Fanatsy Football: ESPN

Okay, we covered my Yahoo! teams so now, I get to boast about my five ESPN fantasy football teams. The thing I like most about playing  FF on multiple websites is the mystery of the draft. It changes drastically from place to place. ESPN ranks players differently and thus, you get a huge variety of how each draft goes. I mean, even from one draft to the next in Yahoo! can sometimes be different from one another, but when you jump to ESPN, then to CBS Sports (where my last three teams will be featured) then the vast differences in drafting really shows up. It's always exciting to see where some players are highly more thought of on Yahoo! than on on ESPN and CBS Sports. It's kind of like Madden Football, I always seem to enjoy the drafting process more than the games themselves. (Almost)

Anyhow, let's take a look at my ESPN teams. (And just so you know, I like ESPN leagues better than Yahoo! and CBS because ESPN offers the "flex" position. While in Yahoo! and CBS standard leagues you have to play 3 WR's, ESPN let's you decide if you want to play a 3rd WR, or a 3rd RB or a 2nd TE. This is done by ESPN offering the "flex" position option.) I like playing a 3rd RB.

PIKETON RED STREAKS

This was the first ever team I ever played. In my first year of playing, I played only two teams. Piketon was started in MSN leagues while on Yahoo! I later started a team called "Paris Hilton Rules" in a private league that a friend of mine started. ("Paris Hilton Rules" went 10-4 and won the league championship.) I have never played that team again. Meanwhile, Piketon (originally called Pike City Pokes their first three years) went 5-8 and did not qualify for the post season, but man what a season. Had I won our final game of the year, they would have made the playoffs. This led me to starting more teams for the next three years. Piketon has a career record of 48-44 and post season record of 3-2. They won their league championship in 2010 in ESPN league their first year. The previous season, 2009, they lost their league championship game in MSN leagues. The reason I transferred my team to ESPN was because MSN was having way too many "technical" difficulties. But this season looks good for Piketon. Matt Ryan dropped to me in the fourth round! I also got RB Doug Martin in the first round, drafting in the number five spot. Ryan and Martin are a couple of gifts from the FF gods. :D

New Mexico Scorpions

Originally, New Mexico was just called the "Scorpions". But I wanted to honor the great state of New Mexico again. I almost called them the Albuquerque Scorpions. I'm thinking to add Albuquerque to my teams list, but I'm not feeling like to add more teams yet. Anyhow, New Mexico sports a 50-26-2 record and a post season record of 2-4. They have played in two league championships, losing both times. This season is looking very well. Not only did I get RB Doug Martin in the 1st round, but TE Jimmy Graham  was a 3rd round gift from the FF gods. As was QB RG-III. (Robert Griffin III) Whom I got in the 7th round, and QB Tony Romo in the 8th! With 1000 yard WR's Hakeen Nicks and Eric Decker, this team is primed for a championship run in 2013.

TRIPLE X

This team's name was inspired by the movie "Triple X". I actually considered changing their name to Albuquerque Coyotes, but I decided to give them one final year to win a championship. They played in a championship game their first season but lost. Their regular season record is 46-32 and their post season record is 1-4. This season looks iffy. Oh sure we got the best TE in the NFL in Jimmy Graham and a great young RB in Martin, but the season falls on the shoulders of my 2nd year QB Andrew Luck. If the sophomore jinx doesn't get him, we might have a shot for post-season play. We also need RB Chris Johnson to take it up a notch and WR Victor Cruz should be effective. I rolled the dice on RB Mendenhall and WR Dobson. All in all, we should do well in competing this year. 

Kingston Kings

This was a tough draft this year with this team. Obviously, having lived a portion of my life in Kingston, Ohio, just outside a few miles from Chillicothe, I had to honor them with a team, right? So anyhow, like I was saying, this was a tough draft. For their history, Kingston has a record of 43-22 and a post season record of 1-4. Back in 2010, they lost their championship game. Anyhow, this year, the guys (and one girl) were locked into drafting RB's more than usual. I was picking from spot number 9 in the first round. (Out of ten teams) The choices at that position were slim by the 6th round and after already drafting TE Jimmy Graham, and with no viable RB to select at that point, I threw a monkey wrench in the machine by taking another 1000 yard pass catching TE in Jason Witten. Still, I think I did okay considering. If Bell or Pead can make a splash at RB I still lack that thrid RB I can count on. I was offered a few trades for Graham and one for Witten. None of them wanted to hand over one of their stud RB's. Instead, they have offered me nothing but bench players, thinking I would bite on the quantity of players instead of quality. No dice! This ain't my first rodeo cowboys. You want a starter then you have to give up a starter. Tit for tat, I say. I don't normally do a whole lot of trades. Maybe, out of 12 teams, I make a total of three trades. Last year I made just one. So it's do or die with bunch until someone  gets antsy and offers me what I want. Until then, if then, I still believe this team might have a shot for the post season. I give them a 60 percent chance. 

Roswell Aliens

This team could rule! What a draft! I have studs up and down this roster. I'm loaded at every position and .... best of all .... I have great depth! I almost took RB Demarco Murray in the third round but decided against it in favor of TE Jimmy Graham. Boy, did that move pay off. I didn't think Murray would last to the fourth, let alone the fifth round! After grabbing QB Ryan in the 4th, I snatched up Murray to have a great 1-2-3 punch at RB and FLEX position. Then to get Rookie RB Bell of Pittsburgh with the following pick? Amazing! Plus, I have 4 potential top 20 WR's in Nicks, Hilton, Maclin and Williams. Not to mention, WR Chris Givens of the Rams who is poised for a break out season. Every position has depth and I still locked up the PK and D/ST I was looking to get in Tucker and TBay. I would be shocked if this team didn't make the playoffs. So there you have it, my five ESPN FF teams for 2013.