this year behind Reggie Bush, he might be a serviceable enough touchdown play while Bush does the yeoman's work.

Pick 15 - Rob Bironas - Kicker is a kicker.

Roster Thoughts - I'm more than fine with my receiver depth and quarterback depth. My starting tight end is fine, though I might be pressed to find a bye-week backup. Running back depth is my worst concern in the worst possible way.

League News - At the time of this writing (Thursday Night), we've already had one trade proposed and accepted: Two of the Davids made a deal sending Jordy Nelson to David Taylor, while Dave Gilbert picks up Alshon Jeffery, Danny Amendola, and Cedric Benson, dropping Mikel LeShoure, Dan Cerpenter and Dallas Clark.

What are your comments on our draft? Which team do you like as the preseason favorite? Who's going to falter?