DJ Omaha has until 8PM ET to submit his pick for the Seahawks. DJ, if you're out there, please email to evansilva@rotoworld.com.

Posted by Evan Silva at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

While waiting for DJ Omaha to turn in his Seahawks Pancake Mock pick, Evan Silva and Gregg Rosenthal engaged in a heated Tony Scheffler debate. Silva had just submitted his preliminary tight ends ranking for the 2009 Rotoworld Fantasy Draft Magazine. Rosenthal noticed Silva had Scheffler as a low-end TE2, in the 20s.

Gregg: Wow, no love for Scheffler.
Evan:: I mean, I guess he'll be Josh McDaniels' David Thomas?
Gregg: Yeah, except he's good.
Evan: He was good in Mike Shanahan's offense. He was OK.
Gregg: I don't see that. I mean, they have certainly had years with lots of TE yards in New England when they had the talent. And Scheffler was top five last year when he played.
Evan: I'm thinking about McDaniels' offense, not the history of the New England Patriots, and TEs got no production under McDaniels. I mean this is the same situation as Vernon Davis under Mike Martz.
Gregg: Wow I don't see that at all.
Evan: We should've never put Davis so high last year, the writing was all over the wall. And hopefully we don't make the same mistake with Scheffler.
Gregg: Right, but it's a lot different. The only sure thing about a Pats offense is it's flexible and takes advantage of its talent.

Continue reading "Oklahoma Drill: The McDaniels Effect on Scheffler" »

Posted by Evan Silva at 04:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

The ubiquitous commenter known 'round these parts as The Dude Abides turns in the Chiefs' pick at No. 3. This pick may be seen as a bit of a surprise, but The Dude has obviously thought it through.

The Chiefs selection comes down to the two highest rated athletes in the draft: Aaron Curry and Crabtree. Curry would help a young, shaky defense but if the Chiefs saw him as a real possibility here, they probably wouldn't have given Zach Thomas starter money, even if only for a year.

The NFL stat with the highest correlation to winning is first half passing offense. The Chiefs had a fun passing offense a year ago and moved the ball with the Pistol Spread, but were inefficient all over the field and especially in the Red Zone. Dwayne Bowe is currently a player in the Brandon Marshall/Chris Chambers mode.

Continue reading "Pancake Blocks Mock: Pick No. 3" »

Posted by Evan Silva at 06:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (30)

The Rams came away with what looks to be a keeper at No. 2 overall last year, drafting Virginia DE Chris Long. St. Louis hopes it won't be drafting second again for a long time. Here's Evan Silva with his Rams mock pick.

Rams GM Billy Devaney will entertain any and all phone calls on draft day. He's trying to fill in a roster full of holes. The reality is that teams don't trade into the top two and Devaney must use the pick on the best remaining offensive tackle after releasing Orlando Pace. Alex Barron will probably keep a starting job, but is entering the last year of his contract and is barely a replacement-level first stringer.

Continue reading "Pancake Blocks Mock: Pick No. 2" »

Posted by Evan Silva at 04:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Sparty leads off the 2009 Pancake Blocks Mock Draft with a safe, yet strong selection. Clearly Sparty has been doing his homework. Jason Smith would presumably step in day one at left tackle, with longtime blind side starter Jeff Backus kicking to guard. Here's Sparty's reasoning:

Of course the Lions are stuck with the #1 pick in a year where there is no clear-cut #1 selection on which to lavish all that guaranteed money.

The consensus #1 pick among most of the pundits is Matthew Stafford. I think the Lions are leaning in that direction but will only draft Stafford if they can sign him prior to the draft. I believe the Lions would be better served to draft help on the OL and wait for a better crop of QBs coming out in 2010. Additionally the list of underclassmen QBs who have been successful in the NFL is woefully short.

Continue reading "Pancake Blocks Mock: Pick No. 1" »

Posted by Evan Silva at 04:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Byron Leftwich's Sunday morning signing adds needed competition to the Buccaneers' quarterback situation. The terms of Leftwich's contract, however, promise him nothing.

