Strategy: Prior to the draft I had created my own version of a “big board” of rookies that I had my eye on and where I was willing to draft them. Drafting from the third overall spot, I would’ve been surprised if the big two receivers in Sammy Watkins and Mike Evans were still available. With pick 1.03 I selected Brandin Cooks, NO WR. Cooks enters a great situation playing with Drew Brees and Sean Payton. After the departures of Lance Moore and Darren Sproles, there is a void that needs to be filled in New Orleans’ offense and Cooks could pay immediate dividends. It’s not difficult to imagine the speedster from Oregon State to rack up the catches in Payton’s brilliant offense and I could see him as a low WR3/high WR4 this year in terms of fantasy relevance. Jordan Matthews, PHI WR was also on my eye at this spot but I like the upside of Cooks more in both the short and long term as the heir apparent to Marques Colston who turned 31 this summer. With my second selection in the draft at 2.08, I chose Marqise Lee, JAX WR. Lee had a disappointing final season at USC, but he has the pedigree and talent to be worthy of a high selection. I had hoped to land Devonta Freeman, ATL RB here, but he was taken three spots beforehand. Lee will be a great stash for the future as he and quarterback Blake Bortles grow and develop together in the NFL. At turn 3.03, I had just missed taking running back Ka’Deem Carey, CHI RB and ended up taking Jarvis Landry, MIA WR. I really like the upside of Carey in Marc Trestman’s offense but had to settle for Landry. Landry possesses great hands but a lot of other aspects of his game are in need of some fine-tuning. Landry will be another stash, but it will be interesting to see how new offensive coordinator Bill Lazor capitalizes on his knowledge from his time with Chip Kelly to run Miami’s offense this year. I didn’t plan on selecting three receivers heading into the draft, but when the board presents you with two former Biletnikoff Award winners, it’s hard not to be happy with the results.
Bio: Ari Ross is a rising sophomore at Northwestern University studying journalism and economics. He grew up in Cleveland, specifically Shaker Heights, Ohio, and is a fan of all Cleveland sports, the Browns, Cavs and Indians. He vows that at least one Cleveland sports team has to win a championship before he dies. Ari is rarely seen without his Cleveland Indians hat on. Aside from sports, Ari’s interest include movies, some of his favorites include Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and Draft Day of course, reading and hanging out with friends. He hopes to work one day in either broadcast or print sports journalism.
Picks:
1.04 Cody Latimer, WR Denver Broncos (3 years, $15.28M)
2.07 Tre Mason, RB St. Louis Rams (3 years, $3.65M)
3.04 Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3 years, $2.5M)
Strategy: In the rookie draft I first tried to target guys who could step right in and produce on their team. These guys, like DaVante Adams or Cody Latimer are guys who can step right in and produce because of the situation their in. I was able to draft Latimer, but missed out on Adams by a pick. Secondly I tried to draft guys who could be good in the future as well, as this is a dynasty league, such as Austin Seferian-Jenkins. Jenkins, with his small contract will be great value 1-2 years down the road. One thing that surprised me is how many QBs were taken. I wasn’t planning on taking a QB as I’d rather have a veteran, but others took them, looking towards the distant future.
Team: Cleveland’s Award Tour (Matt Goodwin, Reality Sports Online & numberFire) @mattgoody2
Bio: Matt is an NFL writer at numberFire and a writer/contributor at Reality Sports Online. He is a former sports columnist and basketball beat writer of Miami University’s High Street Journal (during the Wally World years) and a graduate of Miami University with a Bachelor’s in Accounting and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis in Finance & International Business. Matt works in finance and analytics and is passionate about sports-especially his hometown Cleveland teams (welcome back, LeBron!) and writing. When not writing, talking or obsessing about fantasy football, Matt enjoys traveling, hanging with his wife Renee and 4 year old son Jory (another child on the way), coaching or playing pick-up basketball, and getting sucked into the Shawshank Redemption on TNT for the millionth time.
Picks:
1.06 Carlos Hyde, RB San Francisco 49ers (3 years, $12.73M)
2.05 Devonta Freeman, RB Atlanta Falcons (3 years, $3.74M)
3.06 C.J. Fiedorowicz, TE Houston Texans (3 years, $2.46M)
Strategy: With Bishop Sankey still on the board after 1.04, I was anxiously hoping that he’d make it to 1.06, but he went the pick before me at 1.05. Overall, I’m higher on my pick at 1.06 Carlos Hyde long-term, based on what he did at Ohio State this past year and given Frank Gore’s impending free agency after the 2014 season. But I was really was hoping for an immediate starter at the running back position, especially on the cheap as rookie wide receivers usually don’t produce their first year. I was looking at the best talent available at 2.05, while hoping as a Browns fan that Terrance West would still be available and grabbed Devonta Freeman. Freeman represents a great handcuff and potential third down back for Atlanta in 2014 behind Steven Jackson, who is over both the 30 year old and 2,000 carry threshold that typically signals the end is near for a running back. So, at worst, Freeman should be the 2015 starter and seemed to be coveted by several folks in the second round. Lastly, even though Jace Amaro was still on the board, I decided to believe in the upside of Houston tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz who has explicit goals and the size to become the next Rob Gronkowski. What better player to be the next Gronk than one who plays for Coach Bill O’ Brien, who turned Gronk into the superstar that he is. Serious upside there, and even with other regarded tight ends on the Texans, the team took C.J. in the third round for a reason and so did I.
