Fantasy update: RF365 draft second round results

By Hugo Guzman  |   Wednesday, August 23, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

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This is the second part in a series chronicling each selection in Realfootball365.com's writer league. Click here to view the results of the first round.

The second round was filled with surprises, the biggest one being the large number of wide receivers selected. Many fantasy insiders believe that even the elite wideouts do not need to be selected until the third round or beyond. Apparently, the first WR selection, made by Jason Kirk, started a chain reaction that resulted in five of them being selected.

- Andy Targovnik started off the round by selecting Carnell Williams. This was a very solid bookend selection, coming on the heels of his Rudi Johnson pick at the end of round one. Now Andy has two solid starting running backs heading into the season. Johnson is a dependable veteran with a history of solid fantasy returns, while Cadillac is a phenomenal youngster that is coming of a Rookie of the Year campaign and has unlimited upside. Well done, Andy.

- Os Davis made a "safe" pick, drafting Willis McGahee with the 14th overall choice. McGahee may not be a flashy pick, but he's good for at 1,200 yards or so and just under 30 receptions. If he can get back to his 2004 form in terms of touchdowns, he will be a tremendous pickup for Os.

- Alex Guzman continued the trend of solid RB pickups by drafting the very versatile LaMont Jordan. The former NY Jet and current Raider won't rack up too much rushing yardage (figure around 1,000 yards) but he more than makes up for it with his pass catching ability. Last year he caught a ridiculous 70 receptions for over 500 yards and two touchdowns. Again, not a flashy pick, but definitely a dependable one.

- I decided to go with Pittsburgh Steelers running back Willie Parker. This shouldn't be much of a surprise considering I wrote a fantasy piece about him about a week ago, touting him as one of the true diamonds in the rough in terms of fantasy production. We'll see if I was right about that.

- The aforementioned Jason Kirk started the wide receiver chain reaction by selecting Terrell Owens with the fifth pick in the second round. This was before he learned that T.O. had re-aggravated his hamstring injury. Believe what you want; I think that Owens will finish up with a monster season in Dallas. The problem is that even a monster season may still not be enough to make him worthy of such an early selection. It's not about the player in this instance, it's about the position in general. Receivers typically don't get enough touches to warrant a second-round selection.

- The sixth pick of the second round went to Darrell Laurant, and he used it to select another Cowboy, running back Julius Jones. This is one of those feast or famine picks. If Jones can continue his trend of improvement in season No. 3, he will be a very solid fantasy starter. If not, he could end up losing some snaps to the Cowboys' other running backs. Obviously, Darrell is counting on the former.

- J.R. Hopwood went the receiver route, selecting Chad Johnson. Forget the fact that WR's don't get many touches per game. This selection is risky because, at this point, there is no guarantee that Johnson's quarterback, Carson Palmer, will return to his 2005 form. That being said, if you're going to select a wide receiver it might as well be the brash but productive Johnson.

- Josh Kirk also selected a wide receiver, going with Larry Fitzgerald. The Arizona Cardinals' phenom will likely have a big season, so if you're going to go WR with such an early pick, it might as well be a guy like Fitzgerald.

- Anthony Carroll bucked the WR trend by selecting Warrick Dunn. Some might question this pick, but Dunn has been one of the most consistent fantasy performers over the past few seasons. Couple that with the fact that Dunn's former running mate, T.J. Duckett, has been traded to the Redskins, and Anthony has got himself a tried and true recipe for fantasy football success.

- Eric Krupka went back into the wide receiver pool, selecting Carolina Panthers superstar Steve Smith. Like Johnson and Fitzgerald, Smith is a proven fantasy commodity. I'm just not sure that he's worthy of a second-round pick.

- Mike Medina went the running back route, selecting the Ravens' Jamal Lewis with the 11th pick in the second round. Chester Taylor is gone and Lewis is one more year removed from knee reconstruction surgery, so he could be a real fantasy steal. Remember that he went over the 2,000-yard mark just a few seasons ago.

- Connor Byrne selected the fifth and final wide receiver of the second round, picking up veteran superstar Marvin Harrison. The Colts' wideout is arguably the most sure thing in terms of fantasy wide receivers, so I can't really fault the selection. Getting a player of Harrison's caliber with the 24th pick is not bad. Not bad at all.

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About Hugo Guzman

Co-founder of RealFootball365.com. Born in Argentina, of Dominican descent, living in Hoboken, but from Miami through and ...
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