Draft Recap

Welcome back to another year of Get Your Popcorn Ready Fantasy Football! As is tradition, and by semi-popular request, is a another draft recap from yours truly. Before I get right in, a refresher on how I grade these. First, think of the positions as tiers, if you are somewhere in 1-6 I like your team enough to think it's a playoff worthy team. If you are 7-12 it generally means the opposite. Inside those tiers are more tiers, generally broken up into quarters: 1-3 are my surefire bets to make the playoffs, 4-6 are my next three picks, though I'm not as sure, 7-9 are teams I think could have a shot but to me have some fundamental flaw, and 10-12 are teams I generally regard as just too weak. By the way this year it looks more 3 teams I like more than others, 5 teams I like OK but cant differentiate them, and 4 teams I like less than all the others.

Also, I put in my judgment on the best buy and worst buy for each team. There are a ton of factors I take into play on this, and its really subjective, and usually relies on an overall evaluation of how the entire draft played out and on what that person could've used that money or what that player should have gone for but instead went for less.

With that out of the way, I have a few observations I wanted to share before I continue:

1. Even with an autopicker, I grade this draft as among the most competitive thus far. Everyone in here seems to be veteran enough at this point that its hard to pinpoint any real "steals" of the draft. There was quite a bit of price enforcement going on and you could tell by the middle of the draft most people had been tapped out (see the WR market prices). I love it when it gets to this stage with owners who generally know what they are doing because then it really becomes a task to be creative in the construction of your team and really project out values that havent been talked about ad nauseum for the last 5 weeks by one of the legion of fantasy "experts."

2. If you did even one mock draft on yahoo you saw a clear trend. There were about 15 running backs that went for 35+, with most of them closer to 45+. After that it was a wasteland. The next thing you saw was a weak top tier WR corps, many with at least some questions. For instance, what Dez Bryant are we getting? Can you really win your league paying 48$ for him? What does Demaryius Thomas look like with a Peyton Manning who looked very weak down the stretch and an assured reduction in targets? How about Roddy White and his ankle and advancing age, plus a clear relegation to #2. How about Julio Jones' real TD potential on a team that has two better red zone options? Is he really worth 40+? Victor Cruz was a top 8 projected receiver. What are we going to get out of him? It was a risky type year with receivers and when you look at the cheaper end of the receiver pool, I think there was a lot of real value. So if you spent your money in RBs, and even at QB which was perceived to be so deep this year you didnt have to pay attention to it, I think it was probably a wiser investment than in those top WRs.

3. People still spending more than $1 on a kicker or defense boggles my mind. Why spend $5 on Seattle, when you can spend $1 on Cincinnati (probably every bit as good facing similar mediocre offenses in division)? Take that extra $4 and outbid someone on that sleeper, or stud you wanted but had to let go. Eventually, we will see everyone figuring this out, but I say it every year and every year a handful of kickers and defenses go for more than a $1.

One last note, last year I did this, I had a 50% success rate in predicting playoff teams last year, which I probably could've done flipping a coin. So you know, take this with a grain of salt, but its a fun exercise, and with my track record I'm confident I generally know what I'm talking about.  On to the rankings!

1. Carlson's Class - Yeah, people won't be happy to see the #1 rated manager over the history of league back up here. I hesitated to put him up here because, really, who cares what system Vick is in. He's nothing more than a turnover prone injury machine at this point. In fact, the idea of giving him MORE offensive plays seems dangerous for the Eagles. Even further, Chris didn't bother to back him up. Head scratching. What's not head scratching is the rest of this team. I love McCoy and maybe should've pushed for him if I could've been slightly better at predicting the down market for second tier WRs, but he did go for $59. I also like Forte, though not at $42, I don't understand where that's coming from. Nothing has really changed about Chicago or Forte the last couple of seasons. He went for $37 last year, and $27 the year before. I also like the WR corps. I think it's one of the better ones in the league, even though he dropped over 100 dollars on two backs. Generally its the most solid draft compared to the rest of the league. I'm just curious how Vick will work out for the long haul.

