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FanEx Analysis
Draft
Review
| Rules | Transactions
Draft Rounds
1 | 2
| 3 | 4
| 5 | 6
| 7 | 8
| 9 | 10
11 | 12 | 13
| 14 | 15
| 16 | 17
| 18
Round 7
   
   
  
7.01
|
TE
Jeremy Shockey
QB: Collins
RB:
Tomlinson Taylor RBrown WR:
Muhammad TE:
Shockey PK: |
Kellogg
Analysis
 |
7.02
|
TE Alge Crumpler
QB:
Favre RB: Alexander
Jackson
WR: TE PK: |
Houston
Pitzer
Analysis
|
7.03
|
 Trade
Analysis
QB Carson Palmer
QB:
Palmer RB: James
CWilliams Barlow
WR:
AJohnson SSmith RWilliams TE:
Gonzales
PK:: |
Hollar
Analysis
|
7.04
|
WR Donald Driver
QB:
Green Plummer RB: Holmes
Jordan WR:
Harrison Porter Driver TE:
Witten PK: |
Del
Pilar
Bonini
Analysis
|
7.05
|
QB Jake Delhomme
QB:
Favre Delhomme RB: Alexander
Jackson
WR: CJohnson
Wayne
TE:
PK:
|
Houston
Pitzer
Analysis
|
7.06
|
QB Chad Pennington
QB:
Brooks Pennington RB: McAllister
Dillon Bell WR:
Walker DJackson TE:
PK: |
Hickerson
Analysis
|
7.07
|
QB Drew Brees
QB: Plummer
Brees RB: Holmes
Jordan WR:
Harrison Porter Driver TE:
Witten PK: |
Del
Pilar
Bonini
Analysis
|
7.08
|
WR Isaac Bruce
QB:
Manning RB:
Martin Foster Faulk WR:
Horn Bruce TE:
PK: |
O'Leary
Analysis
|
7.09
|
WR Laveranues Coles
QB:
Culpepper McNabb RB:
Westbrook Suggs Pittman WR:
Fitzgerald Coles TE:
PK: |
Butler
Analysis
|
7.10
|
QB Steve McNair
QB:
McNair RB:
McGahee Lewis Dunn WR:
Holt Clayton Bennett Coles TE:
PK |
Dolfi
Walls
Analysis
|
7.11
|
WR Derrick Mason
QB: RB:
AGreen KJones Benson Arrington WR:
Boldin Burleson Mason TE:
PK: |
Cahill
Analysis
|
7.12
|
RB Jerome Bettis
QB:
Bulger RB:
Portis JJones Bettis WR:
Moss TE:
Heap PK: |
Cannon
Analysis
|
|
 7.01 TE
Jeremy Shockey
By Greg Kellogg
There is no doubt that Shockey has the ability to be a top
five tight end. Last year, despite having a rookie
quarterback for most of the season, Shockey scored a
career-best six TDs. He led the Giants in receptions
with 61 and was second in yards with 666.
The Giants have made moves to improve the offense by bringing
in Plaxico Burress and one should expect Eli Manning to be
much better in his second season than he was in his first.
In fact, his only games with a completion rate of over 50%
came in his last three games, when he also completed five of
his six 2004 TD passes. While I would prefer that
Shockey had stayed in New York to work with Manning, I still
believe he will show up on Sundays and get the job done.
|
 7.02 TE
Alge Crumpler
By Houston | Pitzer
Crumpler appears to be the only receiver Michael Vick trusts and
if Vick is to take the next step in his development as a passer,
Crumpler's numbers likely will benefit. He saw a significant
surge in his yardage last year (552 to 774) and led the Falcons
with six TD catches. After the three elite tight ends, we
thought Crumpler was the next-best available. |
 7.03 QB
Carson Palmer
By Tim Hollar
Trade
Analysis
 | Butler gave up 7.03
(Palmer) + 13.03 + 15.03
| Hollar gave up 7.09 + 12.05
+ 13.08 |
|
As detailed in
our trade analysis, the thought of settling for a significantly
lesser QB than Palmer (who ranks as the 9th best on our board)
-- or worse yet, being held hostage to having to draft a lesser
QB -- became more and more distasteful as the day wore on.
Being able to secure him at the cost of a sizeable move up to
Jim Butler in the later rounds was well worth the cost.
Palmer entered the 2004 season as the Bengals anointed starter,
having served a one year apprenticeship under Jon Kitna.
And after some
expected growing pains in the first half of the season, Carson
really hit his stride with a late, four game stretch of
excellence before being felled by injury.
It was during this stretch (Weeks 11-14) that Palmer lit up the
stalwart defenses of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Baltimore and New
England at a Peyton Manning pace of 1000 yards and 11 touchdowns
in approximately eleven quarters of action.
