AFC DRAFT SUMMARY (Offensive Fantasy Impact) pt. 4

Sorry about the delay as I had technical difficulties (laptop in shop) and I am now on a desktop and ready to continue where I left off.

AFC DRAFT SUMMARY

BUFFALO BILLS: The Bills went to WR help for Lee Evans in the second round with the 6'6" James Hardy who had great numbers at Indiana hi-lited by 36 TD's. In the 4th round Derek Fine, a TE out of Kansas will catch a lot of small passes while sitting down against the zones.

CLEVELAND BROWNS: Their most noteable pick was Martin Rucker a TE out of Missouri whose older brother is recently retired Mike Rucker of the Carolina Panthers. Martin has great hands and skills with 8 TD's in his senior year. In the 6th round the Browns took a chance on WR Paul Hubbard who slipped down the draft board thanks to an injury, but could develop into a solid player.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: Nothing offensively to report.

DENVER BRONCOS: WR Eddie Royal is compared to Steve Smith of the Panthers and will compliment Brandon Marshall their #1 receiver. Never counting out a Bronco RB no matter what round he is drafted Ryan Torain will join the long list of great backs drafted late by Denver.

NEW YORK JETS: The Jets traded up to get TE Dustin Keller filling a void for them as he is a slot type receiver. Not sold on their situation at QB they Drafted Erik Ainge in the 5th round to give competition and drafted Marcus Henry in the 6th thanks to his great work ethic of which has been noted to rub off on those around him.

CINCINNATI BENGALS: Could they make it anymore obvious that they are scared about the WR position by taking Jerome Simpson (not related to Jessica, she is bad luck, but if the Bengals picked him maybe they are related) in the 2nd round and Andre Cladwell in the 3rd. Simpson set school records at Coastal Carolina with 41 TD's and 2,636 yards while Caldwell recorded 185 catches in college.

TENNESSE TITANS: With the 24th pick overall the panthers took the fastest man at the combine in RB Chris Johnson whose 4.24 is a little faster than their starting RB LenDale White. In the 3rd round they look to improve at TE with Craig Stevens who will be asked to protect Vince Young. In the 4th round they took Lavelle Hawkins who is a gamer and doesn't show well in practice type situations.

KANSAS CITY CHEIFS: With 13 picks going into the draft one would think I would have to write an article of its own just for the Cheifs, but instead I will finish off with them. They didn't start to help their offence till the 3rd round and then went for RB Jamall Charles out of Texas who has breakaway speed, but lacks toughness. Also in the 3rd round is Brad Cottam who only started 10 games in 5 years , but has nice size and speed. They took two WR's Will Franklin in the 4th and Kevin Robertson in the 6th round. Franklin has impressive speed for his size with a 4.34 while Robertson could be cut before week 1.

Next Week. OTA report.

AFC DRAFT SUMMARY (Offensive Fantasy Impact) pt. 3

This week we will look back at the AFC teams and their draft picks.

AFC DRAFT SUMMARY

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: The Pats surprised everyone with their second 3rd round pick and picked QB Kevin O'Connell who had a great Senior year at San Diego State. The only other pick was WR Matt Slater which they used their 5th round pick for. Matt is the son of Jackie Slater and has great speed which he used to score 3 times on returns at UCLA.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS: The Steelers used their first pick on the 210 pound BR Rashard Mendenhall who in his only season as the feature back he had 1681 yards and 17 touchdowns on 262 carries. Their 2nd round pick was WR Limas Sweed who stands 6'4" with long arms providing Big Ben a big target. In the 5th round they drafted QB Dennis Dixon who can run, pass and catch. Are they missing Kordell Stewart that much?

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: To replace the lose of Ben Utecht they used 2 picks on TE's Jacob Tamme who will be molded to be the next Dallas Clark and Tom Santi who will imitate Utecht.
They used compensatory picks on RB Mike Hart and WR Pierre Garcon who will both add depth if they make the team.

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS: Their only pick that has fantasy relevance is R Marcus Thomas who has size and speed that compliment each other nicely.

