B/R Writers’ Fantasy Football Mock Draft

I was fortunate to be invited to participate in a Bleacher Report Writers’ Fantasy Football Mock Draft .  Here is an overview of the draft. By Kyle Winslow The key to winning your fantasy football league is to be prepared for your fantasy draft and to have a good idea of what players will be available when your pick rolls around. An independent mock draft is a good way to gauge the relative values of fantasy players and a good tool to assist you in ranking players and deciding tiers.  But the results will always be skewed if you are making every pick. In order to do more authentic research, I’ve assembled a team of top Bleacher Report writers to conduct a fantasy football mock draft. The contributors to this mock draft are experienced fantasy veterans and regularly report on an assortment of NFL teams. This yielded a variety of diverse perspectives and interesting debates. The writers, in draft order, are: Michael Schottey Eric Stashin John Lorge Ryan Lester Sayre Bedinger Nathan Waddell Kyle Winslow Jonathan Williams Jack Anderson Kimberley Nash John Harkey Sean Crowe We conducted six rounds in snake format, assuming ESPN standard scoring with one QB, two RB, two WR, one FLEX, one TE, and one TEAM DEFENSE. Included with each draft pick is commentary from the contributor that made the selection. At the end of each round is a set of notes from the contributors regarding that round of action, including opinions on other’s picks, draft strategy, and NFL predictions. The debates were very extensive, and only a fraction of the commentary was reproduced in this article. Round 1 1. Team Schottey: Maurice Jones-Drew (RB-JAX) Although Adrian Peterson is the consensus top pick, Jones-Drew is a valuable fantasy starter in his own right—along with being much more durable. It’s a fantasy league, this pick will pay dividends when Eben Britton and Eugene Monroe start paving the way. 2. Team Stashin: Adrian Peterson (RB-MIN) This is the obvious pick and no explanation is really needed for this one. AP is a stud workhorse and feature back who is quick as lightning. 3. Team Lorge: Steve Slaton (RB-HOU) Slaton was only 56 total yards behind Matt Forte last season with 61 less touches. In an increased role, “Mr. Uh-Oh” is ready to explode in 2009. I’m still scratching my head on how he was a late third round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, but I’ll take him third every time in 2009 Fantasy Drafts. 4. Team Lester: Michaal Turner (RB-ATL) Turner was an absolute beast in his first year as a feature back. I expect his TD numbers to take a step back with the addition of Tony Gonzalez, but he should easily be able to produce 1,500-plus total yards and 12-plus TD. 5. Team Bedinger: DeAngelo Williams (RB-CAR) Last year, Williams split time with high-impact rookie Jonathan Stewart and still rushed for over 1,500 yards and 18 touchdowns. The Panthers will not veer away from their run-first style offense, and I think Williams will have another huge year. 6. Team Waddell: Matt Forte (RB-CHI) The 1,238 yards and 12 total touchdowns that Forte posted last year should increase this year with the addition of a gun-slinging quarterback in Jay Cutler commanding the air. Additionally, Forte’s sub-par 3.9 yards-per-carry should increase as defenses won’t be able to key in on the running game with a true down field threat tossing passes. There is always a fear of a sophomore slump, and recent injury news, but Forte is the only rushing option in Chicago and will build upon his great rookie season. 7. Team Winslow: Chris Johnson (RB-TEN) Johnson was one of the most exciting players to watch last year and with 1,488 yards from scrimmage and 10 total touchdowns as a rookie sharing carries, his fantasy production should only improve. He caught a lot of swing passes and screens last season and had a total of 43 receptions, so he’s a good value in point-per-reception leagues as well. 8. Team Williams: Tom Brady (QB-NE) Consternation abounds in the Williams’ Camp as Johnson had been high up on the list. With the eighth pick, the Team Williams picks quarterback Tom Brady. While normally one would take a running back in the first round, after consideration of his recovery from injury and past performance, Brady was worth more points than the remaining running backs. 9. Team Anderson: Stephen Jackson (RB-STL) With most of the elite running backs gone, it comes down to the best players on the board. Drew Brees looks like the cream of the crop at quaterback, Stephen Jackson is solid with great potential to be a top five pick, and there’s several top flight receivers left. In the end, Team Anderson goes with Jackson who has top 10 touchdown potential and is an easy 1,000 yard rusher. Throw in 400 or so receiving yards and Jackson could turn out to be a steal. 10. Team Nash: Drew Brees (QB-NO) With the 10th pick, you have to go with Brees. Tomlinson would be a nice move too, but his late injury may or may not prove to be an issue this season and that uncertainty makes Brees the best option here. He’s been a fantasy juggernaut since arriving in New Orleans—never failing to put up monster numbers, including over 5,000 yards last season with an offense that saw its most elite players spending a majority of time on the injury list. Some could take issue with Brees being picked before Payton Manning, but his durability, productivity, and fantasy scoring potential is hard to overlook. 11. Team Harkey: Frank Gore (RB-SF) With the 11th Pick in the 2009 Bleacher Report Writers’ Draft, GM John Harkey selects Frank Gore! So much for the WR/WR strategy that I had thought would come into play this late in the first round. You simply can’t ignore the value of a workhorse back like Gore slipping to the bottom. The 49ers feature back has no competition for playing time or goal line carries. New offensive coordinator, Jimmy Raye, loves to pound the rock and Gore will be his weapon of choice all year long. Gore may not have the flash and dazzle of other top backs, but he does have consistency. Since becoming the 49ers feature back in 2006, Gore has averaged 1,277 yards rushing, 431 yards receiving and eight touchdowns per season. Gore’s ankle should be completely healed and I expect a healthy Gore to command 20-plus touches per game in a run heavy offense with similar numbers to his career averages. 12. Team Crowe: Larry Fitzgerald (WR-ARI) Drafting last…always fun. Interesting draft so far. Did we skip the first round? MJD going first? Did I miss about 13 picks? Anyway, with the last pick in the first round, Sean Crowe (trademark) selects Larry Fitzgerald. It’s a new NFL. Running backs…

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B/R Writers’ Fantasy Football Mock Draft
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