By Peter Maingot
Rotowire Writer
The RotoWire Magazine Mock
Draft -- an annual post-NFL Draft
ritual -- took place just 48 hours
after the completion of the “real” selection
process in late April.
A 12-team contingent
took part in a 12-round snake-formatted
draft with the following starting positions:
1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1K, 1 defense
and three reserves of any kind. Scoring is
the standard three points for a TD pass,
six for a TD scored, a point for every 10
yards rushing/receiving and 20 passing,
kickers at face value and defenses receive
one point for a sack, two points for a safety
or turnover and six for a touchdown. The
draft was conducted on Mock Draft Central
(www.mockdraftcentral.com).
Below is a team-by-team review of the
results.
1. Brandon Funston (Yahoo! Sports)
had the pleasure of taking LaDainian
Tomlinson first overall (lucky youknow-
what). Initially, I wasn’t that crazy
about his sixth-round selection of Chris
Chambers based on the uncertainty at QB
in Miami as well as the mediocre offensive
line and the loss of Randy McMichael at TE
(David Martin? Puhleaze). I was surprised
to discover that there was only one pick in
the seventh round that I would’ve taken over
Chambers -- Tony Gonzalez -- who went
ninth in the seventh round. Despite rumors of his imminent demise, I liked LaMont
Jordan in Round 7. He’ll need to hold
off Dominic Rhodes and rookie Michael
Bush, but the potential is there for a decent
buy-low bounce-back after his putrid 2006
campaign. Eighth-round pick Chris Henry
has a real shot at the starting RB gig in
Tennessee with only oft-injured and doughy
LenDale White as his competition.
2. Next up was Michael Beller
(RotoWire Writer), whose first pick of
Steven Jackson over 2006 RotoWire
cover boy Larry Johnson, mirrors our
magazine’s running back rankings. Beller
was one of four owners who went against
the RB/RB trend in the first two rounds
when he took steady Marvin Harrison in
the second round and then Randy Moss
in Round 3. Still needing another starting
running back, Beller picked up Jamal Lewis
with the 11th pick in the fourth round. As
a full-time running back with no serious
competition, Lewis is a decent value there.
But while the young Browns offense added
three linemen, including first-round pick
Joe Thomas, Lewis has averaged just 3.4
YPC the last two seasons and is not the
back he once was. The next potential red
flag was Tatum Bell. Beller covers the
Lions for RotoWire and obviously has a
strong opinion on the Kevin Jones-Bell
battle for Motown RB supremacy. Jones
is coming off a foot injury and has had
injury issues throughout his young career,
but how will Bell fare outside of Denver’s
run-friendly scheme? Round 7 seemed
to be when many owners hiccupped, and
Beller was no different when he chose
San Diego QB Philip Rivers. Beller could
have snagged Jones to control the Detroit
RB position, or he could have had Tony
Gonzalez. Despite San Diego’s run-heavy
offense, he took Rivers before Tony Romo
(Round 8), Michael Vick (Round 8), Eli
Manning (Round 9), Matt Leinart (Round
10), Jon Kitna (Round 10), and Jake
Delhomme (Round 11). Taking rookie Greg
Olsen as his tight end is an odd choice –
Desmond Clark will still start for the Bears
– but Beller got him in Round 11, and he
can always waiver-wire a safer choice like
Jason Witten or Heath Miller later.
3.Geoffrey Stein (Mock Draft Central)
raised a few eyebrows with his
pick of Joseph Addai over Larry
Johnson. The rationale behind that pick
became clearer when he chose Peyton
Manning next, intent on riding the Colts’
high-powered offense. Stein’s choice of
timeshare back Marion Barber over fulltime
Jamal Lewis in Round 4 was a gamble,
but Barber has more upside if things break
his way again – Barber led the NFC in
rushing touchdowns with 14 last season
in the same role. Stein threw a late-round
dart at Robert Meachem (Round 10).
