7.01 QB Drew Bledsoe
By Shannon O'Leary of FanEx
When looking at the talent on the board, QB
Drew Bledsoe caught me eye. I looked at who the remaining back up
QB's were and decided that Drew was head and shoulders above the
rest. I felt solid with Favre, but in this format of pulling the
best numbers out, Bledsoe could see some starts.
He has Moulds to throw too. He also has a cannon of an arm. He is
still one of the best QB's in the league. I feel he will post good
numbers in the Buffalo offense. Plus, he may feel like he has
something to prove.
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7.01 QB Drew Bledsoe
By Guest Gus Elmashni
I feel that O'Leary drafted a 2nd QB a bit too early. After
Kellogg, O'Leary is the only other owner to draft a 2nd QB up to
this point. Considering that two other owners still have not
drafted their first QBs goes to tell you that drafting a 2nd QB at
the beginning of the 7th round is a bit premature. However, QB
Drew Bledsoe a is a very safe pick for a #2 QB.
O'Leary should have focused this pick on building his WR depth.
His two current WRs are solid but most likely not capable of
putting up gaudy numbers. Another option would have been nabbing a
TE like Sharpe or Dilger. Now O'Leary has to wait 22 more picks,
unless if he pulls off a trade, until he gets to pick again. By
that time most of the top TEs or solid WRs (1000 yds, 7-8 TDs)
might be gone.
Nevertheless, Bledsoe should be a solid contributor to O'Leary's
squad. Watching O'Leary's top QB, Favre, for the last 3 seasons
have caused upset stomach for many fantasy owners due to Favre's
gutsy play and desire to play through injuries. Having a backup
like Bledsoe provides better relief than Tums. Bledsoe still has
all of the tools of a top tier QB: a strong arm, plays in the pass
friendly West Coast offense, and a top notch WR in Moulds. Plus
Bledsoe will be greeted in Buffalo with open arms presenting him
with a grand opportunity to resurrect his career.
Of course there is some excess baggage to mention about Bledsoe.
One knock on Bledsoe that applies to all QBs in their first year
with a new team is that it takes at least a year to adjust to
their new teammates and the team's offensive philosophy. Another
important knock on Bledsoe to consider is that he will be facing
tough pass defenses such as New England, Miami, NY Jets, Oakland,
and Green Bay. Also Bledsoe missed practically all of the 2001
season so he can be a bit rusty at the start of the upcoming
season. Finally Bledsoe has not had a Pro Bowl type season since
1997.
Overall, Bledsoe is a questionable #1 QB, but a decent #2 QB that
should stay healthy and pass for over 3,000 yards and 17-20 TDs.
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7.02 RB TJ Duckett
By William Del Pilar | Ryan Bonini of KFFL
Bottom line it. This pick was
made because we have never believed Warrick Dunn is a true No. 1
RB that can rush the ball 20-25 times per game. With that said,
the Atlanta Falcons expect Dunn to see 15-20 "touches"
per game and that is a big plus for Dunn owners. The key word here
is touches, i.e. rushing and receiving. The team even plans on
using him in goal-line situations, but some or most of those
situations could very well see Dunn as a key/primary receiver by
being shifted into the slot and not as the No. 1 rusher.
First of all, the Falcons have shown they are willing to over-pay
for someone they want, i.e. they know Dunn's not worth the money
they shelled out but wanted him anyway for various reasons such as
an outlet receiver to help with Michael Vick's growth and someone
whose also experienced and savvy enough to react to Vick's gifted
athletic skills that will obviously take him out of the pocket.
However, when you look at Dunn's touches last season, 158 rushes
and 69 receptions, you see his strength is getting out of the
backfield and into the flats. We believe that's how the Falcons
will use him. Over the last three years, he's averaged 59 pass
receptions to 200 rushing attempts per season. On the flip side,
Dan Reeves has always been a pretty steady run first, and then
pass when needed, type of coach. We don't think he'll change that.
He may tweak it a bit to take advantage of Dunn and to help Vick's
growth; but, we think overall, he'll continue to pound the ball.
The Falcons, under Reeves, have rushed the ball:
-- 2001 - 376 attempts;
-- 2000 - 350 attempts;
-- 1999 - 371 attempts.
The Falcons have not had a strong running game since their Super
Bowl year because of injuries and a lack of quality RBs, but the
drafting of Duckett could change that and increase the attempts
again. For those that believe T.J. Duckett will be an exclusive
goal-line back should think again. He will be a huge asset inside
the ten but he offers more than that. To highlight that, we review
Reeve's first two year's with the Falcons and his final year with
the NY Giants:
-- 1998 - 517 attempts; (Super Bowl Season);
-- 1997 - 442 attempts;
-- 1996 - 485 attempts (as head coach of the NY Giants).
