You’re preparing for your fantasy draft and maybe have even participated in a few by now. I’ve participated in one or two or fifty-seven myself, including one on Thursday night. The fine folks over at fantasyknuckleheads.com invited Razzball to be a part of an experts fantasy draft, and since I’m the resident knucklehead, I went ahead and represented Razzball in this draft. If you consider yourself a Razzballer, then I’m representing your kind in this draft. I understand if you want to call me a middlefingerhead after reading this.
This here link is the draft in all it’s glory if you’d like to follow along. This league is PPR scoring.
Round 1 – Roddy White (10th overall): Considering four of the top ten non-QB PPR scorers last season were wide receivers, I made it a priority to target top tier wideouts throughout this draft. Roddy White finished second to only Arian Foster in PPR scoring last year among non-QBs. Rowdy Roddy won’t catch 115 balls again, but he should get upwards of 90+ catches. That along with his expected stud-like yardage and TD numbers make him a solid pick in the ten hole of a PPR draft.
Round 2 – Steven Jackson (15th overall): It killed me to take Jackson over Larry Fitzgerald, but I would have been looking at a Ryan Mathews/Felix Jones type backfield had I gone WR/WR with the first two picks. I felt I had to go RB here and Jackson was the best of the bunch. Hopefully his back holds up to produce another 45+ reception, 1,600+ yard season. That’s asking a lot and I don’t know if he can do it. This is the pick I’m most worried about.
Round 3 – Vincent Jackson (34th overall): Sticking with my strategy of drafting top wideouts in this draft, I was thrilled to see Vincent Jackson fall to the 34th overall pick. Working with a Pro Bowl QB who loves to throw down field will produce a big season from VJax. Antonio Gates has that whole plantar fasciitis thing too, which would boost Jackson’s potential if Gates misses any time. This pick makes me feel better about passing on Larry Fitzgerald in round two.
Round 4 – Jahvid Best (39th overall): It’s a small sample size, but in the two games Jahvid Best was 100% healthy last season he had 14 catches, 268 total yards, and 5 TDs. He finished the year with 80 targets (4th among RBs) and 58 receptions (6th among RBs) despite battling turf toe issues all season. If he’s even remotely healthy, his upside is off the charts in a PPR league. He’s boom or bust, but I couldn’t pass on him here.
Round 5 – Steve Johnson (58th overall): I wanted to go TE in the 5th round, but so did everyone else. JerMichael Finley, Jason Witten, Vernon Davis, and Dallas Clark all went in this round just before my pick. Son of a bitch. Back to my top wideout strategy, I guess. Now that Lee Evans is gone, Steve Johnson is literally the only weapon in the Bills’ passing game. An 80+ catch season shouldn’t be a problem for Stevie J. Someone has to catch passes there.
Round 6 – Austin Collie (64th overall): The pick was actually Percy Harvin, but I traded him straight up for Collie since that’s who I wanted to pick if my computer hadn’t had an aneurysm at the time. Rumors are flying around that Peyton Manning may miss the first game or two of the season. I call BS on that noise. He’s going to play. Collie is an injury risk himself, but I still like him a lot in PPR leagues, especially as a WR4 like he is for this team.
Round 7 – Ben Roethlisberger (82nd overall): I missed out on the elite QBs since I’m not willing to pay that high of a pick to get them in a PPR league. I’ll “settle” for Roethlisberger, who finished 6th among QBs in fantasy points per game last season. His rushing ability gives him an edge over the Matt Ryan’s and Matt Schaub’s of the second QB tier in fantasy land.
Round 8 – C.J. Spiller (87th overall): Fred Jackson isn’t getting any younger and at some point the Bills have to give Spiller a shot to be the guy. Buffalo News‘ Tim Graham is suggests the starting spot is Spiller’s to lose, so his shot is evidently right now. If he starts, this pick is a homerun. If he doesn’t, then this is right where I’d expect Spiller to be drafted in a PPR league.
