1.12 Saints
5.12 Panthers
I generally play it safe in the first rounds of most of these and the survivors. I hate losing a first round pick to injury, so you will often see me go QB. With so many other options gone by the time my pick came up, QB got the nod again here. Saints should keep me in the mix. When the 5th came around, I had no intention of taking my second QB but Cam seemed too good to pass up at that price. They will piece together some WR’s and I expect Newton to still be a top 10 fantasy QB.
2.05 Montee Ball RB DEN
7.12 Lamar Miller RB MIA
11.12 Christine Michael RB SEA
12.05 Tre Mason RB STL
No PPR means only 4 RB’s and you want guys who get yards and TD’s. Ball could lead the league in rushing TD’s and should see plenty room to run as teams try to stop Manning. I have been targeting him in the second round of most of my drafts here and DEN should get a couple extra games. With Moreno having surgery and being out of shape, I think Miller is a steal in the 7th and I expect him to outperform his draft spot. I thought he might turn it around this year anyway. Reports seem positive out of camp. Michael is swing for the fences and hopefully he seems some touches, best case scenario he makes it so they can’t keep him off the field. Lynch hold helps here. When I saw Mason play in college, I thought he looked the part of an NFL back and I’m not sure Stacy is that special. Hope to hang in the middle of the road here at RB with maybe a slight uptick if things shake out right.
3.12 Roddy White WR ATL
6.05 Mike Wallace WR MIA
8.05 Sammy Watkins WR BUF
9.12 Justin Hunter WR TEN
15.12 Malcolm Floyd WR SD
18.05 Jermaine Kearse WR SEA
Roddy looked good at the end of last year and should be solid. Passing on WR through the first two rounds and having the 12th pick meant I wasn’t going to have one of the big dogs. I was little worried but then felt better when I was able to secure two WR1’s on their respective teams in the 6th and the 8th rounds. I expect a better year out of Wallace and Watkins seems to have made a smooth transition and reports are he looks the part of a big time WR. Maybe I have 3 top 25 guys by the time all is said and done? I’m all in on a Hunter breakout season, he could be the difference for me. I had zero intention of ever drafting Floyd this year, he actually found his way on to my “he is dead to me” list, but I couldn’t ignore the reports I was seeing. I generally don’t draft that way, meaning listening to camp reports, but I just couldn’t get past this one. If he truly regains WR2 status in SD, this could payoff. With the news of Rice’s retirement, Kearse felt like a steal in the 18th and that’s all I am really going to say about that.
4.05 Kyle Rudolph TE MIN
16.05 David Ausberry TE OAK
I am usually all over TE’s in this format, but as a group I just don’t have a great feel for them this year, so probably part of the reason my TE’s won’t look real strong in any of these. I am expecting Graham owners to be a little disappointed, Gronk is a crapshoot, who really knows what the receivers and passing targets will look like in CLE, will Davis score that many TD’s again, blah, blah, blah. But you can’t ignore the 2 PPR so I bit the bullet and used a 4th round pick on one. I don’t like the pick and I may be in the minority in thinking the Rudolph hype is over the top, but I let the peer pressure of the masses go ahead and convince me that I should take a shot with Rudolph. I think just as good of a chance I will regret this pick as there is he has an old Antonio Gates season. Couldn’t talk myself into addressing the position again through the middle rounds by wasting a pick on a mid level TE that I wasn’t sure about so I kept passing on them. Hoping Ausberry is the forgotten man because of his injury last year and Schaub continues to like his TE’s. I could get about the same stats or more as some of the guys who were being drafted several rounds prior to him. I’m behind the 8 ball here, but maybe not as much as I think.
13.12 Nick Folk PK NYJ
14.05 Connor Barth PK TB
Should be ok to possibly above average here. Barth was money pre-injury and Folk is solid.
10.05 Denver Broncos DST
17.12 Tennessee Titans DST
I am a Chiefs fan living in CO, which isn’t easy. As shown last year, DEN is the mother load of fantasy points. And this year it may include a DST that added Ward, Talib, and Ware. Miller and Ware could wreck havoc and there is achance for a ton of turnovers and sacks here as teams try to keep up the scoring pace with the DEN offense. Not surprised if they end up being the highest scoring DST when you factor in post season games. I have no idea what to think of TEN DST.
Overall: Meh….think I got some value with CAR TMQB and Lamar Miller, but I will need maybe one of Michael or Mason to have an impact as well as some love from Justin Hunter. My attitude about TE’s probably needed an adjustment due to this format and it will probably come back to haunt me. My WR’s probably need to all stay healthy for me to have a shot.
Good luck.
