Fantasy woo hoo

I'm having perhaps my best fantasy year ever. In the AUFL I have been a playoff nonentity for four straight years. This might be the end of that streak. I realized that the key to my suckiness was drafting bad quarterbacks. Even though I had Philip Rivers, who was the top fantasy QB last year, I drafted McNabb early. That paid off as McNabb scored 31 points on Rivers' bye week. Now the only potential issue is me starting the wrong guy. After my team gave up the most points in the league three out of four weeks in a 1-3 start, I led the league in scoring last week and beat Walt, the best team, 114-82. All week I looked for a guy to replace Cedric Benson in my starting lineup. I sighed, started him, and watched him tear up the Ravens and get 21 points. Andre Johnson, mostly dormant save his "bye week" against the Titans, scored two touchdowns. Ditto on Brandon Marshall, my second-round pick who's looking like an every-week start. My TE, kicker, and defense is nothing special. A gutsy move would be trading McNabb for a top TE and defense and letting Josh Johnson slide in as backup QB. Even with the great week I'm still 2-3. I could lose next week and be back in my usual non-playoff standing.

I needed a couple of years to hit my stride in Zealots 17. Now I can't do anything wrong. I'm 5-0 and the team averages almost 190 a game. I've scored 130 points more than the second place team. The Colts trio leads me in offense. Reggie Wayne, Peyton Manning, and Dallas Clark are 2nd, 1st, and 1st in scoring by position. I also have Matt Schaub, the 2nd-highest scoring quarterback. He'll be my bye-week guy. My running backs have been serviceable. My top DE, Jared Allen, has 20 more points than the second-highest scoring DE. My fifth-round rookie draft pick Louis Delmas is number three in CB/S scoring. In short, I'm rolling the league across the board. It's the lack of league smack talk that makes me feel like it's a bit of an empty accomplishment.

I did not expect to be a contender in Zealots 34. It's a very competitive league and I felt pretty uncompetitive in a few positions. My team is 4-1. Tony Romo has been good most weeks. I don't have a bye week QB, though. Ray Rice, my first round pick last year, has come through. Marion Barber's decent. I have put together a patchwork group of wideouts and they've kept me treading water at least. I probably should trade for a good one this offseason. I'm leaning primarily on two kick returners. My linebackers are fine although I could use a second defensive end worth a crap. I'm getting a little lucky but I think I can be a playoff team again. I don't think I'm a champion in this league.

And then we have the Zealot Masters league. Until this week I had been the lowest scoring 4-0 team. This week I'm the lowest scoring 4-1 team. There are only two 4-1 teams. I've hitched my wagon to the Tom Brady/Randy Moss tandem and so far that hasn't been great. The rosters are smaller so you can get decent free agents. My WR quartet of Hines Ward, Moss, Brandon Marshall and Nate Burleson have kept me afloat. I'm not paying as much attention to the league. It's not fun since I don't know the other owners. There could be smack talk going on but I'm not aware of it.