Clearly Reeves is a head coach that wants to pound the ball:
-- over the last three years his team's averaged 366 rushing
attempts with a corp. of un-healthy or low-quality NFL RBs;
-- his first two years and his final one in NY, his team's
averaged 481 rushing attempts when his RBs were strong and
healthy.
That's where Duckett comes in! We believe the rushing attempts
will rise because Duckett is a big back at 6'1"; 252 lbs. He
is quicker than many believed him to be and as stated is a big and
strong goal line option. He is a bruising type of back ala Jerome
Bettis or Natrone Means. And like Means, can be elusive in the
open and has the speed to break it big at times. Guess what? He
has also shown improvement with his pass-catching ability which
will also help his overall numbers. He does need to improve on his
blocking but that will come in time.
Most importantly, the best thing for a young QB is to have a solid
running game. If the Falcons want to take pressure off of Vick and
help him come along they'll need to develop their running game
quickly. In order to do that, Duckett will need to be involved
because Dunn cannot carry that load.
What does this all mean in terms of numbers for Duckett? Let's
break it down: By taking Dunn's average of 200 attempts per year,
we then have to figure out who will see the touches for the rest
of the carries and how many will there be? We assume there will be
at least 166 more attempts but possibly as many as 281 more
attempts -- 166-281 more attempts. At this point in the draft,
we'll accept that risk, i.e. discrepancy in rushing attempts.
Moving on, let's take an average of 3.6 yards per carry
(realistic) and we can expect anywhere from 598-1,012 yards
rushing from Duckett. We can accept that risk as well.
On the TD side, we take the team's average of TDs over the last
three years (no magic, just an average) and come up with 8 TDs of
which Dunn could see 4 rushing, which would leave (arguably) the
other 4 TDs to Duckett. For those that believe FB Bob Christian
will take some, he could take up to 2 but when the team has had
strong goal-line backs, his TDs have been minimal. In three
seasons in which Jamal Anderson was healthy, he only saw 2 TDs in
that time span -- 2 TDs in three years! We like Duckett to see
anywhere between 2-4 TDs with the potential for more.
Duckett is going to have weeks where he sees the ball more than
20-times and others where he sees the rock less than 10. However,
he's going to see plenty of action this year and the upside is too
high especially if Dunn has any injury problems or Duckett begins
to produce, to pass up on at this point in the draft. This shores
up our top-three RBs with two solid, weekly production players in
Ahman Green and Jerome Bettis while adding a high-potential young
talent to the mix as well. Having the other two backs gives us a
little extra incentive and ability to take a gamble on our No. 3
back. In closing, we like Duckett's upside here especially if Dunn
gets hurt.
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7.02 RB TJ Duckett
By Guest Fred Tierney
At this point in the draft you are either taking chances or
picking your backups. The big question what are the Falcons
thinking when they give a big free agent contract to Warrick Dunn
and then use their first round pick on TJ Duckett? Most
people believe that Jamal Anderson will be leaving and that Dunn
and Duckett will split the position.
I believe that Duckett will show his years as a Michigan State
Spartan have been put to good use. TJ will start out as the
goal line player and by the middle of the season, he will be
getting 20-25 carries a game. TJ can also catch passes so he
will be a viable starter for the second half of the season.
Atlanta gets to end October with Carolina and New Orleans, then
has a very weak schedule in November and December (only Pittsburgh
and Tampa Bay should be strong against the run). If Duckett
takes over he will have good success against New Orleans,
Carolina, Minnesota, Detroit, and Cleveland.
Duckett should score 5-6 rushing touchdowns and 2-3 receiving TDs.
If Atlanta has improved from 2001, he might even do better.
I like this pick and hope that I get to pick Duckett in my
leagues.
The KFFL guys should do well this year. They already have 7
very good players.
7.02 RB TJ Duckett
By Guest Louis Grippo
Taking risks are almost always necessary if one wants to win
championships in fantasy football. The KFFL team's selection of
rookie running back T.J. Duckett was somewhat of a risk with the
second pick in round seven. However, in my opinion, it was a risk
worth taking when one thinks of the potential return on investment
that Mr. Duckett brings to a fantasy football team.
