We go quiet, we die...

So listen, I understand that we're all busy people. We're lawyers and CEOs, brothers and husbands, hiring officials and brewmasters, [amateur] home improvement specialists and fathers. We're lots of things, and the three "F"s - faith, family, and finances - have to come first. This hobby, fantasy football, fits in somewhere, but running distant fourth at best. I get that, I don't try to diminish that or make the CKL into something more than it is -- an escape from the grind of real life and a way for a group of friends to stay in touch.

That being said, as we each grow up in our own separate ways, from the 20s into the 30s and onward into the 40s and 50s, the CKL has evolved along with us. This is the 12th season we've been playing fantasy football together, and from where I'm sitting, there's no end in sight.

However, I do have a concern.

With less free time for fantasy football, we've seen a decrease in message board activity over the last several seasons. This in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. But looking at Wahoo League Baseball (the CKL's baseball-playing cousin), I'm seeing a league die from lack of conversation.

That's not the fate of the CKL. But it's also not hard to connect the dots from where we are right now, to the 14 of us backing off a little bit more season by season, to the point where we go quiet as a league. And if we go quiet, we die.

One of the clearly-stated CKL league pillars is ACTIVITY. To quote:

As a CKL coach, you are expected to be an active, vocal member of the league. This is measured by certain key baselines: attending the draft, managing your team and roster, posting on the league message boards and smack boards, voting in league polls, promptly responding to trade offers, commenting on your league brothers' blog posts, and generally making a point of staying involved. If your activity level ever drops to unsatisfactory levels, you will receive a warning. If you ever commit an egregious act of inactivity (failing to bench a player during his bye week, not attending the draft in any capacity, etc.), you are subject to removal from the league without warning. This is a serious fantasy football league, and we expect all of our coaches to be serious about maintaining competitive integrity through constant, unwavering activity.


Why am I bringing this up?

Well, first and foremost, I want everyone to know that I'm planning on making good on the threats when it comes to fielding a complete team. Starting a player on bye or a player who is injured and widely known to be missing the game has been met with leniency the last two years. No longer. Moving forward, unless you can explain the move ahead of time ("I'm starting this kicker on a bye week because he's the best kicker in the league and I don't want to drop him or anyone else on my roster to pick up a new one."), you will be run from the league for failing the minimum baseline requirements of participation. I am now a ZERO tolerance Commissioner when it comes to this.

Secondly, I want to simply remind everyone of what the commitment to being a CKL coach means. It means being active and participating in the overall league narrative via message board and smack board activity. It means replying to trade offers in a timely fashion -- no trade offer should reach the point of expiration, ever. And it means checking the CKL site regularly, as in, daily or as close to daily as humanly possible.

Finally, in the context of all of this, I want to present an idea:

Weekly Message Board Masters.

The concept is simple. There are 14 of us, and 13 weeks of the regular season. Count the entire postseason as the 14th "week," and we can divvy up the weeks of the season among the 14 of us.

So we have a draft for weeks. Then, when it's your week, you are responsible for starting ONE thread on the message board. It doesn't have to be about football, it can be anything you want to talk about.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't/can't start threads when it's not your week, it just means that each week we'll have a featured thread, started by that week's message board master.

We should also each make a concerted effort to participate in that thread, understanding that people go on vacation and get busy at work or home and may not find a ton of time for it.


So what do you think, guys? Weekly Message Board Masters... is it a go?

2013 Random Schedule Drawing & Team-by-Team Assets

Hey guys!

Below is the random schedule drawing for the 2013 season (thanks to random.org).  No need to drag feet, here are the results...

