The Fanex Analysis Draft crawls on. I promise it will end eventually – honest. With my two most recent picks, I’ve added Dwayne Bowe and Josh Hill.
Bowe is a depth pick at wide receiver. In this format, it’s PPR and you start three wide receivers. Each team also uses a Flex, so it’s really almost as if you start four wide receivers. I selected four wide receivers pretty early in the draft – Antonio Brown, Julian Edelman, Roddy White and Larry Fitzgerald. I expect they’ll all catch 80-110 balls and add value.
But you really need five wide receivers in this format. All of those guys have byes, and they’ll all no doubt have some bad games. It’s also wishful thinking that those guys will all make it through the season without getting hurt. Edelman, White and Fitzgerald all missed games last year.
So I wanted to add another pass catcher, and Bowe is the guy. He famously made it through all of last season without catching a touchdown, but I think that’s probably more on Alex Smith than on Bowe. Smith prides himself on being careful with the ball, and that makes it harder for wide receivers to thrive. When Smith has an opportunity to squeeze a ball into a tight window inside the red zone or to loft a ball deep, hoping for a big play, he’s more likely than other quarterbacks to cut bait and just throw it away. This year Bowe is working with a quarterback who’s more of the opposite – Josh McCown tends to force too many balls to guys who aren’t really open.
I don’t have high expectation for Bowe, but he’s at least a guy who looks pretty certain to start 16 games and led his team in receiving. Maybe he’ll hit it off with McCown and finish with something like 70 catches and 6 TDs. They Browns apparently have some confidence he’s still a viable receiver because they signed him to a two-year deal worth $12.5 million.
As for Hill, selected at 12.07, I have thus far not gotten around to selecting a tight end. I’ve been busy trying to fill other needs. I felt I had to have two good quarterbacks, I wanted a stable of wide receivers, and I felt I needed some bodies at running back. There’s never been a tight end there at just the right price. If Gronkowski had been available in the middle of the second round, I would have been all over that. Greg Olsen and Travis Kelce went a half round before I would have selected them.
Anyway, I’m running out of time, so I’m selecting Josh Hill. I think the Saints want him to be their starter, and he could be very good in that role – maybe a top-5 player at the position. Sean Payton had glowing things to say about Hill at the team workouts in April.
On the downside, Hill has to show he can do it. If they don’t think he’s ready, he could split time with Ben Watson, and the Saints also might sign Jermaine Gresham, who could be a little better than both of those guys. Hill is iffy enough that I might have to carry three tight ends, which is something I’d rather not do.
If you want to follow along with this draft, it’s being held at MyFantasyLeague.com. On the site, you can click on “Draft Report” and you’ll see the draft comments of all 12 franchise owners.
FANEX ANALYSIS DRAFT | ||
---|---|---|
Pick | Pos | Player |
1.01 | RB | Eddie Lacy |
1.02 | RB | Jamaal Charles |
1.03 | RB | LeVeon Bell |
1.04 | RB | Adrian Peterson |
1.05 | RB | C.J. Anderson |
1.06 | WR | Antonio Brown |
1.07 | RB | Marshawn Lynch |
1.08 | TE | Rob Gronkowski |
1.09 | WR | Dez Bryant |
1.10 | RB | Arian Foster |
1.11 | RB | LeSean McCoy |
1.12 | RB | Matt Forte |
2.01 | WR | Demaryius Thomas |
