The 2MugsFF Fantasy League Draft Recap

The 2nd Annual 2 Mugs Fantasy League Draft went down last Thursday night, and we enjoyed the presence of greatness, in the likes of @BryanFontaine, @FantasyTaz, @MarkStAmant,and @FantasyDouche to name a few. We even managed to convince the Boston Herald's @jeffphowe to join in on the Hijinks, and he did not disappoint. Here's how it all unfolded...

The only real surprise in round one is that three QBs went off the board. In most of my drafts prior, you were lucky to see two. Maybe it's the lack of faith some have in RBs? It's also possible some think the way to a championship is to grab a QB early. Again, not big shockers here.

Best value: I'm going to pat myself on the back here, ala Barry Horowitz, because I've been taking Darren McFadden as high as 4th in some drafts, so to have him fall in my lap at 6 was a gift.

Biggest reach: Drew Brees. If you want your guy, I guess you get him in round one or at the turn in RD 2. The fact that Rickety Crickets also passed on a legit workhorse back in RD2, makes this a bit of a head scratcher.

Round two featured RBs and WRs as expected, and no quarterbacks! Lots of safe picks here; a few reaches.

Best value: DeMarco Murray. 40 Oz. got a gift here, as Murray is a pretty safe RB1 with upside and diminishing threat of carry takeaways from Sloppy Felix Jones. I'd be giddy to get him at this point.

Biggest reach: Not to bash OL' Rickety here, but as much as I love Charles talent, he's in a legit timeshare, with Hillis arguably looking like the more explosive back this preseason. Hillis looks to get the goal line work this year, so Charles' value is diminished. Too high for my liking.

Round 3 shaped up with a few surprises. Folks seem to still be wary of the Cardinals passing game (with good reason), and it's killing Fitzgerald's ADP. The WRs begin to fly off the board, with a couple of surprises in store.

Best value: Nod goes to our guy, Forbes. Hakeem Nicks this late is a solid pickup, and most are passing on him due to his return from injury. All arrows point up for Nicks, and his ADP continues to be pretty tasty.

Biggest Reach: Sorry, Taz. The Jags aren't effing around with a guy currently under contract...and MJD is not underpaid by any stretch. Holdouts are conditioning killers, just ask Stephen Jackson and Chris Johnson. I still believe this is a timeshare deep into the season, and that's a best case scenario. *UPDATE* MJD is set to return (per Adam Schefter) and it changes nothing. Jennings is the better value in a timeshare.

Round four things start to get interesting. Some real values are had, and there were no major reaches in my book. This is the meat and taters, let's dig in.

Best Value: Mr. Fontaine grabbing the phenom Cameron Newton in round four is akin to grand larceny. He was a 2nd -3rd RD ADP for months. At 4.3? Absurd.

Biggest Reach: Sorry Mark, but Maclin before the likes of Stevie Johnson, Demaryius, Vjax, Wallace and Bowe, who all went a round later? Fool's gold.

Round five featured a run on WRs and RBs as expected, and only one tight end. No shockers, but clear value winners and reaches.

Best Value: Antonio Gates. Forbes gets the best wideout on the Chargers, and arguably the best TE value thus far. A lock to be Rivers' red zone binky, he's in line for a big year.

Biggest Reach: Benjarvus Green-Ellis. Rickety took the worst starting RB you could possibly take in a PPR format. I wouldn't be shocked if BJGE was supplanted by a backup RB by midseason.

A few surprises in round six, but generally that's where some teams begin to make some leaps of faith to grab players they think will emerge over bigger fantasy names.

Biggest Value: None.

Biggest Reach: David Wilson. I like Wilson just as much as the next guy, but the identity of the Giants is still via the pass, and Wilson will likely only be a change of pace back to Ahmad Bradshaw for most of the season. In Dynasty? Absolutely, just not in 2012.

Quarterbacks begin to show up in round seven, and some solid values emerge. No major reaches, but some folks made out decidedly better than others.

Best Value: Michael Vick. Casey scored his best pickup thus far with Vick in round seven. Injuries to his thumb and ribs in the preseason have scared off some owners, but every time Vick touches the ball, he's a threat to score fantasy points.

Biggest Reach: Titus Young. I love Young in dynasty leagues, but our buddy Buster reached here with Blackmon and Moore going later in the round, and presenting better fantasy value.

Round eight is all over the map, no rhyme, no reason. Everyone had their guy in mind, and at this point people are just looking to add depth and value.

Biggest Value: Tony Romo. Buster got a nice value in round 8, where Romo has finished much higher than his corresponding ADP over the last few seasons.  This year is no exception.

Biggest Reach: Anquan Boldin. A WR that has fallen off many a board goes in the eighth round. Not sure what Urban was thinking here.

Again, a cornucopia of selection in round nine and some decidedly interesting picks, making my reach selection that much more challenging.

Biggest Value: Sidney Rice. Forbes grabbed a potential gem here, who is a numbe one WR in Seattle, and finally has a playmaker at QB (Wilson), who can get him the ball deep.

Biggest Reach: Shonn Greene. Maybin picked the 2nd worst fantasy back possible (after BJGE) and will likely be dumping him by week four for someone on the waiver wire.

Backups and upside picks are the order of the day for round ten, and some decent values were had, as were some perplexing reaches.

Biggest Value: Ben Roethlisberger. Forbes knows that Todd Haley will open things up in this offense, and Roethliserger is someone being overlooked for some reason. A solid value in round ten.

Biggest Reach: Niners Defense. Oh, Maybin.

Round eleven got kinda weird...

Best Value: Philip Rivers. Fontaine got a steal in this round, picking up the former top five QB at a bargain basement. If he can cure his INT ills and connect with his new WRs ( Meachem and Royal), Rivers could vault back into top tier status.

Biggest Reach: Alfred Morris. Acme's strategy is to field as many Redskin RBs as possible. Good luck with that, man.

Round twelve featured equal weirdness, and a few bargains...

Best Value: Jared Cook. Acme bounces right back this round with the high ceiling TE in the athletic Mr. Cook. With Locker under center, the sky is the limit.

Biggest Reach: Ronnie Brown. I'd like to think Zhou was on auto pick for this one...at least I hope it was, right?

All upside at this point. Drafts have been made on the backs of under the radar picks like Victor Cruz and Cam Newton in recent memory, will they in round thirteen this year?

Best Value: I'm giving myself the nod here with Joe Flacco. Sure he's been ridiculously middling in recent years, but the no huddle offense has made Joe a dull boy no longer. The emergence of Torrey Smith gives Flacco a legit WR1 target.

Biggest reach: None.

We wrap up the draft in round fourteen (sorry, I'm not wasting time rating kickers and team defenses), and QB values were surprisingly plentiful.

Best Value: Matt Schaub. Rickety grabbed a really solid QB2 with some upside in Schaub, who's looked great in the preseason.

Biggest Reach: None.

Best of the Best- Favorite drafts? Well, you always love your own kids more than other people's kids, so I like how my draft turned out. What kind of dick would I be to give myself a nod, so I'll pass and remained humbled Iron Sheik style. To be perfectly honest, I didn't have a favorite team draft. Cop out? Not really. Fontaine, Taz, Zach and my buddy Forbes all had strong drafts, but none were particularly better than the next. What does that mean? It means this league will be competitive, and it's anyone's to win. Get your cold brew ready, this one will be fun. Cheers.