Mock Draft Madness Part 2

By Jermain Baker

For this mock draft I selected the fifth position overall in a 12 team league. The 5th, 6th and 7th draft positions in fantasy football can be tough to draft from so I mock a lot from these spots to solidify my strategy. Yahoo uses a three wide receiver starting line-up configuration for all of their mock drafts but all the leagues I play in have a RB/WR flex spot instead so that's how I draft. Here we go.

Yahoo Mock Draft 12 Team League 8/4/2010

Round 1 (5) - Ray Rice - Frank Gore went 3rd and MJD 4th pushing Rice to me at five. No complaints here. I rode Rice to a championship in a PPR league last season. Note to coach Harbaugh, give Rice more love at the goal line! All I'm sayin'.

Round 2 (20) - Shonn Greene - Big WR run sees Moss, Marshall, Wayne, Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson, and DeSean Jackson all come off the board before my pick. Although I'll pay a heavy price at the WR spot I opt for Greene who I think is an absolute lock for double digit td's this season.

Round 3 (29) - Jammal Charles - More WR's fly off the board after I take Greene in round 2. Fitzgerald, White, Colston, Austin, Jennings, Smith (Panthers), and Boldin all evaporate before my eyes. There's no elite WR left so I decide to set up a rock solid three headed monster at RB and roll the dice on WR's later.

Round 4 (44) - Steve Smith(NYG) - I finally get into the WR sweepstakes in round 4 with Smith. I like the value here 1200 yards, 107 receptions, and 7 td's last year.

Round 5 (53) - Dwayne Bowe - Bowe has a lot of talent and is the unquestioned no.1 receiver on this team if he can stay out of head coach Todd Haley's dog house. With Charlie Weis in as the new offensive coordinator this pick has a lot of upside potential.

Round 6 (68) - Eli Manning - Probably could have waited to grab Manning but with all of the top tier QB's gone I figured this was as good a spot as any. 4000 yards and 27 td's last season. I like it.

Round 7 (77) - Malcom Floyd - Perhaps a bit of a reach here. With Vincent Jackson suspended for three games and talking holdout Floyd has a chance to emerge as the no.1 in his absence.

Round 8 (92) - Dez Bryant - Trying to load up on high upside WR prospects and Bryant fits the bill. He seems a bit brittle which worries me but he has serious talent and is on an offense which should provide him with opportunities to be a factor in fantasy.

Round 9 (101) - Kevin Kolb - Kolb has the same bye week as Manning but I didn't draft to be a bye week fill in. I'm hoping he'll give me a better than solid week to week option at starting QB. I'll pluck somebody off of the waiver wire and hope the rest of my team can carry me through in week 8.

Round 10 (116) - Visanthe Shiancoe - With all the talk of Favre's retirement Shiancoe's stock will drop like a stone. He should still be a big part of this offense though. You could make a strong argument that his value will be hurt less than Rice or Harvin's. The question is how much value will there be in a Favre-less Viking passing attack. In round 10 I like the pick.

Round 11 (125) - Eddie Royal - Epic bust from last season. Man this guy burned me. With Brandon Marshall gone somebody has to catch the ball in Denver right? Will rookie WR Demaryius Thomas really be able to step in and take over as the number one? I'm betting no.

Round 12 (140) - Donald Brown - Brown should be more involved in the offense this season. A healthy Brown will get his fair share of the carries on one of the best offenses in the league.

Round 13 (149) - Donnie Avery - On paper should be the no.1 receiver on a bad offense. Was nicked up last season but managed 5 td's. If rookie QB Sam Bradford is any kind of upgrade at QB for the Rams it it should result in better numbers for Avery.

Round 14 (164) - Arizona D/ST - The Cards had decent sack totals last year. The best of what was left.

Round 15 (173) - Matt Prater - A kicker is a kicker is a kicker. He was decent last season.

This team is pretty solid I think. Depth and production at the WR position are shaky but I like the fact that I gambled on young high upside talents instead of aging injury prone vets. If my three headed monster at RB lives up to billing this team could possibly compete for a title.

DRAFT GRADE: B-

Should be back in a few days with part 3 of mock draft madness. As always feel free to leave a comment below or shoot me an email with your input at jermain@fantasyfootballmanifesto.com.

Until next time.

