Ok, here is my actual draft (10 man)

Round 1, Pick 2 (2nd Overall) Matt Forte Chi - RB
Round 2, Pick 9 (19th Overall) Giovani Bernard Cin - RB
Round 3, Pick 2 (22nd Overall) Antonio Brown Pit - WR
Round 4, Pick 9 (39th Overall) Cordarrelle Patterson Min - WR
Round 5, Pick 2 (42nd Overall) Rashad Jennings NYG - RB
Round 6, Pick 9 (59th Overall) Golden Tate Det - WR
Round 7, Pick 2 (62nd Overall) Emmanuel Sanders Den - WR
Round 8, Pick 9 (79th Overall) Russell Wilson Sea - QB
Round 9, Pick 2 (82nd Overall) Dennis Pitta Bal - TE
Round 10, Pick 9 (99th Overall) Ray Rice Bal - RB
Round 11, Pick 2 (102nd Overall) Mike Evans TB - WR
Round 12, Pick 9 (119th Overall) Mark Ingram NO - RB
Round 13, Pick 2 (122nd Overall) Kansas City- DEF
Round 14, Pick 9 (139th Overall) Andre Williams NYG - RB
Round 15, Pick 2 (142nd Overall) Adam Vinatieri Ind - K

QB Wilson
RB Forte
RB Bernard
WR Brown
WR Patterson
WR Tate
TE Pitta
K Vinatieri
DEF Kansas City

RB Jennings
RB Rice
RB Ingram
RB Williams
WR Sanders
WR Evans

I had the good fortune of picking #2 overall this time. This was a highly competitive league full of friends and former champs, so as I expected none of my favorite options lasted to the 3rd round. It was a mildly frustrating draft, though in a few cases I picked bench players one pick before a couple of my friends wanted to, so it was nice playing the role of spoiler.

Round 1, Pick 2 (2nd Overall) Matt Forte Chi - RB

Peterson was the guy I wanted #1, and I made the mistake of making a really compelling case for Peterson to my brother last week, who picked #1 and wisely listened to his brother's advice.

This pick came down to Forte/McCoy/Charles. Charles always scares the crap out of me but he extra scares the crap out of me this year coming off all those touches he had in 2013 and running behind a revamped OL that is expected to be among of the NFL's bottom ten. McCoy I love, but he seems like the kind of RB that would get injured a lot and his rash of injuries this preseason did just enough to knock him down a notch for me.

Forte has started in 92 of 96 career games. He stays healthy, and he's super consistent as a runner. He's 29 years old, but he only has 1500 career carries, 200 less than Marshawn Lynch. He caught a ton of passes in Trestman's offense last year and I expect that to continue. Chicago was tied for the 2nd best scoring offense in the NFL last season, behind only Denver. Cutler is moving the ball extremely well. The Bears now have one of the better offensive lines in the league.

Forte will not have as many points as a healthy McCoy, but it will be close, and I feel far safer going with Forte with that make or break #2 pick. I would have considered McCoy and Charles more if the RB pool was deeper this year, but everyone is making a run at RBs even in smaller leagues, so if a top RB busts, it's going to hurt.

Round 2, Pick 9 (19th Overall) Giovani Bernard Cin - RB

As expected, there was a massive run on RBs, so by the time my next pick came around, even guys like Alfred Morris had already been snatched up. Bernard has #1 RB upside but has higher than average risk and has not looked great this preseason. He's not the guy I wanted to be taking here, but I was lucky he lasted to my pick, and after Bernard the next best RB was basically a 5th round value kind of guy. So I felt like this was a pick I had to make.

Round 3, Pick 2 (22nd Overall) Antonio Brown Pit - WR

Part of the reason I went RB-RB this draft was because there has been fantastic value at WR in rounds 3-7 this year. Not only was Brown available to me in the early third, so was Alshon Jeffery. It was a really tough choice, but ultimately I felt that Brown was more likely to produce given his lack of competition in the WR corps.

Round 4, Pick 9 (39th Overall) Cordarrelle Patterson Min - WR

Pretty much all the legit 3rd round prospects were gone before I got to my pick at the end of the 4th. I was really hoping to get a WR like Cobb or Allen here as I had occasionally seen in mocks, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. Even the likes of Michael Crabtree went before this pick.

Since I was going to be reaching for whoever I drafted, and because Patterson was a player I was targeting in this draft, I figured I'd take him just a little extra early to make sure I got him.

I drafted Josh Gordon last year because the signs were there, and I feel that in many ways the signs are there for Patterson as well. Doesn't mean I'm penciling him in for 200+ fantasy points, but he certainly has that kind of upside. And if he busts, this is a deep WR draft where it will be easy to find a quality #4 WR to act as insurance.

Round 5, Pick 2 (42nd Overall) Rashad Jennings NYG - RB

This is a little bit early for Jennings, but there were a bajillion quality WRs left and decent #2 RBs were flying off the shelves. I really like the Jennings/Williams handcuff combo as a bench option this year. I wouldn't be surprised if one of those guys ends up having LeVeon Bell type production.

I took a bench RB a bit extra early in part to help offset the risk of Bernard. If Bernard busts, I want to have a viable #2 RB on my roster.

