Mock Draft Time: Round Numero Uno

As promised, I am participating in The Hazean’s mock draft, and it is shaping up to be a good one.  These fantasy bloggers have great insight into strategy and know their stuff.  Head over to The Hazean to check the results of the first round.  Also, click on the links of any of the bloggers below to check out their individual pages and take some notes.

Again, here is the draft order (and it’s serpentine, so I will have the 12th pick in the second round):

1. Curveballs for Jesus
2. Sean McCall
3. Football Burrito
4. Pancake Blocks
5. West Coast Nonsense
6. Bruno Boys
7. The Hazean
8. Football Jabber
9. Fantasy Football Fools
10. Fantasy Football Geek Blog
11. Fantasy Football Goat
12. Fantasy Football Librarian

With the first pick, I selected LaDainian Tomlinson, and here is my analysis:

Last year, I was extremely high on Steven Jackson, and I thought he was going to lead the league in everything.  I was so high on him that I had him as number one on all my draft boards.  That didn’t quite work out the way I had planned, with him never coming close to all the expectations that people had for him last year.  He was having a down year, and this is what was made clear to me: LT’s off year and Steven Jackson’s off year are two completely different creatures.  If LT has an off year, he is still one of the best, but if Jackson has an off year, he is going to be hanging out in the middle of the pack.  I should never have doubted LaDainian.

There really isn’t much to say about LT that people don’t already know.  The guy is a beast, and he is showing no signs of stopping.  No one else on my draft board is even close this year.  Because this is a league where touchdowns are worth six, and you get 1 point for every 10 yards rushing, LaDainian is the only way to go.  He is going to have solid weeks every week as long as he stays healthy, and there will be weeks where he drops 30+ on somebody.  Even last year, where his numbers were off a great deal from the previous year, LT had almost 1500 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns.  For those of you keeping score at home, that is 240 fantasy points, and that isn’t even accounting for his receiving yards!  LT hauled in almost 500 yards receiving with 3 touchdowns for another 68 fantasy points or so.  Wait, he isn’t done yet … he has even been known to throw a touchdown pass from time to time.  Remember that you are talking about over 300 fantasy points in a year where he was down from the year before!  The bottom line is that while other backs are going to have great seasons, possibly even better than the one LT is going to have, LT does what he does and is the best in the business year in and year out.

Downside: Can you use the word “downside” and “LaDainian Tomlinson” in the same sentence?  Well, he had that knee injury at the end of last year, but from all accounts, it is healing well.  I am sure he will be at 100% when the season kicks off, and I don’t see this as anything to be concerned with in drafting your fantasy team.

Head over to The Hazean’s spot to see the rest of the first round picks and get some good insight on how you should be approaching your draft this fantasy football season!