Coffin Corner: The Perfect 2013 Draft

Coffin Corner: The Perfect 2013 Draft

Some of you are still playing in Week 17, but the majority of you are likely all done with your 2013 fantasy football season. You're either basking in the glow of a run to the Finals or perhaps you checked out and went on auto pilot a few weeks back when you noticed that your shot at winning went down the proverbial toilet. I'm going to assume that everyone using the wonderful services of RotoWire.com were still playing for something in Week 16. I hope it went well for you.

As for this week's column... I'm going to get a jump start on the year end pieces that you will see everywhere over the next couple of weeks. How am I going to accomplish this particular review? Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to put together the best team you could have drafted by highlighting the best player taken in each round of fantasy football drafts. Using data from the National Fantasy Football Championship I'll put together the best team you could have drafted (12 team PPR league with the following starters: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, Flex, Kicker, Defense). Simply, fun, illuminating.

(All statistics are obviously through Week 16 so they only include 15 games).

Round 1 – Jamaal Charles (4.6 ADP)
Round 2 – Jimmy Graham (18.0)
Round 3 – Peyton Manning (32.6)
Round 4 – Eddie Lacy (44.8)
Round 5 – Eric Decker (53.7)
Round 6 – DeSean Jackson (66.7)
Round 7 – Josh Gordon (75.7)
Round 8 – Russell Wilson (95.5)
Round 9 – Alshon Jeffery (108.1)
Round 10 – Danny Woodhead (110.4)
Round 11 – Fred Jackson (123.3)
Round 12 – Knowshon Moreno (137.0)
Round 13 – Julius Thomas (154.50)
Round 14 - Kicker
Round 15 – Defense

***There's no reason to bother with making selections for the last two rounds since you would have just taken the best club on your board and hoped for solid production, not to mention that it's impossible to think any team out there had only one kicker and defense all year.***

Charles is the #1 running back in fantasy football this year with only Drew Brees and Peyton Manning ahead of him in total points. Charles is second in the NFL in rushing yards but that's not his most impressive number. Is it the 70 receptions for 693 yards or the 19 total touchdowns? I can't decide. He was the third runner off the board (A.D. then Doug Martin).

Graham, due to the multiple injuries to Rob Gronkowski, is lapping the tight end field with roughly 75 more points than any other tight end. He already has 81 grabs for 1,144 yards and 15 scores and he's scored five times in his last fives games. An elite talent, Graham just might be "the" difference maker, regardless of position, in fantasy football.

An NFL record 51 touchdown passes from Peyton. Not bad for a third round selection. Peyton has been so amazing this season that in 15 games only once has he failed to throw for at least two scores. He's also had only one games this season with fewer than 289 passing yards. Flat out money as the fantasy MVP.

Lacy might have a jacked up ankle right now but he's the first Packers' rookie to run for 1,100 yards and 10 scores. He's also scored four times in his last three games and six times in his last six contests. Toss in 33 receptions and you've got an RB1 that was taken in the fourth round.

With everyone fawning over Thomas/Welker at WR people felt that a regression could be in the cards for Decker in 2013, even if it was a slight pull back. The results say – nope. With one game to play Mr. Jessie James needs two grabs to match the 85 he had last year, and he's already 197 yards past last seasons mark at 1,261 which helps to erase the loss of three scores (he's "only" scored 10 times this year).

DJax finally played an all-around game, thanks to Chip Kelly. Jackson's grabbed 16 more passes than ever before, has a career best 1,304 receiving yards – his first time over 1,000 yards since 2010 – and has scored nine times tying a career best. He had scored six times the past two seasons. Dynamite and he has exceeded all expectations.

Gordon is the second most prolific pass catcher in football even though he was suspended the first two weeks of the season. How good has he been? He's literally a touchdown behind Calvin Johnson in points. That's it. Over his last six games Josh has scored six times while going for at least 97 yards receiving five times. He's been pretty much unstoppable.

Wilson is a borderline top-10 play at QB because the Seahawks offense is so run centric. Doesn't mean that he wasn't an excellent draft day selection. Wilson has run for 540 yards an a score while tossing the pigskin for another 3,185 yards and 25 touchdowns. A fantastic QB2 who has performed like a QB1.

