Worst fantasy rookie class in years? (1 Viewer)

[spider321]

Imho, this fantasy rookie class is the weakest in a long time. There seems to be slim pickings after the top 2 or 3 guys.

What do you guys think?

 

[FavreCo]

Yep. This is what seperates the men from the boys in FF. You gotta do some digging for info. You can't just pick up some rag in the store before the draft and make your pick.

 

[fruity pebbles]

Yeah as of now it really is. Things could obviously change when they step on the field but right now, outside the top few, nobody wants these guys. Can't remember mid round 1sts being so worthless.

 

[gandalas]

I would say it is fairly comparable to last year's class, for the most part...

Better highly rated WR this year (Crabtree vs Bryant)

Couple of RB options (Wells/Moreno vs Matthews/Spiller/Best) I would go 1) Matthews - 2) Moreno - 3) Wells - 4) Spiller - 5) Best (in terms of hype post-draft)

QBs (Bradford, Claussen vs Stafford, Sanchez) - 1) Bradford, 2) Stafford, 3) Sanchez, 4) Claussen (way after those 3)

All in all, I would say that this year's first round fantasy draft is fairly comparable to last year's...

 

[Jerry Lawler]

Sounds more like you're saying it's shallow class, as opposed to being the "worst" class. If so, I agree. The back half of the 1st round of rookie drafts is a little weak to me, but there are a few intriguing deep sleepers to watch closely. Overall, I can't call a class that includes Dez Bryant and Jahvid Best the worst.

 

[Zoomanji]

When was the last good one?

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

When was the last good one?

2008 was really good (CJ, Rice, Stewart, Mendenhall, Slaton, Felix, Forte, McFadden, J Charles, Ryan, Flacco, DJax...)

 

[5Rings]

When was the last good one?

2008 was really good (CJ, Rice, Stewart, Mendenhall, Slaton, Felix, Forte, McFadden, J Charles, Ryan, Flacco, DJax...)

Last year you could get some of Harvin-Maclin-Nicks-Britt at the end of round one. This year you get Gerhart? McClain? ooof

 

[Crippler]

I would say it is fairly comparable to last year's class, for the most part...Better highly rated WR this year (Crabtree vs Bryant)Couple of RB options (Wells/Moreno vs Matthews/Spiller/Best) I would go 1) Matthews - 2) Moreno - 3) Wells - 4) Spiller - 5) Best (in terms of hype post-draft)QBs (Bradford, Claussen vs Stafford, Sanchez) - 1) Bradford, 2) Stafford, 3) Sanchez, 4) Claussen (way after those 3)All in all, I would say that this year's first round fantasy draft is fairly comparable to last year's...

I guess if you rank it like this. And I can agree on everyone but RB and I think last years class was better still. The only position I like this year better is TE in the end. The other 3 are behind with WR way behind and RB a nice chunk. QB is only slightly behindEven though it is the later WR's I like from this draft and see a Brandon Marshall type player evolving. Just not sure which one. Mike Williams would be my best guess at this point.

 

[coolnerd]

No matter how bad the class is, there will be players who hare fantasy significant that the majority of us are pretty meh about at the moment. Now, you may really need to know what you are looking at or flatly get lucky to wade through the junk, but if you still have your picks (and can't get anything for them) don't just go this class sucks and not try to figure out the fraud from the good.

 

[az_prof]

When was the last good one?

2008 was really good (CJ, Rice, Stewart, Mendenhall, Slaton, Felix, Forte, McFadden, J Charles, Ryan, Flacco, DJax...)

Last year you could get some of Harvin-Maclin-Nicks-Britt at the end of round one. This year you get Gerhart? McClain? ooof

I was thrilled to get Gerhart at 1.12. How often can you draft a second round rookie RB that late? Almost never in my league. But because everyone is focussed on ADP they are overlooking how talented Gerhart is. I think this draft is deep and question the players at the top. I was very happy to have a choice between Decker and D. Williams at the end of the second round.

 

[EBF]

Eh. You want bad, look at 2005.

I like the first 4-5 picks this year. I think Best, Bryant, and Mathews are for real. Thomas and Spiller have a chance.

The challenge this year is finding value at 1.06 and beyond. I'm not enamored of the options there, but you have to figure that someone will emerge. Bear in mind that Brandon Marshall, Greg Jennings, and DeSean Jackson were 2nd-3rd round rookie picks. None of them were heralded as can't-miss talents. If you can find this year's Jackson/Marshall/Jennings in that 10-20 area, you'll be set.

