I’ve been doing mock drafts all over the place, but we are getting oh so close to the lockout being OVER and I need me some fantasy football. I did a little .5 ppr mock drafting with the dudes from Rotoworld (Who are pretty good guys actually. But don’t tell them I said that). And it was good to see what some of the ‘perts are thinking about players. Here’s round one for your perusal and schmerschmusal if that’s really a word. (it isn’t)
ROUND 1
1. Arian Foster (Mark St. Amant): You can’t go wrong with Foster at #1. He’s my #1 back and for good reason. Good reason!
2. Chris Johnson (Pat Daughtery): I like JC and AP more, but I have these first 5 guys all in the same tier so I’m ok with this pick, but not as ok as I would be if it was All Day Purpley Jesus.
3. Jamaal Charles (Evan Silva): You know I am a disciple of JC Superstar. I told you to add him in September of 2009! Did you? I hope so.
4. Adrian Peterson (Gregg Rosenthal): He’s my #2 RB so I love him here. His consistency makes him hard to pass on. I mean for reals yo.
5. Ray Rice (me) I think I like the #5 pick because it’s hard to wrong here. I have 5 running backs in my first tier so there’s no way I can miss getting one I like and I don’t have to wait as long for my second pick, like I would from the 1 hole. I see a rebound season from Rice no matter what happens with McGahee, but if Willis leaves it does make Rice even more valuable than he is now. The offense runs through Rice and will continue to do so.
6. Andre Johnson (Chris Howland): So far the draft is going pretty much according to plan. I usually like to go with running backs at this point when I can, but AJ is safe and a stud and at .5 ppr he gets kicked up a notch. BAM! (old joke #1) If receivers had a better fantasy point ceiling AJ would be a top 3 pick, but alas, running backs just score more, even in ppr.
7. Calvin Johnson (Ryan): I love Megatron and he is my 2nd ranked receiver and I think he’s also a first rounder, but I’m probably going with McFadden, McCoy or Mendenhall here instead. Mmmmm, that’s uh tasty RB’s sandwich!
8. Michael Vick (Chris Wesseling): Vick’s upside is as the #1 overall pick and that’s hard for me to say since picking a quarterback anywhere near the first round hurts me deep down. But I just can’t risk it. His upside is contingent on him running and running a lot and that leaves him open for multiple forearm shivers. This NFL game is making it easier and easier for quarterbacks to stay healthy, but mainly the ones that lollygag around in the pocket. Will he go all 16 games and break all kinds of records? He just might. Will he miss games due to injury? I think he will. If he misses one or two he’ll still be worth a high pick, but he could be out longer. I’m going to take my risks elsewhere.
9. LeSean McCoy (Adam Levitan): At .5 ppr McCoy gets a bump here. At 1 ppr he gets a big ol’ bump. The Eagles offense is perfect for him. Just think, as a defender you have to worry about Michael Vick all of the time and whoops, there goes Shady. Or there goes Vick back to pass, wait, is he running? Yes, wait, no, he just threw it to that guy! Shady!
10. Darren McFadden (Josh Palgon): DMac also gets a bump in ppr and is just a bad mamma jamma. Michael Bush is staying in Oakland unless they want to trade him, which they don’t, so he’ll take some looks away, but DMC is the main man. I’d take him here too.
11. Frank Gore (L.J. Rader): Here we get a little iffier, but in ppr it’s hard not to be tempted by Gore. I’d probably go with Roddy White, because he’s safer, but Gore has more upside if he can hold up for a whole season, but that’s a NFL revenue sized if.
12. Maurice Jones-Drew (Josh Vitale): I’m skipping on MJD in the first round (and elsewhere) even in ppr. I can think of many safer options here. He scares me! He’s so short and muscley!
Check out Adam Levitan’s take of the first three rounds here.
