Coffin Corner: 2010 Top 10 Draft Busts

This installment of the Coffin Corner features the Top 10 busts/disappointments from last year’s draft.

10. Walking Wounded – DeAngelo Williams/Tony Romo/Sydney Rice/Ryan Grant

It’s hard to classify players who get injured as a “bust”, so I grouped a bunch of them together for this spot in the rankings. Whenever a player you drafted in the first 3 rounds gets injured, your team feels the effects of that. Grant was the only one that didn’t see any action this year, but all were injured before making any real contributions to their teams. Unfortunately it’s impossible to predict if a player is going to get injured while doing the draft, unless you pick Chad Pennington, who is built like a piece of wet spaghetti.

9. Ronnie Brown – Round 4 Pick 46 to Jimmy

140.1 Points

Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams had been a dynamic duo over the past couple of seasons, both racking up yards and TDs and just thriving in the Wildcat offense. Unfortunately, the Dolphins passing offense lacked the explosiveness needed to prevent teams from piling 8 men in the box every play. Brown didn’t have a terrible season, but owners wanted more out of the starting running back for a team that relies heavily on the run game.

8. Robert Meachem – Round 5 Pick 50 to Jimmy

117.2 Points

Robert Meachem wasn’t a “bust” per-say, but he was the 2^nd of the New Orleans Saints’ wide receivers taken in the draft and didn’t have quite the season that Lance Moore had. It was impossible to know that the Saints were going to be playing Wide Receiver roulette to see who would be the go to receiver for the week, but owners who put their chips on Meachem over the other WRs lost more often than they won. Meachem gave a few solid performances, but was far from spectacular.

7. Jonathan Stewart - Round 4 Pick 48 to Feifer

101.3 Points

Jonathan Stewart was never the featured back in Carolina and Feifer did not draft him here with that expectation. DeAngelo Williams is the go to back and then Stewart was supposed to frustrate Williams’ owners by stealing his TD at the goal line. When Williams got hurt, it was time for Stewart to be more than a goal line back, but he never could get anything going. It also didn’t help that the Carolina Panthers had one of the worst Offenses in recent NFL memory, resulting in a subpar season for Stewart.

6. Ryan Mathews – Round 3 Pick 32 to John

129 Points

I know that each and every one of us remembers NFL.com telling us that the next player that we should take was Ryan Mathews from the end of round 1 to the time John pulled the trigger on him. Now he wasn’t AWFUL, but I think it’s safe to assume that Mathews owners wanted to see a little bit more out of a Running back taken in the early rounds. It also doesn’t help when your QB throws 40 TDs, half of which go to Antonio Gates. Mathews may turn out to be an elite Running back, but it was a little too high to draft the rookie back.

5. Steve Smith - Round 4 Pick 39 to Gill

87.3 Points

The Carolina midget Steve Smith punched more people in the face than he scored fantasy points last season.  That’s not entirely true, but he had an absolutely dreadful season last year. It probably wasn’t entirely his fault since Matt Moore turned out to be terrible at QB, the Offensive Line couldn’t block a Mustangs team, and the Running game was just mediocre without DeAngelo Williams, which allowed teams to double team Steve Smith and allow him nothing all season. Add in a sprained wrist and you’ve got yourself one heck of a down year for the usually reliable Smith.

4. Shonn Greene – Round 2 Pick 13 to Terrono

104.6 Points

Shonn Greene was supposed to put the “Pound” in the Jets’ “Ground and Pound” run game. Greene showed that he clearly was not ready to have the running load put on his shoulders, as old man Tomlinson had the superior season to the second year back out of Iowa. Fumbling problems and just an all around lack of the big time play making ability shown in his rookie season made Terrono look foolish for selecting Greene with the first pick of the 2^nd round.

