The war room lights are dark. The pens are scattered, resting on the table and floor. Empty coffee cups speak to late night negotiations. The phones are finally quiet. The GMs are sleeping, and silence reigns. Such is the nature of things immediately following the whirlwind three weeks otherwise known as the Catch the Damn Ball 2nd Year Keeper Draft. A time of celebration and agony, of patience and perseverance, of analysis and research, but most importantly, a time of hope and rejuvenation for the ten general managers and their respective teams.Now that the 2002-2003 draft has concluded, the collective brain-trust of Chunky Monkeys GM Evan Shiue and Philadelphia Phreaks GM Ping Shen has combined to offer their analysis of each team and how they fared in the draft. What follows below is the fruit of many hard days and long nights of labor—of time spent traveling to training camps, interviewing players, old coaches, and parents. So, let’s get on with it. Here it is, happy reading…
Spunky Misunderstood Geniuses
Battle Angels –In a draft filled with endless young talent, GM Vu Dinh and the Battle Angels franchise opted to fill the Angels’ roster with solid veterans. Led by the talented Muhsin Muhammad who led the NFC in receptions in 1999 and 2000, the Angels will enter the 2002 season featuring one of the most seasoned starting lineups in the league. Superstar Curtis Martin and the bruising Jerome Bettis will again anchor Dinh’s backfield while newly drafted Muhammad and veteran speedster Joey Galloway will team up with Randy Moss and the ageless wonder, Tim Brown. While Muhammad and Galloway certainly have the potential to light up the field, both are no strangers to a long history of injuries and inconsistency.
James Stewart will provide solid backup in case either Martin or Bettis falters. With no competition in the backfield and a good nose for the endzone, we look to Stewart to have a solid year, similar to his 2000 campaign where he had 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns. Jake Plummer and JJ Stokes will be toting the clipboard this year but insiders tell us that management is high on Stokes and expects to see a breakthrough season from the four-year vet. Jeff Wilkins and the Cowboys will provide for solid defense and special teams play, a trademark of Angels’ football. Overall Grade: (B) Sleeper Pick: Muhsin Muhammad. Muhammad is no stranger to being in the spotlight. With 200 receptions, over 2,400 yards receiving, and 14 touchdowns between 1999-2000, a strong 2002 campaign by Muhammad will easily give the Angels one of the premier receiving cores in the league.
Skool –
Entering the draft with a roster full of young talent, Skool’s management team decided to continue its own mantra trading seasoned veterans Emmitt Smith and Isaac Bruce to the Phreaks for star running back Stephen Davis and the Phreak’s 7th round pick. Using its early picks on the talented Michael Bennett and Peerless Price. While Bennett is projected to be Deuce McAllister’s running mate in the backfield, Skool quietly picked up veteran star, Emmitt Smith, in the second round to provide both insurance and veteran leadership. With a receiving core that already included Isaac Bruce, Kevin Johnson, and Pro-Bowler Tony Gonzalez, Skool drafted Peerless Price to provide much needed depth at the wide receiver position. GM Chen then decided to anchor his team with a much-improved Browns defense and the always-reliable Jason Elam. With the signing of Jay Fiedler, Skool is hoping that the team will be replenished with both youth and talent while providing veteran leadership to help the younger guys with the steep NFL learning curve.
With its extra pick, Skool picked up young wide receivers David Terrell and Donte Stallworth. While both are rated highly around the league, we predict that both young receivers will be riding the pine most of this year. Overall Grade: (C+) Sleeper Pick: Peerless Price. With Culpepper in the backfield, Price is sure to get a lot more looks. We, along with GM Chen, predict that this will be Price’s breakout season. If that doesn’t happen, look for another long season for team Skool.
Green Team –Green Team GM Greg Ng doesn’t casually sip from the cup of life, he chugs it. After getting slammed last season with draft day gambles-turned-busts including the early acquisitions of Trent Green, Mike Anderson and Duce Staley, GM Ng shrugged off all criticism and continued to live life on the edge. Ng, with the second overall pick, decided to pass on the more proven Fred Taylor and instead opted to draft the extremely green William Green. Tabbed as an immediate starter, the talented Green is expected to start at the beginning of the season alongside the fragile Duce Staley. With their second pick, the Green Team decided to add to their backfield with the signing of Travis Henry. With a revamped offense and a new offensive line to run behind, the Henry signing could turn out to be a boon for Ng and his team. Don’t be surprised if Henry turns out to be the Green Team’s Week One starter. Ng rounded out his draft by taking the Steel Curtain (Steelers D), the always-solid Mike Vanderjagt, the multi-faceted Kevan Barlow and Hines Ward, an undersized but effective wide receiver to back up an already talented wide receiving unit of Marty Booker, Darrell Jackson, and Troy Brown.
