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 will be 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 are 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 throughout the week as we will break down Round 4 and Round 5 of our Fantasy Football 2010 Mock Draft.

FEBRUARY MOCK DRAFT ROUND 3 RESULTS

3.01: Bruno Boys Matt - Roddy White (Atl) — Because this league starts three receivers, I decided to take White and give myself two of the ten best wide outs in football. Having Chris Johnson, I feel I can wait another round or two and take a shot on some high upside guys at running back. The earlier than anticipated run on quarterbacks will have me waiting a bit and looking for value and upside. I considered Greg Jennings in this spot, but there are too many offensive weapons in Green Bay and the ball gets spread around too much. Donald Driver is still getting it done, James Jones is bouncing back strong, Jordy Nelson is an up and comer, and Jermichael Finley is the next Antonio Gates. All those weapons don’t leave a lot of room for Jennings to dominate consistently. White is the main receiving threat in a good offense with a young, up and coming QB. He’s also coming off a season in which he had 1153 receiving yards with 11 TDs. White is great value as the first pick in 3rd round and exceptional when paired with Megatron in a league that starts three wide receivers.

3.02: Bruno Boys Larry - Cedric Benson (Cin) — After going RB/WR with my first two picks it’s time to land my RB2 here and I couldn’t be happier with Cedric Benson. The former bust first round pick of the Chicago Bears had his coming out party in 2009 as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals. He finished the year with career highs in carries (301), rushing yards (1,251) and tied a career high with six touchdowns. Expect similar production from Benson in 2010 and if he can find the end zone more often he will make a push as a RB1.

3.03: Bruno Boys Whooley - Tom Brady (NE) — Tempted to go for my RB2, I decided to nab New England Patriots’ quarterback, Tom Brady, here instead. Many fantasy owners may look at Brady’s stat line from 2009 (4,398 passing yards, 28 passing TDs, 13 INTs, and 1 rushing TD) and be a bit disappointed as his numbers were no where close to his 2007 record-breaking season. However, I’m a glass half full type of guy, and when I look at Brady’s 2009 season, I see astounding numbers for a guy in his first year back from knee surgery. Feeling confident in his knee in 2010, Brady should finish off his throws on a more consistent basis, making him one of the elite options at quarterback again.

3.04: Bruno Boys Hallam - Marques Colston (NO) — I feel the need to grab a wide receiver here because it is going to be nearly 20 picks before my turn comes back around and I foresee a lot of wideouts going in that time. Considering who is left, why not take the best receiver on what is arguably the best offense in the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. Colston does tend to get dinged up a little each year, but in his three healthy seasons he has never had less than eight touchdown catches. I am happy to get him as my number one receiver.

3.05: Bruno Boys Jacob - Greg Jennings (GB) — The pick came down to Jennings, Vincent Jackson, and Brandon Marshall, and with Marshall being an unknown where he is going to end up, I decided to go with the safest pick in Jennings. He did have a slightly down year in 2009 with only four touchdowns, but I consider this year more of an anomaly than anything else. His offense is still improving with Aaron Rodgers, and I love the prospects he and Larry Fitzgerald bring as a 1-2 punch. I am slightly worried about my running backs situation, but I can typically find plenty of value in the mid-to-late rounds of fantasy football drafts.

3.06: Bruno Boys Jimbo - Pierre Thomas (NO) — I’m still a firm believer in setting up your running backs early. Looking at the available running backs left here, the top three left in my opinion are Thomas, Marion Barber and Joseph Addai. All three of these backs will have handcuffs in 2010, but I like Thomas because he has the most upside as his handcuff is the boom-or-bust Reggie Bush. Barber has two handcuffs and Addai could see a lot of his work handed over to Donald Brown. It’s true that Mike Bell could vulture some goaline TDs, but still, I’ll take Thomas here.