3. Devin Aromashadu – Round 6 Pick 63 to Gill

19.9 Points

Honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking when I made this pick. I was doing a little bit of research and read that a lot of analysts were pretty high on him as a sleeper pick, but in my paranoia that someone else would take him first and he’d have a stellar year, I took him in the 6^th round. What a horrible mistake that turned out to be. The guy couldn’t get on the field for a team that has about ½ of a legitimate WR in Johnny Knox and he averages a measly 1.32 points a game. If I had taken him in the 9^th or 10^th round I wouldn’t have been that upset, but for the 6^th pick on my team, this is just disgraceful. Shot for the stars and missed by a mile.

2. Beanie Wells – Round 3 Pick 35 to Lukas

61.6 Points

It’s not difficult to figure out what went wrong here. Chris Lukas chose a Running back for the Cardinals. Nothing about that sentence hints at success. Beanie Wells was coming off a strong rookie season for the Cards, but Kurt Warner was dancing with the stars and Matt Leinart was too shitfaced to know that it was football season, meaning that every Cardinal was going to have a bad year (except Larry Fitz because I don’t think he’s human). Wells couldn’t get anything going and ended up losing his starting role to Tim Hightower. Hightower ended up having a few big games here and there while Wells ended up doing nothing.

1. Randy Moss – Round 2 Pick 19 to Hurst

83.3 Points

When you are the greatest deep ball wide receiver in NFL history, no one really cares about your attitude because they know you’re going to ball out every game and be an ass doing it. Unfortunately for Randy Moss owners, Moss decided to go with the “I have a shitty attitude AND I’m going to catch nothing in the process”.  He traveled from Patriots to Vikings to Titans to Bench. You felt the need to start him week in and week out because he was your #1 WR and you could always tell yourself that he just had an off week being covered by the likes of Darrell Revis and Vontae Davis, but he only rewarded you with more Goose Eggs in the Point column than you want to remember. When you’re rated as a Top 3 WR in the league and you put on that kind of performance, you are officially the biggest bust of the draft.

Preseason Power Rankings

I can hear you all now
"BUT FEIF! how could you possibly do preseason rankings we dont even have teams yet ya silly goof"
Well never fear my compadres i have come up with the perfect system as to how these rankings will work. Past performance, devotion to the game, and if you have a tuna can weiner you come in last (kidding gilltits)

12) muhls- well Jimbo someones gta be the cabosse and lord knows that noone does that better then you. Im just not buying the repeat...sure in your life ive seen you do some incredible things...example attacking cops in Killington...but paytons a year older, and that could smell trouble for the irshman from the north of the tracks.

11) Chris Lukas - Have you ever been good? I honestly dont remeber ever being like "Lukas team is awesome!!!!!"...maybe some time attempting to teach fancy city folk how to play lacrosse will translate....For the record im betting against it


10) Joey- is joey going to be in florida? If he is i fully expect and understand that Joey will not be as mentally prepared or focused as need be. I mean can you really blame him..suns, booze, and broads...Joey on LI moves up two spots


9) Johnnyboy- Lets not forget how many times at mcanns last year i think we all heard "Im uh not gna do the league next year unless its for college football and we can only pick south carolina gamecocks....who wants to watch me put 40 bucks into the jukebox" i just dont believe the dedication is their right now, throw in a new love interest to add to the distraction and i think what we get is a JB who fantasy football is not to high on theor priority list.


8) Matty T- people say Micheal Vick "changed " the nfl as a player, well Matt did the same for fantasy footy as well. Now lets say we took away V7's ability to run, well thats what we did by taking away 2am madness from matty. Just wasnt the same guy, his game was thrown for a loop, now the question becomes how does matty answer the bell. Matts a kid who i watched projectile vomit all over my dorm bathroom freshman year and ya know what they say "yackers are slackers"


7) Tuna dick- Gilliams finally was relevant for the first time since he got those fucking teal gayballs braces off. Now i do believe that Chris time in front of a computer translates to strong dedication, but could it be to strong? Could the chubby gill brother be thinking himself right out of contention. Plus i beat him in a race and thats just sad


