Since we’ve been kind of bored around here, we decided to throw together our own mock fantasy draft over the last week.

With the first overall pick in the 2008 Fantasy Draft…

1. (Tony) LaDanian Tomlinson – Some drafts have Adrian Peterson going first over all—presumably because of Tomlinson’s knee, or the excitement of a full season of All Day.  Don’t fall for it.  Tomlinson has the better quarterback (although not by much), and despite the knee, has shown to be more durable than Peterson over more seasons. And while the Chargers lost their top backup RB, Marcus Thomas and Darren Sproles can likely combine to give Tomlinson some rest without stealing TDs.

2. (Andy) Brian Westbrook – Quick quiz. What running back had 368 touches, 2,104 total yards and a dozen touchdowns? Nope, not All Day. Westbrook, who early in his career received criticism for injury tendencies, has also played in 15 games each of the last two seasons. Don’t get me wrong – Peterson is a fantastic talent and if you want to take him here you likely will be rewarded several times. But Westbrook has emerged as a fantasy stud. He’s the main back, losing fewer carries to a platoon than Peterson. And in addition to carrying the ball he’ll provide somewhere between 70 and 90 catches as well – and anytime he gets past the first wave he has a chance to break it.

3. (Tony) Joseph Addai – Peyton Manning still may get the press, but Indy’s offense depends on it’s running game to free up the pass, and Tony Dungy knows it.  Like Westbrook, Addai loses few carries to his backup, Kenton Keith, and he also gets involved in the passing game.  Injury is a slight concern, but not enough to drop him below any of the next few guys, who either have their own injury history, or have offensive line concerns.

4. (Andy) Adrian Peterson – Peterson is worthy of consideration for the 2nd or 3rd spot in the fantasy draft order. We here at Zoneblitz just want to caution about the possible risks – defenses keying on Peterson because T. Jackson is unproven, the injury history both in college and the pros, and the four game stretch at the end of the season where he went 54 carries for 144 yards total. Peterson if he stays healthy will someday be worthy of the top pick in fantasy drafts. That season could be this year. But he needs to have an injury-free, top-notch season before we’d take him in the top couple picks.

5. (Tony) Steven Jackson – Here’s where things start to get interesting—depending on the scoring system, you may want to go Tom Brady or Peyton Manning here.  In a standard league, top running backs still command a premium, and Steven Jackson is still the next best, despite an offense that still has some holes.  Hopefully his offensive line will suffer fewer injuries for you in 2008—it would be tough not to.

6. (Andy) Tom Brady – In a league where QB touchdowns are worth 6 points Brady would be worth taking at five or even earlier. Even in more traditional scoring leagues Brady has enough weapons at his disposal to be worthy of this pick. While he likely won’t match his 50 touchdown season of a year ago Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Jabar Gaffney and Laurence Maroney, among others, are all back. And the Patriots aren’t playing a difficult schedule. So expect another fantastic season worthy of taking the risk of not landing that top-notch running back in the first round.

7. (Tony) Peyton Manning – Given the prevalence of the two back system, combined with serious injuries and new questionable offensive coordinators for several of the next tier backs, I think QB probably makes sense here too, even before Randy Moss, who likely won’t duplicate 2007.  The big question mark for Manning will likely be the health of Marvin Harrison, but with Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and Anthony Gonzalez around, Manning shouldn’t drop off much.

8. (Andy) Frank Gore – This slot was a toss-up between Gore and Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss. What excites me about Gore this year is that he will be teamed with Mike Martz. When Martz got his hands on Marshall Faulk, Faulk went from being a star to being the top fantasy back in football. Faulk was involved in the passing game, eclipsing 80 catches or more five seasons in a row and even passing 1,000 yards receiving once. He also had his three best rushing seasons as well. Gore has proven that when he’s healthy he can handle the run game. But he has also caught 114 passes the last two seasons. Expect those numbers – and Gore’s fantasy production – to rise with Martz’ presence in San Francisco, as long as the team can find even reasonably competent quarterback play.

