2015 Draft Analysis and Predictions

Back by popular demand, here are your post draft, preseason power rankings!  I changed things up a bit by writing a brief summary about each owners draft results (in no order), followed by 1-14 Power Rankings at the end.

Von Top: Jordan Westerberg

Defending champion VT went into the draft with a distinct advantage of returning a top flight QB, Andrew Luck, for a second round draft pick.  VT made a questionable first round selection with Lesean McCoy who will get a lot of touches but may not find a lot of running room behind a bad Bills O-line.  Brandin Cooks is an intriguing option at WR b/c someone has to catch passes in NOLA.  The others starters on VT leave a bit to be desired, D-Jackson can be inconsistent and injury prone, T-Mason will now be splitting carries in STL, and Fleener has yet to prove he's a top flight TE.  The Broncos D can also be a question mark as it is now under a new regime, along with being another year older.  Bench: B-

Deflate These Balls: Jacob Nolton

Interesting keeper choice as Tom Brady may not be worth a 3rd round pick anymore, especially considering a possible suspension.  Palmer is a solid, consistent option at QB when healthy, emphasis on healthy.  Expectations for AP range from barely over 1000 yards to breaking the NFL record this season, I'd expect him to be solid somewhere around 1500 yards, 8 TDs.  The key w/ Peterson will be how many passes he catches this year.  Gurley is a nice choice for a potential keeper but he will also split carries and have to remain healthy.  Cobb and Watkins are very good at WR, but QB issues in Buffalo might decrease the value of Watkins.  Donnell and Vereen are a bit questionable in NY, Donnell was inconsistent last season and Vereen has never been an every down back.  Bench: A, I really like the backup WRs in Sanu and Garcon.

Accounting Championships: Evan

AC had the latest keeper in the draft with a 15th round selection of Laffell, which looks to be a solid value at WR2/Flex in the last round of the draft.  Big Ben at QB is a sneaky pick as Pitt has a sneaky powerful offense w/ A. Brown and L. Bell.  AC is a bit weak at starting RB w/ Gio splitting carries in Cincy and an obvious question mark in rookie Yeldon in J-ville.  While weak at RB, AC's clout comes in the form of Julio Jones, Jimmy Graham, and Jordan Matthews.  Jones is great when healthy and Graham should be a huge part of the offense in Seattle.  The Texans D should again be solid with DPoY JJ Watt and multiple starters returning from injury.  Bench: A-, Foster's potential to return from injury and be a star warrants this high grade, as well the backups to heavy hitters AP and J. Charles.

ViKingslayer: Andrew Rosacker

Huge returning keeper in Antonio Brown, who turns into a steal of a 2nd round pick.  VK may have the top starting WR combo after drafting D. Thomas in the 1st, which could give many owners trouble this year.  My favorite pick of VK is Owen Daniels, who is a major sleeper as a TE in a Peyton Manning led offense.  Matt Ryan is good, but not great at QB, and the same can be said for Golden Tate at the flex, whose value drops w/ a healthy Calvin Johnson in DET.  Not a fan of VK's RBs, as Sankey is very overrated in my opinion and rookie RBs are always a question mark, especially when chosen as early as Gordon was. I see good value in the Dolphins D from a sack standpoint, along with playing in a division with two teams with bad QB situations. Bench: B, I like the sleeper in Cruz and value in Witten but the RBs are very below average.

Auto Drafts Assemble: Alex Christensen

The auto drafter extraordinaire!  ADA had a very solid keeper in Lacy who will continue to post good numbers in GB at RB.  At QB Romo is always a question mark (I can personally attest to this) but he can put up big numbers when his team is playing well.  Lamar Miller, along w/ many Dolphins players, is an interesting but not flashy option as a starter.  Alshon Jeffery and Keenan Allen are good players at WR but both can have weeks where they tend to disappear.  I'm not a fan of the J. Thomas pick at TE, as J-ville is a place where offense players go to die.  We'll see if Thomas is a good NFL player or just a beneficiary of Peyton Manning.  McFadden is a great option at flex, but I have a hard time believing he will be healthy for more than 25% of the season.  Bench: B, no one really trips my trigger one way or the other.

