Sweep the Leg Draft Analysis

I use this blog mostly for fantasy football write-ups and things of that nature, but every once in a while I’ll write something because I am bored and put it up here. Most of you Florida people know this so just ignore it. But that’s just a head’s up for the non-followers. Anyways, during the season this will be a strictly fantasy football related site. If anyone wants writing privileges let me know. Otherwise posts might not be as frequent as the last couple of years. Alright, without further ado, one idiot’s completely biased draft review

Round 1

Best Pick: Maurice Jones Drew by I’m All Out of Gum-- Coming into the draft, MJD was a near consensus top 4 pick. And while a decent argument could be made for the backs who went before him, the fact of the matter is MJD is no longer splitting carries with Fred Taylor and will be the featured back for the first time in his career. The Jaguars’ offensive line was decimated by injuries last year, but this year they have a new stud left tackle and a now healthy line. I see a return of the 2007 Jaguars ground game, one in which Fred Taylor and MJD complied huge rushing numbers, only this time with many more touches for MJD. By the way, there is no bigger Jags fan than me, so this opinion is potentially (extremely) biased.

Questionable Pick: Peyton Manning by Pissing Excellence—I like Peyton Manning. I just don’t like him in the first round, and I definitely don’t like him before Tom Brady. This is a reach by any stretch of the imagination. I could see the argument being made that Manning wouldn’t have been available when this owner’s picks came back around, but I don’t think that justifies passing on picks like Steve Slaton, Randy Moss, or the aforementioned Brady.

Notes: The fall of Steven Jackson is a strange one. Being one of the owners who passed on him, I can only guess that his injury history played a huge role in his free fall. I know that’s the reason I passed on him. Interestingly enough, Rickety Cricket (Eric’s team) picked both Jackson and Frank Gore. Two backs with lots of upside, but a litany of health concerns. I’d say this is going to go really well or really poorly, but more than likely they both end up having nagging injuries and finish with average seasons, just like the last couple of year. Also, I think Eric has autodrafted every year he has played and yet has always ended up with Frank Gore one way or another.

Round 2

Best Pick: Steve Slaton by Michael Scott Paper Company- The risk with taking a QB in round 1 is that you miss out on an elite RB or WR, positions that generally have less depth than QB due to league requirements. However, Michael Scott Paper Company was able to grab the best QB in round 1 and still get a top tier (or second tier if you consider Adrian Peterson to be in a tier by himself) RB in round 2. One that may have more upside than a few of the backs that went before him.

Questionable Pick: Greg Jennings by Team Big Ass Tits- After, taking Andre Johnson in Round 1 and going with the WR-WR opening strategy, it will be interesting to see if passing on Steve Slaton will come back to haunt this owner. If Slaton had been gone, I can understand passing on the remaining running backs in favor of grabbing another WR since there are so few elite ones, I’m just not sure if Jennings was the best option when Randy Moss, Steve Smith, and Reggie Wayne were left on the board.

Round 3

Best pick: Brian Westbrook by Cleveland Steamers- If you can stomach the ever questionable injury status of Brian Westbrook, you could have a potential top 5 RB on your hands—when he plays. Last season Westbrook finished with more fantasy points than Clinton Portis, Brandon Jacobs, Frank Gore, Chris Johnson and MJD. He also had games of 21, 27, 32, 37, and 32 fantasy points. Of course he also had games of 1, 5, 7, 3, 6, and 4 as well. And that doesn’t even count the two games he missed entirely. Still, despite the injury and age concerns (he turns 30 this season—not exactly a good age for an RB) he is an excellent value for round 3.

Questionable Pick: Willie Parker by Pissing Excellence- Perhaps its not fair to pick on a team that autodrafted, but I’m doing it anyway. The 3^rd round saw a lot of the middle of the road running backs come off the board. Almost all of the backs offer some kind of risk but also come with pretty good upside. Except for Willie Parker. Fast Willie has to contend with a subpar offensive line, and a now healthy Rashard Mendenhall stealing goal line carries from him. Not that Parker was all that successful in finding the endzone last year as he had 5 the entire year, and just 2 in his last 15 games.