While Palmer won't be posting Manning numbers anytime soon, it's
not out of the realm of possibility given the Bengals offensive
weapons and porous defense, that he could rack up 3500+ yards
and 25-30 touchdowns or more.
We now cool our heels for a couple of rounds, satisfied to ride
herd with our now completed starting line-up.
|
 7.04 WR
Donald Driver
By Del Pilar | Bonini
Who
We Took and Why:
We were fresh off the
selection of WR Jerry Porter with our second sixth-round pick,
so we knew we needed to secure a very solid, consistent producer
at the position. While Porter has greater upside than Driver, we
felt the selection of Driver solidified our No. 2 slot very
nicely. He is a proven talent, and with QB Brett Favre
returning, as well as the currently hold out from WR Javon
Walker, Driver could see even more attention in the passing
game. Though, we do feel Walker will likely be in a Packers’
uniform come Week 1.
Other
Candidates Considered:
We were looking to solidify our backup quarterback needs
prior to our selection, so we though about Cincinnati Bengals QB
Carson Palmer here, but he went a mere one
pick ahead of us. We also talked about St. Louis Rams WR
Isaac Bruce, but we ultimately felt Driver was the better
option.
Current
Strategy:
We felt after securing our upside receiver in Porter, we had
to find a No. 2 that was “safe”, and Driver fits the bill.
We now have the 1-2 punch in Driver and Porter, coming from the
aspect of upside versus a steady, reliable wideout. This tandem
would have been tough to secure without the previous trade to
give us four picks in a very short span through Rounds 6 and
7.
|
 7.05 QB
Jake Delhomme
By Houston | Pitzer
We had identified Delhomme as the quarterback we wanted to back
up Favre several rounds earlier and our debate became where to
take him. It might seem strange to take a quarterback of
Delhomme's caliber to back up Favre, but that is how highly we
considered Delhomme, fifth in the league with 29 passing TDs
last year. Carolina will not throw as much this year, but
Delhomme's development last year gives the Panthers confidence
to open up the offense more. We think there will be several
weeks when Delhomme outperforms Favre, plus we've removed
another starting-quality quarterback from the talent pool.
|
 7.06 QB
Chad Pennington
By Jerome Hickerson
It was always my plan to take two QBs
in successive rounds. I had hoped for Hasselbeck
and Palmer here, but I ended with Brooks and Pennington.
Pennington has been a huge disappointment for me in the past. I
am hoping to avoid another year of disappointed due to the fact
that Laveranues Coles has returned
to the receiver corps. The duo of Coles and McCareins
present a decent pair of receivers for Pennington to work with.
The Jets running game should keep the defenses honest and allow
Pennington to put together some occasional good fantasy numbers.
In the FAD system where I don’t have to choose which games to
start Pennington, I’d be happy if he breaks into the starting
lineup five or six times, and I believe he should do that for
me.
|
 7.07 QB
Drew Brees
By Del Pilar | Bonini
Who
We Took and Why:
With our second selection
in the seventh round, we opted for Brees to be our backup
quarterback behind Denver Broncos QB Jake Plummer. We were
relatively happy with the selection, though we were targeting a
different player at the position initially (see below). Brees
should give us a solid compliment to Plummer, and will likely
out-produce “The Snake” on a few occasions – a vital need
in a format like the FanEx FAD league.
Other
Candidates Considered:
We did not really consider anyone else here, as Cincinnati
Bengals QB Carson Palmer (who we originally wanted) was selected
and we needed a backup quarterback. Brees was the most solid
option remaining. QBs Chad Pennington and Jake Delhomme were
selected back-to-back after our pick of Green Bay Packers WR
Donald Driver earlier in the round. We would have considered
Delhomme over Pennington, but neither option is as appealing as
Brees.
Current
Strategy:
The strategy behind this pick was to draft the best
remaining option at the quarterback position to provide security
should Plummer revert to his mistake-prone alter ego. At the end
of the day, we would have rather known we are the proud owners
of Palmer, but the addition of Brees will not cause any lost
sleep.
|
7.08 WR Laveranues Coles
By Jim Butler
Chad Pennington's pronounced
favorite target has returned home to the Jets. I see no reason
why he could not return to the Jets and attain the same 1250+
yard 5 TD on about 90 receptions that he had in 2002. I
personally think that he's going to turn out to be a big point
getter this season for me. |
 7.09
WR
Isaac Bruce
by Shannon O'Leary
For
this pick I was targeting either Muslim Muhammad or Isaac Bruce.
Although Bruce is the number 1b option for the rams passing
game, he puts up better numbers than a lot of number ones. The Rams
are stacked with talent, and Martz’s coaching style often has
the Rams playing from behind. That means a lot of passing trying
to coming back.
While
Holt is the more explosive receiver on the team, Bruce is Steady
Eddie. His number are decent week in and week out and will post
some big games now and then.
