Empty the Bench

By Andrew Thell and Joel Martin

On Tuesday, August 31, the dons of Empty the Bench joined friends and peers for the annual football nerd-out fest that is the ETB Fantasy Football League Draft. This year’s draft was one of the most challenging, stressful test of wills to date with 12 teams, 15 rounds of picks, and no kickers to thin the field out. Over the next few days we’ll reveal the results team by team, and take a quick look at how each one fared; compare and contrast with your league, and let us know your take in the comments section.

Disclaimer: many of our team names are lewd, childish, and downright stupid. We make no apologies for this.

Team:

Kindergynocoloog (Picked tenth overall)

The Picks

1. (10) Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers
2. (15) Shonn Greene, RB, New York Jets
3. (34) Pierre Thomas, RB, New Orleans Saints
4. (39) Steve Smith, WR, Carolina Panthers
5. (58) Malcom Floyd, WR, San Diego Chargers
6. (63) Matt Forte, RB, Chicago Bears
7. (82) Santana Moss, WR, Washington Redskins
8. (87) Chris Cooley, TE, Washington Redskins
9. (106) LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, New York Jets
10. (111) Jabar Gaffney, WR, Denver Broncos
11. (130) Vince Young, QB, Tennessee Titans
12. (135) Laurent Robinson, WR, St. Louis Rams
13. (154) Philadelphia, Team Defense
14. (159) Dustin Keller, TE, New York Jets
15. (178) Christopher Ivory, RB, New Orleans Saints

Best Value:

Matt Forte, RB, Chicago Bears: It was a rough year for Forte owners in 2009. The consensus first-round fantasy pick managed to play in every game, but a sprained knee and hamstring injuries still slowed the second-year rusher. Forte finished with fewer rushing yards, touchdowns, receptions, and receiving yards while sporting an uninspiring 3.6 yards-per-carry and only managed to score four TDs.

This year Forte is healthy again and ready to assume the Marshal Faulk role in Mike Martz’s offense. Forte has looked great in preseason action, including an 89-yard TD run that simply would not have happened on that balky knee last season, and #22 is poised to flirt with a top-ten season at the position. Injury concerns still loom though, so it’s unfortunate this team couldn’t lock-up Forte’s excellent backup Chester Taylor.

Biggest Reach:

Malcolm Floyd in round 5, Chris Cooley in round 8 and Jabar Gaffney in round 10 could all be called reaches. That isn’t to say I dislike any of these players, but all three could probably have been had a round or two later than where they went off the board. The 6’5″ Floyd has the chance to be a stud in San Diego with Vincent Jackson out for the year and Cooley, who is coming off a down year and got a major upgrade at QB, was the last viable TE on the board though. That leaves Gaffney. While it’s true Gaffney should break camp as Denver’s No. 1 wideout, that doesn’t necessarily mean much in this offense with Kyle Orton under center and more promising youngsters on the roster. Also, he’s Jabar Gaffney.

ETB’s Take:

It’s a solid team. Aaron Rodgers in the first round set the tone for the draft, and it could be a back-breaker if the upgraded offensive line can’t protect him this year. Vince young has upside, but he’s not a reliable backup for a team with title hopes. However, there’s also a good chance Rodgers throws 30-40 TDs and leads this squad to the postseason. The early rounds are loaded with bounce-back candidates and up-and-comers, though there are a lot of questions marks and the wheels appear to come off around the 10th round, leaving the bench barren. Being active on the wire will be key.

Extensive comments from Kindergynocoloog after the break…

Kindergynocoloog’s Take:

By Joel Martin

My draft definitely did not start according to plan. Ideally I was going Moss-Megatron. When Executive Fingerbang took Moss at 9, I switched to backup plan, which was to take Rogers (or Brees) and then plan for Megatron still. (That’s usually been possible in mocks). But then my backup plan went awry with the pick right before mine again, so I returned to my roots and grabbed Shonn Greene. He’s a guy who I was really keen on earlier in the month, and I picked him in the second round for my other league, but with the carries LT has been getting so far this preseason, I’ve been more nervous.

