Does the draft matter?

With an additional two teams added to the league (I know. I have already screwed up the league and went back on my word...) it will be even more challenging to find diamonds in the rough before they are swooped up by other teams. Even though one roster spot has been eliminated from each team (6 bench spots to 5 spots) by adding two teams, essentially 28 players are locked up. This makes the draft even more critical. You need two consistent players (20+ a game) to make it down the stretch. Two-by-two, its doctrinal, baby. Injuries and suspensions are killer, ie Adrian Peterson or Josh Gordon.

To make it a little more equitable we are also going to be instituting a waiver wire. Our waiver wire will be a two day window, from Sunday to Tuesday. It will be continual waiver wire. Please see below for the definition:

• Continual rolling list: waiver claims are processed in waiver priority order and each successful claim moves a manager to the end of the waiver priority list

So, does the draft matter? Yes, it does. If you don't believe me then keep reading the below shotty analysis. I only looked at the teams with 10 wins and above, because anyone else isn't worth the time. However, that the last place team did not finish with his picks from the first two rounds. In other words, the highest pick left on his bench was his third rounders. In the other other words, he did not draft well. Now, let's take a look:

Cobra Kai (Ben) 11-5: Only dropped three of his original draft class. He had the 2nd pick in last years draft and took P. Manning and L. Bell with his first two picks, both who finished in the top 6 in 2014. Both Manning and Bell were statistical monsters and pushed Cobra to an early head start going 6-2 in their first 8 games. They seemed sure to have the championship locked up, but week 16 proved to be the teams worst performance, scoring only 83 pts and missed their projected score by almost 30 pts. Manning fell apart against the Bengals throwing 4 INTs and taking 2 sacks. Bell rushed for a TD but only had 63 yds. Bad timing, but still drafted the hell out of it and had a shot at the end.
Manning and Bell...Two-by-two.

Quixotic Prayer (Steven) 11-5: Dropped five original players. This team would lead the league for the entire season in scoring and record. He took the steal of the draft last year by taking Andrew Luck in the FOURTH round - he would finished #1. He also had a steady work horse in the #BattleBorn Demarco Murray, who was his second pick and finished #3. Week 16 was another horrible week for a top seeded team.... not horrible, but bad enough to lose to Kops. Andrew Luck threw two TDs, but was without his favorite target in Hilton (DNP) and amassed only 106 yrds. Murray rushed the ball a whopping 58 yrds against Luck's Colts that same week.
Luck and Murray - TWO-BY-TWO

kindergartner kops (Brent) 10-6: The reigning Champ dropped just three as well, but please note that he was on auto draft. As stated before and stated again, the Yahoo algorithm and rankings is legit. Who would have know that using your first two pick to get Steelers - Big Ben and Antonio Brown - both of whom would finish in top 10 for 2014.
Ben and A.Brown. Two x Two.

Mrs. Starr (Me) 10-6: Runner-up dropped a solid eight dudes! Wow. And the best finisher on the team was Jordy Nelson, who finished at 17 (now out for the season.. stupid preseason). The only way that I made it to the finals was luck... I mean, I took McCoy first and he didn't even break into the top 40 guys.
No two by two! LUCK! That is also really important in fantasy. Go out and buy some today.

Tuesday 10-6 (John): He dropped just four of his OGs. But he had no one finished in top 10; the highest rated player was Arain Foster at 14. His first pick? Calvin Johnson... I am not sure he even played last year...the difference from 2013 to 2014 was: 4 TDs, 13 Catches, and 415 yrds. That is pretty big when you lose your last game of the season by a mere 6.42 pts!
No two by two... had a really weak schedule..

The draft totally matters! If you can find your Andrew Luck in the fourth round or your double down on a QB/WR combo you'll kill it. Then, you can do everything right, pick up A. Peterson with your first pick and end up with a 9-7 season. Nothing to write home about, Jesse. Or you overvalue a TE and draft a WR that can't quit smoking weed... looking at you PIPPA! Dammit PIPPA! You could have been something.

The two by two rule is a must, but that doesn't mean you can have a crappy supporting cast. That should be obvious, right? But key to the two by two is a QB! Gotta get that stellar QB.