Maroon Bells

Cooks is lightning in a bottle. I don't typically draft rookies, but I really like Cooks. When I saw Markus Wheaton play at OSU, I thought I'd seen the quickest, toughest, most sure-handed receiver since Steve Smith, but Cooks is even better.

Here's my super secret key to winning at fantasy football. I've won three straight championships in $100 12-team auctions and 7 in the last 15 years. There are a several things I could offer, but none more important than this. Mind the yo-yo, value baseline talent over all, and pay no attention to last year. The way I draft, if a player went out of his mind last year, I don't even consider him. I want the guy who's supremely talented but didn't necessarily play that well last year. Based on this, some players that I think are undervalued are Hakeem Nicks, CJ Spiller, Arian Foster, Percy Harvin, RGIII, Tom Brady, Greg Jennings....you get the picture. Your draft should be a 50/50 mix of these players and non-rookie breakout candidates (Patterson, Reed). If you find yourself drafting guys like Pierre Thomas, you're not doing it right. :-)

I've been playing for 20 years and I think it's just getting started. I think the future of fantasy will be in the MFL 10s.

Stills, by a long shot. I don't see Denver in any hurry to get Latimer on the field.

Watched every game he played in and I consider him a very good RB3 or a very low end RB2 What I like: • Gerhart can pick up yards in big chunks when the holes are there • He should be the bellcow, 3rd down and goal line back. Plus, he's a good receiving back. Not many backs get that kind of work What I don't like: • He gets very little on his own. He can't breakout against 8 and 9 in the box. Will his QB be good enough to avoid that? • Jacksonville is not a great team. They'll be playing from behind a lot. So you could see a lot of 12-carry games for Gerhart

Why would that be crazy? It's not like he's a 4th rounder. In my humble opinion, the only crazy people are the ones who draft "the next guy on the list." If you know football, follow your gut and you'll do a lot better than those following consensus rankings. Remember, the "experts" who develop these lists are just as stupid as everyone else. It's shocking to me how heavily weighted LAST YEAR is in their rankings. You wanna win, rank players based on baseline talent + situation. FORGET last year.

A lot of it has to do with the fact that he's not completely QB-dependent. He scored 9 TDs last year playing only 40% of the snaps. Only 4 of those TDs were receptions. And every one of those receptions was under 10 yards. In other words a monkey could've thrown it. His numbers are not dependent on a QB getting him the ball downfield. And what happens to those numbers if he does start getting the ball downfield? Right now it's a toss up as to whether Bridgewater or Cassel will start, but whomever it is, it will be a far better result than what we saw last year. Even if Cassel starts all 16 games. But again, I know there are a lot of folks who haven't seen him play much who think he's the next AJ Green or Megatron. He's not that kind of receiver yet. He may never be. But what he is already is what everyone always hoped Percy Harvin would be. So keep that in mind in your rankings.

I'm not a fan of Montee Ball. I've never been overly impressed with his ability as a runner. That said, in that offense, as the lead back, and the likely goal line back, he doesn't have to be that good. In other words, his floor is really high and so the "bust" calls are off the mark. Overvalued? I think so. I don't like him as my RB1, but I love him as my RB2.

If I had the #1 pick in the draft I would take Peterson and I wouldn't think twice about it. I'd also handcuff Jerrick McKinnon to him, who might just get Sproles-like points even if Peterson remains healthy. However, I play in auctions and my yearly strategy is to pretty much avoid everyone at the top end, everyone who would be considered first round guys. For example, I can probably get CJ Spiller, Toby Gerhart and Cordarrelle Patterson for what it would cost me to draft Adrian Peterson.

Peterson will see the bench more, but he'll also catch more passes than he ever has. He's money in the red zone and he's on a team that should be able to move the ball well. The Vikings are a very good offense with a very good run blocking OL in need of a QB. If Cassel responds to Turner, or if Bridgewater earns the starting nod, then Peterson could return to the fantasy stratosphere. Plus, he seems to have a chip on his shoulder this year.

Don't know yet. I think everyone knows who the candidates are: Reed, Ertz...I think Rudolph, Cook and Heath MIller are undervalued. I think rookies ASJ and Richard Rodgers are deep sleepers. But I won't zero in on that until I draft.

The last several years, I've been able to identify great TEs late in the draft. Jordan and Thomas last year, Rudolph and Pitta the year before, and Jimmy Graham the year he broke out, so I typically wait on TEs, but you have to be willing to overspend a little for those "breakout" candidates.

