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Scott Engel answers your questions about anything related to Fantasy Football.
This is the final preseason edition of the Mailbag. For lineup questions for Week One, please consult our Ask the Experts section in our forums. For late drafting, please visit our Draft Kit for Scott Engel's updated Player Rankings and Top 150. Beginning Tuesday, Scott Engel will begin regular season coverage in his daily Angles column. Beginning in Week Two, you can send your questions to Scott for the regular season Mailbag, which will appear on Thursdays. Marcelo Couthino: I'm in 12-team league. six points for passing TDs.
My team is: QB - Derek Anderson, Jeff Garcia
WR - Marques Colston, Dwayne Bowe, Nate Burleson, Deion Branch, Brandon Stokley, Eddie Royal
RB - LaDainian Tomlinson, Jamal Lewis, DeAngelo Williams, Felix Jones
TE - Heath Miller
K - Ryan Longwell
DEF/ST - Seahawks
Do you think I'll be OK, with Anderson and Garcia? Will the concussion affect Anderson?
Kurt Warner and Chad Pennington are available...
What about my WRs? Should I dump Stokley and Branch? Who should I pick up? Muhsin Muhammad? Chris Henry (Bengals)? Antwaan Randle El? Ben Obomanu?
Do you think Kevin Jones will start for the Bears? Will Chris Brown get any carries at Houston? My Angles
I think you are fine with Anderson. All indications are that he will be ready for the opener, and he has a very good offensive line and a great supporting cast. Garcia, however, may be heading into the true twilight of his career, so you have to pounce on Warner if he is still available. I really like your top three WRs, but I don't expect Stokley to be a factor this year. Who knows what we can expect from Branch. I do like Royal for depth, as he is more confident and ready to accept challenges than the average NFL rookie. I would cut Stokely and get Henry, who can post fine numbers when he returns and could conceivably start if Chad Johnson gets knocked out of action at any point. I don't expect much from Muhammad anymore, even if he starts. Your RBs are solid and you look good at the other positions. I would drop Branch if another attractive free agent catches your eye. Randle El is mediocre and Obomanu seems to be locked into the No. 3 WR slot with the Seahawks. Jordan Kent is my sleeper there among the untested Hawks pass-catchers. I think Jones has no shot initially, because the Bears are high on Matt Forte. Brown is notoriously brittle, and the guy who is climbing in value is Steve Slaton.  |
John Kelly (New York, NY): I just drafted another team in a 12-person league with standard scoring. We use two RB spots with a flex position. My strategy was to take the highest upside RB that was available to me and try to make that position as deep as possible. I had the fourth overall pick. So the options looked like this: Adrian Peterson (I know I couldn't believe he was actually there at pick four and I had to take him), LenDale White, Chris Johnson, Rashard Mendenhall, Ray Rice, Tim Hightower, and Brandon Jackson.
I know many of these guys won't be on my roster, or anyone else's for that matter, by season's end. I'm going with Chris Johnson; I know a lot of you guys showed him some love and I have to agree. I think White and Johnson will be one of the best time share situations in the NFL. White is a grinder where Johnson is a speedy passer-friendly target out of the backfield. Classic "Thunder and Lightning." Having Vince Young at the helm assures that the Titans will probably stick with a "run first, throw if we need to" strategy. What do you think about running with a Peterson / White / Johnson attack for the season? My Angles
With many questions at the RB position this year, it's understandable that you tried to go deep at the position. Congratulations on having Peterson drop to you. As for the Titans RBs, I agree with just about everything you say in terms of how they will be used. I would not use both of them regularly. Tennessee won't have much of an offensive attack overall, and you don't want to lean heavily on a team that can easily be held to low scoring outputs. White is a decent RB2 and will get you more TDs than Johnson, who will often be boom or bust. Mendenhall and Rice have apparent upside and can be better flex options in your case, because you can distribute your potential scoring output among other teams. Hightower adds nice depth. You probably won't use Jackson at all, so I can see you cutting him now. I would consider trading Johnson right now, while his value is quite high. "Thunder and Lightning" may work well for the Titans in 2008, but I don't see it working for fantasy purposes. If you can't see yourself trading Johnson, see if you can package White in a deal for an upgrade at the RB2 spot. Jed Lam: Just drafted in a 10-team league, standard scoring. I was seventh and decided to take Randy Moss. Then I lucked out and Clinton Portis fell to me on the way back. In round three, I could have had Larry Fitzgerald (and may regret not picking him), but instead landed your favorite breakout player, Laurence Maroney. I ended up with Steve Smith and Roddy White as my other top WRs, and also landed Selvin Young, Ricky Williams, and Kevin Smith at RB. I have Matt Hasselbeck and Jake Delhomme at QB. My Angles
With the collection of players you landed, I might have thought you played in a six-team league. I probably would have gone for Fitzgerald over Maroney, since he is more of an established standout. Yet, the acquisitions of Smith and White make your WR corps very top-heavy and impressive, so no worries there. You have overwhelming depth at RB and can certainly position yourself for a trade to upgrade your QB situation. I am sure you can draw interest by offering the pair of Young and Hasselbeck for a better QB to an owner that has RB needs. You can also consider dealing Maroney and another RB for a real top-flight RB, one who is even better than Maroney. Have some fun and float out some offers, because you can't start all of these guys every week. Jason Link: I pretty much landed all the skill position players I wanted in my auction draft...