Round 4

Best Pick: Darren McFadden by Team H- McFadden is being hyped by a lot of “experts” as being set to have a break out year. I don’t know about all that, he does play for the Raiders after all, but the potential is certainly there. With Jamarcus Russell at QB (at least until Jeff Garcia takes over like he does everywhere else he goes) the Raiders will have no choice but to run and run some more, a situation that will no doubt be favorable for McFadden. He was hurt most of last year but he’s supposed to be healthy now and if he can come even close to demonstrating why he was a top 5 pick in the NFL two years ago, he’ll be a steal in Round 4.

Questionable Pick: Earnest Graham by Wax on Wax Off—Talk out of Tampa Bay is that the Bucs are going to be using a three back system this year. And if Cadillac Williams is healthy (admittedly a BIG if), its likely that Graham will be the third of those three backs. If he ends up as the goal line back, there will be value here. He was good two years ago, and kind of serviceable last year, but with Derrick Ward on the team now, my guess is that he’d be hard pressed to live up to being taken in the 4^th round.

Round 5

Best Pick: Marshawn Lynch by Hell on Earth Maddawg- Beast Mode is great value here in round 5. I know he slipped due to the three game suspension to start the season, but when he actually plays he is definitely one of the better backs in the league. After the suspension is over, Hell on Earth Maddawg will have gotten a number two back with number one potential in the 5^th round.

Questionable Pick: Fat LenDale White by Pissing Excellence- White had 15 touchdowns last year serving mainly as the goal line back for the Titans. But after cutting out tequila and dropping 30 pounds, one has to question whether or not he’ll have the bulk to power into the endzone this season. I don’t know, maybe the Titans can put burgers and fries behind the endzone at all home games. That may give him a little extra motivation. But don’t think I’m completely down on White. In 2005 he was involved in one of the most ridiculous pranks I’ve heard of in quite some time. There used to be video of the whole thing but I can’t find it, so here is an abbreviated version of the story: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2211556

Round 6

Best Pick: Matt Schaub by Rickety Cricket- Schaub is the last of the big time QB’s who weren’t irrationally benched by their coach last year. He threw for over 3000 yards in just 11 games last season, and with weapons like Andre Johnson and Steve Slaton on the field with him, he has the potential to put up big numbers this year. The big question with Schaub is whether or not he’ll be able to stay healthy. He hasn’t done it yet, and another year of injuries might cause Houston to look in another direction at QB for the 2010 season. For that reason alone, one would think that he will do everything he can to stay on the field this year.

Questionable Pick: Cedric Benson by Team Big Ass Tits- I understand that he is a starting running back and therefore has inherent value, but he’s Cedric Fucking Benson. He only scored more than 7 points four times last year. A couple of big games last year may indicate some potential, but this is definitely a draft at your own risk kind of player. Let’s ask the numerous Bears fans in this league how they feel about him.

Round 7

Best Pick: Knowshon Moreno by Michael Scott Paper Company- drafting a Denver running back is always a blessing and a curse. If you end up with a Mike Anderson, Olandis Gary, or even a Mike Bell for one season you are extremely happy. But if you end up with Travis Henry (he of the 9 kids by 9 women) or Selvin Young, happy is something you are not. That being said, Moreno is a first round pick who many people feel has rookie of the year potential. Maybe with Shanahan gone the Denver running game won’t be the same, but with the immortal

Kyle Orton at QB, I cannot imagine a scenario where Denver doesn’t run the ball a lot.

Questionable Pick: Stephen Gostkowski by Cleveland Steamers- Patriots kicker or not, drafting a kicker this early is giving up ridiculous value with respect to other positions in the draft.

Round 8

Best Pick: Donald Brown by Pretty Pink Ponies- I like Donald Brown a lot. Check that. I LOVE Donald Brown. I did a few mock drafts before this draft, and in every one of them I took Donald Brown. I think at the very worst he is Dominic Rhodes in that Indy offense, which would amount to something like 800 or 900 yards combined rushing and receiving and maybe 8-10 total touchdowns. Best case scenario, Brown beats out the injury prone Joseph Addai and is the starting running back for one of the most prolific offenses in the league. I may be wrong, but I think this pick is simply outstanding. I’ll say it again, I love Donald Brown. If only I had the chance to take him in this draft…

Questionable Pick: Big Ben by ME- Oh wait, I did have a chance to take Donald Brown. I still can’t figure out what I was thinking with this pick. Its not like I could have thought Donald Brown would make it all the way back to me in Round 9. As a Jags fan, I hate the Steelers, so there was no team loyalty involved. Maybe I didn’t want to take Bradshaw and Brown with back to back picks. Maybe McNabb’s injury history scared me and I wanted to draft a decent backup with a crappy O-line. I don’t know. The draft was only two days ago, but I look at this pick and cannot fathom what made me do this. I hate myself. Let’s just move on before I kill myself.