Meachem has better fantasy prospects this
year than fellow rookie receivers Ted Ginn
and Dwayne Bowe because of the Saints’
gunslinging offense and the departure of
Joe Horn. Unfortunately for Stein, however,
Meachem showed up for minicamp
overweight and poorly conditioned and
looks to battling David Patten for the No. 4
WR spot behind Marques Colston, Devery
Henderson and Terrance Copper.
4. Marty Signore (Fantasy Football
for Dummies) started the draft by
snapping up Larry Johnson. (After
Johnson’s NFL-record-setting 416-cary
workload, I might have taken Shaun
Alexander, but we’re splitting hairs here.)
Kevin Jones was his third RB pick, taken
in Round 7. Jones at that point presents
value, assuming he’s able to get healthy for
the start of the season. In Round 6, Signore
took the aging Joey Galloway, who despite
his age (35) still had more than 1,000 yards
and seven touchdowns last season. Signore
must like older wideouts as he also selected
35-year old Joe Horn as his fourth receiver
in Round 10.
5. Jeff Erickson (RotoWire Senior
Editor) went next and took Shaun
Alexander fi fth overall. Erickson then
bucked the RB/RB trend by taking WR
Torry Holt in Round 2. This gamble paid
off when Deuce McAllister was available
on his next turn. I’m less excited about
fourth-round pick Ahman Green, who can’t
stay healthy and is on the down side of his
career. Five of the next six picks taken in
this mock draft after Green -- RB Lewis,
QBs Tom Brady and Carson Palmer, and
WRs Hines Ward and Darrell Jackson -- all
seem like better choices. Leon Washington
in Round 7 also defi es logic. At this point
he already had three RBs. Thomas Jones
will start for the Jets and is also a good
receiver, so Washington’s value hinges on
Jones getting injured, and even then it’s not
clear that Washington would be a full-time
back. Erickson could have chosen Tony
Gonzalez, Jeremy Shockey, Alge Crumpler
or Tony Romo, among others, with that
seventh-round pick.
6. Next up was Chris Liss (RotoWire
Managing Editor), who likes high
risk/high reward picks (often taking
a chance on younger players), and this
draft was no different. While Liss started
with Frank Gore sixth overall, he then
rolled the dice in Round 2 with Marshawn
Lynch. Lynch was a stud at the University
of California and will have virtually no
competition in Buffalo (unless you consider
Anthony Thomas to be competition) for
the starting gig. Still, Liss chose the rookie
ahead of Thomas Jones, Edgerrin James,
Deuce McAllister, Brandon Jacobs and
Cadillac Williams. Liss at that point also
had his choice of any QB and any receiver
other than the Panthers’ Steve Smith. After
four error-free rounds, things became dicey
again in Round 7, when Liss gambled on
Michael Turner. Liss apparently hopes the
Chargers will eventually trade Michael
Turner, which they had not done at press
time. The decision left him scrambling for
a third starting wideout in Round 8 and
he made the call on Santonio Holmes, an
upside play. Liss could have chosen among
the more proven trio of Terry Glenn, Drew
Bennett or Kevin Curtis.
7. Derek VanRiper (RotoWire Editor)
started seventh and grabbed Rudi
Johnson. Next he took Cedric Benson
and Larry Fitzgerald. He then went against
need by taking rookie Adrian Peterson,
his third back, in the fourth round. While
this is a high-upside play, VanRiper might
have been better off taking a solid second
receiver like Plaxico Burress or Hines
Ward. His draft could ultimately be decided
by this pick --if Peterson takes over the full
time role early in the year, he’ll have a lot
of depth at RB. VanRiper also took fellow
rookie Calvin Johnson in Round 6, another
high risk/high reward option. Jerricho
Cotchery in Round 7 was also interesting
with proven veteran Terry Glenn still
available.
8. Tom Kessenich (Krause Publications)
began his draft with Brian Westbrook,
Ronnie Brown, Javon Walker and
Donald Driver. Nice work. I am less thrilled
with his fi fth-round pick -- Julius Jones.