T.J. Duckett is a load at about 6 feet 1 inch and 250 pounds. He
is also deceptively fast and hard to bring down and certainly has
the potential of taking the rock all the way when he breaks in the
clear. He will almost certainly get all the goal line carries for
the Falcons, with the exception of the ones that Michael Vick
hawks from him. This alone should net him between 6-7 touchdowns
his rookie year. While the Falcons paid lots of dough to sign
Warrick Dunn, they also drafted Duckett in the first round despite
glaring needs at the wide receiver position. They expect Duckett
to be their workhorse back and know that a good running game is
essential to the development of their young, franchise QB, Michael
Vick.
While Warrick Dunn will get some carries and be
on the receiving end of some Michael Vick passes, Duckett will be
the Falcons workhorse running back.
The KFFL team is sitting pretty at RB with Duckett as their third
back behind Ahman Green and Jerome Bettis. I applaud their pick of
Duckett at this point in the draft and you should too.
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7.03 RB Kevan Barlow
By Emil Kadlec of FF
Pro Forecast
As reported by Sacramento Bee staffer Mike
Triplett, whatever pressure Barlow might have felt heading into
his second season as a pro all but evaporated when Garrison Hearst
decided to re-sign with the Niners back in March. However,
Hearst's return doesn't eliminate the possibility of Barlow
breaking out this year -- not if Steve Mariucci has anything to
say about it. "We'd like to have both athletes on the
field," the coach said. "We have to be creative how we
use them in the running game and passing game. ..." We'll
point out that Barlow offers the team a unique combination of
power, finesse and breakaway speed. If he can avoid injuries --
like the strained quad that bothered him all last season -- a more
experienced Barlow could easily emerge as a legitimate Fantasy
prospect. ... One last note here. ... According to Triplett, the
cocky Barlow was more than a little disappointed the team
re-signed Hearst.
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7.03 RB Kevan Barlow
By Guest Michael Bicknell of Skill
Positions
Would this have been a very, very high pick if RB Garrison
Hearst would have left town? You bet. Instead, Kevan Barlow will
split time. He still has a ton of potential to perform well this
year. He will be better than his rookie year, and Hearst has not
always stayed healthy. In fact, Hearst has missed almost four
years over the course of his career due to injuries. And he's not
so young.
If anything happens to Hearst, Barlow will make Mr. Kedlec and
other FF owners very happy.
On the flip side, I'm a little worried about both the quarterback
and wide receiver situations on this team at this point. I don't
think it would have hurt to grab another player at either of these
positions right here.
Broken down, QB Brian Griese has not always stayed healthy, but
can perform at a high level. WR Keyshawn Johnson should be fine
this year, but WR Chris Chambers has only been around one year,
and has much to prove.
Don't get me wrong, I do not dislike this team. And I know Emil
and respect him. There are concerns, though. I'm sure there is a
plan, and only coming here to review particular picks puts me in a
position that plans are hard to see, so I do not feel inclined to
tear apart anyone's roster. Especially when we all know how things
can quickly change with fantasy football.
Overall, Barlow is a solid pick here. The questions stem from need
areas, and have little to do with Barlow. I should also note, that
should Hearst go down, Emil has serious trading power to upgrade
other positions, because he currently is very deep at the RB
position. And we all also know that this is the position you
really want to be strong at in this kind of scoring league.
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7.04 QB Michael Vick
By Chris Dolfi of FanEx
I'm sure more than one of you will scratch your head and wonder
why I grabbed Michael Vick at 7.04, and why I let my QB spot fall
until my seven selection of the draft.
In another scoring system, I might have grabbed a QB earlier - but
in the FanEx FAD system, your best player at a position is started
automatically for you each week. That lets you select
players who might be more of a boom/bust type player than in your
average draft. Such is Michael Vick.
Vick doesn't have the experience or the supporting cast to be an
every week starter, but he is a poor man's McNabb. He's
going to rush for plenty of yards (he was his team's #2 rusher
last year and that in very limited duty). He's going to have
some games that he puts up plenty of numbers. And on those
weeks, he'll be starting for me. On the other weeks, when
Vick turns in a poor performance (which I guarantee he will), I'll
just need to back up Vick with a dependable vet QB.
Why pick a risky Vick now rather than wait a round or two?
He simply wouldn't be there in 2 rounds, and probably not in 1
either. The rest of the FanEx members have their QBs and
someone with the potential upside of Vick wouldn't last long as
people start looking for holes to fill on their rosters. I'm
more likely to get a starting vet later in this draft than I would
get Vick if I waited another round.