6) Tgill- I dont know his style, i dont know how he plays. Timmy is the ultimate wildcard, he could be the best thing to happen to the league , or we could have a repeat performance of nick kropp picking Mike Nugent in the second round. I believe in timmy but this is the highest i can put him without seeing what hes got


5) CHurst- Another individual i believe re dedicated himself to the league last year, if not for a premature snipping of Dbowe i believe we could have our returning champ. But as they say "if ifs and butts were candy and nuts wed all have a merry christmas." Well even though im jewish i still believe here and i think we see another solid year from the man from the beach


4) DICKYDICKYDICKY- Lets call this the Texas impact. He seemed to handle it well last year remained focused despite the long distance relationship. Now can we bank on this, will nicky take up bull riding meet a southern belle spend to much time in the alamo and forget his picks, I dont know? But what i do know is Nick once shot a bow and arrow through his pool lining and thats just badass, so im buying a strong year from the lonestar state resident


3) The Commish- Let me tell you a story..the year 2005, the game Johnny vs The Commish. Johnny is rolling and i mean just crushing, suddenly you hit the refresh button and BAM the score is completly flipped like it was Florida in 2000 election. What happened you may ask, The Commish lives"by any means neccessary" get in the commimsh's way and hell eat ya for lunch. I respect that in a man, you think you can beat me? BOOM I changed the settings now try and beat me. Its like trying to take dowm the old Corporation of the 2000 wwf days. They controlled everything they made the rules you cant beat tha, just when HHH tapped out to a mankind mandible claw out comes the coroporation flips the script and now vince is the special referee...its killnor be killed in fantasy nd the commish is certainly not going to be killed




2) Feifdaddy- How many different adjectives can you use to describe this guy, genious, creative, dedicated, handsome, and physically fit. Absolute juggerknot, two time champ, three time finalist, rwgular season champ, kids got more rafters inthe sky then MSG. I expect nothing less then another stellar year, all this kid does is show up on Sundays and take prisoners

1) Powers- Every year it seems as though MJP is one play one injury one bad break away from winning that allusive imaginary trophy. Well folks I believe this is the year the bluejay is finally going to break through. Think 2004 Bosox, its been a lot of heart and a lot of pain but I think the fantasy gods are finally smiling down on this guy.


Editors note: As Preparing the rankings the individual ranked one called and said he had Mets tixs. This may or maynot have impacted the rankings

Sounds of Victory

I expect my players to show up each Sunday, and I expect great things to be said about them.

Here are a few.

Coffin Corner: 2010 Top 10 Value Draft Picks

Coffin Corner is going to be a recurring post on the blog during the offseason, in order to recap on last year’s Fantasy season. Everything from draft busts and surprises to unbelievable performances, both on and off the starting roster will be broken down here. This is the first installment.

Top 10 Value Picks

10) Austin Collie – Round 8, Pick 94 to Jimmy

#34 WR – 138.2 Pts

Austin Collie’s final Fantasy production value was around where it should have been, given where he was drafted. However, he makes this list for big reasons. The first is that Collie missed a significant amount of playing time with a concussion, which undoubtedly would have increased his Fantasy point total. The second is that Collie’s 2 TDs in week 15 were the difference between Jimmy losing in the semi-finals and Jimmy winning the championship. This big playoff performance deserves at least the 10 spot on this list.

9) Hakeem Nicks – Round 5, Pick 54 to Powers

#9 WR – 210.7 Pts

Hakeem Nicks was the 22^nd wide receiver picked in the draft and he was the 9^th wide receiver in total points.  Although he was picked in the 5^th round, which means that he was a very highly regarded player, Nicks also missed time with an injury that very well have cost him the points to be one of the top 3 Fantasy wide receivers in the league. Look for Nicks to be a second to third round pick this year.

