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AFC DRAFT SUMMARY (Offensive Fantasy Impact) pt. 3
This week we will look back at the AFC teams and their draft picks.
AFC DRAFT SUMMARY
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: The Pats surprised everyone with their second 3rd round pick and picked QB Kevin O'Connell who had a great Senior year at San Diego State. The only other pick was WR Matt Slater which they used their 5th round pick for. Matt is the son of Jackie Slater and has great speed which he used to score 3 times on returns at UCLA.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS: The Steelers used their first pick on the 210 pound BR Rashard Mendenhall who in his only season as the feature back he had 1681 yards and 17 touchdowns on 262 carries. Their 2nd round pick was WR Limas Sweed who stands 6'4" with long arms providing Big Ben a big target. In the 5th round they drafted QB Dennis Dixon who can run, pass and catch. Are they missing Kordell Stewart that much?
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: To replace the lose of Ben Utecht they used 2 picks on TE's Jacob Tamme who will be molded to be the next Dallas Clark and Tom Santi who will imitate Utecht.
They used compensatory picks on RB Mike Hart and WR Pierre Garcon who will both add depth if they make the team.
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS: Their only pick that has fantasy relevance is R Marcus Thomas who has size and speed that compliment each other nicely.
MIAMI DOLPHINS: After making a early splash with their first pick of the draft they used their second 2nd round pick on QB Chad Henne who will compete for starting QB. They used two 6th round picks on RB"s Jalen Parmele and Lex Hillard who will both fight to make the roster.
BALTIMORE RAVENS: The Ravens immediately addressed the QB need by taking the 6'7" Joe Flacco who some say could turn into the best Qb in the draft. In the 2nd round they picked up RB Ray Rice who has underrated speed to complement McGahee. In the 4th and 7th rounds respectively they picked up WR's Marcus Smith and Justin Harper.
HOUSTON TEXANS: The Texans used a 3rd round pick on RB Steve Slaton who has speed and good hands plus Alex Brink, a QB who was a three year starter at Washington State.
OAKLAND RAIDERS: The big splash here was taking Darren McFadden, the RB who ran a 4.33 40 who can take it to the house every time he gets the ball. WR Arman Shields ran a 4.37 4o, also fitting the Al Davis resume along with WR Chaz Shields who has exceptional size and speed, but needs to get better as a receiver to make the roster.
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Week 7 Power Rankings: FBSEL GURU Style!
Power Rankings
1 Roto Authority - Still #1 after losing to Baseball Geeks. has the tougher schedule so far.
2 Fantasy Baseball Search - 6-0 vs Experts and 17-2 over the past two weeks. No team is hotter.
3 Mock Draft Central - He's been steady all year, but hasn't broken open a week in awhile.
4 Fantasy Baseball Geeks - Another incredibly hot team with 3 wins vs. experts in a row.
5 Fantasy Baseball Mafia - Had a good week and a strong 6-4 win over Rotodoc this week.
6 Rotodoc - Still one of the best overall teams, but has had two below average weeks in a row.
7 Junkyard Jake - Smoked M&G 8-1 and has two big wins in a row after 4 tough weeks.
8 Pro Fantasy Games - Got his first win in three weeks and is looking to bounce back.
9 Fantasy Baseball Generals - This is the coldest team in the league at 0-16 over the past two weeks and hasn't won vs. an expert in 3 weeks.
9 Baseball Geeks - Got his first win of the season and took down the #1 team overall. Big win.
11 Melnick&Greco - He's been in a free fall and lost week six 1-8. He only has 1 win versus another expert.
12 Fantasy Fanatics - Played well in week 6, but just isn't getting much luck to help his team.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
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NFC DRAFT SUMMARY (Offensive Fantasy Impact) pt. 2
Today we will complete the NFC, starting the AFC next Tuesday
NEW YORK GIANTS: The Super Bowl Champs went after Michigan's WR Mario Menningham in the 3rd round who will also join 2 other young receivers there Steve Smith and Sinorce Moss to make the future at wide out bright for the defending champs. In the 6th round they picked up Andre' Woodson to add depth at QB.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS: Not much to talk about here due to trading 3 picks for Jared Allen. They did fill the need at QB by taking John David Booty who could find the field early if Travaris Jackson doesn't take better care of the ball, something Booty has done well at USC.
CAROLINA PANTHERS: In the first round they picked up Johnathan Stewart who will back up DeAngelo Williams at RB. In the 5th they got TE Gary Barnidge who can catch and is a good route runner.
ARIZONA CARDINALS: The Cards picked up WR Early Doucet in the 3rd round. Doucet will fit right in with Fitz and Boldin making them a very talented group especially since Early can play in the slot and runs great routes. RB Tim Hightower runs like Marion Barber with all of his 225 pounds excelling as a Fullback, Running back and Special Teams.