Round 6, Pick 9 (59th Overall) Golden Tate Det - WR

Took him a bit earlier than I wanted, but Tate wasn't going to fly under the radar in this particular league. One of the players complained that I stole Tate right in front of him.

I think Tate is a really solid bet to put up 1000+ yards and 8+ TDs this year.

Round 7, Pick 2 (62nd Overall) Emmanuel Sanders Den - WR

Frankly, I was stunned to see Sanders last this long after the display he put on in the Texans game.

Round 8, Pick 9 (79th Overall) Russell Wilson Sea - QB

When I made this pick, my brother scowled because he had also been building his draft around Wilson at QB, and was badly hoping to get him on the very next pick.

I see Wilson as a breakout fantasy QB in 2014 with Harvin.

Fun fact: If Russell Wilson last year had posted 4 rushing touchdowns instead of just 1, he would have finished THIRD in fantasy points among QBs. And that was last year, when he didn't have Harvin and was struggling for about half the season.

Round 9, Pick 2 (82nd Overall) Dennis Pitta Bal - TE

There were several good TE's available here. I thought Pitta was the best of the bunch, plus I also really wanted a good excuse to name my team "I Pitta the fool."

Round 10, Pick 9 (99th Overall) Ray Rice Bal - RB

Maybe I am being a moron for putting too much stock in preseason performance, but Baltimore's O-line looks a lot like 2013 never happened.

Round 11, Pick 2 (102nd Overall) Mike Evans TB - WR

I am about as anti-rookie WR as it gets, and always have been. However, when you are a super high drafted stud WR with Jimmy Graham type tools, and you are selected in part because you perfectly fit the desired WR profile for the team's capable new QB, it's hard to ignore that.

I don't know if we'll see a Keenan Allen story this year, but the most obvious candidate for such success would be Evans, who has continued to look like a #1 WR this preseason.

Round 12, Pick 9 (119th Overall) Mark Ingram NO - RB

I wanted Knowshon Moreno here, but someone snatched him up about 5 picks before I could. Ingram was my fallback plan.

Ingram seemed to finally "click" at RB late last season, and he's been getting high praise this preseason. With the Saints eagerly parting ways with Darren Sproles and not replacing him in the draft, you wonder if they will toy with a featured back system this year with Ingram being the beneficiary. If they do, this is a huge steal.

Ingram's situation here reminds me a bit of Knownshon's last year. Both were very talented college RBs who were selected in the first round, but didn't put it together until the very end of their rookie deals.

Round 13, Pick 2 (122nd Overall) Kansas City - DEF

Again, this came down to KC vs. Denver. Very tough call, but it's hard to argue with KC's pass rushers.

Round 14, Pick 9 (139th Overall) Andre Williams NYG - RB

Slightly surprised that Jennings' super-talented handcuff lasted this long. If I was banking on Jennings as a starter, I would have taken Williams several rounds sooner than this.

I thought about going for a 2nd QB due to Wilson's predictable nature with good games and not-as-good ones, but pretty much everyone in my league wanted two QBs (one guy even had three QBs), so all the decent platoon options were gone.

Round 15, Pick 2 (142nd Overall) Adam Vinatieri Ind - K

Best kicker available. Plays indoors. There is some upside for Indy's offense, which would mean more kicker scoring.

...

Patterson is my homerun swing, as is Bernard to a lesser degree. Very happy to have Wilson at QB.

I'm sure some will disagree, but I have no regrets whatsoever for Forte at #2, last year he trailed McCoy by only 15 points and I feel that's a small sacrifice for the peace of mind that comes with the knowledge of how safe a pick Forte is. Teams that win championships overwhelmingly tend to avoid busts in their first two picks, so safety matters quite a lot early in a draft.

I would probably give this draft a B-. I liked the value I got at WR for a RB-RB draft. I think my team's success will have a lot to do with getting solid production at every spot. Last year my team scored 110+ points in 11 out of 14 games, which helped me cruise to the playoffs. I value safety and consistency with tactical risk, and I think if this team gets me to 100+ points 75% of the time or more, I would feel pretty good about my playoff chances.

I would not expect to lead my league in scoring, but I think I will probably have one of the more consistent teams, and then hope to get lucky in the fantasy playoffs.

Hmmm, that draft looks very familiar.

I think I like it.

Sarlacc83":yju3jo7d said:

Hmmm, that draft looks very familiar.

I think I like it.

Click to expand...

Brown, Tate, Pitta, Sanders, Ingram. What a bunch of bums they are. And AP, who I wanted but couldn't get.

I did drop Amendola to pick up Chiefs TE Travis Kelce. Apparently he's been Smith's #1 target. 100+ yards and a TD in preseason games 2 and 3. If you are looking for depth.

As much as I didnt like the mock you posted I love this and agree with almost all the commentary. Like I said in the other thread and you brought up here Ingram may be a work horse this year, or last least someone who will chair the running back committee. Also agree on Wilson, I think he gets to throw more this year and also will get to run. Part of last year Im still convinced he was being told not to run because the run option was ALWAYS going to the RB.

Patterson many people rank quite high and that could be another steal and Sanders could have huge numbers playing with Manning. I have two drafts today , one in a fairly big money league..if they go like yours did I will be excited.