 

Week 1, "Hot Chicks Week" -- Mark/Alan, Norris/Nathan, Patrick/Kirk, Paul/Kendall, Rookie/Joe, Russ/Derrick, Ben/Chad

Week 2, "8-Day Week" -- Alan/Nathan, Mark/Kirk, Norris/Kendall, Patrick/Joe, Paul/Derrick, Rookie/Chad, Russ/Ben

Week 3, "Ricky Week" -- Kirk/Alan, Nathan/Kendall, Mark/Joe, Norris/Derrick, Patrick/Chad, Paul/Ben, Rookie/Russ

Week 4, "Douche Week" -- Joe/Alan, Kendall/Derrick, Kirk/Chad, Nathan/Ben, Mark/Russ, Norris/Rookie, Patrick/Paul

Week 5, "Zeppelin Week" -- Patrick/Alan, Paul/Norris, Rookie/Mark, Russ/Nathan, Ben/Kirk, Chad/Kendall, Derrick/Joe

Week 6, "Free-for-All Week" -- Alan/Russ, Ben/Rookie, Chad/Paul, Derrick/Patrick, Joe/Norris, Kendall/Mark, Kirk/Nathan

Week 7, "Showdown Week" -- Alan/Derrick, Joe/Chad, Kendall/Ben, Kirk/Russ, Nathan/Rookie, Mark/Paul, Norris/Patrick

Week 8, "Weak Week" -- Alan/Ben, Chad/Russ, Derrick/Rookie, Joe/Paul, Kendall/Patrick, Kirk/Norris, Nathan/Mark

Week 9, "HATE Week" -- Chad/Alan, Derrick/Ben, Joe/Russ, Kendall/Rookie, Kirk/Paul, Nathan/Patrick, Mark/Norris

Week 10, "Quilt of Turds Week" -- Alan/Kendall, Kirk/Joe, Nathan/Derrick, Mark/Chad, Norris/Ben, Patrick/Russ, Paul/Rookie

Week 11, "Friendship Week" -- Rookie/Alan, Russ/Paul, Ben/Patrick, Chad/Norris, Derrick/Mark, Joe/Nathan, Kendall/Kirk

Week 12, "Bikini Biscuit Week" -- Alan/Norris, Patrick/Mark, Paul/Nathan, Rookie/Kirk, Russ/Kendall, Ben/Joe, Chad/Derrick

Week 13, "Quarter-Father Week" -- Alan/Paul, Rookie/Patrick, Russ/Norris, Ben/Mark, Chad/Nathan, Derrick/Kirk, Joe/Kendall

I hope you guys are happy with your schedules.  It's a perfectly balanced round-robin.  There is nowhere to hide.

Now for the team-by-team assets, which you can see below.  But first...

The CKL preseason trading window is now OPEN!

Remember a few things as you dive in:

• When you agree to a deal, I need e-mail confirmation from BOTH parties.  Once I have that, I'll send out the official announcement to the league.
• 18 assets.  That's the magic number.  Gotta stay at that number.
• Used to be, you had to fill every roster requirement in the CKL Draft.  No longer.  There are certain roster limits (10 max at any one single position), but there are no minimums.  Don't want to draft a kicker?  Screw it, now you no longer have to.  Just be sure you field one for your first game, else it's curtains on your CKL career.  (That's right, gonna be a lot more hard-ass about that stuff this season.)
• If you trade your redshirt player, know that your 14th round pick is still lost.  You cashed that in when you kept the redshirt player.  You can trade him, but your 14th round pick is gone.
• If you're hazy or unsure about ANYTHING, don't just make an assumption, take the time to ask me.  I will be unbelievably responsive.
• The 2012 CKL Draft is National Harbor.  We're getting close to RSVP time, so be thinking about how you'll make it work.  At the very least, you MUST be available to be online from 11:00 to around 5:00 for the draft.  These things run long.  Failure to attend the draft in any capacity leads to automatic expulsion from the league, so make the time.  Thanks.

Okay, below are the team-by-team assets!  (The formatting for draft pick numbering follows this pattern: 3.13, meaning 3rd round, 13th pick.)

Rookie -- Nth Degree

RB Darren McFadden

RB Lamar Miller

WR Roddy White

Pick 1.1 (#1 overall)

2.14

3.1

4.14

5.1

6.14

7.1

8.14

9.1

10.14

11.1

12.14

13.1

14.14

15.1 -- redshirt round!

 

Derrick -- Kick Azz Giants

QB Colin Kaepernick

RB David Wilson

TE Rob Gronkowski

Pick 1.2 (#2 overall)

2.13

3.2

4.13

5.2

6.13

7.2

8.13

9.2

10.13

11.2

12.13

13.2

14.13

15.2 -- redshirt round!