Bridge Over Troubled Water: Zach Frederick

Great keeper in Benjamin, who I feel is a WR1 in our league, with a late round pick.  I like Bradford at QB as the Eagles QBs, regardless of name, tend to average over 15 points a week.  I'm not a Marshawn Lynch guy and I'm predicting a down year from him, but I can't fault someone for picking him in the 1st round.  Frank Gore is old but maybe he finds the fountain of youth with Luck in Indy.  Mike Evans' value is very much dependent on the QB play in Tampa, if Winston plays well Evans will benefit the most.  Bennett is good at TE, plus he was picked at a great value later in the draft.  I don't like Raiders offensive players so Murray is a question mark for me, but he could end up being a good RB2 this year.  Vikes D is sneaky due to the schedule they play, including many late season games at home.  Bench: A, a very nice mix of sleepers, solid players, and low risk, high reward guys.

Bend it Like Beckham: Zeke Kasper

Well Zeke kept his kicker, so that was the first issue I saw in his draft.  Many owners drafted kickers much later than the round Zeke kept his kicker in.  Cam is good option at QB w/ the potential to post huge numbers any week, however, injuries are always a concern w/ a mobile QB.  Jeremy Hill is solid at RB, but he'll be splitting carries w/ Gio, who will catch more passes.  Odell should be a stud at WR, but could he endure a sophomore slump?  Steve Smith and Vincent Jackson are both getting older but they might have one more solid season left in the tank (interesting note: Smith is retiring after this year and Jackson is in a contract year so both might be poised to post big numbers).  Bills D is solid, even better with Rex as coach, will they be on the field to much due to poor QB play?  Bench: B-, love the option of Devin Funchess, but not much else on this bench.

Big TDs: Natessa Bartleson

Great keeper in Calvin Johnson, but he is coming off of his worst season as a pro, which may be a slight cause for concern.  Brees should be himself at QB, but I think his MVP days may be over, plus his WR/TEs are very depleted.  TDs is solid at RB with Anderson and Stewart, Anderson could have bust potential as the Broncos have big stable of backs and Peyton will push to throw the ball around.  Stewart is a sleeper this year as he is now the main back in Carolina, however injuries are always a concern with him.  Floyd is a decent counterpart to Johnson at WR but he is very dependent on Palmer staying healthy in AZ.  Allen and Ivory are very "meh" players to me.  I suspect Seattle to continue to be solid on D, as there is not evidence that they won't be.  Bench: B, really like Agholor but not a lot else on this bench.

Caucasian Invasion: Chelsea Frederick

Nice keeper in Hopkins, now the WR1 in Houston, he should see the majority of the passing game come his way this year.  I love Teddy at QB but I do still question his value as a starting fantasy QB, especially with some of the other options on the table.  Bell should be a beast a RB this year, hopefully Chelsea doesn't start 0-2 in his absence though.  Forsett is a big question mark for me, he had a great year last year but other than that he hasn't done much.  Was last year a fluke or is he going to continue the solid production?  Sanders was a stud in DEN last year and I expect him to be solid this year, however I'm predicting a dip in production this year due to Peyton Manning regressing.  Walker at TE is okay, will the rookie QB in TENN be a blessing by throwing him more passes or a curse b/c of low production?  Spiller is an interesting option at flex, will Sean Payton be the guy to finally get some production out of him?  Rams D should be solid, especially playing against a lower level schedule.  Bench: B+, a few solid WRs but all have question marks.

Final Dez-tination: Alex Johnson

Dez is great as a 1st round keeper and makes a ton of sense.  AJ Green could be a steal of a 2nd round pick, however his production will depend on the growth of Andy Dalton.  Tannehill is a sleeper at QB that I really like b/c he is consistently putting up nearly 15 pts a week.  Randle at RB in Dallas could be a homerun if he gets the bulk of the carries, but if they move to a committee option he'll simply be another guy.  I don't like Giants RBs b/c they always use RB by committee, my opinion doesn't change w/ Jennings.  Edelman is always sneaky good at scoring over 15 a week due to his high volume of catches underneath, so he looks nice in the flex slot.  Eiffert is a bit of a question mark at TE, who is also dependent on Dalton improving.  Panthers D could go either way, should be good but not great.  Bench: B+, Kenny Stills is sneaky good and this bench contains many backup RB options and both ATL RB1 contenders.