9. (Tony) Randy Moss – And whoever picks at #9 breathes a sigh of relief—Gore was probably the top back on the board, but I stayed away from him for the exact reason that Andy mentioned—Mike Martz.  What he did with Marshall Faulk was great—it was also with a quarterback who sold his soul to the devil for a couple years of incredible play, two top notch WR, and Martz was a hungry offensive coordinator who wanted to prove he could be a head coach.  Now, Martz is a bitter ex-coach who is still angling for a top spot, working with a QB who regressed last year and will be working with his 45th offensive coordinator in 4 years, and his top wide receivers will likely be Isaac Bruce and Bryant Johnson.  I would expect a lot of 8-9 man fronts for Gore until Alex Smith proves he can beat them. Oh, and the pick here is Randy Moss, because…well, why wouldn’t it be at this point?  The only question is whether or not he’s as hungry as he was last year—or will he show up ‘once in a blue moon’ like he did in Oakland?

10. (Andy) Larry Johnson – The foot injury and general inconsistency of his 2007 season pushed Johnson down toward the end of a first round. But he might have benefited from the down year after toting the rock more than 400 times in 2006. The Chiefs are likely to be a bad team this year but they seemed to realize the crux of the problem and went a long way toward improving the offensive line by selecting Branden Albert in the first round. They also selected Barry Richardson, a 327 pound tackle from Clemson, in the fourth round. With even an average line Johnson is too talented to pass up at pick 10.

11.  (Tony) Marshawn Lynch – Let’s see, the old, cranky running back behind the average at best line with two rookies likely starting, or the young back who showed flashes last year and has at least a slightly above average line in front of him?  The odd picks win again.

12.  (Andy) Braylon Edwards – A stretch? Perhaps. But I’ve seen him going in between 15 and 20 in most fantasy mock drafts I’ve looked at. And I think he deserves to go even higher. He caught 80 passes for 1289 yards and 16 touchdowns last year and the Browns added Donte Stallworth as a more legitimate No. 2 wideout. I think that will occasionally loosen coverages against Edwards, who will still clearly be the top target on an offense that should be wildly explosive this year. And consider what else is left on the board – Marion Barber was probably my runner up for this spot and I love watching him play. But he’s never been a full-time feature back, even in college. And his battering-ram style just screams injury. And backs like Clinton Portis, Ronnie Brown, and Ryan Grant all have question marks in my mind heading into the 2008 season. I’d rather run at this point with a wide receiver that exploded last year and has the potential to do even more in the years ahead.

13. (Tony) Terrell Owens – One of these years, even Jerry Jones is going to get irritated with Owens.  But probably not until Jones buys another Super Bowl ring.  If he wants one this year, he should probably start checking eBay and the estate auctions now, but Owens will still put up his numbers—even if the ‘boys do bring in Chris Henry and his baggage (or maybe Jones will target Marvin Harrison now?).

14. (Andy) Marion Barber – While I question whether Barber can shoulder all or most of the Cowboys running load, if he can he will have a tremendous fantasy season. The dude has 28 touchdowns in two seasons and would have broken 1000 yards rushing in a time-share last season if not for Washington’s stingy defense in week 17. Plus he’s incredibly fun to watch and the type of player I like to pull for.

15. (Tony) Jamal Lewis – The dude?  At this point, it’s a crapshoot at RB—you can take the younger legs of a Willis McGahee, the hopefully repaired legs of a Ronnie Brown, or the unproven rookie legs of a guy like Darren McFadden (if you’re seriously considering Ryan Grant here, let me know how I can join your league—I’ll send you my address so you can mail me my check now).  Me?  I’ll take the 1,300 yards and 9 TDs that Jamal Lewis provided the Browns last year.  He’s unlikely to reclaim his single game rushing record any time soon, but Andy did get one thing right with the Edwards reach at #12—the offense should loosen up some with Stallworth on board, Edwards drawing double teams, and Soldier Boy Kellen Winslow not popping wheelies on his crotch rocket this offseason (yet).  Added bonus?  Lewis won’t be sharing the load with some snot nosed rookie from the owner’s alma mater.  In fact, that’s the biggest concern I see about Lewis—as far as I can tell, Lewis may not be allowed to leave the field all season, looking at the Browns depth chart.

