Jack Brickman
Hall-of-Famer
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2012
- Messages
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Whitner is Coming: B-
Stark was unlucky enough to end up with the 12th and final pick in the first round, but he made the most of it, grabbing two young, borderline elite fantasy players in Melvin Gordon and Michael Thomas. Both guys should provide a nice anchor for his team every Sunday. Further, I'd go so far as to say he put together one of the best starting line-ups in the league. While you may not look at his roster and be wowed, he's starting a ton of guys who finished in the top twenty to thirty at their positions last year, most of whom should produce at a similar level this season.
So why not a higher grade for his draft? Well, as always, it comes down to a combination of depth, youth, and opportunity.
I was pretty high on Tyrod Taylor heading into the draft, but he was a dumpster fire in the most recent Bills preseason game, and it's looking increasingly likely that they'll move on from him after this season, and perhaps replace him during the season. Doing so would be a big hit to Stark's team, especially as his back-up QB, Alex Smith, may also find himself on the bench at some point this year. Smith's backup, Pat Mahomes, has looked good in the preseason, and will be breathing down Smith's neck all year. And while it's far less likely that Smith gets usurped this year than Tyrod, there's still a lot of future uncertainty with Stark's QBs, which is troubling in a superflex format.
Great starters, questionable depth seems to be the best way to describe Stark's RBs and WRs. At the running back position, he can start Melvin Gordon and Isaiah Crowell, a great one-two punch who should net him 10-15 points on average every week. Gordon is likely due for a little regression this season, but he's still the bell cow back in a dynamic, high-powered offense. He'll be getting all the goal line carries. Crowell will be pushed for playing time by Duke Johnson, but he's still likely to be the early down back on a team who just spent a decent chunk of change improving their offensive line. Samaje Perine may eventually find himself as the lead back in Washington, but more likely we'll just continue to see the Redskins make everyone who runs the ball mediocre with their committee approach. The rest of his RBs basically only have fantasy relevance if injury or suspension wills it, but even then none of them are a lock to be major contributors.
At the WR position, Stark is starting Michael Thomas, Michael Crabtree, Kelvin Benjamin, and Brandon Marshall. Marshall should see a bounce-back year with the Giants after an awful year with the Jets, but he's also nearing the age when elite receivers have a tendency to fall off a cliff. Crabtree and Thomas should remain in the WR1/2 discussion this year, though, and Kelvin Benjamin could get back to that tier as well, although this could also be the year where Devin Funchess proves he's the better football player. As for the bench, I'm not as high on Rishard Matthews as some might be. He broke out last year in a big way and is still young, but he also saw his team add first-rounder Corey Davis, third-rounder Taywan Taylor, and elite red zone target Eric Decker. While Taylor is unlikely to siphon many targets this year, Davis and Decker are absolutely threats to Matthews' production. It's hard to see him coming anywhere close to the nine touchdowns he scored last year. Finally, we've got Taylor Gabriel and Mohamed Sanu. Both players are talented, but they are also very much boom-bust plays and, thus, not terribly dependable weekly plays.
I really like Eric Ebron, though, especially at the end of the eighth round. He may find himself as the primary red zone target for the Lions this year with Boldin gone/retired. It's possible that rookie Kenny Golladay could steal that role from him and take over where Boldin left off, but I think it's damn near a lock that Ebron scores more than the two touchdowns he notched last season. Brate should continue to be a solid play this year as well, although his long-term prospects are somewhat more questionable with the team drafting elite TE prospect OJ Howard in the first round this year. Cook is a JAG, good as a bye week fill-in but little else. Unfortunately, his presence on the Raiders basically ensures that Walford will remain with JAG status as well, as the two will likely steal just enough targets from each other to make them both poor weekly plays.
Defensively, Stark's team is solid. He's got two great starting LBs in Kuechly and Telvin Smith, along with one of the better DLs in the league in Olivier Vernon. Kuechly's concussion issues are something to keep an eye on, and his DB position is a bit weak, but he's done a solid job of building a quality fantasy defense.
Overall, I like Stark's team. It has some issues, sure, but he can field a high quality starting line-up each week.
Favorite Pick(s): Michael Crabtree (#61), Brandon Marshall (#180)
The fifth round QB run paved the way for Stark to get a steal at the start of the sixth round. Crabtree isn't young, but he's still got several years left of what will probably remain top-tier production. Likewise, getting a receiver like Marshall at 180 is just a great value, even if his long-term prospects are questionable. Most of the receivers taken after Marshall were unproven lottery tickets.
Least Favorite Pick(s): Olivier Vernon (#133)
I don't have a problem with the Vernon pick itself so much as the guys Stark passed to select a DL who only averages 8.9 points a game. The two picks immediately after Vernon were Adam Thielen and Kenny Britt, two young, very good WRs who really could have helped bolster Stark's depth at that position. Meanwhile, the difference in points between Vernon and the guy ten spots below him at the DL position? 1.1 points per game.
