Dynasty Experts League Round 2
Some surprise picks; 1st QB taken
Round 2 of the DraftCalc Classic Dynasty Expert League draft is in the books and we saw the first rookie taken. Yesterday I posted the round 1 results, and here are the selections in round 2 (note: we are a serpentine style draft so the order goes 1-12, 12-1 but we also allow the trading of picks; none happened this early though):
Round 2 (in order, with comments if the expert left any)
1) WR Brandon Marshall (Fantasy Football Starters; comment: "A ppr machine and in Trestman's offense should be amongst the top producers again. And right in the prime of his career")
2) TE Rob Gronkowski (Fantasy Taz)
3) WR Julio Jones (Dynasty Football Warehouse; comment: "Can't pass up the opportunity to have both AJ Green and Julio Jones")
4) WR DeMaryius Thomas (DrFootball)
5) WR Dez Bryant (FantasyIndex; comment: "Had I taken Megatron earlier, as I considered, I'd have gone with Lynch here. Not sure which combo would have been better. We'll see.")
6) RB Marshawn Lynch (Wild Thing Football)
7) WR Percy Harvin (Xs & Ys Podcast)
8) RB Montee Ball (Fantasy Knuckleheads)
9) WR Randall Cobb (RotoProfessor)
10) RB David Wilson (Bruno Boys)
11) RB Chris Johnson (FootballGuys; comment: "I am surprised and pleased to have Chris Johnson fall to me at 2.11. I like what the Titans did with their offensive line woes, collecting Andy Levitre at LG and Chance Warmack at RG. The duo definitely bolsters the line, which benefits Johnson and his ability to slash through open holes on his way to daylight. I hope he sees a lot of daylight as a result of the improved OL. Johnson is a workhorse back who has dropped in value recently, mostly due to the offensive line's inability to spring him free. Even among the down times, Johnson has never rushed for less than 1,000 yards in his career.")
12) QB Aaron Rodgers (DraftCalc; comment: "It's hard to not like having arguably the top RB and QB heading into 2013. Rodgers is a steal at 2.12.")
My observations from round 2:
*-It was either Marshall or Dez Bryant for my pick at the top of the round. While I love the upside of Bryant for a longer period of time (Bryant is 24 years old while Marshall is 29), I also had just enough reservations about his thumb injury to make me go with the safer pick in ppr monster Marshall. Julio Jones and DeMaryius Thomas were also considerations, but there are a lot of hands to feed in Denver now with the Wes Welker acquisition and Jones still has a couple of seasons of Roddy White to contend with for passes.
*-It's obvious that Jim at Fantasy Taz is planning on using a TE in his weekly flex spot after taking Jimmy Graham in round 1 and Rob Gronkowski in round 2. Gronkowski has produced obscene numbers the last two seasons but his inability to shake off infections from his arm injury is a big concern in my opinion.
*-Dynasty Football Warehouse could have 2 of the top 5 ppr fantasy WR's for the next decade in A.J. Green and Julio Jones.
*-The first rookie came off the board when Fantasy Knuckleheads took Denver RB Montee Ball. Despite John Fox's historical reluctance to rely heavily on his rookies, Ball should have no trouble in establishing himself as a 3 down featured RB for the Broncos. Having Peyton Manning is a real plus for his fantasy upside.
*-A little surprised it took until the last pick of the second round for the first QB to be selected. No surprise at all though it was Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers will remain amongst the elite fantasy QB's for the next 5-8 years ensuring Smitty positional stability there.