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 tomorrow for commentary on Round 8 of our Fantasy Football 2010 Mock Draft.

FEBRUARY MOCK DRAFT ROUND 7 RESULTS

7.01: Bruno Boys Matt - Greg Olsen (Chi) — This may have been a bit of a reach, but I wanted a talented, high ceiling tight end. With Gates, Witten, and Finley (my three favorites) off the board, Olsen represented some value with the first pick in Round 7. A second season with Jay Cutler should be a much improved one for Olsen and the rest of the Bears offense.

7.02: Bruno Boys Larry - Jay Cutler (Chi) — I would have loved to have landed a higher rated QB1, but with the addition of Mike Martz as the Bears’ new offensive coordinator I was willing to wait to draft a quarterback and take a chance on Cutler’s potential. If Chicago can improve their offensive line during the offseason I believe Cutler can flourish in Martz system. I will likely back myself up with another capable starting quarterback, but Cutler could improve on his 3,666 passing yards and 27 touchdowns in 2009. I will definitely need him to cut down on his 26 interceptions.

7.03: Bruno Boys Whooley - Jeremy Maclin (Phi) — Hauling in 55 passes for 762 yards and four touchdowns, Maclin more than proved he’s capable of playing wide receiver in the NFL during his rookie season in 2009. Things should only get better for the Eagle wide receiver in 2010, as Maclin should find plenty of room to work with as opposing defenses look to contain both wide out DeSean Jackson and tight end Brent Celek. I’m thrilled to have a guy with such upside as my WR3.

7.04: Bruno Boys Hallam - Darren McFadden (Oak) — With the uncertainty of Shonn Greene as my RB2, I better take another back just in case. Not that I am taking a sure thing with McFadden, however if he can stay healthy he could be a big time player. Hopefully the Raiders are finally improving (and not playing JaMarcus Russell) and perhaps their offense will improve. McFadden can run the ball and he can catch it out of the backfield, and if I get lucky he could play like a high end RB2.

7.05: Bruno Boys Jacob - Austin Collie (Ind) — Believe it or not, Collie tied for 10th in receiving touchdowns for wide receivers with nine. As a rookie, he was reliable all season and anointed himself a fantasy football stalwart when he posted 123 yards and a touchdown against the New York Jets in the AFC Championship Game. With Anthony Gonzalez in the mix, along with Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, and Pierre Garcon, there are going to be a lot of mouths to feed, but Collie has as good of a rapport with Peyton Manning as any.

7.06: Bruno Boys Jimbo - Pierre Garcon (Ind) — I’m pretty shocked that Pierre Garcon is still available, and I will definitely take him on my team as my WR3 in a round this late. Garcon took Anthony Gonzalez’s job after he got injured in Week 1, and he is expected at this point to be the second starter opposite Reggie Wayne. With Peyton Manning chucking the ball, 2010 could be a huge year for Garcon. I like the chances of him exceeding the usual expectations for a WR3.

7.07: Bruno Boys Allie - Mike Wallace (Pit) — Rookie Mike Wallace unseated Limas Sweed as the Steelers third wide receiver early in the 2009 season and quickly became one of Big Ben’s go-to guys. Along with his blazing speed, he showed a knack for getting open, making tough catches and scoring touchdowns with the game on the line. Wallace had eight games with 50+ yards and finished the season with 756 receiving yards and six touchdowns – solid numbers for a WR3. Wallace should be an integral part of Pittsburgh’s offense in 2010 and he could easily post 900-1000 yards and eight to 10 touchdowns.

7.08: Bruno Boys Cory - T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Sea) — The numbers were there for T.J. Houshmandzadeh last season, the touchdowns weren’t. He caught 79 passes for 911 yards despite injuries and inconsistency at the quarterback position, but he had just three touchdowns. If he can grab a few more TDs then that all makes this pick more than worth it. Also, I’m interested to see what new coach Pete Carroll can do with him. Carroll always was able to maximize the production he got out of the skill position players at USC, so this could be a very nice pairing.

7.09: Bruno Boys Kyle - Carson Palmer (Cin) — Palmer didn’t have the year we’ve seen him have before, but he still threw over 20 touchdowns and is the best quarterback remaining.

7.10: Bruno Boys IDP Guru - Felix Jones (Dal) — I need another starting RB and Jones has the highest upside of any available RB left. I think he’s going to see a significant increase in carries next season and should be able to put up solid RB2 numbers, if not higher.

7.11: Bruno Boys Greg - Derrick Mason (Bal) — If I can, I like to fill out my starting lineup first before looking into backups and right now I am surprised Mason is still on the board. He may be getting older, but he had 1,028 yards receiving plus seven touchdowns. He is quarterback Joe Flacco’s favorite target and was thrown to 132 times. Donte Stallworth sure won’t steal balls thrown Mason’s way and the Ravens have yet to add a bonafide star receiver. That makes Mason a prime candidate to repeat his numbers at worse!