So although it may look like a weakness to have Vick as my
"#1 QB", keep in mind that in this system of starting
your best players automatically, you don't really NEED #1 players
at any positions, just players that will score like #1 picks SOME
of the time. And that's the player I get by selecting
Michael Vick here.
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7.04 RB Michael Vick
By Guest David Gonos of FantasyRef.com
As Chris stated, I was one of the
head-scratchers. But his reasoning was sound, and of the QBs
I have rated above him, he's right, he'll be able to pick another
up later. Like a Plummer, Collins or my flavor-ite Tim
Couch. Instead he grabs a BIG individual game upside player
in Vick and adds him to an AWESOME team so far in this draft.
If he pairs can grab a decent backup and not rely on hoping Trent
Dilfer or Brad Johnson come through for him this week then all is
good. My one problem is that in this format, if Vick goes
down (which he might given his running ability), then a Dilfer
becomes a starter.
I like the way the Falcons are handling Vick. Last year,
they threw a ton of crossing routes and quick hits giving him
confidence. Also, last year they had a boatload of old
receivers that could haul in an erratic throw or two like
Jefferson and Mathis. With Chandler there in '01, they had
to be able to catch touch passes as well as Vick bullets and they
did more often than not.
How much will Vick run this year? With Dunn/Duckett back
there, there could be problems if he carries it too much.
But he will most certainly get a handful of rushing touchdowns
including at least one over 50 yards
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7.05 RB James Allen
By Duane Cahill of Pitt
Tribune-Review
Call me greedy. In a running
back hungry league, it makes a modicum of sense to me to get
as many as you can. If you can get starters, so
much the better.
According to my calculations, Allen is the last starter left on
the board.
While he's not a superstar (what do you expect in the 7th?) he has
a decent offensive line and should get 5-6 scores and 800 yards.
With a little luck, those scores will come in weeks that I need
them.
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7.05 RB James Allen
By Guest Shawn Bryant of Trade
Rumors
Alright, first, lets talk about RB James Allen. This is a
guy who just a couple of years back looked like he was ready to
take over the Bear's job for good. Yet when given the
chance, he failed to produce to his potential and lost his
starting spot... and eventually, his roster spot. However,
Allen is a decent back, and he is the starter and will be given
the chance to consistently gain yards, so the upside at this point
is decent. He is now on an expansion team, and expansion
teams play from behind almost all the time. When that happens, the
RB tend to disappear as quick points are needed, so expect a
number of weeks with little to no fantasy value.
So, how does this pick fit in with Cahill's team?
Personally, I think a WR would have made a lot more sense here.
Both Conway and Gardner went a few spots later and both have
significantly more upside than Allen. With Terry Glenn as
his #2 WR, Cahill will be playing his 3rd WR more often than he'll
like this year, I bet.
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7.06 WR Muhsin Muhammad
By Jerome Hickerson of
TalkFootball.com
Well, I was
hoping for Amani Toomer here. And then, I was hoping for
Duckett. Oh, well.... my luck just wasn't holding. So this
choice came down between Muhammad and Mike Alstott. I decided
that Alstott might last until my next selection (wrong again as
Alstott went with the next selection.)
WR Muhsin
Muhammad had an awful 2001 season, with only 50 receptions, 585
yards and 1 score, with just 11 games played. But this is the
same player that averaged 88 receptions, 1125 yards and 7 scores
the previous three seasons. As my #3 receiver, I'm certainly
hopeful that Muhammad can return to his earlier numbers.
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7.06 WR Muhsin Muhammad
By Guest Thomas Simons of The Guru Report
You've heard it before and I'll say it again. Champion-
ships are won or lost at this point in any draft. True, one pick
does not make or break a season. Yet, it is here on the borderline
of mid-to-late round picks that team depth is built on either a
concrete foundation or inside a house of cards.
Hickerson's choice of Carolina's WR Muhsin Muhammad is a solid
choice at this point in the draft. Panther QB Chris Weinke
struggled in his rookie season last year with no running game to
support him. The signing of Lamar Smith and drafting of DeShaun
Foster combined with a decent offensive line could help stabilize
the passing and improve Muhammad's stats. As a rotational player
with James Thrash, Hickerson did well to solidify his team's
depth.
Personally, RB Dominic Rhodes would have been my
choice here. Yes Hickerson has three RBs, but
consider the frailty aspect. James returns from an injury while
Staley and Dunn tend to get banged up. Choosing Rhodes insures
quality at the #1 RB position. Remember, Muhammad is a health risk
too.
