Early 2005 fantasy mock draft: Nate Ravitz, USA Today

[The Lung]

My thoughts:

I've seen T. Gonzalez ranked higher than A. Gates on a LOT of lists. I know that Gonzalez has a proven track record going for him and there are doubts about what happens to Brees in the offseason, but 81 catches for 964 yards and 13 TDs speaks enough volume to me to justify my first TE pick for Gates.

Tatum Bell at #34 is silly high. There's no guarantee that he'll have the starting job - R. Droughns, Q. Griffin, or some guy 5th on the depth chart could end up being the man in Denver next year. You just never know.

Two rushing and one receiving touchdown last year! Unless you are in a yardage league that awards one point per five yards rushing, Fred Taylor does not deserve to be ranked as high as #28, and higher than the likes of Chris Brown and Warrick Dunn.

Steve Smith is too low at number 88. Unless his broken leg does not heal properly, this guy is a major force. Besides being an exceptional WR he returns punts.

[Free Bagel]

Not too bad for this kind of thing (generally these things have every Denver RB taken by the middle of the 3rd round). A couple things stood out:

I'm not sure Moss would go that far ahead of TO. Would he even go ahead of TO in the first place?

Culpepper at #6 overall, Mcnabb at #25 overall. What a bargain for the Mcnabb owner in comparison. Is there really that big a difference between the two?

[Mercer Boy]

Culpepper at #6 overall, Mcnabb at #25 overall. What a bargain for the Mcnabb owner in comparison. Is there really that big a difference between the two?

Maybe a few more TD's and some rushing yards...

McNabb is valued well (if you want to take a QB even that high...I see no reason to); In my opinion Manning and Culpepper are overvalued. I just don't see them repeating this output. I just can't justify picking them in the first round. They belong at the beginning or middle of the second.

[Azrael]

Drew Bennett's numbers depend on Volek starting. He's a bust with McNair, a solid pick with Volek.