Reviewing My Fantasy Football Draft - Part 1

My latest fantasy football draft happened Monday night. For the uninformed, it is part of a three sport league with baseball and basketball, and you can trade between sports. I am an impatient person, so I am always wheeling and dealing, and this draft would be no different, as I moved up from 10 to the top overall pick a half hour before the draft. Was it a good deal? Hell, I didn't know at the time, but it was a deal, and it fed my addiction which is all that matters. But we'll get to the details of that later. Let's break down the first five rounds, because I need to post something before the season actually gets going later tonight.

Round 1
1 Wegher Bombs RB Le'Veon Bell Pit
2 Larry Donnell Trump 4 President RB Adrian Peterson Min
3 You Just Have To BELLieve! RB Eddie Lacy GB
4 Graham Cracker RB Jamaal Charles KC
5 Too Many (Brandin) Cooks WR Antonio Brown Pit
6 Al Pacino From Scent of a Woman RB Marshawn Lynch Sea
7 Hot Joel RB Matt Forte Chi
8 Run And Hyde RB C.J. Anderson Den
9 Steele Jantz’s Jock Strap RB DeMarco Murray Phi
10 Deez Nuts TE Rob Gronkowski NE
11 Geriatric All Stars WR Dez Bryant Dal
12 Ready, Willing And Tom Cable WR Demaryius Thomas Den

Best Pick: Dez Bryant
I had Dez as the sixth best guy in the draft. That is partially because I underestimate Marshawn Lynch every year, but I just don’t see much of a chance of Dez not producing as a top-5 receiver this year and he has a very good shot at being at the top of the list. I also really liked the Eddie Lacy pick, as the Packers have a very good offensive line, and Rodgers has less receiving threats with Nelson out for the year. I was slightly worried about his injury history, and that’s what stopped me from going in that direction, but I could easily see him as the top back this year.

Worst Pick: Rob Gronkowski
You really have to nitpick to find faults in first round picks. Rob Gronkowski will be the highest scoring tight end this season, as long as he can stay healthy. That second part is what concerns me, because he has dealt with numerous injuries, some quite serious, so it really makes his health the biggest concern of anyone drafted in the first round.

My Pick: Le’Veon Bell
As I said earlier, I was between Bell and Lacy, but I think the Pittsburgh offensive line has steadily improved where they are not much worse than the Packers (although not having Pouncey early on will not help), and even though he misses two games early, I like his durability and production to be the best fantasy running back during those last 14 weeks of the season.

Round 2
13 Ready, Willing And Tom Cable WR Julio Jones Atl
14 Geriatric All Stars RB LeSean McCoy Buf
15 Wegher Bombs WR Calvin Johnson Det
16 Steele Jantz’s Jock Strap WR Odell Beckham Jr. NYG
17 Run And Hyde RB Carlos Hyde SF
18 Hot Joel WR A.J. Green Cin
19 You Just Have To BELLieve! WR Randall Cobb GB
20 Too Many (Brandin) Cooks WR T.Y. Hilton Ind
21 Graham Cracker QB Aaron Rodgers GB
22 You Just Have To BELLieve! QB Andrew Luck Ind
23 Larry Donnell Trump 4 President RB Lamar Miller Mia
24 Deez Nuts RB Alfred Morris Wsh

Keepers: Andrew Luck

Best Pick: Lamar Miller
Everybody raves about how great the Chip Kelly offense is for running backs in Philadelphia, but Miami is basically attempting to do the same thing and nobody talks about how great things are for Lamar Miller. Miller goes into the season as the clear lead back in this offense, and when he got carries, he put up impressive numbers. I don’t see why his output wouldn’t increase this year, and there’s a good chance he puts up first round stats for a second round cost.

Worst Pick: T.Y. Hilton
I pretty much liked all of the receivers taken in this round…except for T.Y. Hilton. It is nothing against him as a player, but the Colts have way more weapons this year than they had last season, so the ball is going to be spread around. I just don’t see him quite on the level of the other receivers in this round.

