Daunte Culpepper was the first quarterback taken, but not until late in the first round. Elsa/Getty Images

After a successful debut last year, the SI.com Fantasy Football Experts League returned for 2004 with a draft on Aug. 16 pitting some of the top fantasy experts and writers against each other for fantasy glory.

Richard Harris of FantasyFootballExperts.com returns to defend his title against these other experts: Kirk Bouyelas, Ryan Houston and Greg Kellogg from FantasyAsylum.com; James Quintong and B. Duane Cross from SI.com; Corey Roberts and Sam Lubeck from STATS, Inc.; Mike Nazarek of FFMastermind.com; Dave Gawron from CREATiVESPORTS.com; Bob Harris from Fantasy Sports Publications; and Joe Levit of TheHuddle.com.

The scoring system is as follows:

• Passing: 4 points/TD; 1 point for every 25 yards passing; 1 point for 2-point conversion pass
• Rushing/Receiving: 6 points/TD; 1 point for every 10 yards rushing or receiving; 2 points for each 2-point conversion
• Kicking: 3 points for every field goal; 1 point for every extra point
• Defense/Special Teams: 6 points for every return TD; 2 points for every fumble recovery, interception or blocked kick; 1 point for every sack.

Each team starts one quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, one tight end, one kicker and one defense/special teams each week.

The draft was a standard 16-round, serpentine draft, with no trades of picks, although deals could be made officially after the draft.

Here is a rundown of the draft, with analysis of each round. Coming soon, each of the participants in the draft will have analysis of their own teams. And check back throughout the season as I keep everyone abreast of how the league is going.

Round 1: Not surprisingly, the first nine picks were running backs. That's about par for the course for leagues like this. Moss being taken after that is also no stunner, but Culpepper going after that is a slight surprise -- but he does have the potential for huge points on a weekly basis.

Round 2: Again, there was a run on backs, although at least studs like Marvin Harrison and Peyton Manning were also taken here. Cross hopes Vick will do more for him this year than last, when he took the Falcons' QB in the first round -- just days before he broke his leg.

Round 3: There were a bunch of receivers taken, but no real run emerged here. It's not a big surprise that Tony Gonzalez was taken early, given how far ahead he is of everyone else at tight end.

Round 4: Surprisingly, Todd Heap comes up here not too far after Gonzalez. Otherwise, it was the same mix of receivers, riskier running backs and a top-flight quarterback as the last round.

Round 5: Kellen Winslow has moved way up the tight end list to sneak his way into the flurry of receivers in this round. However, many of us were stunned to see Tiki Barber still sticking around this late, given this league's emphasis on running backs.

Round 6: A mini-run on quarterbacks punctuated this round, including Cross taking Favre to back up Vick, although he later traded him for Emmitt Smith. Jeremy Shockey fell a bit, taken as the fifth tight end overall.

Round 7: The first defense gets taken here, but the Ravens seem to be worth it. But after a flood of receivers, here come the backup running backs, starting with Ron Dayne, who helped his value with a strong preseason opener against the Chiefs.

Round 8: Oddly enough, seven running backs were taken in a row and nine total in the round, making it seem like the first round. But depth at running back is important, and it seemed most teams wanted it at that point. That's how backups like Onterrio Smith and Willis McGahee go ahead of players like Keyshawn Johnson.

Round 9: The inevitable tight end run took place here, interrupted by a brief receiver binge. It's interesting to see both of Indianapolis' tight ends taken back to back, which shows how much the Colts use them in their offense.

Round 10: The first two kickers were taken here, but this round also saw a couple of deep sleepers at receiver -- the Niners' Brandon Lloyd (someone has to catch passes there) and the Bears' Justin Gage.

Round 11: Bring on the No. 2 quarterbacks as seven were taken in this round. QBs aren't as highly valued in this league, which is why it takes until the 11th round to see starting signal callers taken as backups, but the DeShaun Fosters and Moe Williamses of the world get taken much earlier. This is also a good round to take an injured player as bench help, just in case, as seen here with Anquan Boldin.

Round 12: More depth and the filling of kicker and defensive spots here. It's a bit surprising to see Peter Warrick last this late.

Round 13: A handful of decent wide receiver bargains were found here as many went back to filling out depth at that position late in the draft.

Round 14: Kellogg took an interesting flyer on Ricky Williams. If he changes his mind, Kellogg has a steal. If not, he's taken so late that it won't matter if he gets dropped when he needs to get a free agent.

Round 15: Lots of kickers, defenses and tight ends here to fill out rosters. But Roberts took a nice flyer on Eli Manning, who might start and should have his ups and downs. You could do worse for a third quarterback.

Round 16: At this point, you're either filling out the roster or taking shots on anything. Richard Harris took a solid gamble on Kerry Collins, who could emerge as Oakland's starter, while Lubeck is guessing on Philip Rivers, who isn't even in camp yet. There were also three rookie receivers taken here in Reggie Williams, Keary Colbert and Lee Evans. At this point, why not?

James Quintong is Fantasy Sports Producer at SI.com.