Best Buy: Antonio Brown $19. With Wallace gone, Brown has the skills and opportunity to go 1100-1200/6-8 (basically Roddy White territory) for $19. It's a pick I really loved and looking back is a player I should've also pressed more for, I think I stopped just short of $19.

Worst Buy: Not Vick, shockingly enough. For me it was DeAngelo. $11 is a lot to use on a guy that, although he has opportunity, simply has no skills left. It's been a long time since his 2008/2009 prime years and he hasn't shown anything the last 3 years to show he's worthy of being even a flex on a team. That $11 dollars can go straight to Andrew Luck and make me feel loads better about this team, or to Bryce Brown to protect his hefty Eagles investment.

2. Raider Nation - I predicted this team first last year, and got burned. Now, he's sucked me back in again. Look the first thing that jumps out at you is a clear lack of depth or an RB2 worth his jockstrap. But, let's get this out of the way right now, every team, even mine (I know, I know, blasphemy), has it's share of warts. That's what happens when you play in a competitive auction league draft. You never leave completely happy. As I said above, I like the idea of spending 43 on Rodgers and I like his other three expensive picks, some more than others: Charles, White, and Smith. What I think makes this team is the high risk high reward pick of Gronk at $13. That pick will really make or break this team and my vote is on make. Has to tread carefully with the lack of depth and certainly has work to do, but heading into Week 1 you gotta like this team. I feel those 5 guys (when Gronk gets healthy) can win him weeks on their own. 1 or 2 good waiver pickups or trades and this team might be too tough.

Best Buy: Gronk. There aren't a lot of places you can get 900/10 for $13 where there aren't also 7 other guys who do the same thing for the same price. For instance, who cares if you get Welker for 16 or Nelson for 15 or Colston for 14. The dollar values aren't high but they aren't that different from a dozen other guys at the same position. But at TE there's only 2 guys who can do it: Graham and Gronk and Graham went for more than 40. I know Gronk's not playing a full season but I'm confident hes back in 2-3 weeks and Witten can serve just fine for the time being.

Worst Buy: Luck. Also Seattle, but i think given the bench and even WR3/flex starters on this team, spending $10 on a backup QB to one of the most durable QBs in the league who you just spent $43 on seems excessive. The 13 extra could've been used to bolster the last couple of starting spots. This isn't an indictment on Luck, I love him and would've thought long and hard about him over say Kaepernick, Wilson, RG3, or Vick.

3. Manti Python - So I do this as a good faith gesture to the rest of the league to show my objectivity. Obviously I always feel like I have the best team. After all, I drafted these guys for a reason.  But it looks lame to put myself 1st every year so I always put myself third. There were some interesting comments about my draft after it unfolded, but I think as we got into the second half of the draft, my strategy became apparent and looking up and down the roster, I don't think there was too much to sneer at in the end. I will say I never intended to end up with Cam at $25. I thought he would go for $30 and I would pass on him. Getting him at $25 was interesting, especially when Kaepernick went for $26 later. I'm not that big of a fan of Cam, actually I kind of hate him, but there are always players in fantasy I have an irrational dislike for that tend to prove me wrong. Cam's first two seasons have done more than enough to prove me wrong that I thought he would bust as an NFL QB. I do like his division, and 5 games (stupid division game played on 17 wont count) of less than elite defenses guaranteed is always fun, especially when those mediocre to poor defenses come with explosive offenses for shootouts. Fun fact, in his 6 division games last year averaged 25 pts per game. Yeah, I've just spent 10 lines convincing myself I'll be fine with Cam, but really I thought he was worth $30 and got him for $25. He can't be any worse than he was last year. Some eyebrows were raised with Ridley and CJ at $85 but they are two guys without any real threat to their workload and have shown some nice durability. Besides compared to other RBs this guys went for a discount. The bets thing about my draft was my purchasing power throughout most of it. Weathering the spending spree most teams went on, from the middle of the draft on I was able to throw my weight around on guys I wanted. Sure, it meant paying higher than market value of guys like Thompkins and Hilton, but it also meant I ended up with some of the guys I really wanted that I feel will play themselves into either assets for my team or someone else in trade.

