Fantasy Football

As we’ve stated a number of times but have failed to follow through on, we have every intention of doing an extensive NFL draft preview from a fantasy football perspective. This seemed like a great idea until it dawned on us, there isn’t anything particularly interesting about this draft other than how underwhelming all the prospective picks appear to be (especially at the skill positions). So we put a halt to our detailed rundown of everyone available in favor of a three day, three post preview: Players who are most likely to impact the 2009-2010 season, players to stay away from and players who could be late bloomers.

In other words, we’ll do a post for running backs, quarterbacks and then receivers respectively. Or at least that’s how we anticipate this panning out. We haven’t looked into any of it up until this point, but for the sake of professionalism we’ll try to read a draft preview from someone who actually gives a shit about any of this. So, without further ado, here’s your 2009 NFL draft fantasy football preview. As I see it, there are about five players that, depending on where they land*, have an opportunity to have a significant positive impact for their new teams this season. We actually did this a few months ago out of desperation for something to write about, but we’ve made a few omissions and additions based on information that has recently surfaced. Here they are in no particular order.

*This is a caveat for everything we’ve just written and are about to write over the next couple of days, and why we decided against getting too crazy with our preview, considering we’re speculating on how someone will produce statistically two drafts from now (the one on Sunday and yours in August).

Jason Smith
Obviously I didn’t watch much Baylor football this year, because I live in Ohio and if I wanted to pollute my field of vision there are plenty of MAC teams available that I don’t need ESPN Gameplan for. But this kid, much like Joe Thomas, Jake Long, D’Brickshaw Ferguson and countless others before them, Jason Smith is going to make an immediate impact. If I were the Lions I wouldn’t hesitate drafting him over Matthew Stafford, who the Lions seem to have enough questions about since they haven’t offered him a contract yet. If Smith is taken by the Lions, Calvin Johnson will be the most impacted by it, just like the receivers and running backs for any team that were to take Smith. Immediately move Johnson or any stud receiver that happens to be on the team that drafts Smith up ten spots in your rankings if this is too happen…

Matthew Stafford
…All that said, regardless of where Matthew Stafford lands, he’ll probably start immediately and be a significant improvement over his predecessor. I’m not proclaiming a Matt Ryan like rookie season, but he’s of sound character, has a strong arm and will almost undoubtedly be a deep-ball passer before anything else. Right now if I were the Lions, I would take Smith over Stafford because the Lions line is terrible, and Stafford is basically stationary (They would be better off taking Smith with the first pick, then hoping Freeman falls to their second first round pick or gambling in a later round with a quarterback). Whereas with Freeman you get a little more mobility for a team whose line is still going to be fairly Green even with Smith, and you’re investing less money in a smaller gamble.

Chris Wells
For the first time since he arrived on a national stage, Chris Wells looks healthy and brimming with optimism. If you listen to any draft analysis –which God knows there is plenty of — the rap on him is always that he’s one of the three most talented players in the draft but also injury prone; and he doesn’t respond well to the injuries. There is some truth to that, but he’s the type of player that went to college because the NFL basically forces you too. He knew he was lottery bound from the second he stepped on the field in Massilon, OH. And since the team around him could never seem to execute when it mattered, as much as it pains me to say, I can understand him screwing the pooch (intentionally or unintentionally) in some cases and using his nagging injuries as an excuse. But still, look at footage of him in the 2008 Sugar Bowl, does that look like someone who’s incapable of performing? Oh, and do you know who else was generally lauded as uber-talented but prone to injury coming out of college? Adrian Peterson. As we all know, the Vikings are really regretting that pick.

Jeremy Maclin
The lone receiver on this list. He’s healthy, he’s big and he’s fucking fast, so why isn’t he as highly touted as Michael Crabtree, who’s coming off a horrendous knee injury? If you’ve watched a Missouri play a football game in the past two seasons, and there’s a very good chance that you haven’t, you would know what I am referring too. Of course, he played at Missouri, which means he played in the Big twelve and generally had superior talent around him. That could be skewing my perception of Maclin, akin to that of every skill player to come out of USC in the past seven or eight years, but I think he will live up to the lottery status.

LeSean McCoy
The running back out of Pittsburgh, he’s the right mix of speed and durability that seems to be all the rage with NFL running backs these days (Maurice Jones-Drew, DeAngelo Williams, etc.). Now, he’s coming from Pittsburgh, who plays in the big east, and the entire conference was pretty underwhelming. But his running style tends to translate well at any level of play. And besides, he’s a running back. If he can stay healthy he’ll play long enough for anyone to even remember he played for Pitt. Just ask any casual observer of the NFL if they know where Larry Fitzgerald played his college ball at.

Five players you want your NFL and fantasy teams to steer clear of tomorrow.