by Russ Biss (5-31-11)


The fantasy experts mock draft has moved along so quickly that I couldn't keep up by just doing a round by round update. We are into round 13 now, and I will now instead list each pick starting with round 5, (for the previous 1st 4 rounds, see my fantasy football blogs over the last week or so) and giving some general thoughts about certain picks each round.

 

5.01	49	Pro Football Focus	Jones, Felix DAL RB
5.02	50	Lester's Legends	Brady, Tom NEP QB
5.03	51	Fanatic Fantasy Football	Romo, Tony DAL QB
5.04	52	Fantasy Football Xtreme	Ingram, Mark NOS RB (R)
5.05	53	FootballGuys	Williams, DeAngelo CAR RB
5.06	54	Fantasy Shrink	Johnson, Steve BUF WR
5.07	55	All Purpose Roto	Freeman, Josh TBB QB
5.08	56	Fantasy Football Starters	Witten, Jason DAL TE
5.09	57	DraftSharks.com	Addai, Joseph IND RB
5.10	58	Fantasy Football Trader	Davis, Vernon SFO TE
5.11	59	GO Ahead Score	Stewart, Jonathan CAR RB
5.12	60	Junkyard Jake	Ryan, Matt ATL QB

 

Tom Brady in round 5 is criminal. I also think the Tony Romo pick was solid as well, but do not understand why both Josh Freeman and Matt Ryan went this round too. There is a clear top 7 QB's, and Brady and Romo were the last 2. Steve Johnson was a great pick this round too and while Buffalo doesn't get much respect, Johnson should be just as good this year as he was in 2010. I usually don't take a TE this early, but after the big 3 (Gates, Finley, and Clark; all of whom come with injury concerns) were all taken in round 4, I figured taking Witten (a proven 90 catch, 1,000 yards TE) was better than a WR I wasn't as high on.

 

6.01	61	Junkyard Jake	Crabtree, Michael SFO WR
6.02	62	GO Ahead Score	Roethlisberger, Ben PIT QB
6.03	63	Fantasy Football Trader	Britt, Kenny TEN WR
6.04	64	DraftSharks.com	Schaub, Matt HOU QB
6.05	65	Fantasy Football Starters	Thomas, Daniel MIA RB (R)
6.06	66	All Purpose Roto	Graham, Jimmy NOS TE
6.07	67	Fantasy Shrink	Benson, Cedric CIN RB
6.08	68	FootballGuys	Rice, Sidney MIN WR
6.09	69	Fantasy Football Xtreme	Spiller, C.J. BUF RB
6.10	70	Fanatic Fantasy Football	Cutler, Jay CHI QB
6.11	71	Lester's Legends	Harvin, Percy MIN WR
6.12	72	Pro Football Focus	Holmes, Santonio NYJ WR

 

 

With 3 more QB's selected this round, all 12 teams have their starting QB. This round seemed to be all about risk vs. reward. Crabtree and Britt have their issues. Graham should be a great fantasy football sleeper TE, but had some injury concerns towards the end of last season. Benson, Rice, and Holmes are all free agents. Harvin needs to find a way to beat the migraines. Spiller needs to show he's better than the RB we saw last year. Thomas is a rookie with little speed but in a great situation. I took Thomas myself over other RB's because of his situation as the likely lead RB and potential feature RB for Miami. For me RB3, I thought this was the best move.

 

7.01	73	Pro Football Focus	Grant, Ryan GBP RB
7.02	74	Lester's Legends	Lynch, Marshawn SEA RB
7.03	75	Fanatic Fantasy Football	Boldin, Anquan BAL WR
7.04	76	Fantasy Football Xtreme	Garcon, Pierre IND WR
7.05	77	FootballGuys	Jackson, Fred BUF RB
7.06	78	Fantasy Shrink	Green, A.J. CIN WR (R)
7.07	79	All Purpose Roto	Starks, James GBP RB
7.08	80	Fantasy Football Starters	Nelson, Jordy GBP WR
7.09	81	DraftSharks.com	Daniels, Owen HOU TE
7.10	82	Fantasy Football Trader	Wells, Chris ARI RB
7.11	83	GO Ahead Score	Manningham, Mario NYG WR
7.12	84	Junkyard Jake	Knox, Johnny CHI WR

