Inscrutable Drama Kings: Draft

buffy. marshall faulk, torry holt, isaac bruce, rod smith, justin mccareins. with an aging roster, buffy had to inject some young blood into the franchise. aging WRs isaac bruce and rod smith (traded to battle angels for a fourth round pick) couldn't cut it for too much longer and injury prone RB marshall faulk is clearly on a career slide. luckily, buffy got three quality young RBs (tj duckett, steven jackson, willis mcgahee) who all stand a good chance to impact the game this year and should remain good keepers for the future. bellisimo. budding WR justin mccariens was shopped early and often in the draft but he remains on the roster, sitting pretty next to aging speedster joey galloway (maybe one more good year) and highly touted rookie reggie williams. moving up to take the patriots D in round four was a bit of a gamble but the guru thinks it'll pay off because having the number one ranked defense should solidfy a team that was old and tired and in need of a few breathers on the offensive side. oh, and did we mention the first round selection of QB matt hasselbeck? hasselbeck is slated by most experts for a break out season and buffy thought he had the most value and went against draft trends and took him in the first round. with quality picks all the way through the draft, it looks like buffy is finally beginning the rebuilding process that should have begun two seasons ago. next year's keepers should look nothing like this year's, with the exception of all world WR torry holt. grade: A+

tiiite end jammers. michael vick, priest holmes, ahman green, rudi johnson, marvin harrison. as defending champion and the odds on favorite to repeat, the jammers really only needed a few more receivers and a backup for brittle michael vick. with a stellar draft, this guru thinks that the jammers have just made themselves the overwhelming favorites for another championship. venerable jimmy smith was brought onboard as a solid second WR and with jerry porter, plaxico burress and deion branch, this team will be able to field a very solid WR corps. all the starting positions are filled to the max and the backup QB behind vick? only co-mvp steve mcnair, a steal in the fifth round. even the loss of backup running back rudi johnson (traded for plaxico) was addressed by the addition of quentin griffin. this team looks set to go for another trophy hunting season. grade: A

chunky monkeys. peyton manning, ladainian tomlinson, shaun alexander, darrell jackson, andre johnson. the hunt for a third receiver was addressed early on by the monkeys, with all four initial picks -- plus the last one -- being used to draft young exciting WRs. chris chambers, amani toomer, andre davis, tyrone calico and travis taylor are all blooming with talent and will serve as quality #3 WRs or even #4s in the event of a RB injury. the backup positions are shaky but peyton manning isn't going anywhere and if onterrio smith (the monkeys moved up in the fifth round to grab him) emerges, that's another solid option for the ground attack. the monkeys entered the draft with the express purpose of drafting WRs and it looks like they are loaded at the position with potential (davis, calico) and proven production (chambers, toomer, taylor). a no frills, business first draft. grade: B

ante up. trent green, edgerrin james, fred taylor, laveranues coles, derrick mason. coming into the 2004 season, ante up probably had the quietest, most underrated roster in the league. this team was good enough to have the third best record in the league last year (despite an early playoff exit) and remains intensely dangerous. high potential WR koren robinson was dropped as a keeper due to his disastrous showing last season and GM jae lee was quoted as saying "i hate that guy." instead, ante up hung onto QB trent green and will have a steady hand to guide him to that elusive first championship. old stalwarts fred taylor and edgerrin james have both returned from injuries past and proved their worths in the fantasy realm last season. new RBs correll buckhalter and tatum bell may be stuck in running back by committee systems but ante up has the luxury of waiting for them. joining totally slept on WRs lavarenous coles and derrick mason will be a crop of NFL #2 receivers -- donte stallworth, peter warrick and reggie wayne. all three are young and have their best years ahead, but need to shake off inconsistencies to make more balls come their way. ante up traditonally has one of the best defenses and special teams in the league, most of it due to the tampa bay D (an ante up roster staple) and an elite kicker -- this year it'll be two time super bowl hero adam vinatieri. with a talent laden roster, ante up only has to avoid major injuries to his starting RBs to duplicate the success they've enjoyed in seasons past. grade: B-

dirty birds. tiki barber, corey dillon, joe horn, plaxico burress, ashley lelie. a strange weird draft, the dirty birds decided to go with four new WRs and three new RBs. no QB, K or D was drafted and those positions will have to be filled through free agency. bad luck seems to have followed the birds from last season through this season. ricky williams, the lynchpin to a talent deprived roster, was lost before the draft and marcel shipp was lost a few hours after he was picked up in the fourth round. out for 8-12 weeks, don't expect the birds to be patient with shipp's recovery. in a desperate attempt to get younger (and arguable more talented), the birds went with young WRs larry fitzgerald and roy williams early, adding RBs lee suggs, marcel shipp and deshuan foster in quick succession. realizing that a few wins might be necessary this season, the birds came to their senses and took veterans donald driver and jerry rice in the closing rounds. due to roster space, expect one (or both) of these players to be cut to make room for a journeyman QB and a serviceable K and D. quick to move up and down the board, the dirty birds did acquire the rights to rudi johnson (in exchange for plaxico burress), possibly a huge upgrade but also a deal with land mines on both sides. the birds got young in a hurry but translating potential to wins will be a much harder task. grade: C-