
If I get the No. 1 pick in my fantasy draft, I’m taking Packers QB Aaron Rodgers. I am on the record on this. There’s no gamesmanship here, no bad poker face with eyes concealed by cheap sunglasses.
Once I take Rodgers, I will do the following:
• If I am thirsty, I will walk to the refrigerator and crack open a beer, hopefully one of the last Yuenglings I carted back north from Atlanta.
• If I am hungry, I will open a bag of pretzels.
• If I am hungry and thirsty, I will have pretzels and beer.
• If I am at home, I’ll slide back in my chair and put my feet on the computer table. My work here is done.
• If I’m at a friend’s place, I won’t put my feet on the furniture, and no one likes a braggart, so I’ll try to smile wanly and keep my mouth shut instead of smirking like a sharp-fanged cat at a seafood buffet.
There it is, my No. 1 pick strategy. But let’s suppose I get the No. 2 pick. Well, it’s possible that someone other than Rodgers could go first, but it’s also possible that someone’s friend of a friend two seats down from me at my buddy’s draft is picking first, and he’s wearing a vintage Robert Brooks jersey and bearing the glow of a guy who’s going to draft the NFL’s best player and his favorite team’s quarterback.
Then what will I do?
It’s quite clear I prefer Rodgers to every other quarterback, so if I take a passer here, it’s the second-ranked passer on my board, and I’m probably not going to do that. I just think Rodgers is a cut above the other options at the position. Now, I would have no qualms with someone else considering, say, Saints QB Drew Brees or Patriots QB Tom Brady with the No. 2 pick, but I would be hesitant to make that call.
I’m also unlikely to take a wideout here. Yes, the Lions’ Calvin Johnson merits a first-round pick, but I don’t like him in the top five. Nor am I willing to go way out-of-the-box — and over the edge, really — to take a tight end No. 2 overall.