Fantasy files: First swipe at keeper strategery

It's 15 days until my local keeper draft and I do not have a strategy. I'm trying to offload Eli Manning and Vincent Jackson for mid-level draft picks to stock up. So far I have heard nothing from my leaguemates.

My roster: If nothing changes, I will start with Peyton Manning, Frank Gore, and Miles Austin. That's two injury risks and a guy who once dated Kim Kardashian. I draft in the 10 hole due to my semifinal appearance last year. Our starting lineups are QB, 2RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, D/K and a flex. The flex was WR/TE, making a WR/WR selection with my 1/2 picks interesting. We're voting on changing the WR/TE flex to RB/WR/TE. If that's the case and we can start up to three running backs, our league reverts back to going running back heavy. This does change the strategy. Note that this is a PPR league. If I have the 10th pick and say seven of the nine picks behind me are running back, I could panic and take the eighth best RB or I could go with the third best WR. I could counter the entire league by taking two WRs in these slots, locking up that position.

The eighth best RB or the 20th RB total scored 189 points last year. The third best WR or the 15th WR total scored 217 points. Yeah, the PPR format really changes things up. Even with the keepers taking the top 12 (or so) players off for QB, RB, and WR, maybe going with Matt Waldman's upside-down draft strategy would work. I'd get, say, Brandon Marshall and Mike Williams with my first two picks. By the time my third-round pick comes up, 29 running backs are off the board. Half the teams in the league have three RBs and I have one. I'd have to decide between guys like Joseph Addai, Marshawn Lynch, and Mikel Leshoure. I just Lepuked on my keyboard.

I went with Addai and Leshoure with my 3/4 turn picks. It's going to be very tough for me to pass on a RB with that first pick. Maybe it's the shiny object that the position represents. I don't believe in my ability to mine two pieces of gold out of the three RB roster slots I have left when I have dregs from which to select. Now if I can trade for those extra mid-round picks, I'd be able to hold onto an extra player or two until the season starts and depth charts start to shake out.