Really depends on where you draft and where the value is. If I picked late in the round I would tend toward WR-WR. If early, I would tend toward RB-WR-WR-RB. But only fools stick to a rigid strategy like that. Follow football, even college football, pick for value, pick the players YOU believe in and don't let "last year" trump basic overall talent and it's hard to lose.

I like the depth chart. They've added Michael Johnson to rush the passer on what was already a pretty good front four. Lavonte David, maybe the best young LB in the game, will be in his 3rd year. They added Alterraun Verner at corner. He and Jonathan Banks should be exceptional corners in that cover-two. And Mark Barron and Dashon Goldson might be one of the safety tandems in the league. Everybody's down on the Cover-Two, but with this depth chart, and Lovie and Frasier at the helm, I see it working the way it's supposed to. If you have the right personnel (Cowboys and Vikings didn't last year), the Tampa-Two can be a pretty tough defense. There are defenses I like more than Tampa's, but I think this is the surprise defense that everyone will be rushing to add after the first few weeks.

I actually prefer to pick late for this very reason. I like getting TWO of the best wide receivers in the draft. I typically follow that up by taking 4 straight, high-upside RBs. In this year's draft, that would be guys like Rice/Forsett or Spiller, Sankey. If you hit on half, you've won your league. If you don't hit, you should be in good position to play the waiver wire, where it's much easier to find a go-to RB than a go-to WR. I've won Super Bowls with waiver backs like Jackie Battle, Andre Brown, Zac Stacy, etc.

The whole league is going to RBBC. Even Lynch and Peterson are going to lose carries this year. The simple fact is that Doug Martin is far more talented than anyone else in Tampa. Personally, I think he's one of the more talented pure runners in the NFL. His vision is amazing. As a result, I think he'll get the money looks in what should be a pretty good offense. LIke I said, don't take him in the top 6 ahead of Forte, Charles, Peterson, etc., but among that 2nd tier, I like him a lot.

In terms of raw ability and running talent, I'd put Martin above any back outside the top 6. He'll go in the 2nd round this year. The 1st next year. I agree with you on Richardson.

Vikings look like a 9-7 team this year, but their first 5 games are brutal, so I'll say 8-8.

Good list, but did you just forget Doug Martin?

I'll play. I don't think you did your list in terms of fantasy impact, but that's how I'll do it. QB - Bridgewater. Now and long term. Easily the best talent and in a great situation with Norv and AD RB - Sankey. Has the best situation among RBs WR - Cooks. Has Brees throwing him the ball. And that little ****er can fly. OROY TE - ASJ. You just forget him? Best TE in the draft. Silly that he went in 2nd round DT -Donald. Best player in the draft. Period. OK, new sentence: DROY DE - Clowney. Huge talent but he's going to play 3-4 OLB. Could slow him OLB -Mack. Von Miller II ILB - Mosley. No brainer CB - Verrett. Size is so overrated S - Buchanon. Best safety in the draft

It's just that Boldin will be 34 this year. In my experience that's the age when the decline begins for WRs. And Patton is a helluva young talent. They gotta get him on the field somewhere and he's not going to eat into Crab's snaps, and he's not an X like Stevie Johnson. So I just think in order to keep Boldin fresh and effective late in the year, that's where his snaps are going to come from. I'm not saying he's draftable. Yes, there's no bigger misnomer in the NFL than "run-first" team. It's just a euphemism for "young QB." Sometime over the next season or two, Kaepernick's going to explode and bury that run-first mentality for a decade. Just like Matt Ryan did in Atlanta and Joe Flacco did in Baltimore.

Do you play in a Saints-only league? The fact that you're debating between three backs on the same team should give you your answer: look elsewhere.

I hate rookies. I've only drafted two in 20 years. One was Randy Moss and the other was Doug Martin. Both turned out well, but one was an exceptional talent; the other in an exceptional situation. That said, Sankey has the best situation. I like Cooks over Watkins because of his QB. Not a big Benjamin fan but there's no one else in Carolina to catch the ball. If I'm a Peterson owner, I draft McKinnon late. He could be huge in that offense. I kinda like ASJ in Tampa to put up strong rookie TE numbers.

I think Patton starts eating into Boldin's snap count. Either way, this offense will become more and more of a pass team over the next few seasons.

• Colin Kaepernick finishes top 5 • Josh McCown finishes top 10 • Greg Jennings will be a legitimate WR2 • Markus Wheaton be the guy everyone wonders where the hell did he come from? • Tampa's defense will be the fantasy defense everyone wants.