Empty the Bench

By Brian Spencer

On Tuesday, August 31, the dons of Empty the Bench joined friends and peers for the annual football nerd-out fest that is the ETB Fantasy Football League Draft. This year’s draft was one of the most challenging, stressful test of wills to date with 12 teams, 15 rounds of picks, and no kickers to thin the field out. Over the next few days we’ll reveal the results team by team, and take a quick look at how each one fared; compare and contrast with your league, and let us know your take in the comments section.

Disclaimer: many of our team names are lewd, childish, and downright stupid. We make no apologies for this.

Team:

SCLSU Mud Dogs (Picked seventh overall)

Team: SCLSU Mud Dogs

The Picks

1. (7) Steven Jackson, RB, St. Louis Rams
2. (18) Reggie Wayne, WR, Indianapolis Colts
3. (31) Arian Foster, RB, Houston Texans
4. (42) Wes Welker, WR, New England Patriots
5. (55) Hines Ward, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
6. (66) Fred Jackson, RB, Buffalo Bills
7. (79) Visanthe Shiancoe, TE, Minnesota Vikings
8. (90) Carson Palmer, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
9. (103) Carnell Williams, RB, Tampa Bay Bucs
10. (114) Bernard Berrian, WR, Minnesota Vikings
11. (127) Darren Sproles, RB, San Diego Chargers
12. (138) Chad Henne, QB, Miami Dolphins
13. (151) Louis Murphy, WR, Oakland Raiders
14. (162) Todd Heap, TE, Baltimore Ravens
15. (175) Cincinnati, Team Defense

Best Value:

Louis Murphy, WR, Oakland Raiders: After two disastrous seasons with JaMarcus Russell behind center, it’s clearly taking fantasy players some time to step back from that mess and honestly reassess the Raiders passing attack, no strings attached. Tight end Zach Miller, a potentially elite TE1 poised for a breakout season, can be had in the 8th – 10th round, and the only WR getting any sort of consideration on draft day is Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh-overall pick of the ’09 draft. He’s been uninspiring and uneven at best thus far, however, which makes the unheralded Louis Murphy an excellent late-round flier.

With Chaz Schillens out indefinitely, Murphy and Miller should be Jason Campbell’s first and second options through the air. Don’t forget that as rookies last year it was Murphy, not Heyward-Bey, who made somewhat of an impact with 34 receptions for 521 yards and 4 TDs, including a big game in a Week 13 win over the Steelers when he caught 4 passes for 128 yards and 2 TDs. Campbell is undraftable, but is a significant upgrade on his predecessor and could be dropping back to pass more than we think with an uncertain, unhealthy cadre of running backs unlikely to set the world on fire this year.

Biggest Reach:

Wes Welker, WR, New England Patriots: SCLSU will likely argue this is a value pick here, but this was too early to take Welker, who’s still not all the way back from a serious knee injury suffered late last season. Yes, he’s looked fairly good in the preseason, but even he admits to lingering discomfort: “I still feel like I’m a long ways off from that,” Welker said this week. “People say it looks the same. I don’t feel the same.” That’s not what you want to hear from your WR2, especially when you drafted him over safer-bet WRs like Steve Smith (NYG), Dwayne Bowe, Chad Ochocinco, Hakeem Nicks, and Percy Harvin.

The upside is obvious, though: let’s not forget Welker went nuts last year to the tune of 123 catches for 1,348 yards and 4 TDs, and that he’s riding a three-season streak of 110+ catches and 1,150 yards receiving.

ETB’s Take:

I also invested in Arian Foster in the third round in my other league, a move which on draft day might look like a reach, but this guy has looked really good during the preseason and seems capable of carrying the full-time load for this potent offense. The depth chart behind him is an absolute mess–Steve Slaton is more handcuff than threat right now–so big things, including the goal-line carries, should be in store for the undrafted second-year back.

He pairs nicely with Steven Jackson, a workhorse fantasy stud whose value is in the eye of the beholder this season due to his team’s shittiness, a rookie quarterback, and a stable of undependable wide receivers and tight ends. At some point, you have to think the wear and tear is going to catch up with him: now in his seventh season (can you believe that?), Jackson has averaged 283 carries and 52 receptions per over the last six years, including 324 and 51 last year. On one hand, he’s the best thing going for the Rams offense and as such will be leaned on accordingly, but on the other, we all know that everything that goes up must come down.

There’s solid depth at RB, WR, and even TE (though we would have taken Oakland’s Zach Miller or Washington’s Chris Cooley over Shiancoe, whose upside is limited and fantasy production is dependent on short TD passes from inside the 10-yard line), but the quarterback situation is a big unknown.

Some still feel Carson Palmer can get back to his days as an elite fantasy producer from 2005-07. On paper he seems to have more reliable weapons than he has in a few years with Terrell Owens and rookie TE Jermaine Gresham in the mix, but this is still a run-first and run-second team and Palmer seems to have a lost a lot of zip on his ball. We like Henne as a high-end QB2 option, especially with Brandon Marshall lining up as his WR1, but it’s a big TBD still on the second-year starter. Not to rub salt in the wounds (see SCLSU’s comments below), but Ben Roethlisberger in the 11th round would have probably solved this problem.

There’s potential for elite fantasy production from these WRs and RBs, probably enough to make up for what’ll like be a weekly all-or-nothing deal at TE; the contributions from Palmer/Henne will determine how much of a serious contender SCLSU Mud Dogs has assembled.

Quick comments from SCLSU Mud Dogs after the break…

Comments from SCLSU Mud Dogs: I feel I’m pretty well-balanced, and my only big mistake was taking Darren Sproles over Ben Roethlisberger in Round 11. I think beer #4 had clouded my judgment, because I kept telling myself that if Ben was there after Round 10, I was all over that… and he feel into my lap in 11, and I took Sproles instead. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Other than that, I essentially have some team’s number 1 at every position, and that’s about the best you can hope for, right?

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