Round 9 – Matthew Stafford (106th overall): You know about Stafford’s health concerns, I know about them, Stafford’s mom knows about them, that one guy from high school that met Stafford once in passing and now says he’s best friends with Stafford knows about them..everybody knows about them. That’s why he’s available in the 9th round. He’s a top 8 fantasy QB if he can just stay on the field.
Round 10 – Tim Hightower (111th overall): Hightower is the most complete back on the Redskins roster and likely locked up the starting spot after his 6 carry, 70 yard, 1TD performance in week 2 of the preseason. Rookie Roy Helu played well too, but reports suggest he’s still struggling with pass protection. Hightower is a perfect fit for a Mike Shanahan offense. He’ll be a 5th or 6th round pick by Labor Day weekend.
Round 11 – Davone Bess (130th overall): Bess was targeted 125 times in 2010 – three more times than both Wes Welker and Danny Amendola – good for the 15th most targeted receiver in the league. I’ll take Bess in the 11th round of a PPR league every day of the week and twice on Sundays even though I’ve never actually drafted the same player twice in the same draft of any draft I’ve ever done even if those drafts were on Sundays.
Round 12 – Tony Gonzalez (135th overall): I waited a little too long for a tight end. With Roddy, Julio Jones, and now an emerging Harry Douglas, there isn’t much left for Gonzo in the Falcons passing game. I don’t like this pick at all, and my tight end isn’t as attractive and sexy as it was ten years ago. Wait, that came out wrong. Eh, whatever.
Round 13 – Chicago Bears D/ST (154th overall): After the elite D/ST units are gone in a draft, I like the Bears next. They’re elite-ish. The strength of this unit is the front seven with Julius Peppers, Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher and company. They get enough pressure on the QB to make them a worthwhile fantasy start. I also get a leg up on the annoyance factor when I say I’m starting “DA BEARS!!” defense every week which goes a long way in getting fantasy victories. Nope, not really.
Round 14 – Danny Woodhead (159th overall): This late in a PPR draft Woodhead is worth a shot. Shane Vereen hasn’t played in the preseason and hasn’t practiced in over two weeks due to a lingering hamstring issue. It could be bothersome for him on into the season, which benefits the little engine that Woodhead.
Round 15 – Ben Watson (178th overall): Watson was one of only six tight ends targeted over 100 times in 2010. He had 102 targets in total, catching 68 of those for 763 yards and 3 scores. Evan Moore is playing well this preseason and may cut into Watson’s production some, but Watson still sits atop the Browns’ depth chart. He should push the 70 reception mark again in 2011, particularly with how much QB Colt McCoy has improved his game this off-season.
Round 16 – Nate Burleson (183rd overall): Playing opposite Megatron has it’s perks. Perks like you’re always open and you don’t have to deal with a Transformer nickname. Burleson is already turning heads this year with two sensational tippy-toe TD receptions in the brief preseason. I don’t expect him to be available in the 16th rounds of PPR drafts for much longer. His ADP is on the rise. Great WR4, or WR6 in this case.
Round 17 – Bernard Scott (202nd overall): I’m generally avoiding Bengals players at all costs this year since the Bengals are going to suck. I don’t expect much from Bernard Scott, but this late in the draft the pickins were pretty slim.
Round 18 – Dan Carpenter (207th overall): I see Dolphins drives sputtering often ending in field goals. Carpenter as my kicker will do.
FINAL ROSTER
- QBs – Ben Roethlisberger, Matthew Stafford
- RBs – Steven Jackson, Jahvid Best, C.J. Spiller, Tim Hightower, Danny Woodhead, Bernard Scott
- WRs – Roddy White, Vincent Jackson, Steve Johnson, Austin Collie, Davone Bess, Nate Burleson
- TEs – Tony Gonzalez, Ben Watson
- D/ST – Chicago Bears
- K – Dan Carpenter
This isn’t the first experts fantasy draft I’ve participated in and analyzed. Check out my breakdown of Draftmaster 83 back in late June.
Feel free to let me know what you think of the Razzball team in the comments. I’m representing the Razzverse, after all.
I’m on Twitter, or Twittah if you’re from the Boston area.
