Fantasy Football 2009 Expert Mock Draft: Rd. 7 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 off-season 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 7 of our January 2009 Fantasy Football Expert Mock Draft...

7.01: Junkyard Jake - WR Anthony Gonzalez

Now entering his third year, Anthony Gonzalez could be poised for a significant breakout as the probable replacement for Marvin Harrison in the productive Colts passing offense. While Harrison has not offically announced any intention to call it a career in 2009, he was frequently outplayed by Gonzalez in 2008, and Colts GM Bill Polian has suggested that he may be targeting a wide receiver in this years NFL draft. If things fall into place for Anthony Gonzalez, he could easily emerge as a top-20 receiver this year, with an upside target of 1,200 yards and perhaps 8-10 TDs.

7.02: Fantasy Football Xtreme - RB Larry Johnson

At this stage in the draft, it's amazing Larry Johnson is still available. The Chiefs back definitely let a lot of fantasy owners down in 2008, but I believe the Chiefs team will be much improved in 2009. Is he risky as someone's RB2 this upcoming season? Yea, I guess, but as the 62nd overall player taken, he has almost no risk attached to his name and is almost all reward.

7.03: FantasyPros911.com - WR Bernard Berrian

BB came up 36 yards shy of eclipsing 1,000 receiving yards in 2008. More impressive though were his seven touchdowns for a Minnesota passing attack that was pathetic. Adding a guy like BB to my team gives me three number one wide receivers from their respective teams. Here in the seventh round, I like to go for the best available, and to me BB fit the bill. Look for 1,000 yards in 2009, and eight to 10 touchdowns is a very realistic possibility for him.

7.04: Fantasy Football Librarian - WR DeSean Jackson

After an impressive rookie season, I see Jackson as a receiver with a ton of upside for the 2009 season and therefore a great value in the 7th round as my 3rd WR. Jackson's performance during the NFC Championship game (92 yards and a TD) will be indicative of his 2009 season. I anticipate a season with 1000+ yards and certainly several more TDs than his surprisingly low 2 total TDs in 2008. Jackson's value hinges on McNabb's status in Philadelphia of course, but I believe McNabb will be staying with the Eagles, making Jackson a great grab at this spot.



7.05: Bruno Boys Whooley - WR Lance Moore

With a solid QB to man my offense in Philip Rivers and a sturdy backfield comprised of Matt Forte, Ryan Grant, and Reggie Bush, I knew I'd be using this pick to add the third piece to my wide receiving corps. While it would have been nice to add another Johnson to go with Andre and Calvin, that was not to be.

Thus, my debate centered around Hines Ward and Lance Moore. With Ward's knee now a question after the wide out played through an injury during the Super Bowl, Moore became my man. A true story of grit and determination, Moore completed his rise from a practice squad player to fantasy stud this past season, going for 928 yards and 10 scores on the year. You can bet that he'll be the wide out lining up opposite Marques Colston next season, which is good news as it means none other than Drew Brees will be throwing him the ball.

7.06: Bruno Boys Ziza - RB LeRon McClain

In 2007, McClain had just 8 attempts, resulting in 18 yards. Thus, it's really no surprise that the back caught everyone off guard in 2008 on his way to 902 rushing yards and 10 TDs. Yes, the Ravens do have a crowded back field, leaving McClain, Willis McGahee, and Ray Rice's roles a bit unclear as we head for 2009, but with 5 double digit fantasy outings in his last 7 regular season games, it's safe to say McClain will be in the mix more often than not.

7.07: Bruno Boys Cory - WR Kevin Walter

Considering I took a defense last round I had to take either a wide receiver or a tight end here. The elite tight ends were gone and while Visanthe Shiancoe was tempting, I don't like how inconsistent he is. I started looking at the receivers left and saw Kevin Walter of the Houston Texans still on the board.

I would have preferred Moore, Berrian, Jackson or Gonzalez but all were selected right before my pick. I still feel happy with Walter as my WR3. He's caught 60 or more passes and gone over 800 receiving yards in two consecutive seasons. Last season he scored eight touchdowns and had five double-digit fantasy performances. As long as he can replicate that next season, I'm happy with Walter here.

7.08: Fighting Chance Fantasy - TE Chris Cooley

Well we have our QB, three RBs for depth, and two solid receivers. Instead of filling out our receiving corps, we go tight end. The number of reliable tight ends has never been lower in my opinion, and Cooley set career highs in receptions (83) and yards (849). Ok, so he only scored one touchdown, but he had scored at least six in four consecutive seasons prior to 2008. He is Jason Campbell's safety net, and there's no reason to think that his catches and yards will go down. His touchdowns can only increase.

7.09: Bruno Boys Cavigs - WR Hines Ward

Sticking true to my philosophy of holding off on my quarterback until rounds 8-10 while snagging and loading up on depth at the skill positions, I am ecstatic to snag Ward in the 7th round. Often called the aging veteran, Ward continued his consistent ways going for 1,043 receiving yards and 7 TD's in 2008. He was also able to produce 10+ fantasy points in eight of the 15 games he played in.

With Ward suffering a sprained MCL in the playoffs, many fantasy owners might shy away from him, but with the veteran showing no signs of slowing down, I consider him a low end WR2 or a high end WR3 heading into 2009. Plus, even if he begins to show his age, he is my 4th wide receiver behind Marques Colston, Reggie Wayne and Antonio Bryant and is worth every ounce this late in the draft.

7.10: Bruno Boys Larry - WR Steve Breaston

This may appear a little early to be selecting a WR that heading into the 2008 season wasn't expected to be much more then a kick/punt return specialist, but when I looked at the numbers Steve Breaston put up as Arizona's third receiving option last season I couldn't pass him up. He was so productive when he filled in for Anquan Boldin when he was injured that head coach Ken Whisenhunt and offensive coordinator Todd Haley had to find more ways to get him the ball when Boldin returned to the line-up.

Breaston finished the 2008 season with 77 receptions for 1,006 yards and three touchdowns, which included eight games where he scored eight or more points. Even if Boldin returns to the Cardinals in 2009 (which may be a big "if" at this point) he should improve on these numbers in 2009, which will be his third NFL season. He will make a nice WR3 for me and if Boldin does not return to Arizona next season, he could turn into a steal with this pick

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