David Garrard - $8 (keeper)
Brett Favre - $7
Brady Quinn - $1
Steven Jackson - $63
Laurence Maroney - $32
Darren McFadden - $22
Ronnie Brown - $8 (keeper)
Andre Johnson - $8 (keeper)
Plaxico Burress - $26
Devin Hester - $5
Darrell Jackson - $1
Chris Henry (Bengals) - $1
L.J. Smith - $6
Ben Utecht - $1 We use a RB/WR/TE flex position, so I can insert McFadden there. I originally wasn't going after him, but I wanted to bid him up on the other guys, but he fell to me at $22. It threw my draft plan off a bit at the time, but now I actually like it. He can be a good $27 keeper for next year. (we add $5 as a keeper fee.) My Angles
First, I like your QBs and believe you may use Favre more often than Garrard this season. Tabbing Quinn was a slick move. You may not be able to use Favre past this year, and you still want Brady for the long-term. In the meantime, you can start Garrard next year if needed. I certainly would not have kept Brown, but Maroney and McFadden are both breakout candidates, and it was good luck that dropped McFadden into your lap. You'll end up keeping McFadden, for sure, and a trio of Steven Jackson, McFadden, and Maroney can ensure that you will be a serious contender for the next few years. I don't really think you overpaid anywhere, except for L.J. Smith - you did what had to do to get Steven Jackson. I think you will end starting Utecht over Smith. Hester and Jackson give you some respectable depth behind your starting WRs, but I would like to see you acquire one more solid backup, in case Hester proves to be erratic and Jackson doesn't bounce back. Plus, you never know with Henry, as much as I like him. I would want one more "dependable" guy. William Lee: I completed a fantasy draft a few days ago and had the last pick in a 10-man league, giving me back-to-back picks. I have never taken a WR in the first round, but decided to take Reggie Wayne and Terrell Owens. Marion Barber III, Clinton Portis, and Frank Gore were all available, but I opted not to take any of them. I was having second thoughts afterwards, but I feel better having read your one-man mock draft in the Draft Kit. (I ended up with Earnest Graham, Michael Turner, and Laurence Maroney as my RBs, and Drew Brees as my QB).
I'm surprised that you have Tony Romo going in the fourth round. He went in the first round in my draft. Had Romo been available, I would have selected him over Brees. Just wondering why you have Brees ranked ahead of Romo? New Orleans' weaker schedule? The Saints being weaker in the run game compared to the Cowboys? My Angles
In retrospect, there is absolutely no way to argue with getting that pair of WR. I might have done the same thing. Sure, I would have strongly considered Barber, but you still ended up with pretty good RBs. You don't have that surefire outstanding RB1, but Maroney and Turner certainly have upside this year. The first round is simply too early for Romo. He's not quite on the level with Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, but rather, he's just a notch below. He's certainly a top-five guy at his position, but I am not going to take him over a superstar WR or a RB when they are flying off the board. Usually, you only have to start one QB, and that plays into it, too. Brady can produce unreal numbers again, and Manning has an amazing track record of high-level excellence that is just about unmatched. Brees has great weaponry and uses it well, so it's a virtual tie between him and Romo. Schedule has nothing to do with it, as too much of schedule analysis is based on last year. But yes, I do believe Brees may throw the ball more this season, and that's why I would take him before Tony, although I would never laugh at anyone who prefers Romo. Scott Engel has been covering the NFL and fantasy football since 1992. E-mail Scott at
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