7th round selection, Kerry Collins, will be providing Favre moral support from the bench. Overall Grade : (B-) Sleeper Pick: Travis Henry. With Duce one bad step away from the injury reserve roster, Green one bad camp away from the pine, and Barlow stuck behind Garrison Hearst, it our belief that Henry represents Green Team’s best chance at any kind of stability in their running attack. With some flashes of talent last season with a couple of 100 yard games, a strong season this year will certainly help Green Team’s cause.
Flaming Shrapnel –GM Eric Liao immediately propelled his Flaming Shrapnel franchise into playoff contention with the selection of Aaron Brooks. One of the most talented QBs in the league, Brooks represents a new breed of mobile quarterbacks along with Daunte Culpepper and Donovan McNabb who can pass, throw and make defenses look stupid. With an already solid backfield that includes Eddie George, Anthony Thomas, and Garrison Hearst and a strong passing attack that features Terrell Owens and Eric Moulds, Brooks could very well be the final missing piece that team Shrapnel needs to be playoff bound.
Throughout the draft, GM Liao continued to accumulate talent with selections that included Rod Gardner, Peter Warrick, Tiki Barber, Trent Green, Packers Defense and Olindo Mare. Gardner is projected to be the starting flanker in this explosive offense. Green and Barber will provide solid depth in the backfield. Overall Grade: (A-) Sleeper Pick: Aaron Brooks. Despite all the talent in the world, Brooks is still largely unproven and inexperienced. With 13 interceptions in his last 4 games last season, Brooks will need to continue to mature before Shrapnel becomes a playoff factor. We believe that Brooks will have little problem maturing into Shrapnel’s newest keeper of the franchise.
Philadelphia Phreaks –The Phreaks entered the 2002 draft needing running backs and that’s what GM Shen did – he got running backs. With the selection of Jamal Lewis in the first round, the Phreaks immediately got viable talent in the backfield to run with the ageless Emmitt Smith who was acquired from team Skool. With over 1,600 yards in his rookie season, Lewis is easily one of most talented players in the league. However, GM Shen continued to stockpile his backfield by selecting a rejuvenated Michael Pittman and the mouth-dropping DeShaun Foster. Even if Lewis is unable to regain his legs for the first few weeks, Shen has successfully built a solid running core that is vastly upgraded from the unit of last year.
Shen’s passing attack will be significantly upgraded with the acquisition of Isaac Bruce. The pass attack will once again feature the elite Donovan McNabb and a prolific and much underrated receiving unit of Bruce, Keyshawn Johnson, Chris Chambers and Plaxico Burress. With an emerging Eagles defense, a strong-legged David Akers handling the kicking duties, and a re-emerging Bledsoe in the wings, we see a much-improved Phreaks team which will likely contend for the top spot in their division. Overall Grade: (A-) Sleeper Pick: DeShaun Foster. Currently having a terrific camp, Foster is turning heads and forcing Phreak management to consider him as a starting running back candidate. We believe the man-beast has a reasonable chance of forcing his way into the starting rotation before we can say “Phoster the Phreak!”
Inscrutable Drama Kings
Buffy –Entering the draft with the league’s premier running back and a stable of stud wide receivers, Buffy surprised nearly everyone and waited until round 5 before grabbing a second running back—and then only grabbed Faulk’s backup, Trung Canidate. Charlie Garner came one round after Canidate, but only after a slew of wide receivers, the Rams defense, and as always, Sebastian Janikowski. Keenan McCardell was the first WR chosen, and he will be expected to provide solid and consistent play from the number 4 receiver position in Buffy’s run n gun offense. Second round pick Bill Schroeder changed teams in the off-season and it remains to be seen if he can maintain his numbers with Joey Harrington replacing Brett Farve. While Marshall Faulk is more than enough running back for any team, it remains to be seen whether Buffy’s gamble of ignoring the second RB slot will come back to haunt them—all it takes is one injury to Faulk (who is not the most durable of running backs), and this team’s offense would have serious issues. Overall Grade: (B) Sleeper Pick: Keenan McCardell. It’s hard to tab a first-rounder as a sleeper, but moving to Jon Gruden’s offensive system alongside Keyshawn Johnson in Tampa Bay could pay huge dividends for McCardell.
Tiite End Jammers –
Perhaps the most balanced team entering the draft with a star QB in Kurt Warner and a solid stable of both RBs and WRs, Jammers had the luxury of not having any pressing need to fill, and being able to select the best available talent at any position. To that end, Jammers’ draft results were less than desirable. First rounder Amani Toomer will be expected to start immediately, and from the looks of his early performances, we question if he will be up to the task. Second rounder Terrell Davis, perennially among the most oft-injured players in the league, has announced his retirement from football. While some will argue that Davis was penciled in as the Denver starter and an injury-forced retirement should not be counted against the Jammers franchise who selected him, we say that any player with a history like Davis, who hasn’t been healthy in three years, should be viewed as positively radioactive by teams, and should remain undrafted until the very last rounds in any fantasy draft.