Best Buy: Welker at $16? Really I couldn't come up with one. I suppose Cam at $25 might have been good value considering other QBs value and where Cam could finish in QB ranks. I like Welker more than any other Broncos receiver, although Demaryius is certainly more talented, because Peyton's final quarter of the season scared me. He couldn't throw it deep anymore. You know where he can throw it? Welker's lap. I think Welker transplants Decker and that's who bears the brunt of the change in targets. But at $16, it's not like I got him super cheap. This really should be Ahmad Bradshaw at $4, but I hate his guts from his days in NY and if he plays 10 games I'll be happy. It's not like Vick Ballard or Donald Brown will really supplant him...that is until he inevitably gets injured.

Worst Buy: Kenbrell Thompkins. $11. Some will look at TY Hilton at $19 (also the most I spent on any one receiver) and say you are crazy. But Kenbrell may never find my lineup and I wasn't a fan of spending double digits on any one backup player. In fact, I feel like Thompkins may be WR7 on my team, even after Givens and Brown. We'll see, I think my brain kind of stroked off for a minute when I was bidding on him.

4. Candlestickit2U - This really could've gone to any one of the next five teams. I actually got really nervous with this team when he had Lynch, Ryan, and Green and still $90 to spend. It kind of petered out towards the end, but he picked up some serviceable players like Bowe and Wayne, who wont really win him weeks but might help keep him afloat in weeks where he plays a team on an off day. I see this as being a very consistent team that doesn't blow a lot of teams out but doesn't get blown out a lot either. Usually that translates into more wins than losses when you can maintain some level of consistency. His draft jumped the shark with what I thought was one of the worst picks of the draft: $20 for Mathews. I think we've seen enough of the Chargers O-line and Mathew's fragility to know he simply won't cut it. That $20 could've gone towards someone that has a chance to actually contribute to a winning team. Jose did us all a lot of favors with that pick. This team was #1 or #2 material if it wasn't actually starting Mathews, or some combination of Moreno and Mathews.

Best Buy: Matt Ryan $18. Definitely the cheapest among the QBs that have top 5 fantasy potential. My guess is he stays out of the top 5, but he'll get close. This game him the chance to do something great with the extra dollars after spending $95 on Lynch and Green, but we went and did this:

Worst Buy: Mathews $20. Hahaha. Sorry that name and that dollar value just looks funny next to each other.

5. Choppa - This team has really crazy boom or bust potential all over it. We all know Brees has probably the inside edge for #1 QB again thanks to his offense and his defense and, well, his track record of being the #1 QB. I never understood why Rodgers kept going higher. At least that changed this year. Then it gets crazy. Trent Richardson is a beast, a beast without a passing game and with a tendency to pick up nagging injuries. But wait, is Weedon better? Will players like Jordan Cameron, also a member of the Choppas, and Josh Gordon make this a legit offense? What about Lamar Miller? Electric ability but same questions about the legitimacy of his offense. Julio Jones was a big time boom bust WR last year (7 games 7.5 or under, 4 games 18 or higher) and with Stephen Jackson added to mix and Gonzo back it likely happens again. Then you also have James Jones (also a boom bust guy) I'll bet there a few weeks this season when Lee's team looks unstoppable and a few weeks when Lee's team crashes and burns. Still with the steady presence of Brees I see more upswings than downswings.

Best Buy: Lamar Miller $21. Even though I made him a boom bust guy candidate, I actually really like him and think his talent and youth will win out and that Miami actually has a more legitimate offense than say Buffalo, Oakland, or the Jets. He might return top 12 stats for $21.