 

Joe -- Roo Tang Clan

QB Cam Newton

WR Percy Harvin

TE Jimmy Graham

Pick 1.3 (#3 overall)

2.12

3.3

4.12

5.3

6.12

7.3

8.12

9.3

10.12

11.3

12.12

13.3

14.12

15.3 -- redshirt round!

 

Patrick -- Glitterfist Lasersnakes

QB Peyton Manning

RB Darren Sproles

TE Jason Witten

Pick 1.4 (#4 overall)

2.11

3.4

4.11

5.4

6.11

7.4

8.11

9.4

10.11

11.4

12.11

13.4

14.11

15.4 -- redshirt round!

 

Alan -- Juris United

RB Maurice Jones-Drew

WR Demaryius Thomas

WR Dwayne Bowe

Pick 1.5 (#5 overall)

2.10

3.5

4.10

5.5

6.10

7.5

8.10

9.5

10.10

11.5

12.10

13.5

14.10

15.5 -- redshirt round!

 

Kirk -- Achilles Heels

QB Aaron Rodgers

RB Adrian Peterson

WR Mike Wallace

Pick 1.6 (#6 overall)

2.9

3.6

4.9

5.6

6.9

7.6

8.9

9.6

10.9

11.6

12.9

13.6

14.9

15.6 -- redshirt round!

 

Russ -- The Magic Stick

RB LeSean McCoy

RB Trent Richardson

WR Larry Fitzgerald

Pick 1.7 (#7 overall)

2.8

3.7

4.8

5.7

6.8

7.7

8.8

9.7

10.8

11.7

12.8

13.7

14.8

15.7 -- redshirt round!

 

Mark -- The Champeens

QB Matthew Stafford

RB Matt Forte

WR Cecil Shorts

Pick 1.8 (#8 overall)

2.7

3.8

4.7

5.8

6.7

7.8

8.7

9.8

10.7

11.8

12.7

13.8

14.7

15.8 -- redshirt round!

 

Paul -- Barclay Street Bruisers

QB Russell Wilson

RB Ray Rice

WR Randall Cobb

Pick 1.9 (#9 overall)

2.6

3.9

4.6

5.9

6.6

7.9

8.6

9.9

10.6

11.9

12.6

13.9

14.6

15.9 -- redshirt round!

 

Chad -- Double-O Daddy

QB Matt Ryan

RB Jamaal Charles

WR Antonio Brown

WR Chris Givens (redshirt)

Pick 1.10 (#10 overall)

2.5

3.10

4.5

5.10

6.5

7.10

8.5

9.10

10.5

11.10

12.5

13.10

14.5 -- pick forfeited due to kept redshirt.

15.10 -- redshirt round!

 

Kendall -- Pink Nightmare

RB Arian Foster

RB Alfred Morris

WR A.J. Green

Pick 1.11 (#11 overall)

2.4

3.11

4.4

5.11

6.4

7.11

8.4

9.11

10.4

11.11

12.4

13.11

14.4

15.11 -- redshirt round!

 

Nathan -- THUNDER BEAR

QB Robert Griffin III

RB Doug Martin

WR Brandon Marshall

Pick 1.12 (#12 overall)

2.3

3.12

4.3

5.12

6.3

7.12

8.3

9.12

10.3

11.12

12.3

13.12

14.3

15.12 -- redshirt round!

 

Ben -- Jesus the Moose

QB Drew Brees

RB Marshawn Lynch

WR Calvin Johnson

Pick 1.13 (#13 overall)

2.2

3.13

4.2

5.13

6.2

7.13

8.2

9.13

10.2

11.13

12.2

13.13

14.2

15.13 -- redshirt round!

 

Norris -- Blackpool Penguins
QB Tom Brady

RB C.J. Spiller

WR Julio Jones

Pick 1.14 (#14 overall)

2.1

3.14

4.1

5.14

6.1

7.14

8.1

9.14

10.1

11.14

12.1

13.14

14.1

15.14 -- redshirt round!