7.06 WR Muhsin Muhammad
By Guest Dan Grogan of GroganSports.com
WR Muhsin Muhammad's fantasy value is directly linked to QB Chris
Weinke. In 1999 and 2000 we saw a Muhammad who caught roughly 100
passes each season and was in the 1200-yard range with 6-8 TDs.
Remember though, he had a veteran in Steve Beuerlein at QB and an
offense that was centered on the passing game. Things were much
different last season and Muhammad's 2001 decline (only 1 TD, 585
yds) with rookie Weinke at the helm wasn't totally unexpected. It
was however, sharper than anticipated. I acknowledge that injures
played a role too since he missed 5 games, too.
With just 12 TD passes last season, Weinke is still unproven - and
I'm pressed to see a great deal of upside this year. He only has
had one year of NFL experience and Carolina's new coaching staff
wants a more ground-oriented attack in 2002. No doubt,
Muhammad will still be the featured receiver here, but what will
that mean fantasy-wise? Even if we see a fairly dramatic
rise in Weinke's numbers over last season, Muhammad's upside will
be 900-1100 yards and 6 or 7 scores. However, one of the positives
with a guy like Muhammad is his big play potential. He has
had twelve 100+ yard performance in his last 42 games and you'll
probably see the occasional explosive game from him.
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7.07 RB Mike Alstott
By John Hansen of The
Guru Report
I could use a WR, but I see at least 10 left who have a very nice
upside, so I'm sure I'll be able to get a good one as my #3 guy
later. That said, I am taking RB Mike Alstott, who I think it
clearly the best back left on the board, high upside backups
excluded.
Alstott's career with the Bucs was in limbo earlier this year, but
he's in the fold for 2002 for sure now, and I'm also sure that Jon
Gruden will use him often as a FB and RB and as a runner and a
receiver. He was 4th in the NFL in rushing TDs last year with 10
and finished with 11 total. Last year for the Raiders and new Buc
Coach Jon Gruden, RBs/FBs Ty Wheatley and Zack
Crockett also scored 11 TDs. The year before last, Wheatley and
Crockett totaled a whopping 16 rushing TDs with a majority of them
coming from short range.
I'm not convinced Michael Pittman can be an effective goal line
back (neither were the Cardinals), so I think, at worst, Alstott
will score 7-8 TDs this year. He could easily score 10 again since
the Buc offense will be much more effective and Gruden clearly
prefers a power running game near the goal.
Alstott isn't a great choice in a typical league because he tends
to disappear for weeks at a time and he'll probably have several
quiet games this season. But like he's done in the past, I expect
Alstott to have a few
huge games and with this format (the RBs on your roster with the
highest point total for a given week are considered your
"starters") he's a real good choice because he'll carry
my team 3-4 times this year and he won't hurt me when he has one
of those 35-yard, 0 TD games.
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7.07 RB Mike Alstott
By Guest IM Fletcher
Picking RB Mike Alstott here fits
perfectly within the Guru's philosophy of "a strong running
game wins championships" I really like this pick because of
the obvious reasons previously listed by John. As stated, everyone
knows Coach Gruden thrives on big power backs at the goal line so
this season should be Alstott's most prolific yet in the FanEx FAD
scoring system. Especially when considering the way Gruden rotates
his backs. More carries for Alstott = Numbers...you don't consistently
compete and win in fantasy football without knowing the numbers
game.
Tampa's division (ATL, CAR, NO) favors their club if they can stay
healthy. So churning out leads by grinding the football with the
running game looks to be likely in at least four division games
this year. That could mean heavy doses of Alstott late in games.
After watching Pittman running behind an arguably better O-line in
Arizona, I wonder if he really is the better RB of the two? We
should know the answer in a few more months...
7.07 RB Mike Alstott
By Guest Mark Horan
Load up on those RBs!!!
I had hoped to offer up some unique and profound analysis here,
but John's commentary on this pick stands for itself. Given
Gruden's history of featuring the FB at the goal line and RB Mike
Alstott's productivity in seasons past, you have to anticipate
nice TD numbers from him, at the very least. I suspect that
Pittman will put up decent yardage totals, but he's not really a
take-it-50-yards-to-the-house type of runner, which should leave
plenty of short yardage and goal line opportunities for Alstott.
And should Pittman crash and burn (not out of the question given
his behavioral history), who knows? Maybe Alstott assumes the
feature RB role somewhere along the line.
The FanEx scoring system is favorable to TD types, who tend to be
inconsistent on a week-to-week basis, but can reward owners with a
handful of monster performances. Alstott also provides a nice
hedge against another poor season for Lamar Smith, John's #3 back.