Worst Buy: Julio Jones $44. Again, not an indictment of his talent, because he is great, but I just don't see how he'll post better stats than last year, and may end up costing Choppa a win or two during bye weeks when he is one of the 3 premium players playing. It just seemed a lot to spend when AJ Green went for a few dollars more, or where you could grab a couple second tier receivers and increase the team's depth and you see far less boom and bust.

6. Kaep'n Crunch - One of the more solid drafts too, although it picked up on some guys I just don't like for their price and committed a sin that I hate, buying 4 running backs for $18+. Use that money for a top tier RB instead of Wilson or a run down MoJo in an awful offense. The receivers are all fairly steady, though I quit Colston a couple years ago. Just maddening to own. Huge game, disappears for 3. Then gets hurt and misses 3 more.  This team could be legit, but it has questions everywhere. Is Manning really stronger than what he showed at the end of last year? If he is can he sustain or meltdown come fantasy playoff time? Can David Wilson really be an every down back for Coughlin? Does MoJo have anything left? What 4 games will Colston help win? Am I right that Decker is now the odd man out in Denver? How to rotate the 4 running backs? It's a lot of legitimate questions based on past performance, not simply playing devil's advocate. But there is enough talent spread out through the team that I think it has a decent shot to finally be the one that busts Rick's playoff cherry. Of course, I thought that last year too.

Best Pick: I guess Peyton at $23. After all, he also has top 5 potential and wasn't among the top five most expensive QBs. Really this team didn't have any great values from my perspective.

Worst Pick: MoJo $36. I may eat my hat on this one, but I think he's broken. I know Rick ended up in the wasteland of running backs after Ridley, but we are seeing the same thing with Foster. These aren't edge guys like Charles and Spiller and CJ3k (see what I did there?). They do an awful lot of dirty work in getting their yards and TDs and after a while, unless you are Cyborg Adrian Peterson, it will wear you down. I personally would've rather seen this team put the money used on running backs ($110) into 3 guys, including a higher tier guy than MoJo, rather than four and have one sitting on the bench for the first 3 weeks. I almost put Sproles here too, I'm just not sure a 3rd down back is worth $24. Especially one that only went 900/8 (You telling me Eddie Lacy won't be able to do that for the same price?) and is now the dreaded 30, and this isn't a PPR league. In fact, I talked myself into it. He is a co-worst pick.

7. Hurricane Ditka - I wanted to like this team and kept trying to talk myself into this team being higher on the list, but one thing kept getting in the way: Ray Rice. I love Ray Rice. I loved his 4th and 3 miles conversion last year against SD. I loved him every year I had him in fantasy. I love his dual threat capabilities. What I don't like now is the emergence of Bernard Pierce, a weakened offense, and 5 year stretch that has seen him touch the ball a lot. He's still 26, and maybe it's unpopular opinion, but I just feel like Ray is in for a down year. Of course, Adrian Peterson could cover for that himself. We're going to find out this year what Fitz actually has in him. What a tragedy it was for his career the last few years. Wasting you prime away on QBs who couldn't throw their way out of wet paper sack. He's only 30 and I think might be rejuvenated this year on a team that still won't be able to run the ball. Victor Cruz is another interesting pick. He went for fairly cheap given his potential, and I'm just not sure what to think. I think he went for probably less than market value, but at the time I think some people were scared off by his injury and the walking boot. He only finished with 1000 yards last year, but 10 tds. If he can't get back to the explosive plays and get to 1250-1300 yards, then his value become very dependent on those TD. A 1000/7 year makes this pick somewhat of a bust. After that, we all know what he'll get from Romo, some games of 300 yards 3 tds, some games of 240 1 td and 3 ints. Otherwise, this team is then sitting on nothing much left. If everything realigns such that my doom and gloom about Ray Rice is overblown, Fitz becomes a top 5 WR again, Cruz gets closer to 2011 than 2013 and Romo's "Peyton-like" involvement in the offense translates into more consistent stats, this team is a top 3 team. I just have less faith than that. Good team though, and I was happy to see the two new guys in the league step it up.

