Andy Richardson
We held our annual Experts draft and auction this past weekend, and are busy compiling the results and question and answer portions into the articles that run each year in our annual preseason magazine. I'm not going to spoil it too much, but I thought sharing a few tidbits might be fun.
Only 11 of the top 30 picks in the draft were running backs. By way of comparison, last year 17 of the top 30 picks were running backs, and the year before that, 15. It's a new ballgame in which wide receivers (12), QBs, (5) and tight ends (2, you don't need to ask which ones) account for nearly two-thirds of those premium selections.
Trent Richardson is a first-round pick. When was the last time a rookie running back was a consensus first-round pick? I've now participated in or moderated three experts draft and he's been a first-rounder in all of them. I don't really disagree, but it's not often that an unknown commodity is selected so early.
Soaring value of top tight ends. This one also isn't a shock, but it's striking how much things change in a year. Last year the first tight end, Antonio Gates, was selected in the fourth round of the draft and cost $15 in the auction. This year Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham were second-round draft picks (I was in a draft last week where Gronkowski went in the first) and each went for $25-plus in the auction. ($200 salary cap.) We've been doing the auction for eight years now, I believe, and a tight end has never gone for more than $20.
Faith in young wideouts. Most of the top wideouts went in the $25-$30 range, a tick behind Calvin Johnson. The 2nd-most expensive wideout in the draft (a tie with several other more proven players): A.J. Green. Victor Cruz and Julio Jones were also popular; no apparent worries about sophomore slumps with those guys.
Risky running backs. Nobody seemed overly concerned about Ray Rice missing game, but either because of the acrimony with the Bears or the signing of Michael Bush, there apparently is some concern about Matt Forte, who went later and for less money than you'd expect. The same was true of Jamaal Charles; either the ACL injury or the signing of Peyton Hillis make him a bargain, or a risky pick, depending on your opinion.
All the results, including the Q&A explaining why people drafted/spent as they did, will be in our annual preseason magazine.
- Comments [1]
Readers' Comments
Add a Comment
Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.
To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.
Posted by Moishe Steigmann | May. 21 at 06:43 PM
I think that it's a "teaser" more than a "spoiler." But, great to read, anyway, especially in fantasy-football dry May!!