Mock NFL fantasy draft analysis -- CFG Experts League rounds 4-6

Written by Dr Furious on August 12, 2005

By Dr. Furious and Xach

The Rotogods recently finished drafting for the Hambowl (generally, our most competitive football league), and I’m sure there will be plenty of upcoming analysis on that. However, since football season is gearing up, and some of you have drafted teams already, more reaction on the coolfantasyguys.com Experts League draft cannot be a bad thing.

Xach and I are back with our takes on rounds four through six.

If you missed our analysis of rounds one through three, click here

If you're preparing for a draft of your own, you may also want to compare these draft notes with some of our other Rotogods.com pre-season draft tools:

- AFC Draft Notes, by The Ape
- Wide Reciever Rankings, by Tivo and friends
- Quarterback Rankings, by Tivo and friends

And now on to our mock draft commentary.

Note: The scoring system was head-to-head, yardage heavy for QB's, and with short starting rosters. We have listed the exact scoring and roster breakdowns at the bottom, for those who are interested. After all, any draft's results are only as meaningful as its league's setup.

Fury’s take
Where to start, where to start. This is definitely one of the more interesting rounds. I like Chris Brown at 37.

Tom Brady at 39 is a tad high, but Xach is from Boston. Not the direction I would have gone, but I understand.

Marc Bulger at 41 is also surprising. I had Trent Green ahead of both Brady and Bulger, so it is interesting that he dropped to 47.

I picked up Ronnie Brown at 48, the pick that made me the most upset during the draft. I had every intention of taking Green, and I got screwed. Luckily Furious did grab Ricky Williams off of waivers. Anyone taking Ronnie Brown should have a similar game plan. One of those guys has to be the guy at some point this season. With the QB situation in Miami, they are going to be doing a lot of running.

Needless to say, I thought Green was a steal at 47.

L-Fitz at 44 was also a little surprising, but not too surprising. He has the potential to be a beast.

Xach's take
Dr. Furious is so diplomatic. I'll be more blunt about what he already said nicely. If you're drafting today, don't be a dumbass like me. Trent Green and Marc Bulger both deserve to be drafted before Tom Brady. I was miserably unprepared for this draft and made a slew of bad picks. Do as I say, not as I do. Unless you have some reason why you think Brady's numbers will balloon this season, do not make him the 39th pick in your draft. And even if you do have said information, you should still be able to grab him later. Unlike Dr. Furious, I have Bulger ranked a hair ahead of Green, but either would be a fine choice ahead of Brady.

Chris Brown is right at home as the 37th pick here, considering which RB's were already off the board.

Antonio Gates is good at 40th as well.

Considering he was drafted after slightly more questionable commodities Chris Brown and J.J. Arrington, Michael Bennett is a minor steal at 43rd.

The trio of receivers at the beginning of the round seem like slight reaches to me with Darrell Jackson, Donald Driver and Laveranues Coles all still on the board, but each of them has big play potential and they might not have lasted much longer.

As for Trent Green at the end of the round, kudos to Mickey Brown of CoolFantasyGuys.com. He locks down a reliable QB here.

I'm not quite sold on Doc Fury's pick of Ronnie Brown here at the end of the round with Cedric Benson still on the board, but since he locked up Ricky Williams as well, it's a fine pick.

Fury’s take
Might as well start with my pick, since it was the first one. I took Vick here because I did not think he would make it back. Given the league setup which places an emphasis on rushing yards and td’s, getting 1000-1200 rushing yards out of your QB slot cannot be a bad thing. For the record I did draft a backup plan in Round seven.

I love Carson Palmer at 51 and like Collins at 52. Both have the potential to put up monster numbers this season.

I would like Chris Chambers at 56 a lot more, but who is going to get him the ball?

Jason Witten at 58 is a steal, as he could possibly be the second best TE in the game this season behind Gonzo. Ask Ben Coates who Bledose likes to throw to.

