SHY TEDS CAPSULE

Record ? 8-6 (4th in Bob Timoney Conference)

Season in a nutshell ? Like Graham Gooch's test career, it started abysmally but got better. An unlucky 0-4 start, turned into a firesale, which perversely led to an 8-5 record after 13 weeks including a 6 game win streak, as Cam and Doug Martin caught fire. A loss in the final week meant they just missed the play-offs, even after selling off some of the crown jewels. Now armed with 21 total draft picks, including multiples in rounds 1 and 3, and nine of the first 69 selections overall, it means this team is locked and loaded for 2013 and can go up and down the draft ladder all it wants. Gronkowski is gone ? well timed too as he snapped 1 week after sale ? and big changes are already afoot. With their first winning season in the bag, big things are expected in 2013, well at least by Ian anyway.

Keepers going in ? C Newton (QB), S Jackson (RB), W Welker (WR), J Nelson (WR) and R Gronkowski (TE)

Notable draftees (Rnd selected) ? D Martin RB (1), Steve Smith WR (2) ? I hate this little t**t, C Ponder QB (3), D Wilson RB (4), M Moore QB (5) ? would've been better off selecting Mary Tyler-Moore, D Moore WR (6) ? would've been better drafting Rodger Moore. Ian could have drafted Lance Moore in round 7 but stopped short on that ? pity really, as he produced far more than the previous two who proved as much use as a glass cricket bat.

Trades in/out ? Rivalled Richard for the Arry Redknapp "wheeler fackin dealer? award, here we go with a grade for each one from the writer afterwards ? Traded a 20th rnd pick to the Woodsmen for Rashard Mendenhall "C?; Traded Ryan Williams to the Warrants for an 18th rnd pick "B?; traded Militant Midget and a 10th rnd pick to the Zombies for Vincent Brown and a 5th rnd pick "D? ; traded Steven Jackson to the Athletics for a 6th rnd pick and Andre Brown "A?; traded Rob Gronkowski to the Penguins for a 2nd rnd pick, 3rd rnd pick & TE Jared Cook along with some oddball conditions concerning Jamaal Charles and his whereabouts and probably access to Richards drinks cabinet too ? "A+ with bells on for that arse raping?; traded 5th and 12th rnd picks to the Zombies for QB Tony Romo "B+?; traded Doug Martin to the Dragons for Demarco Murray, Julio Jones and a 1st rnd pick "A+ with all the trimmings? ? all in all, we've covered probably half the players in the league there, proper Stan Flashman job.

What went right ? From the draft Doug Martin proved to be a stud, and though now sold he brought in a hefty bounty for his services. Other draft successes included Greg Olsen (rnd 14), and ... and.. hmm. Quite a few did OK like Christian Ponder but Martin apart few flourished. That said anytime you put up a winning record you are doing something right, and a 6 game win streak in this league is some achievement. Cam Newton recovered from an up and down start to post two 50 point outings in his last 3 games of the fantasy season, and you can make a case for him as the leagues MVP ? or for being the next big player to flame out, as some of his press conferences belonged on Jeremy Kyle. Five times the Teds topped the century mark, and they topped the scoring charts from the TE position ? a bit like saying the bog still works, even though the house is flooded.

Where it went wrong ? A shocker of a start, Cam Newton playing like Thandie Newton at times, and Jordy Nelson doing his best Darren Anderton impersonation summed up the Teds luck. They nearly pulled off the improbable comeback of all comebacks ? even better than Cheryl Cole's rise from assaulting a lav attendant ? but fell short. High draftee David Wilson came to life late on, though noticeably whilst on another teams roster and too many draft picks played at an even or mediocre level ? eg Bess, Burleson, Moorex2, Wilson, Steve Smith. In the first 3 weeks of the season registered 60, 76 and 60 point outings ? not exactly a pinball offense and probably led the GM to believe he had a hand like a foot.

How this team will get better ? It already has, holding a raft of high draft picks, and adding Julio Jones, Tony Romo and Demarco Murray to its ranks. A more fruitful draft in 2013 and this team will be right there in the shake-up, assuming good Cam shows up and not the sometime fruitbat who took the field in 2012.

What's been done already ? Doug Martin's gone, Tony Romo, Julio Jones and Demarco Murray are in along with an additional first round pick, albeit at number 9 overall. The keepers have been thoroughly shaken up.

A Current Guess at the likely 5 Keepers ? C Newton (QB), T Romo (QB), D Murray (RB), J Nelson (WR) and J Jones (WR)

What's ahead ? A big draft, with all those high picks. Ian needs a decent draft pool and to make the right calls with those first 9 picks in the top 60 odd overall. If he hits on 4 or 5 of them, this team will be quite formidable. However he needs to avoid the Andy Murray in Grand Slam Finals strike rate, ie one success in every 6.