By Dalton Del Don
I’m not one to give out grades, considering, you know, how crazy that is, but the following are some general observations about the 2010 NFL Draft:
Drafting a running back early is insane in general, but selecting one who looks unlikely to ever top 250 carries in a given season is especially head scratching. Add in the fact the Bills badly needed help at QB and O-line and already rostered Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch, Buffalo’s pick of C.J. Spiller was crazier than Ryan Howard’s new contract (this is a franchise that has now used a top-12 pick on the most fungible position in football twice over the past four drafts). But more importantly, fantasy owners want talented backs like Spiller to end up on RB needy teams, not the opposite. What a mess – it’s a situation to avoid, unless Fred Jackson becomes super cheap, which is entirely possible.
The Browns’ drafting of Montario Hardesty was a major buzz kill to Jerome Harrison’s fantasy prospects. Flip a coin on who’ll have more value this year.
After a competent draft, finding out that Al Davis was kidnapped over the weekend would be less surprising than if he wasn’t. What a no-brainer move to get Jason Campbell. He’s no star, but he’s absolutely a league average quarterback, which is a huge upgrade over their current situation. Campbell has taken too many sacks over the past couple of seasons, but his career interception % (2.3%) is tied for the fifth-best in NFL history (fun fact: Aaron Rodgers’ 1.8% is the best in NFL history, obviously in a tiny sample but sill), he’s constantly dealt with different coordinators and has never had an above average WR corps. While it’s painfully obvious to the rest of us, kudos to Oakland for admitting its mistake with JaMarcus (more like Jacarcus, am I right?) Russell (bigger bust, Russell or Ryan Leaf? Discuss). Of course, I love how the Raiders still drafted Bruce Campbell and Jacoby Ford – they just couldn’t help themselves.
If the Jaguars really wanted Tyson Alualu, fine whatever, but why not trade down? Don’t tell me that wasn’t a possibility considering there was a deal the very next pick.
There hasn’t been a rookie RB put in a better situation than Ryan Mathews in a long time. I should know more about someone who played pretty close to where I live, but I don’t watch much college football, but assuming he’s competent, he’s going to have a monster rookie season getting the majority of touches in that offense (and unlike Ken Whisenhunt and Josh McDaniels last year, Norv Turner isn’t worried about any veteran back already on the roster, predicting 250 carries and 40 catches for Mathews. Right or wrong, it’s obvious San Diego views Darren Sproles as nothing more than a third-down back). Mathews should go somewhere in the 13-15 range at fantasy draft tables.
Am I the only one who hates the cutting to players on the phone before the pick is actually revealed? I want the drama!
Here’s the thing about guys like Dez Bryant – maybe he’s a character risk, but isn’t pretty much every player drafted a performance risk? I mean, of course it would be nice to be sure Bryant is going to take playing football seriously, but it’s not like he’s a criminal – he doesn’t even drink alcohol. So he was late to meetings (and possibly games) and had dinner with Deion Sanders? That makes a potential top-three pick fall into the mid-20s? At No. 24, he becomes a no-brainer. And God bless Jerry Jones. As if his “Bill Parcells isn’t worth a shit†recent quip wasn’t great enough, he gives us this quote: “We had a president that couldn’t get there on time a lot, Bill Clinton. Seriously. But boy, when he got there, he brought the wood.” Bryant should either be the second or third pick in dynasty drafts. Competing with…
Jahvid Best really landed in a nice situation. Sure, the Lions are perennial losers, but with Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh and a strong TE group, there’s a foundation now. Most importantly for fantasy owners, he’s going to get all the touches he can handle. Not only is Kevin Smith unlikely to be ready for Week 1, he’s returning from a torn ACL and has proven to be both injury-prone and nothing special even when healthy. Best, meanwhile, is explosive, and Detroit’s coaching staff loves him to the point of being uncomfortable: “Some people watch adult videos on their computer,†coach Jim Schwartz said. “I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That’s what gets me aroused.” Watching said YouTube clips reveals Best seeing a lot of open ground in a gimmicky type offense, and he’s battled injury problems himself throughout his career (and Cal’s recent track record for RBs isn’t great: J.J. Arrington, Marshawn Lynch, although Justin Forsett is useful), but Best should easily be the second most valuable fantasy property in 2010 as far as rookies go. He’s got a lot of upside.
Jon Gruden’s “Quarterback camp†was both fascinating and frustrating, since it revealed just how entertaining he could be on MNF if he wasn’t so worried about offending a possible future employer. Come on Jon – take the Jeff Van Gundy approach.
So let me get this straight, over the past 18 months, the Broncos fired Mike Shanahan for Josh McDaniels, who then proceeded to trade Jay Cutler, use a No. 12 overall pick on the least important position in football (and on a non-descript one at that), traded Brandon Marshall (check out this pic), traded Tony Scheffler, switched from a zone-blocking scheme that had produced a top-nine rushing attack (using YPC) in each of the past seven seasons (and on average, they were in the top-five over that span), and then drafted Tim Tebow with the 25th overall pick. You can’t make this stuff up. Last year’s 6-0 start seems like ages ago. Listen, I’m not against Tebow, because anything can happen, but he’s obviously a long shot and really, ahead of Jimmy Clausen? I guess it’s actually a pretty good system for Tebow, since the Broncos ran 68% of their pass plays out of the shotgun last year, attempting few downfield throws in the process. But as the 25th pick, can they really wait 2-3 years before he sees the field? With Kyle Orton a free agent at the end of this season, Tebow is likely to be asked to produce much sooner than when he’s ready, and that’s assuming he’ll ever be.
I can understand why many thought Minnesota should’ve taken Jimmy Clausen, but this is a team in true win-now mode. As Super Bowl contenders, if they thought Chris Cook could make an immediate impact, then I’m on board with it. That said, not a huge fan of the Toby Gerhart pick. And does it make me a bad person if I am actually factoring in race with that opinion?
As a 49ers fan, the Seahawks draft was positively terrifying. Russell Okung, Earl Thomas and Golden Tate? And what if the team knows what it’s doing when it comes to Charlie Whitehurst? Pete Carroll sure is confident, and it just might be rightfully so. I also like the Leon Washington addition, but let’s be clear here – the Jets are no dummies (I don’t care what their doctors supposedly told Seattle), clearly N.Y. does not expect Washington to come back fully recovered this year from a gruesome compound fracture. Sure, financial reasons also came into play (the Jets were not going to be able to sign him long-term), but I’m skeptical. Still, the Seahawks got a whole lot better over the weekend.
Speaking of the Jets, did they really have Kyle Wilson (and even Vladimir Ducasse) fall into their laps? This is a team that already possessed arguably the best defense and offensive line in football and added Jason Taylor, Santonio Holmes and Antonio Cromartie this offseason after leading at halftime during the AFC Championship game last year. If they aren’t Super Bowl favorites, they are close.
Ben Tate is a serious fantasy sleeper. Although if Steve Slaton comes back healthy, a timeshare looks likely, but that’s an offense that could produce a top-three fantasy back if one somehow emerged with the majority of touches.
And now, I’ll leave you with one last thought from Drew Magary: “I love Kiper, but why did they water him down with this McShay fuckface? I don’t like Todd McShay. I don’t trust him. Looks like he spends his weekend teaming up with Matthew Berry to film himself fucking hookers. Mel Kiper has over 20 years of experience grading draftees in an arbitrary manner and giving me useless and hopelessly ill-fated predictions. Who the fuck is Todd McShay to do likewise?â€
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