15.01 WR Michael Westbrook
By Shannon O'Leary of FanEx
If you have read any of my comments on wide receivers, then you
know I don't think they perform well when changing teams. However,
here is the 15th round
a talent like Westbrook is hard to pass up. Westbrook is without a
contract right now, and that is always a concern. He is in
negotiations with the Bengals, but I kind of hope he doesn't sign
there. I do feel that Westbrook will sign somewhere and how much
he produces depends on how great of a need there exist for him.
It has been reported that Westbrook recently ran a 4.3 forty. Not
bad for a man who will be 30 soon.
Bottom line is Westbrook has the size and speed to still produce
in the NFL and that is why I am taking a late round gamble on him.
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15.01 WR Michael Westbrook
By Guest
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15.02 WR Oronde Gadsden
By TC Cannon of YouthFantasyFootball
This is was tough, tough selection.
Because I want an) and PK (not a Cowboy!), there is only this slot for
an 'extra' player.
Please welcome Dolphin WR Oronde Gadsden to the roster.
The tall, strong Gadsden is a solid
possession receiver that has a knack for snatching the ball in the
paint. I see him as the
undrafted receiver that has the best opportunity to score multiple
TDs in several games. With attention focused on both Williams and Chambers, he
can often get lost in the defense's shuffle. His upside is very fairly strong.
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15.02
Player
By Guest MB Martin
Gadsden
is a pretty solid pick at this spot in the draft. At this
point, he is the only viable possession WR on the Dolphin's
roster and he is very reliable in the red zone. He
provides TC's team with a player that should have a handful of
productive games this season and he should score some
valuable fantasy points for the team.
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15.03 TE Alge Crumpler
By William Del Pilar | Ryan Bonini of KFFL
Alge Crumpler is another one of
those boom or bust picks we've focused on late in the draft. We're
confident with our No. 1 TE, Marcus Pollard, but felt that taking
a chance on Crumpler is worth it. Crumpler has explosive-ability,
as shown by the two games last year that caught all of our
attention:
-- 57 yard TD catch and 78-yards
-- 49 yard TD catch and 54-yards
Granted, these were only two games but Crumpler would arguably
have been the first TE taken in this year's draft as he is one of
the most complete young TEs in the game. We merely state this to
point out the quality player he is and to give an idea where he
stands among the TEs. With a year experience under his belt we
like his "potential" to explode during games. Head coach
Dan Reeves loves to pound the ball so the tight ends are coached
to do so through their run blocking ability and with Crumpler
being an outstanding blocker to add on to his explosive pass
receiving skills, he's sure to stay on the field for most of the
game. One key obstacle in Crumpler's way could be TE Reggie Kelly,
who is also starting to come into his own and could cut into
Crumpler's time on the field. However, Crumpler is the better pass
receiving TE and that could help both players out in terms of how
they are used. In two TE sets that may not be set up for the run,
Crumpler in all likelihood becomes an outlet receiver playing the
role of slot receiver and Kelly stays to block with RB Warrick
Dunn sliding out to a receiver role on the outside or an option in
the flats. This is just one scenario but the point is that
Crumpler can work with Kelly and they may actually complement each
other more than hurt each other in Reeves' offense.
Regarding Reeves' history with TEs? TE Shannon Sharpe, under
Reeves' offense, did not produce in terms of quality fantasy
points until the season after Reeves' left. We think that will
probably be the case for Crumpler as well, but the NFL is a lot
different today and Reeves has changed a bit. We don't think
Crumpler will be a top five TE but we do think he's explosive
enough to produce a few big games like he did last year and even a
few more than that. Obviously Dunn will take away numbers from the
TE position, as Dunn will see many catches in the flats that is
usually delivered to the TE. However, as teams begin to focus on
Dunn that should also create some mismatches and allow Crumpler to
break some big play passes. Also add the fact that the WR corp. is
not one that is considered solid and set, so don't be surprised if
you see Crumpler running middle-to-long routes in order to take
advantage of his skill and speed. In essence, he's a unique player
that may be used quite a bit for blocking but has too many
receiving talents for the team to ignore. We like his
explosiveness and feel he's worth the gamble but make no mistake,
he's a big gamble as we could have shored up some other position
and gone with a different TE that was a bit more of a
"safe" pick. To bottom line it, in this format, we like
his explosiveness to garner some points that count during weeks
Pollard may have a down game or is on bye.
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15.03 TE Alge Crumpler
By Guest
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15.04 DT Cowboys
By David Dodds of Footballguys.com
It takes approximately 1,200 fantasy points to win the FAD draft
each year. The best defense in the FAD last year scored
162 points. The worst defense scored 78 points.