My Pick: Calvin Johnson
Calvin Johnson was hurt for most of the season last year and still put up pretty impressive numbers. He’s a freak of nature, so if he’s fully healthy this season, he should have no issue being a top-5 receiver and making my opponents miserable all year long.

Round 3
25 Deez Nuts RB Melvin Gordon SD
26 Larry Donnell Trump 4 President WR Emmanuel Sanders Den
27 You Just Have To BELLieve! WR Alshon Jeffery Chi
28 Graham Cracker TE Jimmy Graham Sea
29 Too Many (Brandin) Cooks QB Peyton Manning Den
30 Al Pacino From Scent of a Woman QB Cam Newton Car
31 Hot Joel RB Justin Forsett Bal
32 Run And Hyde QB Drew Brees NO
33 Steele Jantz’s Jock Strap RB Mark Ingram NO
34 Deez Nuts WR Amari Cooper Oak
35 Geriatric All Stars RB Frank Gore Ind
36 Ready, Willing And Tom Cable RB Latavius Murray Oak

Keepers: Cam Newton (Yes, somebody kept Cam Newton for a third round pick. Yes, Cam Newton was projected to be a tenth round pick. Yes, nothing made me smile wider than when I got the email notifying me of the decision, especially since the guy passed up keeping Carlos Hyde for a seventh rounder in order to keep Cam)

Best Pick: Alshon Jeffery
I don’t know why Alshon Jeffery is slipping to 27, but that’s excellent value at that point. Jay Cutler loves number one receivers more than he hates vaccinations. There is no one to threaten his spot at the top, and although he’s been dealing with some minor nagging injuries, it sounds like with the rest he has gotten, he’ll be at full strength going into the regular season.

Worst Pick: Peyton Manning
This is obviously in the non-Cam Newton keeper category. I’m just very down on Manning this year, and not in the fact that I think he’s done, but I just don’t think he’s going to be lighting up scoreboards this year under Gary Kubiak. They are definitely running the ball more, so I see Manning having Tom Brady like numbers. He’ll be a top-10 guy, but there’s a good chance he isn’t in the top-5. There were plenty of quarterbacks that I see producing similar numbers that are going many rounds later in the draft.

My Pick: Nobody
Since I was originally gifted the 10th pick in the draft, I decided to trade up by giving up my first, third, and ninth round pick for the first pick in the draft, along with a sixth and eighth rounder. I feel good about the talent I was able to acquire and am happy that I made the trade.

Round 4
37 Ready, Willing And Tom Cable RB Arian Foster Hou
38 Geriatric All Stars WR Golden Tate Det
39 Wegher Bombs RB Todd Gurley StL
40 Steele Jantz’s Jock Strap QB Tom Brady NE
41 Run And Hyde RB T.J. Yeldon Jac
42 Hot Joel WR Keenan Allen SD
43 Al Pacino From Scent of a Woman WR Davante Adams GB
44 Too Many (Brandin) Cooks RB Joseph Randle Dal
45 Graham Cracker WR Andre Johnson Ind
46 You Just Have To BELLieve! RB Andre Ellington Ari
47 Larry Donnell Trump 4 President WR Julian Edelman NE
48 Deez Nuts RB Jonathan Stewart Car

Best Pick: Arian Foster
If Arian Foster was completely healthy going into this season, he’s a first round pick. His injury is nothing to scoff at, but it looks like he’ll be ready to go by week 2 or 3. Yes, injuries are an extra concern for Foster, but at that point in the draft, there are no sure things, and he was by far the most proven commodity available.

Worst Pick: Tom Brady
As you can probably tell, I was not a big fan of taking quarterbacks early this year. Can you really expect Tom Brady to perform better than Matt Ryan, Eli Manning, or Philip Rivers? Those guys are going 2, 3, and 5 rounds later respectively than Brady. And I think everyone keeps thinking back to the time he had Randy Moss and set the world on fire, but the Patriots do not have that receiving corps anymore. Yes, Gronk is an absolute beast, but as I said earlier, he’s not the healthiest guy in the world. I just see his best case scenario as meeting this draft spot with a good chance that he falls short.

