8 Man Mock Draft; Best Picks RDs 3-8
8 MAN MOCK DRAFT; BEST PICKS RDs 3-8
A little while back the writers from Gridiron Experts decided to do a mock draft. I was recently looking over the round by round selections of my fellow writers and decided to do an evaluation of these rounds by selecting which writer made the best pick in each round. I will look at the value of the round the player was selected in along with the player’s potential upside. I decided to exclude the first two rounds from this analysis as these rounds seem to usually go as planned. This article will contain rounds 3 through 8 and a subsequent article will follow with rounds 9 through 15.
Round 3 – 
Shonn Greene (NYJ) – Greene provides great value in this round as he is being projected by some to be a possible first round pick or at the very least a second rounder. Now that Thomas Jones is out of town Greene is the RB that is going to benefit from Jones’ departure. Although the aging Tomlinson could factor in with some goal line carries, Greene is the Jets running back to own and should provide a positive season for his owners.
Round 4- Ryan Grant (GNB) – Much like Greene, Grant has a lot of upside. Especially, since he is the featured back in a high scoring offense. With the Packers having a pass happy system it should only open up more holes for Grant to run through.
Round 5 –Steve Smith (NYG) – Smith was very productive last season as Eli Manning’s top target. I expect Smith to once again get plenty of looks from his quarterback and to have another solid season. In most drafts that I have seen Steve Smith of the Giants is being taken as early as the third round to fill the role as a fantasy teams number two wide receiver.
Round 6 – Matt Forte (CHI) – Forte was a disappointment last season as he was touted as being a surefire number one fantasy running back. Although it is hard to dismiss his poor performance last season this is a new year and the Bears have a new offense in place the will help Forte elevate his game. Chester Taylor may factor in to some third down plays, but Forte is the clear cut starter and has been drawing a lot of praise from the coaching staff thus far.
Round 7 – Michael Crabtree (SFO) – Crabtree missed a lot of time last season with his contract holdout, but once he was on the field he was an impressive rookie. This year after a full training camp and preseason under his belt you should expect big things from Crabtree. Most fantasy teams will select Crabtree as a possible number three receiver, but the potential is there for Crabtree to become a solid number two option.
Round 8 – Cedric Benson – (CIN) – Benson was a surprise fantasy contributor last season and many owners see him as a solid number two running back. In most draft you will not see Benson last beyond the third round. If he can run as hard as he did last season then any fantasy owner able to get Benson in the late rounds will get great value for their selection.