Best Pick: I didn't see too many values in this draft either. I think relative to price I most liked the Fitz pick. He could very easily return better value than Dez taken for $15 more, Julio Jones taken for $11 more, etc...It's a nice risk pick.

Worst Pick: I can't complain about too many picks either. Nothing stood out as a bad pick, but I guess it has to be the Cyborg for $68. It almost never pays off to pay for record years and considering he went $7 more than the next priciest guy you gotta get excellent value the rest of the way, and I just didn't see any excellent value. A few lottery tickets like Hillman and Bell, but I think their talent and situations really limit their upside. Peterson is excellent and waking up to a 150 3 td day is awesome. But when it comes at the expense of much of the rest of the roster you start pinning your hopes on that being the norm rather than an incredible day. We'll see what he has for an encore.

8. Blood Sweat and Beers - Count me among those that wondered why this team spent $45 on two identical QBs when you can only start one. I actually think I'd rather have Wilson this year than Kaepernick and that $26 dollars was certainly better spent elsewhere. Also count me among the non-believers in Reggie Bush as a RB1, which is what this team drafted him to be. I think he's a glorified Darren Sproles too now, after all Detroit has several guys who can  pound the ball between the tackles and the last thing Detroit wants to do is get it's second best pass catcher injured by doing something silly like running power runs. Conversely this team does have some picks I like. We all are pretty much betting that Amendola wont stay healthy or else he probably would've gone for 30. But if he can find away to avoid getting hurt for more than a couple of weeks this could be one of the better values of the draft. I also wouldn't be surprised if Daryl Richardson found his way to top 20 RB status which is a far cry from his $14 price tag. Then, of course, there is Dez. I am praying like crazy his second half was the start of something good and not just a flash in the pan. It seems like he might finally have his head on straight, and I'm sure Rene here hopes so too, you don't spend $48 on a WR to merely have the 10th or 12th best WR.

Best Pick: Richardson $14. There isn't going to be any lack of opportunity for this guy under Fisher, and if Bradford can make something close to a Matt Ryan leap, the Rams all of the sudden have an offense worth fearing with Austin, Givens, and Cook catching balls. There was a lot of talk about the committee in St. Louis, but none of the other backs like Pead or Stacy are as talented as Richardson. This is one those picks that help you win your league.

Worst Pick: Kaepernick $26. I know he bought Wilson later, but I think we all knew Wilson would go for less and is in arguably a better offense. If you are going to draft a guy who likes to be a pocket passer but can run, why draft the same guy twice? Besides Wilson has the better college pedigree too, so I'm not worried about a sophomore slump the same way I would be with Kaepernick. Why not go with someone like Cam Netwon for the same price, or Matt Ryan for cheaper and bolster what looks to be a really weak set of of fringe starters and backups on this team (Ingram, Ivory, Mendenhall, Smith, Floyd).

9. Deep Pockets - This team has some good talent, but made some picks I really hated. DeMarco Murray for $33 I think might be the worst pick of the draft. Also, I hammered Chris on this last year, but in an auction draft I just don't see the benefit of spending $44 on a TE. This isn't a snake draft where you can draft LeSean McCoy in the first round, then Jimmy Graham in the second, then make up for it with also good players in the later rounds. Spending $44 on a guy who is probably 1000/9-10 doesn't make too much sense, even though TE is arguably weaker than last year. I just never saw the benefit. Then spending $18 on Vernon Davis and his supposed  role lining up out wide was a little weird. I don't think Vernon will return that price tag nor be a great Flex play week to week. Other than that I liked Brady, I liked Marshall who will lead the world in targets again this year and I liked the $19 spent on Wallace and Garcon. Pretty cheap for two clear cut first receiving options on teams that will have to pass to survive this year, of course, provided Garcon can actually stay healthy, which is a legitimate concern given his tenure in the NFL.