Jeffery is a top-10 wideout this season and from Week 9 on he's the #2 wideout in fantasy football trailing only Mr. Gordon in fantasy points. Jeffery also had one of the games of the season in Week 14 against the Vikings with 12 receptions for 249 yards and two scores. It's hard to tell anymore if Brandon Marshall is still the best wideout on the Bears.

Woodhead became what Darren Sproles used to be – a superstar in a PPR setup. Woodhead may have fewer rushing yards than Doug Martin who played only six games (449 to 411) but he's been a luminous talent catching the pigskin. Only three men in football at the RB position have more than the 69 grabs he's posted (Pierre Thomas 76, Matt Forte 70, Charles 70). What's also been impressive is that the Little Engine That Could has scored eight times including six as a pass catcher. Who knew, right?

Jackson might be 32, might always be injured, and might always be losing touches to C.J. Spiller, but the guy just flat out produces. Buoyed by nine scores, Jackson has also caught a four year high 44 balls while producing 1,170 yards from scrimmage in yet another strong season at a later than should be draft day cost.

Moreno, for the first time in a five years career, has run for 1,000 yards (he's 15 over that mark). If he suits up in Week 17 as expected he will also appear in his 16th game this season, the first time he has done that since 2009 (he only played in 15 games the past two seasons). He's scored 10 times on the ground. He scored nine times as a runner from 2010-12. He's also posted his first 40 catch season – and he's up to 55 catches – and he scored twice more as a receiver. He's a top-5 RB... who was taken in the 12th round.

I've bemoaned the fact all year that Thomas doesn't do much with his receptions. Only three times this season has Thomas gone for 80 yards in a game. On the other side of things he's had nine games where he has failed to reach the rather middling total of 50 yards. He's also caught only 60 passes so it's not like he's a massive PPR beast. But oh does he like to boogie, end zone boogie that is. Thomas has scored 12 times this season, and he's recorded a touchdown in all but three games that he has played.

Best Waiver-Wire Additions

Julian Edelman (173 ADP): It's truly shocking that Julian is four receptions and nine yards away from a 100-1,000 season. He was born six miles south of my birthplace and his QB, Tom Brady, was born about a mile from me (I went to high school with all three of Tom's sisters. I even asked his oldest sister to prom... to the surprise of no one she said no.). Edelman must be a great guy.

Zac Stacy (184): Needs 42 yards in the finale to crest 1,000 and he's scored eight times as well. It's much better than that though as he didn't take over the backfield of the Rams until Week 7, and from that point through Week 16 he was the #8 runner in football.

Philip Rivers (192): There were leagues where the veteran wasn't even looked at. Maybe you were in one of them. Rivers has slowed a bit after his blazing start but he's still a top-7 QB this season. He's one TD from his first 30 touchdown season since 2010 and he's got a career best 69.7 completion percentage as well (not to mention a 4th season of 4,200 passing yards).

Keenan Allen (206): Allen has scored five times over the last three weeks to give him eight on the season. He's also up to 66 receptions and 957 yards as he's been one of the rarest assets you will ever see in fantasy football – a superstar rookie at wide receiver.

Delanie Walker (209): Just outside the top-10, Walker has really come on since Week 10 as he's been the #4 tight end over that seven week span of games. He's only caught 57 balls for 542 yards and six scores, but in this season of mediocrity at tight end he's basically been a weekly play.

Marvin Jones (221): He's a top-35 WR but he's had seven games this season with less than seven points. Due primarily to his historic Week 8 effort of four touchdowns he's recorded nine scores on the season, the same total as Josh Gordon and DeSean Jackson. He's also scored once more than Antonio Brown and Allen and two more times than Jeffery and Vincent Jackson.

Finally, this will be my last article for RotoWire.com. I want to thank Peter, Jeff, Chris and Shannon in particular for all the support they've provided me over the years. Couldn't have worked with a nicer group of people.

Happy Holidays all.

Ray Flowers can be heard daily on Sirius/XM Radio on The Fantasy Drive on Sirius 210 and XM 87, Monday through Thursday at 7 PM EDT & Friday's at 9 PM EDT. For more of Ray's analysis you can check out BaseballGuys.com or the BaseballGuys' Twitter account where he tirelessly answers everyone's questions.