Bungles

There are lots of bad times to be a Bengals fan.  During the playoffs.  Whenever franchise rankings are unveiled.  Whenever the Steelers win.  But the worst time, the absolute worst time, is during the first few days of free agency.

The Enquirer's Paul Daugherty had a depressing take on the Bengals [lack of] activity so far this free agency season.


The Broncos signed Wes Welker. The 49ers traded for A. Boldin, The Men are OK w/M. Sanu. This is the difference between teams that go for it, and teams that talk about it.

Maybe M. Sanu is the next J. Rice. Maybe not. Welker and Boldin are known commodities. You can say the Stillers and Ravens have taken major hits in the last week; you’re right. They have playoff wins. They have Bowl rings. They have GMs. Their GMs are very smart. They get some rope. To the Bengals credit, it used to be that solid FAs didnt want to come here. Now, Detroit signs R. Bush.

It’s as if the Bengals have a restrictor plate on their ambitions. That is very frustrating.

Welker to Broncos

Wow

As a Broncos fan, I'm stunned. Wes Welker agreed to a two-year, $12 million dollar deal with the Denver Broncos yesterday, in a move that directly takes a weapon from AFC rivals New England. Despite leading the NFL in receiving during his years as a Patriot, something about Welker's personality always seemed like a poor fit for the "New England Way". Case in point: getting benched for his hilarious press conference after it came out that Rex Ryan is a foot fetishist.

I love the move. Denver is clearly going balls out to get a Lombardi or two during Peyton Manning's sunset years. So pumped right now, you guys.

On the flip side, Brady is pissed. But the Patriots acted quickly to ink free agent wide receiver Danny Amendola to a five-year deal. In many ways, Amendola is Welker lite. Its hard to imagine Danny fully filling Welker's role in the offense, but there isn't really any reason to expect New England's offense to slow down since Brady is still behind center.

Fantasy Impact

For the Broncos, Manning is up, while everyone else is down a bit. Especially Stokely, who might not be re-signed. Welker won't get the looks or the production he did in New England, while Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker should expect to see at least a small slice of their numbers shed to Wes. The tight ends, Tamme and Dressen, could see significant reductions. Denver running backs (Steven Jackson, anyone?) should find it easier to run, especially with guard Louis Vasquez signed from San Diego, although the team might get even more pass-centric with all these weapons. I see it as a bit of a wash for the rushing attack.

This has to be seen as a loss for Brady, but probably not a huge one. Welker's production will get split over the tight ends and Amendola. Vereen and Ridley should see more touches, as well.

That's John! He's our President...

Ok, so most of you are probably wondering “WTF is going on in Baltimore?” Win the SuperBowls and then commence fire sale? Doesn’t make sense, huh? Well to understand, you first need to read this piece by Mike Silver on a near mutiny after the Ravens got crushed by the Texans back in October.

For those of you that don’t like to read, here’s a brief recap: Coach Harbaugh wanted to practice in full-pads after the Houston game, but the team balked. Things got a bit ugly, but the coach handled it well and didn’t let his ego get in the way. He let the team practice without pads. Then when the team came out flat in the next practice, Ed Reed steps up and gets coach’s back.

Yada yada yada...Ray Lewis announces his retirement and the Ravens win the fucking Super Bowl!!!

Here in Baltimore, our hangovers were barely wearing off as free agency approached. Now I’ve been banging the “IN OZ WE TRUST” drum for as long as I’ve been a fan, but things got weird, and fast (in vivo reactions in italics):

Anquan Boldin traded to the 49ers for a 6th round pick:
Alright I get it, we were going to cut him for cap space, so at least we got something in return. Q was a playoff MVP, but one of the reasons he made all those clutch catches in traffic is the fact that he can’t get open anymore. Dude is Matt Weiters slow. The coaching staff loves Tandon Doss. I love Deonte Thompson on the practice squad. Maybe local-kid-done-good Tavon Austin drops to us in the 1st. We’ll be okay.