 

Kind of surprising that Fred Jackson gets so little love each year. C.J. Spiller was taken before Jackson in this draft but Jackson clearly outperformed Spiller last year. There were some great picks this round, especially at the WR position. Going into round 7, my plan had been to get 2 WR's in rounds 7 and 8 and I had targeted several WR's. My top 3 were Boldin, Nelson, and Manningham. But I only managed to get one of them as the other two were taken this round too. Even my other top guys here, Green, Knox, and Mike Thomas were all gone by my pick next round. The biggest surprise this round was Beanie Wells. I've been a believer in Wells, but the drafting of Ryan Williams really makes it difficult to think of Wells as being more than a RB4 for fantasy. At best he is in a time share with Williams.

 

8.01	85	Junkyard Jake	Jones, Julio ATL WR (R)
8.02	86	GO Ahead Score	Gronkowski, Rob NEP TE
8.03	87	Fantasy Football Trader	Thomas, Mike JAC WR
8.04	88	DraftSharks.com	Jacobs, Brandon NYG RB
8.05	89	Fantasy Football Starters	Amendola, Danny STL WR
8.06	90	All Purpose Roto	Manning, Eli NYG QB
8.07	91	Fantasy Shrink	Stafford, Matthew DET QB
8.08	92	FootballGuys	Moss, Santana WAS WR
8.09	93	Fantasy Football Xtreme	Williams, Ryan ARI RB (R)
8.10	94	Fanatic Fantasy Football	Pettigrew, Brandon DET TE
8.11	95	Lester's Legends	Ochocinco, Chad CIN WR
8.12	96	Pro Football Focus	Smith, Steve CAR WR

 

 

There goes Mike Thomas 2 picks before mine this round. I settled for Amendola only because of the ppr format. Knowing the Josh McDaniels offense is set up to make possession WR's like Amendola catch a ton of passes, I figured he was the more sure pick here than the other WR options. I like Moss, Ochocinco, and Smith, but where are they going to play? Do they really have that top potential left in them? The potential steal of this round could be Brandon Jacobs. With Ahmad Bradshaw a free agent, Jacobs could be in line to get the majority of the carries for the Giants this year. He could turn out to be a great RB2 this season.

 

9.01	97	Pro Football Focus	Tolbert, Mike SDC RB
9.02	98	Lester's Legends	Miller, Zach OAK TE
9.03	99	Fanatic Fantasy Football	Bess, Davone MIA WR
9.04	100	Fantasy Football Xtreme	Lewis, Marcedes JAC TE
9.05	101	FootballGuys	Ford, Jacoby OAK WR
9.06	102	Fantasy Shrink	Green-Ellis, BenJarvus NEP RB
9.07	103	All Purpose Roto	Helu, Roy WAS RB (R)
9.08	104	Fantasy Football Starters	Leshoure, Mikel DET RB (R)
9.09	105	DraftSharks.com	Flacco, Joe BAL QB
9.10	106	Fantasy Football Trader	Williams, Mike SEA WR
9.11	107	GO Ahead Score	Bradford, Sam STL QB
9.12	108	Junkyard Jake	Cooley, Chris WAS TE

 

 

How Chris Cooley fell this far I don't know. Even though we have no idea who will be the QB in Washington in 2011, in the ppr format, Cooley should have been the 6th or 7th TE off the board. Loved the Jacoby Ford pick as he is one of my favorite fantasy football sleeper WR's in 2011. Roy Helu is a nice pick with big upside too. I went with Leshoure here as my RB4. The only thing standing between Leshoure and a featured RB role is Jahvid Best. If Best proves to be injury prone, Leshoure here will be a steal.

