Vincent Jackson – I love Vincent Jackson. The guy is a great player and has won me many a fantasy game over the years. He’s usually my first receiver pick in the draft, that’s how much faith I have in him when he plays. Unfortunately this season he has a 3 game suspension. On top of that he has refused to sign his tender as a restricted free agent, and rumours are flying around that because of this we might not see him play even after his suspension finishes. I hope not, because he is talented and a great guy to watch play. If it was up to me I’d be leaving him to the free agency wire and keeping a close eye on how events unfold.

Santonio Holmes – Santonio Holmes, fresh from a move to the New York Jets from the Pittsburgh Steelers, is joining a very, very good team. It’s just a shame he won’t be playing for the first 4 games. Usually you’d see Santonio go in the first 3 rounds of a draft, and rightly so. He is a solid receiver and will get you points. But missing 4 games AND a bye week means 5 total weeks of zero production. If you see him still there in the later rounds then by all means grab him as a bench warmer for half the season, but don’t waste a good pick in getting him early.

Ben Roethlisberger – What can be said about Big Ben that hasn’t already been said? He’s currently on a 6 game suspension though it’s looking likely that it’ll be restricted to 4 games. That’s still a lot of games, the same amount as Santonio. He is a very good QB, and probably one of the best late game QBs around at the moment. He will get points, and he will be consistent in doing so. However, picking Ben in early or mid-rounds is a waste of a perfectly good pick when there will be people available to score you points from the get go. I’d rather take a Kevin Kolb than a Roethlisberger if I had the choice this season.

The second kind of player I’ll be commenting on will be the ones who I just don’t think will produce as well as they have done or as well as people expect. It could be quite a long list, but I’ll shorten it to just five.

Visanthe Shiancoe – An amazing season last year made a lot of people stand up and notice Shiancoe. Some might say it was a ‘break-out’ season for the 30 year old. Nearly 600 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns (bested only by Vernon Davis among the tight ends) is nothing to grumble at. However, you have to credit Brett Favre for his part in his season. The veteran improved the Vikings in all aspects of their game. His knowledge, experience and natural talent made them one hell of an exciting team to watch, and everyone around him seemed to up their game. With the possible pending retirement of Favre I just don’t think Visanthe will be repeating these numbers, so keep a close eye on the Brett Favre saga. We at Mac will be.

Thomas Jones – Jones is an absolute beast. He’s got the size, the power, the speed and the experience. If he was still working with the Jets I’d say grab him quickly. Unfortunately he’s not, he’s at the Chiefs. Let’s face it, that’s just devalued him by a good few rounds. Jamaal Charles is the main man at Kansas City. An astounding season last year will make it difficult the Jones to force his way into the number 1 spot. 1000 yards rushed with an average of 5.9 yards per carry. How can you dislodge that? It’s my opinion that Jones will simply be used as a goal-line threat, and not enough to warrant a valued pick until late in the draft. Think of him as a Tim Hightower this season and not a Frank Gore.

Matt Forte – It’s a shame for Forte, he really does have the skills to be a top running back. He can find gaps, he’s got the agility, but unfortunately he plays for a team with a weak offensive line and a pass happy offensive coordinator. He nearly hit a 1000 yards last year, but only got 4 touchdowns off 258 attempts. His attempts actually decreased last year from the year before by a good 60 or so. I can see the same again this year as Jay Cutler settles himself into his second season. I wouldn’t pick Matt with your first load of picks, but as a 2^nd running back he could be worth a shout.

Sidney Rice – The second Viking in this list (Hmmm, I wonder why), but I have a second reason for Sidney. Yes, as I mentioned with Shiancoe, the pending departure of Favre is definitely a factor. Last year was definitely his break-out year. He hasn’t come close to replicating those numbers before. In fact, I think he doubled all his stats from previous years (receptions, yards and touchdowns). Without Favre, I don’t have faith that he will be a solid fantasy option. Along with the fact that he is still on the PUP list it doesn’t look like he will make the start of the season.

