NFL.com held it's first experts league mock draft of the year on Monday, May 20th. The standard scoring league consists of NFL Fantasy LIVE members Dave Dameshek, Elliot Harrison, Michael Fabiano, Akbar Gbajabiamila, Jaime Maggio, Adam Rank, Matt "Money" Smith and Jason Smith. Also in the league are NFL.com fantasy editor Marcas Grant and NFL.com features editor Alex Gelhar. Each owner was required to put together a lineup of one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one flex (RB/WR/TE), one tight end, one kicker and one defense/special teams unit.
Note: To view the entire 15-round mock draft, **click here**.
I tried to get quality running backs with each of my first two picks. After that, my hope was to systematically get my two wideouts and a tight end, then worry about a quarterback. I know many people would wait on the tight end, but I didn't want to because of what a headache that position was last season.
Did your draft strategy work?
Sort of. I went on auto draft for my second round pick (17th overall). The NFL.com system selected Julio Jones for me. So I swung around and obtained Chris Johnson at 24th overall. Like I mentioned above, I wanted to get two quality RBs right off the bat. Turns out I had to wait a round. I did get the wideouts I wanted in Jones, Jordy Nelson, and Eric Decker. I also selected my tight end prior to drafting RG3 as my quarterback.
What was your favorite pick(s)?
Tony Romo. I wanted insurance for RG3, so I took Romo two picks later as insurance. As we all know, Griffin is in the process of recovering from a knee injury, and I felt that if I waited too long I wouldn't get the kind of backup that's capable of outscoring my starter. Most people wouldn't recommend taking two QBs so close together in their draft, but I felt good about it. I'd rather have Romo than a backup running back that I might release early in the season anyway.
What pick(s) do you most regret?
Not getting Gio Bernard. I like the Bengals rookie. Matt "Money" Smith swiped him from me.
Who drafted the best fantasy team?
For once, I actually felt very strongly about my own. Hell, I like everybody's team! Dude, come back in mid-October when I've grown a beard and Samkon Gado is on a roster before asking me this question. Fantasy drafts look great on paper in May. Then everything changes. Players get hurt, dudes come out of nowhere to pull a Victor Cruz on you and crappy sci-fi movies like Oblivion are already on iTunes. You find yourself picking up guys named Cole Beasley ... and the Jets receivers still suck. But hey, that's love man. That's fantasy. I'm not judging my colleagues' teams until we know something from something.