I
am actually quite happy to get Bruce in the seventh round. |
 7.10 QB
Steve McNair
By Dolfi | Walls
Walls’
Take – We needed a QB,
there was no way around it. As I wrote in a note to Dolfi ,
“This pick sickens and disgusts me…” . We both believed
that we HAD to take a QB here. And neither of us was happy about
it. A lot of QBs are gone. A lot more than I think you would
find in most drafts. The reasons for this have mostly been
covered in the analysis of all the QB picks, but I think some
teams simply realized that while they weren’t going to have a
good RB or WR corps, they could have an awesome QB corps - and
have at least one strength going into the season.
Anyway, the
pickings were very, very slim when this round came up for us. We
knew they (the aforementioned pickings) would be slim when we
took Bennett, but quite honestly, we underestimated the slimness
of the pickings. As the Sin City Betbot 6000 would say - the pickings were bleeping emaciated by the time our pick
came up… BZZZZTTT…
When we picked
Bennett, I thought Pennington or Brees would fall to us. No.
Seeing what was left, I figured our pick would be between
Leftwich and Carr . Neither guy really excited me, I see them
doing about the same. Dolfi then suggested Griese, I initially
dismissed this thought, as I do most of Dolfi’s ramblings, but
Griese was very respectable in his starts for Tampa Bay last
year. I am pretty sure we will end up with one of them with our
next pick.
We decided to
take a big chance here on Steve McNair. Now, McNair was out most
of the year, and before that…he was horrible last year.
Absolutely horrible. We are betting on McNair coming back with a
vengeance, this is admittedly a boom or bust pick, and it really
locks us into taking a QB with our next pick, but we were most
likely going to take 2 QBs with these picks anyway.
Would I suggest
taking McNair this early in most drafts? No way. I wouldn’t
take him before the 10th in most drafts, but we were
in a bit of a bind, and we both felt comfortable with the fact
that we would get one of the 3 aforementioned QBs with our next
pick. McNair really could come back to his 2003 form.
McNair recently
indicated that this is the first time in five off-seasons that
he isn’t recuperating from an injury. McNair is also a bit
slimmer at this time of year, and maybe there will be less wear
and tear on his body because of this. If he is over his injuries
(big if, I know) I think this could be a steal.
|
 7.11
WR Derrick Mason
By Duane Cahill
In taking a chance on Derrick
Mason, I'm actually taking a chance on Jim Fassel and Kyle
Boller. The Ravens have taken some significant steps
toward improving their offense, but QB Boller is the key.
Frankly, I'm not a big believer
in Boller, and I have a hunch that I'm not alone in that
assessment. How else do you explain how the wide
receiver with the highest number of receptions (remember, we
get a point per reception in FanEx) in 2004 becomes the 25th
receiver in this year's draft?
While I'm not a Kyle Boller fan
by any stretch, I am intrigued by the promotion of Jim
Fassel to the role of offensive coordinator for the Ravens.
Boller had his greatest success under Jeff Tedford, and for
the first time since college will have a mentor who knows
how to best utilize his abilities. The return of Todd
Heap should also prevent teams from doubling up on Mason,
freeing him up for a somewhat productive season.
The acquisition of Mark Clayton
in the draft would also suggest that Baltimore might be
looking to open up the offense somewhat, at least to where
their pass attempts fall somewhere in the middle of the NFL
average. Mason will see at least as many of those
passes as Heap does in a Fassel offense, and will certainly
maximize whatever passes come his way.
The drawback to this pick?
I was potentially looking at Clarence Moore as a sleeper
selection. I obviously won't take two receivers from
the same team in this format, but I can live with passing on
Moore to get Mason.
My projections? 70 catches
for 950 yards and 8 TDs. If you can get that from your
WR3, you're doing OK.
|
 7.12 RB
Jerome Bettis
By TC Cannon
A quick 2004 Recap of Senior
Bettis..
1 yard TOUCHDOWN vs OAK
1 yard TOUCHDOWN vs OAK
1 yard TOUCHDOWN vs OAK
1 yard TOUCHDOWN vs CIN
3 yard TOUCHDOWN vs CLE
2 yard TOUCHDOWN vs DAL
2 yard TOUCHDOWN vs NE
5 yard TOUCHDOWN vs CLE
1 yard TOUCHDOWN vs CLE
4 yard TOUCHDOWN vs WAS
10 yard TOUCHDOWN vs NYJ (rec)
12 yard TOUCHDOWN, vs NYJ
3 yard TOUCHDOWN vs NYG
Bettis is the goal line DH on a successful "run-first"
offense. His 2004's production is -very- extreme and will not likely
be duplicated. Yet, the future remains bright for the Bettis
as he continues to support the Steeler' main RB, Staley.
While he is NOT RB2 material in
many
fantasy leagues, he is an ideal middle-round RB3 for this FAD format.
Bettis was selected over WR Chambers and RB Duckett, due to my lack of
respect for Duce Staley.
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