Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

Consisting of 10 members of the Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Staff, along with guest columnist’s from Fighting Chance Fantasy and The IDP Guru, our first of many Fantasy Football 2010 Mock Draft was a 16-round affair based on a standard scoring league (Pass TDs - 4 points, All Other TDs - 6 points, 25 Yards Passing - 1 point, 10 Yards Rushing/Receiving - 1 point). Outside of having to field a starting line-up occupied by 1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 TE, 1 K, and 1 D, owners were free to compile their rosters any way in which they pleased.

All commentary after each pick is provided by the Bruno Boys staff member who made that pick. The draft started on February 15, 2010 and we will report round-by-round updates as they are available. Make sure to check back for more commentary on our Fantasy Football 2010 Mock Draft.

FEBRUARY MOCK DRAFT ROUND 14 RESULTS

14.01: Bruno Boys Cavigs - Matt Leinart (Ari) — After investing a second round pick on Peyton Manning I ditched the thought of a back-up quarterback until I had enough depth at both running back and wide receiver. Feeling comfortable at both of those positions I felt it was time to address my QB2. The selection of Leinart has nothing to do with my liking for him; because I’m not a fan of him, however, it’s strictly a business decision. I feel Leinart is the best quarterback on the board at this point and despite losing Anquan Boldin, he has Larry Fitzgerald as a safety valve and he won’t be asked to win games his his arm. A realistic outlook for Leinart would be 3,400 yards and 18-22 touchdowns. Not great, but serviceable for a guy who will ride the bench on my fantasy football squad.

14.02: Bruno Boys Greg - Mario Manningham (NYG) — I know Manningham is streaky and with both Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks on the same team it may be tough to see a ton of passes. However, how he is available in the 14th round is shocking to me. My wide receiver depth took a hit with free agency. With AnquanBoldin to Ravens it means that my selection of Derrick Mason isn’t looking all that great and with Nate Burleson going to Detroit it kind of hinders his chances to succeed . However, the addition of Manningham gives me a great value pick this late in the draft.

14.03: Bruno Boys IDP Guru - Stephen Gostkowski (NE) — I wanted to grab a kicker at this spot and Gostkowski fit the bill. He’s been extremely consistent the last two seasons and he plays on a high-powered New England Patriots offense, so he always has the added insurance of compiling extra points.

14.04: Bruno Boys Kyle - Brandon Tate (NE) — The 14th round is a good time to take a chance, so I’ll do it here with Brandon Tate. He was a third-round pick of the New England Patriots last season, but was injured for most of the season. However, New England needs another presence at wideout, and the explosive Tate offers them an in-house remedy.

14.05: Bruno Boys Cory -  Josh Morgan (SF) — The passing game is no longer an embarrassment in San Francisco and one young wide receiver I like is Josh Morgan. Morgan has displayed flashes of being a decent WR2 or WR3 in San Francisco but he needs to assert himself some more. With opposing defenses focusing on Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis, Morgan should find himself in some favorable matchups.

14.06: Bruno Boys Allie - New Orleans Saints D/ST — The Saints were the feel good story of 2009 and the “living on the edge/no holds barred” play of their DST had a lot to do with their success. Under defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, the defense made things happen to the tune of 26 interceptions, 36 sacks, 15 forced fumbles (13 recovered) and nine touchdowns –eight by the defense and one special teams While the Saints need to shore up their defensive front seven and potentially plug holes due to player movement in the off-season, I’m confident that they’ll once again be a force in 2010 - Gregg Williams wouldn’t have it any other way.

14.07: Bruno Boys Jimbo - Zach Miller (Oak) — OK, he plays on a pathetic offense with an even worse quarterback in JaMarcus Russell. Still, if you’re looking for guys who get targets, you could do worse than Zach Miller. He finished 2009 with almost double the receptions to the second-leading receiver on the Raiders, and he totaled over 800 yards receiving. I’ll take that for my backup tight end in the 14th round.

14.08: Bruno Boys Jacob - Kevin Kolb (Phi) — My thinking behind this pick is that McNabb will be traded (to the San Francisco 49ers, I hope). It has been reported that the younger players in Philly’s offense have a better rapport with Kolb and his production in his two starts last year was phenomenal. While I’m truly not sure McNabb gets traded, this pick is surely under the assumption that he’s gone in 2010.

14.09: Bruno Boys Hallam - Kevin Walter (Hou) — The minute Walter resigned with the Texans he retained his fantasy football value.  While Walter hasn’t been as good in the past couple of seasons, at this point in the draft I like my bench receiver to be on the other side from Andre Johnson in an offense that loves to throw the ball like the Texans. He might not be the biggest or the fastest but Walter has good hands and is a reliable receiver.  He will likely only play for this team on bye weeks but he could be good for six or seven touchdowns, as he will almost always see single coverage with Johnson garnering so much attention.