In the end I decided to stick with the basics though, namely that the Jets ran the ball *607* times last year, and even if LT gets 200 touches there’s still 300+ for Greene. So I feel pretty good about it, but now I know I have to be focused on WRs.

Round 3: My WR focus didn’t last long. I had Pierre Thomas as my RB10, and borderline Round 2. Clear goal-line and early down back for the best offense in the NFL at pick 34 isn’t much of a choice, as far as I’m concerned. Fuck Reggie Bush and good riddance Mike Bell.

Round 4: The only guy I was seriously considering instead of Thomas was Steve Smith. He’s a lock for 1100 yards and 8+ TDs, given the new QB and healthy O-line. They hooked up weeks 13-16 last year to the tune of 19 receptions for 378 yards and 3 TDs. Yes please.

Round 5: Seven more WRs and all the top-tier TEs (Finley, Gates, Davis, Witten, Clark) are gone now, so I had to think about this one. I was deciding between Celek and Floyd, and it basically came down to who I thought more likely to get snatched in the next four picks before it came back to me. In retrospect, I should have paid more mind to the run on TEs. I’m happy with Floyd though: 6’5″ and 220 pounds, and looks to have a good thing going with Rivers. Celek goes with the next pick so now I’m assuming I’ll get Zach Miller round 7.

Round 6: This was another pretty easy value pick for me. Despite the talk about Chester Taylor, Forte is the #1 in Chi-town and he’s got a whole lot of incentive to prove it. This dude was a top 5 pick last year. Top 5.

Round 7: Again my TE choice (Miller) goes a couple picks before me. Next priority was the WR corps, and Moss was the best value. Only other option was TO, and I don’t know what’s going on there so I’m just gonna stay away.

Round 8: Now I definitely needed to fill that TE spot, and Cooley seemed the best option. I don’t really want two starters on the Redskins, but at the time I was desperate and I don’t feel too good about the situation in Seattle (Carlson), so I went with the player, not the team.

Round 9: LT is one of the more appealing handcuffs in recent memory. I know I’ll be plagued with TDs on the bench, but it’s a good problem to have in this case. Against juicy defenses (Buffalo Week 4, Detroit Week 9) I’ll probably start both if I can make it work.

Round 10: Locked on to a #1 WR spot that last year produced 101 receptions for 1100 yards and 10 TDs, Gaffney is a solid WR3 with high upside. In this case he’s my 4th, so I’m in good shape in that department.

Round 11: This one was painful. Executive Fingerbang took Matt Ryan in Round 10, so I was assuming that I’d be able to get Big Ben no problem. Then Fingerbang took Ben, and I didn’t notice until I had 30 seconds left. I panicked and stabbed at some buttons and Young was the choice. I like him actually, given his scrambling ability (552 yards and 7 TDs his rookie year), but definitely not this early. My least favorite pick of my draft; looking at the draft list, though, I’m not sure who else I would have picked.

Round 12: Laurent Robinson is a big, fast receiver in the #1 spot with a shiny new #1 pick QB. Seems like a lot of upside for the 12th round.

Round 13: Philly D was #5 (fantasy-wise) last year, and has been top 5 most every year that I can remember. They’ve upgraded a lot this year (top 5 draft picks all on that side, including Brandon Graham at DE and Nate Allen at FS, Stewart Bradley back from a torn ACL at MLB, and the acquisition of
Ernie Sims at OLB), so this seems like a no-brainer in Round 13.

Round 14: Dustin Keller’s got good upside with a developing QB: 5 receptions and a TD on Sunday sold me.

Round 15: Ivory handcuff.

Overall I’m pretty happy with my team, with the exception of my RB depth. I wish I’d found another RB in rounds 10-15. Looking back I’m not sure who that would be though; maybe Leon Washington or Jerome Harrison.

Possibly Related Content:

1. Breaking Down ETB’s Fantasy Football Draft: Tequila Mockingbirds


2. Breaking Down ETB’s Fantasy Football Draft: Ol’ Fay


3. Breaking Down ETB’s Fantasy Football Draft: Butt Cheese


4. Breaking Down ETB’s Fantasy Football Draft: FIGHTERTOWN USA


5. Breaking Down ETB’s Fantasy Football Draft: Team Stanky