2012 Fantasy Football: 16-Team Mock Analysis 

You’re screwed. You bought into a 16-team league and you “magically” got stuck with the dead last pick. Sure, you get those awesome back-to-back selections, but they come every 100 years and you sit and watch helplessly as your cheat sheet dwindles down to a useless piece of toilet paper with every successive pick.

You’ve got two choices. You either go for broke and grab the best elite players you can while you can, regardless of position, or you go for balance and try to round out a quality roster of solid starters.

Here are two visuals of the rosters you can potentially end up with via both strategies, even if you’re stuck with that dreaded 16th pick:

Going For Broke

QB Cam Newton – Carolina Panthers (Round 1)

QB Robert Griffin III – Washington Redskins (Round 7)

RB Reggie Bush – Miami Dolphins (Round 4)

RB DeAngelo Williams – Carolina Panthers (Round 6)

RB Toby Gerhart – Minnesota Vikings (Round 8)

RB Isaiah Pead – St. Louis Rams (Round 10)

RB/WR Dexter McCluster – Kansas City Chiefs (Round 15)

WR Miles Austin – Dallas Cowboys (Round 3)

WR Robert Meachem – San Diego Chargers (Round 5)

WR Kendall Wright – Tennessee Titans (Round 9)

WR Devery Henderson – New Orleans Saints (Round 11)

WR Davone Bess – Miami Dolphins (Round 12)

WR Mohamed Sanu – Cincinnati Bengals (Round 14)

TE Rob Gronkowski – New England Patriots (Round 2)

K Randy Bullock – Houston Texans (Round 16)

DEF/ST Seattle Seahawks (Round 13)

For deep leagues like this 16-teamer, this strategy might seem like be the way to go. But it really all depends on who you feel like you have to have on your team, your league’s scoring, and who you think will drop a littler further than usual. Once in this mode, you’re going full speed ahead and taking the flat-out best player on the board with each pick. It’s value-based drafting at it’s finest, and sometimes it can be the best way to play the game. And sometimes, it can keep you from having great balance and depth.

Exercising Balance

QB Robert Griffin III – Washington Redskins (Round 5)

QB Joe Flacco – Baltimore Ravens (Round 11)

RB DeMarco Murray – Dallas Cowboys (Round 1)

RB Steven Jackson – St. Louis Rams (Round 2)

RB Toby Gerhart – Minnesota Vikings (Round 9)

RB Rashad Jennings – Jacksonville Jaguars (Round 10)

RB Isaiah Pead – St. Louis Rams (Round 11)

RB/WR Dexter McCluster – Kansas City Chiefs (Round 15)

WR Dwayne Bowe – Kansas City Chiefs (Round 3)

WR Reggie Wayne – Indianapolis Colts (Round 6)

WR Justin Blackmon – Jacksonville Jaguars (Round 7)

WR Devery Henderson – New Orleans Saints (Round 12)

WR Mohamed Sanu – Cincinnati Bengals (Round 14)

TE Antonio Gates – San Diego Chargers (Round 4)

K Nate Kaeding – San Diego Chargers (Round 16)

DEF/ST New York Jets (Round 13)

This is my usual draft strategy. Go RB, RB to start it out to make sure you have two solid starters at the thinnest position every week. Then you get a top producer at WR, QB and TE, and round out the rest of your roster as best you can. You’re taking a chance on a rookie quarterback, but I love RG3′s potential and Flacco isn’t the worst backup plan in the world. The only two guys I don’t feel great about are Sanu and McCluster, although both do still have the potential to be nice surprises.

In comparison, the “going for broke” style lands you two absolute studs in Cam Newton in Rob Gronkowski, but a quick scan of the depth of both rosters shows if you draft well, you can get the same core role and bench players. But going the first route, you’re passing on having two steady running backs.

Just compare the projected starting lineups of the two draft strategies:

Going For Broke Vs.  Balance

QB Cam Newton vs. RG3

RB Reggie Bush vs. DeMarco Murray

RB DeAngelo Williams vs. Steven Jackson

WR Miles Austin vs. Dwayne Bowe

WR Robert Meachem vs. Reggie Wayne

WR Kendall Wright vs. Justin Blackmon

TE Rob Gronkowski vs. Antonio Gates

Flex Toby Gerhart vs. Toby Gerhart

K Randy Bullock vs. Nate Kaeding

DEF/ST Seahawks vs. Jets

Some will say having Newton and The Gronk in your lineup would give you the edge here, but I think there’s a major disadvantage at the running back position, while Gates and the wide receivers still matchup well against the other lineup. You’re taking a chance with RG3 as your starter, but I love his potential.

In a 16-team league, it looks like either strategy gives you a pretty solid roster, but I think aiming for more balance in that final 16 spot is the better strategy. Disagree or have another comment about 16-team leagues? Feel free to comment below!