I’ve been following RotoArcade’s (Yahoo) early mock draft and today I noticed something pretty shocking.  Not a single Colts player was drafted in the first two rounds.  Have the mighty really fallen this far?  Manning, Edge, Harrison, Wayne, and Addai have been regular first and second round names over the years.  At least two Colts always go in the first two rounds, right?  Well, not anymore.

Peyton Manning’s reign as the number one fantasy QB officially came to an end in 2007.  Tom Brady threw 50 TDs.  Manning threw 20 fewer TDs and barely cracked the 4000 yard barrier.  Then in 2008 he threw for exactly 4002 yards and did not break 30 TDs.  Over the last four season he’s averaged about 4000 yards and just under 30 TDs.  Now, these are great numbers, but not the kind of numbers owners are looking for when they bypass a stud RB or WR to take Manning in the second round.  With guys like Brees, Brady, Rivers, and Warner replicating and sometimes surpassing his numbers there is no reason to reach.  Now, in 2009, Manning has lost major players in his offensive coaching group.  The loss won’t have a dramatic impact, but there will be an impact on this Colt’s team.  Manning should be the third QB off the board at best in 2009.  I would take him in the mid to late third if no stellar RB or WR choices remain.

The biggest surprise of the Yahoo Mock Draft is that Reggie Wayne fell all the way to pick four of the third round.  WRs taken before him just in round three: Anquan Boldin, Roddy White, and Marques Colston.  Now, when it’s all said and done, I believe Wayne will have an ADP that falls in late round 2, but Brandon Funston makes a great case for waiting on him:

“At this point in his career, Wayne’s reputation exceeds his actual value. He’s typically on the tongue of the majority when top five receivers are being contemplated, but he’s finished outside the top dozen receivers in fantasy points twice in the past four seasons and he’s only once caught double-digit touchdown passes in that span. What he’s got on his side is consistency – 1,000-plus yards and 80-plus receptions for four straight seasons – and, with Marvin Harrison’s decline and offseason departure, the mostly undivided attention of sharp-shooter Peyton Manning. He’s an extremely safe choice at this point, and that really should be spun as a positive considering the random nature of fantasy football.”

So Wayne will go in the first two rounds, but maybe he doesn’t deserve it.  Manning will spread it around to Clark, Gonzalez, and the RBs.  Also watch out for rookie Austin Collie in the slot.  I personally have Wayne ranked 7, just behind Boldin and Smith and ahead of Colston and White, in my 2009 fantasy football WR Rankings.

The Starting Runningback for the Indianapolis Colts still has that “insta-stud” ring to it.  A man in that position should be a top five fantasy beast.  Unfortunately, Mr. Addai didn’t pull it off.  Donald Brown could be that insta-stud in a couple of years, but right now we’re all in wait and see mode.  Addai is dropping like he’s hot on draft boards across the internet since the NFL draft.  He fell all the way to round 5, pick 9 on the Yahoo mock, which I think is borderline crazy.  He’s still going to get first shot at starting, and he still plays on the Colts.  He’s going to get plenty of opportunities to score, even if Brown wins half the carries in his rookie season.  Maybe I’m too stubborn, but I’m going to draft Addai over other questionable guys like Ryan Grant, Thomas Jones, and Willie Parker.  The biggest downside is that if you want both Colts RBs you’re also going to have to use a pretty early pick on Donald Brown.  I would advise staying away from him in your drafts, but if he falls to the fifth round I think you have to take him.  Start considering Brown in the 7th or 8th round, especially if you’ve already rostered Addai.

Lastly, but not leastly, let’s give a shoutout to Dallas Clark.  Clark, not Gonzalez, could end up being the biggest beneficiary of the Marvin Harrison departure.  Manning looks for him in a lot of clutch situations, and he always delivers.  A TD can come his way any game, but he’s also a candidate for the 12 target, 9 catch game, which is absolute gold in the TE slot.  He can put up similar numbers to the top 3 TE’s but can be had one or two rounds later.  That makes him my top value TE in the draft.  If you can get him in the late fifth, early sixth, by all means do so.

Here’s a link to round three of the draft.  You can surf backwards or forwards from here to see the other rounds, but you have to do some searching to find the full thing.  Beware – If you click Fantasy Football Mock Draft in the right menu it will take you to the 2008 fantasy draft.  Come on Andy, get that fixed!

http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/blog/roto_arcade/post/Fantasy-Football-Mock-Draft-Round-3?urn=fantasy,159735

The guys at RapidDraft.com have really pulled off something special. This is the first fantasy game where you can get a real draft experience anytime you want. You sign up, pay $10 for a team, and start drafting immediately against AI-controlled fantasy pros. The site is in Beta now and founder and friend Jeff Thomas (president of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association) gave me a code I could pass on to my readers. To get a free Rapid Draft team for the month of May use code: rdbuf511.  I’ve drafted a couple of teams today to familiarize myself with the product.  My review is below.  By the way, grand prize for the inaugural year is $250,000.

RapidDraft.com’s FAQ offers a good short description of the site:

Q: Can you please explain the Rapid Draft concept to me in a few sentences?
A: Absolutely. RapidDraft is the same style of fantasy football you play with your buddies. But, it’s “single-user.” You can draft at any time of day or night. Sign-up and do a live draft against 11 online Fantasy Pros. Then compete for an entire season, just like in your local league. Listen and watch Caitlin explain RapidDraft to you in the videos section.