Leftwich's deal:

2009: $2 million salary
2010: $2 million salary + $3.5 million roster bonus

At first glance Leftwich's contract mirrors Luke McCown's ($7.5 million over two years). McCown got $2.5 million to sign, though, and Leftwich doesn't appear to have received any guaranteed money. There would be no cap hit to cut him.

Continue reading "McCown still looks like the favorite in Tampa" »

Posted by Evan Silva at 02:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Michael Lombardi has been all over the trade winds blowing out of Cleveland the past couple of days. He stated Sunday that the Browns have No. 1 picks on the table for both Brady Quinn and Braylon Edwards and followed up Monday with the revelation that the team is holding out for more than first-round pick for Edwards. So where might the drop-plagued playmaker wind up?

1. Giants – The prohibitive favorites. The Giants desperately need a big, playmaking wide receiver to fill Plaxico Burress’ shoes. While they have an extra pick in both the second and third round, they don’t have the roster space to carry a draft full of rookies. Throw in the fact that the teams have already tossed Edwards name around in trade talks, and it makes even more sense.

Continue reading "Where might Braylon Edwards wind up?" »

Posted by Chris Wesseling at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

So the second Annual Pancake Blocks Mock Draft Assignments are below after the jump. Get it on.

Here are the rules. We'll limit your writeup to 150 words maximum - it can be less. We'll try to do as many picks-per-day as we can, wrapping up by next Friday at the latest. So hopefully three-per-day during the week, and we'll continue into the weekend. Start thinking and preparing your pick once you are almost on the clock. And get ready for my wife to make her blog debut with the Giants pick.

Remember: this is who you think your team should pick, not who you think they will pick. We're not looking to predict the first round.

Email your pick and reasoning to myself, Evan , and Chris so one of us can put it up on the blog quickly.

Now it's time to see who is the Millen among us. The Lions, led by Sparty, are on the clock.

Continue reading "Final Pancake Mock Assignments" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

As Evan Silva pointed out a couple of weeks ago, I once coined the term “knucklehead factor” to describe Dynasty league players with high risks of losing value at a moment’s notice.

But what goes into being a true “knucklehead”? The term was born about five years ago when I tried to express why I never wanted Plaxico Burress on any of my Dynasty rosters despite his obvious talent. While several ingredients go into the knucklehead stew, the “legal woes” spotlight has recently drowned out the more subtle flavors.

Since his time in Pittsburgh, Plax has disrespected coaches, incurred fines, shown poor awareness on the field (spiking the ball without getting touched on more than one occasion), and disappeared/pouted for long stretches of games. That last point, especially, turned me off. Plax’s knucklehead issues weren’t limited to the off-the-field variety. His effort was often unreliable on the field.

Continue reading "Knucklehead Clarification" »

Posted by Chris Wesseling at 01:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Chris Wesseling and I were chatting last night about some player value and hit upon one area for disagreement. I took issue with his post on the Patriots last week, saying I would still take Laurence Maroney before any other Patriot back.

And just like that, and Oklahoma Drill broke out!

Chris: Would you really take Maroney? If so, why? They've unsoured on him?

Gregg: I wouldn’t take any in the first half of a draft, but if I had to bet on any of them making a difference for an extended time, he’d still be my pick.

Chris: I think it all depends on injuries as far as who gets an extended look. If they all stay healthy, they'll all split time and Maroney NEVER catches a pass

Gregg: I agree for the most part, but even in that scenario I’d take Maroney if I had to bet on one.

Chris: So, if you had to pick a RB in the 16th round, then you're all over Maroney.

Gregg: Somewhere around the middle of the draft maybe.

Chris: Wow, that's high.

Gregg: Well we'll see where he ends up in my final rankings but I’m thinking like a decent RB4. I like the risk-reward in that spot.

Continue reading "Oklahoma Drill: Phony Maroney" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)