Breaking Down The Draft. Part 2
In a Van Down By The Rivers
QB – (K) Rivers (22), Brees (53), Grossman (2)
I love Rivers this year. I have him at #4 behind Brees, Brady, and Rodgers. At $22 it is a great keeper value. Brees at 53 doesn’t have a whole lot of value but he is a great QB. To compare, I think he is a much better value than Rodgers at 65 and slightly worse than Brady at 48. Certainly the combo of Rivers and Brees is stellar. I really like Grossman if he can hold onto the job. I think he has the potential to be a high end #2 QB in this format.
RB – (K) Forte (18), Moreno (21), Woodhead (1), Hardesty (1), Williams (1), Brown (1)
Forte is another nice keeper at 18 for this team. I don’t like the Bears this year and it is mainly due to the offensive line, which should mean bad news for a RB but in this case they mostly have trouble with pass protection. This may actually help Forte catch more balls out of the backfield which should offset his decreased rushing yards. Moreno is who he is. I think we are beyond the hype that he carried with him the last few years. He is a low end number 2 starter without much upside. The rest of these guys are a crapshoot. Woodhead may catch enough balls to be worth a flex spot, but it is going to be very difficult to predict when to start him. I don’t know much about Hardesty but Brown and Williams certainly seem well past their primes.
WR – (K) Lloyd (3), Colston (25), Ocho (12), Jones (1)
The WR position looks very thin to me. Lloyd (a former Fighting Illini) finally had a break out year. Orton returning as the starter should certainly help, but you have to be worried about him being a one year wonder. I am way down on Colston this year. If Meachum steps up as I predict and Graham looking primed for a big year Colston may see a diminished roll, especially considering Brees likes to spread the ball around. 25 certainly seems too high. Two of my biggest busts this year are Ocho and Grant. The common denominator for them is that they were both nearly cut in the preseason. Ocho would have been worth a few bucks as a flyer but 12 is way over the mark. James Jones is a guy that I like for the Packers but he will need to see an injury to someone in front of him to truely be a factor.
TE – Gates (26) was drafted here. I love this guy. He is one of my elite 3 TEs. Obviously the question is his health. He is no spring chicken but when he is on he is the best in the game.
Schaub on the Kolb
QB – Kolb (16), Schaub (30), Dalton (1)
At the time he was drafted Schaub was the best QB out there in a tier by himself. I think 30 is too much for him but I can’t really argue either. I would not be shocked to see him finish in the top 5 but can’t imagine a scenerio where he is outside the top 12 QBs making him a very solid #1 QB. Dalton is a rookie who by all reports looked terrible in the preseason. The just doesn’t appear ready to start in the NFL and without a workhorse at RB to start the season he is in trouble. I am still not sure what to make of Kolb. The one big throw he made to Fitz in the preseason appeared to me to be underthrown. I just haven’t seen enough of the guy to have an opinion one way or the other. Plus he was injured last year which opened the way for Vick. Big time risk verses reward here.
RB – (K) Mendenhall (32), Addai (12), Lynch (20)
Only 3 RBs on the roster and all of them have question marks. We have seen Fighting Illini Mendenhall injured before. Mr. Mendenhall had well over 400 touches last season. I am worried about my boy. That being said, if he plays 16 games this year he has the talent and superior Illinois education to be the #1 fantasy back this season. Addai was a guy I had pretty high on my board. I wanted to grab him for less than 10 bucks. If I had a higher budget at the time he was drafted I might have gone for him. The story with Addai, as always is injury but this year he doesn’t even have Manning to steer the ship. The more I write about Manning the more I get the feeling we won’t see Peyton on the field this season. I don’t like Lynch at 5. I really don’t like him at 20. This team would look a whole lot better with two RBs at $12/13 and one less WR and no Lynch. RB depth will be this teams downfall.
WR – (K) Welker (24), (K) Manningham (3), Williams (tb) (28), Knox (5), Thomas (5), Nelson (5)
One of these recievers is going to have to be moved for RB depth, bottom line. Welker should be good, as he always is in a ppr format. Manningham is my favorite break out WR this year. It would not surprise me at all at the end of the year to see him as a top 5 WR. The TB Williams could be a break out player this year although 28 is way too much for my taste to find out. All told, it is a nice group of starters. I love what this team has on the bech as well. 3 guys in Knox, Thomas, and Nelson that are all high upside lottery tickets. That is exactly what you want in a draft like this. The bonus is that if one of these guys hits they will be an excellent keeper canidate as well.
Other – Olson (1) is the TE here. The best thing for Olson is getting out of Chicago where Cutler and Martz simply never look for the TE. Even if Olson doesn’t work out in Carolina there are plenty of guys on the bench to snatch up.
