Fantasy Playoffs Staff Mock Draft 2.0

When the call went out for the staff at PFF to do a Playoff Fantasy League, it turns out one league wasn't enough. Below are the results and analysis of a second mock draft (You can check out the first one here).

Like the first one, we drafted only players that made the actual playoffs and lose their services once they are eliminated. No bench, no drops. This adds an element not seen in the regular season where you have to predict individual performance along with team performance. The longer a team stays in the playoffs, the more players on those teams can accumulate points.

The roster requirements include two quarterbacks, three running backs, three receivers, one tight end, two defenses and two kickers. There were no rules on number of players from the same team. The scoring is as follows:

• Six points for a rushing or receiving touchdown. Four points for a passing touchdown.
• One point for every 10 yards rushing or receiving. One point for every 25 yards passing.
• 0.5 points for every reception.
• A loss of one point for every interception or fumble lost.
• Two points for a two-point conversion.
• Kickers: One point for every extra point. Three points for a field goal under 40 yards, four points for a field goal from 40-49 and five points for a field goal of 50+ yards.
• Defense: Two points for an interception or fumble recovery, six points for touchdown, four points for safety, one point for sack

Participants included members of the esteemed PFF staff:

1. Kevin Greenstein
2. Michael Moore
3. Gary Althiser
4. Joe Owens
5. Joey Cartolano
6. Pat Thorman

Using a non-timed draft, the results were as follows:

Round 1

1. Kevin – Marshawn Lynch
2. Michael – LeSean McCoy
3. Gary – Jamaal Charles
4. Joe – Eddie Lacy
5. Joey – Peyton Manning
6. Pat – Knowshon Moreno

Round 2

1. Pat – Frank Gore
2. Joey – Damaryius Thomas
3. Joe – A.J. Green
4. Gary – Giovani Bernard
5. Michael – Eric Decker
6. Kevin – Tom Brady

Round 3

1. Kevin – Russell Wilson
2. Michael – Ryan Mathews
3. Gary – Drew Brees
4. Joe – Aaron Rodgers
5. Joey – Jimmy Graham
6. Pat – Julius Thomas

Round 4

1. Pat – Colin Kaepernick
2. Joey – Shane Vereen
3. Joe – Julian Edelman
4. Gary – Vernon Davis
5. Michael – Greg Olsen
6. Kevin – Wes Welker

Round 5

1. Kevin – LeGarrette Blount
2. Michael – Cam Newton
3. Gary – Randall Cobb
4. Joe – Seattle
5. Joey – Jordy Nelson
6. Pat – Nick Foles

Round 6 

1. Pat – DeSean Jackson
2. Joey – Montee Ball
3. Joe – Antonio Gates
4. Gary – Keenan Allen
5. Michael – Marques Colston
6. Kevin – Michael Crabtree

Round 7

1. Kevin – Stevan Ridley
2. Michael – T.Y. Hilton
3. Gary – Darren Sproles
4. Joe – Golden Tate
5. Joey – Danny Amendola
6. Pat – Anquan Boldin

Round 8

1. Pat – Riley Cooper
2. Joey – San Francisco
3. Joe – DeAngelo Williams
4. Gary – Cincinnati
5. Michael – Danny Woodhead
6. Kevin – New England

Round 9

1. Kevin – Percy Harvin
2. Michael – Andrew Luck
3. Gary – Andy Dalton
4. Joe – Philip Rivers
5. Joey – Steve  Hauschka
6. Pat – Denver

Round 10

1. Pat – Matt Prater
2. Joey – Pierre Thomas
3. Joe – Stephen Gostowski
4. Gary – Kansas City
5. Michael – Carolina
6. Kevin – Zach Miller

Round 11

1. Kevin – Phil Dawson
2. Michael – Philadelphia
3. Gary – Steve Smith
4. Joe – Mark Ingram
5. Joey – Mason Crosby
6. Pat – Alex Henery

Team Analysis 

Kevin Greenstein

Strongest Position: QB

With only 12 quarterbacks available, the position is critical in a fantasy playoff league but Kevin managed to get two of the top six options. With both quarterbacks on byes, Kevin is guaranteed some big points in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, if not the conference championship and Super Bowl.

Weakest Position: TE

What Zach Miller does have going for him is he's a good bet to play in at least the divisional round and conference championship, if not the Super Bowl. However, Miller would still rank far behind among the other tight ends drafted as far as production. He barely finished among the top 25 tight ends in the regular season and just wasn't a high priority in the Seattle offense.

Final Grade: C+

Kevin will be fighting a war of attrition with most of his team on a bye in the Wild Card round. In addition, half his team plays for New England and Seattle. Kevin has to bank on a Patriots/Seahawks Super Bowl to be competitive.