Best Pick: Garcon $9. This is one of those low risk high reward picks I like to see in an auction draft. We all saw what Garcon could do when healthy. He is a talented receiver, but his nagging foot sapped his value last year. He claims to be 100% and, hey, since when do players lie about their health?

Worst Pick: DeMarco Murray $33. He might not even be the most valuable RB on this team at the end of the year. Yeah, that's right, I said it. Through a combination of injuries, poor line play, or Tony Romo and Bill Callahan taking the ball out of his hands, I doubt he'll get close to returning value. Stats in 2011: 13 G, 1078 total yards, 2 TDs; 2012: 10 G, 910 total yards, 4 TDs. He flashes a lot of talent, but can't stay on the field, and isn't useful in the red zone. I watched enough of him to know he's better served as a committee back. $33 was just way to high for him. Boy, I'd love to be wrong, though.

10. Aaronthal J. Simandez - I'm just going to get right into it. I think every one of the big picks were overpaid. Too much for Martin, too much for Spiller, too much for Thomas, too much for Gore. I had Martin last year after a trade and he was fun to watch, but Martin is now starting the season with out his best guard Nicks again, and unfortunately he doesn't play the Raiders this year where he went for 270 total yards and 4 tds. Instead he gets saddled with 4 games against the NFC West, all of whom I believe have above league average defenses. I love his talent but that was a massive price tag for one season. Despite all the talk about Spiller getting the ball until he throws up, I would worry about the fact that the team fields no real QB. Manuel lost a lot of a very important spring training for his development, and lets just say Tuel will be out of the game in about 2 quarters week 1 if he actually plays (Ed. Note: As of this morning it seems like EJ Manuel is going to play Week 1. File this under "Makes no difference"). Couple that with the fact he is going to have to rely exclusively on his home run ability for TDs in a situation where every week he is the only player the opposing team game plans for and I actually think we'll see a tough season for Spiller. I thought his situation made him too much of a risk for 25% of your budget. I've already expressed concern about Thomas and his loss of targets and Manning's possible weakening of his arm through the season again, but one thing is for sure there is no 1400/10 in his future this year. Gore has been like clockwork the last two seasons, but he's 30 and he has a definite ceiling of 1200/8, and it can only go down from there. Considering the rest of this team I think Gore was a luxury item that got too pricey for this team. Lastly, count me among the people who believe that RG3 will regress the most of that quartet of young QBs from last year, as a result of both his recovery from his injury as well as his inability to progress as a pocket passer. I blogged about this last year, but NFL defenses aren't more than a season slow in responding to trends. The wildcat is non-existent now, while still clearly a passing league, the NFL won't enjoy the same type of passing stats it saw in 2011, and this year it's going to be a reduction in the effectiveness of the read option. No one in the league ran a better read option than Washington, and if you don't think every defensive coordinator got together and spent the last 8 months dissecting that offense you are crazy. As Vick and Newton have shown there is room for a QB who can run, but that ability is derived from also his arm. If RG3 hasn't progressed with his arm he's going to find the sledding tough this year. After that, this team is a complete wasteland. Unless he gets every drop of value out of those 5 guys this team won't win too many games.

Best Pick: Rueben Randle $2. This team had to find value just to fill its WR2, WR3, and TE starting spots. I think this was the best value.  I absolutely don't trust Nicks to stay healthy and Cruz will be slow out of the gate. Randle has a real opportunity to earn Manning's trust and to set himself up for the rest of the season with some good outings in the first couple of games.

Worst Pick: Frank Gore $31. This was just over the top after spending 112 dollars on two other running backs. You can tell how it hurt when he has to start Anquan Boldin and Rueben Randle and Brandon Pettigrew to start the season. Better use those 30 (now, 29) transactions wisely.

