Eric Sorenson
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Every week during the season NFL Network and NFL.com Senior Fantasy Analyst Michael Fabiano joins Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat to share his insight on building and developing your fantasy team for success.
Here are some hi-lights from our most recent conversation (July 27th) with the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Famer.
What’s the most commonly asked fantasy question you’re getting right now? “Honestly, it depends on the day because we’ve had so much news. Lately it’s been, ‘where would I draft Josh Gordon?’ A few days ago it was, ‘would you draft Le’Veon Bell in the second round?’ It all depends on what’s going on but there have been a lot of questions about Bell, especially now that he’s got a four-game suspension looming. We don’t know if that’s going to be the final number because he’s going to appeal.”
If Bell’s suspension is upheld, how far do you see him sliding down draft boards this summer? “He was my number one guy. You’re probably looking at a 10-15 spot drop. I could see him going in the middle of the second round and to be honest with you, based on the average fantasy points that he’s scored the past couple of years, I wouldn’t mind taking him at the top of the second round. But that’s how I like to roll with star players who maybe I can get a little bit of a discount on.”
Speaking of suspensions, what’s your drafting strategy with Tom Brady? “Draft him. Listen, I will do the same thing that I did last season. I will target Tom Brady. I will keep tabs on [him] probably going into the seventh, eighth, ninth-round–where he is. What I already have on my roster–typically that’s going to be a lot of running backs and wide receivers and wait on quarterbacks. If Brady’s there I’m going to grab him. I just did a 12-team mock on NFL.com, Matt Stafford wasn’t even drafted. Andy Dalton wasn’t even drafted. The quarterback position is loaded! I guarantee you I could draft Tom Brady and not draft another quarterback and play the match-ups for four weeks and I think I’ll be okay.”
In the mocks you’re seeing, who are some players being overvalued in your opinion? “There are a lot of risks this year because, first off, the running back position last year was an abject disaster between injuries and busts. So you’ve got Jamaal Charles who’s coming back from an ACL. You’ve got Thomas Rawls who’s coming back from an ankle. You’ve got Dion Lewis who’s coming back from an ACL. Le’Veon Bell is coming back from a knee injury when he actually does come back. De’Marco Murray’s coming back from a bad season. Melvin Gordon’s coming back from a bad season. So there is going to be a drop among ADP at running backs this season because people got burned last year. Eddie Lacy’s another one.”
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