Round 9

Best Pick: Fred Taylor by Hell On Earth MADDAWG- Someone has to score some rushing TD’s in New England, and it may as well be Fred Taylor. Taylor hasn’t exactly been a touchdown scoring machine throughout his career but New England revived the career of Corey Dillon so maybe it will have the same effect on this aging running back. After all, he is only one year removed from a Pro Bowl season. This might be last season for the Best Jaguar Ever, and I can see him putting up one final vintage Freddy T season.

I also really liked the Lance Moore pick by Team Doe.

Questionable Pick: Neil Rackers by Wax On Wax Off- Never draft a kicker before the end of the draft. Kickers are all the same. They should never ever be drafted before the last two rounds. Preferably the very last round.

Round 10

Best Pick: Derrick Mason by Me- Not the “sexiest” of picks, but with Mason I know what I’m getting. At the end of the season he’ll have close to 1000 yards and 5 or 6 TD’s. Guaranteed. Unless of course, he retires again.

Questionable Pick: Jeff Reed by Wax on Wax Off- Not just no backup kickers before the end of the draft. No backup kickers ever.

Round 11

Best Pick: David Garrard by Pissing Excellence- Let’s ignore for the moment that Pissing Excellence somehow managed to draft 4 quarterbacks, and instead focus on the fact that the team managed to get a top 10 QB from last year in the 11^th round. That’s right, top 10. And Garrard’s top receiver last year was an honest to goodness crackhead. This season brings a fully healthy O-line, Torry Holt, and a slew of talented rookie receivers. Garrard should hover around the top 10 again this year.

Questionable Pick: Ryan Longwell by Big Ass Tits- NO KICKERS!

Round 12

Best Pick: Julius Jones by Hell On Earth Maddawg- Anytime you can get a starting RB in round 12, that’s good value. Yes, even if that back is Julius Jones.

Questionable Pick: Kevin Curtis by Me- Just read a news story that he’s been hurt and might not even make the team. I should have taken a kicker.

Round 13

Best Pick: Laurence Moroney by Big Ass Tits and Glen Coffee for Rickety Cricket- Maroney used to go in the top 2 rounds of the draft so its almost hard to believe that he has fallen this far. Of course, his numbers justify this fall to some extent. But in an offense that could put up record numbers once again, someone will have to score the rushing touchdowns. A round 13 flyer on Maroney makes a lot of sense.

I also wanted to note that despite being on Autodraft, Rickety Cricket somehow managed to draft Glenn Coffee, the handcuff to Frank Gore. With Gore’s injury history and Coffee’s legitimate ability as a running back, this was a great pick.

Questionable Pick: Everyone who drafted a kicker

Round 14

Best Pick: Jeremy Shockey by Wax On Wax Off- Shockey used to be considered an elite TE. I can’t really remember how long ago that was, but people used to be legitimately excited to draft him. With Drew Brees slinging the ball all over the field, there is at least a chance that Shockey can drunkenly stumble his way into 600 yards and 6 or 7 TDS.

Questionable Pick: You know who you are.

Round 15

Best Pick: Bears by Team Doe- This is why you can wait until the end to draft a defense.

Questionable Pick: Michael Crabtree by Cleveland Steamers- As of this writing Crabtree is threatening to sit out the whole season unless he gets paid more than Darrius Heyward-Bey, even though Heyward-Bey was drafted before him. Even if he signs tomorrow, he still won’t be ready to play meaningful snaps until the second half of the season, and definitely won’t be able to beat out Josh Morgan this year.

Round 16

Best Pick: Everyone who took a kicker.

Questionable Pick: Everyone who didn’t

If you made it to the end, you must have been really bored. Thanks for reading.

First image is from: http://www.zazzle.com/eat_sleep_fantasy_football_sticker-217930379569743595