He didn’t need another back that early and
passed on talented QBs Marc Bulger and
Vince Young among others. Like many
teams in this draft, Team Kessenich had a
questionable Round 7 when he chose D.J.
Hackett. Hackett has the most upside of
Seattle’s receivers, but he probably could
have been taken later in the draft. The Isaac
Bruce pick in Round 10 also was dubious,
as he’s the Rams No. 3 receiver at press
time, and he’ll turn 35 during the season.
9. Dalton Del Don (RotoWire Writer)
had the best ninth pick in recent
memory -- Laurence Maroney. If
there is one major fl aw in his drafting it was
that he virtually ignored RBs after Round
3. He took Steve Smith in Round 2 and
covered himself at RB with Brandon Jacobs
in the next round. Triple D went WR with
the next two picks in T.J. Houshmandzadeh
and Reggie Brown. Next he took Vince
Young (love it), Gonzo (value!) and Matt
Jones in Rounds 6-8. Triple D fumbled in
Round 11 with the Ricky Williams pick,
but it’s Round 11, so there isn’t much
harm there. He can dump Williams and get
someone decent on the waiver wire such
as Reuben Droughns for Jacobs insurance.
This team is paper thin at RB but loaded
elsewhere.
10. Brad Evans (Yahoo! Sports)
apparently likes RBs. He took
backs with four of his fi rst six
picks. Evans started with Willie Parker,
Maurice Jones-Drew and WR Anquan
Boldin. Based on value, Cadillac Williams
is a decent pick in Round 4, though he’s
not likely to see a lot of touches near the
goal line. Marc Bulger in Round 5 works
for me as head coach Scott Linehan
loves to throw the ball near the goal line,
and the Rams added two more receiving
threats this offseason in Drew Bennett and
Randy McMichael. Needing two starting
WRs, a TE and a QB, Evans took Jerious
Norwood in Round 6. Not prudent, though
Norwood has tremendous upside. Perhaps
Evans wants to play “Let’s Make a Deal”
after the draft. Ironically, Evans is one the
few owners who didn’t fumble in Round
7, when he took Bernard Berrian, a good
value, but I’d be a little leery of him as my
No. 2 WR. He then swung for the fences
with the Vincent Jackson pick in Round
8, taking the big fella over more proven
wideouts. Jackson does have sleeper
potential, though.
11. Peter Schoenke (RotoWire
President) batted 11th and took
Willis McGahee in the fi rst
round. Pete stayed with RB when he drafted
Reggie Bush 14th overall. That’s a bit
premature in my view (Deuce McAllister is
still around to take almost all of the goalline
looks) but not a bad pick. Maurice
Jones-Drew, Steve Smith, Ronnie Brown
were potential options there. Schoenke
stayed with the big-play guy theme in going
WR/WR next with Roy Williams and Lee
Evans. The fi fth-round pick of LenDale
White wasn’t a need pick, but rather a risky
play. White is even odds to win the Titans
RB job against rookie Chris Henry. That’s
pretty early to be drafting totally unproven
guys who don’t have a sure starting
assignment.
12. On the wrap-around, Herbie
Teope (Kansas City Star) went
RB/RB with Clinton Portis
and Travis Henry. Twenty-two picks later
he was back on the clock and scooped up
Andre Johnson and Marques Colston. So
far so good. Herbie then went back to RB
by covering the Green Bay backfi eld with
Vernand Morency and Brandon Jackson.
Interesting strategy if you like the Packers
running game this year (I don’t). Teope
was back in the insurance business next
when he took Redskin backup RB Ladell
Betts. This was smart as Portis’ shoulder
still isn’t 100 percent. At this point, Teope
was on dangerous ground with no QB or
TE through eight rounds. He covered both
needs next when he took Eli Manning and
Ben Watson back-to-back. Both present
good value and a nice save by Teope after
spending higher picks on backups.
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