11. RENEgade - If you are going to spend $112 on running backs at least get 3 of them.  I don't mind these three backs at all, it certainly one of the best RB threesomes in the league. After that it falls apart. I don't like a single other pick. I'd much rather have Ryan for $18 than Stafford for $17 and Vincent Jackson's value really relies on Josh Freeman's ability to progress as a QB. Jackson had a good season last year but much of it came in the first half of the season before something happened and Josh Freeman started being terrible. After that this team carries almost nothing of value. I like Bernard as depth, but he won't find usefulness on this team until bye weeks hit. Too little skill outside of those 3 running backs. He's got his 45 points, where is he going to get his other 55?

Best Pick: Eddie Lacy $23. Considering what some other running backs went for, this was a good pick. You have at worst a double digit TD guy and at best an actual top 12-15 RB. I still think his opportunities will be limited in a pass first offense like Green Bay's, but he has a lot of upside and opportunity in that offense.

Worst Pick: Vincent Jackson $22. Just don't believe in Freeman and I think that second half last year was more representative of what he'll do than the first half. and I think there were a dozen receivers that came cheaper that will yield better value. Looking at this team, it could've used the extra money. Also drafting Cutler and Rivers to back up Stafford is weird. Waste of a roster space.

12. Call Me Brady? - Autodraft. For some reason, several people thought this team was loaded and dangerous. I couldn't get why. Calvin Johnson will be fun to own for sure and provided the rumors about Foster's broken body are unfounded, it's a very nice 1-2 punch. But that's it. The computer spent $120 on that leaving little wiggle room. The computer decided to to spend $24 on McFadden. Yeah, good luck with that. He's the only player worth anything on that team, but given Terrelle Pryor's inability to throw downfield, Matt Flynn's inability to throw down field, Matt McGloin's inability to throw downfield, and the fact the Raiders will be down 24-0 at the end of every half, McFadden is in for a tough year. And that's if he doesn't get hurt. Hakeem Nicks can kiss my ass. I'd actually worry about this team if I thought Hakeem Nicks could stay healthy, because he is actually talented enough to be a game changing. But he'll spend more time on the bench than in a game. I'll be curious to see Tony Gonzalez' motivation this year after almost retiring last year. Tavon Austin and Le'veon Bell are interesting buzzworthy rookies. I'll be interested to see what Tavon does, I like him a lot, but it's a weird situation in Fisher's conservative offense where there are a couple more polished receiving threats. Maybe Fisher's hiding it, but we really didn't see Tavon used like Percy Harvin or Randall Cobb this preseason. As for Bell he's obviously the most talented back in Pittsburgh which will be good, but their line stink s and he'll need time to get back into the groove after his foot injury. Still, can't complain with the clear cut most talented back on a team that likes to run, even if it is 3 yards and a cloud of dust.

Best Pick: Le'veon Bell $14. I think he's the best candidate to provide more value than his price tag on this team. They'll be itching to get him out there after watching Redman, Stephens-Howling, and Felix Jones suck. If he can stay upright and comes back by Week 2 or 3 I wouldn't be surprised by a 1000/8. That's useful for $14.

Worst Pick: McFadden $24. Just can not imagine him doing anything this year, even if healthy. No line, no QB play, no defense to keep them in games. It's going to be ugly this year.


Well that's all, folks. The season starts tomorrow and I think we all can't wait. I hope you enjoyed this read, as always it's just one man's opinion, and anyway, who can really guess what's going to happen in fantasy football? I really enjoyed this year's draft, it made for ultimately 11.5 competitive teams. Foster and Johnson will get Rob halfway there but I just think it's the only team that I don;'t think really has a shot as of Week 1. Things change, though. Good luck to everybody this year, I hope we see 10 teams vying for 6 playoff spots again like we did last year.