10 Fantasy Draft Moves You Wish You Would Have Made

What were we thinking during our 2013 fantasy football drafts? 

No, really.

There were so many gems there for the taking—sure-fire studs—but we just couldn't pull the trigger on Wes Welker in the fourth or fifth. And thanks to some lingering doubt about Chip Kelly's offense and Michael Vick's injury history, we passed on DeSean Jackson and Brent Celek.

Stupid.

Here are the 10 obvious fantasy decisions we can't believe we didn't make. 

(Sure, we're only one game into the NFL season, but let's have some fun with this).

Drafting Every Philadelphia Eagles Offensive Player

Um, 53 plays...in the first half for the Philadelphia Eagles?

Lordy. Chip Kelly's offense was cooking against the Washington Redskins to open Monday Night Football, and its first and second quarters looked like they were being played in fast forward. 

In all, the Eagles had 322 yards and 33 points at the half.

LeSean McCoy was already the NFL's leading rusher with 115 yards, and DeSean Jackson had already eclipsed the 100-yard mark before the third quarter.

After slowing the pace considerably, the Eagles finished with a somewhat normal 77 offensive plays, but their hyper-speed first half illustrated just how fast they can accumulate yardage and points. 

In a game in which Philadelphia doesn't blow out its opposition from the get-go, 90-100 plays isn't out of the question, making essentially the entire Eagles offense fantasy relevant due to volume alone. 

Drafting Wes Welker

For the owners in PPR leagues—who doesn't play PPR now, anyway?—Wes Welker probably couldn't be drafted early enough. 

The former New England Patriots wideout reminded us why we shouldn't have tried to wait on him in the draft with a nine-catch, 79-yard, two-touchdown performance in the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens. 

With Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker out wide, we thought there wouldn't be enough targets to go around, and that the Denver Broncos would run it more with second-round pick Montee Ball. 

Welker tied Thomas for a team-high 11 targets and led the Broncos with nine catches in the 49-27 win. Don't bet against Wes Welker in fantasy. Ever. 

Proceeding with Caution Regarding Robert Griffin III

Robert Griffin III was a fantasy stud in his rookie season, and much of his value was due to his running production and lack of interceptions. 

We approached RG3 with some caution after his offseason knee surgery, but we probably could have held off for a quarterback like Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson or Tony Romo a round later. 

The reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns in defeat against the Eagles, but he tossed two interceptions and ran for only 24 yards. 

Drafting Anquan Boldin

Anquan Boldin was Joe Flacco's best friend last postseason during the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl run.

The quarterback received $52 million guaranteed, and the wideout was shipped to the San Francisco 49ers for a measly sixth-round pick.

Priorities, people. Priorities.

After Michael Crabtree's Achilles tendon injury, we thought Vernon Davis was likely to be next in line as Colin Kaepernick's go-to target. 

The Pro Bowl tight end didn't disappoint against the Green Bay Packers, but Boldin exploded with 13 receptions for 208 yards and a touchdown. His ball skills are as good as they were when he entered the NFL a decade ago. 

Not Being Scared to Draft Colin Kaepernick in the Middle Rounds

Colin Kaepernick connected with Michael Crabtree often last season. So, with the emerging No. 1 receiver out at least till November and a sound running game, we expected somewhat of a fantasy regression out of the relatively inexperienced quarterback. 

Boy did he prove us wrong Sunday. Kap threw for 412 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions—a QB performance that'll lead to a win in just about every fantasy league.  

Also, the "run-heavy" 49ers finished their Week 1 win with five more passing attempts than rushing attempts. 

Storing Terrelle Pryor on Your Bench

In training camp in July, Terrelle Pryor was quoted by Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group saying, "I never really knew how to throw a football before."

A few months later, he was named the Oakland Raiders starting quarterback. Neither of those things enticed fantasy owners to draft the former Ohio State standout, but we were duped.

Said to be playing behind an atrocious offensive line, the ultra-athletic Pryor was sacked only once and amassed 329 yards of total offense (112 of which came on the ground) against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1. We aren't exactly sure how good or bad the Raiders will be, but their quarterback may very well be a perfect fantasy backup.

If only we had the courage to pick him a few weeks ago. 

Not Drafting Cecil Shorts

Cecil Shorts was ranked a spot above DeSean Jackson, two spots above Torrey Smith, and five spots ahead of Anquan Boldin in ESPN's WR fantasy rankings before the season. 

Another reminder that doing your own homework is an absolute must. 

Shorts is a talented wideout, there's no doubting that—he had 60 catches for 1,049 yards and eight touchdowns in 2012. But the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback situation is anything but ideal. 

We probably shouldn't have talked ourselves into drafting Shorts. 

Not Passing on 32-Year-Old Andre Johnson

Andre Johnson had his best statistical season in 2012, as he reeled in 112 passes for 1,598 yards. But turning 33 in October along with the addition of rookie wideout DeAndre Hopkins made some of us think the Houston Texans stud's finest days were behind him. 

All Johnson did in his season opener was catch 12 passes on 16 targets for 146 yards. Andre Johnson's another guy who probably shouldn't be doubted very often to produce.

Drafting Julius Thomas

Peyton Manning makes all of his pass-catchers fantasy studs.

Well, it seems that way. 

The start of tight end Julius Thomas' pro career was marred with injury, but the fact that the Denver Broncos held onto him for two years—injuries and all—should have told us they knew it was just a matter of time before his potential turned to production. 

The athletic, 6'5'', 250-pound Thomas was there, waiting to be picked in Round 13, but we just couldn't do it.

Big mistake. 

Drafting Reggie Bush at the End of Round 1 or Early in Round 2

We knew Reggie Bush landed in a great spot with the Detroit Lions; we were just leery of using such a high draft pick on him. After all, Jim Schwartz's team ran the ball only 391 times in 2012—the eighth-fewest in football. 

Bush looked like the Heisman Trophy-winning tailback at USC in Detroit's season-opening victory over the Minnesota Vikings. He ran the football 21 times for 90 yards and caught four passes for 101 yards, which included a ridiculous 77-yard touchdown. 

We thought he could be a PPR-monster this season, but weren't sure enough to make him our RB1.