My First Official Fantasy Football Draft of 2009

Fantasy Football has spread like a wildfire through American professional sports. It adds another whole dimension to the season in itself, it gets you pumped to watch other teams play because you want your guy to break out big. It really expands your NFL Encyclopedia as a whole.

You meet new people as well, that's always an added bonus.

I generally run about ten teams a season, last season I won four leagues, and came within a combined four points of winning three other leagues, I would deem that a pretty good season.

So far I have made several teams, I will examine my starting choices, and key backups as we head into the preseason and offer my fantasy advice when I can.

Round One: Larry Fitzgerald, WR

I got screwed on this one, as I got stuck at No 8 and the two RBs I wanted at that slot, Steven Jackson, and Brandon Jacobs got picked right before me.

I still had DeAngelo Williams on the board, but he shares carries, so I opted for the games top WR who is going to have a big season in a pass happy Cardinals offense.

You can expect a minimum of 85 catches, 1,200 yards, and 10 TDs from this guy regardless of the Cardinals season.

Round Two: Clinton Portis, RB

Incredibly underrated back who I was surprised was out of the top 10. He was fourth in the NFL in rushing last season and has seven 1,000+ rushing seasons out of the last eight.

He is a lock for 1,350 yards, and 12-13 TDs, as solid as they come, and a good value for No. 1 RB.

Round Three: Steve Smith, WR

The RBs were thin here for the spot in terms of value so I went with forming a fantastic duo of WRs. Smith is the clear cut No. 1 option in Carolina and is a true game changer at the receiver position. He has posted four consecutive 1,000+ yard seasons, and posted his second best career mark last season with 1,461 yards reception yards.

Even with teams blanketing him with double teams he still piles it on, expect a minimum of of 1,300 yards and 8 TDs from the Pro Bowler.

Round Four: Kurt Warner, QB

Already having grabbed Fitzgerald I decided to grab his QB too. Even if Warner has an off year like many expect him to he still has a trio of WRs that can top 1,000 yards and bail him out if mediocrity strikes. If he gets knocked out, I have a pair of reliable backups to take his spot, more on that later.

If he makes the full season you can expect around 4,000 yards, 27 TDs from the ageless wonder.

Round Five: Joseph Addai, RB

With what I had to work with, Addai got the most carries, even with Donald Brown there, he is a rookie, and they are looking for Addai to be the workhorse. With Marvin Harrison gone, the Colts are going to have to lean on the running game some more.

Expect around 1,100 yards and 8-10 TDs from the incredibly underrated Addai.

Round Six: Antonio Gates, TE

I like to grab a TE a little early just because I don't carry a backup on my roster and a guy like Gates catches as many balls as a WR does. Last season he racked up 871 yards, and 7 TDs, great fantasy production for a TE.

Expect around just that, 800-900 yards and 7-9 TDs from the consistent Pro Bowler.

Round Seven: Giants Defense

Defense is underrated in fantasy football, it can add as many as 15-17 points a game if you have a stellar one. With the way the Giants stacked their DL with Rocky Bernard, and Chris Canty, as well as LB with Michael Boley, they made it a no brainer for me to pick them second overall off the board after someone nabbed the Steelers

They can average a solid 11-13 points a game, there will always be down games, but they will be dominate this season.

Round Eight: Chris Wells, RB

I generally do not go with rookies to often, but Wells was the only one on the board who is getting the bulk of the carries as the starter for his team. He was a late first round steal in the NFL Draft and should top 1,000 yards as the Cardinals primary running threat. A great darkhorse pick.

Expect around 1,000 yards and 8 TDs as he rounds out an underrated, productive RB group.

Round Nine: Darren Sproles, RB

With Tomlinson aging he was a nice grab in round nine as a backup RB. The Chargers use him as a change of pace/situational back and he should see 10 carries a game. If Tomlinson gets hurt he would be a steal at this spot.

Spending the season as a backup, he is good for 650 yards, and 5-6 TDs.

Round Ten: Matt Hasselbeck, QB

My key backup in regards to the aging Warner. Hasselbeck is getting old himself, but he is not as fragile as Warner. I expect the Seahawks to surprise everyone and win the NFC West (really, would it be a surprise?), and with TJ Housmandzadeh added, Burleson, Branch, and Carlson, he should toss for 3,500 yards and 24 TDs minimum if he stays on the field.

Round Eleven: Julius Jones, RB

Incredible find at round eleven, most toss him aside as worthless but he is a feature back in a system that has produced three No. 1 rushing attacks, and two No. 2 rushing attacks. That should bode well for the one-cut style Jones in the new look Seahawks offense.

Im being bold to state he will have a breakout season and rush for no less then 1,200 yards, and 10 TDs in a run first scheme in Seattle, great backup option.

The Best Of The Rest

Rob Bironas, K, Donnie Avery, WR, Deion Branch, WR, Justin Fargas, RB, Jason Campbell, QB.

Bironas is one of the top fantasy kickers averages nine points per game.

Donnie Avery is the No. 1 option in St Louis, he will get his share of yards and TDs regardless of the seasons outcome.

Deion Branch could have a great season with double teams being applied to newcomer TJ Houshmandzadeh, opening him up. Along with Matt Hasselbeck and Julius Jones make a nice trifecta of darkhorse Seahawks.

Justin Fargas could top 1,000 yards, depending on how much they use Darren McFadden in Oakland.

Jason Campbell is a great No. 3 option at QB who should get around 3,200 yards and 20 TDs, having Clinton Portis on the roster doesn't hurt either.

Thanks for reading, in my next article I will breakdown my second fantasy team.