Drinkin NDrivin with Braylon
QB – Campbell (12), Collins (1), Jackson (1)
Talk about a collection of really bad QBs. I guess Campbell could be better in Oakland this year. I believe this is the first time that he has been on the same team with the same offensive coordinator for two years in a row. Even in Manning is out for the year, as I now have convinced myself that he is, Collins is still 73 years old. Jackson is horrible. Just leave the spot open so that you don’t get negative points from this guy.
RB – Johnson (71), Greene (15), Murray (1), Snelling (1)
I am not afraid of the holdout by Johnson. He is still the most explostive RB in the NFL who has a chance to break it open every time he touches the ball. If Hasselbeck is respectable things could get very nice for Johnson. I don’t like Greene. Some do, but they are wrong. I don’t know anything about Murray, but I do know I don’t like Felix Jones so you got that going for you. I really like Snelling. You will have to wait a couple weeks until Turner is injured but you have found a gem here. More depth here would be nice.
WR – Jackson (37), Jennings (47), Ward (3), Mason (1), Jones (1), Sims-Welker (1)
Stars and Scrubs here. Jackson, if he doesn’t hold out, should be great. Jennings is a guy I have owned a lot in the past and he drives me crazy. He tends to dissapear at times, but he is still an elite player. Mason is too old. I don’t know a whole lot about Jones. Sims-Welker could be a great buy for $1. The jury is still out if he can mesh with Bradford. Again depth is going to hurt here, which is why the rest of us chose to keep 3 players. Not sure the no keeper strategy worked out so well.
Other – I would not have paid 5 for Lewis, Garrard or no Garrard. Plenty of $1 options out there.
Raj’s Rockets
QB – (K) Romo (23), P. Manning (19), Flacco (12), Cutler (6)
With the Mannings news…. I still like this pick. At the time I didn’t love it. As I said I don’t think Peyton plays this year, but worst case scenerio he is a great keeper for next year at 19. If he does play, Peyton and Romo are a nice combo. Speaking of Romo I think applying the keeper tag here was a great move. He would have gone 30+ maybe even 40 in our draft. To back up those guys we have Flacco and Culter who are both solid #2 starters in my book. If the stars align both of these guys could climb into the top 10. I really like the depth and upside of this position.
RB – (K) Blount (2), Wells (21), Thomas (9), LT (2)
Blount is another great keeper. I see him more as a #2 than a #1 RB but he certainly has high upside. Wells on the other hand I hate. He is not good. I don’t care if there is no real back up in Arizona. The guy stinks. Thomas is the rookie in Miami who isn’t any good either. I could be wrong, since I actually haven’t seen him play, but everything I have read said he looks tentative. Some even said he does not look like an NFL player. That is not good news. LT for 2, he could repeat the magic of last season. Well, the magic he had the first half of the season. Depth is needed badly here.
WR – Rice (13), Austin (34), Harvin (14), Maclin (20), Garcon (5), Crabtree (4)
I really wanted to pull the trigger on Austin. In retrospect I wish I would have. He is still a number 1 reciever despite Dez Bryant looking like a break out candidate. Speaking of high upside depth, Rice, Harvin, and Maclin are all the same player to me. #2 WR options who would not shock me if they finish in the top 8. Personally I would try to move one of them for some RB depth. I don’t really like Gacon or Crabtree but wouldn’t be shocked if either had a break out season. Again, if the depth at this postion could be turned into one more quality RB I see a successful playoff run this year and a lot of keepers for next season.
TE – (K) Whitten (11) is a great value here. Top 3 at his postion for 11. Not bad at all.
Rollin with Bollin
QB – (K) Bradford (4), (K) Freeman (5), McNabb (8), Smith (3)
I love the keepers here. Bradford and Freeman are about the same fantasy player to me. Neither has a ton of weapons but both have a lot of talent. McNabb could be a great safety net in one of the young guns underperforms or is injured. I really like him at 8. Alex Smith stinks every year and every year before week 1 we all think that perhaps, just maybe he puts it all together this year. Then we realize that he stinks and move on. Well Bollin is rolling the dice again here, at least its only 3 bucks
RB – Grant (32), Matthews (19), Law Firm (18), Stewart (6), Torian (2)
This team had it all going for them. Then Bollin went and screwed it up. Come on Bollin, I expected better. $32 for Grant. I had him listed at $5 on my sheet. THE GUY ALMOST GOT CUT. Starks is the running back you want in Green Bay, not this bum. Molly should smack you upside the head for pulling the trigger on this guy. Next, Ryan Matthews. He stinks. He is not good. He is injury prone. He is bad. Green-Ellis had a great season last year. If anyone wants to bet the over on 8 games of double digit fantasy points (that was his number last year) I’m listening. I guess Stewart would be okay if Williams is injured. Ryan Torian… I actually like him for 2. So dissapointed in you Kris.