8) Mike Wallace – Round 5, Pick 56 to John

#7 WR – 219.6 Pts

Mike Wallace claims the 8^th spot over Nicks because he was drafter two picks later and was ranked two spots higher on the wide receiver rankings. Much like Nicks, Wallace was supposed to be a good receiver since he was drafted in the fifth round, but I don’t think anybody imagined the kind of season he had. Even though Wallace had Charlie Batch/Dennis Dixon throwing him the ball the first four weeks of the season, he still posted ridiculous numbers. Imagine how much more he would have had with Big Ben slinging to him the entire season.

7) Terrell Owens – Round 8, Pick 92 to Nick

#16 WR – 188.3 Pts

Terrell Owens was seen as the #2 WR to Chad Ochocinco coming into the year, but he showed the Fantasy world that he’s still got some gas left in the tank. With much of the attention on #85, T.O. took advantage hauling in 72 passes for 9 TDs and 983 Yards. Getting that kind of production from an 8^th round draft pick and the 4^th WR drafted to your team had to be pleasing for Nick.

6) Mario Manningham – Round 10, Pick 120 to Hurst

#20 WR – 176.6 Pts

Mario Manningham had always been the 3^rd or 4^th option for Eli Manning behind Plaxico Burress, Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, Jeremy Shockey, and Kevin Boss. Well Plaxico went to jail, Shockey went to New Orleans, Nicks and Smith got hurt, and Boss sucks. This opened the door for Manningham to step up and produce for the Giants and put together a solid Fantasy season. From 3^rd or 4^th WR on the NFL depth chart to a #2 WR in Fantasy is a pretty solid improvement for a 10^th rounder.

5) LaDainian Tomlinson – Round 10, Pick 118 to Jimmy

#16 RB – 190.2 Pts

LaDainian Tomlinson had always been the #1 or #2 overall pick in the Fantasy draft, so it’s hard to think of him getting drafted in the 10^th round as a Value Pick, but we came into the season knowing that the Fantasy glory days are over. With Shonn Greene slated to be the #1 back for the Jets, Tomlinson could be seen as nothing more than a RB to be used during weeks when you were desperate and had no better options. Greene disappointed owners and LT showed that he might be over the hill, but he still can run the ball in the NFL and rewarded his fantasy owners with a very productive season.

4) Mike Williams – Round 13, Pick 156 to Terrono

#14 WR – 190.9 Pts

Mike Williams, the Syracuse grad, had a stellar rookie season for the Tampa Bay Bucs and fantasy owners. It’s difficult to predict how rookies are going to perform, but Terrono took a chance in the 13^th round and was rewarded when Williams and QB Josh Freeman showed that they had the chemistry to make the Bucs into a playoff contender for years to come. Williams had 65 catches for 964 yards and 11 TDs, showing fantasy owners that he is a reliable #1/#2 Fantasy Wide Receiver.

3) Jason Witten – Round 5, Pick 57 to Joey

#1 TE – 201.2 Pts

It’s difficult to put a player drafted in the 5^th round this high on the Value Pick list, but Jason Witten had too ridiculous of a season to put any lower than this. Witten had 94 catches for 1002 yards and 9 TDs. He scored 48 more points than the next Tight End on the list, so although he was the fourth TE drafted, his production was so much more valuable than any other Tight End, making this pick a steal.

2) Ahmad Bradshaw – Round 14, Pick 158 to Lukas

#14 RB – 216.4 Pts

Ahmad Bradshaw was the #2 Running back behind Brandon Jacobs for the New York Giants coming into the season and was drafted at the point in the draft where everyone was just trying to fill up all of the roster space and then they could continue drinking. Jacobs forgot how to run the ball and didn’t produce, so Bradshaw stepped up and took the starting role away from him. Bradshaw had 1549 all- purpose yards along with 8 TDs and 47 Receptions. These are solid fantasy numbers for a RB, especially for one that gets drafted in garbage time.

