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For my draft strategy, especially with the #3 pick, I had no choice but to go for one of the elite running backs. This year is a little different than most in that there are 3 or 4 running backs that can legitimately be chosen at #1. Some people will probably question my pick of Clinton Portis at #3 over Ladainian Tomlinson, but out of the top four picks(Larry Johnson, Shaun Alexander, Portis, and Tomlinson) Portis has the fewest question marks and the least about of roster turnover.
Larry lost his HC Dick Vermeil and OC Al Saunders, who were the organizers of that great offense in KC. Add that to a new starter at RT (who is undetermined at press time), another year added on to the rest of that great O-line and QB Trent Green and you have some pretty big questions.
As for Shaun, losing OG Steve Hutchinson and WR Joe Jurevicius will be a huge loss. Hutchinson is the best offensive guard in football and Jurevicius is a much more physical blocker than his replacement Nate Burleson.
LT, who is the best RB in the league, has little help on the offense side of the ball. With Philips Rivers taking over at QB, this allows opposing defenses to stack even more defenders at the LOS to stop Ladainian.
As for my pick, one mans loss is another man’s gain. OC Al Saunders brings his prolific offensive schemes to Washington and even has Clinton excited about the numbers that he could put up this season. With no changes along the offensive line or at QB and an upgrade at WR, the continuity with this offense should allow them to continue to improve as a unit.
The biggest change in Washington is that for the first time with Joe Gibbs as HC someone else will be calling the plays. Just think about the significance of Al Saunders for a second. Since 1999 his offenses have been ranked first (’99), first (’00), fourth (’01), fourth (’02), second (’03), first (’04) and first (’05). Some people would say well that’s because of Dick Vermeil and not Saunders but in the two years that Vermeil was the HC of STL before Saunders got there, the Rams offense was ranked 23rd and 28th. Not to give all the credit to Saunders because 2001 also signified the year that Marshall Faulk and Kurt Warner joined the team. However, Faulk did have the best years of his career under Saunders as did Priest Holmes in Kansas City. Holmes was an unknown outside of Baltimore until he joined Saunders in 2001 in Kansas City and proceeded to become one of the league’s best running backs scoring 24, 27 and 15 touchdowns in ’02, ’03, and through 8 games in ’04 respectively.
Sorry for the long article-like tangent but I knew that I would catch a lot of flak for selecting Clinton above LT and I’d be accused of being a homer. There is a method to my madness. With all of that being said, Clinton was already an elite back before Saunders arrival so this should make him even better.
As for the rest of my draft, because of my high draft pick I knew I wasn’t going to get another high ranked RB, so I decided to supplement the rest of my team with high risk/high reward backs. In the second round with Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, Steve Smith and Torry Holt already selected at WR and Jamal Lewis, Domanick Davis, and Kevin Jones taken at RB, I debated between Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, Larry Fitzgerald, and Corey Dillon. After deciding on one of the WRs, I compared the three of them and went with Randy Moss (2.11, 2nd Rd, Pick 11). He has the weakest complementary WR (Jerry Porter, compared to Reggie Wayne and Anquan Boldin) on his team and because of that should get more looks. (Rumor Mill: There is still a chance of Jerry Porter being traded before the season opener which would me Randy would get even more looks.)
The rest of my receivers are the weak spot on my team. With Nate Burleson (7.03), Reggie Brown (8.11), Mark Clayton (11.03), Santonio Holmes (13.03) and Antwaan Randle El (16.11) filling out my WR spots, I have a lot of potential, but not a lot of experience. For all of my receivers except Burleson, this should be their first full season in the starting lineups for their respective teams (Given that in training camp Randle El beats out Brandon Lloyd and Holmes does the same with Cedrick Wilson and Quincy Morgan). So I’m hoping that at least two of them grow into viable options.
Next I needed to get those running backs and to my surprise through out the draft there was quite a bit of talent that slid down the draft. Most of my RBs are coming back from injury filled 2005 seasons, so I’m banking on having the 2006 comeback player of the year on my team (between my RBs and my starting QB. See below).
Corey Dillon (3.03) missed 5 games and only amassed 733 rushing yards in 2005 so even when he was in the game he wasn’t producing like he did in 2004 where he posted career highs in yards (1635), attempts (345) and rushing TDs (12). Despite having a bad year, Dillon still tied his career high TDs in ’05 which shows that even if he’s not performing well between the 20s, around the goal line the Patriots are still determined to get him in the end zone.
I was really surprised that Ahman Green (4.11) lasted until the 4th round. I really think I got a steal here. Yes, Green Bay lost Javon Walker and yes they have a horrible offense line but Ahman Green as recent as last year was considered a top flight back. A torn quadriceps injury prematurely ended his season and the combination of the aforementioned helped him freefall down the draft. Until last season, Green had been extremely durable and didn’t let any little injuries keep him out. For my sake I hope last year was a total aberration.
If you have been paying attention to the ATC forums (which I know you have), you would have see this post. Although it’s from the Jags website, you should at least give it some credence. Getting Fred Taylor (6.11) at the end of the 6th round is more of a steal than getting Green especially seeing that RBs such as Reggie Bush, Laurence Maroney, Joseph Addai and Frank Gore were taken before him. This could very well end up being the steal of the draft.
At QB, I took another injury risk with Daunte Culpepper (5.03) hoping again that his 2005 season was not the true Culpepper. In 2004, Culpepper would have been the MVP of the league had it not been for Peyton Manning also having a mind-blowing season. He followed that up with an inconceivable 12 INTs to only 6 TDs in 7 starts, which is dwarfed by the 39 TDs to 11 INTs he had the previous year. As a security blanket, I got Jake Plummer (9.03) and Charlie Frye (18.11). Plummer had a very good year with only 7 INTs compared to 20 the year before all the while throwing 18 TDs. With Javon Walker joining the team, look for Plummer’s numbers to increase given Walker return to his pro-bowl form. Mr. Irrelevant for my team is Charlie Frye, who showed some promise toward the end of last year and will be given the reigns of the Browns offense in ’06. With two of his weapons returning from injury (Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow) along newcomer Joe Jurevicius, Frye has a chance to be a real sleeper.
Being set at TE is a bonus in this league and by drafting both Kellen Winslow (10.11) and Vernon Davis (12.11) I’m hoping that’s the case. I only drafted one defense (Baltimore, 14.11) and one kicker (Mike Vanderjagt, 15.03) because of having to gamble a bit with my other positions I had to make sure that I had potential depth at each position. However I think I got one of the best at both of those positions.
Like I said earlier this team is chock full of High Risk/ High Reward players so with that being said I’d like to introduce you to my team, the 2006 ATC Writer’s League Champs –The Walking Wounded.
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