Aaron It Out: Travis Owens

Jordy Nelson is very productive as a 2nd round keeper and will continue to do well for AIO.  I don't like Stafford at QB, mostly b/c his interception numbers have grown over the years and his fantasy production has dwindled.  Every year I think Forte is going to decline and every year he puts of big numbers; I expect the big numbers again this year.  Crowell is the starter in CLE but I'm not sure how much production he will give AIO, someone has to carry the ball there.  TY Hilton is a top target of the 2nd best fantasy QB in our league, I expect another good year from him this season.  Not a Kelce fan at TE, as we have only seen one year of solid production, he needs to play well again this year to prove himself as a solid fantasy option.  Kevin White should see a good amount of target in CHI when he returns from injury, hopefully for AIO that return is soon.  Cards D was good last year and should only improve this season.  Bench: B-, Bush and Adams could produce but I don't see a lot in the others.

Cops and Rodgers: Andrew Montgomery

Can't argue w/ keeping the best fantasy QB as your first round pick.  Ingram may be very valuable this year if the Saints move to more of a ground attack and he continues his play from late last season.  Morris gets a lot of touches in WASH but his production has dropped off since his rookie year.  I like Maclin a lot but KC and Alex Smith does make an owner worry about how productive he will be in this system.  Torrey Smith was good in BALT but I'm not sure how he will do in an offense with Kap, who struggles with the deep ball, Smith's strength.  Greg Olsen is very productive at TE and he should see another good year with solid numbers.  Eddie Royal is a sleeper pick in CHI as he will play the slot where he should see some passes underneath.  Not a fan of the Eagles D but this could be the year where they take off.  Bench: B-, Love Charles Johnson but any bench w/ Dwayne Bowe deserves a B-.

Manning Bear Pig: Colton Westerberg

Might have had the best keeper of the year in Gronk for a 3rd round pick.  I'm a big fan of Russell Wilson at QB, especially since SEA added Jimmy Graham in addition to his ability as a runner.  Jamaal Charles is very good as a RB1, but injury concerns are always apparent w/ him.  I'm not a Joicque Bell believe but if he produces enough to keep Ameer Abdullah from getting touches, he should put up solid numbers as the lead back.  MDP is a bit weak at WR with Roddy White and Crabtree, White might put up solid numbers, but his career is on the decline.  Crabtree is also again fast and in an offense w/ top 5 pick Amari Cooper, who I expect to see more passes than Crab.  Blount is nice option at flex if he can become the Pats lead back for the whole season, let's hope he doesn't punch anyone or get arrested this season.  Packers D scores fantasy points b/c of turnover created but they also give up a lot of points b/c they can afford to, should be solid on D.  Bench: C+, too many QBs sitting around when a top 5 QB is the starter, could have added value elsewhere.

iWEDDLEdmyself: Angelo Zaldarriaga

I don't really like the keeper selection here, as Peyton is on the decline and he cost Angelo a first round pick.  G'lo rebounded in the 2nd round by getting D. Murray who should see a lot of touches in Philly.  I do wonder if he's worn down after a heavy workload last season though.  Carlos Hyde could be very hit or miss this year, if Kap struggles he might see a ton of carries as the lead back, or maybe Reggie Bush steals some playing time and Hyde isn't as valuable.  Brandon Marshall's value is way down this year, simply b/c the Jets don't have a QB to throw him the ball.  Andre Johnson's best days are behind him but I think he could have a good year as a possession WR for Luck this year.  Charles Clay in Buffalo will struggle to produce on a team w/ QB issues.  DeAngelo Williams doesn't show me a ton of value as a backup to Bell in Pitt, however, if Bell goes down expect a huge increase in Williams' production.  Pats D is always solid at worst, I expect them to put up nice fantasy numbers this year.  Bench: C+, Wallace might produce, but a lot of 'meh' guys.

Rankings based on team drafted:

(this was really tough, b/c I think most teams are pretty close. A lot of the rankings are based on value in the keepers you had and how you balanced your team)

1. Accounting Championships

2. ViKingslayer

3. Caucasion Invasion

4. Final Dez-tination

5. Aaron It Out

6. Bridge Over Troubled Water

7. Manning Bear Pig

8.  Bend it Like Beckham

9. Von Top

10.  Deflate These Balls

11.  Big TDs

12.  Cops and Rodgers

13. Auto Draft Assemble

14. iWEDDLEedmyself

Let's hear your thoughts!