When the dust settles, I don't see this looking like a bad group overall. As is always the case, there's value out there to be had. You just have to find it.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

When was the last good one?

2008 was really good (CJ, Rice, Stewart, Mendenhall, Slaton, Felix, Forte, McFadden, J Charles, Ryan, Flacco, DJax...)

2008 wasn't considered great at the time.This year is pretty much like every other year. A few studs at the top, then the middle filled with a few 2nd tier RBs than landed in good situations, and a few high promise WRs alongside a top QB prospect. Really it's not until you get to around 1.11 or so that things start to drop off this year.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

im pretty sure I hear this every year

time will tell. patience

 

[Captain Hook]

Imho, this fantasy rookie class is the weakest in a long time. There seems to be slim pickings after the top 2 or 3 guys.What do you guys think?

I hope whatever you are smoking or drinking is cheap but tastes good - because it hasn't helped your vision at all

 

[massraider]

I don't really care much for it.

Especially if you are in IDP.

I'm sitting in the second half of each round in my rookie drafts, and usually by this time, in this position, I have a list, and am either trying to trade up for my guy, hoping a certain guy falls, or have a guy I'll be happy with.

Not crazy about the QBs. I'm not a Bradford guy, and if Matt Moore is the goods, we might not see Clausen for years. And I don't believe in McCoy or Tebow.

At RB, I'd love to get Mathews, like to get Spiller and Best,, but wonder about taking guys that you can almost guarantee won't get the goal line carries. There are a few later round backs that I like as sleepers, but am aware they could be useless picks. I am wary of guys that weren't talked up before the draft, but are now being trumpeted because of their situations, so I am glad the Tates and Hardestys will be gone by my pick. There's some late round guys that people are liking, but taking 6th and 7th round RB early in rookie drafts is how you weaken your overall team, in my experience.

Love Dez at WR, but after him, I think there's a bunch of guys all bunched together. I'll pass in round 1, and hopefully grab some value later on. I also have it in the back of my mind that next year could be a great year for WR, and a lot of these great situations are gonna disappear in a year.

TE.....man, glad I ain't looking for one. Gresham, then a bunch of guys I wouldn't consider till the 4th round. Just too many guys, too many questions, and too much competition. I mean, you see the pats take Gronkowski, and go, 'hey', then they take Hernandez.

None of the DL are seen as monster sack masters, although I'd be happy to land Morgan or JPP in the 4th or 5th round. The top guys probably won't be fantasy factors. With the proliferation of the 3-4, I might try and load up on this position anyway, as I think we are gonna hit a much bigger shortage than we are even used to. Liking that Wooten kid.

There's one LB I think you can count on. The story of how much the 'Boys liked Lee is intriguing, but when people are chattering about a 4th round LB for the Giants, you know pickings are slim.

The 2 best safeties might both wind up at FS.

 

[spider321]

im pretty sure I hear this every yeartime will tell. patience

I'm sure someone says it every year, but this is my first time saying it.Admittedly, this will only be my fifth rookie draft, but to me this appears to be the worst of the bunch.

 

[SSOG]

When was the last good one?

2008 was really good (CJ, Rice, Stewart, Mendenhall, Slaton, Felix, Forte, McFadden, J Charles, Ryan, Flacco, DJax...)

2008 wasn't considered great at the time.

Are you crazy? Of course it was. 5 RBs went in the first round, another 2 went in the second, and 3 more went in the third. Great RBs landed in great situations, including Oakland (don't laugh- they finished 6th in rushing yards in 2007 with Fargas/Jordan/Rhodes), Pittsburgh, Carolina, Tennessee, Baltimore, Kansas City, Houston, and Dallas. It was viewed as light on WR talent and people weren't super-pumped about Ryan and Flacco at QB, but RBs make the fantasy universe spin and that draft offered an absurd glut of elite RB prospects. McFadden was viewed by most as the next in the Bush/Peterson "once in a generation" talent mold, Jonathan Stewart offered the craziest size/speed combination the league had ever seen, Mendenhall was the incredibly rare combination of talent (1st round draft pick) and opportunity (freaking PITTSBURGH), and even the guys drafting towards the end of round 1 were getting quality RB prospects (Forte, CJ3, Rice, Felix, Slaton, Kevin Smith) with what were traditionally QB picks. In my league, 9 of the first 10 picks were RBs, and it's not like people were reaching for guys like Ben Tate or Montario Hardesty, either- the last of the five first rounders came off with the 10th rookie pick. How often can you get a first round rookie RB with the #10 rookie pick?2008 was viewed as an exceptional rookie draft. It wasn't as top-heavy as 2007 (which was Peterson/Calvin, then Lynch, then nobody), but it was considered obscenely deep.

