@Dreamteam_Guru DPP Def/Mid #2 – Jason Gram, St Kilda $349,700

Guru rated 42^nd player in the league.

I have previously thought Gram to be over rated, and in our system game Supercoach, I might be right.  He kicks looks great when he gets the ball and kicks in 60 metres into attack, but more commonly than not it results in turnovers.

This year, he seems a bit cheap to me.  Maybe the folks at Champion Data feel the same way as me?

What really cemented Gram into my side this year was his ability to shift between mid and defence to help me out when other teams have the bye.  Like Heppell (yesterday’s BLOG), Gram will be a good stock gap when bigger names are out.  Unlike Heppell, Gram won’t be fighting for a starting berth on my team. Over the last 3 years, Gram has averaged 85 and played 22 games a season.  That’s good numbers for a defender at this price.

Game time is guaranteed as St Kilda love him.

Let’s compare him to other people around him in my ranking system.

39. Sam Gilbert (217.667)
40. Ryan Griffin (217)
41. Matt Priddis (216.333)
42. Jason Gram (216)
43. Heath Scotland (214.667)
44. Andrew Carazzo (214)
45. James Kelly (214)

2 other defender/midfielders in this regions along with a defender/forward.  Sam Gilbert is the Defender/Forward, and I haven’t used the ability to swap from defence to a forward in my planning in this year’s DT.  If I did, he would be a forward for me this year.

Griffin and Priddis annoy me.  Priddis over handballs and Griffin can be great, but has a bit of the Jarod Brennan’s about him – highly gifted, highly erratic.

James Kelly would be a decent pick, but with a new coach and no Ablett, I’m not too eager to pick Geelong players this year without seeing their game plan.

Scotland has age against him.  Over 30 means that if Carlton don’t have the season they are expecting, they may drop him for youth.

The choice of Carazzo Vs Gram is a tough one.  What nails it for me is that Carlton have a bye during dream team finals.  As such, I would need to cover him in a super important game.  Gram doesn’t have a bye in the last 4 games of the season, so he is my option here.

BLOG written by twitter’s @Dreamteam_Guru – for feedback please post on twitter.