So, RapidDraft has worked out deals with writers from various high profile sites (like USA Today and FootballGuys.com) to serve as the “Pros.”  Each pro maintains a rankings list on the site.  RapidDraft’s Artificial Intelligence Algorithm uses that rankings list to draft a fantasy team for each pro.  In each draft you will be competing against 11 AI fantasy pros.  Drafting against the pros may seem intimidating, but the player really has a drafting edge since the AI does not always make the best decisions.  Also, the pros take on a different personality displayed through their avatar, which adds a fun and light element to the Rapid Draft experience.  For more information on the game check out RapidDraft TV, in which a hot blonde girl explains the entire site.

The user interface is wonderful.  The RapidDraft team put a lot of time and energy into a visually appealing, easy to use signup process and draft console.  In the sign up process you get to select your own Avatar and Jersey.  Then, in a brilliant move by RapidDraft, you get to select your own draft position.  If you want Adrian Peterson on your team this year no problem – just slot yourself at position 1.  There is no option yet for a Random Draft Position but I suggested to Jeff that he add that option.  You also choose if you want a Rapid Speed Draft or a Warp Speed Draft.  I chose Warp Speed.  Each AI player was given five seconds to choose their player and I was given 3o seconds.  The entire 20 round draft took just under an hour at this setting.  I believe in the Rapid Draft setting the AI gets 30 seconds and you get one minute.

Before going into the actual draft make sure you are familiar with the roster and scoring settings.  You start 1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 TE, 1 Flex, 1 K, and 1 DEF.  The bench consists of ten players from any position.  The scoring is pretty standard PPR, but QBs only get 3 points per TD.  This is the same “leveling the field” scoring system that Jeff Thomas has used on his SportsBuff.com site for years.  Once you are familiar with the roster and scoring you are ready to draft.

The draft console, pictured below, is fluid and easy to use.  Your avatar is prominently displayed when it is your turn to draft.  The timer starts ticking and warns you when you have ten seconds left.  Players are organized by a default ranking, but it is highly recommended that you make your own Custom Preset.  You can organize by position or all.  Unfortunately there is not an option to see players already drafted.  I sent in that suggestion as well so maybe they will add it.  Most draft lobbies use dropdown menus to display the crapload of information needed during a fantasy draft.  RapidDraft figured out how to avoid that by making buttons for everything.  You are one click away from any information you may need, which could save a critical second or two as the clock ticks down to zero.  Kudos to the effort on the draft lobby.

So, RapidDraft is cool and it is currently free.  The coupon code rdbuf511 expires at the end of May and it may go all paid after that.  The free accounts are not eligible for the grand prizes.  Just use it as a test run to see if you want to plop down the $10 for a team (or multiple teams).

RapidDraft will someday have weekly game offerings, but right now the focus is on the season long tournament.  Each team you draft plays an 11 week season in the typical fantasy football league format.  The top 40% of finishers from the 11 week season will enter into the grand prize post season tournament.  The post season tournament is very similar to the WCOFF postseason, in which your cumulative point totals in weeks 12-16 decide the champion.  Said champion wins a whopping $250,000!  That is an absurdly lucrative first prize for the inaugural season of a fantasy game.  Some lucky (and skillful) Rapid Drafter is going to get a whole lot wealthier come next February.

That’s all I got.  This is the coolest game to enter the fantasy space since, well, fantasy games came to the internet.  For only $10, why not give it a shot?

Donovan McNabb should give the Eagles a standing ovation for their off season activity on the offensive side of the ball.  He said he wanted more protection and more weapons, and he got it in a big way.  The Eagles signed both Jason Peters and Stacey Andrews.  They will immediately step in to be the starting tackles.  Peters is as good as, if not better than, the departed Tra Thomas, and is seven years younger.  The Eagles also landed an elite full back in Leonard Weaver.   McNabb will be working behind some of the best protection of his career in 2009.

The Eagles are still a pass first team, though, as their first two draft picks suggest.  Jeremy Maclin surprisingly fell to them at 21.  Pretty much every mock draft had him being taken by Oakland, Jacksonville, or San Fran, all in the top 10.  He’s polished enough to line up opposite DeSean Jackson on opening day.  Their RB choice in Round 2, LeSean McCoy, was the best pass-catching back in the draft.  Westbrook owners will no longer have to worry about who to handcuff.  McCoy is a beast and Westy’s eventual replacement.  Reid admittedly “forgets” to spell Westbrook during the games, so McCoy will only be a factor when Westbrook is injured.  That said, McCoy is a must-handcuff for his older, over-worked, and often injured backfield companion.

McNabb and the Eagles have not really had a consistent receiver corps since the days of TO.  Aside from Maclin, McNabb has now had plenty of time to grow chemistry with all his weapons.  DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, Hank Baskett, Reggie Brown, Jason Avant, and Brent Celek are all contributors.  This may be the deepest receiving corps in the league.  The shared targets hurt each of their individual fantasy value, but it’s all gravy for the guy throwing them the ball.

Now for a little bit on McNabb himself.  McNabb played a full season for the first time since 2004 and he put up some of the best numbers of his career.  He had career highs in yardage and attempts.  His 60.4% completion percentage and 23 TDs were both the third best of his ten year career.  His rushing attempts have trailed off a bit, but I am not concerned about that.  He’s got a ton of talented receivers and plenty of protection – he need to be throwing.

McNabb clearly still has the talent to be a top QB in the league.  The offseason additions will improve his overall performance both in real and fantasy football.  I’m projecting nearly 600 passing attempts for 4200+ yards and 29 total TDs.  Turnovers will decrease with his new offensive line.

I’ve got him as the 8th overall QB in my rankings at the time of this writing.  That’s just behind Romo and Rodgers and just ahead of Ryan, Roethlisberger, and Cutler.  I believe he will be undervalued on draft day, which is one of the main reasons I wrote this article.  Let your leaguemates take the bigger names in the first five rounds while you’re stocking up on RBs and WRs.  McNabb can keep pace with all the earlier picks and may be had a few rounds later.  Championship!