Madd Skillz: 11-3

Madd Skillz: 11-3

The defending VUFSA football champion looked to defend his prestigious crown in 2005, and, well, he did so in spectacular fashion. Clearly the best team in the league, Madd Skillz dominated the division and compiled an impressive 11-3 mark – tied for best in the league. The playoffs would be more of the same, winning their two games by a combined 130+ points. Despite this overwhelming mastery of the VUFSA, it’s still fun to look back and see that Skillz’s season still involved Chad Pennington. Ha!

Keepers:
LaDanian Tomlinson
Rudi Johnson
Domanick Davis
Chad Johnson

The starting four would last the entire season with Schillinger and would carry him to regular season success. LT would score more often than the Cleveland Browns entire offense. 23 touchdowns, including 3 through the air, would often be more than enough to defeat opponents’ entire starting 3 backs.

If LaDanian Tomlinson rested on my bench every week, and I left his RB spot empty, I would have won 10 games.

Good heavens.

Rudi Johnson started off slowly accumulating more yards than scores, but in weeks 11-15, he scored 9 times. Domanick Davis battled injuries, but still managed 1,200 total yards and 6 TDs (thereby accumulating all of Houston’s offense). Chad Johnson had 1,400+ yards and 9 scores on his way to being the fourth best WR in Yahoo fantasy sports. In all, a very strong backfield and a go-to WR-1.

Round 1: Fred Taylor
Round 1a: Steve Smith
Round 2: Matt Hasselbeck
Round 3: Todd Heap
Round 4: Laverneus Coles
Round 5: Larry Johnson
Round 6: Tom Brady
Round 7: Traded away in 2004
Round 8: Ed Reed
Round 9: Sebastian Janikowski
Round 10: Keary Colbert
Round 11: Mike Williams
Round 12: Keith Bulluck
Round 13: Lance Briggs
Round 14: Chad Pennington
Round 15: Bubba Franks
Supplemental round 1: Frank Gore


I thought this the second it was done: I was really happy with it. I stayed according to the plan, and it worked out great. Steve Smith in the 2nd round was a gamble, but obviously one that paid off handsomely. All season I had kicked myself for going personal and grabbing Matt Hasselbeck early, especially over Marc Bulger, but that turned out very well for me. I think Laverneus Coles was an excellent pick, but I can't prove that since Chad Pennington's injury. My back-to-backs in rounds 5 and 6 (Brady/Johnson) might be the best consecutive draft picks I will ever make.

First pick Fred Taylor surprisingly battled injuries on and off in 2005 and never lived up to first round potential. Scoring just 3 TDs all season, Taylor didn’t do much for Skillz until he became a first round pick in the 2006 draft (more later). Reggie Wayne was plucked from MS as part of the expansion draft, and his replacement pick more than made up for Wayne’s departure. Steve Smith went off, dog (for you Dejuan C3PO). The man’s broken leg in 2004 was repaired with super human substances. 13 TDs, 1,600 total yards on his way to being the comeback player of the year. Matt Hasselbeck (3rd round pick) would sit behind Tom Brady (6th round pick) portions of the year but as the Seahawks went into Super Bowl mode, it was Hasselbeck who led Madd Skillz into and through the playoffs. Todd Heap offered a strong option at tight end, leaving us with the fifth round pick to discuss.

Larry Johnson. The fifth round selection was a gamble by Schillinger. Johnson found himself behind one of the best running backs in the league, Priest Holmes, and frequently in coach Dick Vermeil’s doghouse. 3 TDs in the first two weeks led to some tasty trade offers that looked to capitalize on a player destined to sit on Madd Skillz’s bench due in large part to the overabundance of quality running backs on the roster. Alas, Edwin held onto Larry Johnson and ends up that it was wise decision. In week 8, Holmes died which in turn led to more playing time for Johnson.

I didn't trade him earlier in the year because I kept asking myself "can you really trade the guy who could one day inheirit Holmes' fantasy stats?"

His numbers the rest of the year:

Week 9: 107 rushing; 2 TDs
Week 10: 132 rushing
Week 11: 211 rushing; 2 TDs
Week 12: 119 rushing; 1 TD
Week 13: 140 rushing; 2 TDs
Week 14: 143 rushing; 3 TDs
Week 15: 167 rushing; 2 TDs
Week 16: 131 rushing; 2 TDs

Lastly of note about the draft, supplemental round 1 saw the beginning of Frank Gore’s Anal, er, Wild Adventure around the VUFSA. Whee!

So with this stacked team, did improvements really need to be made? Couldn’t have Skillz set a lineup week 1 and watched it coast to victory? The answer is yes. But, he didn’t and instead his fine GM-ship led him to continue to fine tune and tinker with his roster. Some of the big moves:

Trades:

9/19 Acquired
Jeremy Shockey
DeAngelo Hall
Duce Staley
Lost:
Keary Colbert
Mike Williams
Frank Gore
Lance Briggs

Because Todd Heap wasn’t good enough, Madd Skillz acquired Lil’ Eli’s short game buddy, Jeremy Shockey. And it didn’t cost all that much.

I made a ton of little trades this season, the only real significant one was getting Jeremy Shockey (#2 TE) for a handful of guys that looked better when it happened than they do now.