Michael Moore

Strongest Position: RB

I took McCoy over Charles only because I think McCoy has a better chance at playing more than one game. It was a true toss-up between the two best running backs in fantasy football this year. Mathews has had a bounce back year and has been red hot down the stretch. Woodhead should provide some help in the receiving game as well.  The only downside is all three could be knocked out after the first weekend.

Weakest Position: WR

All three out of Decker, Colston, and Hilton are the epitome of ‘boom or bust' picks. 25% of the season saw Decker with three catches or less; Colston saw a four game stretch of 44 receiving yards total; and Hilton's production has been a roller coaster all season. The receiving corps here will either be very good or very bad.

Final Grade: B-

I purposely balanced my roster with players in the Wild Card round along with those with byes to insure points in the Divisional Round. There's a lot of good, not great, on this roster. Ironically, I only have one player from the two teams I'm predicting make it to the Super Bowl – Denver and Seattle. For fantasy purposes, let's hope I'm wrong.

Gary Althiser

Strongest Position: RB

Jamaal Charles was a top two running back in the NFL and will be again in the fantasy playoffs. Giovani Bernard was arguably the best rookie running back this year. Put those two together, along with Darren Sproles as your third option, and you have the best running back trio of the draft. The only downside is all three play during Wild Card weekend so if Gary is going to rack up points down the road, he'll need a few games to break his way.

Weakest Position: TE

It's hard to pinpoint a weakness in  Gary's team but I'm going to pick Vernon Davis at tight end. During the regular season, Vernon Davis is top ten option. However, with the elements expected to be brutal on Sunday (the high is negative five degrees) and the fact that San Francisco starts on the road and would have to play at Seattle should they beat Green Bay, the conditions are not favorable for VD.

Overall Grade: A-

Joe Owens

Strongest Position: WR

Joe managed to put together the best group of receivers in  this draft. A.J. Green is possibly the best receiver not named Calvin Johnson while Julian Edelman had a surprising 105/1,056/6 season. Even Golden Tate was the leading receiver on the Seahawks and could be playing in the Super Bowl. Between the three of them, Joe has a nice balance and will be able to roll with players in both the Wild Card and Divisional Rounds, at the very least.

Weakest Position: RB

While Eddie Lacy should provide some solid production on the ground, despite the conditions, Mark Ingram and DeAngelo Williams are both timeshare running backs. Furthermore, no back in the group is a receiving option while Williams is the only one guaranteed to see any action in the Divisional round. Joe would need to get lucky to have viable running back options throughout these playoffs.

Overall Grade: B+

Joe has more players in the Wild Card round rather than receiving byes but most, if not all, are high-end players that can put up big numbers. Any team with Aaron Rodgers and A.J. Green will have a shot, it's just a matter of how many opportunities they'll get.

Joey Cartolano

Strongest Position: QB

Whichever staffer ended up with Peyton Manning was going to have a significant advantage over the rest. When you combine the best player on the planet with a fairly easy path to the Super Bowl, points will rack up quickly. Furthermore, Joey balanced Manning's bye week with Alex Smith going against Indianapolis to provide some points from the quarterback position in the Wild Card round as well.

Weakest Position: RB

Two out of the three running backs on Joey's team don't play until the Divisional Round, which would have put a lot of pressure on third running back Pierre Thomas if he weren't already declared inactive. Taken before injury reports were updated, Joey will only be able to rely on one running back, at most, to advance to the Super Bowl between Montee Ball and Shane Vereen.

Overall Grade: A

Excluding running back, Joey's team doesn't have an obvious weakness. With the top quarterback in Manning, a top three receiver in Damaryius Thomas playing in the Divisional Round balanced with Jordy Nelson going in the Wild Card round, plus All-World tight end Jimmy Graham and a stingy 49ers defense, Joey would be my pick to win it all.

Pat Thorman

Strongest Position: TE

As the tight end to the most prolific quarterback in history, along with a first round bye, Julius Thomas is set up to do some damage in the playoffs. With likely more games to play than Jimmy Graham, Thomas has the edge over every other tight end in this format.

Weakest Position: RB

Pat is rolling with most of the San Francisco backfield in Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter. Hunter is a the clear backup to Gore and won't have as many opportunities no matter what the conditions. No one knows what to expect in Green Bay on Sunday which makes any player for the 49ers or Packers a risk. He does manage to balance out the first week points with Knowshon Moreno to insure Divisional Round points.

Overall Grade: C+

While the players individually can be very good, over half of Pat's team is tied up between two teams, teams that could not make it past the first round. Both quarterbacks (Foles and Kaepernick), two running backs (Gore and Hunter) and all three receivers (Jackson, Cooper, Boldin) play for either San Francisco or Philadelphia. Unless both go on a Cinderalla-type run, it'll be hard to accumulate points throughout the entire playoffs.