A Draft Amongst Friends
These are just some average guys. Perhaps you can use these results for your research, since most of you can relate to these picks over the results from experts' mocks.
ROUND 4 31= WR Calvin Johnson
32= WR Wes Welker
33= QB Kurt Warner
34= WR Marques Colston
35= QB Aaron Rodgers
36= RB Pierre Thomas
37= WR Anquan Boldin
38= QB Tony Romo
39= WR Dwayne Bowe
40= QB Donovan McNabb
Comments:
I think most reading this will be shocked to see WR Calvin Johnson fall to round 4, but QB questions in Detroit have brought up some concerns with fantasy owners. With the big 3 QBs gone there was a run on QBs in this round with Warner, Rodgers, and Romo. I think McNabb was a reach here, but the owner got desperate with the QB run going and jumped on him. The steals of the round were probably Marques Colston and Anquan Boldin. RB Pierre Thomas was an interesting pick here that could turn out to be a good decision, but his average is probably about late round three or early fourth so this was about right for this draft.
ROUND 5
41= RB Marshawn Lynch
42= RB Darren McFadden
43= RB Willie Parker
44= TE Jason Witten
45= RB Knowshon Moreno
46= TE Antonio Gates
47= QB Philip Rivers
48= TE Tony Gonzalez
49= QB Matt Ryan
50= RB Reggie Bush
Comments:
As you can see there was a TE run in this round, but the fifth round is probably where you need to target one of the big 3 TEs if you want to get one of them. Rivers was the last of the top QBs left, so based on how this draft went that was a good pick here. This was probably close to the average draft positions for Lynch, McFadden, and Bush, however I thought it was too high to take Willie Parker or Matt Ryan in this round. I like the Knowshon Moreno pick because of his potential (even though it might be considered a slight reach by about a round).
ROUND 6
51= Chad Ochocinco
52= TE Dallas Clark
53= WR TJ Houshmandzadeh
54= RB Derrick Ward
55= WR Braylon Edwards
56= WR Roy Williams
57= WR DeSean Jackson
58= RB Joseph Addai
59= QB Matt Schaub
60= TE Jeremy Shockey
Comments:
There were various position picks here as most owners were adding depth in the sixth round. I think there were some good WRs drafted in this round and I was surprised some of them were still available (like Ochocinco, Houshmandzadeh, Roy Williams, Edwards, and DeSean Jackson). I like QB Matt Schaub probably for round 6-7, but considering this owner already had Peyton Manning, he should have passed here at this spot for a possible starter or depth at another position. Getting TE Dallas Clark was a solid pick in this round, however Jeremy Shockey had to be the huge reach of this round.
ROUND 7
61= RB Felix Jones
62= Pittsburgh Defense
63= TE Chris Cooley
64= RB Donald Brown
65= QB Jay Cutler
66= Baltimore Defense
67= WR Brandon Marshall
68= RB Thomas Jones
69= WR Antonio Bryant
70= TE Kellen Winslow
Comments:
Again in this round there were various position picks by the fantasy owners and most of the picks would be considered slight reaches even at this point in the draft. While Pittsburgh and Baltimore's defenses are the top rated in most league formats, I think taking them in the seventh round was too early. The owners who took Cooley and Winslow did so to make sure they got a decent TE, but QB Jay Cutler was a reach this early (however Cutler will be this guy's #1 QB showing that this is what you will get for waiting until the seventh round to draft a QB in most leagues). The steal of the round has to be WR Brandon Marshall since he is going in about the fourth round on average in most drafts.
ROUND 8
71= WR Devin Hester
72= RB Ray Rice
73= WR Bernard Berrian
74= TE Greg Olsen
75= WR Santonio Holmes
76= TE Owen Daniels
77= WR Hines Ward
78= RB Chris Wells
79= TE Dustin Keller
80= NY Giants Defense
Comments:
As we reached the mid-way point of the draft in round eight, there were some nice picks in this round based on players' value and how the draft was going. I liked the picks of Ray Rice, Greg Olsen, Santonio Holmes, Giants Defense (and Chris Wells has potential). TE Dustin Keller was probably the reach of the round, but in all fairness the owner did not have a TE on his roster.
This is only the first eight rounds of the draft, but hopefully this will give you some insight into what a local league with some of your buddies will look like as you prepare for your fantasy football draft this year. Good luck!