The only real concern with Alstott, of course, is his history of
fumble-itis.
I like to measure a selection not only by upside, but also by
downside. At 7.07, John picks up a back with lots of the former,
and a minimum of the latter. All in all, an outstanding value at
this point in the draft.
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7.08 WR Curtis Conway
By Chris Rito of FF
Mastermind
and Carlos Panizo of STATS,
Inc.
To be honest, WR Curtis Conway was not our first choice here, but
our entire list of players for this slot disappeared in a hurry
over the last eight selections. Nonetheless, Conway provides us
great value here as we get an NFL#1 WR on a sub-.500 team; this
usually means decent passing attempts as the team plays catch up.
Conway is coming off a great season in which he amassed over 1200
yards (1125 in the air, 166 on the ground) and scored 7 TDs on his
71 receptions. He certainly seemed to have a solid rapport with
veteran QB Doug Flutie, and by all accounts will be used heavily
by Drew Brees should he win the starting nod.
One of the nice things about Conway is that you will always get
something from him. Only Jimmy Smith (12), David Boston and
Terrell Owens (11 each) scored in the top 24 among WRs more often
than Conway's 10 times in 2001 - that is a solid starter in any
league. He also scored his 7 TDs in 7 different games, spreading
out his fantasy contributions well. This makes him among the most
consistently solid scorers at WR in the NFL last season, and looks
likely to do it again in 2002.
Now the loss of Freddie Jones could congest the secondary a bit
for Conway this year, but the Chargers are banking on Stephen
Alexander to reduce that pressure. Also, Conway was only the
target of 113 passes last year - a very low number for a WR with
1125 yards and 71 catches. But his targets and receptions over the
latter half of the season all went consistently upward, and that
is often (but not always) a good indication that this year will
also be solid.
Conway is not likely to give us huge weeks, but he will be a solid
scorer that coupled with Harrison gives us a good 1-2 punch at WR.
Although to be fair, Harrison and Carlos make a solid duo with
Marvin picking up enough slack for anyone else...<LOL> The
breakout players at WR will be saved for later picks, but our two
"starters" are set now with these two.
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7.08 WR Curtis Conway
By Guest Kevin Kidd
I fully agree with Carlos and Chris here. In my opinion WR Curtis
Conway has an outlook for 2002 that equals or betters a number of
recent WR choices.
Overall, this is one of the better looking squads on paper at this
point of the draft. I drafted Conway in two of my four leagues
last year and ended up using him as a starter much more than I
expected....Curtis also seemed to get past his panty-waste shtick
of the previous four seasons by starting all 16 games.....while
his 1125 receiving yards was a career best, topping even his glory
years of '95 and '96 while with the Bears. Rito and Panzio's
prediction that QB Drew Brees could make this an even better pick
is on the money!
7.08 WR Curtis Conway
By Brian Kreklau of Wild Card
Sports
There are twenty Curtis Conway's in this draft. Guys that have
been around the league awhile, that don't have a breakout season
in them to save their life. The mid-to-late rounds in a draft are
where winners are made. This pick is not a winners pick.
It's a pick like a golfer laying up instead of shooting for the
green. If picking a WR was the drafter's choice, I would
have opted for players with more upside like Koren Robinson or
David Terrell. If you want to take a veteran wideout, then
why not take a chance on Qadry Ismail? With a passing system
like the Colts, secondary WRs have a good chance to pick up
points. The Chargers QB situation is shaky and with run
first, pass later, Marty Shottenheimer operating the team, I'm not
sure this pick makes much sense.
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7.09 RB Dominic Rhodes
By Greg Kellogg of Komments
I had considered grabbing a WR here just to hear the cat calls,
but I decided discretion was the better part of valor and went
with my second RB.
I am the last to grab my second RB with most teams already having
three and three teams (Hansen, Cahill and Kadlec) are in
possession of four.
At this point there are nothing but risks and specialty players
left. I knew when I took TE Gonzalez in the third this would
happen so I was prepared for it. So why RB Dominic Rhodes?
Simple, of all the RBs left, he has the most upside. In just
ten starts, he managed to gain 1,104 yards and score nine TDs.
He added another 224 yards receiving and those numbers were good
enough to rank 10th in FanEx points.
Well, what about Edgerrin James, you ask? James is a great
back, no doubt. But, he is coming off a major injury that
few have recovered from in the time he is trying to.