MIAMI DOLPHINS: After making a early splash with their first pick of the draft they used their second 2nd round pick on QB Chad Henne who will compete for starting QB. They used two 6th round picks on RB"s Jalen Parmele and Lex Hillard who will both fight to make the roster.

BALTIMORE RAVENS: The Ravens immediately addressed the QB need by taking the 6'7" Joe Flacco who some say could turn into the best Qb in the draft. In the 2nd round they picked up RB Ray Rice who has underrated speed to complement McGahee. In the 4th and 7th rounds respectively they picked up WR's Marcus Smith and Justin Harper.

HOUSTON TEXANS: The Texans used a 3rd round pick on RB Steve Slaton who has speed and good hands plus Alex Brink, a QB who was a three year starter at Washington State.

OAKLAND RAIDERS: The big splash here was taking Darren McFadden, the RB who ran a 4.33 40 who can take it to the house every time he gets the ball. WR Arman Shields ran a 4.37 4o, also fitting the Al Davis resume along with WR Chaz Shields who has exceptional size and speed, but needs to get better as a receiver to make the roster.

NFC DRAFT SUMMARY (Offensive Fantasy Impact) pt. 2

Today we will complete the NFC, starting the AFC next Tuesday

NEW YORK GIANTS: The Super Bowl Champs went after Michigan's WR Mario Menningham in the 3rd round who will also join 2 other young receivers there Steve Smith and Sinorce Moss to make the future at wide out bright for the defending champs. In the 6th round they picked up Andre' Woodson to add depth at QB.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS: Not much to talk about here due to trading 3 picks for Jared Allen. They did fill the need at QB by taking John David Booty who could find the field early if Travaris Jackson doesn't take better care of the ball, something Booty has done well at USC.

CAROLINA PANTHERS: In the first round they picked up Johnathan Stewart who will back up DeAngelo Williams at RB. In the 5th they got TE Gary Barnidge who can catch and is a good route runner.

ARIZONA CARDINALS: The Cards picked up WR Early Doucet in the 3rd round. Doucet will fit right in with Fitz and Boldin making them a very talented group especially since Early can play in the slot and runs great routes. RB Tim Hightower runs like Marion Barber with all of his 225 pounds excelling as a Fullback, Running back and Special Teams.

WASHINGTON REDSKINS: With three 2nd round picks they went straight to the offensive side of the ball picking TE Fred Davis and WR's Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly. Touted as the top receiver on the board Thomas has great athletic ability and should start immediately in Washington while Kelly has the same abilities as Devin. Davis will add depth at TE where he should find himself blocking mostly as Cooley is the Stud there. QB Colt Brennan fell to the 6th round and into the laps of the Skins who will use him for depth.

DETROIT LIONS: The Lions used their 3rd round pick to address the need of RB and picked up the productive Kevin Smith who only feel due to off-field issues. Versatile WR Kenneth Moore had a 1000 yard senior year for Wake Forest and had a 500 yard Junior year as a rusher.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS: NO NOTABLE FANTASY PICKS MADE

SAN FRANCISCO 49ers: The only pick is the 6th rounder Josh Morgan who is a very fast receiver.

See you all next week.

NFC DRAFT SUMMARY (Offensive Fantasy Impact) pt. 1

Today we will discuss half of the NFC teams and resume for the other half on Thursday. Next week we will do the AFC cONFERENCE

DALLAS COWBOYS: In the first round they used their 22nd pick overall on some insurance for RB Marion Barber by picking Felix Jones. His speed will compliment the banger Barber. Down a TE from last years roster the Cowboys picked Martellus Bennett to do the blocking while Witten catches the passes. Also at RB is Tashard Choice who runs with power, complimenting Felix Jones if Barber goes down.

ST. LOUIS RAMS: With their second pick they continue with their youth movement at the WR position with Donnie Avery and his 4.34 forty along with Keenan Burton who they took in the 4th.

GREEN BAY PACKERS: With no pick in the 1st round and two in the second the Packers took WR Jordy Nelson who has special teams experience and QB Brian Brohm who is already causing some contriversary in Packerland for the first time in 2 decades. They also took QB Matt Flynn so they could be looking to pile in the QBs into camp and let the best man win.