1) Darren McFadden – Round 15, Pick 159 to Gill

#8 RB – 243.9 Pts

Darren McFadden's first two seasons in the NFL made it seem like the 3rd overall pick in the 2008 draft was going to be a bust, however the third time was a charm. McFadden was the 44th RB taken in the draft, behind teammate and #1 on the Raiders' depth chart, Michael Bush. "Run DMC" beat out Bush in the early weeks of the season and then put up unbelievable numbers to be the #8 ranked Fantasy RB. He had 1664 all-purpose yards along with 10 TDs and 47 receptions, showing that this 14th round pick was the biggest steal in the draft. Look for McFadden to continue to shake the claim that he is an NFL bust.

Destined for the Dumps: A wealth of NFL knowledge, but Fantasy...Not so Much

Last year brought to light a simple fact that I have been avoiding like a fat girl with crabs: I suck.  I have been hiding below the playoffs for years, just being competitive enough so that I thought I had a decent strategy and could rebound any year.  Last year I was able to reach a new low as I hit rock bottom, and this is my intervention.

Possibly my biggest fault last year was incorporating Dan Bittner into my team name.  There was no hope after the team had been named after someone who steals tips off of bars and then uses them to buy drinks.  I had as good of a shot of winning as Kevin Birney did landing one of his haymaker/flying-knee combos on Chris Nerney.  As if the name alone wasn’t bad enough, the draft happened.  I kept defending myself, blaming the load the was blasted in my face by Powers’ combo of Vick and DeSean Jackson erasing my 50 point lead for my terrible season, but we all know my problems started draft night.

First round – Pick 11 of 12: Not ideal, but you can do some good stuff if you’re not an idiot.  I pick Stephen Jackson. Solid pick, solid start.

Rounds 2-3 – I now gat a marquee QB and a franchise RB. I ended round 3 having just picked Tony Romo and Beanie Wells.  Fucking gross.  Romo would have been a decent pick if it was much later, his shoulder didn’t break, and he was better. Since none of these things happened, I am left with my worst pick so far.  Wait, what’s that? It’s the sound Beanie Wells being moved even further down Arizona’s depth chart.  There he is, ruining both this story and my season.  My third round pick was in my starting line-up for 2 weeks the whole season, and one of those 2 weeks he got negative points.  Don’t worry, I drafted an insurance running back; I wouldn’t be that stupid to not have a gem of a 3rd RB…Brandon Jacobs.  It was like someone was gathering every running back who was #1 on the depth charts in preseason, but not week 1, and tricking me into taking them.  (Luckily I snagged Ahmad Bradshaw with my last pick in the draft to protect me when Jacobs blew dick, but we’re focused on the bad here.)

Another Hall of Fame worthy pick during this wonderful draft was Devin Hester, with the rationale that Cutler was gonna make Hester into a real receiver.  That pick was also coupled with making fun of John for drafting Mike Wallace too early.  Throw in Louis Murphy and Steve Smith (the one on the Giants who was a Pro Bowler in 09 and a bum in 10) and you have a solid core of clunkers.  I could have had Nick Folk and gotten more fantasy production from him. (Wait, I did)  My other receivers were Braylon Edwards (wildly mediocre) and Santana Moss, who I had to trade for Rapelisberger after Romo broke himself.

Tony Gonzalez may have been my only good pick, except I insisted on switching him and Dustin Keller constantly as I was blinded by love for the Jets.

At the end of the season I only had 2 players who were ranked in the top 10 for their positions, Stephen Jackson (7RB) and Tony Gonzalez (5TE).

As I review my roster I see a hopeless team.  Perhaps this year I can use these awesome lessons learned and claw my way out of the shitter.  If not, there will always be beer towers.          

Lukas

Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold

I haven't been able to sleep. Last year.....I was #1! The perfect combination of work horse running backs. Arian Foster and Adrian Peterson you carried me to supremacy. But the carpet was pulled out from under me. I lost in the first round of the playoffs. I've done nothing but sit and wait, for my time, for my chance to strike.

