Gil Brandt's list of the upcoming draft's top 100 prospects is out, and there's plenty of fantasy intrigue there. This year's draft doesn't have the knockout talent at the top of last year (Luck, Griffin III, Richardson), but there's plenty to get excited about in dynasty leagues.
The list with Brandt's brief thoughts on the top 25 can be seen at this link at NFL.com. A few observations:
Geno Smith at No. 7. Opinions vary wildly on Smith, who has been popularly mocked to Jacksonville at No. 2, or dropped to Arizona at No. 7, or slammed as not worthy of a top-10 or even a first-round pick. Brandt believes in him, some don't. I think his best-case scenario is to be drafted by a team that doesn't need to start him in 2013 -- the Cardinals, say -- rather than the Jaguars, who would probably look to get him in the lineup over Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne early in the season. The interesting question to me is how far he falls if the Jaguars or Cardinals don't take him. I don't think he's a lock as a top-10 pick.
The consensus top running back, Eddie Lacy, comes in at No. 25. A hamstring injury kept Lacy from running at the combine and Alabama's Pro Day. He had a private workout yesterday, and reportedly disappointed with his conditioning. Some of it can be excused from not being able to run while nursing the hamstring injury, but there are legitimate questions as to whether he'll be a first-round pick. The bright side of his potential slotting at the bottom of the first round is that he could land with a better team than if he were to be drafted in the first half of the round. In dynasty I try to draft for talent rather than situation, but it's hard to overlook where a player ends up -- Mark Ingram would have been more interesting landing somewhere besides New Orleans. I admit I am not particularly high on Lacy, and it hasn't been a great few months since the national championship game. Considering he's the early favorite to be the No. 1 rookie pick, you'd like to feel a little better about him.
Three receivers in the top 20. Cordarrelle Patterson and Tavon Austin are the top wideouts, Tyler Eifert the top tight end. Patterson is loaded with talent but is raw and will need solid coaching to realize his potential. Austin might be the best playmaker in the draft, but he's on the small side -- often compared to Percy Harvin, but built more like DeSean Jackson. Eifert figures to be a first-round pick, and the history of tight ends taken that high is favorable. All three are going to be early dynasty picks; one of the wideouts could potentially be the top pick. So many teams in need of a starting wideout (Vikings, Steelers, Bills, 49ers) make it especially interesting to see where the receivers go.
Three running backs between 45-55. Montee Ball, LeVeon Bell, Christine Michael. These runners could be drafted anywhere from the second through fourth rounds, and could be Week 1 starters or buried on depth charts depending where they end up. Michael has the best film but questionable character, Ball seems to be getting a lot of positive ink lately -- maybe one of these guys will slip into the bottom of the first round. Can one be a top dynasty pick? Situation affects people's thinking a lot, as those who wasted an early rookie pick on Daniel Thomas a couple of years ago will bitterly recall.
Two weeks from right now, the first round of the NFL Draft will be in the books. Most of these players may well have been drafted, and then we can speak more accurately about their prospects, for 2013 and beyond. My dynasty league holds its rookie draft a week after that; I'll mock it before and recap it after, to see how things turned out.