ATLANTA FALCONS: With the 3rd pick overall the Atlanta Falcons take QB Matt Ryan. This was a very very smart pick and they start to clean up their image and move forward by finding Matt a new weapon in the 3rd round with Harry Douglas who is a good route runner and has good speed. In the late rounds they picked up RB Thomas Brown who has good speed as well and TE Keith Zinger who can block well.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: WR Dexter Jackson has great special teams speed at 4.33 and averaged 16.8 yards per catch. Continuing to stock pile QBs, they picked up Josh Johnson who can scramble well. RB Cory Boyd is great out of the backfield and changes direction well.

CHICAGO BEARS: The Bears who need help everywhere picked RB Matt Forte in the 2nd and comes into camp with a chance to win the starting position from anyone there. At WR’s they picked Earl Bennett and Marcus Monk who dropped considerably. TE Kellen Davis will compete at the one spot the bears look good on offensly. I guess they forgot to get another QB their biggest need.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: The Seahawks used their 2nd round pick on TE John Carlson who is a solid blocker, but left Fred Davis on the board. They used two 7th round picks on RB Justin Forsett who catches well, but is oversized and doesn’t have great sprinting speed and PK Brandon Coutu who has a strong leg and I predict will beat out Mare as the teams kicker by the end of the year.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: McNabb gets a weapon, but will WR DeSean Jackson come of age before McNabb retires or is dealt. Jackson is just the deep threat they need, but that was it, no other skill offensive players.

See you all Thursday.

2008 Free Agent & Trade Round Up - AFC WEST

AFC WEST

For those who don't already know I am a Raider fan (please don't mix that up with the TRUE GURU who is a Cowboy Fan) and I have saved the best for last, that being we finished last in the west last year. I will try to be nice to the teams who I have to watch all too many times. LOL. What used to be a tough division has been making people laugh, and to be honest it doesn't look to be changing any time soon.


The Chargers are a unique team, in that they have the best in many positions, but yet just can't win the one that matters. They have LT, & Gates, but then the jury is still out on Rivers who needs to get come counseling to help with his hostile anger towards the fans. I will go out on a limb here and say they will win the division for yet another year. Their off-season moves include losing their security blanket named Michael Turner (RB). But that isn't the biggest problem. Losing FB Lorenzo Neal, who is the best fullback in the game will change things a lot for their running game. They have also lost CB Drayton Florence and DB Marlon McCree and haven't made any signings except to bring back QB Billy Volek and WR Malcom Floyd.


The Denver Broncos signed DB Marlon McCree and WR's Keary Colbert and Darrell Jackson and re-signed FS John Lynch and RB Cecil Sapp who they might try to use a little more and preserve the injury prone Travis Henry. A recent trade has them picking up DT Dewayne Robertson to help stop this run first division. On the lose column with will have a new kicker as they have released Jason Elam as well as letting go of WR Javon Walker. This should be the year Jay Cutler comes of age.


Now the Kansas City Cheifs. What can you say here other than they will be taking over the spot that the Raiders have owned for the last 4 years. Last in the AFC West. They have signed TE J.P. Foschi who I like and two kickers along with franchising Jared Allen, only to deal him off to Minnesota, using those picks in the draft. They also lost a few others including WR Eddie Kennison, CB Ty Law, LB Kendrell Bell and TE Jason Dunn.


The Raiders. Wow, Oakland has new life, and it has cost them a lot of money to do so. Then again, I even think they have thrown money into the wrong pockets, but only time will tell and if they get half their moneys worth I predict they finish 2nd in the division with no less than 8 wins thanks to the easiest schedule the division has had in years. They have lost a number of players including QB Josh McCown, DT Warren Sapp, CB/ST Chris Carr, DE Tyler Brayton, RB Dominic Rhodes and WR Jerry Porter. They gave CB Nnamdi Asomugha the franchise tag to play on the other side of newly signed CB DeAngelo Hall making them what many are saying the best CB duo in the league. They also signed RB Justin Fargas, WR's Drew Carter and Javon Walker as well as super bowl Safety Gibril Wilson and many others.

Next week we will discuss last weekends draft and the fantasy impact it will have.