Second draft: Two down, two to go

League B is a 12-person redraft league with team defense/special teams and pretty standard scoring. I picked fourth in a live snake draft. We start 1 QB, 2 RBs, 1 WR, 2 Flex (one is RB/WR and the other is WR/TE), 1 TE, 1 D/ST and 1 K. It’s not PPR.

So here’s how my draft went in that league:

Round 1—Frank Gore
Round 2—Edgerrin James
Round 3—Torry Holt
Round 4—Marshawn Lynch
Round 5—Plaxico Burress
Round 6—Marion Barber
Round 7—Philip Rivers
Round 8—Chris Chambers
Round 9—Jerry Porter
Round 10—Ben Watson
Round 11—L.J. Smith
Round 12—Alex Smith
Round 13—Carolina Panthers D/ST
Round 14—Joe Nedney

How did I let myself end up with three 49ers? Though I think the team as a whole has excellent sleeper potential, I really don’t like to put too many eggs in one basket. Even if I did, they’d all be from Indianapolis, not San Francisco. Alex Smith is only my backup quarterback to start the season, but Gore and Nedney are my starters. I’m not ecstatic about Nedney, but I was the last one to take a kicker and there wasn’t much left to choose from. Hopefully he and the 49ers can do OK until his week-six bye, when I can drop him for another kicker, preferably one with a bye in week four or five.

I’ve also got some bye-week issues. Of my first six picks, two have byes in week 6, two in week 8 and two in week 9. Three of my wide receivers are on bye in week nine, so I’ve definitely got some moves to make before then. With the flex positions, though, I’ll probably be OK.

My team is very weak at wide receiver after Holt. Burress just isn’t consistent enough to suit me; Chambers has underachieved most of his career (the quarterback carousel at Miami hasn’t helped); and Porter basically sat out last season. Still, any (dare I say all) of those guys could really pan out this year. If not, I’ll be looking hard for this year’s version of Marques Colston or Bernard Berrian to pick up off the wire in the next few weeks.

Gore and James pack a strong one-two punch, but then my running-back situation gets a little scary. Lynch has been a huge disappointment in the preseason, with 22 carries for a measly 35 yards and no scores. I felt good about him on draft day, but two games and little production later, I’m worried. Barber had great numbers last year, but he’s second on the depth chart and doesn’t usually pick up a lot of yards. I need him to find the end zone often, and I’ll be praying to the football gods that Gore and James stay healthy.

I was very happy to get Rivers in the seventh round, as the stud quarterbacks were gone by round four. Alex Smith has huge sleeper potential this year, so grabbing him as my backup QB in round 12 was a big bonus.

With my tight ends, I’ll probably play match-ups for the most part. Smith is still recovering from a hernia, so Watson is my guy the first week or two.

Carolina’s defense worries me. The Panthers did not look great in the preseason, plus they’ve got a tough week one match-up against St. Louis. They should help me out much more in weeks 2-4, as their opponents are Houston, Atlanta and Tampa Bay.