Twenty defenses scored 110 points or more.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because the FAD rules
that allow you to play the better of all performers each week
make picking a second defense a no-brainer. Yet with only
16 picks, many drafters will likely only take one defense.
Let's assume for a minute that my first defense (Tampa Bay) is
good for the same 135 points they scored last year. Let's
assume that an improved Dallas defense is good for 115 points.
Because FAD allows the better defense each week to play, it is
likely that I will get about 155-165 points out of my defense.
160/1200 = 13% of my total fantasy points. People can
say that picking a defense is more guessing than strategy, but logic
tells me having two of them gives me the best chance to score
the 1200 points that I am likely to require to win this league.
So with the strategy to choose another defense entrenched in my
head, why did I choose Dallas? They were among the worst
defenses last season using FAD scoring.
But I see a whole different team this year. The Cowboys
added DT La'Roi Glover, LB Kevin Hardy and cornerback Bryant
Westbrook during free agency. And with the 8th pick
in the draft they got a stud strong safety in Roy Williams.
On paper this now looks like a very good defense. One that
should force the issue with aggressiveness. I am looking
for sacks, interceptions and fumble recoveries all to greatly
improve.
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15.04 DT Cowboys
By Guest Adam Caplan of
The Pro Football News
and Injury Report
Every year, there
are sleeper defenses or defenses that will exceed expectations.
Last year, the Cowboy defense fit that criteria.
This year, they'll probably go a little earlier than usual due to
their strong showing in 2001 and the talent they added on the
defensive line (DT La'Roi Glover), at linebacker (OLB Kevin
Hardy), and in the defensive backfield (rookie S Roy Williams).
All three players will start and will have an immediate impact on
an already strong unit.
Hardy is coming back from a serious knee injury which required micro fracture
surgery. That type of surgery is actually not quite as it sounds.
The procedure is serious enough that some players have had
problems down the road (Patrick Jeffers, Eric Swann, Chuck Smith,
Andre Wadsworth are some of them).
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15.05 WR Corey Bradford
By Jerome Hickerson of
TalkFootball.com
Michael
Westbrook and Oronde Gadsden were my hopes for this selection. But
picking up a #1 receiver this late in the draft, even for the
"lowly" expansion team, seems like a decent #4 fantasy
receiver.
Word is that
Bradford
is developing
a strong report with his QB.
Houston
is likely to
trail often and I can hope that
Bradford
puts up
decent fantasy numbers, even in losing efforts. Those
"garbage time" scores look just as good as any other
scores.
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15.05 WR Corey Bradford
By Guest
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15.06 PK John Hall
By Chris Dolfi of FanEx
I pick John Hall as my #2 kicker here, for only a few reasons.
The main one is his ability to hit the long FGs. In 2001,
Hall nailed 7 of 9 from 40-49 and knocked down 3 of 6 from 50+.
Face it, the guy has leg. And over the past few seasons,
that accuracy has
improved from long range as well. Hall ended up in a
tie for 12th among NFL kickers in points last year, and he has
only failed to score over 100 points in a season once in his 5
year career.
Toss in the fact that Hall scored in every single game last year,
and only twice scored less than 3 points, and you see that Hall
can certainly add benefit to a fantasy team. And with their
offense poised to sputter this year, there should be plenty of
opportunities that the Jets give Hall each and every week.
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15.06 PK John Hall
By Guest John Greko
PK John Hall of the Jets Gives
this team a backup during Edinger's bye week. Other than
that, not much can be said. Hall is a Jekyll and Hyde type
of place kicker whose job security varies from week to week.
The Bears have a bye in week 6, giving Hall a fighting chance to
still be with the Jets on that date:-).
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15.07 DT Chargers
By John Hansen of The
Guru Report
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15.07 DT Chargers
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15.08 DT Jason Hanson
By Chris Rito of FF
Mastermind
and Carlos Panizo of STATS,
Inc.
With the "extra" RB selected by our squad, that
meant that we would be left without a backup at either TE, K or D.
Since DT can't get hurt (well, not completely),
that looks to be the one we leave "unprotected". As all
my favorite backup TEs have been recently selected, I will choose
the kicker here and leave Carlos to worry about the TE in the next
round (sorry, buddy...)
So who to take? I seriously thought about Morten Andersen and the
situation of playing for a high-octane offense in Kansas City. But
ultimately - although
I really like the guy and his team - his age and weakening leg
scared me off a bit. And adjusting to a left-legged kicker isn't
always easy for the holder
either, so accuracy could suffer early on.
