Jay Cutler, we hardly knew ye...

Anyone that has been reading this site with any regularity (all 10 of you) know that I have had a somewhat disturbing man-crush on Jay Cutler this year. I have him listed as my #5 QB, and is #1 on my sleeper list. I picked him up in all the "minor" leagues that I joined. I would usually take him between the 70th and 80th player taken (the round depended on the size of the league and my draft position).

So my big money league draft was today, and I just knew that I was going to get Cutler in the 7th round of the 10-team league. Imagine my horror, disappointment, and chagrin when one of my league-mates took him in the 5th round. All my plans down the drain... but I had a backup plan. Was the pick of Cutler in the 5th round a good pick? I personally don't think so - the guy could have gotten him in the 6th round with no problem - he would have been gone by the 7th round, because my pick was before him. Still, Cutler was averaging going in the 8th round, so my league-mate took him 3 rounds earlier than average, which is unforgivable, in my opinion. He could have taken a decent running back, good wide receiver, or great running back and gotten Cutler in the next round.

Anyway, here is how the rest of the draft went and how I adjusted my strategy mid-draft. I had the 3rd overall pick in this league that uses a point per reception and has a few other minor quirks.

Round 1 - Brian Westbrook - the easy choice after LT and Adrian Peterson were taken. In a PPR league, I like Westbrook better than Peterson.
Round 2 - Andre Johnson - I was hoping that the #1 WR on my list would slip this far, and he did.
Round 3 - Brandon Marshall - I was torn between Marshall and Brandon Jacobs in this spot. But Marshall is an elite receiver, while Jacobs is merely a very good back, that may be splitting time. I might get 230 receptions from my wideouts in this PPR league.
Round 4 - Brandon Jacobs - How did he fall this far! There were some very questionable RB choices taken ahead of him, and so it took me about 2 seconds to decide to grab him. My top 4 look very strong to me.
Round 5 - Thomas Jones - Not a real sexy pick, but a solid RB3 that was going in the 4th round of most drafts.
Round 6 - Calvin Johnson - I needed a receiver to fill in for Marshall in week 1, and somehow Johnson slipped this far. This is actually fair value I think, but he was over hyped and going in the 4th round of most drafts. Cutler was taken a round earlier, and I was starting to twitch.
Round 7 - Tony Gonzalez - The Cutler consolation prize. I should have been happy with getting him here, but I was upset because Kellen Winslow was taken 1 spot ahead of me.
Round 8 - Matt Schaub - Everyone had a QB by now, and some were working on their second QB's by now. I had to reach a couple of rounds early to get Schaub.
Round 9 - Ronnie Brown - Well, this draft isn't going nearly like I had thought. Someone took Ricky Williams way too early, and I guess everyone thought this was a cue to downgrade Brown. Good for me. Brown will be getting the majority of the carries by midseason at the latest.
Round 10 - Derrick Mason - One of my sleepers, right on schedule. Mason, of course, is the least sexy of my sleepers, but this is a PPR league, after all.
Round 11 - Ted Ginn - Another of my sleeper wideouts. I think I will be very happy here.
Round 12 - Vince Young - Ouch. My QB's are Schaub and Young? Well, everything else looks really solid. I thought about drafting Rosenfels with my final-round pick, but this league uses a FAAB system, so if Schaub gets hurt, I will just have to spend most of my FAAB dollars on Rosenfels.
Round 13 - Ray Rice. Well, at least I'm getting most of my sleepers late in the draft. Rice will be a great pick in 2009; let's hope he is a good pick in 2008.
Round 14 - Pittsburgh defense - I couldn't decide between Maurice Morris (who I didn't really want) and Steve Slayton (who I have been pimping the last few weeks), so I punted. Lets hope someone else makes the decision for me.
Round 15 - Maurice Morris - Sorry, I can't let a guy who is actually starting in week 1 drop any lower than this. If Julius Jones gets hurt or is ineffective (both of which are pretty realistic), then Morris would be the undisputed starter and put up a slew of mediocre numbers. Slayton was still avaiable, by the way. Someone took him in round 17 and everyone said "great pick!"
Round 16 - Matt Prater - After missing out on Cutler and Tony Sheffler, I had to throw my Bronco love somewhere, and it went to my kicker, Matt Prater.
Round 17 - St Louis Special Teams - I am kind of ashamed to admit that I am in a league that uses special teams, but there it is. Hopefully Dante Hall has something left.
Round 18 - Demarcus Ware - Yes, we use 1 IDP as well. This the ultimate case of positional non-scarcity. That's why he comes after the kicker.


So there it is. Other than my QB situation, I am very happy. I still think that Schaub has the ability to put up huge numbers this year.