Reggie Bush Draft Position

[Portis26 0]

• Reggie Bush went 17th overall in all three drafts In a surprising turn of events, New Orleans' rookie running back went to the team who selected eighth overall all three times. I took him in one of the mocks, and I liked him because he'll play a lot, catch a lot of passes, will be playing indoors for half the season, has an up-and-coming offensive line and should be a big part of the Saints' new offense. He went ahead of Kevin Jones, Julius Jones, Thomas Jones and Jamal Lewis in all three sessions. By the way, Joseph Addai didn't fall farther than 43rd overall in all three mocks, ahead of some of the aforementioned veteran RBs.

 

 

Dave Richard

Senior Fantasy Writer

Tell Dave your opinion

 

While the rest of the world is enjoying Fantasy Baseball, CBS SportsLine.com has taken part in its first three mock Fantasy Football drafts of the year. While none of the results can be revealed in full (not even if you send us a nice email or a plate of chicken wings ... on second thought, maybe we can work something out if you send chicken wings), we have spotted some trends through the three drafts that serious Fantasyaholics should know about.

 

And we'd feel just plain evil if we kept the results all to ourselves, so consider this an early-season gift for all you Fantasy Football lovers out there.

 

The drafts were held by Pro Football Weekly/CBS SportsLine.com, Athlon Sports, and Krause Publications, and all three drafts will be published this fall and be made available for purchase on a magazine rack near you. Each draft had 12 owners, all of whom were experienced and reliable football experts, but two of the three were strictly mock drafts and won't be played out into the regular season.

 

Here are 10 observations from our early mock drafts:

 

• There was a clear-cut top three As you'll see in our Fantasy preview guide this summer, the top three picks in every draft we've seen so far were Shaun Alexander, Larry Johnson and LaDainian Tomlinson -- but not necessarily in that order. One of them was picked twice at the top, one of them was picked twice at No. 3. Who went where? We're not telling.

 

• Quarterbacks can wait In two mock drafts, a quarterback (guess who) was picked in the first round, and in all three drafts, no more than two QBs were taken within the first 50 picks. There is also a hierarchy as to who the top quarterbacks were, but once they were gone, it was a mad mix of passers gone wild. For instance, Daunte Culpepper went 64th in one, 73rd in another and 82nd in another. Michael Vick went 52nd, 95th and 108th. This looks like another year owners can sit back and wait for their signal-caller if they're not committed to any of the league's premier guns.

 

• Running backs ran out early True to Fantasy form, the running back purge that kicks off every draft will be prevalent across the country, albeit each league will vary, and expert drafts tend to be RB-heavy compared to your plain ol' friendly draft. In all three drafts, if you didn't have at least three quality running backs by the early part of the fifth round, you were in trouble. Spending at least three of your first five picks on running backs is advised if you're in a standard-scoring league.

 

• Antonio Gates is the new Tony Gonzalez Remember when Gonzalez was always the first tight end taken in every draft? Those days are history, and in one draft, Gonzalez was the third tight end taken. And last year, whenever one of those two tight ends went, the other one soon followed. Not so this year, with Gates going as high as 15th overall and as low as 34th overall, and Gonzalez being nabbed at least 14 spots later in all three instances.

 

• T.O.'s offseason didn't impact his Fantasy status In two of the three mock drafts, Terrell Owens was the first receiver off the board, and he was the third in the other one. Owens may have landed on a team where the head coach has assured him he will not catch 100 passes, but savvy T.O. fans know he's done very well without catching so many balls. He should be long gone by the beginning of the third round in all leagues.

 

• No. 2 and 3 Fantasy WRs were a grab bag True to form, Fantasy receivers were a jumble once the studs were off the board, which was mostly good news for Fantasy owners who preferred to wait to select their receivers. For instance, Muhsin Muhammad went 58th on one draft, 105th in another and 126th in a third. Laveranues Coles went 67th, 83rd and 116th. Keyshawn Johnson left the draft boards at the 73rd, 86th and 139th overall selections. So there were a lot of varying opinions on a lot of helpful Fantasy receivers.

