On page 75 of ESPN The Magazine’s fantasy football preview, Ken Daube argues that owners drafting late in the first round should take WRs with their first two picks. Generally, I agree with the theory, but a few of the assumptions that Daube made appear to be incorrect. Here’s what I wrote on his fan wall at ESPN…

Hi Ken, I was reading “The Turn Is No Place For Running Backs,” and while I agree in principle with the strategy of going WR/WR with your first two picks at the first turn, I have a couple of questions.

1) In the second table, you show team #2 getting a 1-5 WR in the third round while team #4 gets a 6-10 WR. In round four, teams #1 and #3 get a 11-15 RB, while team #2 gets a 16-20 RB. Why the inconsistency?

2) Team #1 and #3 get an 11-15 RB at the start of the fourth round, but from ESPN’s live draft results, only guys in the 18+ range are available there.

3) Team #2 gets a 1-5 WR at the end of the third, and team #4 gets a 6-10 player, when only 12+ WRs are available there.

When I recalculate the totals to account for these problems, team #1 finishes with 1050 points, team #2 with 1011 points, team #3 with 1039 points and team #4 with 976 points. The theory still stands, but the execution is confusing.

I’m assuming that this is a 12-team league, which appears to be Daube’s assumption since he mentions pick #12 in the opening paragraph.

Does anyone else have this issue handy? If so, are you seeing the same things I’m seeing?

I’ll update this post if Daube responds.