WR – (K) White (33), Wallace (36), Roy Williams (2), Breaston (7), Ford (3)
Roddy White is a stud. Team him up with Wallace and you have yourself a great 1/2 combo. The problem of course is that we start 3 recievers. Roy Williams is horrible. I know he only went for 2 but you would have to pay me to draft that bum. Breaston is a decent flyer. I think he could have a big year. Jacoby Ford is also a nice little sleeper for 3.
Other – Daniels (6) was injured most of last year and for 6 is worth the gamble here.
STEVE LIVE DOMINATION
QB – (K) CASSEL (5), FITZPATRICK (9), HENNE (3)
THE CASSEL INJURY DOES NOT BOTHER ME. IT MIGHT HURT A BIT IF HE DOESNT PLAY WEEK ONE BUT I THINK HE WILL BE SOLID THIS YEAR. FITZ IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE QB SLEEPERS THIS YEAR. I WISH HE WERE ON MY TEAM BUT I JUST DIDNT HAVE THE MONEY WHEN HE WENT OFF THE BOARD. BOLD PREDICTION – FITZPATRICK FINISHES THE YEAR WITH MORE FANTASY POINTS THAN EITHER MANNING BROTHER. HENNE STINKS. I KEEP THINKING HE WILL BE GOOD BUT HE NEVER IS.
RB – RICE (67), THOMAS (7), JONES (2), TOLBERT (11), R. WILLIAMS (1)
RAY RICE WILL BE A MONSTER THIS YEAR. HE CLAIMS HE IS GOING TO BE GETTING THE GOAL LINE CARRIES THIS YEAR. IF THAT IS TRUE I HAVE NO PROBLEM PROJECTING HIM AS A TOP 3 RB THIS YEAR. PIERRE THOMAS, FIGHTING ILLINI, IS AWESOME. THE NEWS OF HIS FANTASY DEATH HAS BEEN GROSSLY OVERRATED. THE GUY IS STILL A STUD. INGRAM IS NOT THAT GOOD. THOMAS WILL FINISH THE YEAR WITH THE MOST POINTS BY A SAINTS RUSHER, NO QUESTION. THOMAS JONES HOWEVER IS OLD. I RESPECT WHAT THE GUY DID LAST YEAR FOR THE CHIEFS BUT HE CANT DO IT AGAIN. TOLBERT WILL BE GREAT THIS YEAR. BOLLIN SHOULD OFFER YOU MATTHEWS TO YOU STRAIGHT UP FOR HIM AND YOU SHOULD THEN PROCEDE TO LAUGH AT HIM. NOT REALLY SURE WHAT YOU WERE THINKING WITH THE RICKY WILLIAMS PICK. BETTER OPTIONS WERE OUT THERE FOR A BUCK.
WR – (K) BESS (1), A. JOHNSON (70), BOLDIN (13), EVENS (4), EDWARDS (1)
I LIKE BESS A LOT IN MIAMI EVEN WITH HENNE AS THE QB. WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT BETTER IF THEY WOULD HAVE MADE THE TRADE FOR ORTON. YOU STOLE MY ANDRE JOHNSON. I THINK YOU OVERSPENT FOR A GUY WHO SPENT A LOT OF THE SEASON INJURED LAST YEAR BUT HE IS A FANTASY STUD. BOLDIN IS A GUY I WAS TARGETING THIS YEAR. I THINK YOU DID VERY WELL TO GRAB HIM AT 13. EVENS IS YET ANOTHER GUY THAT WAS ON MY LIST. I CHOOSE THE UPSIDE OF BROWN OVER EVENS BUT AGAIN I THINK YOU DID WELL HERE. TO FINISH THINGS OFF YOU GRABBED A GREAT LOTTERY PICK IN EDWARDS. I RECALL 3 YEARS AGO THAT HE WAS CONSIDERED A TOP 5 PICK. HE IS OBVIOUSLY NOT THAT ANY MORE BUT CERTAINLY HAS SKILLS.
OTHER – WINSLOW (2), MILLER (2), (K) RAVENS (1) THE TES ARE FINE. LOVE THE FACT THAT ONE OF YOUR KEEPERS WAS A DEFENSE. HOPEFULLY YOU WILL HAVE MORE TO WORK WITH NEXT YEAR.
That does it boys and girls. Hope you enjoyed it.