I've been running to one song for a year straight.

NFL Lockout you better unlock....

Fantasy Football Mock Draft 1.0

This is a mock draft for the upcoming fantasy football draft with analysis and potential sleeper picks.

1.       Kevin

The pick: Jamaal Charles

“I don’t want the first pick, I’d prefer the last” – Kevin directly prior to sticking his hand into the helmet and pulling out his own name for the first pick in this year’s fantasy draft.

Jamaal Charles helped oust Kevin’s first seeded team in the quarterfinals of last year’s fantasy playoffs and now Kevin seems poised to poach the electric Charles to be the workhorse for this year’s team. Charles has a unique blend of speed, power, and catching ability and last year rushed for 1,467 yards and 5 touchdowns, with Thomas Jones taking more than a few goal line TDs away from Charles last year. Nothing indicates that Charles will be slowing down this year, and you have to think that Jones will see fewer carries, resulting in more TDs for Charles. The only negatives going into this year for Charles is that the Chiefs lost Offensive Coordinator Charlie Weis to the Florida Gators, so JC has not had a chance to work with new Chiefs OC Bill Muir, so the longer this lockout continues, the longer Kevin has to think about taking another player.

Sleeper Pick: Arian Foster. Kevin’s monster pick up from last year.

2.       Feifer

The pick: Arian Foster

Last year was a breakout year for Arian Foster, who had 2,570 yards from the line of scrimmage and 18 total TDs. Fantasy owners are probably wondering if last season was a fluke, but with a potent Passing attack led by Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson, the Texans RB may be looking at another huge season due to the threat of the long ball. It’s going to be tough to post video game numbers again, but I still think Foster is worth the risk as the #2 pick.

Sleeper Pick:  Adrian Peterson. Feifer says he won’t, I say he will.

3.       Jimmy

The pick: Peyton Manning

There are few things that are certain in fantasy football. One of these things is that Peyton Manning will be on Jimmy’s team. Last year Peyton led Jimmy to his first Championship and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Peyton is healthy and he’s getting back a healthy Dallas Clark and Austin Collie, to compliment Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon, and Jacob Tamme. Look for Manning to return to his fantasy glory days and put up some excellent numbers.

Sleeper Pick: Chris Johnson or AP. Tough to pass on either of them at 3.

4.       Powers

The pick: Adrian Peterson

Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson cannot fall much farther in a fantasy draft than here, so look for Powers to snag one of them up. I think he chooses AP, who we know will put up some monster numbers, but this is contingent on the Vikings moves once the lockout ends. The Vikings are looking to Christian Ponder to help form a connection with Sydney Rice, Percy Harvin, and 2^nd round draft pick TE Kyle Rudolph. If the chemistry is there, teams will not be able to stack the box and Peterson should find some running lanes that he will help him break off some long runs.

Sleeper pick: Michael Vick. That 70 point comeback is fresh in Powers’ memory.

5.       Nick

The pick: Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson is an immense talent, but the question of what the hell he’s doing during the lockout may be cause for concern (see Feifer’s Twitter account). Assuming that Johnson is training and gets a contract hashed out quickly after the lockout ends, you have to assume that he will be able to utilize his 4.31 speed to post some marvelous fantasy numbers, regardless of who is playing QB. Look for him to have a nice season, maybe not to the same level as 2009 season, but he should definitely be worth the #5 pick in the draft.

Sleeper Pick: Ray Rice. Nice productive season last year for Nick.

6.       Terrono

The pick: Philip Rivers

Matt has always taken a unique approach to the draft and isn’t necessarily going to take a RB in the first round, or even the 2^nd round for that matter. There is no denying that Terrono loves Rivers and although Rodgers is rated ahead of Rivers on most Fantasy rankings, but having a full season of Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates could mean some unreal numbers for a guy who posted 4710 yards and 30 TDs with those two missing a bunch of games. 