2.02 | RB | Melvin Gordon |
2.03 | RB | DeMarco Murray |
2.04 | WR | Odell Beckham Jr. |
2.05 | WR | Julio Jones |
2.06 | QB | Andrew Luck |
2.07 | RB | Jeremy Hill |
2.08 | WR | Randall Cobb |
2.09 | WR | Mike Evans |
2.10 | WR | Calvin Johnson |
2.11 | WR | A.J. Green |
2.12 | WR | Jordy Nelson |
3.01 | QB | Aaron Rodgers |
3.02 | WR | Alshon Jeffery |
3.03 | WR | T.Y. Hilton |
3.04 | RB | Ameer Abdullah |
3.05 | WR | Emmanuel Sanders |
3.06 | WR | Julian Edelman |
3.07 | RB | Justin Forsett |
3.08 | WR | Brandin Cooks |
3.09 | WR | DeAndre Hopkins |
3.10 | RB | Frank Gore |
3.11 | TE | Jimmy Graham |
3.12 | RB | Mark Ingram |
4.01 | WR | Kelvin Benjamin |
4.02 | RB | Todd Gurley |
4.03 | WR | Jordan Matthews |
4.04 | RB | Alfred Morris |
4.05 | RB | Carlos Hyde |
4.06 | WR | Keenan Allen |
4.07 | RB | C.J. Spiller |
4.08 | RB | Latavius Murray |
4.09 | WR | Jeremy Maclin |
4.10 | RB | Lamar Miller |
4.11 | WR | Golden Tate |
4.12 | WR | Amari Cooper |
5.01 | WR | Sammy Watkins |
5.02 | QB | Russell Wilson |
5.03 | RB | Joseph Randle |
5.04 | RB | T.J. Yeldon |
5.05 | RB | Andre Ellington |
5.06 | WR | Roddy White |
5.07 | WR | Brandon Marshall |
5.08 | WR | Andre Johnson |
5.09 | RB | Jonathan Stewart |
5.10 | TE | Travis Kelce |
5.11 | WR | Jarvis Landry |
5.12 | TE | Martellus Bennett |
6.01 | QB | Peyton Manning |
6.02 | QB | Drew Brees |
6.03 | WR | Martavis Bryant |
6.04 | TE | Greg Olsen |
6.05 | RB | Rashad Jennings |
6.06 | WR | DeSean Jackson |
6.07 | WR | Larry Fitzgerald |
6.08 | WR | Allen Robinson |
6.09 | TE | Zach Ertz |
6.10 | WR | Vincent Jackson |
6.11 | RB | Giovani Bernard |
6.12 | RB | LeGarrette Blount |
7.01 | RB | Tevin Coleman |
7.02 | WR | Torrey Smith |
7.03 | QB | Tony Romo |
7.04 | QB | Ben Roethlisberger |
7.05 | QB | Matt Ryan |
7.06 | QB | Cam Newton |
7.07 | RB | Shane Vereen |
7.08 | RB | Isaiah Crowell |
7.09 | QB | Tom Brady |
7.10 | WR | Charles Johnson |
7.11 | WR | Davante Adams |
7.12 | WR | Brandon LaFell |
8.01 | RB | Knile Davis |
8.02 | WR | Eric Decker |
8.03 | WR | Steve Smith Sr. |
8.04 | RB | Joique Bell |
8.05 | WR | Victor Cruz |
8.06 | TE | Antonio Gates |
8.07 | QB | Eli Manning |
8.08 | QB | Matthew Stafford |
8.09 | RB | Tre Mason |
8.10 | TE | Jason Witten |
8.11 | WR | Nelson Agholor |
8.12 | WR | Kevin White |
9.01 | QB | Philip Rivers |
9.02 | QB | Ryan Tannehill |
9.03 | WR | Michael Floyd |
9.04 | WR | Kenny Stills |
9.05 | TE | Julius Thomas |
9.06 | RB | Doug Martin |
9.07 | WR | Mike Wallace |
9.08 | QB | Joe Flacco |
9.09 | QB | Colin Kaepernick |
9.10 | RB | Chris Ivory |
9.11 | WR | Kendall Wright |
9.12 | WR | Kenny Britt |
10.01 | TE | Owen Daniels |
10.02 | WR | Breshad Perriman |
10.03 | WR | Anquan Boldin |
10.04 | WR | John Brown |
10.05 | QB | Jay Cutler |
10.06 | TE | Jordan Cameron |
10.07 | RB | Devonta Freeman |
10.08 | WR | DeVante Parker |
10.09 | WR | Doug Baldwin |
10.10 | WR | Pierre Garcon |
10.11 | RB | Charles Sims |
10.12 | WR | Brian Quick |
11.01 | RB | Bishop Sankey |
11.02 | RB | Ryan Mathews |
11.03 | RB | David Cobb |
11.04 | WR | Percy Harvin |
11.05 | RB | David Johnson |
11.06 | WR | Dwayne Bowe |
11.07 | WR | Marques Colston |
11.08 | RB | Andre Williams |
11.09 | RB | Darren McFadden |
11.10 | QB | Teddy Bridgewater |
11.11 | RB | Theo Riddick |
11.12 | QB | Derek Carr |
12.01 | RB | Darren Sproles |
12.02 | RB | Duke Johnson |
12.03 | QB | Carson Palmer |
12.04 | TE | Delanie Walker |
12.05 | WR | Rueben Randle |
12.06 | QB | Andy Dalton |
12.07 | TE | Josh Hill |
—Ian Allan