Week 15- Strategy Sessions Dec 19, 2005 | More

Despite having a touch of the flu today, I was inspired to bring you another solid article this week by none other than Steve Smith, who had two touchdowns on Sunday while being quite under the weather himself.  Athletes have their Cortisone shots and I have my Tylenol Flu pills.

Understanding the importance of week 15 to fantasy leagues, I appreciate the way things unfolded this weekend because a lot of the big name players had big time games.  I participate in a decent amount of leagues, so I saw some games in which Cooley was the difference and some in which Warner’s injury was the difference.  Tomlinson has now buried his owners in back to back fantasy playoff weeks, so Shaun Alexander is officially the Fantasy MVP this year.

If you’re going into next week owning any Colts, Seahawks, or Patriots, you have to be a bit concerned because there is no telling how many quarters your players will be on the field for.  Hit the waiver wire hard this week for replacements just in case and try and find yourself next weeks “Jonathan Wells type.” Wells actually helped me to win two leagues this week while replacing the struggling Steven Jackson and maybe its someone like Dominic Rhodes this week who can help you replace Dillon if he sits.

Since this is the final week of fantasy football, this will be my last article until next year’s pre-draft period. Closing out this season, I figured that you might be interested in seeing a mock draft for next year.  Obviously this isn’t going to be perfect because there is no way to factor in free agency movement or rookie placement.  Thanks to Houston’s win on Sunday, I’m figuring that Reggie Bush will be a Niner and drafting him and Domanick Davis accordingly.  This is a 6 round 12 team draft using the following scoring system: 

1 pt. for every 10 yards rushing

1 pt. for every 10 yards receiving

1 pt. for every 25 yards passing

6 pts. for a rushing, receiving, or passing touchdown

0 pts. for each reception

The starting line up will consist of 1 Qb, 2 Rb’s, 2 Rec’s, 1 Te and I am not factoring kickers or defenses into the draft.  Keep in mind that this isn’t just a list of the best players; Each team has a balanced line up.

Round 1:

Team 1-  Shaun Alexander      

Team 2-  Larry Johnson

Team 3-  LaDainian Tomlinson

Team 4-  Edgerrin James

Team 5-  Tiki Barber

Team 6-  Rudi Johnson

Team 7-  Lamont Jordan

Team 8-  Peyton Manning

Team 9-  Steven Jackson

Team 10- Steve Smith

Team 11- Clinton Portis

Team 12- Carson Palmer

Round 2:

Team 12- Cadillac Williams

Team 11- Deuce McAllister

Team 10- Willis McGahee

Team 9-   Marvin Harrison

Team 8-   Domanick Davis

Team 7-   Chad Johnson

Team 6-   Torry Holt

Team 5-   Julius Jones

Team 4-   Corey Dillon

Team 3-   Brian Westbrook

Team 2-   Willie Parker

Team 1-    Larry Fitzgerald

Round 3:

Team 1-   Reggie Bush

Team 2-   Terrell Owens

Team 3-   Anquan Boldin

Team 4-   Antonio Gates

Team 5-   Randy Moss

Team 6-   Reuben Droughns

Team 7-   DeShaun Foster

Team 8-   Kevin Jones

Team 9-   Chris Chambers

Team 10- Warrick Dunn

Team 11-  Joey Galloway

Team 12-  Javon Walker

Round 4:

Team 12- Tatum Bell

Team 11- Tom Brady

Team 10- Plaxico Burress

Team 9-   Cedric Benson

Team 8-   Darrell Jackson

Team 7-   Donovan McNabb

Team 6-   Matt Hasselback

Team 5-   Hines Ward

Team 4-   Daunte Culpepper

Team 3-   Reggie Wayne

Team 2-   T.J. Houshmandzadeh

Team 1-   Marc Bulger

Round 5:

Team 1-   Santana Moss

Team 2-   Drew Brees

Team 3-   Jeremy Shockey

Team 4-   Donte’ Stallworth

Team 5-   Onterrio Smith

Team 6-   Braylon Edwards

Team 7-   Chester Taylor

Team 8-   Samkon Gado

Team 9-   Thomas Jones

Team 10- Eli Manning

Team 11-  J.J Arrington

Team 12-  Ronnie Brown

Round 6:

Team 12- Jerry Porter

Team 11- Roy Williams

Team 10- Ricky Williams

Team 9-   Michael Vick

Team 8-   Eddie Kennison

Team 7-   Deion Branch

Team 6-   Tony Gonzalez

Team 5-   Brett Favre

Team 4-   Chris Brown

Team 3-   Byron Leftwich

Team 2-   Terry Glenn

Team 1-   Mike Anderson

            The order of the top 3 will probably be different in many drafts and its hard to argue either way.  I think Steve Smith earned himself the spot Randy Moss used to have on draft boards and Carson Palmer took the spot Culpepper had for years as well.  Cadillac has a lot of upside and he could even sneak into the 1^st round in some drafts.  McAllister and McGahee will be two very intriguing picks in the second round and I’m betting on Willie Parker to carry the full load next year for the Steelers.   Reggie Bush could be a guy who goes way to early in drafts next year, but I think he can hold late second to early third round value no matter what team he lands on.  It should be interesting to see how much earlier Fitzgerald goes than Boldin, but it will also be interesting to see who’s throwing them passes next year.  Gates will be a steal if he goes later than the mid 3^rd round and Randy Moss will probably go in the 3^rd round too, but I won’t take him in any drafts next year.  Droughns could be big next year and I’d feel good about him being my #2 RB if I used my second pick on a receiver.  Foster and Bell could have company again next year, but they’ll be popular “sleeper picks” in many magazines.  Chambers’ late season heroics should get him an early round pick next year and people won’t forget about Javon Walker because he was so good last year.  Kevin Jones could have a bounce back year so someone will probably roll the dice on him in the late 3^rd, while Tom Brady has climbed up the draft board thanks to another great season.  If  Thomas Jones stays with Chicago I could see them using an RBC, so it would make sense to take him and Benson like Team 9 did.  Without Owens in Philly, McNabb’s value certainly takes a hit, as does Culpepper’s.   The Jets will likely draft a starting RB next year and platoon him with Curtis Martin, so I would put the Jets rookie RB somewhere in the late 4^th to early 5^th.  Onterrio Smith and Chester Taylor could both be starting RB’s next year and if they are, they’ll make for excellent #3 RB’s.  Break out WR candidates like Donte’ Stallworth, Braylon Edwards, and Roy Williams usually go before the “Steady Eddy” guys like Branch, Kennison, or Glenn do.  I think Favre could go out in style next year with a big season as the Pack get healthy.  If Gado is in a platoon with Davenport or Green, he could have the most upside because the other two can’t stay healthy and Gado has been impressive this season. 

            I’ve really had a ball on the Shark this season and I hope I’ve been helpful for you.  If anyone needs any advice for their championship game, you can email me at MarcS@gmsdigital.com.  You’ll see me back around May; Thanks for reading.