Mock Fantasy Football Drafting: 1st Round, Ninth Pick.

If you didn’t know, the Hazean’s been running a mock fantasy football draft, and now, it’s my turn. Let’s review the prior picks:

1. LaDanian Tomlinson, RB, San Diego Chargers
2. Steven Jackson, RB, St. Louis Rams
3. Joseph Addai, RB, Indianapolis Colts
4. Larry Johnson, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
5. Frank Gore, RB, San Francisco 49ers
6. Brian Westbrook, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
7. Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis Colts
8. Laurence Maroney, RB, New England Patriots

In the first two rounds of any draft, your choices ought to be RB or QB. Taking WRs this high is a fool’s errand. With that in mind, let’s review the possibilities here at both QB and RB:

Five QBs:

1. Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals – Even without Chris Henry for eight games, he still has Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmanzadeh at the WRs, and those guys are probably second in a WR tandem to Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne of the Colts. 28 TDs and over 4,000 yards passing is not a bad way to go.
2. Tom Brady, New England Patriots – 24 TDs and 3,500 yards passing are pretty damn good with a cast of no-name receivers. I shudder to think of the fantasy potential with Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, and Wes Welker out there. If Laurence Maroney is healthy, though, he will eat rushing yards, making passing less of an imperative.
3. Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles – he was my fantasy QB last season, and was dynamite for 10 games until he got hurt. If Andy Reid has learned how to play call or passed some of that off to Marty Morninwheg, he might be able to stay healthy. However, who’s he throwing it to?
4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints – Sick numbers last year, with most of the same weapons at WR and in the backfield with Reggie Bush; the only major loss is Joe Horn, and Marques Colston made him expendable.
5. Matt Leinart, Arizona Cardinals – Before you laugh for consideration, remember that he will be throwing to Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald for a full season. Whether his offensive line will protect him this year and allow Edgerrin James running room is the question.

Now, five RBs:

1. Shaun Alexander, Seattle Seahawks – Still one of the better runners in the league, but now has injury issues to be concerned about and didn’t look the same when his best blocker went to Minnesota.
2. Rudi Johnson, Cincinnati Bengals – Not a bad grab here, either. 1,300 yards and 13 scores. You might want someone who gets in the end zone more often, though.
3. Willie Parker, Pittsburgh Steelers – Another attractive option. Generally the same stats as Rudi, and he’ll be asked to haul it a lot again with Ben Roethlisberger trying to take it slow in recovering from a sub-par season last year.
4. Thomas Jones, New York Jets -Gets to be the primary runner on a team that didn’t have one. He’ll be carrying the ball a lot, but how many times he actually sniffs end zone are up in the air.
5. Travis Henry, Denver Broncos – Was the alternative to Vince Young in Tennessee last season, and with Denver’s blocking up front, could be due for a huge year in order to take the pressure off of Jay Cutler to be everything to every one of us Horseheads.  Not in his favor: he’s older than some of the other backs, and I’m not sure if he’s a back ready to be The Man, despite prior 1,000-yard seasons. Plus, Mike Shanahan hates your fantasy team and will probably swap someone else in with him half the time.

Again, a tough spot to be in, and I’m not enamored with the RBs that are left enough to take one here, and since most of my success in fantasy leagues have come with a dominant QB, personal bias makes the choice much easier.

With the ninth pick in the Hazean’s Mock Fantasy Football Draft, I select Carson Palmer of the Cincinnati Bengals.