1. I agree to the most part with Dave.  Most people in our league come in with the strategy of drafting
running-backs. But, like any game of chance not only do you have to rely on lady luck in the first round for a
high draft card, there are also injuries, and the whim of the head coach on who he decides to start any
particular week. (example; Stephen Davis was picked in the last round and is currently the highest scoring back
in the league...dammit.) I think this is simply part of the game and anything you do to de-value a running
back(aside from cutting all of his points in half and doubling the all WR and QB points) will make him that much
more valuable in the first round.
Dave had a good point about the past champions as well, teams like Phil last year who was stacked at RB did make
it into the playoffs, but didn't win, I also know that I was stacked more at wide-out last year and I remember
that Steve has been stacked at wide-out at least once when he won. That being said I did think about possible
solutions and came up with this:

Starting line-ups in DOT-FFL mirror the NFL this way:
(1) quarterback
(1) feature running back

(1) full back
(3) wide recievers
(1) tight end

(1) kicker
(1) defense
(1) coach (optional)

Swing players can be inserted at these positions:FB,WR,TE but you have to have at least one player in each
category playing on any given week. I realize there are only a minute few at FB that are worth drafting, and
some teams don't use a FB very much, but some tight-ends don't do very much in the scoring department either and
the good ones like Sharpe and Coates are generally high picks, so it makes your draft strategy a little more
interesting. I think you would also see more QB's drafted in the second and third rounds as well as recievers
and tight-ends. Confusion about position FB vs. RB can be handled during the draft by the commish who would have
a current list of FB's off of team  rosters downloaded from www.nfl.com.

2. I like the idea of amending the pick-up order.  I think the first 2 rounds are fair, but giving the 2 pick in
week 3 to the person who had the top pick in week 1 is a bit lop-sided.  I haven't taken the time to check this
this out thoroughly, but I think we could shift the draft order table to give the top pick to a middle spot, say
7, the third week, and redo the draft that way, I think if you have a high draft pick in the first couple of
weeks you shouldn't have another until the middle of the season.

3. I also thought of this idea.  Just like the NFL maybe we could award the starting draft order not by random
draw, but by how you finished the last year. 14th place picks 1st, 13th-2nd, ect.and then draw cards after the
fourth round.  I think history has proven that the first pick in the draft doesn't always guarantee first place
and, it might be a consolation for someone who had one of their top picks go down early the previous season and
couldn't rebuild their team.

I'll finish by re-stating this, I like the league how it is and with a little modification to the pick-up order
list I think everything is just great.  I did want to offer some input to this forum, if nothing else, just to
create some more interest and welcome, like Don, any constructive criticism to ideas.

This is a special bonus article for you brave web surfers.  I would like to get some discussion going about how we can make the league better.  Here are some ideas that I have picked up from other leagues and from the internet.  Some I don't totally agree with but here they are for discussion.

Hey I seen your proposals on the web - not so sure I like changes! You need to establish a place for response, or in my case rebuttle!

I do definitily agree with the pick up order - this needs to be more random.  Especially after Week 2.  Us punks in the middle don't stand a chance.  I'm not so sure about the running back problem though?  What is wrong with speculation.  I wonder if we look back to the Champions, how many won it based on running backs only?  I had TD and Barry Sanders one year, and still didn't win.  I agree they go fast, but come prepared or take a different strategy.  I had 4 loser backs two weeks ago, but now they all 4 look to be OK.  Maybe not great, but ok.  I'm hurting more because my best reciever lost his QB.  If we want to limit players, why not say you can only carry 4 running backs 4 recievers ...etc.  However, if you look at the week 2 current rosters, this only effects you and Wade at running back.

I still say part of the strategy is stacking for trade bait and speculating on problem areas.  I would agree to a coach or special teams or a 14 man roster.  I don't like a 12 man roster.  If there are too many free agents, you can forget about trades in our league.

Anyway thats my take on it!

You have a lot of good ideas to think about in "Points to ponder" - especially the pickup order.

Running backs are still in very short supply.  Even though we've gone to the Swing Player format everyone still is RB hungry.

Solutions

Move from a 14 team league to a 12 team league.  This would throw more players into the mix to pick from.  Although I don't want anyone to drop out of the league, naturally it may happen and at that point we could make the change.

Limit rosters to 12 players plus one reserve spot.  The reserve spot would be like a practice squad or I.R.  You could protect one player, but you couldn't start him.  This again would throw more players back into the mix, and stop some of the speculation that is going on.

Increase the value of other positions.  In other words give more points to WR, TE, and QB.  For example WR: 5yds=1pt, QB: 15yds=1pt.  Can you expand on this idea?

Keep a 15 man roster, but make everyone draft a Coach.  Coaches get points based on how much they win by.  I really like this idea, personally.

Another Idea

Remove the Divisions and throw everyone together in the playoff race.  Right now there are teams that you won't get to play this year.  I think we should redo the schedule so that you play every team once.  Then pick our playoff teams from the top.  A variation on this might be to give one playoff spot to the top scoring team regardless of their regular season record.  This would make up for the fact that often a good team fails to make the playoffs due to an especially tough schedule.  If you look back this probably has happened to you or someone you love.  On the other hand, if you can't make the playoffs when we take 8 out of 14 then your team probably sucks anyway.  But I do think playing every other team would be fun.

Final Rambling

Maybe we should rework the Draft Order too.  With our current rules, if you get the number one pick then you get the 1st,28th, and 29th picks overall.  1+28+29=58.  If your the 14th pick you get 14th, 15th, and 42nd. 14+15+42=71.  Much worse.  So I propose we redraw cards in the 3rd round and stick with that order for the rest of the draft (I know Steve/Dave/Wade this sounds like Storm League).  Who really cares if you have the 1st pick in the 9th round... small compensation for picking dead last in the 1st.

Also we need to resort the Pickup list.  The current list was taken from a Fantasy Magazine that assumed you started with a full roster.  Because we have three open spots, the first 3 weeks are crucial and therefore the order of these three weeks should be more fair.  I'm open to your ideas on exactly how to do this though.