Steve Slaton – Stevie had a great year in 2008/09, and a shocking year in 2009/10. He picked up a nasty little disease that we in the Football world like to call, ‘fumblitis’. The previous Mac Favourite lost his starting place and soon disappeared. Granted, the replacement backs didn’t exactly set the world on fire, so depending on the off-season Slaton might get a shot and getting his #1 place back. Houston did pick Ben Tate in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft though, so this leaves Arian Foster, Steve Slaton, and Ben Tate all in the running for one spot. I suppose it all depends on how their pre-seasons go. Keep a close eye on the Texans, but I wouldn’t place my running back spot in Slaton’s hands… He might drop it.

So there you have it. A few players to be a little wary of. Hopefully this will be useful for your draft. Next up I’ll be looking at those late round picks who could very well turn out to be decent little point earners for you. Especially useful for those in big drafts.

Image Credits:
Vincent Jackson – Jeffrey Beall
Visanthe Shiancoe – xoque
Steve Slaton – The Brit_2

Well, obvious choices aside (AKA the Yahoo! Rankings Top 25) I see the following as good value picks you should be able to get after the first 2 rounds:

Anquan Boldin – The guy just loves getting yards and touchdowns. He moved to the Baltimore Ravens this year where no doubt he will be the main guy. After so many years in Arizona basically playing second fiddle to Larry Fitzgerald we finally get to see what he can do as a No. 1. Boldin and QB Joe Flacco have been practising together all off-season to get their chemistry right so expect big things from Anquan, and you can get this player as a 3^rd round or 4^th round pick.

Santana Moss – Santana has been the Redskins number 1 guy for going on four years. His numbers have always been solid, and yet he never really seems to stand out from a lot of other number 1 wide receivers. Andre Johnson, Randy Moss, Greg Jennings, Braylon Edwards, Brandon Marshall, Larry Fitzgerald… These are the names you hear banded around all the time. That’s great for us Fantasy players though. Santana will be available at round 5, possibly 6 and will provide you with a good load of points. He did well with Campbell throwing to him, now he has Donovan McNabb who will greatly improve the passing game.

Jonathan Stewart – This fella doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves in my opinion. He’s one half of the best running back duo in the league along with DeAngelo Williams. His numbers are fantastic, and although he is classed as the number 2 RB in the depth chart I actually think he’s the better of the two. In the mock drafts I have done young Jonathan usually falls to around the 4^rd round, so if you’re in a big draft (14+) and looking for value, this is your guy. He can go straight in a starting spot.

Carson Palmer- Here’s a guy just waiting for a huge season, and with Ocho, TO and Bryant in front of him (along with the addition of rookie Jermaine Gresham) he could well be thinking “This year…”. I’d agree. I’m expected a huge season from Carson. Don’t get me wrong, he’s never been bad, he’s just never been… outstanding. In all of my mock drafts I have done this off-season Carson has always fallen to me in the final round. If I didn’t pick him, he wouldn’t have been picked. He will be good enough to be your starting quarterback leaving you to pursue other targets in the first half dozen rounds. Picking Carson later whilst you build around him will definitely give you an edge.

Malcolm Floyd – Malcolm is in a similar position to Mike Wallace (see below). Vincent Jackson will not be available for the first few games of the season, and if rumour is to be believed we might not see him until week 10 or 11 due to a sit-out over his contract. Make way for Malcolm Floyd. With Rivers’ number 1 wide receiver out of the picture a lot of the receptions will be coming his way. So if you’re looking for a good option in round 8 or 9, you will be hard pressed to beat this pick.

Mike Wallace – With departure of Santonio Holmes to the Jets, Mike Wallace will be expected to see a lot more balls coming his way. He showed last year that he has the talent, ability, skills, whatever you want to call it. Granted, Big Ben won’t be around for the start of the season which seems to be putting people off and letting him slip down the rankings, but don’t let it put YOU off. If you see him available in later rounds, don’t hesitate to snap him up.

So there you have a few guys to look for in the 3rd round onwards who will provide you with good depth in your squad as well as a healthy return on points…. Hopefully.