Then the hits kept coming:

Kruger to the Browns for $41mil: 
No problem. We all knew somebody was gonna overpay for this guy. The Browns are a bad team with tons of cap space and that’s what bad teams with cap space do - they over pay for free agent winners like Kruger. Plus, we’ve got Courtney Upshaw in the wings. Kruger’s a 2 down player that is weak against the run. We’ll be fine, and Ray Rice will enjoy running to the right against the Browns next year.

Dannellerbe to the Dolphins for a bunch of coin: 
Wait what? I thought we cut Boldin so we could sign him? Fuck, well the fins totally overpaid for him, so what can you do? Ozzie has a plan and he sticks to it - you gotta respect that. He doesn’t overpay for players, especially ones who play marginal positions like ILB.

Chris Canty signs with Ravens: 
Alright, cool. Nice, smart, savvy signing by the best front office in the business. Nice to have a Hoo in the house.

Ravens tender offers to Art Jones, Dennis Pitta, and Ed Dickson. 
Cool.

Bernard Pollard cut: WHAT THE POPE-LOVING FUCK?!?!?!?

At this point, I think back to the Mike Silver article, and it all begins to make sense. John Harbaugh has serious capital, and he’s not wasting any time to cash it in. There will never be a mutiny in his Baltimore again. Bernard Pollard is a good player that “Plays Like A Raven” but he’s a bit of a hothead and a loudmouth that annoyed the shit out of Harbaugh. Boldin was never afraid of speaking his mind either. We all know what kind of presence Ray Lewis was. And Ed Reed? The guy who stood up for the coach after the near-mutiny? Well I assume he’s gone, too. Bernard Pollard was his perfect compliment, and if they cut Bone Crusher for a mere million bucks in cap space, I can’t see them bringing the ball hawk back for much more than that. The Ravens are going young on defense, and leaning heavy on their newly-rich franchise QB, Air Flacco. They’re trying to get with this New NFL that is all about the O-Face and not so much the D-Fence.

Of all the losses, Ed Reed will be the toughest. He was the heart and soul of these team, and I daresay this town. Here is a great piece on how he was the true leader of that locker room, a larger presence than even #52 [WARNING: Longread, you illiterate jerks].

So what does this all mean for fantasy football? Well, the Ravens are retooling on defense. They’re going younger, faster, and inevitably, dumber. Next season, I’m starting anybody that’s playing the Ravens D until they prove that they won’t be giving up 25+ points every week. Remember, we weren't that great on defense BEFORE we lost all these guys. As for the offense, well the pressure’s on, and I think that guys like Rice, Pitta, Torrey Smith, and even Flacco should be great weekly options.

IN OZ WE TRUST? It’s still early. We’re only 2 days into the off-season theatrics. As I've been saying on Twitter, Championship teams aren't born in March; Dan Snyder teams are. We still have to see who we sign between now and August, and obviously the NFL Draft looms large. The Ravens have something like 12 picks, and they’re clearly looking for that cheap labor force. This really smarts of an ego-trip by Coach Harbaugh, making these Ravens something like the Patriots of Belichick, eliminating the strong locker room voices in favor of a group of subservient peons who don’t question his author-it-ay. Only time will tell if it’s the right call. What is certain is that Baltimore will never give up on this team.

See you guys in August, when the O's are in first place, and the Ravens are preparing for a repeat!

Jared Cook to Rams: Meh

So St. Louis fought off Cleveland and Miami to secure the services of tight end [who fancies himself a wide receiver] Jared Cook.

Cook finished up last season as fantasy's 20th-best tight end in terms of scoring, averaging around 5 points per game.  Very mediocre, especially when you consider the competition at tight end was fairly weak last season, with only Jimmy Graham, Gronk, Tony Gonzalez, and Heath Miller (!) cracking the 8-points-per-game plateau.

Jared Cook is a very talented dude.  He's big, he's fast, he should be an explosive weapon as a member of the new wave of hyper-athletic tight ends.  However, I don't think the guy is much of a football player, just in general.  Part of the problem is that he hasn't embraced his position.  He wants to be a jumbo wideout, not a complete tight end.  Maybe he stays healthy and the light flickers on for him, now that he's reunited with Jeff Fisher.  But that Rams offense is not the kind of situation where this sort of piece can click into place and then the player can just take off.  I like Chris Givens a lot, and I still think Sam Bradford can find his groove as an above-average NFL passer, but - especially if the Rams let Danny Amendola slip away - there just are not a lot of weapons to open things up for Jared Cook in this offense.