Further, why would the Colts rush him back when they have a proven
performer in Rhodes? James and Rhodes could end up splitting
carries which would not bode well for either player but doesn't
actually hurt me as much as long as Rhodes is the guy going in at
the goal line. All I am looking for is 6-8 TDs and whatever
yardage I can squeeze.
The downside - Rhodes should play enough to score 4-6 TDs and gain
600-800 total yards. The upside - James isn't ready and
Rhodes starts the season off strong, making it difficult to
justify inserting James allowing Rhodes to start all year.
In that scenario, I could be looking at first round performance
from a seventh round back.
In honesty, I was amazed Mr. Hickerson let him slip to me in this
round.
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7.09 RB Dominic Rhodes
By Mike Murray of Komments.com
Let me start by saying that I like this pick. RB Dominic Rhodes
could prove to be a steal if Edgerrin James does not come back
100%. The past has shown us that running backs take more than a
year to fully recover from a knee injury like the one James
suffered last season. If Rhodes gets the starting nod in Indy, he
will put up solid numbers.
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7.10 WR Rod Gardner
By Duane Cahill of Pitt
Tribune-Review
I agree with my colleague Mr. Hansen, that there are still close
to a dozen receivers on the board that have what he calls "a
nice upside". With the QB and RB positions drying up
quickly, I also see a nice run about to occur on those players,
and I have the good fortune of owning two of the next six
selections.
Steve Spurrier is going to run the same Steve Spurrier offense
that he ran at the University of Florida. There are
currently two Florida quarterbacks and three UF receivers in
Redskins camp. None of these are threats to be fantasy
standouts, but they ARE going to have a very positive impact in
helping the other WRs learn Spurrier's offense.
In Gardner, we have a player who is as gifted a receiver as anyone
in the NFL not named Randy -- his only drawback is his lack of
experience. Despite that inexperience, he established
himself already last year as a rookie as the #1 WR threat on this
team. His 4TD, 741 yard season isn't terribly impressive --
but with a year under his belt, he should improve somewhat upon
those numbers.
Finally while Gardner doesn't necessarily come with a risk, there
are several "safer" selections I could make here.
In my opinion, none of those safe selections have Gardner's
potential.
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7.10 WR Rob Gardner
By Guest Brian Moore of FootballJoint.com
In week 6, WR Rob Gardner had 208 yards receiving. 208 yards
from a rookie is both promising and exciting. Washington is
expected to use Steve Spurrier's pass-happy offense in 2002. This
6 foot 2 inch Florida native just may be the hidden gem in this
draft.
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7.11 TE Shannon Sharpe
By Tony Holm of The
Prognosticator
I tossed around Kordell Stewart quite a bit here, especially with
team Dodds still needing a QB, but in the end decided to take the
TE plunge. I tend to take a TE earlier than most teams in
most of the leagues I draft in that require a TE. I think a
good one is worth a decent amount. My FAD script has me
drafting but one TE (subject to change of course) so going into
this thing I knew I'd want to get a decent one early on. It
has taken till Round 7 before one fell in my lap.
This marks the first time in both mine and Sharpe's illustrious
careers, that we have found each other on the same team. You
see, in all the leagues I'm in, over the past decade or so, I've
never happened to pick Shannon Sharpe for a TE. Hopefully,
this will go a little better than my Emmitt Smith and Yancey
Thigpen experiments over the years. I always seemed to draft
them early on their down years.
Shannon Sharpe is the best fantasy TE to ever play the game.
He is back with the Broncos in the same system that made him what
he is today. You look at his numbers with the Ravens
last season and he posted a very respectable 71 catches for 760
yards but only 2 TDs. Obviously, the Ravens offense was a
nightmare and to gain 760 yards in that debacle is solid.
When you're scoring only a couple of times a game there aren't
that many TDs to go around. In Denver we're dealing with a
completely different machine. Denver has the pieces to be an
offensive juggernaut. Sure there are health questions with
almost every member of there skill position offense but they have
great depth. Every week you'll see Shanahan patch a hole,
have another guy come back to full speed as another falls, patch
that hole and so on. The one constant will be Shannon Sharpe
and that will pay dividends.
Sharpe certainly is capable of putting up the big numbers for a
TE. In 1996 with Denver and Elway, he posted 1,062 yards and
10 scores. In 1997, he upped his yardage to 1,107 but only
scored 3 times then followed up in 1998 with 768 yards and another
10 TDs. He then had a beleaguered year in 1999 starting only
5 games and was subsequently traded to Baltimore. Although
he signed a 7-year deal he is now going to play out his final year
with the Broncos, will retire a Bronco, and enter the hall of fame
as a Denver Bronco. With a little luck, he'll actually play
lights out for me.
