We just had our yearly fantasy football keeper league draft at work this week. I will be breaking down the draft in the fifth and final of my five-piece mock draft series. Keep in mind, when I list an owner not having a pick in a certain round, it simply just means that pick was used on a keeper and they have elected to forfeit their pick in the current round for the 2011 season. We each had an opportunity to keep up to four players, but some owners chose to keep less. Either way, this draft will give you a great indication of where players are being selected in a keeper league format. In most instances in a keeper league, you must over value and consequently over draft some players due to the lack of depth from the player pool. For example, Jason Witten is on average being draft between rounds 4-6 in normal drafts. However, in a keeper league with a more shallow player pool available, Witten is being taken anywhere from rounds 2-4. Keep that in mind when evaluating our mock draft. It is a standard league scoring PPR (point per reception) format with bonuses for 150+ yard games rushing or receiving. Quarterbacks also get a five point bonus for throwing over 400 yards. It is a snake style draft format, so the player with the last pick in the round will select first in the following round, so on and so forth. We do not use a tight end position. Instead, he have 2 running back starters, 2 wide receiver slots and 2 flex positions that you can play RB, WR or TE’s. We could not keep anyone selected in the first three rounds of last year’s draft, so the first three rounds should be close to a normal fantasy football league draft.
Owners:
#1 overall pick – Cowboy
#2 overall pick – Andrew
#3 overall pick – Jeff
#4 overall pick – Tim
#5 overall pick – Tony
#6 overall pick – Adam
#7 overall pick – Lucas
#8 overall pick – Ryan S.
#9 overall pick – Erik
#10 overall pick – Corey
#11 overall pick – Ryan B.
#12 overall pick – Billy
Mock Draft Round 9:
97) Bears DST
98) Eli Manning
99) Rashad Jennings
100) Colt McCoy
101) Roy Helu
102) Giants DST
103) Steve Breaston
104) Arrelious Benn
105) Deion Branch
106) Danny Woodhead
107) No Pick (Darren McFadden, keeper)
108) Cowboys DST
Round Overview: Here is the time when owner’s try and make some bold moves. Most are looking for the next diamond in the rough, while others are searching for the final few pieces of their title contending roster. Either way, owners are trying to make a splash once most of the key players are off the board. I don’t feel comfortable with the turnover heavy Eli Manning…Yet, at this point in the draft he is at too good of a value to ignore. Roy Helu could make a big splash in Washington. Mike Shanahan is notorious for throwing young running backs into the fire early on to see how they will handle the pressure. The Nebraska alum should be no different in a carousel of backs in Washington. I could not pass on Arrelious Benn. He is a freak of nature and the Anquan Boldin comparisons have been following him around since college. Look for the physical beast to be the second wide receiver in a new-look, young and explosive offense in Tampa Bay. I like Deion Branch here too. I feel he will make a difference in the passing game, as he did last year. Branch will not be paid attention to with Ochocinco running routes for the Pats this season.
Mock Draft Round 10:
109) Mark Sanchez
110) James Jones
111) Ricky Williams
112) Stephen Gostkowski
113) Jay Cutler
114) Nate Burelson
115) Robert Meachem
116) Montario Hardesty
117) Matt Bryant
118) Matt Cassel
119) Jordan Shipley
120) Brian Hartline
Round Overview: Some teams are trying to find their back-up QB’s in this round and there is nobody I like more than Mark Sanchez. He will breakout this season in a big way with a plentiful assortment of lethal weapons. Cutler and Cassel also have nice value as back-ups in this situation. Hardesty will be called upon to give Hillis a breather in Cleveland. He is rested and finally ready for his pro career to hit its stride. It is way too early to be selecting kickers, so that should be the one note taken from this round. Ricky Williams will not have the same impact or playing time in Baltimore, that he did in Miami. Thank you for reading my series of Mock Draft’s for the 2011 season. Good Luck. Please feel free to email me anytime you have a question regarding fantasy sports.