My Pick: Todd Gurley
Holy shit is my team going to suck the first couple weeks. Todd Gurley wasn’t really a guy I was targeting in drafts as he didn’t end up on my other two squads, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love me some Todd Gurley. It’s just that in other drafts, I liked other guys more when I was drafting. Todd Gurley is legit, and he does everything you need a running back to do well. He can catch passes, he can block, and most importantly, he can run like an absolute beast. He looks like Adrian Peterson, and considering how well that guy came back from his knee injury, I think that after the Rams have a bye in week 6, he’s going to turn on the jets and be a fantasy monster. The Rams wouldn’t have used a first round pick on him if they thought anything less.

But yes, I’m really just hoping for a .500 record early in the season considering my issues at running back.

Round 5
49 Deez Nuts WR Brandon Marshall NYJ
50 Larry Donnell Trump 4 President WR Vincent Jackson TB
51 You Just Have To BELLieve! RB Chris Ivory NYJ
52 Graham Cracker RB Joique Bell Det
53 Too Many (Brandin) Cooks RB Doug Martin TB
54 Al Pacino From Scent of a Woman WR Jarvis Landry Mia
55 Hot Joel WR Jeremy Maclin KC
56 Run And Hyde WR Nelson Agholor Phi
57 Steele Jantz’s Jock Strap WR DeSean Jackson Wsh
58 Wegher Bombs WR Sammy Watkins Buf
59 Geriatric All Stars RB Rashad Jennings NYG
60 Ready, Willing And Tom Cable WR DeAndre Hopkins Hou

Keepers: Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins

Best Pick: Doug Martin
I am easily influenced by seeing people do good things in person, and Doug Martin was off the chain in the Buccaneers second preseason game that I attended. He was finding holes and exploding through them with quickness that he hasn’t had since his rookie year. I think the Muscle Hamster is back, and I am not happy that he is not a part of my team.

Worst Pick: Jarvis Landry
I really like Jarvis Landry, but the Dolphins added a ton of receiving options this offseason, and he’s probably not going to be a prime red zone target with his skills. I think he’s more in the range of possible flex option, first guy off the bench as opposed to the true starting receiver that were drafted in this round. I have a hard time imagining Jarvis Landry putting up bigger numbers than Jeremy Maclin.

My Pick: Sammy Watkins
Sammy Watkins was one of my two keepers for the year, and it was a bit of a borderline call. Hypothetically, he may have been available at this time, and I may have been able to get somebody I liked better. But looking at what was available, there is a good chance he wouldn’t have been there, and I definitely would have taken him had he been there. I think Watkins is getting underrated, partly because of injuries last year, and partly because of the Buffalo quarterback situation. I like Kyle Orton quite a bit, but I don’t think Tyrod Taylor is going to be a tremendous step backwards for this offense, and I could see Sammy Watkins taking a tremendous step forward.

I'll be back with part two as soon as I can. That, as you may have guessed, will be followed by part three.

Improving the Bears

For all but Saints and Colts fans, football season is over. This is a great time to look back on the positives and negatives of your favorite team. Looking back on the Bears season, the positives were that they beat Brett Favre and the Vikings and…um, shit, not much else.

The negatives were:

Trading For Jay Cutler and Giving Away a Bunch of High Picks

Brian Urlacher’s Injury

Giving Jay Cutler a Big Guaranteed Contract Through 2013

Our Offensive Line Being Swiss Cheese

Jay Cutler’s Interceptions

Matt Forte Taking a Major Step Backwards

Jay Cutler’s Stupid Look On His Face

Tommie Harris Having an IQ Lower Than 70

Jay Cutler Missing Wide Open Receivers

The Gaines Adams Trade

Not Getting the Real Jay Cutler

Lovie Smith Showing He Knows Nothing About Defense

Jay Cutler’s Leadership

Also, the off-season has gotten off to a stellar start with nobody wanting to be a coordinator for the Bears. On offense, they are going after a bunch of people with no proven track record, and none of them will even consider the position. Meanwhile, the one person with a proven track record of always having great offenses, Mike Martz, is practically begging for the job, and the Bears refuse to give him an interview.

