The This and That of Fantasy Football

Mock First Round

1. LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, Chargers – Tomlinson or Adrian Peterson? That is the question. Well, I’m going to give you the answer. Tomlinson’s lowest TD total the last three years is 18. His best TD total is 31. Peterson has one year under his belt and while he is clearly a unique talent, he missed two games last year with a knee injury after having injury problems in college. Tomlinson is the smarter and safer pick. His knee injury (MCL) suffered in the playoff loss to the Colts did not require surgery, but he will not play in the preseason. I’m cool with that, as long as he’s ready for the opener, which he will be.

2. Adrian Peterson, RB, Vikings – There is only one RB with talent to match this man’s, and it’s the man who should go number-one. The difference between Peterson and LT is LT has a proven track record compared to AP’s one year. LT. AP. Soon AP will be just as recognizable. In his rookie season, AP had 1,609 combined yards (1,341 rushing) and 13 total TDs. He also missed two games due to a knee injury. We can all only hope that the injuries that plagued him in college and last year don’t shorten his career. Another reason LT is rated higher is that the Vikings’ weak passing game limits his opportunity to score as much as LT will.

3. Steven Jackson, RB, Rams – It seems to me that people are sleeping on Steven Jackson. My advice is don’t do that. Despite missing four games due to injury, Jackson still had a combined 1,273 yards rushing and receiving and scored six times. No other Rams’ RB scored a TD. The Rams had many injury problems at QB and offensive line last year, but Jackson still averaged 106.1 total yards per game. He’s only 25 and had 2,334 combined yards in 2006 with 16 TDs.

4. Brian Westbrook, RB, Eagles – The most productive receiving RB in the business resides in Philadelphia. Last season Westbrook caught a career-high 90 passes for 771 yards to go along with a career-high 1,333 rushing yards. He also had 12 total TDs and is a threat to score every time he touches the ball. Despite always seeming to be mentioned in the same sentence with the injury report, Westbrook has only missed two games in the last two seasons.

5. Joseph Addai, RB, Colts – In the Colts’ prolific offense, Addai gets plenty of scoring chances. Addai scored 15 TDs last season. His rushing yards might be a little lower than the other top RBs, because of the presence of Peyton Manning and Dominic Rhodes returning to steal some carries. Last season, Addai rushed for 1,072 yards – lower than his rookie season despite more carries. With Rhodes on the team in his first season, Addai averaged 4.8 yards per carry, so Rhodes should keep Addai fresher.

6. Randy Moss, WR, Patriots – He is the most dominant deep threat that has ever played. On the deep touchdowns he catches, it often looks like he isn’t running fast. Wrong!! Ask the defensive backs trying to cover him if they think he’s fast. He scored a record 23 TDs for a WR last season and with Tom Brady as his QB, 15 TDs will be his minimum output. If you don’t think Moss should be selected this high, think about the fact he scored two TDs in seven games last season, four in another and only went scoreless in three games.

7. Tom Brady, QB, Patriots – When you see Tom Brady throwing deep laser passes to Randy Moss for TD after TD, you see why Brett Favre was so mad at Green Bay’s front office for not going after Moss. Brady had eight 300-yard passing games last season to go along with a whopping 50 TDs. While it’s probably a stretch for Brady to throw 50 again, I don’t see why 35 won’t be attainable especially considering the Patriots’ penchant for abandoning the run for long stretches.

8. Clinton Portis, RB, Washington – Why do people continue to doubt Portis? In his last five seasons, he has scored double digit TDs in four of those seasons. The season he didn’t score double digits, he was injured and played eight games. But, he still scored seven times in those eight games. Portis also caught a career-high 47 passes last season and was third in the NFL in yards from scrimmage.

9.  Frank Gore, RB, 49ers – After rushing for 1,695 yards in 2006 to go along with 485 receiving yards and 10 total TDs, Gore was a top-five pick last year. Gore struggled last season compared to his breakout performance in 2006 mainly due to a bad ankle that really affected him for a good month. To his credit, he still played 15 games. Gore still rushed for 1,102 yards, had 436 receiving yards and scored six total TDs despite battling the injury. Gore is only 25, is healthy and with Mike Martz at offensive coordinator should approach 80 catches.

10. Larry Johnson, RB, Kansas City – The selection of Larry Johnson ruined many a fantasy season last year. The troublesome things about Johnson were he only played eight games due to a foot injury and the fact that the Chiefs’ offense is one of the worst in the league. At the same time, this is also a man who rushed for over 1,700 yards in 2005 and 2006. He also scored a combined 40 TDs during that time. Johnson will be very motivated to have a great season.

11. Marion Barber III, RB, Cowboys – Does anyone in the league run as hard as Barber the trey? His hard-nosed style and desire helped him score 16 TDs in 2006 and 12 last year. Julius Jones is in Seattle now, so the Cowboys drafted Felix Jones out of Arkansas, who will see playing time. Expect Barber to gain 1,000 yards for the first time and to always be on the field during crunch time and near the goal-line.

12. Marshawn Lynch, RB, Buffalo – Lynch is the focal point of a run-first team. He plays all downs and had 1,299 yards of total offense with seven TDs in his rookie season, despite missing three games with an ankle injury. Lynch scored in six of his first nine games before the injury. Buffalo’s schedule is also notably weak with one of their two games against the Patriots coming in week 17 when most leagues are not playing.

E-mail questions to pechacek2@comcast.net