SportsBuff.com Drafts to Find Mr. Fantasy Football
Saturday, January 15th, 2011
Back before most people knew what an Internet was and where to find it, SportsBuff.com started sending fantasy football winners out to Las Vegas for a grand prize playoff draft and whatever else they could manage to do. (Sorry, that part stays there.)
Thursday night brought the latest installment at the Monte Carlo, with the top eight finishers in the salary-cap contest vying for the $30,000 lead prize and the title of 18th annual Mr. Fantasy Football.
Ron Schoenbach of Muskego, Wis., opened the playoff fantasy draft with likely everyone’s top pick: Patriots QB Tom Brady. Playoff drafting, of course, introduces the strategy piece of having to guess which teams will advance. Thus, it wasn’t a surprise when Tim Kawakami of Chino, Calif., and Steve Krenek of Lisle, Ill., made New England the most represented team in the first round.
Rafe Wysham of Hanford, Calif., showed his belief in the Bears by selecting RB Matt Forte second overall, followed by three of Forte’s teammates. Krenek, with two teams among the top eight, could afford to take a chance with his second squad (drafted by his wife) going heavy on Falcons.
Experienced fantasy player and teacher John Lowery, meanwhile, started with the two biggest fantasy factors from Atlanta: Roddy White and Michael Turner. Shawn Foster of Huntington Beach, Calif., and Jeff Stanley of Springfield, Mo., chose to open with quarterbacks, helping take four off the board in the first round (half of the eight available).
The full teams are below, with players listed as they were selected (round-pick). We’ll see who prevails …
| Schoenbach | Wysham | Kawakami | Lowery |
| 1-1 Tom Brady | 1-2 Matt Forte | 1-3 BenJarvus Green-Ellis | 1-4 Roddy White |
| 2-8 Greg Jennings | 2-7 Jay Cutler | 2-6 Rashard Mendenhall | 2-5 Michael Turner |
| 3-1 Deion Branch | 3-2 Johnny Knox | 3-3 Joe Flacco | 3-4 Danny Woodhead |
| 4-8 Ray Rice | 4-7 Greg Olsen | 4-6 Hines Ward | 4-5 Shayne Graham |
| 5-1 Pittsburgh D/ST | 5-2 Baltimore D/ST | 5-3 Heath Miller | 5-4 Todd Heap |
| 6-8 Billy Cundiff | 6-7 Anquan Boldin | 6-6 Shaun Suisham | 6-5 Earl Bennett |
| 7-1 LaDanian Tomlinson | 7-2 Derrick Mason | 7-3 Mike Williams | 7-4 Brandon Tate |
| 8-8 Santonio Holmes | 8-7 Willis McGahee | 8-6 Braylon Edwards | 8-5 Seattle D/ST |
| 9-1 Andrew Quarless | 9-2 Nick Folk | 9-3 NYJ D/ST | 9-4 Mark Sanchez |
| 10-8 Sammy Morris | 10-7 Chester Taylor | 10-6 Antwaan Randle EL | 10-5 Ben Obomanu |
| 11-1 Brandon Stokley | 11-2 Justin Forsett | 11-3 Justin Peelle | 11-4 Fred Taylor |
| 12-8 Tom Crabtree | 12-7 Le’Ron McClain | 12-6 Ovie Mughelli | 12-5 Donald Lee |
| Krenek | Foster | Stanley | Krenek 2 (drafted by proxy) |
| 1-5 Wes Welker | 1-6 Aaron Rodgers | 1-7 Ben Roethlisberger | 1-8 Matt Ryan |
| 2-4 Rob Gronkowski | 2-3 Mike Wallace | 2-2 New England D/ST | 2-1 Tony Gonzalez |
| 3-5 Chicago D/ST | 3-6 James Starks | 3-7 Aaron Hernandez | 3-8 Michael Jenkins |
| 4-4 Robbie Gould | 4-3 Green Bay D/ST | 4-2 Donald Driver | 4-1 Atlanta D/ST |
| 5-5 Devin Hester | 5-6 Jordy Nelson | 5-7 Mason Crosby | 5-8 Matt Bryant |
| 6-4 Brandon Jackson | 6-3 Emmanuel Sanders | 6-2 James Jones | 6-1 Jason Snelling |
| 7-5 Rashied Davis | 7-6 Mewelde Moore | 7-7 John Kuhn | 7-8 Harry Douglas |
| 8-4 Matt Hasslebeck | 8-3 Dustin Keller | 8-2 Issac Redman | 8-1 Brian Finneran |
| 9-5 Marshawn Lynch | 9-6 Olindo Mare | 9-7 Julian Edelman | 9-8 Shonn Greene |
| 10-4 Taylor Price | 10-3 John Carlson | 10-2 Jerricho Cotchery | 10-1 T.J. Houshmandzadeh |
| 11-5 Devin Aromashodu | 11-6 Alge Crumpler | 11-7 Leon Washington | 11-8 Antonio Brown |
| 12-4 Golden Tate | 12-3 Donte Stallworth | 12-2 Dmitri Nance | 12-1 Ed Dickson |
