2009 Fantasy Football Expert Mock Draft: Round 5 Recap

The 2008 fantasy football season might have just ended but that doesn't mean you can sit back and relax until it gets closer to the 2009 fantasy football season.

The offseason is when you scout players, look at coaching changes and plow through game log after game log to find consistency at each position.

Since our job never ends here at Bruno Boys Fantasy Football, we teamed up with five other fantasy publications and started a 2009 Fantasy Football Mock Draft.

Below you will find one of many round-by-round recaps of the mock draft, in which ten fantasy football experts show you a glimpse of what your 2009 draft might look like. The recaps that follow each selection are written by the team that is drafting that specific player. 

Scoring used for the 2009 Fantasy Football Expert Mock Draft:

4 Points - Passing TD's
6 Points - All other TD's
1 Point - 25 passing yards
1 Point - 10 rushing/receiving yards

Now it's time to take a look at Round 5 of our January 2009 Fantasy Football Expert Mock Draft...

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5.01: Junkyard Jake - TE Jason Witten

This may be a bit early for Witten, but I believe he enters 2009 as the clear No. 1 fantasy option at TE, and if he can come close to his 2007 production, 96 catches for 1145 yards and 7 TDs, he is at least as valuable as any of the remaining wide receivers still available.

It is certainly reasonable to expect an improvement for Witten in the TD category; in 2008, he managed only a paltry 4 scores. If Tony Gonzalez could make the leap from 5 TDs in 2007 to 10 TDs this past season, there is no reason why a comparable, and younger talent like Witten can't augment his TDs into the 8-10 range in 2009.

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5.02: Fantasy Football Xtreme - WR TJ Houshmandzadeh

I like a few players here, especially some runners, but I need to address my WRs and Housh has solid upside in the 5th. He isn't a steal or anything, but I feel like Braylon Edwards and Houshmandzadeh will get the job done.

Carson Palmer (shoulder) is expected to be ready for Week 1, which is great news for Housh. I expect the Bengals to tag Housh this off-season, but it sounds like the receiver is willing to sign a reasonable deal.

No matter where Housh is, I see him doing relatively well in 2009.

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5.03: FantasyPros9111.com - TE Antonio Gates

Yes, 2008 may have been Gates' worst season since his rookie campaign back in 2003, but even with the dip in production, Gates remained a top 5 tight end option. A healthier 2009 along with the continued development of Chargers' quarterback, Philip Rivers, should lead to a bounce back year for Gates, one in which he again challenges for the top tight end slot.

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5.04: Fantasy Football Librarian - QB Aaron Rodgers

With 2 solid backs and 2 solid receivers on my team, I think it's time to focus on grabbing a QB before some of the QBs with a lot of upside disappear. So Aaron Rodgers, a man who already exceeded expectations in 2008 (with 4,038 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions) despite the big shoes he had to fill, is my QB choice for 2009.

His late season shoulder injury concerns can be put aside a bit now that we know he will not need to undergo surgery and I think he'll only improve on the good chemistry he displayed with his receivers.

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5.05: Bruno Boys Whooley - QB Philip Rivers

A solid quarterback during his first two seasons as the Chargers' starting quarterback, Philip Rivers took things to the next level in 2008. Asked to shoulder more of the load with LT not performing quite like the LT of old, Rivers posted career highs in completion percentage (65.3%), passing yards (4,009), and passing TDs (34).

He has definitely matured as a quarterback and at the age of 27, is just entering his prime NFL years. Look for the Chargers to continue to place more and more on his plate, which will lead to Rivers' feasting on opposing defenses for big fantasy days.

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5.06: Bruno Boys Ziza - QB Kurt Warner

After grabbing my second wide receiver in the fourth round I was planning on grabbing one of the two top tight ends in Jason Witten or Antonio Gates, figuring that they were better than the wide receivers that were left.

Unfortunately two other owners were thinking the same thing. I really don't want to spend a fifth round pick on the third best tight end and the wide receivers are starting to clump together in the same tier so I really don't feel a need to go that route either. That leaves me thinking to take either a backup running back or quarterback.

I decided to go with Kurt Warner as wherever he ends up playing next year he will undoubtedly be the No. 1 for that team; most likely Arizona/Franchise Tag or contract. I was hoping that I could wait one more round to grab a quarterback, but he is clearly the top one on the board at this point.

If I were to risk allowing him to slip past me, the two other teams needing a QB, Bruno Boys Cavigs and Bruno Boys Larry, will be choosing twice before I do again. And I know Cavigs loves him some Warner so I had to grab him at this stage.

Another 4,000 yard, 30 TD season should be in the fold, making him a nice player to go along with my previous selections.

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5.07: Bruno Boys Cory - WR Vincent Jackson

While there were some running backs on still on the board that I would've liked for my flex spot, I decided to grab San Diego Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson for my WR2 spot instead.

Jackson flew under the radar last season but really had a terrific year with seven touchdowns and over 1,000 yards receiving. He has established himself as the go-to guy for quarterback Philip Rivers in an offense that's shifting its focus from running to passing. As Rivers continues to develop and improve, so will Jackson.

I believe he's got 1,200-yard, 10-touchdown potential making him a perfect pick for me right here. There's also some good tight ends available but I don't like spending a pick this high on a tight end, especially when he'll likely produce 20-40 less points than Jackson will next season.

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5.08: Fighting Chance Fantasy - WR Eddie Royal

While Royal was inconsistent through most of the season, you can't argue with 91 catches in his rookie season and nearly 1,000 yards. He may have only had five touchdown catches, but he plays in a dynamic offense in which they throw all the time.

Royal was ninth in the league in receptions despite missing a game. He should only improve as he gets more experience in the league. I absolutely love Jay Cutler, and since his number one target was off the board a long time ago, Royal is a fine consolation prize, and a good WR2 on my team.

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5.09: Bruno Boys Cavigs - RB Pierre Thomas

With this being a start 3 WR league I was temped to snag my WR3 but with there being so many similar options I decided it would be best to bulk up my RB depth and snag the rising Pierre Thomas.

Thomas emerged onto the scene in 2008, and heads into 2009 as the Saints primary ball carrier. Taking over the starting job in New Orleans in week 11, Thomas posted fantasy weeks of 19,23,11,22,25 and 13 fantasy points from weeks 11-16 and he finished the season with 12 TD's and 909 total yards despite having just 160 touches.

With the Saints offense being one of the most potent in the NFL, I fully expect Thomas to continue to progress into a sure bet RB1 and finish the 2009 season as a top 15 running back.

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5.10: Bruno Boys Larry - RB Willie Parker

I originally thought I would either be going with a WR or a QB with this pick, but with so many going off the board at each position I don't see a clear cut pick at either position so I opted to add some depth at RB.

Willie Parker started the 2008 season hot, but cooled off quickly due to injuries that forced him to miss 5 games and kept him limited in others. He still managed to gain 791 yards with 5 touchdowns during the regular season which included four 100 yard rushing games.

Parker will head into 2009 as the clear cut number one RB on a team that is heavily run oriented and he will add some nice depth to my team. If he remains healthy for the entire season I fully believe "fast" Willie will put up high RB2 numbers and is a good value pick at the end of round 5.

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