WASHINGTON REDSKINS: With three 2nd round picks they went straight to the offensive side of the ball picking TE Fred Davis and WR's Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly. Touted as the top receiver on the board Thomas has great athletic ability and should start immediately in Washington while Kelly has the same abilities as Devin. Davis will add depth at TE where he should find himself blocking mostly as Cooley is the Stud there. QB Colt Brennan fell to the 6th round and into the laps of the Skins who will use him for depth.
DETROIT LIONS: The Lions used their 3rd round pick to address the need of RB and picked up the productive Kevin Smith who only feel due to off-field issues. Versatile WR Kenneth Moore had a 1000 yard senior year for Wake Forest and had a 500 yard Junior year as a rusher.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS: NO NOTABLE FANTASY PICKS MADE
SAN FRANCISCO 49ers: The only pick is the 6th rounder Josh Morgan who is a very fast receiver.
See you all next week.
Monday, May 05, 2008
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NFC DRAFT SUMMARY (Offensive Fantasy Impact) pt. 1
Today we will discuss half of the NFC teams and resume for the other half on Thursday. Next week we will do the AFC cONFERENCE
DALLAS COWBOYS: In the first round they used their 22nd pick overall on some insurance for RB Marion Barber by picking Felix Jones. His speed will compliment the banger Barber. Down a TE from last years roster the Cowboys picked Martellus Bennett to do the blocking while Witten catches the passes. Also at RB is Tashard Choice who runs with power, complimenting Felix Jones if Barber goes down.
ST. LOUIS RAMS: With their second pick they continue with their youth movement at the WR position with Donnie Avery and his 4.34 forty along with Keenan Burton who they took in the 4th.
GREEN BAY PACKERS: With no pick in the 1st round and two in the second the Packers took WR Jordy Nelson who has special teams experience and QB Brian Brohm who is already causing some contriversary in Packerland for the first time in 2 decades. They also took QB Matt Flynn so they could be looking to pile in the QBs into camp and let the best man win.
ATLANTA FALCONS: With the 3rd pick overall the Atlanta Falcons take QB Matt Ryan. This was a very very smart pick and they start to clean up their image and move forward by finding Matt a new weapon in the 3rd round with Harry Douglas who is a good route runner and has good speed. In the late rounds they picked up RB Thomas Brown who has good speed as well and TE Keith Zinger who can block well.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: WR Dexter Jackson has great special teams speed at 4.33 and averaged 16.8 yards per catch. Continuing to stock pile QBs, they picked up Josh Johnson who can scramble well. RB Cory Boyd is great out of the backfield and changes direction well.
CHICAGO BEARS: The Bears who need help everywhere picked RB Matt Forte in the 2nd and comes into camp with a chance to win the starting position from anyone there. At WR’s they picked Earl Bennett and Marcus Monk who dropped considerably. TE Kellen Davis will compete at the one spot the bears look good on offensly. I guess they forgot to get another QB their biggest need.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: The Seahawks used their 2nd round pick on TE John Carlson who is a solid blocker, but left Fred Davis on the board. They used two 7th round picks on RB Justin Forsett who catches well, but is oversized and doesn’t have great sprinting speed and PK Brandon Coutu who has a strong leg and I predict will beat out Mare as the teams kicker by the end of the year.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: McNabb gets a weapon, but will WR DeSean Jackson come of age before McNabb retires or is dealt. Jackson is just the deep threat they need, but that was it, no other skill offensive players.
See you all Thursday.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
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2008 Free Agent & Trade Round Up - AFC WEST
AFC WEST
For those who don't already know I am a Raider fan (please don't mix that up with the TRUE GURU who is a Cowboy Fan) and I have saved the best for last, that being we finished last in the west last year. I will try to be nice to the teams who I have to watch all too many times. LOL. What used to be a tough division has been making people laugh, and to be honest it doesn't look to be changing any time soon.
The Chargers are a unique team, in that they have the best in many positions, but yet just can't win the one that matters. They have LT, & Gates, but then the jury is still out on Rivers who needs to get come counseling to help with his hostile anger towards the fans. I will go out on a limb here and say they will win the division for yet another year. Their off-season moves include losing their security blanket named Michael Turner (RB). But that isn't the biggest problem. Losing FB Lorenzo Neal, who is the best fullback in the game will change things a lot for their running game. They have also lost CB Drayton Florence and DB Marlon McCree and haven't made any signings except to bring back QB Billy Volek and WR Malcom Floyd.
The Denver Broncos signed DB Marlon McCree and WR's Keary Colbert and Darrell Jackson and re-signed FS John Lynch and RB Cecil Sapp who they might try to use a little more and preserve the injury prone Travis Henry. A recent trade has them picking up DT Dewayne Robertson to help stop this run first division. On the lose column with will have a new kicker as they have released Jason Elam as well as letting go of WR Javon Walker. This should be the year Jay Cutler comes of age.