 

• Carolina and Chicago headlined the DSTs In all three drafts, two of the first three DST units taken were the Bears and the Panthers, both of which were menacing last year and return in great shape for 2006. Your usual gang of defenses -- including Pittsburgh and Indianapolis -- soon followed.

 

• As usual, kickers were afterthoughts In all three drafts, kickers weren't even sniffed at until the later rounds. That's not a big surprise, is it? Adam Vinatieri and Neil Rackers were the popular choices once the kickers started drawing interest.

 

• Priest Holmes is this year's Marshall Faulk That's not the first time we've typed that, but it is the first time we typed it and it wasn't a good thing. Last year we were noticing that Faulk was falling in drafts to the later rounds after being a top pick in 2004. Holmes was a top-three pick in most 2005 drafts, but in our mocks he went 85th, 105th and 117th, and none of the teams that took Larry Johnson snapped up Holmes

[t.j 35]

The talent is there, but I don't know if the number of touches is going to be, particuarly near the end zone. Is it a point per reception league?

[Portis26 0]

The talent is there, but I don't know if the number of touches is going to be, particuarly near the end zone. Is it a point per reception league?

 

I think they will get him tons of touches this season... 1500 total yards

[t.j 35]

I think they will get him tons of touches this season... 1500 total yards

 

That sounds high to me. Let's assume for hypothetical purposes that half his yards were on runs and half on catches. And let's assume that he averaged 4.5 yards per carry and 10 yards per reception. Then to get 750 yards both rushing and receiving, he'd have to get 167 carries and 75 receptions. That seems like a lot given that McAllister will probably have more carries than Bush, and the most receptions by a running back last season was 70. Anderson and Bell both had more carries than that last year, so it could happen from a rushing attempts standpoint, but I don't think New Orleans will be playing with a lead as much as Denver did. But I guess if they split Bush out wide a lot, I could see him getting 800-900 yards receiving. I think 1500 yards is attainable I guess, but something like 1200 is more likely, assuming he stays healthy. And then there is the question of TDs...

[Force of Two 0]

I just took him 30th overall in the JB's mock draft

[football_scooter 0]

No way would I take him over Jamal Lewis if Steve McNair is in Baltimore.

[Force of Two 0]

No way would I take him over Jamal Lewis if Steve McNair is in Baltimore.

 

I think I still might....something tells me that come fantasy playoff time...he may be big..and Duece will be on his way out...

 

My League also rewards length of TD so that factors in as well

[football_scooter 0]

I think I still might....something tells me that come fantasy playoff time...he may be big..and Duece will be on his way out...

 

My League also rewards length of TD so that factors in as well

 

On individual talent alone I might agree with you.

 

But I have to compare Baltimore Vs NO as a whole...

 

QB: IF Brees is healthy and IF McNair is Baltimore's QB, I see this as about even. I KNOW McNair can ball when healthy - but IMO the jury is still out on Brees - did Gates/LT2 make Brees better or was it the other way around? Until I know the answer to that, I say it's a push.

Baltimore = NO

 

O-Line

Despite a poor showing last year the Ravens should be better than NO.

Baltimore >> NO

 

Defense - to keep them in games and increase # of touches

Baltimore >>> NO

 

I just think the Ravens are a better team right now than the Saints. Hey, I could be way of and Bush could be the second coming...but here's Jamal, 2nd year off the ankle injury and hungry to prove himself. Bush might have some nice 3rd down receptions here & there, but I think Lewis is primed for a big year.

 

Again, IF McNair is in Baltimore.

[Sapronos04 0]

1500? If you count return yards then yes. He is a rookie on a team that will trail by 20+ a game. he will return ALOT. 1500 yards, not a chance