I'm going to try to be more bloggy.

First off, my apologies to the... um... one or two(?) of you out there reading our fantasy football dynasty blog, as I've been unable to post anything in over a month. Other priorities as Matt noted hit the fan which kept me from keeping up with this.

During this time though, I have thought about why I'm finding it tough to keep the blog current. Upon surfing around and reviewing some other blogs, like Doug Drinen's at pro-football-reference.com and some about Microsoft Excel and other good ones that unfortunately escape my memory, I noted that each entry is typically shorter than what I've done here up until now. My prior posts have more of an article feel: long and formal, which are not easy to write and as a result new stuff is posted sporadically.

What I think will work better is short, succinct, and posted more often. In a word, which I'm not sure if anyone else has coined or not, I'm going to try to be more bloggy. This is probably not the best time for this, being I'm currently fighting through my 28th consecutive hour of no sleep, and a much needed 4 day vacation is fast approaching. You know what they say though, there is no time like the present. Plus I don't want to fall any further behind...

Championship Caliber Defense?

Looking back a month ago I ran through all the ups and downs with my offense and intended to hit the defense next. Even though we've completed the Ironman 3 rookie draft and had our first round of off-season free acquisitions, I'd like to keep on schedule and discuss my defense coming out of last season and heading into this year's draft, first. Here is the squad:

DT John Henderson, Tommie Harris
DE (good) Dwight Freeney, Osi Umenyiora, Bert Berry
DE (ok) Justin Smith, Shaun Ellis
LB (good) Cato June, Andra Davis, Derrick Brooks
LB (ok) Marcus Washington, Danny Clark, David Pollack
LB (wtf?) E.J. Henderson, Monty Beisel, Darryl Blackstock
CB Terrence McGee, Darrent Williams, Shauntee Spencer
S Michael Lewis, Gibril Wilson, Bob Sanders

It is unfortunate the DL is not weighted more heavily in a league such as this, because I love my D-Line. When people are overpaying for guys like Julius Peppers, wait and pick up Bert Berry who is a classic Rodney Dangerfield character getting little respect but produces the same or better than Peppers, discounting the unfortunate injury a year ago. Both Freeney and Umenyiora were both acquired through the draft and have worked out better than expected, with Osi picking up nicely for the loss of Berry.

When you're in an IDP league which splits out DT from DE, do what you can to acquire one of the few fantasy stars at that position. I actually acquired Henderson from Matt after he joined the league. Although DT don't score a lot of points, never ignore a position on your roster. Every little bit helps.

As usual LB is the most important defense position for fantasy because of the tackle stats. It shoud be obvious that is my weakest position with no true stud LB to carry this squad. Cato June is pretty good in that role but relies on the big play, as does Derrick Brooks acquired late last season for the playoff run. Andra Davis has been solid but talentwise appears to be more of a plugger until someone better comes along. Uh oh, the Browns just drafted 3 LB in '06. David Pollack looks like a weak draft pick last year given his likely fantasy impact as a Peter Boulware type outside rusher. The rest of these guys have various degrees of job security issues.

Just so we're clear, I'm not panicked about the LB position because certainly my strength elsewhere can make up some shortfall here (and then some), but if there is an area to address for my squad this is it.

Defensive backs I've always downgraded considerably in importance and its worked out fine as a result. New top scoring CB come off waivers every year so stick with the guys you've got, and if they aren't performing, cut bait and try again. I call this process churning the roster.

The S position is somewhat the same. Who had Ed Reed ranked as the #1 DB last year? I did. I'd do it again. There is little doubt in my mind Reed is the #1 safety talent in the NFL today. But for fantasy there is no value to be won putting your chips on the consensus #1 guy to finish #1. There is a high likelihood he is going to disappoint, and Reed certainly did.

That said I believe I've got 3 guys who I can rely on. Lewis was acquired through trade, swapping Brian Dawkins as part of a bigger deal, Sanders was drafted and Wilson I believe came off waivers. Not just quality corners come off waivers but you never know when anyone from a seasoned vet to an unsung rookie can get thrust into the S spot behind a weak front 7 and start racking up the tackles. Throw in the occassional big play here and there, and all of a sudden you've got a star in your backfield.

To answer the question, is this a championship caliber defense? It doesn't look that flashy, does it? Not too many top, top tier defenders that IDP addicted FFers fawn over? This was the top scoring defense in Ironman 3 a year ago, and scored 4th highest the year before. I know we keep hammering this point home everytime we talk about defense, but don't overpay on the defensive side of the ball. A solid - and sometimes #1 - defense can be constructed without selling the farm for the Brian Urlachers, Julius Peppers and Troy Polamalus of the NFL.

This is probably still too long...