MOCK DRAFT MUSINGS

By Ralph Mancini, Fantasy Football Insiders

Taking part in mock drafts won’t give you any fresh perspective into which runners are being selected in round one, but it can serve as a tool to help you experiment with different draft strategies.

Taking the best player available may be the way to go in real life NFL drafts, but in the world of fantasy it’s all about value determined by the lack or abundance of certain players at specific positions.

Supply and demand isn’t the only thing to factor in however. One must also recognize the odds a player has of being a true difference maker. The odds are greater for those who get the most touches which makes running backs and quarterbacks, in my view, much more valuable than players at other positions.

With that in mind, I went into my mock drafts with the sole purpose of selecting three runners and one quarterback with my first four picks. The true objective here was to see what caliber of receiver would be available to me in rounds five and six. Here were the results.

* Picking third in a 12 team league, my receivers were Plaxico Buress and Joey Galloway.

* Picking eighth in a 10 team draft, my receivers were Javon Walker and Marques Colston.

* Picking first in a 10 team draft, my receivers were Marques Colston and Joey Galloway.

* Picking sixth in a 12 team draft, my receivers were Donald Driver and Joey Galloway.

* Picking eleventh in a 12 team draft, my receivers were Calvin Johnson and Santana Moss.

If you believe that Chad Johnson, Torry Holt, Marvin Harrison and others being selected in rounds two through four are significantly better than the receivers listed above, then my strategy isn’t for you.

If fantasy guru Ralph Mancini says it, you better pay attention! Get in-depth, detailed analysis from Mancini all season long as he delivers the knockout blows to your competition.

Email: Ralph@nfldraftbible.com