I predict the weight of expectations coupled with his frailty and uncanny ability to fade away from the box score leads Cook to be a bit of a disappointment in St. Louis.  He'll get some early pre-draft buzz in fantasy, as a talented player in a new situation, but I expect we'll see more of the same -- top-15, top-20, top-25 tight end production, ~5 or 6 points per game, and a guy you can't really use as anything more than a TE2.


One thing I do like about Cook arriving in St. Louis is that it figures to loosen up the box a little bit for whomever ends up getting the carries out of the backfield for what is certain to be a run-first offense.  Daryl Richardson might have staked his claim to some carries, but the guy I'm watching is Isaiah Pead.  If he can get through training camp and earn a role in this offense, I think he's a sexy little sleeper for your fantasy draft.  But then again, the Rams might bring in a free agent power runner (but Richardson and Pead are smaller, speedy guys) or work the draft for more RB talent.  In any case, there will be some surprise value at RB off of this Rams roster, so keep your eyes on the situation.

My money's on Pead.

Mike Wallace to Miami -- Winners & Losers

In case you live in a cave, a chasm, or Cleveland, you already heard that Mike Wallace signed with the Miami Dolphins this afternoon.  Here's my take on the winners and losers of the deal, strictly from a fantasy football perspective:

WINNERS

• Antonio Brown.  If he wasn't already, Brown is now certainly the apple of Big Ben's eye.  Brown might be a legit WR1 in fantasy football in 2013.
• Ryan Tannehill.  He's got a legit #1, go-to target in the passing game now.  I actually like Tanny as a sleeper in 2013.
• Dolphins running backs.  Be it Daniel Thomas or Lamar Miller or whomever ends up toting the rock for the Fins will have a lot more room to run now, with a bonafide deep threat scorching the sidelines.  Dolphinitely.
• Brian Hartline.  He wasn't a #1, but was forced into the role in 2012.  While he had some explosively big games en route to a solid 1000-yard season, he only scored one touchdown, and was too inconsistent from week to week to be relied upon in fantasy.  With Wallace in town, Hartline might see a dip in production to around 800 yards, but I bet his TD total climbs to around the 6-7-8 area.  Overall, that's a boon to Hartline's value.
• Greg Jennings.  He's now the top wide receiver available in free agency.

LOSERS

• Mike Wallace.  Sorry bruh, but the Dolphins offense is not as good as the Steelers offense, and Tannehill - as talented as he is - is no Ben Roethlisberger.  Wallace's numbers might climb with more targets in Miami, but I think his ceiling for production is significantly lower.  Strong WR2, at best.
• Ben Roethlisberger.  Call me a hater, but I think Antonio Brown is a fairly uninspiring go-to wideout.  Ben is running low on gamebreaking targets.  You can't keep hemorrhaging guys like Santonio Holmes and now Mike Wallace without seeing a dip in production at some point.  I see Ben as a QB2 now.  I never would have drafted him s my starter, anyway.  But now?  Nobody should.
• Davone Bess.  I like Bess as a slot receiver in real-life football, but in fantasy he's just not productive enough to matter.  With Wallace around, Bess will see his targets drop from ~100 to ~60 (or less).  A 40% drop in targets means a 40% drop in production, which means a near-worthless player becomes completely worthless.
• The Steelers.  It delights me to no end to watch this team erode.
• The Dolphins.  I think they overpaid for this player.  Five years for $65 mil, with $30 mil guaranteed.  That's $13 mil a season for a guy that many (including the Steelers organization) see as too one-dimensional and too much of a bad seed to command that kind of money.  That's a lot of cap space tied up in one player.  To me, their thee-year move from Brandon Marshall to Mike Wallace is a net loss.  I don't think it poisons the team or anything like that, but I do think it imposes a cap on their potential as an offense.