Continuing with our pre draft prep this week, I will introduce “Charting”.
Charting is just my fancy term for tracking your draft with your own miniature draft board. I always create a mini draft board that I fill out throughout the course of the draft.
It does not have to be anything too fancy, but the idea is to track yours and your opponents’ drafts. What I do is grab 4 different highlighters and I fill in each pick and then highlight the “position” with a different color. For example QB’s purple, RB’s blue, WR’s Green and TE’s yellow. This way you can easily track your opponents picks and also identify their positions of need as each round unfolds.
This can prove beneficial when for example you have the 10th pick out of 12 and you are looking for grab your starting TE in the 7th round, as an example, you glance down at your board and see both the 11th and 12 the spot already have their starting TE. You now know you can wait until after the swing and grab another position and then when it comes back around in the 8th grab your TE. You almost know for sure that they won’t be selecting another TE.
By keeping an eye out for what the rest of the league’s needs are you can really capitalize. If this helps you even once during the draft then you have done well for yourself. Combine this with “tiering” and ADP charts, you can improve the quality of your team and where the competition is tight, you may do enough to put you over the top.
Running Backs:
TIER 1:
Ray Rice, Arian Foster, LeSean McCoy
I put Rice out number 1 for one simple reason, every time you hear Foster’s name its followed up by “make sure you grab Ben Tate” as a handcuff in, say, round 7. Well to me if you need to grab another player to cover a top 3 pick in Foster then he just isn’t that valuable. You don’t hear that about any other high pick and for that reason. Rice gets the nod over Foster. Behind them is McCoy. I’m a little concerned about the talk of reducing his touches, but regardless he rounds out the “big three.”
TIER 2:
Chris Johnson, Darren McFadden, Marshawn Lynch, Matt Forte, Adrian Peterson
I really like CJ2K this year, the offensive line has improved and Locker looks to take the next step, and adding Kendall Wright will give more breathing room to Johnson.
If McFadden could ever stay healthy he could lead all RB’s in scoring, he is the proverbial “high risk high reward” guy. Lynch was a top3 RB the 2nd half of last season and should continue nice production. Forte could lose some touches with the addition of Michael Bush. Adrian Peterson just returned to practice so keep your eye on his progress. I’m not a big fan of taking guys coming off of major injuries; just don’t draft him too early.
TIER 3:
Maurice Jones-Drew, DeMarco Murray, Trent Richardson, Ryan Mathews, Michael Turner, Steven Jackson, Jamal Charles
This is the last of the running backs I would take before the 3rd round. MJD is currently holding out and that concerns me, look at CJ2K last year. Murray was hit or miss after he took over the starting role from Felix Jones last season. If he can get more consistent his production will soar. Richardson looks to be the real deal, monitor his effect from knee clean up. Mathews I had 5th or 6th before his broken clavicle if you can get him later in the 2nd or early 3rd that could be good value but the guy is always banged up. Turner is solid if not spectacular, Rodgers will cut into his touches and he’s never been a good receiver so he drops more in PPR leagues. SJax is pretty dependable and solid. Charles showed some burst in the 1st preseason game, but I think Hillis really kills his TD numbers.
TIER 4:
Shon Greene, Darren Sproles, Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, Fred Jackson, Ahmad Bradshaw, Doug Martin, Kevin Smith
I like Greene to final take the next step, potential for 1,300 and 10 TD’s. Sproles is a monster in PPR. Gore is aging and I don’t like at all this season. McGahee is solid but will lose some to Moreno and Hillman. FJax may end up splitting with Spiller. Bradshaw is injury prone and watch out for the rookie Wilson. I’m not as high on Martin at least this season, I think everyone is writing off Blount too soon. I love Kevin Smith, his effort is great, if he can avoid the injury bug he could be huge especially with Best heading to the PUP and Leshoure suspended for 2 games and battling his own injuries.
TIER 5:
Reggie Bush, Evan Royster, Steven Ridley, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Donald Brown, Peyton Hillis, Jonathon Stewart, D’Angelo Williams, Cedric Benson, Ryan Williams,
Bush is a decent RB2 in deeper leagues. Royster could be a nice surprise, but Shanahan kills you with his RB use. Ridley looks pretty good so far but Belicheck is another RB killer! “Law Firm” is solid and doesn’t cough up the ball. Donald Brown has earned the stating role on a bad team. I see Hillis getting a lot of touches and if Charles has any setbacks Hillis could be a top 12. Stewart or Williams? Flip a coin? Benson could take the srtaing role but the Pack doesn’t run much. Ryan Williams has the talent to take away the job from Wells.
TIER 6:
Ben Tate, David Wilson, Jacquez Rodgers, LaGarrett Blount, Marc Ingram, Beenie Wells, Toby Gerhart, Michael Bush, Mike Tolbert, Mike Goodson, Mikel Leshoure, Pierre Thomas, Rashard Jennings, Ronnie Hillman, Felix Jones, Shane Vareen, James Starks, Dion Lewis. Rashard Mendenhall, Roy Helu, Kendall Hunter, Ronnie Brown, Daniel Thomas, Montario Hardesty.
This tier provides quality depth and handcuffs. Any of these guys could produce if an injury were to hit the starters. It’s important to grab depth and back up your high picks with the appropriate backups. Continue to monitor training camps and the preseason games as you tiers should/could be ever-changing right up and through draft day.
Next Week: Wide Receivers and Tight Ends…
By Paul DeAngelis
@fantasyinfo_PPI
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