Mock Draft Madness

By Jermain Baker

Love the fantasy football mock draft. To my fiancée there couldn't possibly be anything more pointless. A FANTASY draft for a FANTASY league. I can see that look on her face now, a mixture of genuine confusion, slight irritation, and just a pinch of pity. To the uninitiated a fantasy football mock draft probably does seem like a huge waste of time. For the fantasy football power player however, mock drafting is a very useful tool. A mock draft populated with folks who are taking things seriously is an excellent way to try out various draft strategies, gauge average draft position of players, and is just plain fun. What follows is the first entry in what will be an ongoing series of blog posts. I'll chronicle my adventures in mock drafting for your perusal. Feel free to comment, praising me for my draft acumen or mocking me for my wanton stupidity. Here we go...

Yahoo Mock Draft 10 Team League 7/28/2010

Round 1 (5) - Steven Jackson - Big time talent. Piled up lots of yards but only 4 TD's last season. That number has got to go up this season right?

Round 2 (16) - Larry Fitzgerald - Pretty happy to get Fitzgerald here. No Warner worries me for sure but Larry Fitz is a beast, he should put up very respectable numbers as a number one receiver.

Round 3 (25) - Jammal Charles - Charles seems like a nice dual threat option. Hoping Thomas Jones doesn't vulture too many TD's. Colston, Jennings, Rice, Marshall, and both Steve Smiths still on the board.

Round 4 (36) - Phillip Rivers - Schaub goes one pick before me. Romo, Brady, Peyton Manning, Brees, and Rodgers are all gone. I decide to pull the trigger on the last elite level QB remaining.

Round 5 (45) - Steve Smith (NYG) - Thought I was going to miss out on Smith but the guy before me inexplicably grabs Hines Ward. Nothing against Ward but in the 5th round?

Round 6 (56) - Ronnie Brown - Bit of a gamble here but the 6th round seemed like good value. Brown cleared to fully participate in training camp...if he can only stay healthy.

Round 7 (65) - Brent Celek - Celek I think is a good safe pick. He should be heavily involved in the offense this year. Solid.

Round 8 (76) - Vincent Jackson - Risky pick here don't know if I'd do this in a real draft. This could pay off huge if Jackson comes off of his three game suspension ready to play. With Jackson threatening a holdout though this could just as easily turn into a wasted pick.

Round 9 (85) - Devin Aromashodu - Another gamble. At this point it's uncertain as to which receiver in Chicago will reap the benefits of Mike Martz's arrival in Chicago. Less sexy picks like Derrick Mason and Santana Moss were still on the board. After gambling on Jackson one pick earlier I probably should have made a safer choice here.

Round 10 (96) - Justin Forsett - With Leon Washington coming off an injury and Julius Jones as his only other competition I have to believe Forsett has the inside track to start this season.

Round 11 (105) - Donovan McNabb - Snooze. This choice feels very uninspired. McNabb could be okay but has little to no upside. I should have waited a bit longer to grab my back-up QB and gambled on Stafford, Henne, or Vince Young.

Round 12 (116) - Kenny Britt - Trying to solidify my receiving corps. Britt showed flashes last season but reportedly hasn't had the best off-season. He looks like the most talented receiver the Titans have though and should emerge as the number one at some point this season.

Round 13 (125) - Fred Jackson - Jackson showed workhorse potential last season but is mired in a three way time share on one of the worst offenses in the NFL. All signs so far point to C.J. Spiller being used as a change of pace back. Hopefully Marshawn Lynch will be moved before the start of the season giving Jackson more opportunities to showcase his skills.

Round 14 (136) - Dallas D/ST - The Cowboy defense was on a tear at the end of last season. More turnovers and special teams plays would be nice but I primarily play the match-ups on a week to week basis when it comes to D/ST units anyway.

Round 15 (145) - David Akers. A kicker is a kicker is a kicker. I'll draft one in the last round and play the match-ups throughout the season. I liked Akers last season and he was still there so....

This is an okay team. Nothing special by far. I would definitely need for some things to go my way and be active on the waiver wire for this team to be a serious contender. There's just too many question marks and uncertainties for this squad to be considered championship material.

DRAFT GRADE: C-

This concludes the first entry of Mock Draft Madness. Should have another of these posted in the next couple of days so check back soon. Feedback is always appreciated so shoot me an email at jermain@fantasyfootballmanifesto.com with your opinions.