PK Jason Hanson has long been one of my favorite kickers, and
statistically he should be decent for spot duty in 2002. He is an
80% career kicker over 10 years, so he shouldn't score negative
points too often. He also is annually among the leaders in those
5-FAD-point 50+ yard FG attempts (he had 7 last season) and makes
a fair amount of them. And playing over half of your games in a
dome is never a bad thing for a kicker.
The downside? He is coming off a lackluster 84 point season which
saw him only hit 70% of his FGA and only attempt 23 PATs. And
well...his team isn't very
good right now and opportunity may still be lacking some weeks.
But then again, the team was very poor in 2001 and he still
attempted 30 FGs. In fact, he has
had five consecutive seasons of 30+ attempts, and only once in his
career has he attempted less than 26.
For a second kicker, this late, to get a solid guy like Hanson is
acceptable risk to me. There will be some weeks where he will hit
3+ FGs - he always seems
to have several monster games each season - and those weeks he
will be well worth his 15th round selection.
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15.08 PK Jason Hanson
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15.09 PK Mike Hollis
By TC Cannon
The short version of the story is that if you openly criticize the
Jaguar coach, you get cut from the team and are permitted to pack
your bags for that Florida to Buffalo move.
However, a fresh start will be positive for PK Mike Hollis. Also,
the Bills may be the perfect team for a PK2. I can foresee a
dependable-stall-after-40-yards offense in place in Buffalo. After
gaining a few first downs, Hollis gets his turn to contribute to
the team.
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15.09 PK Mike Hollis
By Guest Brian Moore of Football Joint
Mike Hollis was the 3rd most accurate kicker in NFL history before
last year. It was a rough year for the Jaguars, I consider last
year an aberration. Buffalo has a new offensive coordinator and a
new quarterback. There should be plenty of touchdown drives that
end
prematurely due to that lack of familiarity.
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15.10 DT Bengals
By Duane Cahill
There are a couple of very salient reasons for selecting the
Bengals defense to back up Green Bay's on my roster.
First, and most importantly, I wholeheartedly agree with
everything in David Dodds' previous analysis where he
extolled the virtues of having a second defensive squad on your
roster. In fact, I was the only owner to select two defenses
back in 2000 when I took home the FAD trophy, and I partially
attribute this stratagem to my success. If one defense has a
bad day, it's a killer. It's unlikely that both of these
defenses will suffer many simultaneous bad weeks, and I will
always get the better of the two scores in this format. It's
my opinion that the owners who will draft only one DT are making a
grave mistake.
Why the Bengals? The problem with winning (or lack thereof)
in Cincy has rarely been their defense. They have some
terrific pass rushers and run stoppers. In addition, the
secondary (a weakness last season) has improved markedly.
Last season, Cincinnati turned in 47 QB sacks, the fifth highest
total in the NFL. While their takeaway numbers were less
than stellar (29), I expect improvement in that area with the
maturation of DE Justin Smith and the addition of ex-Colt Jeff
Burris and rookie ball hawk Lamont Thompson to the secondary.
A young up-and-coming defense playing for a defensive minded head
coach got the nod here instead of a backup kicker.
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15.10 DT Bengals
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15.11 DT Jets
By Tony Holm of The
Prognosticator
FanEx is running with
different scoring for Defense this season. The past
few seasons I was one of the first to take two defenses early
making sure I locked up two of the top ten defenses as the
scoring penalized harshly a bad defensive week. This year
defense has been scaled back to nothing but turnovers,
sacks and scoring. In other words, a complete crap shoot.
In 2001 the Jets were actually the 5th best defense in the FAD
using our updated scoring. They were near the
top for fumble recoveries which tells me they hit hard.
They're a middle of the pack defense that need to cause
turnovers to be productive. If first rounder rookie
DE Bryan Thomas can increase their sack total they'll be a
productive defense in this format.
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15.11 DT Jets
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15.12 QB Jon Kitna
By Emil Kadlec of FF
Pro Forecast
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15.12 QB Jon Kitna
By Guest David Grey of
David Grey's Fantasy Football Report.
Jon Kitna showed some flashes of brilliance last season,
especially at the end of the season. If he can carry this
over to this year, and hold off newly
signed Gus Frerotte, he could make a solid backup QB worth an
occasional spot start.
This pick could be a total bust if Frerotte wins the starting QB
job out of training camp, but with the Bengals top notched running
game and improved offensive line, this could be the year the
Bengals offense starts to click (And I am a Browns fan living in
Cincinnati, so it pains me to write that last statement).
Anytime you can get a starting QB with potential this late in the
draft, it is worth the risk and Kitna does have some talented
young WRs, so he could surprise in his 2nd year in the Bengals
system.
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