 

[Zoomanji]

When was the last good one?

2008 was really good (CJ, Rice, Stewart, Mendenhall, Slaton, Felix, Forte, McFadden, J Charles, Ryan, Flacco, DJax...)

I guess. I remember a drop-ff after McF, Stew and Mend and big questions around most of those guys. A couple were pegged as 3rd down backs stuck behind people. Djax was just another blown pick by Philly at WR and no one loved either QB

When was the last good one?

2008 was really good (CJ, Rice, Stewart, Mendenhall, Slaton, Felix, Forte, McFadden, J Charles, Ryan, Flacco, DJax...)

Last year you could get some of Harvin-Maclin-Nicks-Britt at the end of round one. This year you get Gerhart? McClain? ooof

I didn't think last year was that strong. I wasn't big on Harvin, Maclin or Britt. Maybe I should have been though

 

[Dragon1952]

I haven't been playing FF as long as some of you, so maybe I'm a bit naive, but I don't see how you can say how a draft class rates before they've even played an NFL game. It seems to me, it would take a few years to properly assess a draft class.

 

[spider321]

I haven't been playing FF as long as some of you, so maybe I'm a bit naive, but I don't see how you can say how a draft class rates before they've even played an NFL game. It seems to me, it would take a few years to properly assess a draft class.

You are either naive, dense, or a smart-aleck.What I obviously mean is that my opinion of this class, before the season starts, is lower than it has been for any previous classes.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

I haven't been playing FF as long as some of you, so maybe I'm a bit naive, but I don't see how you can say how a draft class rates before they've even played an NFL game. It seems to me, it would take a few years to properly assess a draft class.

I agreeBut there certainly seems to be a lot of whining about the class from people I repect on this board and during rookie draft thus far.

 

[SSOG]

I haven't been playing FF as long as some of you, so maybe I'm a bit naive, but I don't see how you can say how a draft class rates before they've even played an NFL game. It seems to me, it would take a few years to properly assess a draft class.

Well... how on earth could anyone have picked Adrian Peterson over Marshawn Lynch? Wouldn't that require rating both players before they'd even played an NFL game? How could someone rate Jon Stewart over Jamaal Charles? How could someone rate Michael Crabtree over Percy Harvin? All rookie drafts in the history of fantasy football have been an exercise in rating two players against each other before they'd ever played an NFL game.If you want to extend that to groups, you certainly can. Would you rather have Best and Bryant, or Spiller and Bay-Bay? Would you rather have Clausen, Matthews, and Gresham, or Spiller and Best? Fantasy players have to be able to make these decisions before seeing players play a single NFL game.That's exactly what they're trying to do here, they're just trying to do it across several years. Would you rather have Moreno, Wells, McCoy, Brown, Crabtree, and Harvin... or would you rather have Matthews, Spiller, Best, Bryant, and Thomas? Or would you prefer Peterson, Calvin, Lynch, and Brandon Jackson? Maybe you'd rather have Stewart, McFadden, Mendenhall, Rice, Johnson, and Felix? An obvious difficulty with this exercise is remembering how we felt about a player before they played a game now that our judgment is clouded by what they've done since then (for instance, I bet people would think they were a lot higher on Rice than they really were, simply because Rice has now produced)... but if we could somehow compensate for that difficulty, then it is absolutely possible to compare one draft class to another using the EXACT SAME PRINCIPALS that we use to compare one rookie to another when we're doing the rookie draft. And I'd say that fantasy players are generally pretty good at that- usually high picks produce greater returns than low picks, which means that fantasy players have some skill in identifying what makes someone a better prospect. As a result, if we can eliminate the bias, fantasy players should be pretty good at telling whether one draft class was stronger than another. They'll be wrong sometimes (just like they're wrong in the rookie draft, like how Darren McFadden can go early in the first while Ray Rice goes late in the first), but they'd be right more than they were wrong (just like how you're more likely to get a good player early in the draft than late, even if McFadden went first overall and Rice went 6th or 8th).

 

[GreatLakesMike]

Yep. This is what seperates the men from the boys in FF. You gotta do some digging for info. You can't just pick up some rag in the store before the draft and make your pick.

Your testosterone scares me.