What a draft! That was fun. I really think the new roster
configuration made for some interesting draft strategies and I cannot wait to
break them down in the JFL previews.
But first, before we get to that, we must deal with this.
TEDDY BRIDGEWATERGATE
With only T-Money and Fear committing violations, I was
hesitant to enforce the punishments because it really didn’t mess up the draft
too much. It was a minor nuisance, but the fact is, it affected the draft.
After fixing the second Bridgewater mistake, I didn’t get to prep for my pick
and it led to me nearly missing a pick as the clock ran down. People at the live draft can attest to this.
Nevertheless, I decided to throw it out there that we let is
slide. I'm a forgiving kind of guy.
But the polls suggest we do otherwise, and after hearing the
people of the JFL speak, I agree with them. Six, including myself are for a
drop to the back of the rounds in the draft, while four are for the enforcement
of the written rules, loss of keeper and first-round pick. Three have not or abstained from voting and Craig voted
to let it slide. At this point, not matter what the other three missing voters
vote, neither option would reach three-quarters vote.
No matter what, that’s at least 10 of 16 who are in favor of
some form of punishment.
I have the power to just pardon Fear and T-Money, but I thought about it
all day and I’m reminded that they’re not the only ones who didn’t prepare for this draft and
it affected me.
I spent hours preparing draft sheets and previews to get the
draft going. I spend a lot of time getting this ready to make it as easy as
possible. I literally can’t do any more than what I do, which is provide you
with a list of eight players, categorized by position, where they will be drafted and who is taking them. Hell, it even has photos.
And T-Money and Fear, though the only violators Sunday, were
not alone in not preparing. A few people arrived at the live draft without the list and asking for
it. The led to time I lost prepping my player queue. Then, another person asked for it on Skype,
so I had to take time to get it, cut and paste it into the chat. Again, more
time I missed out on prepping.
And then, as I’m running the draft and preparing to make my
pick, I get a phone call from another member who was not prepared and asking if the
player they wanted to pick is on the keeper list.
Singularly, any one of these, I'm not to upset about. But as a collective whole, it upsets me.
Singularly, any one of these, I'm not to upset about. But as a collective whole, it upsets me.
That’s why, I’m going to enforce a hybrid of what the 10
voted for. T-Money and Fear will not lose their keeper, but no matter who they
keep, they will be automatically designated as a first-round keeper. They also, no matter how
well or poorly they perform this year, will move to the back of the rounds, 1
through 15 (ordered by finish, as in worst record first, JFL tiebreakers will
apply). Ironically, as the Super Bowl champ and runner-up combo this past year, they'll be exactly where they were in this draft no matter what.
This will then be the official punishment moving forward. I'll add it to the rulebook later.
I’m doing this because I’m hoping that not only they, but
the rest of the League learn this lesson. Take the five minutes it takes to
print, write down and/or look over the list. Have it next to you during the draft. That way when
you’re about to draft a WR, you quickly look at that piece of paper I provide,
go right to WRs and see if he is there. There’s plenty of time to do this.
TOUGH MONDAY
Three teams got bad news on Monday, and interestingly
enough, two of them were Fear and T-Money.
Fred Jackson, the second RB taken by T-Money, was cut by the
Bills; Robert Griffin III, the second QB taken by Fear, lost the starting gig
to Kirk Cousins; and Julius Thomas, drafted by Team Boyer, will miss 4 to 5
weeks after finger surgery.
With a 11 days left until the season starts with
Patriots-Steelers on Thursday Night Football, the rest of the JFL will hope
that they don’t run into any post-draft surprises.
QBs UP FOR GRABS
Kirk Cousins and Tyrod Taylor each earned starting gigs
Monday, and they join Ryan Fitzpatrick on the waiver wire as the most eligible
QBs.
With 32 teams and 32 starters, and 16 teams in the JFL, that
means there are three teams out there in need of a starting backup.
We’ll have to see if Tuesday’s waivers brings about a flurry
of moves.
PRESEASON POLLS
We do this every year and it’s a lot of fun. It makes for a
great way to gear up for the season.
Please send in your picks on the order in which every
division will finish (excluding your own). Please submit it by Friday, but ASAP
would be best and help me produce the previews on time. All you have to do is look at each team in each division outside
of yours, and then rank them based on the players you see on their teams. At most, this should take 5 to 10 minutes.
Here’s the preview
schedule:
Saturday, Sept. 4: NFC East Preview
Sunday, Sept. 5: NFC West Preview
Monday, Sept. 6: AFC Middle East Preview
Tuesday, Sept. 7: AFC East Preview
Wednesday, Sept. 8: JFL Preview
Thursday, Sept. 9: Jargon’s awful attempt to predict NFL
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