Survivor I - Donald Driver Commentary

NOTE: this draft was completed on 7/24

Recent Stats

YR	RSH	RSHYD	RSHTD	REC	RECYD	RECTD	FPT	RANK
2002	8	70	0	70	1064	9	167.4	10
2003	5	51	0	52	621	2	79.2	51
2004	3	4	0	84	1208	9	175.2	10

Positives - Donald Driver has been a top 10 receiver in the NFL 2 out of the past 3 years. Last season, Javon Walker only caught 4 more passes and 3 more touchdowns than Driver, numbers which could easily be reversed this season with Favre being unhappy with Walker’s holdout threats. Walker is definitely the bigger playmaker and the more athletic of the two, but Driver and Favre have more chemistry and more of a history together. With a questionable defense, Green Bay could be forced to score more points this year providing potential for a career season from Driver.

Negatives - Driver, who has just turned 30, has struggled with injuries in the past and often takes big hits making the difficult catch. Walker could improve his game even further into the elite category forcing Favre to throw him the ball even more. Ferguson could finally emerge as a consistent threat giving Favre a third option which could reduce Driver’s opportunities.

Draft Strategy - Without a WR on my roster at this point I expected to take the best available receiver. The downside of having the first or last pick in a serpentine draft is that there are 22 picks between draft choices. This makes it difficult to predict runs and forces you to take players higher than their average draft positions if you think their value warrants it and they won’t be available for your next pick. In a normal draft, I would have tried to trade down a few spots, but since picks couldn’t be traded, I took Donald Driver - the WR I thought would have the best season of those available. I again took a player a few spots higher than he would normally be taken because I didn’t think there would be any way Driver would be available for my selection at the end of the 6th round. I’m actually very happy with this pick as I think Driver will come close to providing the production of a number 1 WR at the cost of a number 2.