Q&A with Bryan Crawford (Owner and GM of My Peterson's Got Some Luck)

Bryan Crawford has two seasons of fantasy football experience under his belt, with a strong showing and playoff appearance in The League's inaugural season last year. We sat down this week for a brief Q&A where he explained how a waiver wire addition catapulted him into the playoffs, every year is championship or bust, and how everyone in the league is a rival.

PG: What is the most important part of building a competitive team...early in the draft, in the later rounds, or through the waiver wire?

BC: All aspects are absolutely critical. As in the case of Alshon Jeffrey last year, a single pick-up in free agency can turn around the entire year, but this value can be found at all of the draft and free agency.

PG: You were the league's highest scorer, entered the playoffs on a four game winning streak, and earned the number one seed with a first round bye. What went wrong in the playoffs?

BC: It was a combination of things really. Some of my top players were struck with a rash of injuries, some of my opponents were playing their best football, and at the end of the day any team can win in any given week. That playoff loss wasn't my week. 

PG: AJ Green, Dez, Bryant, Alshon Jeffrey, and Larry Fitzgerald formed the most potent receiving corps in the league last year, but you had little running back depth behind Adrian Peterson. Is this a strategy you'll look to replicate next year or will you try to add more talent at the running back position?

BC: Well, much like the New York Giants draft strategy, I'll look to take the best player available and see where we end up.

PG: How important was acquiring Alshon Jeffrey off of waivers?

BC: It was a massive boost to my already deep receiving corps and really helped carry my team into the playoffs.

PG: What advice can you offer a fantasy rookie?

BC: Figure out what type of players you enjoy and do your own research and take players you like. Just because the "fantasy experts" get paid to do this doesn't mean they're always right.

PG: Your wife, Amanda, is also in the league. Do you consider her your biggest rival?

BC: Everyone in the league is a rival, but seeing how she was in the other division last year, I wouldn't say she was my biggest. ...Although all of that could change if we're in the same division next year!

PG: What's your goal for next year? Is it championship or bust?

BC: My goal every year is a championship, anything less and you're selling yourself short!

PG: You can keep two players for next year, do you have any idea who it will be?

BC: No idea at this point. A lot of my decisions are going to come down to how the NFL draft plays out and what rule changes are implemented from the owners meeting in May. Currently, any and all players in consideration.

Early 2014 Rankings

ESPN's Matthew Berry recently released the first issue of his 2014 overall player rankings. Below is a snapshot of the top 50.  To view the complete list of all 200 players, visit this link: Matthew Berry's Top 200 2014

Matthew Berry's Top 200 for 2014

Rank	Player, '13 team	Pos. Rank
1	Adrian Peterson, MIN	RB1
2	Jamaal Charles, KC	RB2
3	LeSean McCoy, PHI	RB3
4	Matt Forte, CHI	RB4
5	Peyton Manning, DEN	QB1
6	Eddie Lacy, GB	RB5
7	Jimmy Graham, NO	TE1
8	Calvin Johnson, DET	WR1
9	Marshawn Lynch, SEA	RB6
10	Aaron Rodgers, GB	QB2
11	Zac Stacy, STL	RB7
12	Demaryius Thomas, DEN	WR2
13	Le'Veon Bell, PIT	RB8
14	Drew Brees, NO	QB3
15	Dez Bryant, DAL	WR3
16	A.J. Green, CIN	WR4
17	Brandon Marshall, CHI	WR5
18	Josh Gordon, CLE	WR6
19	Montee Ball, DEN	RB9
20	Arian Foster, HOU	RB10
21	Giovani Bernard, CIN	RB11
22	Doug Martin, TB	RB12
23	Jordy Nelson, GB	WR7
24	Alshon Jeffery, CHI	WR8
25	Julio Jones, ATL	WR9
26	Antonio Brown, PIT	WR10
27	Pierre Garcon, WSH	WR11
28	Randall Cobb, GB	WR12
29	Alfred Morris, WSH	RB13
30	Andre Ellington, ARI	RB14
31	DeMarco Murray, DAL	RB15
32	Vincent Jackson, TB	WR13
33	Wes Welker, DEN	WR14
34	Frank Gore, SF	RB16
35	Andre Johnson, HOU	WR15
36	Keenan Allen, SD	WR16
37	Matthew Stafford, DET	QB4
38	Ray Rice, BAL	RB17
39	Rob Gronkowski, NE	TE2
40	Ben Tate, CLE	RB18
41	C.J. Spiller, BUF	RB19
42	Roddy White, ATL	WR17
43	Victor Cruz, NYG	WR18
44	Julius Thomas, DEN	TE3
45	Shonn Greene, TEN	RB20
46	Ryan Mathews, SD	RB21
47	DeSean Jackson, WSH	WR19
48	Cam Newton, CAR	QB5
49	Andrew Luck, IND	QB6
50	Larry Fitzgerald, ARI	WR20

Owners Meeting: May 3rd, 2014

Our first annual owners meeting will take place on Saturday May 3rd, 2014 at league headquarters in River Edge, NJ. An agenda has been created outlining the topics to be discussed and will be disseminated to attendees the day of. Owners should bring their own beverages. Food will be provided.

The owners meeting will be run by Commissioner and 2013 League Champion, Paul Gabella.

A preview of the agenda is below:

Action Item:	Details:
I.          League Entry Fee	By increasing the league entry fee, there will be more money and additional opportunities to win. Example: Weekly high score
II.          League Entry Late Fee	Any league payment past due would incur a 20% late fee.
III.          Expanding to 12 Franchises	Alex Mangini would like to participate in our league. We would need to find a 12th franchisee.
IV.          Draft Order Revision	Expansion would demand a revised draft order. My proposal is to abandon last year’s inverse of standings and re-pick an order.
V.          Keepers	How many times a player can be kept by an owner in consecutive years, costing that owner a draft pick in the round in which the player was selected. As voted during this past year’s season, a player can be kept twice. Does that include the year they were drafted?
VI.          Franchise Tag	Introduce a franchise tag in which an owner could choose to keep a player for an extra year by paying a fee which would go towards the league prize pool. Every franchise would have one tag to use each off-season. A player could only be tagged once by an owner and would need to return to the player pool the following offseason.  My proposed league fee for exercising the franchise tag is $10.00.
VII.          Free Agent Keepers	This offseason, keeping a player who was not drafted comes at the expense of a final round draft pick. I strongly recommend we revise the cost, increasing it to a 10th or 7th round pick. This would not be retroactive.
VIII.          Positional Scoring Revisions	Adjust positional scoring at numerous positions. Proposals include: -        Increase passing touchdowns to 6  points. -        Subtract 1 point for a QB being sacked. -        Remove all yardage and TD-length bonuses at the QB, RB, WR, and TE positions. -        Decimals for yardage values. 99 rushing yards would become 9.9 points instead of 9 points. -        Reducing D/ST points scored for the following: -        Fumble recovery (From 2 to 1 point) -        Interception (From 2 to 1 point) -        Removing all return yardage points, but retaining return touchdown points scored.
IX.          Last Place Finish	There should be some punishment for finishing in last place. My proposal is that the owner who finishes in last place must buy that year’s league champion booze for the following year’s draft party. This would not be retroactive.
X.          Participation	How can we increase participation from every owner? A league blog? Press conferences? What penalties can we instill for a lack of participation (ie: not setting a lineup).
XI.          Other Topics	Additional topics, questions, concerns not previously discussed to be raised and voted upon, if necessary.