3.07: Bruno Boys Allie - Beanie Wells (Ari) — My 3rd round pick is running back Chris “Beanie” Wells, a player whom I think has the potential to be a top-10 fantasy back in 2010. It was a tough call to make between Wells and Jonathan Stewart, another talent with tremendous upside and the makings of an elite back. Three weeks ago I likely would have selected Stewart, however Kurt Warner’s retirement opens the door for Ken Whisenhunt to retool the Cardinals’ offense. I expect to see a greater emphasis on the running game, which means good things for Wells and fantasy football owners. Even with Tim Hightower in the mix, Wells should see 15-20 touches per game and emerge as the team‘s No. 1 back.

3.08: Bruno Boys Cory - Kevin Smith (Det) — No doubt about it Smith struggled a bit last year, having one one 100-yard game and missing the last three games of the season because of a knee injury. However, I like Smith and I see an improving Detroit Lions offense in 2010. I don’t need Smith to rush for a lot of yards, but if he can get me double-digit touchdowns, and I believe he can, then he’s a great pick here in the 3rd round.

3.09: Bruno Boys Kyle - Jonathan Stewart (Car) — Stewart was ninth in the NFL in rushing yards last season with over 1,100, and he was 10th in the league in rushing scores with 10 while also adding a receiving score, so I’m really happy he’s still on the board late in the third round.

3.10: Bruno Boys IDP Guru - Vincent Jackson (SD) — It’s a good time for me to grab a receiver and I believe V-Jax is the best receiver still available. He’s 6"5’ with great speed, which makes him very difficult to cover. I look for the San Diego Chargers to throw the ball even more this year. Consequently, I like Jackson for 1,200 yards and 10 TDs next season.

3.11: Bruno Boys Greg - Brandon Marshall (Den) — A big wide receiver run has me looking at the bottom tier of the WR1 prospects. Brandon Marshall may get traded in the offseason, but regardless of the uniform he wears on Sundays he can produce at a high level. Marshall is a stud who will be a lock for over 1,000 receiving yards and he will flirt with 10+ touchdowns. No matter what team Marshall plays on, he will have another solid fantasy football season in 2010.

3.12: Bruno Boys Cavigs - Ronnie Brown (Mia) — I debated Shonn Greene and Joseph Addai here, but in the end went with the guy who I feel has the best nose for the end zone. Before suffering a Lisfranc fracture in 2009, Brown was on pace for 1,150 yards and 14 touchdowns. He is expected to be ready for Miami Dolphins training camp and even with Ricky Williams stealing touches, a healthy Brown means double-digit touchdowns.

Round 3 Commentary from Bruno Boys Cavigs: In my opinion, Round 3 played out like I thought it would. We saw the majority of the Bruno Boys staff snagging their RB2 or WR2 depending on draft position and preference.  In all, we saw six running backs, five wide receivers and a quarterback taken. After seeing four quarterbacks fly off the board over the first two rounds, Bruno Boys Whooley followed the trend and snagged New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. With Wes Welker’s status unknown, the selection of Brady could be a bit premature; however, if you want an elite quarterback you have to pay top dollar, especially when four of the first 24 picks have been QBs.

Unlike Bruno Boys Whooley, fellow staff member Bruno Boys Matt decided to capitalize on the quarterback run and get himself a stud wide receiver in Roddy White. Already owning Calvin Johnson, Bruno Boys Matt now has two of the top-10 wide outs on his roster. Neither of these drafting strategies are right or wrong, I just find it interesting to see the different philosophies at the same stage of the draft. 

After Brady was drafted at 3.03, the next two picks were wide receivers. Bruno Boys Hallam took Marques Colston and Bruno Boys Jacob went with Greg Jennings. I really like the Colston pick at 3.04. He has went for over 1,000 receiving yards in all but one season and 33 career touchdowns in 57 games played. When drafting Colston you guarantee yourself 1,000 receiving yards and 8-10 TDs.

In the middle of Round 3 we saw four straight running back stickers placed on our Fantasy Football Draft Board. The selections of Pierre Thomas, Beanie Wells and Jonathan Stewart came of no surprise to me. I was a bit shocked that Bruno Boys Cory took Kevin Smith at 3.08. Talent wise I can see Smith surfacing toward the end of Round 3, however a season ending injury and a drop in production from 2008 concerns me. Smith is recovering from a torn ACL and reports indicate that there is no guarantee he will be ready for the Detroit Lions opener.

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

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

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