Beginning of the draft

Before the draft, I made a conditional trade. The owner of Team 5 is a huge Jets fan. I offered him this deal: If Favre was still available at my pick, pick 12 of the first round, I'd give him that pick and my 5th round pick for his 2nd and 4th round picks. He took the offer.

Here's how the first round went:
1. Tom Brady, QB NE
2. Payton Manning, QB Ind
3. Drew Brees, QB NO
4. Ladanian Tomlinson, RB SD
5.
So, he could have taken Steven Jackson or Brian Westbrook or Carson Palmer.
5. Bret Favre, QB NYJ
So, my great trade was trashed.
6. Carson Palmer, QB Cin
7. Ben Roethlisberger, QB Pit
8. Donovan McNabb, QB Phi
9. Eli Manning, QB NYG
10. Brian Westbrook, RB Phi
11. Steven Jackson, RB StL
12.
I thought I really needed to take a QB since I already had Adrian Peterson and Marion Barber as keepers, costing me my 2nd and 3rd round picks. I wanted to take Joseph Addai, RB Ind who was clearly the best player on the board. Among QBs, I was considering Matt Hasselbeck, QB Sea and Mark Bulger, QB StL. I went with
12. Matt Hasselbeck, QB Sea
I'm not really sure that that was the right thing to do, less so after Bulger looked really good in a preseason game last night while Hasselbeck won't play with back issues. Anyway.

I could have drafted Addai and planned to play three RBs most weeks instead of two QBs. I just wasn't ready to make that choice.

Here's my whole draft:
1. Matt Hasselbeck, QB Sea
2. Adrian Peterson, RB Min (keeper)
3. Marion Barber, RB Dal (keeper, second time)
4. Jamarcus Russell, QB Oak
The last Oakland QB I took was Aaron Brooks and that was a complete disaster. I wasn't really excited about Russell, either. I was focused on getting better QB depth and I felt I could get a good #3 RB when the draft came all the way around to me again. The next few QBs off the board were Vince Yound, Tavaris Jackson, and Chad Pennington. I think I'd again choose Russell over those guys.
5. Kevin Smith, RB Det
One reason for this pick is that I enjoyed following UCF (the University of Central Florida), where Smith was a 2000 yard RB last year. I picked him over Jonathan Stewart of Carolina because Smith is likely to be the clear #1 while Stewart will share time with DeAngelo Williams. Of course, both Stewart and Williams ran for 100 yards last night, but I'm still pretty sure this was a good pick.
6. J.T. O'Sullivan, QB SF
If I'd known I could get him and Russell like this, I might have taken Addai. However, I think Team 11 only passed on O'Sullivan because he thought I wouldn't take another QB this early. He ended up getting Troy Smith in the 10th round, which was a pretty good pick for him. I'm psyched about this pick. Having 4 starting QBs leaves me with some confidence that I'll feel good about playing some two of them each week. I'm curious which two that will end up being though.
7. Marvin Harrison, WR Ind
Obviously he only fell this far because of last year's injuries. I've heard a lot of good reports on his health this preseason, so I'm reasonably happy to have him as my #1 WR. Lee Evans and Chris Chambers were the next two WRs off the board, and I like Harrison a lot better.
8. Trent Edwards, QB Buf (keeper)
9. Chester Taylor, RB Min
Pundits had Adrian Peterson anywhere from 1 to 5 among RBs. Those who had him later pointed to injury concerns. I definitely wanted to get Taylor and I'm quite pleased he lasted this long. Ahman Green and Jerious Norwood were the next two RBs taken, so I don't feel that this was too early for Taylor.
10. Joey Galloway, WR TB
I think he makes a relatively good #2 WR, especially given how long I waited to start taking WRs. The next WRs off the board were Anthony Gonzalez, Derrick Mason, Reggie Brown, and Desean Jackson. The guy who picked Jackson probably had the worst draft of everyone - I'll just mention picking Matt Leinhart, QB Az in the second round. Jackson has certainly been talked up a ton but I think he could have waited a couple of rounds to get him.
11. Nate Burleson, WR Sea
12. Devin Hester, WR Chi
I felt pretty good about these two picks. Burleson is probably the top WR in Seattle until their injury problems resolve themselves. I like pairing him with Hasselbeck, I'm kinda thinking of it as a bet on the Pass line after my earlier bet on Hasselbeck's back. Hester is more of a boom/bust bet, but something I felt like making with my 4th WR.
13. Dallas Cowboys, DT Dal
I was the 7th team to take a defense (and the Giants were kept). I'm not really sure that this was a good pick, but they were the top team on my list and I suspected there was a big drop off to the rest of the teams on my list.
14. Owen Daniels, TE Hou
Had a ton of catches last year but not many TDs, hence his availability here as the 12th TE taken. I had to decide between he and Ben Watson, TE NE and went with Daniels because he was on my roster last year, so I felt good about him, and he doesn't play with anyone who demands the ball like Randy Moss.
15. Zach Miller, TE Oak
He's had a nice preseason and I'm hoping he and Russell will produce a lot.
16. James Jones, WR GB
He should have a nice rapport with Rodgers since they've been second teamers together. He's been getting good press this preseason but he's definitely #3 in GB. I was choosing between Jones and Jabar Gaffney, WR NE who went with the next pick. NE probably plays three WRs a lot more than GB, but I guess I was still passing up non-Randy Moss Patriot receivers.
17. Stephen Gostkowski, PK NE
But not kickers. This was the 4th kicker taken and another guy I had last year. Lot's of people counsel not taking a kicker until the last round, but with the way our keepers work, I like using the latest possible round for gambles.
18. Kenny Watson, RB Cin
Watson is definitely not a young guy I'm hoping to do well with next year. But, no one knows how Cincy will distribute the carries and he might just get a bunch of them. As a #5 RB, I like that potential. Even if he is just one guy in a committee, he should score something if I need him during a bye week when some other guys are hurt.
19. Deion Branch, WR Sea
If he'd been healthy, he'd probably have gone before I started taking WRs. Of course, he isn't healthy and will certainly miss some games. But, if he eventually comes back strong, he'll be a solid addition and possibly a guy to keep for next year. Our league has a 1 man IR, so after the first games, I can move him to IR and pick up someone else (except that we can only have 4 QBs, 6 RBs, 3 TEs, 2 PKs, 2 TMs total, including IR).
20. Timothy Hightower, RB Az
If this turns out to be Edge's last year, then Hightower is first in line to replace him. And, he might get goal line carries this year, making him possibly usable in a pinch.