But back to Jay Cutler. He sucks. The guy has never won. He didn’t win in college; he didn’t win for the Broncos. He is a loser. He has a very strong arm, and people really get excited about that, but he can’t read a defense to save his life (I’m not sure if he could read a book to save his life either).

Most people have jumped on board with the Jay Cutler Sucks Bandwagon, but there are still those people that feel he just needs a #1 Receiver to be great. I have great news for those people, the Bears first round pick this year is currently projected to select: Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State. Dez Bryant is arguably the best receiver to come out of college since Calvin Johnson, as most scouts prefer him over last year’s top wide receiver, Michael Crabtree. Holy shit, that’s awesome news for the Bears, but, what? Wait a minute. Oh, that’s right; they gave that pick to the Broncos.

My personal plan would be for the Bears to blow everything up and get rid of everyone. Trade every valuable player they have for future draft picks, and I would prefer to not even get 2010 or 2011 draft picks, I want them to look into 2012 and 2013, because this team is going to suck for a while, so the key is to focus on 2014 and beyond. What many people don’t realize about the salary cap is that it also creates a salary floor, and since there will be no cap this year, the Bears could technically go down to a $60 million dollar payroll if they wanted (This year’s salary floor was 112.1 million). This would be awesome, but there is no way that Jerry Angelo would do this, because even as cheap as Bears’ ownership is, they won’t stand for the team to be Detroit Lions bad.

My realistic plan would be to first try to sign Brandon Marshall as a restricted free agent. He is clashing with McDaniels, so there’s a chance the Bears could get him for just a first rounder or just a second rounder, but even if they gave up a first and a third, the plan still works. Get Marshall at all costs. Put a clause in there that if he plays 6 or more of his games at above 5,000 feet above sea level, then his contract becomes guaranteed which means the Broncos won’t even have the choice of matching it.

Next, trade for a bunch of 6^th and 7^th round picks for these next two drafts. Preferably, I would like the Bears drafting somewhere between 8-10 times in the final two rounds. The NFL could easily go to a 12 round draft and teams would happily be selecting quality players with those picks. I want the Bears to strictly draft offensive linemen with these picks. People are really piss poor at scouting linemen, so there are always quality guys in later rounds that end up making multiple pro bowls. If the Bears find two starters, then they’ve done well with their picks as far as I’m concerned (Also, depending on the level of tender, Jammal Brown of New Orleans might be a good restricted free agent to get as he has been out for the year and replaced by Jermon Bushrod who is cheap and has been very solid this year. If it’s a second round tender, then they should definitely go for it).

I don’t think the defense is nearly as bad as they played this year, but they aren’t too good either. As long as Hunter Hillenmeyer doesn’t play, they are guaranteed to look better. If they can stay healthy and get a run stopping defensive tackle. This class is extremely deep in defensive tackles, and some good ones should fall to the second round, oh wait, the Bears traded their second round pick for Gaines Adams. Nice job, Bears. Nobody great is going to be there in the third, but the Bears do a good job of finding quality cornerbacks late, so maybe they can snag a quality guy there. The Bears should also abandon the Cover-2, and hire somebody from Baltimore, Philly, New Orleans, or the Jets and go blitz crazy on people. They don’t have the talent to get pressure with a straight up defense anymore, so they need to start to scheme any way that they can.

They would not have a dynasty with these changes. Nowhere near it. But they would have a rich man’s Jake Delhomme in Jay Cutler, and the Panthers managed to make a Super Bowl by having Delhomme strictly throw to Steve Smith, maybe the Bears can do the same when reuniting Marshall and Cutler.

Will the Bears do any of these things? Probably not. Will they suck for the next four years? Probably. Don’t worry Bears fans, 2014 is just around the corner.

-Joe

P.S. If they decide to sign John David Booty, they could definitely have themselves a dynasty. For anyone not familiar, JDB played varsity football in SEVENTH GRADE. I think the only other people to do that were Shane Falco and Willie Beamon. Hence, a recipe for success.

P.P.S. Draft Edds and Angerer too.

P.P.P.S. I almost titled this EmBEARassing.