Brent started as every draft starts:  with LT.  He grabbed his RB2 with his 2nd rounder and a top WR in Holt with his 3rd.  Some think that if you’re fortunate enough to have LT that you can actually wait on your RB2 and grab WRs with your 2nd/3rd rounders, but Brent opted to play it safe and go with Benson (how safe is that, though?) and Holt.  Not a bad start.  He grabbed his QB – McNabb – in the 4th and WR2 – Burress – in the 5th.  Risky picks, perhaps.  The rest of the draft went alright, with some RB depth in Jordan and Turner; the WRs have some upside but few proven.  He did manage to grab the #1 DEF and a solid TE in Chicago and Heap.  Not a terrible draft but how would have this team looked with Holt and Roy Williams at WR and an Ahman Green or Jerious Norwood at RB2?

For the most part, Darin let the draft come to him. He didn?t reach for any players and the risks he took were very calculated.

After snagging Steven Jackson with the second overall pick, Darin was fortunate to net Maurice Jones-Drew toward the bottom of the second round. That fact that Mo-Jo is part of a running-back-by-committee system might?ve caused him to slip. He could be a bit more inconsistent than workhorse Cedric Benson, who was still on the board.
But it?s a chance Darin could take with Jackson already in the stable.

With his starting backfield set, Darin turned his attention to WR (Roy Williams at 3.02) and QB (Marc Bulger at 4.11). Bulger was the last of what many consider to be the top-tier QBs, so kudos to Darin for knowing when to pull the trigger. With his fifth-round pick Darin made perhaps his most questionable selection, Hines Ward. Ward is on the downside of his career and there were younger WRs with more upside on the board (including Ward?s counterpart Santonio Holmes).

Darin rounded out his team with some good value picks getting Kellen Winslow at 6.11, Devery Henderson at 7.02 and Terry Glenn at 9.02. His kicker (Wilkins) and defense (Patriots) will be assets rather than liabilities.

The glaring weaknesses for Darin will be a poor WR2 and what might be the league?s worst running back depth.

Stud RB Theory? We don't need no stinking Stud RB Theory!

After taking the obvious Gore pick at #3 Paul turned his attention to WR and QB for the next FOUR rounds. If this wasn't a PPR league I'd be tempted to criticize.  But that added point per catch can work to your advantage if you gain an advantage with your three starting WR’s.  Only time will tell, but Wayne and Johnson will score consistently for this team and if Alex Smith to Darrell Jackson lives up to its pre-season billing this team could be in the hunt.  Tagging a potential top-3 QB in the fourth round won’t hurt either.

Running back #2 is where this team will struggle all season.  Jones will produce, but the quartet of nice backups (Bell, Foster, White and Rhodes) could limit production.  To Paul’s credit he did pick backups with some of the highest probability of gaining serious playing time.

McMichael is a nice value pick if the Rams actually work the TE into their passing schemes this season and the Pariahs utilized one of my favorite drafting strategies.  Kicker in the last round.

The Express resisted the temptation to take a chance on unsigned Chiefs RB Larry Johnson with the fourth overall pick and instead opted for Colts back Joseph Addai, a great choice.  Mr. Walters better hope the Arizona Cardinals offense ends up as good as advertised, however, because he tabbed wideout Larry Fitzgerald and running back Edgerrin James with his next two selections.

Collecting Jeremy Shockey to be the starting tight end was a solid call, but the Express’ chosen one at quarterback is a little iffy.  Jon Kitna is a riskier pick than many, but there’s no denying the upside with the impressive cast of receivers Kitna will choose from at Detroit and with Mike Martz as the offensive coordinator.  Laveranues Colts as the No. 2 wide receiver and Fred Taylor as the third back are decent picks.  Mark Clayton as the likely third starting wide receiver has good potential as well, and the Express’ receiver depth is solid with Matt Jones and Kevin Curtis also in tow.

If there’s anything to knock about the Express, it’s that the squad possesses no one truly special outside of Addai.  I don’t see this team as having enough other impact players to make a serious run.  But of course, I’ve never finished higher than ninth in this league, I believe.  So the truth is that my credibility at this point is nil.