10/10 Acquired:
Greg Jones
Lost:
Todd Heap

12/7 Acquired
Brian Westbrook
Kevan Barlow
Lost:
Fred Taylor
Greg Jones

12/7 Acquired
Baron’s first round pick
Lost:
Brian Westbrook

These last two deals were, in my opinion, two of the best deals in any VUFSA sport. With a stacked backfield, Edwin had no need for these extra RBs and instead of losing them for nothing at the end of the year, he managed to pawn off Jacksonville’s backfield to a needy JR Radcliffe for a broken down Brian Westbrook. Moments later, the IR riding Westbrook was shuffled in the way of Baron Brendel’s Big Fat Guys (I typed “fart” instead of “fat.” Tee hee.). So two running backs who were never going to play another game for Madd Skillz became a first round pick in 2006. Not too shabby. Oh, and I hate you, Ed.

I hate you for this and for my own shortcomings. After week 2, I, in my infinite brilliance, cut loose Santana Moss who naturally landed on Edwin’s roster. Those 1,400 yards and 9 TDs sure would have been better than Keenan McCardell. I suck.

Sorry to say it, but Santana Moss on waivers bailed me out when Coles was irrelevant. He's tailing off now, but he was a big lift early in the season. Matter of fact, he and Shockey are the only player in my starting linuep (not counting john wells) that weren't on the team from day one.

But enough about me, let’s talk about the season.

(For this portion of the recap, please place your Limp Bizkit compact disc into the player and press play. Once “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water” is running, skip to “Rollin’” for a more vomitious and impactful experience.)

Week 1: Win over Sex Panther by 27
Week 2: Win over Big Fat Guys by 37.75
Week 3: Win over Blaine Browns by 44.5
Week 4: Win over Octagon by 3 (ooh, a close one!)
Week 5: Win over ChamPeons by 88 (!)
Week 6: Win over Father Abraham by 69.5

(Now “scratch” the record creating an annoying yet hip ‘80s sound.)

Week 7 would end the perfect dream. Fred Lane’s Wife rolled into town, took advantage of 3 crucial MS byes, and walked out with a win. Not to worry. This would be but a minor setback.

Week 8 would be a huge match-up against undefeated Cellar Dwellers with fantasy bragging rights on the line. That and doughnuts.

This time, the bye week would hit CD hard as Shaun Alexander who was averaging 103 points per week missed the contest and Skillz was once again number one.

Minor setbacks against playoff desperate Sex Panther and The Octagon would be two additional blemishes on Edwin’s record. Not to worry, though, victories over WIRM, Big Fat Guys, Blaine Browns, and ChamPeons would add to the win total rounding out a gaudy 11-3 regular season tally.

Key games for me focus on my losses. I'm not really angry about any of the three- as two of them happened on the only weeks I had bad byes and the other on a week where I scored 130 points. Week 7 I missed Steve Smith, Fred Taylor and Tom Brady in a loss to Viano, and in week 10, LDT, the Bengals had byes- with Domanick Davis hurt. I don't expect pity for byes, as we all know well in advance when they are coming, but it's not like I got beat at full strength those weeks. I feel big about the win over Stem, although that big matchup really fizzled because of his team's suck and mine's averageness. The 171 point game against you sticks out in my mind as well.

Madd Skillz’s 11-3 record and 1850.25 point total would be enough to secure the number one seed. For the second straight year, Schillinger would take on my team in the first round. Ed scored 170. I scored 80. It wasn’t close. 5 players scored over 20 points and the Edwin dominance continued.

That led to VUFSA Super Bowl 2! Fittingly, the two best teams throughout the regular season would face off with matching 12-3 records. Cellar Dwellers was a much improved team since the last time Madd Skillz came calling (read Shaun Alexander was available) and revenge was on their mind. Despite the 31.5 points Alexander would score (more than half of anyone else), CD came up short against the juggernaut Madd Skillz. 7 players scored in double figures for Edwin including a kicker and a defender. 149.0-100.5 was the final tally and for the second straight year, Ed gets a wonderful plaque to commemorate his fantasy football skillz.

With the championship in tow, attention turns to 2006 where Edwin is already a favorite to repeat. Chad Johnson and Steve Smith are two of the top four receivers in the entire league, and LT, Rudi Johnson, and Larry Johnson in the backfield, it’s a fantastic five to have coming back. Let’s not forget that Baron’s first round pick (3rd overall) will also be Schillinger’s to resecure a quarterback. Things look bright for ’06 unless of course the bird flu wipes out half his roster.

The 5th spot is where I have some troubles- deciding between Domanick Davis and Steve Smith. I'm leaning towards Smith now, because it's hard to throw the #1 receiever this year back into the draft pool, and Davis has been awfully inconsistent. I'll also have to see what the Texans do in terms of a new head coach and in the draft. As far as next year's draft- I have a top3 pick, and have targeted 3 players so far: Torry Holt, Domanick Davis, and Reggie Bush. That list changes dramatically if Davis and Bush end up on the same team, as I may lean towards a QB or another RB. I will have a second 1st rounder near the wraparound, so I hope to have my entire offense (outside of TE) by pick 14 or so.

Parting thoughts on next year, Mr. Schillinger?

This is impossible to tell. Of course I feel good with my keepers and high picks, but there are so many frightening owners in this league, and I won't have an injury free season again- that it's hard to tell. I'm expecting to make the playoffs (which is my goal every year) and would probably be considered a favorite to do so. But it's early.