16. (Andy) Clinton Portis – Ever talk to someone who recently lost a family member? It’s amazing how often older folks who have been fading suddenly show signs of complete lucidity bringing hopes of recovery to their loved ones, only to die 12-24-36 hours later. While I don’t expect Jamal Lewis to expire anytime soon that’s sort of how I look at his football season last year. If the Browns were smart they’d take a gamble on someone like Kevin Jones so they had some insurance when Lewis shows that last season was a fluke and he is in fact done. There are a number of potential running backs left on the board. Grant, McGahee, et al. But Portis has been tabbed by the Skins as their unquestioned top back. I expect him to put up a strong season and be a nice value at this pick.

17. (Tony) Willis McGahee – I don’t deny that the Browns should have a backup plan—I just won’t mind benefiting the first few weeks of the season while they don’t.  By the time Lewis gets hurt in Week 5, I will have found some young up and comer or next year’s Earnest Graham to plug in and carry the load in that 2nd RB sport—I can only hope that Clinton Portis owners have done the same.  Meanwhile, McGahee suffers from not having a very good passing game, but still manages to churn out yards.  As an added bonus, he hasn’t insulted his new home team’s city or whined about his contract status…yet.

18. (Andy) Brandon Jacobs – If my partner in Zoneblitz took the lead, as he asserts, with the first few picks (an arguable point), he’s fallen back to the pack with his last handful of stinkers. By adding Willis McGahee he grabbed a back that struggled to average 4 yards a carry most of the season last year while scoring eight touchdowns. This year he’s likely to be attempting to duplicate those numbers with a rookie quarterback and sans former stud left tackle Jonathan Ogden – for a mediocre-to-bad team that has the league’s most difficult schedule. He ranks as one of my players to avoid this season. Not the case with Brandon Jacobs, who was a monster down the stretch last season. Assuming health (he did miss five games last year and was hampered in several others) he will easily eclipse last year’s first 1000 yard season and he will batter his way into the end zone a double-digit number of times. Sure, he loses some carries to committee backs. But he’ll be the unquestioned starter and he’ll definitely be the short yardage and touchdown back, making him one of the most valuable second round picks in fantasy football.

19. (Tony) Ronnie Brown – Yes, let’s assume health on a guy who missed more games than had touchdowns last year (his first as the main back), and was giving up carries to Ahmad Bradshaw late in the season and in the playoffs.  Much rather have that then McGahee, who ran for 1,200 yards with Ogden out for a good chunk of the season anyway, and being expected to carry a significant load to help Flacco ease into the starting role (assuming he beats out Boller and Smith).  Speaking of injuries, assuming the early reports on his rehab hold true, and Brown is ready for training camp, he’s worth a flier here.  Jake Long can only help what was a dismal offensive line, and Brown could be a high risk, high reward pick.

20. (Andy) Reggie Wayne – Wayne caught 104 passes for 1510 yards and 10 touchdowns last season and one would think he enters this season as the consensus number one receiver on a team led by Peyton Manning. Enough said.

Summary: There are going to be those who disagree with these picks. Heck. We clearly even disagree with each other. Many will say Tony Romo, Andre Johnson, Steve Smith and others should go in the top 20. Ryan Grant, for example, has gone as high as sixth in some expert drafts. We at Zoneblitz both agree that the retirement of Favre makes Grant a candidate to regress big time.

What this draft does show, however, is that there are going to be quality players, including many running backs, that will fall into the second, third, and later rounds of your drafts. Conventional fantasy football wisdom calls for getting two running backs first and then filling in the rest later. With the proliferation of running back by committee offenses I believe those days are gone. If you can get an elite wideout that will catch 12 to 15 touchdowns or a quarterback that will guarantee 40 touchdown passes and your other choices are second tier running backs, guys that are splitting the carries on their teams, take a chance on the higher upside. More often than not I believe you’ll be glad you did.