14.10: Bruno Boys Whooley - Dallas Cowboys D/ST) — The Cowboys finished ninth last season in yards allowed per game, gave up just 15.6 points per contest, and recorded 42 sacks. All numbers that helped them finish 7th among fantasy football defenses. If they can simply create more turnovers (they had just 21 in total in 2009) they will be an elite unit in 2010. I’m more than happy to get them here in Round 14 to be my defensive squad.

14.11: Bruno Boys Larry - Bernard Scott (Cin) — I am simply protecting an earlier investment with this pick. As a rookie Bernard Scott did not see many carries (74); however, when he got an opportunity he did average 4.3 yards per carry. I don’t expect him to get much time, but I already have Cedric Benson on my team and I thought it was a good time to handcuff his backup just in case Benson suffers an injury.

14.12: Bruno Boys Matt - Chicago Bears D/ST — Being the last team to choose a defense, I wasn’t with many exciting options, however, the boom or bust potential of the Bears enticed me enough to draft them. Brian Urlacher will return, Lance Briggs is a playmaker and the addition of Julius Peppers can only help them in 2010.

Round 14 Commentary from Bruno Boys Cavigs: As stated in our Round 13 commentary at this stage of the draft not many owners are drafting “sure things” and that is exactly what we saw in Round 14. The 12 selections in Round 14 were mixed between five positions and owners either drafted back-ups or decided to snag their starting kicker or defense. In total we saw three teams roll with their starting defense, while four owners went wide receiver, two went quarterback, one went running back, one went tight end and one went kicker.

Usually over the last three rounds of the fantasy football drafts owners start making it a priority to get a defense and Bruno Boys Allie, Bruno Boys Whooley and Bruno Boys Matt did just that. Allie started off the run on defenses by taking the New Orleans Saints D/ST at pick 14.06. Only two D/ST units scored more fantasy points than New Orleans in 2009 and even if they don’t repeat their performance they are a top-10 option. Next up, Whooley opted to take the Cowboys who are led by pass rushing sensation DeMarcus Ware. Dallas had 42 sacks last year and should match that total in 2010. The last defense taken was the Bears. As Matt stated, the Bears have upside; however, this unit isn’t one that I would rely on to contribute on a weekly basis. Chicago has to play high-powered offenses like the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings on four separate occasions and in 2009 meetings against the Packers and Vikings they allowed 28.5 points per game.

The final team to draft a starting position was Bruno Boys IDP Guru. Feeling satisfied with the depth and talent at the more prominent positions, IDP Guru was the first owner to draft a kicker when he went with Stephen Gostkowski at 14.03. Some might disagree with a kicker being taken this early; however, I am not one of them. If there are a few rounds left and you are confident with your team, why not draft a guy who you feel is the best at his position? Not a bad move in my opinion, though I question if Gostkowski is the best fantasy football kicker entering 2010.

Bruno Boys Jimbo used his Round 14 pick to take his backup tight end in Zach Miller. I have to admit that I like this pick and feel that it could be the “steal” of the round. Despite playing on a bad offense Miller was targeted 100 times and had 66 receptions just a season ago. In his last three games, he had 23 receptions and a touchdown. If Oakland can show any type of improvement on offense Miller could score enough touchdowns to outplay Kellen Winslow, who is Jimbo’s primary tight end.

The most interesting pick of the round came from Bruno Boys Jacob at 14.08. Already having two quarterbacks on his roster Jacob decided to draft a third in Kevin Kolb. Talent wise Kolb can produce for his fantasy owners; however, for him to see the field he will need to either be traded or Philadelphia would have to gamble Donovan McNabb. Still, at this point of the draft taking risks could pay off. 

With Peyton Manning already on my roster I didn’t feel a need to grab a QB2 earlier in the draft and Manning gives me the ability to gamble on a player like Matt Leinart. By now, many NFL experts thought Leinart would be a star; however, he has struggled and should finally get a chance to show his stuff in Arizona.

The only player to take a running back in Round 14 was Bruno Boys Larry. Scott did a good job of filling in for Cedric Benson last year and with Benson having a history of being banged up I think Larry did a good job of handcuffing his workhorse. This isn’t the sexiest pick but smart decisions like this often make the difference between making the playoffs or being the fantasy football owner complaining that injuries ruined your season.

None of the four wide receivers drafted this round are all that exciting; however, they are all talented enough to serve a purpose as bye week fill-ins. If I had to choose one that could provide the best bang for the buck it’s the selection of Mario Manningham by Bruno Boys Greg. He will lose targets to Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks but Manningham did see 99 targets in 2009 and people seem to forget he is just 23 years old. Manningham is the sixth wide out on Greg’s roster and should be more than serviceable in that role.

With the draft inching closer to being finished I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of kickers, defenses and young wide receivers fly off of our Commish Kit Draft Board over the final two rounds.

Past Rounds RECAP:  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |  11  |  12  |  11  |  13  | 14  |  15 |  16

 
Have an opinion on how the 14th round played out? If so, let us know!

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