Team: SamHerbie (Sam Light, Reality Sports Online)
Bio: Sam joined the Reality Sports Online team in April as a writer/contributor and is currently a sport & entertainment marketing professional based in New York City. Formerly, he conducted statistical analysis, primarily around college prospects, for the Philadelphia Eagles. It was in Philadelphia, the birthplace of Reality Sports Online, where he first worked with RSO co-founders Matt Papson & Stephen Wendell. Sam originally hails from Boston so he’s luckily seen his fair share of championships, but he’s looking to add to his own mantle with an RSO trophy! A 2010 undergraduate of Union College, Sam recently received his master’s degree in sport business from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Keep a look out for more rookie & free agency content from Sam as football season nears!
Picks:
1.07 Jeremy Hill, RB Cincinnati Bengals (3 years, $11.25M)
2.04 Donte Moncrief, WR Indianapolis Colts (3 years, $3.78M)
3.07 Tom Savage, QB Houston Texans (3 years, $2.44M)
Strategy: When I drew the seventh pick in our inaugural rookie draft, two names immediately came to mind: WR Brandin Cooks & WR Cody Latimer. Convinced the opening run on running backs would hit before pick 1.05, I was comfortable landing either one of the aforementioned receivers in the first round. But four picks in, I was shocked to see the top 3 RBs in the class atop the list of best available. Though I wasn’t as shocked when my favorite of the three, Jeremy Hill, slipped to me – RB Bishop Sankey (1.05) was a hot name coming in, and I knew RB Carlos Hyde (1.06) was a favorite of Matty Goodwin’s. I felt confident coming out of the first round with a running back, knowing how deep the draft was at receiver. The next six picks didn’t phase me much, so it took me about four seconds to submit my Donte Moncrief pick at 2.04. I took Andrew Luck’s new WR toy over Aaron Rodgers’s new WR toy (Davante Adams)… Hope I don’t regret that one. The third round is where my plan went slightly awry. WR Allen Robinson, WR Jarvis Landry, TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins, RB Andre Williams – some of my favorites in this class, all off the board before I got back on the clock at pick 3.07. Consequently, I decided to take my only pure ‘futures’ pick – QB Tom Savage will eventually get his shot in Houston… and they have talent in Houston.
Team: King Back (Kenny Cook, numberFire) @K_Cook6
Bio: I have been a life-long fan of the NFL and NBA. I love to write, discuss, debate and listen to all things sports–especially fantasy football. I happen to be a huge LeBron fan, which is in vogue again in Ohio, where I’m from. I am a proud veteran, who served two tours in Iraq, as a member of the Air Force from 2005-2009. I loved the time that I spent in the Air Force, but I knew that I had to get out and pursue my dreams of becoming a sports writer. I graduated college in 2012, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communication Studies from Ohio University.
Outside of sports, I am a regular guy who is happily married to my beautiful wife, Erica. We are the proud parents of an 18-month-old princess named Kendalynn Paige! I love The Walking Dead and I am pumped for Season 5’s debut in October!
Picks:
1.08 Kelvin Benjamin, WR Carolina Panthers (3 years, $9.98M)
2.03 Terrance West, RB Cleveland Browns (3 years, $3.82M)
3.08 Jerick McKinnon, RB Minnesota Vikings (3 years, $2.42M)
Strategy: After second thought, I’m not as upset about taking Kelvin Benjamin ahead of Jordan Matthews because in a dynasty, I do feel that he has more upside than Matthews. Getting WRs and RBs, especially this given the dearth of high-upside QBs/TEs was my strategy.
In the end, I came away with Benjamin, Terrance West–who I feel can and will start for the Browns next year overtaking Tate-and Jerick McKinnon–who is a straight up dynasty stash for post-Peterson life in Minnesota. I was happy with my take; although, I wish I could’ve picked up Carlos Hyde because he is destined to take over as Gore’s replacement in a run-heavy offense out west.
No regrets because I can make up for it in the auction!!! #Can’tWait
Team: B-Ron’s Ballas (Brian Luzier, numberFire) @TheFFBoss
Bio: A Fantasy Footballer for more than half my life, I’ve seen my share of titles and tears. I pull for the Ravens and Yellow Jackets, always. I live outside Washington, DC and lived in Atlanta previously, graduating from Georgia Tech with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering. I scout rookies in my spare time, and am in more Dynasty Leagues than Redraft Leagues.
Picks:
1.09 Jordan Matthews, WR Philadelphia Eagles (3 years, $9.76M)
2.02 Eric Ebron, TE Detroit Lions (3 years, $3.86M)
3.09 Jace Amaro, TE New York Jets (3 years, $2.4M)
Strategy: Unable to participate in the draft, but pre-ranked players and was happy with what he walked away with. Jordan Matthews is a wide receiver that is in the perfect system for his skills who was highly coveted among the group and Luzier nabbed two of the top tight ends in the rookie class.
Team: Loco Roco (Ryan O’Connor, numberFire) @IrishChaos
Bio: No bio yet, which Ryan is using to keep himself as a mysterious enigma heading into the RSO Free Agency Auction. Could turn out to be the best strategy of all. You’ll be hearing more from Ryan for sure!
Picks:
1.10 Odell Beckham Jr., WR New York Giants (3 years, $9.34M)
2.01 Johnny Manziel, QB Cleveland Browns (3 years, $3.91M)
3.10 Devin Street, WR Dallas Cowboys (3 years, $2.38M)
Strategy: Love Odell Beckham and see him really emerging as a focal point of NYG offense in next year or two. Wanted Jordan Matthews and thought i could get him at 2.01. Shocked to see he went 1.09 as i thought i would be reaching at 2.01. Johnny Manziel is a no-brainer stash pick. Running QBs accumulate cheap points and can often mask mediocre production passing. Devin Street was a homer pick as I went to pick and am excited to see him play this year.