 

10.01	109	Junkyard Jake	Keller, Dustin NYJ TE
10.02	110	GO Ahead Score	Torain, Ryan WAS RB
10.03	111	Fantasy Football Trader	Branch, Deion NEP WR
10.04	112	DraftSharks.com	Meachem, Robert NOS WR
10.05	113	Fantasy Football Starters	Alexander, Danario STL WR
10.06	114	All Purpose Roto	Thomas, Pierre NOS RB
10.07	115	Fantasy Shrink	Fitzpatrick, Ryan BUF QB
10.08	116	FootballGuys	Carter, Delone IND RB (R)
10.09	117	Fantasy Football Xtreme	Brown, Ronnie MIA RB
10.10	118	Fanatic Fantasy Football	Ward, Hines PIT WR
10.11	119	Lester's Legends	Cassel, Matt KCC QB
10.12	120	Pro Football Focus	Smith, Steve NYG WR

 

I so wanted Robert Meachem to fall to me here, but he went right before my pick. I know I already took a Rams WR in round 8 with Amendola, but when Meachem was gone, I figured it made the most sense to grab the other top Rams WR. Alexander has tremendous upside. His big risk is the many knee surgeries he has had, but if he can stay healthy, he is the most talented WR on the Rams and could explode in McDaniels system. I also really liked the Delone Carter pick as he was one of my favorite sleeper rookie RB's.

 

11.01	121	Pro Football Focus	Bush, Michael OAK RB
11.02	122	Lester's Legends	Tomlinson, LaDainian NYJ RB
11.03	123	Fanatic Fantasy Football	Moeaki, Tony KCC TE
11.04	124	Fantasy Football Xtreme	Moss, Randy TEN WR
11.05	125	FootballGuys	Edwards, Braylon NYJ WR
11.06	126	Fantasy Shrink	Little, Greg CLE WR (R)
11.07	127	All Purpose Roto	Winslow, Kellen TBB TE
11.08	128	Fantasy Football Starters	Sanchez, Mark NYJ QB
11.09	129	DraftSharks.com	Woodhead, Danny NEP RB
11.10	130	Fantasy Football Trader	Kolb, Kevin PHI QB
11.11	131	GO Ahead Score	Moore, Lance NOS WR
11.12	132	Junkyard Jake	Palmer, Carson CIN QB

 

Greg Little and Randy Moss topped my wish list for this round, but both were selected before my turn so I turned to Mark Sanchez as the backup to Peyton Manning. I normally don't worry too much about backing up Manning, but his recent neck surgery had me concerned enough to want one of the last stable backup fantasy QB's available. There's little worry about Sanchez being replaced as the Jets QB; can't say the same about the rest of those available at this point.

 

12.01	133	Junkyard Jake	Scott, Bernard CIN RB
12.02	134	GO Ahead Score	Hernandez, Aaron NEP TE
12.03	135	Fantasy Football Trader	Jennings, Rashad JAC RB
12.04	136	DraftSharks.com	Cook, Jared TEN TE
12.05	137	Fantasy Football Starters	Goodson, Mike CAR RB
12.06	138	All Purpose Roto	Vereen, Shane NEP RB (R)
12.07	139	Fantasy Shrink	Owens, Terrell CIN WR
12.08	140	FootballGuys	Gonzalez, Tony ATL TE
12.09	141	Fantasy Football Xtreme	Orton, Kyle DEN QB
12.10	142	Fanatic Fantasy Football	Tate, Brandon NEP WR
12.11	143	Lester's Legends	Steelers, Pittsburgh PIT Def
12.12	144	Pro Football Focus	Celek, Brent PHI TE

 

 

By this point, pickings are getting slim and it's time to go after the upside guys. Goodson showed very well last year when called upon to be the Panthers feature RB and with the assumption that DeAngelo Williams will be gone, Jonathan Stewart is the only player standing between Goodson and a prominent offensive role. With his performance last season, I expect Goodson will have a larger role this season than many will expect. Biggest surprise this round was that Tony Gonzalez was still available. His game may be slowing down, but to the point where he's available in round 12? That's just amazing. I also liked the Brandon Tate pick. Huge upside if he's really ready to step up into a more prominent role.