I wasn't planning on writing a post today, but that was before my best friend sent me a message about his fantasy draft. He has never played fantasy football before, and was talked in to it in time to draft on Monday. The result? He takes Drew Brees with the #7 pick in the first round, then takes Donovan McNabb with his second pick.

As you can probably guess, his team needs some work. I've seen worse moves (Santana Moss and Chris Cooley as first and second round picks by a Redskins fan), but I think my friend is still in the chase. He's got some decent receivers (RandyMoss, Terry Glenn, Reggie Brown), Antonio Gates, the Eagles defense, and David Akers. The problem he has is running backs. His 10 team league starts 3 running backs per team. His backs are Deuce McAllister, Julius Jones, Mike Bell, Ladell Betts, and Dominic Rhodes. Not the All-Star squad that will win championships.

So why am I telling you this? It's not to embarass my friend, although once I finish teaching him fantasy football I plan on giving him crap for this in future years. However, even if you're not a rookie at fantasy football, you can still wind up short in an area or two. Maybe you wanted to wait for a third or fourth tier QB, then a sudden run on QBs occurs between your picks. Now you're stuck with a #2 quality fantasy QB as your starter. Maybe you didn't get a solid #2 running back, or no running back at all. Who knows?

The important thing to realize is that, while it will be a long season for you, you still have a small shot. Take my friend for example. McAllister is alright as a #2 guy. He's good at receiver. He's great at tight end. He's good at defense and kicker, although I've said those positions don't matter much. He's also loaded at QB. He's an Eagles fan, so he wants to start McNabb. My advice to him? Trade Brees for a #1 running back. Now he's not going to get a first round back, and maybe not even a second round back, but he could land someone like Cedric Benson, Thomas Jones, or maybe a higher second rounder if he's lucky. One team in his league has Jon Kitna starting at QB, and has Tomlinson as his #1 RB, as well as a few other good starters. Travis Henry is one of those starters, and with his value low due to his knee injury, I told my friend to try for a Brees/Henry swap. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't, but the important thing is that he's got a great trading chip in Brees, and he will be able to land a solid starter to pair with McAllister and either Betts or Jones.

Normally I say go in to the season with the guys you drafted. It only makes sense. If you wanted someone else, you should have drafted that person. If someone else wanted your player, they would have drafted that player. The only way to pull off a trade is to either:

A) Offer one position for another, usually of the same round value

B) Offer a player for another player taken a round or two later

C) Offer a player for another player taken higher, and throw in another high pick

Option A is obviously the best choice, but for this to work, you need someone who has a weakness that matches your strength, and a strength that matches your weakness. You'll be lucky if you find one in your league. However, if you're stuck in a desperate hole, then you've got no choice. Take your best strength and trade to upgrade your biggest weakness. You can lose your league on draft day, but you can also patch up some mistakes with smart moves during the season. Dealing from a strength to upgrade a weakness is always a smart move. You'llhave a rough road ahead if you want to compete, but you've still got a bit of a shot.

Tomorrow I will post my picks for Thursday's games.