Third rounder Brian Griese is another large question mark; coming off a dismal 2001 showing, Griese must rebound and have a career year, but with a questionable running game and two aged wide receivers, that is anything but a sure thing. Marcus Robinson represents another huge gamble, coming off of a terribly destructive knee injury last year, he is not yet at full speed, has not been cleared for contact drills, and is not even assured of a starting role. Playing on a poor offense will help his chances of landing a starting role, but hurt his eventual numbers down the road. Overall, Jammers entered the draft with the singular goal of hoping to land one reliable #3 receiver, but at this point, it is difficult to discern if they accomplished their goal. Overall Grade: (C) Sleeper Pick: Willie Jackson. A talented receiver, it is anyone’s guess how well he will mesh with first year starter Michael Vick. If the two develop some chemistry, the tandem could be explosive.
DirtyBirdeez –Outside of the Monkeys, the “Birdeez” entered this year’s draft with the best young running back combo in the league today of Corey Dillon and Ahman Green. An inexperienced QB in Michael Vick and a question mark in #2 WR Johnnie Morton were the gaps the Birdeez were looking to fill entering the draft. To that end, we suspect that GM Jon Yang went a bit overboard, loading up with wide receivers with four of the Birdeez’s first five picks. Veteran Jerry Rice was added with the first pick, and James Thrash, Koren Robinson, and Jacquez Green soon followed. Out of this group, the Birdeez should be able to find two dependable receivers in Rice and Thrash. As with any team we really question the wisdom of entering the season with no depth at RB—if one of the starters were to go down with an injury, given the depleted state of FA RBs, the Birdeez would be a ship without sails—at the mercy of their opponents. Kordell Stewart should provide adequate veteran mentorship to Vick, and is a solid backup.
Clinton Portis was the DirtyBirdeez’s final selection, and provides depth for a thin running back core. Should Portis overtake Olandis Gary for the starting position in Denver, he could have a very respectable rookie season. Despite the selection of Portis, we still question the overall draft strategy of selecting 4 WRs with the team’s first 5 picks. Granted, the team’s running back core is fantastic, but one thing fantasy owners must know is that you can never be too deep at RB. Overall Grade: (B) Sleeper Pick: Jacquez Green. Reunited with the college coach who made him a star, Green could conceivably put up big numbers in Spurrier’s fun n gun Washington offense—if the quarterback position can provide consistent play.
Ante Up –Ante Up rolled the dice in this draft, selecting “Fragile” Fred Taylor with the number two overall pick. While we always question selecting players with injury-prone histories, the risk reward involved with Taylor is so great, that we cannot criticize this pick. Taylor’s upside was by far the greatest of any player in this year’s draft. However, with a big question mark at the second receiver slot with Derrick Alexander not even guaranteed of a starting spot in Minnesota, we felt that Ante Up should have done more to address this need. WR selections Quadry Ismail and Laverneus Coles have potential, but neither has done anything recently to garner any level of confidence in their play, and in their ability to produce consistently from the #2 or 3 receiver role. In selecting Ryan Longwell, Ante Up is hoping that Longwell’s well-documented struggles from the 2001 campaign are well behind him and that he can return to the fantasy level he found in 2000.
Ante Up’s final selection was Denver running back Olandis Gary. Gary now assumes the Denver starting RB role following Terrell Davis’ retirement, and could post a very solid fantasy season—if he can beat out impressive rookie Clinton Portis. Overall Grade: (B+) Sleeper Pick: Thomas Jones. While Jones was beaten in two consecutive years by Michael Pittman for the starting role, now that Pittman has departed, Jones will be given every opportunity to be the feature back in Arizona’s offense. This is Jones’ last chance to show people why he was the seventh overall pick three years ago.
Chunky Monkeys –With a young running back core that is the envy of GMs throughout the league, GM Evan Shiue entered this draft looking to add depth across all positions—and from the looks of things, he accomplished just that. Dependable Antowain Smith was the Monkey’s first pick, and should provide consistent play should LT continue to battle injuries. Wide receiver Curtis Conway will be counted upon to put up big numbers in a struggling San Diego offense—but if he falters, look for Kevin Dyson to step up and produce. The big question the Monkey’s face is the status of Jimmy Smith. Smith, an aging, pro-bowl receiver, is still holding out and has yet to be seen at training camp. We continue to believe that Smith will be fine and will post his usual solid numbers this year, but Shiue has got to be looking for Smith’s eventual replacement. Our bet is that Shiue has pegged fifth round selection Travis Taylor as a possible successor to Jimmy Smith. Look for Taylor to be limited to the pine for most of the season, but to be groomed as an eventual started in the Monkey offense.
With this draft, the Monkeys have added depth across all fronts, and may have found a successor for the soon to be ancient Jimmy Smith. Overall Grade: (A-) Sleeper Pick: Travis Taylor. Taylor showed flashes of brilliance last year, but suffered from inconsistent quarterback play. We suspect this will continue to hinder his development this year as Chris Redman learns the ropes, but Taylor has the talent to put up some very nice numbers.
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