numberFire's Round 2 Mock Draft
Yesterday, we took a look at the first round of the numberFire mock draft. There weren’t many surprises, but then again, it’s hard to have big surprises in round one. As we move into the second round, however, a few names pop up that may catch you off guard. Here’s to everyone trying to get Gronk’d up in this piece.
Round Two
| Second Round | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | GM | Selection |
| 11 | Abe, Editor at TDDaily.com | Chris Johnson |
| 12 | Jeremy, CTO at Centzy | Roddy White |
| 13 | Matt, Intern | Andre Johnson |
| 14 | Sean, COO | Cam Newton |
| 15 | Keith, Chief Analyst | Michael Turner |
| 16 | Nik, CEO | Steven Jackson |
| 17 | Zach, Writer | Matthew Stafford |
| 18 | Michael, CTO | Rob Gronkowski |
| 19 | Andrew, Intern | Matt Ryan |
| 20 | Terence, Intern | Matt Schaub |
My Match – Matthew Stafford
My draft strategy for the past few years has been simple at the top – always draft a top running back, and if that’s not an option, then immediately go for the next best quarterback. Here, last top running backs went off the board right ahead of me in Michael Turner and Jackson; thanks Nik and Keith! I could have reached for Marshawn Lynch I suppose. He’s technically ranked higher than Turner in numberFire’s fantasy draft kit using standard Yahoo settings, but he also comes with a Starbucks Trenta-sized risk. I’ll stick with the man who may have some injury issues - hence the very low projection from the free draft kit - but also passed for 5000 yards and 40 TDs last season.
Blazing Glory – Steven Jackson
Yes, Steven Jackson will be 29 this upcoming season. I also know that his rushing yardage has gone down every single season since 2009. You don’t have to tell me that he’s only rushed for double-digit TD’s once, in 2006. However, Jackson has been one of the most consistent players in fantasy football since his rookie 2004 season – there’s a reason he’s number 13 on numberFire’s big board. Number of seasons since 2005 with less than 1000 yards: 0. Number of games missed over the past three years: 2. Number of consecutive seasons with 300 yards receiving as well: 4. Last rushing yardage total coming off a season where he had less than 300 carries: 1416. Fun-ness to have on your team: well... he’s good at Twitter. You can do much worse than Jackson in the middle of round two.
Burned Out – Matt Ryan
I polled my fellow draft-mates to see who they thought the biggest reach of the draft. Both Keith Goldner and Abe Schwadron had a name that particularly stuck out to them: Matt Ryan. “Just obscenely early with the amount of talent left on the board,†Schwadron said. I tend to agree. numberFire has Ryan ranked as the fifth-best quarterback this year, but that’s because he’s an incredibly safe pick. He isn’t likely to let you down (he’s missed 2 games in 4 years in Atlanta), but he also doesn’t have the ultimate boom potential of Matthew Stafford or even Philip Rivers that can win a championship.
Potential Wildfire – Rob Gronkowski
Wait, a tight end in the second round? Yes, a tight end in the second round. Matthew Berry is not the only one who thinks so, numberFire also has Gronkowski as the 18th best player in the draft. nF’s predictor sees him “only†getting about 1000 yards and 9 touchdowns this season, which would be a bit lower than his 2011 numbers. Still, considering that the next best QB on the board at the time was Ryan, the next receiver Wes Welker, and the next RB Lynch, Michael did well snagging a guy who’s undoubtedly in the top two of his position.
