FanEx Analysis Draft
Round 1

Rules | Transactions

Draft Rounds - See below for analysis
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20  
Final Analysis

1.01	Chris Rito | Mike Nazarek RB LaDainian Tomlinson QB: RB: Tomlinson WR: TE: PK:
It appears that the top pick in every draft for 2008 is either LT or AP. While Peterson might be more explosive, LT is far more of a sure thing. He absolutely won't share carries and will catch a ton of passes. Strength of schedule heavily favors LT as well. And if nothing else, the durability issue with Peterson is a huge red flag for a #1 pick, especially in a league without roster changes.  The choice is simple - and one should have no doubts when picking the top player on the board. ===================================================================================
1.02	TC Cannon RB Adrian Peterson QB: RB: Peterson  WR: TE: PK:
RB Westbrook was my only other true consideration. The little Eagle had 167 receptions over the past two seasons. Peterson had only 19 as a rookie and it's difficult to project him to do any more than double those numbers. At the same time, Peterson has some important factors that allowed me to justify selection him at the 1.02 slot.  First of all, Peterson was a fantastic rookie. There is no reason to expect less from him in 2008 production. Secondly, he's fun-fun-fun to follow. Even if he's not on my roster, I am following him game by game and rooting for his success. I'm happy to have Peterson piloting this ship. ===================================================================================
1.03	Jerome Hickerson RB Joseph Addai QB: RB: Addai  WR: TE: PK:
This was a difficult choice me. As a Rams fan, I wanted to go with Jackson , but my brain won out over my heart and I decided upon Addai. My reasoning persuaded me that (1) Addai is more likely to stay healthy than Jackson (and this is critical in the FAD format) and that (2) Addai is much more likely to have scoring opportunities than Jackson . ===================================================================================
1.04	John Georgopoulos  RB Brian Westbrook QB: RB: Westbrook WR: TE: PK:
Picking up Westbrook with the fourth overall pick took all of two seconds for me to make... in a PPR league, the SportsGrumblings supercomputer, Mighty Max, has Westbrook ranked as the #2 rated RB, behind only Tomlinson. Good value with this pick. ===================================================================================
1.05	Jim Butler RB Steven Jackson QB: RB:  WR: TE: PK:
** Jackson was traded to Ian Allan within a few hours of the selection ** I consider Jackson to be the No. 2 player on the draft board in this format. Adrian Peterson is a better runner, but Jackson will be far more productive as a pass catcher — and they’re going 1 point per reception in this league. He had some injury problems last year and had to run behind an offensive line that was missing Orlando Pace for most of the year, but look at what Jackson did during the second half of last season: 728 rushing yards, 6 TDs and 28 catches for 205 yards. That’s why I felt it merited making the trade up to get him. ===================================================================================
1.06	Shannon O'Leary  RB Frank Gore QB: RB: Gore  WR: TE: PK:
Looking at my first pick in the 1st round with LT, Peterson, and Addai were off the board. My pick list at that point was... 1-Jackson, 2-Gore. 3-Westbrook, 4-Johnson.  I was hoping Jackson would slide, as I think he will have a major bounce back year. I probably should have had Westbrook ahead of Gore, but like the idea of Gore running in the Martz offense. Foster is a solid back when healthy, but Gore is much more powerful of a runner, so Foster doesn’t concern me too much. (I may want to look at handcuffing Foster in a later round) ===================================================================================
1.07	Chris Dolfi | Tom Walls RB Marshawn Lynch QB: RB: Lynch  WR: TE: PK:
The top tier RBs who we coveted were off the board and the next group was fairly deep.  We settle on Lynch, who was a model of fantasy consistency last year - even while playing for the so-so Bills, who had little other weapons *besides* Lynch. He never ran for less than 60-yards in a game and never scored less than 8 points in this format.  We sacrifice upside for consistency in round 1. ===================================================================================
1.08	Jim Butler (via trade) RB Willis McGahee QB: RB: McGahee  WR: TE: PK:
I had 3 running backs pretty much clustered together here: Jackson, Lynch, and McGahee. Ian offered me the opportunity to move up in the 2nd round and still allow for me to get one of the 3 guys I was looking at. The biggest concern for me in the first round was to get a back that was on a team that doesn’t use a running back by committee. I believe I got that in Willis McGahee. ===================================================================================
1.09	Duane Cahill RB Larry Johnson  QB: RB LJohnson  WR: TE: PK:
Gus Fiedler.  Eric Richenbach.  Joe Iorio.  Tyler Lenda.  Chris McKelvy... I'm guessing that nobody outside of maybe Dolfi/Walls can identify those five names.  They were the offensive line that Larry Johnson ran behind at Penn State in 2002.  Zack Mills was his QB.  He rushed for over 2000 yards with 8.02 per carry and 20 TDs.   Why does this matter?  The knock on LJ is always the Chiefs porous offensive line and lack of a star quarterback.  But he's proven that an adequate line and QB are enough for him.  New OC Chan Gailey likes to mix things up with a few trick plays to keep opposing defenses honest, and he'll do so to free up running lanes for Johnson.  On my draft board, Johnson is #5, behind LT, Peterson, Jackson, and Addai.  Yep, I have him ahead of Westbrook.  But knowing that his perceived draft value will likely be lower than his production, I felt confident that he'd fall to me at #9.  Happy start to FanEx '08. ===================================================================================
1.10	Greg Kellogg   RB Clinton Portis QB: RB: Portis  WR: TE: PK:
I don't think anyone will dispute that when healthy Clinton Portis is a top 10 back.  Since 2004 he has ranked in the top 10 every year except 2006 and he missed eight full games then.  He finished as the third best running back in 2007 showing his ability to play an entire season and any improvement in the Redskins passing game can only help him.  At the 10th pick, he is a great value. ===================================================================================
1.11	Matt Pitzer RB Marion Barber QB: RB: Barber  WR: TE: PK:
This is a pure upside pick as Barber is ready for an even bigger role after scoring 28 TDs the past two seasons. His yards and TDs could go up even more now that Julius Jones is gone and there is clear first-round value in him. Barber also had a surprising 44 catches last season, another number that could inch up given more regular playing time. ===================================================================================
1.12	Tony Holm RB Ryan Grant  QB: RB: Grant  WR: TE: PK:
The FAD historically has been a RB heavy draft and just when you think there's no way more RBs could be drafted, more get drafted.  You really have to get something where I'm picking as it's a loooong was back before I pick again and from experience, there won't be any meat on the RB bone when it comes back to me.  Ryan Grant is one of my favorite sleeper picks this season.  There's little competition, the Packers didn't draft one RB this year, he was a beast in the second half and I expect that to continue.  The fear may be a young QB but with the Packers receivers, teams won't be able to stack the box so Grant will still have some room to roam. ===================================================================================