And finally, my 2014 fantasy football draft begins. I really debated on whether I should take Dez Bryant over Bernard. I would have easily taken a wide receiver by the name of Calvin Johnson, but just couldn't pull the trigger on Dez. With all the talk of 300 touches this season, I went with Gio Bernard, instead.
As soon as I made this selection, I knew full well who my next pick would be. If I wasn't going to get a #1 running back, receiver, or tight end, I'd make sure I got the #1 quarterback! Peyton Manning...
Julius Thomas gets snagged. With wide receivers disappearing fast, I like Victor Cruz. I'm not only banking on Eli to have a nice comeback season (reports are the coaches are working with his mechanics), I also like the fact that Odell Beckham is going to more pressure off Cruz with his deep routes.
I was going for Sankey with the hopes I'd snag both him and Tate. But when Sankey went, I went ahead and grabbed Ben Tate. What can I say -- I selected him a little high because he's a big part of my game plan. I truly believe he's a Top Five back if he stays healthy. And if not? Terrance West, who by all reports is a beast, will be my backup. As long as they don't become a "committee", I know I've got something.
My tight end was really emerging last year as a top receiver. Now the Browns are without Josh Gordon. A rookie quarterback might take over sometime this year. I think this adds up to a lot of targets for Cameron Jordan.
I love my 49ers, but with the emergence of Kaepernick, it's so difficult to determine what roles players have in this offense. I have to believe they're going to get back to basics this year, and I only have one running back to this point...Frank Gore.
He's in an elite offense. He's recovering from surgery but claims to be in the best shape of his life since 2002. I'm not sure why he's so low in the rankings. I'll take him! Reggie Wayne.
One of my strategies this year was not to draft a kicker, defense, or backup quarterback. This would allow me to make room for some rookies. Here's my first rookie selection...
I didn't waste any time picking up another rookie. He's my "handcuff." Terrance West.
Another rookie receiver? I "sorta" picked him up as a handcuff for Cruz. But I also "sorta" have this vision that Eli, sort of a gunslinger, might like a rookie speedster...okay this one's mostly a weird hunch.
But he's not a rookie! Ok, I'm clearly a little "touched" at the moment -- I picked up ANOTHER young receiver! I'm a sucker for a good story, but I'm always trying to read between the lines too much. Another receiver, a teammate, claims Justin Hunter is the next Randy Moss. The incident is then downplayed by the coaching staff. Hmmm. Are they covering up their secret weapon? I like to think so...
Okay, now back to some more "practical" picks. I need running backs...
I believe Steve Smith is well worth the pickup in Round 13. I realize his numbers have dropped off in recent years, but I love the idea of Joe Flacco throwing him the deep ball.
Well, you know Arian Foster is going to get hurt, again. Why not grab his potential backup?
A solid backup tight end...
And my last running back. Mark Ingram.
Thus concludes my 2014 fantasy football draft. A whacky approach? Perhaps. But the advantage of an early draft is now having 7 weeks to tweak it.
I figure nobody's going to rush out and steal my free-agent defense or kicker based on what's hitting the newswires. Why not go ahead and pick up some longshots before the reports come out and somebody snags the next superstar? It's a small risk. I may lose all of a couple points on defense or kicker.
Here's what I'm starting with...
How did I do? Too many rookies, not a lot of big producers from last year. It looks a little "sparse" at the moment.
There's still 7 weeks before the first game...