To get playing, visit one of the many Fantasy Football sites. We use Yahoo! Sports, but there are plenty of others about.

Image Credits:
Santana Moss: Keith Allison
Carson Palmer: Keith Allison

We’ll be running a Mac draft later this year, and if you’d like to be involved then let us know and we’ll get invites out when it’s ready. Or you can just laugh at us from a distance… I know I had a terrible season last year!. But whatever you do…

Get Playing!
We use Yahoo! Sports‘ fantasy league and live draft, but there are plenty available. Like at nfl.com.

UK fans should also look at the nfluk.com fantasy competition, which works in a different way but has some good prizes on offer.

Ah yes, the NFL Fantasy League draft…

Last year I stormed off to a 12-1 regular season before losing both the semi-final and 3rd place playoff. I usually make the playoffs, but with 4th last year and 6th the year before, my solitary victory back in 2006 is looking a little lonely. This year though…

Our league has got very popular over the last few years and this year had the maximum allowed of 20 players. Yes, this was going to be hard.

I got the 6th pick, which I was pretty happy with. Nut the nature of the draft means that my next pick would be the 34th overall. Then 46th, then 74th, add 11, add 29, etc.

The Draft
DeAngelo Williams was going to me my first pick, but he was taken at number 5. Which threw me a bit, as I wasn’t sold on the next few players below him. So I went for Steve Slaton. As I’ve already mentioned here: I like him as a person and a player and think he’s going to have a good year. I then had to sit, wait and watch while most of the high-value players disappear. Come my second pick, I went for another RB. I was tempted to a quarterback, but reckoned (correctly as it turned out) that they’d still be a good choice come my 3rd round pick. So I picked up Ryan Grant then and reached for Carson Palmer next.

Palmer is a risky pick, but I like his chances this year now he’s healthy and has good receivers to aim at.

I’d decided before the draft started not to worry about WRs, as I had in mind a couple that should still be available deep so I went for a solid TE in Greg Olsen in the 4th round. However, one of the WRs was Hakeem Nicks, and he was taken 1st pick of the 5th round so I lifted my targets (a little) and took Muhsin Muhammad

Deep in the 6th I was surprised to see Willie Parker still available, and though I could have gone elsewhere I picked him up. He’ll be on my bench initially, but could be traded or kept for cover. He seems like a bargain all the way down there!

I took Justin Gage in the 7th to essentially fill out the starters, then started looking at backups and value players: Enter Brady Quinn in the 8th and Darrius Heyward-Bey in the 9th.

Shaun Siusham in the 10th is my worst pick, and I’ve already traded him. I’ve never worried too much about a kicker though, and this year is no exception. I’ll just pick up whoever is available if I need to. The same is true of the DEF/ST and my autopick (my connection dropped) of Cleveland won’t set the world alight but will probably be steady enough for me not to worry about it.

In between those, I took Bo Scaife in the 11th then closed out with Michael Clayton and Joey Galloway in the 13th and 14th rounds respectively.

Summary
Generally I’m happy with my team. I managed to stay on strategy for the most part, and didn’t get drawn in when there were runs at certain positions. My receivers could be stronger, but that was conscious on my part so I can’t complain.

[table id=15 /]

To start week 1, against SmallSatsuma’s Saints

QB – Carson Palmer
WR – Muhsin Muhammad
WR – Justin Gage (gameday decision against Darrius H-B)
RB – Steve Slaton
TE – Greg Olsen
W/R – Ryan Grant
K – Steven Hauschka (who I traded Siusham for)
DEF/ST – Cleveland

I’m trying to trade Willie Parker for Percy Harvin. If accepted, I’ll probably start Harvin over Gage and Heyward-Bey.

I’m projected a narrow win, but who can tell? What I can say is that the draft was a good laugh, again, with a good amount of chat and jokes and laughter throughout. The League should be much the same, and we always look forward to it.

Get Playing!
We use Yahoo! Sports‘ fantasy league and live draft, but there are plenty available. Like at nfl.com.

UK fans should also look at the nfluk.com fantasy competition, which works in a different way but has some good prizes on offer.