Joe FootballDiehards said:

Hi again Xtremers,

The draft has been a tad slow, but I did get the opportunity to pick again, so I thought I’d stop by go through my (convoluted) thought process.

At 2.01, I went with Jamaal Charles.  For those putting the pieces together on my draft, you may have figured out that I really like this year’s rookie RB class.  Charles has premium speed and quickness, but what he lacks at this point is the bulk to get through a 16-game schedule as anything more than a specialty player.  Those who researched Charles realize that he was not purely a football player in college as he was also a track guy.  That participation in track prevented him from devoting himself to the weight room in the offseason.  Let’s not forget that he’s not starting out as a string bean – the kid weighs 200 pounds now.  I think he has a bright future.

With track now in his rearview mirror, I expect Charles to bulk up to become a successful NFL running back and be the eventual replacement for LJ whenever that time comes.  I’d say 2-3 years should be about right.

I have hit the RBs hard in this draft for three reasons: 

First, as I stated above, I really like this draft class.  The three RBs I grabbed in this draft are all in my top seven rated backs, so that was nice for me. 

Second, I really don’t like the draft class next year.  Much like this year’s senior class, next year’s senior class is going to need help from underclassmen to make it interesting.

Third, what is the greatest currency in Fantasy Football?  In the NFL it’s quarterbacks, but in Fantasy it’s productive running backs.  If you have a productive running back, you can go out and acquire any other position you might need.

If you guys have questions or comments, I’ll check back around to see what those are.

I like Charles too and never really thought about the track-weight comparison. It makes sense. I rank him inside my top 10 and I agree with you Joe it may take a few years but I see him too as the heir apparent to LJ.

Greetings everyone.  I hope you all had a good weekend. 

At 2.08, I grabbed Jerome Simpson.  In analyzing this year's group of WRs, there is nobody who stands out in the class.  Everyone has some blemishes and questions while offering some strengths.  That said, the biggest blemish on Simpson is the level of competition.  What he offers is great size, great athleticism and great hands.  I took him over Avery, who was still available at this point, because Simpson profiles as a WR1 while Avery does not.  I think you can justify almost any order among the top five WRs in this draft, but I had Simpson sitting at No. 2 on my board.  I was happy he was still sitting there.

At 3.01, Jordy Nelson was the choice.  Driver's career should begin to wind down fairly soon and I think Nelson can push ahead of James Jones.  Because the Packers went out and added Brohm, I think the QB position should be covered one way or another going forward, so I feel comfortable grabbing a WR in this system.  The fact that the Packers took Nelson with so many good WRs still on the board is a feather in his cap and a sign that they are thinking like I am about his future.  I was hoping that Manningham would fall to me here, but I missed him by one pick.

Looking ahead in the draft, there are still some players worth looking at in all positions.