Now the Kansas City Cheifs. What can you say here other than they will be taking over the spot that the Raiders have owned for the last 4 years. Last in the AFC West. They have signed TE J.P. Foschi who I like and two kickers along with franchising Jared Allen, only to deal him off to Minnesota, using those picks in the draft. They also lost a few others including WR Eddie Kennison, CB Ty Law, LB Kendrell Bell and TE Jason Dunn.
The Raiders. Wow, Oakland has new life, and it has cost them a lot of money to do so. Then again, I even think they have thrown money into the wrong pockets, but only time will tell and if they get half their moneys worth I predict they finish 2nd in the division with no less than 8 wins thanks to the easiest schedule the division has had in years. They have lost a number of players including QB Josh McCown, DT Warren Sapp, CB/ST Chris Carr, DE Tyler Brayton, RB Dominic Rhodes and WR Jerry Porter. They gave CB Nnamdi Asomugha the franchise tag to play on the other side of newly signed CB DeAngelo Hall making them what many are saying the best CB duo in the league. They also signed RB Justin Fargas, WR's Drew Carter and Javon Walker as well as super bowl Safety Gibril Wilson and many others.
Next week we will discuss last weekends draft and the fantasy impact it will have.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
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2008 Free Agent & Trade Round Up - NFC WEST
NFC WEST
Today we will talk about the NFC West, but please remember we will not be discussing this past weekends draft.
Entering his last year as the coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Mike Holmgren will be hoping to finish off with a winning season. If he is to do so, he will be doing it with a different look roster, one without MVP RB Shaun Alexander. Also in the lose column are WR D.J. Hackett and PK Josh Brown who was used to the swirling winds of the Seattle's Quest Field. Insert Olindo Mare who couldn't kick well in Miami's sun and New Orleans dome. Are you serious??? To replace Alexander they signed RB Julius Jones to a four year contract and T.J. Duckett who has plenty of travel stickers on his luggage as of late. At TE add Jeb Putzier, who was sometimes dangerous as a Bronco. They designanted CB Marcus Trufant as a francishe player who will now make 10 million this year.
The Arizona Cardinals finished 2nd in the division to the Seahawks and mostly thanks to Kurt Warner. Yup, who predicted that before last year. With Leinart hurt, Warner won some games. But lets get to the busiest team in the off-season. They re-signed 13 + players and added 6 others to their roster this off-season with no really big names to show for it. NONE. They did lose S Terrence Holt and WR Bryant Johnson though. If they are to make a run to the top of the division they will need for Leinart to stay healthy and for managment to deal Boldin and find a suitable replacment for if/when Larry Fitzgerald gets hurt.
Next is the San Francisco 49ers. Wow, who could guess that last year would have them drop so far. So what do you do, you add aging talent around a QB that is playing for his NFL life. WR's Bryant Johnson and Isaac Bruce are now in the bay area and should add some help to a receiving crew that was poor, but what does adding RB DeShaun Foster give them when you have Frank Gore? Depth? Experience? Stability? Maybe a little of all of those elements, but I don't get it. DB Allen Rossum and DE Justin Smith are in the mix now and re-signing CB Donald Strickland will help the defense a lot. Hi-Liting the loses are minor with QB Trent Dilfer and WR Darrell Jackson who forgot to show up in San Fran once he signed.
Now for the St. Louis Rams. Could a team have gone through so much trouble in one year with injuries. Believe it or not, if healthy, they have a pretty good team, but no-one remembers when that was. They lost Jeff Wilkins to retirement and my buddy Grandpa Raider (Marv) will be without a kicker this year as that was his favorite kicker and would even jump up rounds to take him. LOL. Replacing him is Josh Brown who will love kicking in the dome as apposed to Quest Field. Other than losing Isaac Bruce who was a Ram for 14 years, their loses are minor while adding QB Trent Green to back up Bulger and WR Reche Caldwell replace Bruce.
Comeback Thursday for the 8th and final part of this series with the AFC West.
Friday, April 25, 2008
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2008 Free Agent & Trade Round Up - AFC SOUTH
Hello Everyone. Instead of discussing tomorrows draft, I am going to continue on the Round Up trail today. I will give a two part detailed breakdown defining the fantasy impact of the trades and picks of this weekends activities starting with the NFC on May 5 and AFC on May 8th.