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7.11 TE Shannon Sharpe
By Guest Don Pinchin of FFBookmarks.com
I personally don't like to take a tight end this early in the
draft. To me, with the exception of Tony Gonzalez, the top
12-14 are all pretty much equal in many respects. There is
always one or two that put up really nice
numbers but you can't count on them repeating from one year to the
next or guess which player will be the one to break out this year.
TE Shannon Sharpe used to be one of the top two or three TEs in
the league. One of the very few you could count on to put of
productive numbers year in and year out. But, he is getting
a little long in the tooth of late. He's still real good but
not the Shannon Sharpe of old. Can he rekindle the old magic
this year when he returns to Denver? I don't know.
Will he be anywhere near his old self? I doubt it seriously.
All to often players such as these return to their old stomping
grounds to relive past glories but it too often turns out to be a
trip to the elephant graveyard.
I sincerely hope this is not the case with Shannon Sharpe this
year and that he has at least one good year left in him.
But, were he to quietly fade away, it wouldn't surprise me.
To me, this pick represents a lot of risk with little in the way
of return for such a risky investment. Had he been picked
three or four rounds later I would think the risk/reward factor
was worth the chance but as a seventh round pick I think it is way
too
expensive.
7.11 TE Shannon Sharpe
By Guest Kirk Bouyelas of Dr.
Football
In general, I like taking a TE in this spot. I just don't like
Shannon Sharpe this high. I agree that Tony should be eyeing
a TE with this or his very next pick (3 picks later). The strategy
is sound. It will be a while before he can target a top tier TE
and the likelihood of a run on this position is high. However, I
don't care for Sharpe with this pick. I'm just not sold that he'll
walk in and produce the numbers he did before he left. In all, I
like the selection of a TE, I just hoped it would have been
someone else. Good luck Tony.
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7.12 RB
Clinton Portis (R)
By TC Cannon of Fantasy Asylum
Every NCAA star running has an impressive
pre-NFL résumé. RB Clinton Portis certainly fits that mold. He
was the Hurricanes offensive star. Portis was very productive
and will likely produce as a Bronco if put in a rotational
system that shuffles its backs.
I watch very little collage football. I must
rely on others to judge incoming talent for me. I have heard
arguments that Portis was the best RB in the draft, and that he
fits Denver's RB profile to a tee. It would be silly to say he
reminds others in both size and speed of a NCAA Emmitt Smith,
but he does. He certainly is the fastest RB that Denver has had.
Equally important to the selection was the
continued Is-He-Okay? status of RB Terrell Davis. I believe
Davis will be the 2001 top Bronco. Yet, I wanted to back up this
roster with the player most likely to replace a troubled Davis -
his rookie apprentice.
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7.12 RB Clinton Portis
By Guest Brian Roberson of Dr.Football.com
The selection of RB Clinton Portis is a very timely one with the
last pick in the seventh round. Portis stands to be the
first man off the bench in the event of a TD injury -an annual
occurrence since 2000- so Portis has real 2002 value.
Combine that with the fact that the Broncos scouting department
(namely Coach Shanahan) had Portis as his #1 ranked RB of this
year's rookie crop and I can see why TC felt the need to add him
now.
I watched nearly every college football game in which Portis was
the starter over the past one and half years and my impressions
are very positive. He has the 'one cut and explode'
capability that the Broncos scheme dictates and he does it with a
burst no Bronco runner has had since possibly Floyd Little! The
only knock on Portis is his size, but with his toughness he plays
at least an inch taller and 10-20 pounds heavier than expected.
I could see Portis getting 5 carries a game in September while the
Broncos try to see if TD is anywhere close to his old productive
self. If he proves not to be, Portis' role expands behind a
very effective offensive line. If Davis is healthy and can
shoulder the load, Portis has a chance to score a few cheap, short
yardage touchdowns. But this is an insurance policy pick in
every sense of the words. And a darn good one.
7.12 RB Clinton Portis
By Guest Jason Marshall
At first I didn't like this pick. I do watch college
football, but I hate Miami! So, I needed to do some research
to catch up on Mr. Portis. I was impressed with this stat,
"Only Edgerrin James (2,960, 1996-98) and Ottis Anderson
(3,331, 1975-78) gained more yards rushing in a career at
Miami." This along with Denver's history (or luck) of
drafting the best RBs in each year's draft , and the fact that he
needs to back-up Terrell Davis this becomes a strong pick.
Maybe, a round early but definitely a safe and sexy pick for this
round.
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