Daily Fantasy Sports – football, baseball, basketball, hockey

It’s never too early to start mock drafting for next season. And since there is a chance that there will be no football, we may have to just mock the whole flippin season!

I’ve actually been mock drafting for months already (nerd!) and besides being a good way to anger your significant other, it is helpful to see how players are perceived by your peers. My peers in this case are other fake football analysts. I’ve been taking part in The Draftmaster Invitational and we are now on our third draft. We’ll continue doing them until the season starts or until we run out of beer. 

This is a PPR (1 point per reception) league.  Let’s take a look at who went where.

1. Bryan Fontaine of ProFootballFocus.com: Arian Foster — Foster has been the #1 pick in the majority of the drafts I’ve done this season and I took him in this slot as well.  He is one of the few backs who is studly in both receptions, carries and touchdowns. His offensive coordinator gave him a vote of confidence just today and said there would not be a committee approach with Ben Tate returning. I could see some of the guys that follow going #1 as well, but Foster is hard to pass on.

2. Cory Bonini of KFFL: Adrian Peterson — AP is easily the most reliable pick because he has done it year in and year out and he should be able to do it again this year. The QB situation in Minnesota is up in the air, but there’s a good chance they’ll get someone like McNabb, who isn’t a world beater, but good enough to keep the offense running with Harvin, Rice and AP.

3. Mike Clay of Pro Football Focus: Chris Johnson — CJ2K had a down year compared to his 2K the year before, but he stayed healthy and showed that when the offense is working, he can still do his thing. I like him as the #3 overall pick, but feel more comfortable with AP and Foster.

4. Ryan Burns of Football Sickness: Ray Rice: Rice’s TD total last season was horrid for someone as talented as him. He had a ton of trouble breaking off longer runs, which I believe had a lot to do with bad luck. With McGahee hitting the road it should help his TD numbers and he is a PPR beast. I see nothing wrong with him in the top 5 once again.

5. Josh Moore of 4 for 4: LeSean McCoy: McCoy, like Rice, is a PPR stud. He led all running backs last season with 78 receptions and knowing Andy Reid, I doubt that will change much. His TD numbers are dependent on a lot of things out of his control, but I think his total of 9 is a good base to count on.

6. Dave Richard of CBSSports.com: Jamaal Charles: I’ve grown attached to my man JC Superstar since I was touting him before he broke out at the end of ’09 (brushing off shoulder). He has the same skill set as CJ2K and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him be the #1 back this year. Todd Haley often likes to TD/carry block him, but the good thing about Haley is that he does like to run the ball. Tom Jones may be back, but he was just not productive during the last half of the season and will take even more of a back seat if they keep him around.

7. Chet Gresham (That’s me): Andre Johnson: AJ is old reliable in PPR and even though he was hurt for much of the season last year, he still put up decent numbers. A healthy AJ is not someone you want to bet against. Receivers aren’t nearly as volatile from year to year stats-wise and even though the elite RBs will score more usually, receivers are more reliable, especially in PPR.

8. Andrew Miley of Dynasty Blitz: Roddy White: I actually thought about taking Roddy over AJ, but AJ just has more upside. But Roddy is even more reliable than AJ.  And now he finally has a decent receiver on the other side to take away some pressure. I love me some Roddy this season.

9. Matt Schauf of Rapiddraft: Frank Gore: Gore causes a lot of debate. He has the ability to be the #1 overall fantasy player, but can never seem to stay healthy.  His upside is great and I took him the other day at 10th overall, but I didn’t feel good about it.  I’m probably going to pass on Gore unless he somehow falls to 12/13. He scares me.

10. Jim Day of Fantasy Football Whiz: Maurice Jones-Drew: Like Gore, people are worried about MJD’s health. His knee was said to be bone on bone, which isn’t how knees are supposed to be, but what does that really mean? He still had a good season in relative terms, but I’m wary of him as well.  But the question is if 10th overall is good value? I’m inclined to say it’s about right. I might have gone for Calvin Johnson there or even Rashard Mendenhall, but MJD will surely have more TDs as long as he can play 13-14 games.

11. Brian Quinlan of Fantasy Football Whiz: Calvin Johnson: Megatron is the second best receiver next to AJ, but he is also not nearly as consistent as Roddy.  Matthew Stafford can’t seem to stay healthy and Jahvid Best was also hurting and even Megatron had a hitch in his giddyup, but if you can get this offense clicking they could be fun to watch. I’m betting on them staying healthy enough to give me a bunch of fantasy points.

12. Jamey Eisenberg of CBSSports.com: Darren McFadden: This pick is swinging for the fences and I’m fine with that. Run DMC has elite skills right up there with JC and CJ. Will he stay healthy? Can Campbell do enough to keep that offense together? Those are real questions when drafting McFadden, but his upside is too high not to be a little jealous when he gets picked ahead of you.

Besides Fanduel.com, Chet has written for the N.Y. Times: Fifth Down Blog, Tree.com, and his own sites Razzball and Third Coast Sports. He is extremely/obsessively active on Twitter and will answer your questions as best he can if you throw them @ChetRazzball.

Related posts:

Tags: Calvin Johnson, Chet Gresham, daily fantasy, Darren McFadden, Draftmaster Invitational, Frank Gore, LeSean McCoy, Maurice Jones-Drew, Ray Rice, Roddy White, SnapDraft, Teachta Dála