And this assumes that Dalton, Freeman, Flacco, or Tannehill don't step up,
A pretty valid assumption.
Yeah, some of the RBs I'm going to take ahead of those guys will be a lot less talented, and a lot more likely to bust. That's okay, because the baseline is much, much lower at RB, because the position is inherently more value and carries more trade value, and because the upside is much higher.
I don't agree with those assertions. Go to the Russell Wilson owner and offer DMC or Demarco Murray for him and see how far you get.
The upside of an unnamed top 15 RB may be higher than an unnamed top 7 QB but we're talking about specific players here that have had either injury or commitment issues before which keep them from being bonafide top 30 players. If they were great RB they'd get taken in Rd 1. On the other hand Wilson's upside is top 3 QB for 10+ years.
IMO if you're looking for elite RB upside you're just as likely to find it in Rds 7-10 with guys like Pierce, Michael, Brown, and Tate.
I'd rather grab Romo in the 8th or 9th, score just as many points over the next 3 or 4 seasons, and then get another fill-in on the cheap (Rodgers will probably be getting cheaper at about that point...)
Pinning your hopes to one player in a startup is dangerous.
If Brees is any indication, Rodgers' value will be steady for 6 years barring injury.
I don't think you can say it's valid to assume that Dalton, Tannehill, or Freeman won't step up. Josh Freeman was remarkable in his second season, and has shown flashes since then. Dalton has ranked 15th and 12th in his two seasons (granted: inflated by the fact that he played 16 games), is on the upslope of his career, and will be throwing to A.J. Green for the next decade (having an elite WR has worked out well for Stafford). Tannehill had a fantastic season for a rookie QB (non-Luck/Wilson/Griffin/Newton division), and is a potentially elite rusher. I would say the odds of all three hitting are basically zero. I'd also say the odds of none of the three hitting are much closer to zero. Especially if you throw in other names (Sam Bradford, E.J. Manuel, etc). Some QBs not currently in the top 8 are going to step up big and force their way into the top 8. This will force out some of the guys currently there.
As far as the relative value of Wilson or Kaepernick to McFadden or Murray... several of the staffers did a startup dynasty league this offseason. Rodgers went at 8, Newton at 21, Griffin at 27 (by me, and I was thrilled to get him there), Luck at 37, Brees at 42, Kaepernick at 43, Ryan at 44, Stafford at 48, and Wilson at 51. You keep mentioning Murray and McFadden as if those are the only options, but they're not. McFadden went at 56, behind every every one of the top 9 QBs. Murray went at 32. There are lots of other options that could (and did) go ahead of Russell Wilson than just Demarco Murray, though. There's Hakeem Nicks, Jordy Nelson, Victor Cruz, Randall Cobb, Lamaar Miller, Gio Bernard, Roddy White, Stevan Ridley, Vincent Jackson, Tavon Austin- plenty of other extremely talented players at far shallower and more valuable positions.
I would say that if you went to the Russell Wilson owner and offered Gio Bernard, you'd get pretty far, as evidenced by the fact that the Russell Wilson owner ALSO drafted Gio Bernard a round and a half earlier. The Kaepernick owner drafted Reggie Bush a round earlier. The Andrew Luck owner drafted Randall Cobb over a round earlier. I'm not saying that the Luck or Kaepernick or Wilson owners would hypothetically prefer Cobb or Bush or Bernard, I'm saying I have actual, demonstrable, tangible proof that they would.
I think QBs went about right in the dynasty startup. I think the earliest QBs went a little bit late (I would have taken Newton, Griffin, Luck, and Brees higher than they wound up going), but I think 8-9 QBs around the top 50 picks seems about right. But 8 QBs in the top 30 picks? No way, no how. That's crazy.