The cream of the crop is a given in fantasy drafts, as everyone takes their pickings for the first five to six rounds. Luck has a lot to do with early round success but real success starts when that first questionable pick is made. Sometimes it may look idiotic and out of place, but it gets the rest of the owners thinking aggressively. It may create a whirlwind of early jumping the gun picks, and separate the veteran fantasy owners from the rookies.
Five years ago a person may have bought a regular 32” television for a hefty price. Nowadays the same television can be bought in the mid two hundred to three hundred dollar range. It doesn’t necessarily mean that television is useless and going to burnout quicker. It just means there is a fresher newer product on the market. The HDTV phase is entering the game, but their will be plenty of American consumers that will remain satisfied with their huge regular tube.
In the NFL, rookies, potential young standouts, and players in their free agent contracts are jumped on more and more than ever before in fantasy drafts. The over the night benefits seem to outweigh the risks in owner’s minds. Rather than settle for that veteran athlete that has proven he can play, they’ll go for the younger version for unexpected territory.
Mushin Muhammed, Jimmy Smith, and Isaac Bruce last year proved that sleeping too much on proven veterans is a no-no. The same goes for Jerome Bettis and even Emmitt Smith, as they shocked the world with their resurrected numbers. So who are the athletes this year that will continue to prove that the curtain hasn’t closed?
No other athlete in the NFL over the last decade has been more underrated than Curtis Martin. Is it because he just performs and has a quiet demeanor on his job tasks? Everyone was planning on Martin relinquishing his starting position to Lamont Jordan, and it turned out Jordan couldn’t do it in four years. Martin’s production seems to be increasing at a steadily rate since he past the age of 30. At his pace he’ll be entering elite territory with some of the best overall career running backs. Seemingly statistics like that were comparable to Emmitt Smith during his dominant run. As expected Smith was usually ranked as the number one or two running back in the entire NFL. Yet, Martin has rarely even been mentioned as a top five running back. It’s outrageous and stupefying that his consistency, work ethic, and durability locks are not secured in fantasy owners minds.
At the quarterback position there aren’t any names that’ll make your jaws drop as bargains, but there are some intriguing names. Drew Bledsoe has dangled around being a premier and bust of high hopes quarterback his entire career. Similar to Jake Plummer he manages to do just enough to always have a starting job. His erratic play is what has kept him from obtaining the status everyone thought he would after leading the Patriots to the Super Bowl many years ago. Maybe the reunion between Parcells and Bledsoe, will key in some of that natural instinct ability Bledsoe once possessed. If he can stop holding onto the football and not second guessing himself, he’ll be one of the best bargains of any fantasy football draft.
At wide receiver a lot of great ones have stepped down. Over the last decade Jimmy Smith and Eric Moulds have been synonymous as reliable threats. At first it was their raw skills, but as they grew older and wiser their understanding is what keeps them their. Stats don’t lie, and both haven’t had a down year ever. The best thing about them is they can be drafted as a number two and if you’re extremely lucky a number three in fantasy leagues these days.
Packaging together a great fantasy football team, is like sending a UPS package from New York City to China. Rough spots will surface suddenly. Devotion and smart analytical thinking is the best overall key. Don’t overload too much on what you’ve heard, and keep a little of every ingredient on your team. A veteran here or there, a rookie, proven youngsters, and new faces in new places should all be included on your winning team.
