Sport Chit Chat

Hello all you fantasy maniacs out there. As many of us are days, if not mere hours away from our NFL fantasy drafts, it is time to do the diligent research and preparation that is needed to come out on top. Sure, you have the classic ways of getting prepared; using magazines, websites and sleeper suggestions. However, I have found a great way to get yourself in the fantasy groove and that strategy is doing a Mock Draft. A mock draft is a draft just for fun, but it helps a lot in getting a feel for where certain marquee players will go, and also, how late your super sleeper will fall. The greatest part is, mock drafts are free as ROTOworld is offering free mock drafts off their website. Click here to access the mock draft home page. The only stipulation is that you don’t time out, this is annoying and Rotoworld will lock you out of the draft. If the draft doesn’t fill, don’t worry as the computer takes the highest ranked player at their pick. This turns out to be goo because if people are staying away from a guy it is nice to see when the rankling system thinks said player should be off the board.

Ok, so I did a mock draft. You can view it by clicking here. Print it and use it as a depth chart or help if you wish. I elected to have last pick to see who would slip to the last pick in a 10 team draft. My team name is “Maxmillien.” The league is QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, K, DEF with standard scoring. The draft was 15 rounds long. My team turned out as follows:

1st Round:WR Terrell Owens (DAL)
2nd: RB Frank Gore (SF)
3rd: RB Brandon Jacobs (NYG)
4th: WR Steve Smith (CAR)
5th: WR Laveranues Coles (NYJ)
6th: WR Jerricho Cotchery (NYJ)
7th: TE Ben Watson (NE)
8th: RB Chester Taylor (MIN)
9th: RB Ahmad Bradshaw (NYG)
10th: QB Brett Favre (NYJ)
11th: Dallas Defense
12th: TE Alge Crumpler (TEN)
13th: QB Aaron Rogers (GB)
14th: WR Devin Hester (CHI)
15th: K Nick Folk (DAL)

If this were my team going into the season I would feel fairly good about the situation. I have two solid running backs as Gore eats up a lot of yards and Jacobs is good because the NYG are a very run defendant team. I grabbed Bradshaw late to avoid injury loss of Jacobs and especially like my nabbing of Chester Taylor in the 8th round as Adrian Peterson is an obvious injury risk. I may be forced to drop one of the back-up running backs at some point but I think there good to go into the season with. I would also dangle Taylor in front the team that chose Adrian Peterson and see what he’d give up to have the RB insurance. I think my faults in the draft may be the WR spot, but not by much. I have a very strong #1 wide out in Terrell Owens and if Steve Smith can gain back any of his previous prowess I’d have a solid #2. In hindsight I probably should have taken New England WR Wes Welker, but having a former 1st rounder available in round 4 was too much to pass on. As for my #3 reciever, I have the chosen to pick from whichever Jet’s receiver becomes Favre’s go to guy. Brett has to throw to someone, and with both Coles and Cotchery I’m guaranteed that production. I also nabbed Hester as a sleeper in the 14th round. Coming off a career year and new contract I think low risk (late round choice) high reward (possible #1 receiver).

I also ended up with a decent TE core of Ben Watson and Alge Crumpler. I didn’t plan on taking another TE, but when Crumpler was still on the board in round 12 I had no other choice. A back-up TE is not necessary but I think with Crumpler there it becomes worth it. When drafting I always think about possible post-draft trades. A motto I always go with is if you’re not sure what you want with a pick, just grab the best player available, you can always trade them later. (For example, in this mock draft two teams picked TE’s very late, 15th and 13th round. I would offer them Crumpler and upgrade another one of my positions in a 2 for 1 swap.)

Finally, the quarterback. QB’s went early and then sporadically with Brady going at 4th pick by the computer and Manning and Romo going in mid to late second round. Brees went in the 3rd round with Big Ben and Palmer going in the 5th. Derek Anderson went next in the 6th and then Garrard fell off the board in the 8th round. Then came the flury. In the next two rounds Hasselbeck, McNabb, Favre, Cutler & Bulger were selected. They were followed by Schaub, Young, Delhomme, Eli Manning, Aaron Rogers, Jason Campbell with Rivers, Kitna and Tavaris Jackson dropping to the last round. From this information one could draw the conclusion that decent to good quarterbacks are available in the late rounds. If you don’t take one of the elite QB’s, Brady, Payton and Romo (in my eyes) then it is worth it to sit on a taking a QB and making the RB and WR positions stronger. I think Romo in round 2 is a large stretch and would stay away from making that pick. I grabbed Favre and Rogers a back-up (fancy them meeting up again). Favre is a risk-reward type guy as he could put up great numbers with the Jets. His INT’s are a bit frustrating so I can understand staying away from Mr. Favre. I also like Rogers as a risk-reward kinda guy. He has tremendous up-side as the Pack could win the division and with wins will come some decent throwing games. Sure the Pack will lean on the run this year but Rogers will have to throw to make the Packer offense effective.

As for Defense and Kicker I went both Dallas. Folk is on a team that will score a lot and so those Extra Points could add up. Additionally, the Dallas defense is nothing to mock at and should not be a hindrance to my team. I did take them high, in round 11 and could have just waited and taken a different defense later. The top ranked Minnesota D went in the 9th round in case anyone gunning for them was interested.

After completing the mock draft I think a solid strategy is to sure up the RB position first, unless T.O. or Moss slips to you in a late first round pick situation. There is more depth at WR and not as much in the starting RB position. Also, QB’s fell and you could consider just holding off and take a late flier on Favre, Bulger, Vince Young or the like as all QB will put up similar numbers from week to week (200 yards, 1-2 TD’s, 1 INT). Young does help in the running yards area so his versatility could be useful.

As for sleepers, I found that Steve Smith in the 4th was a good pick, as well as Michael Turner in a starting role is a good pick in the same round. Marvin Harrison slipped to the 5th round as did Anquan Boldin (although recent trade rumors makes me want to stay from him). Tony Gonzalez was the 8th TE taken and not until the 8th round. Todd Heap also fell to a 9th round pick. Someone grabbed Patrick Crayton (2nd Dallas WR) in round 11 which I think was a fantastic pick. Good Luck with your draft and remember, don’t take a kicker till the last round!

-Fantasy Guru Maxmillien