What seems like an eternity ago, I was in the midst of one of the greatest times of the sporting year. That time was mid-August. And although this may come across as the lull before football, basketball, and hockey season, as well as the period where my beloved Chicago White Sox are raising their white flag while promoting half of their farm system in order to finish the season third in the division; there are still the fantasy football drafts.
Within each draft, there is always that one person; the one everyone wants to be and yet dreads to be all at once; who has the first pick of the draft. This particular year, I was blessed with having that pick in one of my many leagues. It always seems though, with that pick, there is a safe assumption of who to take. The consensus this year was to pick Adrian Peterson, and let everyone else fight it out in order to find their 'moneymaker'. AP is safe and consistent and easy. Or so it seems. Lets dig deeper shall we.
First off, I'd like to blindly blame the lockout for what has caused this epidemic in injuries, specifically tailoring to running backs. AP, Arian Foster, Fred Jackson, Jamaal Charles, Steven Jackson, and probably more that you can call me out on later have all missed weeks upon weeks due to injuries. And although AP did produce well through week 9, he was nowhere near the top of the fantasy charts. "But Cory, how could you take someone other than Peterson with the top pick?" Well, I'll tell you. Peterson was not in the top 30 of fantasy scorers this year, and even if he earned 20 points each week for the three weeks he was injured, he would still not fall into the top 10. The top four producers were all QBs, while three other RBs graced the top ten on the charts, one of which missed two weeks of the season (Foster). Am I telling you to take a quarterback with your top pick and throw the mighty AP to the wind? Maybe. But even with QBs only receiving 4 points per TD as with most leagues, the elite are still outscoring every other player by at least 20 points.
If I have the privilege of receiving the first pick next year, I might rethink my 'safe bet' in AP, and mutter the words 'Rodgers' or 'Newton'. Yea, I said it. Cam Newton. #1 overall. WHY NOT? "Matt Ryan can lead my team and I can get him in the third round". Go ahead, be my guest. But know that there is a 100 point swing from those top four QB's compared to anyone else (Brady and Brees included). Oh, but you want a prolific running back because he will get more points per touchdown? Draft Cam Newton. And the fact that he is doing this in his rookie year should bode well for those wide eyed fantasy managers looking to snag the next big thing. He has 17 passing TD's and 13 rushing TD's to match his 16 picks, and even if those interceptions don't diminish over time, he will likely see more scoring throws through the air, and pound an achievable 10 scores on the ground. Defenses might try to tighten as they did with Vick, but the Kid is only 22 years old, and he his legs are as sharp as ever. All I'm saying is to look for Cam to be atop most fantasy charts come next August, and look for me to be taking him.
PS I have the first pick in my basketball draft this year too, but don't worry, I'll wait 6 months until I don't make the playoffs again to bitch about my decision here too.
No comments:
Post a Comment