AFC SOUTH Today we are discussing the very tough AFC South. Between the four teams there were a total of 42 wins last year. That is an average of 10.5 wins per team, with all four team looking to win more than they did last year, and just might do it too. The Indianapolis Colts won the division and this year will have to fight off the Jags who are clawing closer with every game they play. The Colts re-signed star TE Dallas Clark, OL Ryan Lija and S Matt Giordano. Although they lost DT Dan Klecko and TE Ben Utecht they have been active with signing a number of no name free agents to 1 year contracts. The positive news released today is that DE Dwight Freeney should be good to go for week 1. The Jacksonville Jaguars gained a lot of respect last year with their massive size and strategic game plan. Their re-sign list is as massive as their line-up which tells me that the players and management are working together to get this job done. Although they have lost QB Quinn Gray, S Sammy Knight, DE Bobby McCray, WR Ernest Wilford and DT Marcus Stroud they will be just fine especially since they have improved their weak receiving group with bringing in WR's Troy Williamson and Jerry Porter. QB Cleo Lemon is the new back up for Garrard who has signed a seven year contract. The Tennessee Titans have been in the news a lot this off-season mostly because of who else Pacman Jones who is now in Dallas. They also let go of a huge list of players and at the top of that list are RB Chris Brown, TE Ben Troupe, Antwan Odom and WR David Givens. Replacing some of their loses are CB/ST Chris Carr, TE Alge Crumpler, WR Justin McCareins and DE Jevon Kearse. Last is the Houston Texans who made a number of re-signings including S Will Demps and WR Andre Davis. The list of players who will only to see the visitors locker room on their next visit to Houston is LB's Shaun Barber and Danny Clark, TE Jeb Putzier and WR Jerome Mathis. Their signings look good as they gave themselves some insurance at QB by signing Quinn Gray along with RB Chris Brown. If they are to get out of the basement they will need Andre Johnson and Matt Schaub to stay health and hope the other receivers can help out to free up stud Andre Johnson who was on pace to be the number 1 receiver in fantasy last year, even ahead of Randy Moss. Upcoming Blogs Tuesday April 29 - NFC WEST Thursday May 1 - AFC WEST Monday May 5 - NFC DRAFT RECAP Thursday May 8 - AFC DRAFT RECAP
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
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2008 Free Agent & Trade Round Up - NFC SOUTH
NFC SOUTH
Today's blog has us covering the ever changing division of the NFC South. Why I say this is because of the uncertainty of the strength of the teams within the division. Two years ago the Panthers were picked to win the super bowl and they were terrible while the Saints surprised all winning the division after a 3 and 13 season. But as everyone was expecting the Saints to make a push to the super bowl last year, Reggie Bush and company proved to everyone that Houston was right for taking Mario Williams 1st overall in the 2006 draft. And lets not forget what the Falcons have gone through in the last year. Last year you had the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fight through the injury issues they struggled with in 06 and even last year to win the division. Not being satisfied with just making the playoffs they have decided to continue to stock pile players adding S Eugene Wilson, RB Warrick Dunn, TE Ben Troupe, WR Antonio Byrant and QB Brian Griese. They also resigned CB Sammy Davis and RB Michael Bennett while not losing anyone who might leave them weak in any position. The 7 and 9 Carolina Panthers have also proved to be interested in changing their on field personnel as they have lost WR Keary Colbert, DT Kris Jenkins, QB David Carr, RB DeShaun Foster and DE Mike Rucker who has announced his retirement. Replacing some of they players won't be easy, but you will see DE Tyler Brayton, S Terrence Holt, LB Landon Johnson and WR's D.J. Hackett and Muhsin Muhammad try their best to bring the Panthers back to where Coach Fox wants them to be: the top of the NFC South. Trying to stop them are the team I predict to reclaim the top of the Division, the New Orleans Saints. The Saints just keep upgrading on what is already a great roster, well offence and a weak defense. So what did Coach Payton do, sign CB's Aaron Glenn and Randall Gay, DE Bobby McCray and LB Jonathan Vilma to hopefully get the defence able to keep the points down so his explosive offence can win the games. Offensively they also improved by resigned TE Eric Johnson, RB Aaron Stecker and WR's David Patten and Terrance Copper who make up a great receiving crew. One other signing has QB Mark Brunell coming in to help with some of his 35 years of game experience. LOL, doesn't it seem like he has been around that long. Again, the loses the Saints face are minimal and shouldn't cost them at all. Holding up the basement again for at least one more year is the Atlanta Falcons who will use this years draft to rebuild a depleted roster. Not knowing where to start with the shear mass of moves they have made I'll start with the signings. They re-signed QB's Joey Harrington and Chris Redman as well as signing free agents PK Jason Elam, RB Michael Turner among many others. Their loss column sounds more like a starting line up which includes CB DeAngelo Hall, RB Warrick Dunn, Qb Byron Leftwich, T Wayne Gandy, DT Rod Coleman, S Chris Crocker and TE's Alge Crumpler, Courtney Andeson and Dwayne Blakley. Check back on Friday for our Pre Draft review right here at the fantasyfootballsearch.com
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