Who would you pick? — Fantasy Football drafts abound this weekend, and virtually no Bruins will be selected, unless someone takes a flier on risky Rosen or fair Fairbairn, but next year, Rosen may be a hot ticket item, and expect Chip Kelly to develop some better prospects in the near future
There are some great Bruins in the NFL, but since the three best are Defensive players and 99% of Fantasy Leagues don’t use individual Defensive players, you probably won’t see many Bruins get their numbers called at your draft. When people snag the Vikings’ Defense, it will be a nod to Bruin Linebackers Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks, and when the Jaguars’ D is grabbed, it will, to a lesser extent, be due to the prowess of another Bruin LB Myles Jack, but that’s not the same as when a QB, RB, WR, TE, or K is chosen.
The Bruins that have a slight chance to get picked include Quarterback Josh Rosen and Kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn. Rosen is NOT starting for the Cardinals, so it is a risky pick. A back-up QB is pretty worthless. You are gambling on starter Sam Bradford to get injured or to be bad. That’s not improbable, given his track record, but there are plenty of QB’s (about 32) in the draft who are guaranteed playing time, so only a Bruin homer like me might take a chance on Josh. Ka’imi is an average kicker for an average team, so he may get scooped up in the final round of a draft or two.
Also appearing on draft boards are Brett Hundley and Marcedes Lewis, but even a super-homer wouldn’t waste a draft pick on them. If they start to excel during the year, you can get them off the waiver wire. Paul Perkins was on the board last year, but due to injury and other circumstances, has disappeared from consideration this year.
There are tons of trojans to avoid: Sam Darnold, Marqise Lee, Buck Allen, Robert Woods, Nelson Agholar, and Ronald Jones come to mind, as players who will probably under-perform compared to their projected draft positions. Only JuJu Smith-Schuster seems like a potential “breakout” candidate. Playing opposite the League’s most productive Wide Receiver (Antonio Brown), who always demands double-coverage, JuJu will always get single coverage and lots of wide open opportunities.
Hopefully, Chip Kelly will turn things around at UCLA, and Pro prospects at Offensive SKILL positions will start popping up. Also, by next year Rosen might be a star. Meanwhile, enjoy YOUR Fantasy.
Speaking of fantasy, here are 49 of the best UCLA Spirit Squad photos from last Fall’s Colorado game. I have another 200 shots to share before the new season starts in 9 days, so come back soon to see more.