7.12: Bruno Boys Cavigs - Hakeem Nicks (NYG) — Nicks’ big play ability is tough to pass on at the end of Round 7. Despite having a rookie season that was mixed with highs and lows, Nicks hauled in 47 receptions for 790 yards and six touchdowns. His 16.8 yard-per-catch average ranked fourth in the NFL among wide receivers that had 40 or more receptions and his eight receptions of 30 or more yards were a rookie high. With Nicks surpassing Mario Manningham on the depth chart he will start at wide out for the Giants and should see an expanded role in the offense. I’m projecting a 20 percent increase in production from the second year pro.

Round 7 Commentary from Bruno Boys Cavigs: I’m a firm believer that the middle rounds of a fantasy football draft (Round 6-10) is when a championship is won. Everyone can spend the first four or five rounds stocking up on top-25 players at the running back and wide receiver position; however, it’s the middle of the draft that often differentiates the winners from the losers. In my main league, I entered 2009 primed for success. After all, I was going for my third straight championship and had spent the past two years finding solid value in middle rounds of the draft that blossomed into weekly contributors. However, I couldn’t live up to the hype and finished 6-11 (we play 17 weeks, no playoffs), which was my worst record in the 13 years this league has been in existence.

After the season I wanted to know why. Why did I fail miserably in a league that I have spent the past decade dominating. I wasn’t settling for the occasional off year talk and I immediately took a look at our 2009 Draft Recap and noticed that my draft picks in what I consider the “championship rounds” failed miserably. From Rounds 6-10, I drafted the following players: Marshawn Lynch (Round 6), Eddie Royal (Round 7), Antonio Bryant (Round 8), Matt Hasselbeck (Round 9) and Brett Favre (Round 10). As you can see,  my Rounds 6-8 picks were non-existent for me and ended up being three of the biggest busts of 2009. If it weren’t for the Brett Favre pick in Round 10, I would have completely butchered the middle rounds, because we all know how bad Matt Hasselebck was last year. In comparison, the owner who claimed the league title dominated in those very same rounds. His Round 6-10 picks consisted of Thomas Jones (Round 6), Joseph Addai (Round 7), Pittsburgh Steelers D/ST (Round 8), Owen Daniels (Round 9) and Eli Manning (Round 10). Jones and Addai combined for 27 touchdowns on a team that already had Frank Gore, Manning contributed at the start of the season and before getting injured Daniels was producing 10+ points a week from Round 9.

Ultimately, it was those very same “championship rounds” that propelled one team to a league title while the other was settling for the “toilet bowl” and having to provide the keg and pizzas for our 2010 draft.

I was a bit surprised to see Bruno Boys Matt use his Round 7 pick on Greg Olsen. I agree with his assessment that Olsen has a high ceiling; however, I can’t name the last time a tight end thrived in a Mike Martz ran offense? Look for Olsen to be used as a blocker more often than not and for his numbers to lack consistency.

Though I don’t like the value of Olsen under Martz, I am high on quarterback Jay Cutler in his offense. Cutler did throw a league high 26 interceptions in 2009, but Martz has fared well in developing young, talented quarterback, and Cutler should have no problem getting back to his 2008 form. Nice value at 7.02 for Bruno Boys Larry, though I feel the offensive line needs to hold up in Chicago for him to be a high-end QB1.

After a tight end and quarterback were drafted to kick at the top of Round 7, we saw seven of the next 10 teams address their WR3 needs. In a league that starts three wide outs, it’s important to grab a productive WR3 and I feel that all seven owners did just that. What I find interesting is that four of the wide receivers drafted in Round 7 were rookies just a season ago. With Jeremy Maclin (Bruno Boys Whooley), Austin Collie (Bruno Boys Jacob), Mike Wallace (Bruno Boys Allie) and Hakeem Nicks (myself) going off the board in Round 7 it showed that all four owners shared a similar philosophy in drafting youth with upside. At the very least I expect all of these options to produce as solid No.3 options and be key contributors to fantasy football teams across the world in 2010.

Finally, I have to question Bruno Boys Kyle selection of Carson Palmer at 7.09. Palmer does have a proven track record, and started out the season strong a year ago; however, with the three teams selecting after Bruno Boys Kyle already owning quarterbacks I was surprised he didn’t wait until Round 8 to snag his QB1. I’m sure Kyle has his reasoning behind this pick, but I probably would have waited to get my quarterback on the turn.

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 first round played out? If so, let us know!

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