Not much has changed since 2013. Looks like I’ll finish the 2014 season 5-9 after starting with another weak draft:
Round 1, #7: WR Calvin Johnson. Thought this was a no-brainer, but injuries left me without his services during the meat of the season. He really only had 5 weeks when he produced like a WR1. I guess I can’t predict injuries, but I did think a WR was a safer pick than an RB. No QBs had been picked yet, so going with Aaron Rodgers or Peyton Manning would have been much better in hindsight. Getting really tired of burning my first pick each year.
Round 2, #26: QB Matt Ryan. I reached a bit here because quarterbacks were going fast and Ryan had a lot of buzz as an elite pick this season. He hasn’t been bad, but certainly not elite. Would have been a different season if I had gone {Aaron Rodgers, Julio Jones} with my first two picks.
Round 3, #39: RB Andre Ellington. Despite his injury last week, I still like this pick. Ellington has been on the cusp of a top 10 RB all season, which I think is great value for a 3rd round RB in a 16-team league.
Round 4, #58: WR Victor Cruz. Ugh, not that he was producing much prior to his season-ending injury, but I think there was potential for him to be a top 15 WR. As it was, injury erased my second WR, just like my first.
Round 5, #71: RB Bishop Sankey. This guy ended up way below the preseason expectations. Under 500 yards and only 2 touchdowns is not going to cut it for an RB2.
Round 6, #90: RB Lamar Miller. This wound up being a great speculative pick. An injury to Knowshown Moreno opened the door for Miller to hover just outside top 10 RB status. Definitely can’t complain about this one.
Round 7, #103: TE Jordan Reed. We don’t have to start a TE in our league, but as a UF fan I know that Reed can produce in the passing game. Injuries to Reed and miserable performances by RG3 made this a wasted pick.
Round 8, #122: RB Carlos Hyde. This was reasonable speculation, but Frank Gore stayed healthy and no timeshare ever emerged.
Round 9, #135: WR Rueben Randle. This was the wrong Giants WR2. Never stepping up after Cruz went down, and missing out on Odell Beckham Jr, I kept expecting something out of Randle and never got it.
Round 10, #154: WR Brandin Cooks. This was a nice pick late in the draft. Cooks helped cover the injuries to my other receivers… until he himself was injured.
Round 11, #167: WR Jordan Matthews. Matthews would have been a great find, if I had held onto him. At the beginning of the season I had good WR depth and it looked like Matthews wasn’t going to be too involved as a rookie. Now he’s a top 20 WR – something my battered squad could have definitely used.
In terms of free agents, I was able to get some value out of RB Ben Tate and WR Martavis Bryant, but not enough to overcome the lack of studs. I ended up around the middle of the pack in terms of fantasy point production, but second highest in points against, which certainly didn’t help. Injury or not, I think grabbing Calvin Johnson was a mis-pick. Given that situation again, I think a guaranteed stud QB would have been better.