Xach's take
I'm not in love with Vick as a fantasy QB, but he's as good a pick as Tom bRady and the Doc gets him a full round later than I picked Brady. And Vick does have limitless potential so I won't call the kettle black... even though Doc Fury is in fact black. OK OK, moving on...

I like Darrell Jackson and Carson Palmer as the next two players off the board. Kerry Collins, on the other hand... Randy Moss or no Randy Moss, I'm not feeling Kerry Collins.

Cedric Benson is nice here... if someone can find him an offensive line to run behind.

Steve Smith seems to be the forgotten man in this year's drafts. He's got some gifts and should pay dividends... if he stays healthy.

I don't particularly like Todd (insert "heap of..." joke here) Heap here, primarily because there are other TE's I'd rather have, such as...

Jason Witten! I have an unqualified man-crush on this guy for 2005. I expect nice numbers for a TE.

Laveranues Coles is a nice hit-or-miss option at this point in the draft. Last time he lined up with Pennington big things happened. There's no guarantee the magic picks up where it left off, but he's got big potential anyway.

Fury’s Take
Another interesting round. I have never seen defenses taken this early, but I know that Xach has never played in a league that drafts defenses instead of individual defenders. Mr. Miller probably felt Baltimore was the best D and would not make it back to him. My rule is never draft a defense before round seven. It is important to have a good defense, but not that important. I like Crumpler at 65. I think he will become Vick’s main target this season and probably has the best pair of hands on the team. Janikowski at 68 is way too high in my opinion. I view kickers similar to defenses, and even more strongly in the case of kickers. You never, ever take a kicker before the 7th round … ever. I usually do not even think about kickers until round ten. In Felix’s defense, I think he was still autodrafting in this round.

Xach's take
Dr Furious calls this round "interesting." I call it boring. First off, Dr. Furious is correct that I have little experience drafting non-IDP leagues. In my 6 years of fantasy football, I have only once drafted in a team defense league. And guess what? I drafted like a complete dipshit here. Luckily, my idiocy was nearly matched by Mick Miller of Fantasy Outlaws, who apparently thought I was starting a run on defenses and grabbed Baltimore with the very next pick. Everyone else was smart enough to look at our picks, mouth the words "check out these two assholes," and proceed making sensible draft picks. Luckily for Mick and me, we make up for our shitty picks with our good looks and youthful charm, which is more than I can say for the other members of the league, who were clearly dropped on their faces as babies and must compensate for their small penises by making "smart" draft picks...

...Until Sabastian Janikowski was picked 69th. This is another bad pick, so maybe Felix doesn't suffer from quite the same level of penis envy as the others. But he was still dropped on his face.


Ok kids, that wraps up rounds four through six. We'll be back with the rest of the draft... someday.

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League setup:

Roster Positions:
QB, WR, WR, RB, TE, W/R, K, DEF, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN

Scoring:
Passing Yards (25 yards per point), Passing Touchdowns (4), Interceptions (-2), Rushing Yards (10 yards per point), Rushing Touchdowns (6), Reception Yards (10 yards per point), Reception Touchdowns (6), Return Touchdowns (6), 2-Point Conversions (2), Fumbles Lost (-2), Offensive Fumble Return TD (6), Field Goals 0-19 Yards (3), Field Goals 20-29 Yards (3), Field Goals 30-39 Yards (3), Field Goals 40-49 Yards (4), Field Goals 50+ Yards (5), Point After Attempt Made (1), Sack (1), Interception (2), Fumble Recovery (2), Touchdown (3), Safety (2), Block Kick (2), Points Allowed 0 points (10), Points Allowed 1-6 points (7), Points Allowed 7-13 points (4), Points Allowed 14-20 points (1), Points Allowed 21-27 points (0), Points Allowed 28-34 points (-4), Points Allowed 35+ points (-7)

-- Written by Dr Furious on August 12, 2005