Sleeper Pick: Andre Johnson. Matt’s other man crush.

7.       Chris

The pick: LeSean McCoy

This pick is a little easier to sort through since I know exactly what I’m thinking with the crop of players left. It’d be between McCoy and Ray Rice, but would ultimately go with McCoy for several reasons. First, the Eagles have so many weapons that they can just explode for points, whereas the Raven offense will tend to struggle from time to time. Second, the Eagles get to play lackluster Redskins and Cowboy defenses twice a year while the Ravens play the Steelers defense twice and an above average Browns defense twice. Have to give the edge to Shady.

Sleeper Pick: Aaron Rodgers. Quarterbacks who post ridiculous numbers are never a bad thing.

8.       Timmy

The pick: Ray Rice

It’s hard to predict the drafting strategy for someone who we’ve never played Fantasy Football with, but I’m thinking that if he looks to build the RB position first and Ray Rice is the best left on the board. Ray Rice had 1,776 (USA USA) All purpose yards last season and that’s quite a bit of fantasy points with the 63 receptions he had as well. Look for Ravens offense to improve and Rice to find pay dirt more than 6 times this season.

Sleeper Pick: Michael Vick. If Powers doesn’t take him, Timmy just might.

9.       Buckley

The Pick: Darren McFadden

Jerry Jones was a Razorback. McFadden was a Razorback. John loves the SEC. All of these factors are enough for Johnny Boy to pick McFadden. “Run DMC” enjoyed the best season of his NFL career last year and is showing teams why Al “what the hell is that on your face?” Davis took him with the 3^rdoverall pick in the draft. The Raiders’ offense was finally starting to evolve into a legitimate offense at the end of last year and I think that McFadden might eclipse last year’s totals to show that he wasn’t just a fluke.

Sleeper Pick: Tom Brady. It wouldn’t be farfetched to see John reach for Brady here.

10.   Joey

The Pick: Aaron Rodgers

If Aaron Rodgers is still sitting here at #10, I think that Joey picks him up with a great Value pick. Joey can grab the top rated Quarterback here and after the year Rodgers had last year, you have to think he’ll have another outstanding season. It’s a safe pick especially since we’re getting into the 2^nd tier running backs and He’ll only have to wait 4 more picks to pick up a RB, so getting Rodgers before the turn is going to be a smart move.

Sleeper Pick: Maurice Jones-Drew. One of the last 1^st tier Running backs.

11.   Hurst

The Pick: Maurice Jones-Drew

MJD has been a solid running back for the past 5 years and last year he had 1,641 all purpose yards on a very mediocre Jaguars Offense. It’s reasonable to think that Jones-Drew will cross the goal line more than the 7 times he scored last year and that the Jaguars Offense will be improved if Blaine Gabbert shows that he is going to be the QB that the Jaguars hoped he would be. MJD has been a mid range first round pick the past 3 years and this might turn out to be a steal at #11 if Gabbert can spread the field and create some lanes for Jones-Drew to run.

Sleeper Pick: Rashard Mendenhall. He hates America, but he scores TDs.

12.   Lukas

The pick: Frank Gore and Michael Vick (Bonus pick on the turn)

At the turn, you need to really pick two players who are going to be playmakers and you’re going to need a RB because you’ll fall well into the 3^rd tier RBs if you wait another 22 picks. Frank Gore and Rashard Mendenhall are probably the best backs left in the draft at this point and I think incoming coach Jim Harbaugh turns the 49ers into the team that they were supposed to be last year, making Gore fantasy owners the main beneficiaries of this success. While Lukas might reach for a WR of Andre Johnson caliber, I think he rolls the dice and selects Michael Vick for his ability to turn in some mind boggling performances.

Sleeper Pick: Calvin Johnson. If he decides to go WR and doesn’t go with Andre, if will be Calvin.