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It’s definitely a concern. They released Flozell Adams in the offseason; they hope youngster Doug Free can handle that left tackle job. It looks like left guard Kyle Kosier will be out until after their week 4 bye. And right tackle Marc Colombo has a knee injury that has him in doubt for the opener. So I agree: That line is a concern.

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A:

I don’t go into drafts saying, “I’ve got to get this guy,” or “That’s a player I want to avoid.” I build my draft board, then just select the highest-rated player when it’s my turn to pick. Right now, going into drafts, I’m expecting to select C.J. Spiller, Clinton Portis, Jabar Gaffney, Mohamed Massaquoi and the San Francisco defense. I seem to be a little higher on those guys than others.

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A:

Think of it in draft terms. At what point in the draft do you get down to where you don’t really care about the player? At kicker, for example, maybe you’d kind of like to have Nate Kaeding or Ryan Longwell. Otherwise, you’re pretty sure you can get a kicker that’s as good as any other in the last few rounds of the draft. So let’s say that two kickers are worth more than the $1 minimum. For me at quarterback, I find that number to be about 14. I’m interested in getting Donovan McNabb or Ben Roethlisberger as a second quarterback – those guys are worth more than $1. But I am not interested in paying more than $1 for Chad Henne or Vince Young (guys who are around 15th and 16th on my board). So let’s say 14 quarterbacks are worth more than $1. At running back and wide receiver, about 30 is probably the number. (At receiver, let’s go down to 28 if you start two; let’s go up to 35 if you start three). Maybe 10 tight ends. Maybe 3-5 defenses. Once you’ve completed that step, you’ve created baselines at each position. The value of the difference-maker players is determined by how much better they are than the best of the $1 players at each position.

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A:

There can be an advantage, I think, in diversifying position. In the Fanex draft, I selected a whole bunch of wide receivers early. Four of my first five picks were wide receivers (you can start four in that league). So that starts to limit my options in the later rounds, where I’m not as well positioned to select a great wide receiver deal (if there’s one there) in the 8th, 9th or 10th rounds. You can back yourself into a corner a little bit. But the overall numbers (my overall numbers, anyway) suggest there isn’t much of a difference between that tier of receivers. I currently have Johnson at No. 8 in your format, and then wide receivers holding 10 of the 21 spots between 16th and 36th.

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I’ll go with Finley. He’s the top tight end on my board, so to get him in the 14th round represents the best overall value.

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A:

With my overall rankings, I’m looking at a league with 11-12 teams. I think that format is more popular. If you want to toy around with 8- and 10-team leagues, it’s best to use the CUSTOM CHEAT SHEET feature. (To really dial in the overall portion, you must also use the preferences in the “Auction Profile” section). With the Experts Poll, there is the possibility that something could happen after mid-May and before we print. That happened back in the ‘90s, when there was the Vicodin thing with Brett Favre. We also saw it with the Ben Roethlisberger motorcycle crash. It happened in early June, allowing us to change our projections in the magazine but too late for us to alter the Experts Poll.

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A:

Crabtree, and it’s not even close. I’ll take him for this year – by a lot – and he’s also the one who should have the best career. Once the 49ers get their quarterbacking situation figured out, he could be cranking out 80-90 catches per year. When you adjust what he did as a rookie to account for his holdout, he was very close to a 1,000-yard pace. Gonzalez, on the other hand, probably won’t even start in Indianapolis. And Bowe doesn’t seem to get along with Todd Haley in Kansas City.

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A:

I suggest something along the lines of the following. Give each team a $100 cap. 28 quarterbacks will be selected (14 for more than $1). 18 kickers will be selected (3 for more than $1). 20 defenses (5 for more than $1). 22 tight ends (10 for than than $1). 60 running backs (30 for more than $1). 70 wide receivers (33 for more than $1).

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