I love fantasy sports. My friends got me into NFL fantasy football, and now I play fantasy futbol, too. I’m hooked.
In this article, I’m going to give my top 2011-2012 fantasy football picks for the first three rounds in your local draft. I could post a whole list of rankings, but who’s going to read all that? I want to give you useful information, so I’ll focus a lot on three players. If you can snag two of the three, you’ll rule.
Each draft has its own flavor, but I’ve noticed certain players are falling a little further than they should in 2011 and you should be ready to pounce.
LeSean McCoy – Best 1st Round Bargain
LeSean McCoy was a top 3 or 4 performer last year. He’s still too young for injury concerns to become a factor, and he should in fact be getting better. As long as Michael Vick stays on the field, LeSean McCoy should be in a juggernaut of an NFL offense. Lesean McCoy has the personal talent and the players around him. LeSean McCoy is a touchdown threat and a reception machine. He’s got everything that makes for a good 1st round pick.
Rashard Mendenhall – Best 2nd Round Value
A lot of drafts will have Rashard Mendenhall drafted in the 1st round. But I’ve been in two where he slipped into the 2nd round. I personally have not always been completely happy with Rashard Mendenhall on my team. His numbers are solid by the end of the year, but they seem to come in bunches. What’s more, it’s hard to know when they happen. He was shut down by the Ravens once last year, then exploded in another game versus Baltimore. Two years ago, he posted 3 points against the Browns late in the season with fantasy playoff implications on the line.
But this should be Rashard Mendenhall’s biggest year. Mendenhall is only 24, so he’s still quite young. Roethlisberger is in his prime. Meanwhile, the Browns are still mediocre, the Bengals should be one of the worst teams in the league, and the AFC North is playing the NFC West. That means Rashard Mendenhall has games against the Cardinals Defense, the Niners Defense, the Rams Defense, and the Seahawks Defense. Add those to the Browns and Bengals games and that’s half the schedule. Rashard Mendenhall should be huge in 2011.
LeGarrette Blount – Best 3rd Round Value
I was tempted to make Jahvid Best the best 2011 fantasy football pick of the 3rd round, but the concussion he sustained in the 2nd game of the preseason reminded me that Best just isn’t likely to make it through a full NFL season without injury. LeGarrette Blount should only make improvements in his second year in the NFL. It was only a year ago, that Blount had been cut by the Titans after a training camp fight that reminded everyone of the incident which cost Blount his final season of college for the Oregon Ducks. When the Bucs picked him up, LeGarrette Blount was thought to be just another guy–maybe a practice squad player.
Then injuries and ineffectiveness happened to Cadillac Williams and Earnest Graham. With a young team, a young quarterback, and a young stud receiver, the Buccaneers decided to go with Blount as the primary ball carrier. He finished with just over 1,000 yards, but in less than 16 starts. In 2011-2012, LeGarrette Blount is ready to make a step forward on a young team which should only improve. Playing on grass should be good for his health, while playing down south for 8 games (and in Carolina once) and in domes for the 2 other division games, weather shouldn’t be as much of a factor late in the season in your fantasy playoffs. That adds up to a good third rounder.
Fantasy Football Picks in 2011
That’s just one person’s opinion. If you don’t want to take my word for it I suggest you check out these 10 fantasy football blogs and see if you prefer one of theirs. That’s the great thing about fantasy football: it’s a game about playing the odds. But even if the odds are stacked against you, occasionally that 10-2 offsuit of a fantasy football team….
