The NFL preseason is entering its final week, and the fantasy football season is about to get under way as well. I’m playing in two leagues this year, one of which I’m running as commish. My other league held its draft yesterday. Here are the results of the draft, if you’re interested. I’m more or less ok with my team — Outlaws of the Marsh — which looks like this:

When it comes to fantasy football drafts, I would rather be at the front or the back of the order, but I ended up in the dreaded middle yesterday, picking seventh in a league of 12 teams. I did end up with DeAngelo Williams, who heroically powered my late-season surge and championship run in this league last year, and snagged Philip Rivers in the second round. I didn’t get in on the run for top wide receivers, however, and instead opted for Antonio Gates in the third round because I always try to snag one of the top three or four tight ends since the rest of the bunch are pretty worthless. Besides, it gave me a Rivers-to-Gates combo.

If Antonio Bryant delivers like he did last season, then I’ll rest easy. If not (and if Joseph Addai returns to his Pro Bowl form), I’ll be kicking myself for my fourth-round folly.

Then came the pick that I probably regret the most. In the fourth round, I had Joseph Addai in my sights, but I was a bit worried that almost all of the top wideouts were already off the boards without me having filled any one of my WR spots. I had actually written down Addai as a pick to look at around this position since  I figured he would be good value even though the Colts probably still have issues on the offensive line. In the final seconds, I chickened out and picked Antonio Bryant instead, and almost immediately regretted it. The team behind me scooped Addai right up. So I ended up with a starting backfield of Williams and Willie Parker, which doesn’t look anywhere as good as Williams and Addai. Oh well.

Still smarting from letting Addai slip through my hands, I came back in the fifth round and made a pick that could either make me look like a genius or an idiot: Dallas Clark. My thinking was that basically all the good RBs were off the board by that time, and there were still plenty of middling WRs left. So Clark had the most value. Besides, he’d be insurance if Gates doesn’t bounce back from last year’s subpar performance. So at least for now, I’m looking at starting a double-tight end formation, which I’ve actually tried before, with mediocre results.

I was, however, very pleased with my defensive picks, which are actually quite important in this league since the league’s scoring system awards one point per solo tackle, so some of your standout linebackers are actually worth more than a lot of offensive players. I managed to pick up James Harrison and Patrick Willis, two of my favorite defensive players the last couple seasons and the second- and third-highest scoring defenders in this league last season, respectively. And as much as I dread having to start defensive linemen, I guess the 2008 league leader in sacks, John Abraham, is as good a pickup as any. And Roman Harper and D’Qwell Jackson both pile up a decent number of tackles at defensive back and linebacker. Best of all, I managed to put together a defensive lineup that has no more than one player on bye in any week, minimizing the bye-week headaches on that side of the ball.

I like Dallas Clark, but I might like him a lot less if he gives me as many headaches about my lineup this season as I envision.

Looking at the offense, Rivers, Williams, and Gates better come through for me this season, as the rest of the lineup is a bit shaky. And whether or not to start Clark at W/R/T instead of one of the other guys on the bench is going to be weekly struggle for me, so much so that I might look into trading Clark or Gates at some point if I can get good value in return. The one guy I am kind of excited about is Ray Rice, who might have a breakout season in the Ravens’ backfield, which would strengthen my lineup immensely. I do have depth at WR, but it’s made up of guys that are in that middle level where you don’t feel confident starting them every week, so you end up missing out on most of their production even as they finish with a nice looking line for the season. And yes, if Rivers goes down, my season is toast. I love Shaun Hill, but I don’t see him putting up big numbers this year with the 49ers looking like they are going conservative with the offense. However, he was a starter for me down the stretch last season on my way to the title, so if nothing else, he’s at least a good luck charm. Of course, if you had told me after last year’s draft that I would be starting Shaun Hill and Matt Schaub in the final weeks of the season, I would’ve never imagined that I would be playing in the championship game.

One draft down, one more to go.